The letter arrived from England this morning. It contained a brief note "Gabby married so and so on such and such a day." It was posted by her mother. I called her Aunty Doris. At one point, I even called her mum as she treated me like a son. Two photos came with the letter. One showed Gabby in her wedding dress smiling shyly but beautifully at the camera. The other showed Gabby, again in her wedding dress, standing by her handsome bridegroom who was dressed in top hat and tail, in front of a Rolls Royce. I placed the photos and the letter back in the envelope and slipped it into my desk drawer. I sighed. With mixed feelings, I wish her a world of happiness from the bottom of my heart!
*****
It started some seven years ago. It was almost a month after I arrived at the British university from Hong Kong.
It'd been a long day at the campus and I was looking for a relaxed Friday evening with Bach in my dorm room. It was a typical day of 'Good English Weather', meaning: cold, damp and drizzling. I was queuing up for the bus outside the campus to return to my hall of residence a few miles away.
"What's that?" There came a girl's voice behind me.
I looked around just to make sure that she was talking to me.
"Oh, it is Bach's... the Brandenburg Concertos. I borrowed them from the library. You probably wouldn't like them."
I showed her the CDs and thought to myself "What do you know about classical music?"
Then I looked at her - a short and slightly chubby girl of about 5'1", with a little snub nose, a head of messy curly light brown hair, wearing a burgundy corduroy jacket over a thick dark green woollen pullover, long denim skirt coming halfway down her shins, grey woollen stockings and tan leather deck shoes. I saw nothing that I fancied. It was as though she was determined to look as unattractive as possible to her lover. That was me by the way!
"Well, actually they're my favourites. I like Concerto Number 2 the best."
"Really?"
I took a closer look at her. She had a pair of large brown eyes with tinges of grey and emerald. She was all smiling and friendly. I remembered seeing her in the lecture.
"Hi, I'm Gabby. We attended Professor Cairn's lecture today."
"Oh, yes. Hi, I'm Danny."
She was the easiest person to talk to. During the bus trip, she learnt that I came from Hong Kong. We studied in the same faculty though specialising in different subjects. We both like classical music - Bach, Mozart...
The bus trip suddenly turned out to be too short. She alighted two stops ahead of my hall of residence. I said goodbye but forgot to take down her phone number. But that turned out to be no problem at all.
I saw her again on Monday morning in the campus when she came over and asked about the CDs. At the time, I tried to play sophisticated by comparing the version I borrowed with the interpretation by another conductor. Gabby's response was sincere and down-to-earth. She just liked the richly melodic music. And I suddenly felt ashamed for acting pompous. However, there was no sign of rebuke from her.
At lunch, I went to the Student Union canteen. I bought a beef burger and ate at a quiet corner. Then I spotted Gabby talking to a group of friends from our faculty. She appeared the life and soul of the crowd. I found myself stealing glances at her throughout the lunch break.
Later on that day, I found her at the bus stop and I awkwardly went up to her, trying to invent an excuse to chat her up. It turned out that was unnecessary. Because once she saw me, she started by asking if I was free that Wednesday night because she had invited a few friends over to her student house for a wine party. "Yes" I replied readily.
On the following day, I waited for the right moment to catch her at the bus stop. I got off earlier with her with the excuse of buying something from the quiet town centre near her student house. I walked her back, carried her shopping but then realised that I didn't get whatever I was supposed to buy for myself. I didn't know if she spotted that but if she did, she said nothing.
Came Wednesday, I was getting so excited about the party that I was really in no mood for the lectures and tutorials. By that time, I became acquainted with some of the others who were invited to Gabby's that night. After the last lecture, we each picked a bottle from an off-licence and arranged to meet at Gabby's place later that night. I remembered very little about the party, except that it was nice and friendly.
It was around 10 p.m. We didn't want to be a nuisance to the others girls at her house and we decided to call it a night.
"Hey Danny aren't you coming?" The last of them was standing at the kitchen backdoor, holding it open and waiting for me to join them.
"You lot go ahead. I better stay and give Gabby a hand with this mess." I found it easier to make up an excuse when I was feeling a bit tipsy.
They waived their goodbyes to Gabby and gave me the funny eyes.
"There is really nothing that you need to..." she closed the door and started telling me that I needn't trouble but stopped in mid-sentence looking up into my eyes.
"Gabby, I..."
Over the past few days I became so very attracted to her. Now that I was half drunk I thought I could perhaps summon just enough courage to tell her that but I didn't. As she was still looking enquiringly at me, my face turned a shade redder than the wine induced glow. I didn't know what to say anymore and I just bent down to kiss her. There was a look of surprise in her emerald tinted eyes.
"What was that for?"
She asked and for a fraction of a second I felt like an idiot. I had never kissed a girl before and didn't know if I could do it without asking. But then just as suddenly, she smiled coyly, put her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a passionate kiss. I remembered that kiss vividly and she tasted so sweet. Suddenly, I felt so happy as though all my prayers over the pass few days had been answered.
I wasn't joking when I said that I was a bit tipsy and that kiss just took my breath and my strength away. I hugged Gabby and sat down at the nearest plastic chair, pulling her on my lap. We cuddled as we kissed. I didn't know how long we were there. During that time, a few girls from her house had opened the kitchen door, saw us and made their hasty retreats. Later, one or two just couldn't wait any longer. They came in, walked around us, fetched whatever they were looking for and left without saying a word. Gabby and I were glued together without once breaking the seal of our lips. All I remembered was that eventually Gabby had to push me out of that kitchen backdoor with one last goodnight kiss.
We met the following morning in the campus and walked hand-in-hand to the lecture hall. We lunched together and later met to catch the bus. I didn't get off earlier as I had some urgent assignment to prepare for a tutorial the following day. We arranged to meet later that night at my place.
After tea at the dining hall, I returned to my dorm room to hurry through my homework, because Gabby would be there any minute. It was just after half past eight when there was a knock on my door. I opened it and there she was thick woollen scarf, overcoat and all. I let her in and discretely checked that no one else from my landing saw her arrival. I closed the door and tried to offer her tea or something but she saw that I was working.
"Don't worry about me, just finish your work." She removed her coat and draped it over my divan bed. When she saw that I was still standing and waiting for her, she added, "Finish your work. Just do as you're told."
I obeyed but switched on some light music for her. She sat in the single armchair and read a magazine she found. I hurried through my assignment and after about 15 minutes, I thought that would have to do. I put down my pen and said, "Done!"
I didn't know what to expect but suddenly she turned so hot. She grinned and put down the magazine in the armchair. Then she came over to hug me and gave me a big wet kiss on tiptoes. That took me completely by surprise and I had an instant erection. I grabbed her and we ended up on top of my bed kissing. I wasn't drunk this time and she surely tasted so sweet!
After a couple of minutes, my hands were getting restless. I came from an all-boy's school in Hong Kong. And you know boys bragged about what they would do to girls yet I never had a girlfriend. I was getting so excited that I was feeling expectant and amorous. Now I had this Gwei-mui (western girl) squashed under me on my very own bed! I grabbed her bum over her tight pair of denim jeans and started squeezing. My heart was already pumping furiously. I thought that any second she would push me away, or worse to slap me in the face.
