Love at First Flight - (Part 5) Dancing in the Street (Finale)

Love at First Flight - (Part 5)  Dancing in the Street (Finale) 

A foreign teacher arrives in China and falls in love with a local, but the path of true love is anything but smooth.

Taiyuan Clouds  (Photo: M. Griffiths)

Read Love at First Flight (Part 1) - Broken English here.

Read Love at First Flight (Part 2) - Life is A Roller coaster here

 

Read Love at First Flight (Part 3) -  Sad Songs here.

Read Love at Frist Flight (Part 4) - Freeze Frame here. 

Love at First Flight

 

(Part 5 of 5)

 

Dancing in the Street

Two weeks later Malcolm sat in his apartment watching Chinese soap operas on TV, trying to kill any remaining sentient brain cells.

He felt the weight of failure growing heavier each day. Julia had not called since he’d shown her that the guy her mother wanted her to marry was two-timing her.  

The best laid plans of mice and men…Yeah, whatever.

            His phone rang. It was Julia.

“Hi! How are you?”

“I’m ok.” she said. But she didn’t sound it.

“What’s wrong?”

“My father is sick. He is in hospital. The doctors don’t know what is wrong.”

            “Oh no. That’s terrible. What happened?”

She explained he had collapsed the day before and it looked serious.

“I will go to see him again later this afternoon. Can you come to the library in one hour?

“Yes of course.”

“We can do classes again. My study is terrible lately.” She paused. “I missed you.”

            “I missed you too. It will be great to see you. How about you come to my apartment? My roommate is away traveling in Tibet..…Ok. I will see you in an hour.”      After he hung up he stared out the window for a while. Then he slapped his leg, grabbed his wallet and keys and raced out of the apartment. He hopped on his bike and rode to the nearest shops.

            She arrived early and slipped inside the half-open door, smiling nervously.

            She saw the huge bouquet of flowers on the dining table and looked at him.

“They’re for you. To cheer you up.” he said.

Her eyes moistened. He moved forward and hugged her. She leant against him, sobbing quietly.

She pulled out a tissue and blew her nose. “Thank you. You are very nice.”

            She took out her IELTS English exam practice book and opened it on the table but she did more sniffing and blowing of her nose than study.

            He got up and made them both a cup of tea.

He sat down and took a deep breath. “Can I ask you something?”

She looked up at him and nodded.

“What happened about the guy from Canada?”

Her eyes reddened again. “Da huai dan.” Bastard. “I told my mother I saw him with another woman. She said she never liked his mother anyway.” She gave him a small smile. “My mother said she will not try to find any more boys for me for a while.”

They went back to her exam study for half an hour. Then her phone rang.

She answered and talked in rapid Chinese and he only understood snippets.….

“Wo men zai shuo ba,” We can talk about it later.…“Bu yong. Wo ziji qu.” Don’t bother. I will go by myself…. “Zai jian.” Good bye.

            “Who was that?”

            “Chen Wei.”

            Malcolm’s heart pounded. The ‘Ex’ again. He took a deep breath. “What did he want?”

“He offer to take me to the hospital in his car now. I said no.”

“Oh.”

“Also he want me to be his girlfriend again. He says if I go abroad he will wait for me.”

Malcolm bit his lip.

“I tell him no.”

He frowned. “Did you? I thought you said you will talk to him later.”

She glanced at him quickly. “I will tell him soon.” She looked at her phone. “I need to go now, find taxi.”

“I can take you.” he blurted. “On my bike. You can sit on the back.”

“Can you do it? I thought only Chinese boys do that.”

“I’m sure I can do it. Let me take you. Which hospital?”

Her mouth turned down. “The one near that hotel.” She put the study book in her bag. “I must buy some fruit for my father on the way.”

“There is a shop near the hospital. Let’s go.”

He steered the bike carefully through the traffic in the cycle lane, taking it slowly. The extra weight on the back of the bike made turning and balance feel different. But he soon found it wasn’t too hard. He turned his head and smiled at Julia. She smiled back.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

She nodded. She sat sideways on the carrier, facing the footpath, her left arm wrapped around his waist, her other handholding the flowers. To Malcolm it felt like a warm safety belt holding him in place.

            They reached the hospital. Julia bought fruit and other gifts for her father to go with the flowers while Malcolm waited outside.

            “I have to go now. Thank you for bringing me.”

He smiled. “Anytime.”

She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. They remained locked together for ten seconds. He tried not move a muscle. Finally she stepped back smiling, though her eyes were moist again. “See you later.”

“I hope your father is ok.”

She nodded and went inside.

Malcolm walked his bike to the street, a big smile on his face. He biked home and then bounded up the stairs to the apartment. He opened his email. There was a message from the foreign teacher’s department of the university. They wanted to know whether he was going to extend his contract, and for how long.

He knew his mum wanted him to go home. Empty nest syndrome. He kind of missed his family. But I’m not going back there to stay. And the job market still didn’t look that great.

He also needed to talk to Julia about it, when he dad’s situation was better. She would take the English test soon and then, if her mark was high enough, go overseas herself. But when?

And then there was the small matter of the ex-boyfriend who just wouldn’t go away.  

 

            Two days later they sat in his apartment drinking tea and studying.

“Julia. I need to decide what I’m doing with my teaching contract. They want me to stay but if I extend it then I will have to stay another whole year, and maybe you will be gone. And also the money at the university is not very good. I need to earn more to pay back my student loan. If you stay longer then maybe I can work at a private school, but I’m not sure I can get a job there.”

Julia frowned but didn’t speak. She looked down at her hands. Eventually she looked up. “I know why you ask me this. You want to break with me. You always complaining about China, too much traffic, weather too hot, too cold, food too spicy...”

“No! That’s not it at all.” He flung his arms up in the air. “I want to be with you, but I need money too, and I don’t want to take a long contract if you will not be here.”

“It does not matter where I am, you want to go.”

She got up to leave

“Julia. Please. Sit down so we can talk about this.”

She walked to the door and opened it.

“Julia!”

 

He texted her saying he wanted to be with her and suggesting a time when they could continue their study.

She replied she was busy working.

The gas hot water broke in the apartment and it took three days to get it fixed.

 

Cold showers. How appropriate.

            He texted her again, told her how much he wanted to have Chinese New
Year with her in January, eat dumplings, maybe go skiing.

No reply.

           

Finally he phoned her. His heart lodged in his throat as he listened to the ring tone. He almost dropped the phone in surprise when she answered.

“Hi Julia. How are you?”

“Ok.”

“How is your study going?”

“So so.”

“Maybe we can start studying together again?”

She didn’t answer.

“I applied for job at a private language school.

“Did you get it?”

“I don’t know yet. I have an interview tomorrow.”

“What about your family. You will go home to see them, yes?”

“Maybe next year. Maybe we can both go together?”

No answer.

“Do you want to study again?”

“Maybe. I am still very busy.”

 

A few days later he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and then there was a knock on the door.

He opened it to find Julia standing there.

“Hi. Come in.”

“Hi.” She looked around the apartment. “Did you get the job?”

He shook his head. “No. The guy that was leaving decided to stay another year, but they said I can do part-time work there in the evening and weekends. I can earn extra money that way. I told them I can’t work every day. I still want time to see my friends.” He looked at her.  

            She smiled. “Maybe I can study at your new school? I think maybe I need more help to do well in the English exam. I decided I will do study at a language school part-time and work another year at the airline to save more money.”

            Malcolm smiled. “We can still study together as well. I will keep plenty of time free for you.” He looked out the window, it was late afternoon, warm and sunny. “Come on, it’s a nice day. Let’s go for a walk in the park.”

He picked up his phone and wallet and held out his hand.

She stood up and put her hand in his. He pulled her out the door, then tried to lift her up and carry her down the stairs.

“No!” she shrieked.

 

            They ate ice cream and wandered among the gardens, trees and pagodas. Several different songs played around them, spouting from battery powered speakers, accompanying singing, dancing and tai chi groups.

“Come and dance!” Julia said pulling him by the arm.

Malcolm blushed. “I’m not a good dancer.”

            She dragged him into the swirling crowd. He tried his best to keep time and avoid standing on her feet. His old high school ballroom dancing lessons started to come back to him. The song finished and another started, slower this time. They danced close. He breathed in her perfume and felt her body next to his. His pulse quickened and his face flushed. He kissed her on the cheek. He felt her respond, drawing even closer, resting her head on his shoulder.

            Eventually the slow song ended, and another followed, faster again, a Chinese male and female duet. They danced and laughed amongst the throng. Couples spun around them expertly avoiding their amateur steps.

“What is this song?” said Malcom.

“Gu niao wo ai ni.” she said into his ear. Girl I love you.

            Malcolm stopped dancing and looked into her eyes. “I like this song.” he said.

She looked back at and smiled. “I like it too, very much.”

********

Read Love at First Flight (Part 1) - Broken English here.

Read Love at First Flight (Part 2) - Life is A Roller coaster here

 

Read Love at First Flight (Part 3) -  Sad Songs here.

 

Read Love at First Flight (Part 4) – Freeze Frame, here.

 

********

To see what happens to Malcolm and Julia, read Broken China - Four families. Four dreams. Four very different paths.

 

 

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Seeds of Time – (Sequel to Outside In). In 2055 rural China prospers again after a period of dramatic changes, then things are complicated by a strange visitor and a hidden object.

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Robots on Mars – 2025. A space-mad city boy adjusts to life in the country and tries to solve a mystery.    (Note: no actual robots or Martians involved)

Promised Land – (Sequel to Robots on Mars). It’s 2050 and development threatens the rural district. Is it what they really need and if not, how can they stop it?

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Tell me what you think.  Constructive comments welcome.

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