Chapter 56
CHAPTER 56
K ent was desperate to move the pillows. At the very least, he wanted to get rid of the one between their faces. He wanted to look Gemma in the eye as they spoke. Particularly as he was about to tell her something he’d only ever told one girlfriend before. A girlfriend who had laughed in response. Kent realised then that she probably wasn’t the person for him, but he didn’t think Gemma would laugh. He was almost sure she wouldn’t.
“Are you all right if I move this one?” he said, tapping the top pillow in the bed-barrier. He half-expected her to say no, and that she wanted to leave it in place, but instead her voice came across from the other side.
“Sure,” she said. “If you want to.”
Sitting up, Kent took the pillow and threw it across the room, where it landed softly in the tub chair. Seeing her face there, next to him, caused a wash of calm to roll through him. A smile rose on his lips and he could have stayed there, just looking at her, until she fell asleep. Only that would be creepy, Kent realised. Besides, she had asked him a question, and he wanted to answer.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” he said, lying back down.
“Honestly?” Gemma asked. “I don’t know. Probably not. I think it’s a bit far-fetched.”
It was the response he expected. After all, it was the answer most people gave and the one they all assumed he would give to. Only he never did.
“Well. I do,” he said. “I believe in love at first sight, and I know it’s real. My parents, they genuinely fell in love the first time they laid eyes on one another.”
He watched the surprise light up Gemma’s face. Surprise, but not disbelief.
“Really? Where were they?”
Kent propped himself up onto his elbows.
“They were both travelling and had been for months. And they’d visited lots of the same places, but they were in Borneo when they actually met. It’s where all the orangutans are. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it.”
“It’s in Asia, isn’t it?” Gemma replied.
“Right, there are loads of jungle there, and a big mountain. I mean, unfortunately, a lot of that jungle’s been lost to deforestation now, palm oil plantations, that kind of thing.”
“Wow, this really is a romantic story,” Gemma said, adding a quick grin to show she was only joking. Still, she was right. Talking about deforestation hadn’t been the aim of Kent’s conversation.
“Well, they were both there on the same day, taking a river safari. There’s so much wildlife on the island. It’s not just orangutans. There are crocodiles, flying foxes, pygmy elephants?—”
“Pygmy elephants, they’re not actually a thing?” she said, sitting up.
“They are, and, surprisingly enough, they’re found in Borneo.”
“All right, smartarse.” She grinned. “Get on with the story. They were on the same boat, I take it?”
“No. They weren’t. There are these tiny boats that only fit five or six people on. That’s it. They were travelling in opposite directions when their boats passed each other on the river. The moment my father saw her, he said he knew his whole world had changed. He had to find out where she was staying.”
“And I’m assuming he did,” Gemma said, “or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“He did. It took him two days to track her down, and it turns out she had been looking for him too. A week later, when they were back on mainland Malaysia, he proposed to her. But they both knew how their families were going to react, after all, he was only 20, she was 19, and they knew they would think it was ridiculous that they had made such a commitment without even knowing each other properly.”
“So what did they do?” Gemma asked.
“They got married. In Gretna Green, before they even went home.”
“Wow, how did their parents respond to that?”
“Surprisingly, it was actually my father’s parents who were most angry with them. He’s always been a bit of a mummy’s boy, and I think his parents were annoyed that he’d do something like that without telling them. But my mother’s family, they got it. As soon as they saw them together, they knew it was the real deal. They’ve been together for over 40 years now, and I feel like there are fewer and fewer couples that you can say that about.”
Kent was struck with a sudden urge to ring his mother and tell her the news she had been waiting years to hear, but of course, that was just the drink talking. There was no way he could actually do that.
“So that’s them, but that doesn’t explain why you’re single,” Gemma said.
“Oh, it completely does,” Kent replied. “I mean, that’s what I’ve been waiting for. The fireworks, the heart racing, the feeling like you could say ‘I do’ that instant and know that your whole life together would be incredible.”
“And you haven’t found that yet?” Gemma said, her voice a whisper.
“I hadn’t,” Kent said. “But then, a couple of weeks ago, that changed.”