Chapter 4
‘Please. Come in!’ Emilia said with a theatrical flourish from her hand, suddenly eager to appear as pleasant a hostess as the main lead from Stepford Wives.
The plumber walked in, his perfectly sculpted face a mirage of dark brows, shimmering green eyes and pillowy lips. When she heard Mr Alekos’s voice again, it hardly registered, but she willed herself to take her eyes off the hunk in time to see the back of the elderly man as he excused himself and walked away.
‘The leaky tap’s in the kitchen, right?’ said the plumber, and Emilia nodded profusely, leading him to the sink. Wet crumbs from the toast she’d had the previous day had stuck on the side of the sink, but it was too late to remove them now. She gulped and indicated toward the tap needlessly. ‘Here it is. As you can see, it’s leaking.’
The man didn’t seem to notice how uptight she felt. He put the toolbox on the counter and opened it, looking for something in it, while asking her politely, yet without looking at her, to switch off the water from the mains.
As Emilia dashed to the balcony to oblige him, she wondered why she was getting so enthralled by the man. He didn’t seem older than thirty. What was she hoping for? Why would he even consider seeing her romantically? She was a forty-five-year-old and he was more likely in his mid-twenties. Plus, the man belonged to a modelling agency. Surely, he had a whole collection of female twenty-somethings, one for each day of the week, to get romantic with. He didn’t need a crinkly like her, not even for one day. If he did give me a chance, it would be for Red Nose Day. For a few laughs. And for charity…
Returning to the kitchen, she smiled bitterly to herself at the thought. Indeed. Why did she even bother fantasizing about getting a chance with him? Unlike Esmera’s odd promise of youth last night, all she had was a beautiful song as a present, which attempted to show her that words can change attitudes. Yes… I can never be young again. But, perhaps I can change my attitude toward my age. Perhaps, it’s not too late to find happiness. Even now. Being the crinkly that I am.
She knew she wasn’t a crinkly, per se. But wrinkles kept on coming, and she had long lost hope of reversing the process. Calling herself a crinkly felt safe. It gave her a sense of control. This way, she’d have no more nasty surprises along the way when it came to her deteriorating looks.
She was still deep in thought when she returned to the sink to find the man was in the process of unscrewing the tap, veins popping on his forearms, causing her to reel. Wow. I need to find a guy. Before I get to the menopause. Imagine me having hot flushes and still being single? I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere! “Half a kilo of feta please”, I could be saying to any given young man at the supermarket and getting all hot at the sight of him scooping cheese out of a tub. Oh no. Perish the thought.
She cleared her throat and the plumber looked up from the tap, which he’d just unscrewed. ‘Shall I make you a cup of coffee? Or a tea perhaps?’ she asked.
He returned his attention to the job in hand and didn’t look at her again when he said, ‘Thank you, but no need. I had a coffee on my way here.’
He carried on working and seemed oblivious to her very presence. For some reason, that made her feel terribly lousy, and she wondered why that was. Inside her mind, her insecurities about her looks fought with her sense of logic. No, he was just a tactless, rude man, who didn’t have the social graces to look at a woman, whose house he was visiting for work, while she offered him a coffee. Deciding this was the case, she realized the stupid Adonis could very well do the job without her gracing him with her presence.
‘Sorry, I have some work to do in there…’ she said, pointing vaguely toward her bedroom, even though she suspected he wasn’t going to look up.
He did. But only for a split second. ‘Uh-huh…’ he said non-committally and returned his attention to the tap.
‘Call me when you’re done. I’ll be on my computer!’ she said, vexed anew, as she spun around.
‘Okay,’ she heard him say as she walked to her bedroom, rolling her eyes. Even if a fairy godmother landed in her bedroom right now to get her ready for a ball, she would pick one of the rats frequenting the basement sooner than she’d consider this rude little man as her date. Even though, as it turned out, his buns did look as tight as melons…
Behind her closed bedroom door, and happy to have some privacy at last after the eventful start to her day, she gave a huge sigh and changed into a t-shirt and a pair of slacks. Combing her long hair and piling it up in a bun, she smiled to herself, and peered at her face close up. ‘No. You’re certainly not a crinkly, not yet, old girl. Your dark hair may be peppered with grey, but your future days don’t have to be grey or dark… You have a few more years of fun in you, don’t you, before you commit yourself to a comfy armchair before a TV with a scatter of cats at your feet,’ she said in a whisper, chuckling to herself.
Then, she remembered the song and went to the laptop, releasing the track to play again. The melody filled the room, the delightful drum beat she’d already got to adore reverberating around the small space, causing her feet to move to the beat. The words began to echo loudly, and she had no qualms, even though she wasn’t alone in the house, to sing along. And, this time, she was pleased to find she remembered all the lyrics with perfect clarity.
… It’s in the heart
The joy, the sorrow
When will I see?
I choose to be.
The song had just ended and she felt satisfied with herself for having learned the lyrics so quickly. She was about to close the window on the screen, when, suddenly, she felt dizzy. It was a very strong dizziness, and she had to steady herself by holding on to the desk with both hands. For a few seconds, the room spun around her at a tremendous speed and she sat on her desk chair in a hurry.
For a while, she felt like she’d been put on one of those kiddie rides—the ones that keep turning and turning until the centrifugal force threatens to toss you out, causing you to stick to the side of the seat as if you’re about to become one with the cold metal.
Once the dizzy spell ended, Emilia realized she had screwed her eyes shut. She opened them slowly and took in a shallow breath, then another. She put a hand on her head, surprised to find beads of sweat had gathered there.
Phew… What just happened? She stood slowly, her hands gripping the edge of the desk, just in case. She looked around, turning her head slowly left, then right, relieved to find the dizziness had gone. Perhaps I got too agitated with this rude man. And let’s not forget how my morning started. I barely had time to enjoy my coffee before the intrusion began!
Huffing, she moved to open the bedroom door to go check on the man in the kitchen. Once he was gone, she was going to do her best to have a nice day. Perhaps, I’ll have a long walk. It’s sunny. Another slow week workwise lies ahead. Nothing planned for today. I might as well go out and connect with nature…
She went to the kitchen to find the man closing his toolbox. Guessing he’d finished the job, she approached him eagerly and said: ‘You’re done? That was quick!’
The plumber turned his head toward her and did a double take, much to her surprise. Then, he turned his full body toward her, his eyes sparkling like emeralds. With a catlike gait, he took two steps closer to her, offering a wide smile. ‘Oh, hi! Sorry, I thought you were your mother for a moment there…’
Emilia’s brows shot up. ‘My mother?’
‘Yes. The lady who let me in. You look exactly like her. Well, like a twenty-year younger version of hers, I guess. What’s your name, gorgeous? I’m Aristos…’ He offered his hand, but she was too stunned to react, so it was left hanging for a few seconds, before he retracted it, looking clearly embarrassed.
‘What are you talking ab—?’ Emilia stopped midsentence. Not just because she felt breathless, seeing that Aristos had come so close to her that his heady aftershave was attacking her nostrils, but also because of what he’d said. Twenty years? Oh.My.God! The song. No! It can’t be!
‘Excuse me!’ she said, a little too loud. She was panting now. Aristos’s long lashes had fluttered like butterfly wings from the force of her exhalation.
She spun around and began to hurry back to her bedroom.
Aristos gave a nervous chuckle. ‘Where are you going? Come back! You didn’t even give me your name…’
She turned around at the doorjamb, the rubber soles of her shoes squeaking. She gazed at him mutely, still in shock.
His eyes scoped her up and down a couple of times, then landed on her bust and stayed there, making her wish she had picked a more roomy t-shirt to wear. But how could she have known? The difference twenty years make! Wow! But I need to see… to see for myself!
Desperate to get to her room one moment sooner, she turned away from him, rushing into her room and closing the door with a slam. Oh, you deserved that one, you rude little man!
Feeling spooked all of a sudden, she took her time to walk up to her full-body mirror. Oh gosh… I hope she made me look okay… Like… myself, I mean. Well, the man said I looked like ‘the lady’ who let him in… so… There was nothing for it. It had to be done.
This is silly. Here goes!
Emilia took the last step to the mirror with her eyes closed shut, childishly enough. To her defense, she was rather freaked out. It hadn’t been the sanest of mornings.
When she finally opened her eyes and looked in the mirror, she took a couple of moments just staring in disbelief, then began to jump up and down. ‘Whoop! Whoop! She did it! Esmera was for real! Wow! I am young! Young! Yaaaay!’
She guessed the guy in the other room could hear. Surely, her whoops were reverberating around the walls of her apartment, if not the whole building. But she didn’t give a hoot.