Klempner - Twenty-Six Years Ago
1373 Words
Klempner - Twenty-Six Years Ago
After a morning of making arrangements, greasing of palms and more fun that I can ever remember having, I throw clothes into a case.
Passport…
Ticket….
Credit and debit cards…
Currency….
Anything else?
She’s nervous….
How…?
At the last moment, I unzip the case and pack one more item: pyjamas.
When I return to her apartment, mid-afternoon, Mitch is waiting. As I enter, her face lights up. “I wasn’t sure you were serious.”
A small suitcase sits by the door and the smile of a small child in the candy shop sits on her face.
“So now you know. I’m serious. Ready?”
“Abso-lutely.”
I nod her out. “Taxi’s waiting.”
*****
My fingers numb, I hold the umbrella over her. Sleet spits down from lowering cloud. It’s a miserable day, threatening all the chill and gloom of mid-winter with none of the compensations. The wind is slight, but it bites at ears and fingertips. Cars splash through ice-rimmed puddles, drawing curses from unwary pedestrians.
“Where to?” asks the cabby.
“Airport.”
“Airport?” Mitch’s breath catches. “You meant it then?”
“Yes, the airport. And of course I meant it.” Then the obvious occurs to me. “You're not scared of flying, are you? I didn't have you down as the scaring kind.”
“Um, don't know. I've never flown before.”
A girl’s first time?
“I can introduce you to it then. I think you’ll enjoy it.”
She sits back in her seat wearing an unbelieving expression. In the mirror, the cabby grins at me and winks.
“Where are we going?”
Feeling insufferably smug, I say, “You'll see.”
*****
At the airport, we have a wait of half an hour or so. Despite the offensively high prices, I want to celebrate.
“Champagne, please.”
“Coming up, sir.”
Mitch goggles. “Larry….”
“A real Christmas.” I offer my flute to hers.
Only now is that disbelieving expression fading. “A real Christmas.” She clinks her glass to mine.
The tannoy blarts its message. I stand. “That’s us. Gate 42. Drink up.”
“Where are we going? Where?” Squealing, she snatches at my travel bag, tugging it away from me, then riffles through before pulling out airline tickets. “Stockholm? We’re going to Stockholm for snow?” Her eyes are wide, brilliant with delight.
“No. You'll see.” I'm feeling indecently pleased with myself.
“But….” She frowns, looking down at the tickets.
“We’re going through Stockholm.”
“Then where?”
“You’ll see.”
*****
“First class? We’re travelling first class?”
“Yes, we’re travelling first class. Keep walking. You’re blocking the aisle.”
She’s never flown….
“Do you want the aisle seat, then you don’t have to see out?”
Mitch is almost bouncing. “Are you kidding? You think I’m not going to watch if I have the choice?” She pushes past me to take the window seat. Despite our being in first class, the luxury is lost on her as she sits with her nose pressed to the glass, only breaking away when the hostess taps her on the shoulder to fasten her safety belt.
The jet taxis along. Mitch doesn’t look remotely nervous. As it takes the corner onto the runway, the plane vibrates to a rising hum. She looks to me….
“About to take off. That’s the engines powering up.”
She’s on fire. “I've never had adventures before.”
“Adventures?” My smile breaks free again. “Can't say I'd thought of an air-flight like that, but if adventures are what you want, you can have them.” I nod her back to the window. “We’re about to go.”
Nothing in my life has prepared me for the simple pleasure of watching Mitch as we take off. I have flown…. How many times? I have no idea…. Hundreds certainly. But she sits there, quivering with anticipation, like those kids you see in the movies who’ve been told Santa is coming….
Does that really happen?
Does Santa really come…?
The engines rise to that scream they make, the jet rumbling down the runway. As we leap into the air, pressing back into our seats, Mitch looks to me, so briefly, her eyes sparkling, beyond delight, before she presses to the window again, watching the ground fall away. The mud-greens and dull browns of a miserable winter’s day turn to grey and blue as we ascend.
Cloud wisps around us, rushing past as we rise through a dull limbo, then with shocking suddenness, we break through to the sunshine. The blue vault opens above us and below, cushioned clouds of white, brilliant with light, recede.
So beautiful…
Never noticed that before…
She turns. “Larry….” She swallows and somehow, looks lost.
I take her hand and kiss the fingers. “A Real Christmas. Yes?”
“Yes, oh yes….”
The trolley-dollies come by serving food and wine. As Mitch’s is placed in front of her, she sits staring at it.
“Something wrong with your meal?”
“Wrong?” Her eyes are glossy. “What could be wrong?” She sucks at her lips, then swallows. “Larry, I don’t know what to say….”
“Then don’t say anything. Enjoy your turkey.”
*****
In Stockholm, the driver is waiting. I had no intention of trying to compete with Christmas crowds for taxis. Instead, when I booked….
… this morning….
How can it have been only this morning?
…. I simply kept upping the price until I found one who would meet us at Arrivals.
And he’s there, holding up a card: ‘Klempner’
“That’s us.” I point her towards him, then dump the two suitcases on the trolley I instructed him to have ready. Smoothly he takes the cart and points us to the main exit. “The car’s right outside, sir. Where are we going?”
“Ferry port.”
Mitch, her eyes widening. “Ferry port?”
“As I said, we’re going through Stockholm.”
Her brow creases. “So, where…?”
“Helsinki.”
“Helsinki?”
“You want snow. I’m giving you snow.”
*****
“Tired?”
She yawns and stretches in her taxi seat. “Mmmm…. Yes. It’s been a long day.”
I lay my hand on hers. “You can doze now. When we get aboard the ferry, we’ll have a meal then you can sleep properly. It’s an overnight trip.”
“What time do we sail?” Her relaxed air fades, replaced by suspicion.
“Around midnight. Now, sleep. Tomorrow you can enjoy the sea and we’ll pull into Helsinki around sunset.”
“I’d not realised Stockholm and Helsinki were so far apart.”
“That’s Scandinavia in mid-winter for you. The days are short. Sunset is only about three pm.”
*****
“Oh my God,” she breathes. “It's so beautiful.” Mitch watches with that small-child-amazed look she has. “When you said it was a ferry, I expected something a lot more....”
I swallow my satisfaction. “Basic? Grungy?”
She blushes. “Mmmm, yes. But this is all glass and polished brass and....” She eyes me. “You've done this before.”
“Of course I have. You didn't think I would bring you somewhere I wasn’t sure you would like?”
“Like? It’s fantastic.”
*****
I booked a stateroom, but I was lucky. With Christmas only days away, the luxury suites should have been fully occupied, but there was an ‘illness in the family’ cancellation and after a suitable offer to the booking clerk, which probably paid for her Christmas, I found myself at the top of the cancellation list.
And the quarters are everything I remembered, all the luxury touches: the champagne waiting as we arrive, chocolates on the pillows in those gold-foil wrappings that apparently entitle the manufacturer to charge five times the price of the contents; fresh flowers, fruit….
All of that…. stuff….
But I can give her stuff anytime. What I wanted was the view. No portholes here. Up on the eleventh deck, we look down on the ship and out over the sea. It’s late, pitch-black outside save for the ship's lights and a pale glimmer of water. But I know what I want to see tomorrow.
What I want her to see tomorrow….
Mitch eyes the double-bed speculatively. “I promised you no strings,” I say. “But I’d like to sleep next to you. Is that all right?”
Her smile blossoms. “Yes, that’s fine.” She nods to the bathroom. “I’ll just clean my teeth.”
And as she steps out again, I laugh. She’s wearing pyjamas too, a pale green flannel with a butterfly pattern, and a pair of green fur-lined slippers, again decorated with small embroidered butterflies.
She blushes. “Hope you don’t mind. I thought PJs would be….”
“Not at all. I had the same thought” I hold up my striped offering for inspection.
“Very elegant,” she says gravely. “A genuine sartorial statement.”
In the bed, I roll her into my arms, but I don't try to touch her.
“Larry?” Uncertainty crackles in her voice.
“Mmm?”
“I really thought you would want to….”
I pull her close, kiss her forehead. “I do. But more than that, I want you to want it too. Now go to sleep.”
She stirs but doesn’t reply. After a while, her breathing slows and becomes steady.
*****
- Writer
