Had Dana Lee heard Eli’s side of the story in person, had
she seen with her eyes his true distress, and observed his dismay, her emotion
couldn’t have been greater than it was from just reading his letter. Back at
home, in the privacy of her bedroom, at home, before her writing desk, Dana Lee took out Eli’s letter from her Chanel
purse to study for the fifth time. She still couldn’t quite believe how one
handwritten letter, two sheets of mere paper (blue), scribbled untidily, could
change her life.
This is what Eli wrote:
Bella knows just how to punch my pity buttons. She has
practiced for 20 years! Tired as I was, I agreed finally. But I insisted that I
would have to fly back to Manila immediately
after the ball. My album is the most important thing to me right now. For the
first time in my life, I have some personal achievement, a serious career goal to
work towards, and I wasn’t about to let my schedule be messed up just because
she needed a date for a party. Please forgive me for the hurt I have caused you.
I can only say that it stems from my ignorance, and my sad lack of confidence.
My older brother never gave me an active role in my family’s
business, and I didn’t have any real ambition in that area any way. All my
life, I’d nothing serious to engage my time, nothing to take me away from Bella;
And surely she wouldn’t have thought herself attached to me had I been more
distant to her, but we were close. I can’t deny that. Being my mother’s
favourite, I never had much to do, and not much to occupy my time, except my
music. I was indulged as the youngest son, and was allowed whatever I liked, which
meant that I was at home a lot and saw Bella more than I saw anyone.
“But you see, Bella is like a sister to me. I’m certainly not
in love with Bella, nor ever been, not even slightly. She was brought up, when
her mother died in our family’s service, like the little girl that my mother
had wanted after giving birth to us two boys. It was always joked that Bella
would marry one of us brothers so that she would become a ‘daughter’ of the
family – but I don’t think anyone ever took this very seriously – except,
evidently, Bella herself. It’s probably cruel to say such things to children, even
in jest, to raise any vain hope, but that’s all there was to it.
“Her mother was our nanny, her dad our family chauffeur, and
she’s my childhood friend. That’s all her relationship is to me.
“I don’t have many friends, and my brother is too busy for
me. I’m shy, so it was natural for me to be close to Bella. She and I spent our
teens together, until she went to work at Glossy,
for you. She always appeared nice, and she was always smart, smarter than me. Considering
everything, I hope, unforgivable as my behaviour has been in every way, you can
understand where I’m coming from. Please wait for me until I return from Bangkok
next week; The last leg of my tour will end there, and then I will see you, and
I will explain everything else to your satisfaction.
“I love you. Eli.”
The change in mood which this letter wrought in the mind and
heart of Dana Lee was so great that it promised yet another sleepless night. And
after Dana happily told her mother the contents of Eli’s letter, Mrs Tina Lee,
went to bed with a box of candied ginger. She got more and more comfortable
with visions of Eli Kee as a new member of her family, someone new to fuss over
and gossip about.
No comments:
Post a Comment