Which really just left the option of heading for the sitting room, where at least the chairs were more comfortable and the lighting wasn’t so unforgiving.
Musical rooms, she thought. Just as well there weren’t many in her house or they could be doing this all night, or at least until she said what she had to say and then chucked him out.
She didn’t switch on the overhead light. Instead she turned on the lamp on the side table and then tucked herself into her favourite chair, an old, comfy thing that had witnessed her weep in front of many a sad movie.
‘I don’t know how we landed up here, Rafael,’ she said slowly, watching as he made himself comfortable on a chair that was too small for him, ‘but it’s all wrong. We belong in different places. Good Lord, we even live in completely different countries!’#p#分页标题#e#
‘Yes, you’re right, we do.’
‘And we should never, ever have got involved with one another.’
‘Which just goes to show that fate is alive and doing well.’
‘No, it doesn’t. It just shows that we started something we should have known we would never finish.’
‘Why?’
‘Why what? Why did we start it? Because…well…and that’s another thing! You started something because you wanted to find out more about me and my intentions and I started it because I ended up being attracted to you.
‘But what we should have done was pay attention to the fact that really, together, we made no sense. I mean…’ She rooted around for the most effective way she could think of to express what she was trying to say…‘You’re talking absolute rubbish.’ He stood up and pulled his chair over to her so that he was up close and personal and they were no longer divided by the width of the room. Now, he could actually see her in the dim, mellow lighting, could actually touch her if he wanted to. Much better.
Amy opened her mouth to object and he covered it with his hand. ‘You’ve had your turn, now it’s mine. Agreed?’
She nodded and he removed his hand.
‘For me,’ Rafael said quietly, ‘the only thing that doesn’t make sense is my life when you’re not in it.’ He was walking the sharp edge of a precipice and he didn’t care. It was liberating to talk. He didn’t understand how he could have doubted his ability to reveal himself to this woman because now he was finding it the easiest thing in the world to do. He reached out, searching for her hand, his eyes still firm on her face, and grasped it in his own.
‘We’ve been over all that business of when we first met, the stupidity of not telling you who I was. But that seems irrelevant to me now. The relevant thing, the life-changing thing for me, was how you made me feel. I met you and I began to see the world, my life, me, in a different way. Do you understand what I’m saying?’
‘No, could you explain further?’ Amy was scared of blinking just in case this magical moment vanished in a puff of smoke.
Rafael smiled, amused. ‘Only if you’re sure I’m not boring you…’
‘Oh, no—’ Amy cleared her throat and tried to maintain her equilibrium ‘—it’s good for men to show their feelings. Real men cry.’
‘Hmm. Not sure about that…what I am sure about is that I misread the obvious when we met. Instead of asking myself how it was that you made me act out of character, I kidded myself that it didn’t matter. When I flew over here to see you, I didn’t stop to think how a simple case of lust could affect me so badly. If I had, I might have arrived at my conclusion earlier…’
‘Conclusion?’ Amy asked hopefully.
Rafael looked down at his fingers entwined with hers. ‘I thought I wanted you, I thought we had unfinished business, but only in the physical sense. That was why I went back to Elizabeth. I was determined to give it another try because I was adamant that what I felt for her had to be more significant than what I felt for you. After all, on paper, she was my perfect match. Which brings me back to what you said about us making no sense together. On paper, we might not, but then love doesn’t obey any written rules, does it?’
‘Love?’ Amy squeaked.
‘Isn’t love what this is all about?’ Rafael looked at her and then touched the side of her face with his hand. ‘I fell in love with you, Amy. You took my ordered, controlled, predictable life and turned it upside down. I finished with Elizabeth when I realised that I couldn’t go on lying to myself and then I came over here to tell you that I can’t live without you. I…I’m taking a gamble that you…feel the same way about me.’#p#分页标题#e#