No Ordinary Love(3)
“A few secrets are crucial to the success of any relationship.” Isabella put her hands on top of Nat’s. “I, for instance, have no idea where you were for the better part of last night. And I don’t intend to ask.”
“See, this is what I have to deal with every day. This emotional manipulation. I know she can’t help herself, but still.” Nat squeezed Isabella’s shoulders and Isabella let her head fall back onto Nat’s belly. “And you know full well I may not have spent the better part of the night in your bed, but I was there for the best part.” Nat leaned down and planted a kiss on Isabella’s nose.
“Mind and word games. This is what my life has become. Oh, how I wish I had landed a hot fitness instructor as my trophy wife. It seems so much less complicated.”
Nat curled her fingers around Isabella’s neck and mock-strangled her. “I know Alex seems perfect, but she’s only human, just like the rest of us.” While stepping away from Isabella, Nat grabbed a pastry and sat down in between her and Maddie. “You must have discovered that by now.” Nat cast her glance towards Maddie again.
“Well, there is the unfortunate habit of dim sum with the family every other Sunday. As if she’d be disinherited if she dared to miss one Pozzato family meal.” It was a struggle every time Alex had to make it to Tai Po before noon on a Sunday. Her parents lived in a house in the country Maddie had not yet been invited to.
“You’ve been here long enough to know you don’t cross a Chinese mother when it comes to yum cha. It’s tradition. You don’t mess with that.”
“For some reason it was never an issue with the company I kept before.” Maddie thought about June and her growing belly. She was probably at dim sum as well, Mark’s family fawning over their pregnant daughter-in-law.
“Either way, you can’t blame Alex. She’s being a good daughter.” Nat chimed in. “They raised her well.”
Maddie nodded, hesitating to broach the next subject, even though it had been bugging her. “There’s also the case of the unmentionable ex.” She searched Nat’s face for a reaction. If anyone had information about Rita, it was her. “I know Rita cheated on her, but that’s it. It’s not as if I need all the details about their affair, far from it, but I do believe she would benefit from talking about it once in a while.”
“Give her some time.” Nat’s tone was serious. “It’ll sort itself out.”
“Really? How?” Maddie made eye-contact with Isabella in the hope of getting some support. “If she won’t even acknowledge the woman’s existence.”
“Alex is simply not the kind of person who needs to talk through everything extensively to process. She’s not that kind of lesbian. I mean, she is half-Chinese.” Nat sounded as if she really needed to convince Maddie of this.
“It’s not because they don’t easily talk about their feelings that they couldn’t benefit from it,” Isabella said. “I’ve been practising in Hong Kong for fifteen years and the only Chinese clients I ever get are the ones born and bred abroad.”
“I do hope it doesn’t come back to bite her in the ass.” Maddie, who had no interest in discussing the mental state of the local population, brought the subject back to Alex. “I wish she’d share more. I can see it in her eyes sometimes, this darkness, this well of emotions not dealt with.”
“There’s only one solution. Instead of talking about it with us, confront Alex.” Isabella extended her hand over the table and reached for Maddie’s. “And don’t push her.”
“She does have some wise things to say now and again.” Nat smiled at Isabella. “Then again, she attended university for about ten years so that education had better pay off.”
Maddie sagged back in her chair and let the easy banter between Nat and Isabella pass her by. As far as she knew, they didn’t have skeletons in their closet like Alex had.
* * *
“Did you tell them about me yet?” Maddie had awaited Alex’s return from Tai Po anxiously. After the impromptu chat she’d had with Nat and Isabella she was eager to get something out of her.
Alex walked over to where Maddie was sitting and pushed her down into the sofa cushions. “For now, you’re still my dirty, little, whip-cracking secret.” She smiled down at Maddie before kissing her.
Maddie wasn’t that dead-set on getting Alex’s parents’ approval, but she decided to use them as a way to instigate the conversation she wanted to have. “Are you afraid I won’t stack up against the memory of Rita?”