The Perfect Happiness(83)

A little later, the telephone brought them back to reality with a jolt. They lay entwined, their naked limbs thrown over each other casually, hearts slowly decelerating with their breathing. “That’s my call for lunch,” she whispered with a laugh. “How do I look?”

“Glowing.” He pressed his lips to hers with a smile. “Shame you have to go. I could do that all over again.”

“We have an hour this afternoon.” She sat up and picked up the telephone. “I’ll be down in a minute,” she told Anita.

“I can think of a lot of mischief we can get up to in one hour.”

“That was pretty good for twenty minutes.”

“Tonight, I’ll take my time.”

She got up and hurried into the bathroom, picking up her dress on the way. When she saw her reflection, she laughed throatily. Her hair was wild, her cheeks raw, her mascara smudged beneath her eyes. She washed herself with a flannel, repaired her makeup, and sprayed another cloud of scent across her chest. When she emerged, Jack was already dressed in a biscuit-colored suit with an open-necked blue shirt. “You look smart,” she said, walking over to kiss him again. “I was so shocked to see you, I didn’t notice.”

“I’ve got a grand lunch to go to.”

“Oh?”

“There’s a really hot speaker who’s come all the way over from London just to talk to us.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not coming to my talk, are you?”

“Believe me, there’s only one hot speaker in the whole of Johannesburg.”

“You can’t!”

“Why not?”

“There isn’t room for you. It’s fully booked.”

“I know. I must have been the last person to get a ticket.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “I’m your cousin.”

“My cousin?” She looked incredulous.

“They have to make space for family.”

“You’re going to distract me.”

“I hope so. I’d be very put out if I’d gone to all that trouble not to have any effect at all.”

“Now I’m really nervous.”

“Don’t be. I’m your biggest fan, and besides, I’ve read The Silk Serpent, which is more than can be said for the rest of the guests downstairs.”

“They can buy their copies today.”

“And they will, when I tell them what a work of genius it is.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.

Anita was waiting in the lobby downstairs. They walked out of the lift together as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “This is Jack Meyer, my cousin,” said Angelica. Anita shook his hand, but she was more concerned with getting her author to the event on time.

“Everyone’s here waiting. Let’s go.” Angelica caught Jack’s eye and grinned.

“Good luck,” he said. “I’ll put up my hand and ask the first question.”

“That would be really helpful,” said Anita. “People are often a little shy.”

“Not in Johannesburg,” said Jack.

“Well, that’s true. We’re a pretty outspoken lot. But still, it’ll be good to get the ball rolling.”

The dining room was full of eager-looking children with their parents and grandparents. Jack and Angelica were immediately separated. Anita led Angelica into the crowd to meet her fans, while Jack wandered over to the other side of the room, where he stood by the window, watching her. She felt his eyes upon her like the sun, and once or twice raised hers to lock comfortably into his gaze like a sunflower that automatically finds the light. This is what it would be like if I had another life, she thought, staring at the handsome man who, only moments ago, had been making love to her. She pulled away and turned her smile on the children, thanking them for coming out to meet her on a Sunday, shaking hands with their parents, who told her how they had read The Caves of Cold Konard, too, and couldn’t put it down. All the while she was fizzing inside because Jack was there, in the same room, breathing the same air.





21


Joy is not in things; it is in us.

In Search of the Perfect Happiness



Later that afternoon, Angelica lay in Jack’s arms on the hotel bed, her naked body pressed against him, her leg wedged comfortably between his. They molded together perfectly, like intertwining branches of a gum tree. She didn’t feel guilty. It felt so natural, and they were so far from her London life and the risk of getting caught. It wasn’t hard to pretend she was single again.

Her talk had been a success. Jack had been true to his word and asked the first question. She had struggled to maintain her composure as the room had grown quiet and everyone had turned their attention to her. She was barely aware of what he asked, so distracted by his charisma that lit him up like some supernatural being—or perhaps it had been the sunlight streaming through the French doors behind him that had made it almost impossible to see him but in silhouette: his shaggy, unkempt hair framing his darkened face, his imposing stature that dwarfed the two women sitting on either side of him, the granular tone of his voice that resonated with the intimacy of their lovemaking. She was filled with gratitude that, for the moment at least, this leonine man belonged to her.