"In Eight Months' Time" Weekly - 11

     IN A RESTAURANT WHICH WAS A PROPER ONE IN EVERY SENSE — a round room
restaurant with dark stripped- wood floors and very attractive tables. At one end there
were floor- to ceiling mirrors and, along two sides, were windows for the street, so that
one would view the beautiful creatures outside perfectly without being viewed from
outside. Jimmy Robert had fell in love with the place on the very first visit. Of all his
conquests, it was only Sarah and Liza he had managed to give a treat here. According to him, the foods here are: 'simply the best.' And here, he is sitting on a cozy table for
two in front of a white lady, aged twenty five, charming in a silver colour gown. They’d
just finished eating. There were crumbs of food on the plates with glasses filled with
champagne. A waiter came over and cleared the table. Jimmy Robert lifted his glass
and drank from it then, poured more from the bottle.
     “I miss you, Sarah”
     “You do? I thought you found someone else”.
     “No, baby and what about you? Did you miss me? Jimmy Robert asked.
He considered her face anxiously.
     “Hmmm. I don't know but I was just waiting, hoping you will come back if you were mine”.
That’s exactly what he wanted to hear! He was on the driving seat—always does. He
knew Sarah would take most of the things he would throw at her. But, he needed to be
careful—to make it real, especially now that she means a whole lot to him.
     “After our little misunderstanding, I had a face-off with my boss. All this left me angry and
confused…”
     “Your boss, tell me about him”, she cut him off.
     “I left him”, Jimmy Robert replied.
He made what happened just yesterday looked like it happened about two months ago.
     “You quit his Job?” Sarah asked, her tone now falling.
     “Yeah, I was no longer comfortable with him. Thanks to my luck, I found a better job”, he replied.
     “Oh, My God! You never cease to amaze me and your new boss?
     “He’s a maverick. He has companies he inherited from his father and, he wants me to act as a supervisor in the companies”.
He hesitated and, set his ridiculously seducing eyes.
     “Now, I’ve realized your worth to me. How I long to see your laughter fills solemn air. They give me breath —the reason to live.Your eyes, your smile, make me want to spend the rest of my life with you”.

He finished it off by opening his right hand to let Sarah see a LITTLE ORNATE BOX. He opened it, fixed inside was a DIAMOND RING.
     “Will you marry me, Sarah?”
It was surprise! Surprise! For Sarah—a hint of it showed on her face. She smiled. She loved him. She knew he was romantic and, fun to be with—every woman’s dream. She couldn’t hesitate. She couldn’t pretend or fake the moment though her dream man was doing exactly that.
     “It’s beautiful! Yes, I’ll marry you”, she replied.
Her voice at that moment sounded like a lullaby in Mr. Robert’s ears. And it neutralized the air
around him.
     “This is the greatest day of my life! This is the greatest day of my life!” he shouted atop his voice—it caught the attention of other customers.
The elated Jimmy Robert showed less concern.
     “But...”
     “But what?” Jimmy Robert cut in immediately, still at the top of his voice.
     “The Ring!” Sarah replied.
     “Oh baby, you almost give me a heart attack!”

AFTER THE WONDERFUL MOMENT AT THE RESTAURANT, THEY ENDED UP IN
ANDY TODD’S LIVING ROOM to continue where they stopped. Jimmy Robert had
taken one of Andy Todd’s exotic cars for the 'quest' as Andy would want it called. He
got the green light and the feeling of a first class citizen—Andy Todd had confirmed
since day one. After their lunch and his proposal to Sarah, he drove her around the
City before coming to Andy Todd’s place to climax it all—joie de vivre! He popped a
bottle of port and, poured two glasses.
     “This place looks like it springs from the pages of a glossy design journal, is he living here alone?” Sarah asked.
     “We live together”, Jimmy Robert replied.
He handed her a glass, they clinked glasses and sipped.
     “Then he must be coming home with different ladies”, she said giving a saucy smile.
     “Well, I haven’t seen him with one yet”, Jimmy Robert replied.
     “Surprise, Isn’t it?” she asked.
     “I.... gotta go upstairs, be back in a minute”, Jimmy Robert said.
Sarah nodded her reply.
JIMMY ROBERT RUSHED UPSTAIRS TO ANDY TODD'S CHAMBERS, taking the long and beautiful step two at a time. He met Andy Todd at the entrance.
     “Huh, are you set?” Jimmy Robert asked.
     “You must make her say at the top of her voice”, Andy Todd replied.
     “And you keep the door wide open to aid in that”, Jimmy Robert said.
     “Everything is set but, wait”, Andy Todd said.
He moved into his chambers, grabbed a flat object on top of a large table. The object had the sameness of a MEDAL. He opened a SMALL METAL POT also on the large table, held the flat object with both hands up high—eyes closed and, spoke in strange language:
     “ BRACHA—ZAI—TIHZH —NEIY!”
He opened his eyes, broke the flat object into the SMALL METAL POT.
Moments later, it produced bubbles of gas and burned, sending WISPY TENDRILS OF
INCENSE into the air. He signalled Jimmy Robert to leave.

ROBERT MET SARAH SITTING ON A COUCH WITH A GLASS of port in hand. He
stared at her blankly, studied her face, absorbed in his thoughts. Sarah gave him a
charming smile.
     “Gonna do something for me”, he said.
     “Like what?” she asked.
     “Like a test”.
     “What kind of test?” she asked, captivated by the topic.
     “A love test”, Jimmy Robert replied.
Her eyes widened as she smiled. She was easy going, innocent by face, friendly by smile.
     “I’m serious!” Jimmy Robert emphasized.
     “Really?” she asked.
     “Now, you gonna answer these questions on top of your voice, as loud as you can. I repeat, as loud  as you can", he said.
She made a rough face yet, with a smile.
     “Just give me yes or no. I want this room to reverberate! No joking”, he said.
Sarah covered her mouth with her hands.
     “No need to worry about that, this is sound proof.”
He tapped the wall jokingly then, moved away from Sarah to one corner of the room.
     “Do you love me, Sarah?” Jimmy Robert asked.
     “Yes!” Sarah shouted her reply.
He signalled her to shout louder. She was tipsy. The idea was to make her tipsy. But even if she weren’t, Jimmy Robert would’ve still squeezed what he wanted from her because she hero-worship him.
     “Would you kill for me?” he asked.
     “Yes!” she yelled her reply.
     “Would you stick with me for the rest of your life?”
     “Yes!” she yelled.
     “Would you have children for me?”
     “Yes!!” she replied.
Jimmy Robert paused, cleared his throat. The next question was to be the most important of all. Something was happening at Andy Todd’s chambers whenever Sarah answered 'yes' to Jimmy Robert’s questions.
     “Will you give me Levy?”
He moved his hands around his stomach. Sarah hesitated, reasoned and, understood it to be giving
birth to a child like Levy.
     “Yes!!” she yelled her reply.

AT ANDY TODD'S CHAMBERS, everything happened simultaneously. The wispy tendrils of incense that came out from the SMALL METAL POT fragmented and returned into the same POT whenever Sarah answered 'Yes' to Jimmy Robert’s questions. When she answered 'Yes' to Jimmy Robert’s last question, as usual, the wispy tendrils of incense fragmented and returned to the SMALL METAL POT. But, this time, when it got to the POT, the contents of the POT exploded, giving a pop
sound. Andy Todd watched and gave a smile of satisfaction.

At the living room, it was stilled for some moments. Jimmy Robert stood at the corner of the room stroking his well-trimmed beard. A classic music began to play softly. The sobriety on his face showed greatly as he walked slowly towards Sarah on the couch. She fixed her pigeon love eyes steadily on him, showing all the love in them. Mr. Robert got to her, took her two hands, she stood on her feet and, he kissed them.
     “I’ve always known in my heart that you love me. I know that I love you too. I only wanted to be assured if my soul will be saved in your heart if I die before you.”
That music, that music! It invoked something magical that Sarah could not resist. She lifted her arms and embraced him.
     "We are Penguins, you treat me as one" she whispered.
They kissed and kissed again. Jimmy Robert’s hands travelled all over her body.
     “I love you”, she whispered.
Jimmy Robert put his face deep into her, closed his eyes as the smell of her washed over him. His heart bit against him. He pulled himself to think but, Sarah, consumed by the heat of that moment, held him tightly. They continued kissing and, sank to the floor.