The Concubine's Child by Carol Jones

Author:Carol Jones [Jones, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781786699800
Publisher: Head of Zeus

25

AS SHE ENTERED the hotel through a revolving glass door, she spotted June sitting on a plush pink sofa, feet planted firmly on the red carpet. June seemed smaller than when she’d last seen her, or perhaps it was merely the oversized chairs. Amidst the purposeful throng of holidaymakers and business travellers she looked tense and anxious. She had made no concessions to the tropical climate, wearing a tailored skirt, long-sleeved cotton blouse and court shoes. As usual, her hair was styled into a neat bob.

‘June,’ she called as she approached, ‘you look perfectly put together for someone who just stepped off a twelve-hour flight.’

They hugged, perhaps a little closer than usual, and touched cheeks. June’s body felt thinner too, which made Sarah feel strangely protective, even maternal towards her mother-in-law.

‘They let me check in early and I freshened up,’ June explained with a smile. ‘How are you coping?’

‘I’m all right. I’m glad you’re here. I suppose you hardly recognised the city after so long.’

‘When I left I never for a moment imagined that I wouldn’t return for forty years. And now…’

‘It’s a different city?’

Neither of them was ready to discuss the reason she was here. That subject was too big and frightening to be tackled head-on. It had to be skirted around, sidled up to, ambushed. But they would get there. They didn’t have a choice.

Her phone chimed and she picked it up, thinking it might be the hospital.

‘It’s my mother.’

‘How many messages today?’

‘Seven. She’s complaining that the man next door is stealing her mail. How does she know this? Because he gets more junk mail than her.’ Sarah shrugged, showing her emoticon grimace, and June laughed.

‘At least she’s predictable in her unpredictability.’

‘Mmm.’

‘What would she do without you, Sarah?’

‘Drive the postman crazy for a start. But enough of my mother, have you had something to eat? Why don’t we sit in the hotel café and grab a bite before we go to the hospital?’ Sarah suggested. It would give them a chance to talk. And put off the moment when June saw Nick for another hour or two. ‘I could murder a pastry.’

*

THE TWO WOMEN sat by a window in the upstairs grill, their lunch forgotten as they pored over photographs on Sarah’s phone. The restaurant looked out over Kuala Lumpur’s famous Twin Towers and the lush green expanse of KL City Centre Park. The towers filled the view from the restaurant like soaring silver rockets. They dominated the skyline of Kuala Lumpur, visible even from the outer suburbs. And like the Eiffel Tower, London Bridge or the Sydney Opera House, they were immediately recognisable as a symbol of the city.

‘The house is in a bad state but Nick has made inroads. I suppose the upkeep was too much for your father. It must be a shock seeing it like this,’ she said as June studied the photographs intently. She didn’t know whether her mother-in-law was looking for something specific or simply memorising details. Or perhaps, like Sarah, she was still putting off the moment when they would talk about her son.

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