Le salle romantique

Mombasa. A place of hot humid air, as famous as the growing trend of dressing the Africans aped from the West decades after the white people left. Most buildings stood tall and strong with rococo designs on the walls. Pillars held the extensions of the concrete roofs that transitioned to the floors of the next blocks; most buildings were multi-storey with the ground floors mostly used for businesses. The Indians and Arabs were the popular dwellers of these houses. And they were very close together but not like in the town center. The buildings there were different, from the designs, number of storeys and the kind of people who rented them. Many things had changed and they still changed. And the young people were the most affected by the so called civilization of the 80’s. They discovered, especially the ladies, new ways of dressing. They even loved differently from the way their forefathers loved and they sinned more, behind the streets. Only those who had once or twice walked along the streets at night were privy of the secrets, as ugly as sin they were, obscured by the shadow of night. Darkness covered them and they continued living behind the shadows of secrets. Nobody really understood what had invaded the minds of the people that once cared, treasured and loved honestly before being infected by the contagious incurable desirous disease.

 

                                                                        

Chapter One.

                           A white cab stopped beside John Jefferson’s Complex; the tallest sky scraper of the days. Nobody alighted from it in the three minutes that followed, then a light skinned, lean, medium high lady emerged from the rear passenger door. She held a red leather handbag that she pushed against the cab’s door, it shut with a mild bang and the cab pulled out.

She wore a red cotton dress that reached just above the knee and would expose half her thighs at every step she made (that is probably what she thought when she wore it). Her legs were light and beautiful and they were appealing with the same degree as her gorgeous face that she applied little make up on. She put on black stiletto heels, a red and black African pearl necklace whose colors blended with those of her looped earrings. She wore no bangles, only a wrist watch on the right hand and a bracelet on the other. And she had this hairdo that wasn’t so common with young African women and that was probably the only visible hint that told you Kenya wasn’t the only country Lynn had lived in. In only a single look you would have concluded that she was a black American. But she wasn’t. Her hair was dark and soft and she pulled it back to a French pleat. Hell! She was damn gorgeous, exactly like on of the American models only seen on T.V. and a single glance always doesn’t satisfy the eye. So you look again and before you know it you are gazing.

The girl pulled her dress lower to cover a bit of her fleshy thighs then started walking in the direction the cab went. She was meeting someone she had just met a couple of weeks ago. Although she was excited, she felt a little edgy. That wasn’t her first date with the man but she felt as if it was the only one she ever had. Something felt different and she engaged her mind into a searching task of what could be causing the anxiety. It wasn’t what she was to say. She had already said many things since she met Tony and when he invited her to that date, she had planned what to say and do. And she planned to make him happy on that single night. Lynn would make it a day that Tony wold never wish to forget, it would be a surprise and when she thought of it she smiled. She was in love,for the first time in her life and the feeling of it brought her an obsessing sensation that she almost knocked her feet together and bring herself to the ground trying to keep up with the pace of the thoughts in her mind.

She was excited.

Tony was excited too and when he saw how damn gorgeous the girl was from the edge of the “la salle Romantique”( as the regulars of Palace Restaurant named it) he became more ecstatic. His heart suddenly collapsed then started beating again, but viciously that he felt sharp sudden aches on his chest as if million pins stabbed him. Lynn was the kind of a lady many men would want to call his and Tony knew exactly how many they were in Mombasa, and they had money, lots of money and he panicked at the thought. Then he consoled himself that the girl loved him and they had been together for a very long time now. Few weeks and that was long enough for him.

But she never told me even once that she loved me...

 Tony was right, Lynn had never seriously told him that she loved him and when he forced her to to say it, she said actions spoke louder than words. And hers did and that is what gave Tony confidence that his plans for that day would push through.

She now stood outside Palace Restaurant and Tony was looking at her through the glass door. He was thinking what her reaction would be when the time came to tell her the truth. Maybe she would be as confused as she now looked; it was as if she was having second thoughts whether to go in or not.

Stop the crap man, don’t be such a pessimist, she loves you and you love her!

Tony found himself being the one getting confused and it wasn’t his fault that he felt that way. That was his first love too. He had never been with another woman before. Well, not as he had been with Lynn. She was everything he wanted in his ife. The girl was beautiful, intelligent, and... Tony coughed and the thought found its way out of his head and faded away. He looked at other occupied tables and what he saw was expressions of love that he doubted if they were genuine. People held hands, shared wine and others were kissing-the only thing that held them back was a room and privacy.

Tony looked at his date once more. She was now decided that she wanted to be with Tony for the night and she was pushing the glass rotating door. Tony now wished for one thing; that Lynn would see him as the only man worth her heart. She had already. Tony was the first man she had ever loved with all her heart and soul. She thought of him every day and every-time she did,she found herself smiling. She sincerely loved Tony, otherwise she wouldn’t have gone to that date, would she?

Tony cast another quick glance at her.She was walking toward a tall dark man, dressed in white shirt, black trousers, black bow tie and black shoes. He held a tray and a small towel on his hands; he was one of the waiters and Tony knew that in a few seconds Lynn would be walking toward him.

He scanned his clothes quickly.A black suit, red high quality silk shirt, a black striped deep red tie and black leather boots. He looked thumping handsome and happy. The day they had both waited with bated breath was certainly here. Satisfied with his own looks, he shifted his gaze to another direction, and at that moment he felt like he could fall off his seat and pass out as Lynn looked and smiled at him.

 Tony was overwhelmed by her beauty and he smiled back. It was such a wonderful moment and the doubts he previously found a way out into the thin air contaminated by wine vapor and suspicious laughter and a different kind of feeling filled the vacuum left in his chest. And he now felt more than ever to tell her exactly how beautiful and different he thought she was. Tony yearned to hold her in his arms and whisper to her ears how happy and alive he felt when she was with him and exactly what she meant in his life.

He would list down, one-by-one, all those things he did or didn’t do before and now he did or avoid just because of her. He loved her and wanted to make her happy for the rest of her life. And that would be the point he would pour out his heart to her and tell the truth; that his soul and heart desired her. Then he would pop the question that he was certain would shock her, but then she would snap out of the shock and shout or scream, tears rapidly collecting under her eyelids. Maybe she would be overwhelmed and let the tears fall.

Then Tony would hold her hands, kiss and massage them gently and carefully slide the engagement ring on her finger. Lynn would gasp in surprise and at that time she would shed more tears. Tony was expecting that kind of reaction then he would wait till she got over it. He would then  look into her eyes and study them carefully and the the girl would automatically and softly say the word. Maybe words would choke her but then she would shout exactly what Tony came to hear and wanted to hear.

“Yes! Yes Tony I’ll marry you!”

She would shout then Tony would take her again to his arm, caress her chin with one hand, the other would be planted on her back; that would happen when he leaned her backward slightly and lightly like he imagined Romeo did when he kissed Juliet. Then he would lower one hand to her waist or hips, lower his head toward hers and whisper: “I love you Lynn” and kiss her lips.Gently but longer than Romeo would have kissed Juliet.

He felt a slight tap on the table which suddenly ended his reveries. He looked up and found himself staring at Lynn’s chest. He smiled and she smiled back. Damn it! She was really something and Tony realized it; that Lynn was now prettier than she was when he saw her the first time...