âNice pad SisâŚvery nice, and quite a feminine feel to itâŚâ
It was six months after E.âs visit home. I was in Auckland at her invitation to go and stay for a few days in her flat after going to the Mystery Creek Agricultural Show, near Hamilton. There had been no repeat of our intimacy in the rest of her stay in the country. Although she did cause our mother to purse her lips in disapproval one evening by throwing her arms around me and giving me a big hug before I left the big house for my cottage for the night.
âIn case you hadnât noticed, sweet brother, I am a girlâŚâ
âAh! Is that why your voice is higher than mine isâŚ!â
âDork! Here, this is where youâll sleepâŚâ
The room was small and plainly decorated with most of the floor space taken up by a single bed. One wall was a built-in wardrobe with full-length mirror doors.
E. saw me looking, âMy room is on the other side of thereâŚâ
I thought that that was good. At least there would be some sound insulation if she and Justin decided to do some âswinging off the chandeliersâ during the night.
She took hold of my hand, âCome onâŚIâll show you around the rest of the flat.â
There wasnât a lot to see. Her room, about two-and-a-half times the size of mine, dominated by a double bed with a large incongruously pink teddy bear resting its head on a pillow; another mirror-doored clothes closet; tidy; no scattered clothes; womanly scents. The bathroom small, functional, just a shower and hand basin with the toilet hidden behind a sliding door. Open plan kitchen-dining-living room. You have to love the person you are sharing the working area with, because there isnât a lot of it. The dining and living room furniture expensively modern, but soft edged and comfortable. Flat screen TV on one wall. Small laundry, washer and drier. The postage-stamp patio, with gas BBQ in one corner, faces north over the Mt Eden suburbs to the Waitakeres.
It was my sisterâs space and she showed her pride in it.
âUmmmm, am I allowed to observeâŚ?â
âYeah, itâs tinyâŚnot like the farmhouse at homeâŚâ
âNo, not thatâŚI like itâŚI see only one toothbrushâŚno razor, dirty socks or underpantsâŚâ
âWe broke up four months agoâŚhad a terrible row about implants and had been fencing with each other over a couple of other things for some time. Another thing, it offended his macho self-image that I am the owner here. He wanted me to sell up and put the money into a joint property with him, but I said âNo way!ââ
âAhhhâŚany regrets?â
âI cried myself to sleep for a week and then decided it was time to stop playing the maudlin teenagerâŚâ
âGot a replacement in view?â
âSomeone does occupy my thoughts, but he is not freeâŚâ
âTut, tut! Married man, eh?â
âHopelesslyâŚlook, what do you want to do this evening? How about we go down to the village and get some steaks and a bottle of Cabernet? You can do the caveman thing and burn the meat while I make some salad.â
âSounds great to meâŚâ
The âbottle of Cabernetâ ended up an Auckland-priced Martinborough Vineyards Pinot Noir, which was delicious, as were the steaks. The salads werenât bad either, although my sister insisted that the comparative excellence of the meat and the salads was the other way around. We finished the wine sitting companionably on the settee listening to a Cassandra Wilson CD played on the Bose Lifestyle hi-fi system that was so small I hadnât noticed it in my earlier tour. Somehow we ended up with her laid out with her head in my lap and me stroking her hair.
You donât know how hearts burn for love that cannot live yet never dies until you reached each dawn with sleepless nights you don't know what love is.
âWhy donât you come home, kiddo?â I asked. âWe sure would love to see you more.â
âSame answer as Justin gotâŚno way! This is my world, my lifeâŚâ
She sat up abruptly, âYou donât realise just how good I am at what I do, my brotherâŚjust because I drive my own Honda Civic and live in a pokey little place like this! Iâm not just a grunt; I run the QA Department, here and in Australia! I earn six figures starting with a 2, which is over four times what you get paid, even if you are General Manager. And I am part of the top management teamâŚâ
âOk, ok! I get the picture!â I kissed her forehead, âNo wonder Justin felt intimidatedâŚâ
E. thumped her head down in my lap again, only just missing out on damaging me for life, âHe wasnât intimidated, he wanted to be the typical Polynesian male and take charge of the spoils!â
âAha! The picture gets clearerâŚanyway, this flat isnât pokeyâŚI like it, I feel comfortable hereâŚâ
âThen youâll have to come and see me more oftenâŚâ She yawned, âIâll give you a job as General Manager Hair-strokingâŚâ
âI accept with gratitudeâŚâ
âSo you shouldâŚâ
She fell asleep, but woke again the instant the CD finished, âCâmon, mister, bedtime! You farmers think you start early, but I have to be at work by 6.00am to take calls from Europe and The StatesâŚâ
âShootâŚ!â
âThe price of power, my loveâŚoh, if you hear the telephone during the night, itâs more of the sameâŚsome of the idiots over there canât tell the timeâŚâ
Outside my bedroom door, she put her arms around me and snuggled up close, âIâm so glad you came,â she murmured into my chest.
She felt so good tucked in there! âNot half as glad as I am,â I told her, kissing the top of her head.
âSee you in the morning, broâŚâ She hugged up closer, almost as if she was trying to climb inside me.
âSleep tight, sisâŚâ
Wordlessly, she banged her head gently on my chest, then disengaged herself and headed for her room.