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‘I want to teach you one more Maasai saying before you leave,’ Dominic tells me. ‘Aanyor pii.’
‘Aanyor pii,’ I repeat.
‘It means, I love you with all of my heart,’ he says.
‘Aanyor pii, Dominic.’
He lifts my fingers to his mouth and kisses them.
Sadly, we both know that our time has run out and we climb out of the bus. Dominic lifts my bag from the back. Now, we who have shared so much these last few days, stand awkwardly together, uncertain what to say, what to do.
‘I do not want you to leave,’ Dominic says.
My eyes fill with tears. ‘And I don’t want to go.’
‘When will I see you again?’
‘I don’t know,’ I say truthfully. ‘When I have the money.’
‘It may be a long time?’
I nod miserably. Does he realise, I wonder, that at home I’m near the bottom rung of the financial ladder and that trips like these don’t come easily?
‘These few days have been wonderful,’ I tell him. An unforgettable Christmas and a memory that will be etched on my soul for a liftetime.Dominic wraps me in his arms and we hold each other tightly.
‘Aanyor pii,’ he says. ‘Do not forget that.’
I cry as I pull away from him and head to the plane.
‘You may be a long way from me, Just Janie,’ he shouts after me. ‘But my heart will always be with you.’
Is that enough? I want Dominic’s heart to be with me always, no doubt about that. But at this moment, I desperately want the rest of him too.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Wouldn’t it be easier if I could just forget Dominic and fall in love with someone close to hand, someone who clearly has feelings for me? Someone like Mike?
Together, Mike and I stand in Nina’s kitchen, glasses in hand. Kings of Leon blast out from the living room. Gerry bursts into the room. He has a silver conical party hat on his head, complete with pink streamers. In one hand he has a brimming glass, in the other a party trumpet, both of which he’s putting to good use.
‘Wooooah, wooooah!’ he shouts out at the top of his voice. ‘Your sex is on fire!’ He thrusts his hips lasciviously at the nearest woman. Mike and I exchange a weary glance.
It’s new year’s eve and the celebration at Nina’s house is in full swing. I brought Mike along for company as I knew he’d be happy to stand quietly in the corner with me, and I was right. That’s exactly what we’re doing.
‘OK?’ he asks. ‘Need a top-up?’
The temptation to get blindly and roaringly drunk is very appealing, but sense prevails. ‘I’m fine with this,’ I assure him.
‘I’m just going to get another beer,’ Mike tells me. ‘Don’t go away.’
I don’t plan on leaving this corner of the kitchen until there comes a time when I can politely go home.
Mike sets off, fighting his way to the other side of the kitchen in search of alcohol. When he’s gone, Nina appears by my side. She’s wearing a very short dress all covered in white and grey sequins. One of the juniors did her hair this afternoon and her bare limbs are freshly spray-tanned. There’s plenty of make-up in evidence and I can tell that my friend has gone all out to look her best tonight.
‘Are you going to stand here all night looking miserable?’ she asks.
‘I’m just a bit down,’ I explain. Nina is fully aware of that.
‘Sorry we can’t compete with the African plains,’ she says snippily. It’s clear that my friend has started on the vodka early as she’s already swaying in front of me.
‘I can’t help it, Nina,’ I say, ‘but I’m having a nice time just watching everyone else. Maybe I’ll perk up a bit later.’
‘Love isn’t supposed to make you this bloody miserable,’ she advises.
I don’t like to point out that she’s spent most of her marriage being ‘bloody miserable’ and for very good reason.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Gerry flirting with one of their neighbours. His hand is travelling slowly up and down the woman’s hip, caressing it. I wonder if Gerry has done that to her before. The neighbour certainly looks quite comfortable with it. If my friend catches him at it, then Nina will no doubt be ‘bloody miserable’ once more.
‘I just wish Dominic was here,’ I say. ‘That’s all.’
‘Well, he’s not,’ my friend needlessly reminds me. ‘You need something to put a smile back on your face. Can’t you just get off with Mike instead?’
And, of course, that’s the very moment that Mike chooses to return and stand behind her.
