Take Him - last installment

Sara was first to spring off the bus, surprising even herself. She and Auntie Sophie hugged each other tightly with tears in their eyes. Then it was Sam’s turn and he practically collapsed on her in a heap of tears. And Sara saw in her mind’s eye Auntie Sophie holding Sam each night. He never cried but he couldn’t sleep, and goodness knows how long the dear woman had to hold him each night till he fell asleep. Sara understood. Sam had never grieved for the mother they had both loved and lost, and now he was finally starting to, for both her and the other woman he had loved and lost.

The wedding lasted some three days and nights. Sara had never had so much fun in her life, and she could see that Sam was in much better spirits too, what with all the dancing and singing. And they were warmly embraced into the merry-making, laughter and love of the huge extended family.

Auntie Sophie was both laughing and crying at the same time, ‘You know, I lost all hope for her. I thought, my poor girl, no one wants her. She’s going to live with me all her life and be sad all her life but God sent us all a blessing.’

Liza seemed to think of Sara as a long lost sister of sorts. ‘I thought, ' she told Sara, 'That was the end of me. And I hated myself because I was fat and nobody wanted to marry me. And I thought Mum was going to force me to meet all her friends’ sons, our relatives’ friends and people all over the Philippines so that one of them would marry me. But George, he made me so happy. He chose me. You know, there are so many pretty girls around, so many slim girls wanting to be his friend, but he came to me every day. And I knew that I had to go down on my knees and give thanks for this man.’

Through all the rejoicing, Sara noticed that Auntie Sophie was not just being the proud bride’s mum but she was also busy mothering Sam. Drink this, eat that… she knew that the dear woman was trying to help him mend his life.


All too soon, it was time to go.

‘Sam, you stay with me,’ Auntie Sophie said. ‘You don’t need to go back yet, right?’ He was still between jobs. ‘So you stay and help me with my computer.’

Happily, Sam was all for it. ‘If Sara doesn’t mind going back on her own.’

She didn’t mind, of course.

Whoever in the family who didn’t have to go immediately back to work travelled down to Manila with her and with much regret in her heart, Sara found herself back at Ninoy Aquino International. This trip had been too short. She hadn’t had enough time for her brother, and she hadn’t had enough time for Auntie Sophie.

But Auntie Sophie had her arm round her the whole time and kept talking to her. It was as if she was making up for the busyness of the week, when she had no time to listen to the little Sara who had so much to tell her.

‘And you,’ she asked, ‘When are you going to make Sir a proud bride’s daddy?’

‘I haven’t got a boyfriend,’ Sara said, ‘I will tell you at once if I do.’

Auntie Sophie smiled. ‘You don’t worry, he will find you. You don’t think so seriously all the time, okay? Blessings come down for everybody. You just look at Liza.’

Sara nodded. Maybe Auntie Sophie was right.

She looked at Sam, who was recovering from having to wake from his nap on the bus. ‘What are you going to do with him?’ she waved in his direction.

‘Oh, I don’t know yet. I’m going to ask him to think of something to teach me to do on the computer.’ So Auntie Sophie’s plan was to get Sam to slowly come out of his shell.

‘Don’t worry so much about him,’ she said, ‘He has to take care of himself. You think more about yourself. You are always worrying for him. When your blessing comes, you take him, okay?’


It seemed like the hugs and kisses were never going to end, but the entourage finally had to leave. She waved and waved till they were out of sight and turned towards the immigration gate. She already missed them all but her heart seemed lighter than it was when she first arrived at this airport. And she knew that Sam was in good hands, at least for now.


Then she saw it. That Ferragamo tie was here in Manila too.

‘Hey, Sara, it’s me!’ its wearer was waving to her. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Mr No Ring in the golf club Ferragamo tie. And what was he doing here?

‘You going back to Singapore today?’

She nodded.

‘On SIA?’

She nodded again.

‘You’ve got your boarding pass?’

She showed it to him.

‘Give me a minute. Sara.’ He walked off to the counter with it.

‘Alright, upgraded you to Raffles Class. You sit with me,’ he came back smiling. ‘Don’t worry, it’s usually at most just half-filled on this flight.’

‘Thanks,’ was all she could manage at that point.

‘Oh, and I’m Marc, by the way.’ He laughed.

Did she imagine it, or did he then say, ‘Take me’? She took the pass from him and came back to the real world. No, he hadn’t said it.

But she was going to ride with him on the plane home.

YYYYYYY

the end... hope you liked this...
so writes the amatuer...