White Tiger

‘Of course I did,’ Charlie said. ‘My mother taught me.’

‘And you’re nearly as good as she was,’ Mr Chen said, reaching for some pickled vegetables with his chopsticks. He raised the pickles. ‘These are very good.’

‘Why, thank you, sir,’ Charlie said with pleasure. ‘I should come to Hong Kong and brush up.’

‘That’s a good idea. I’ll arrange it for you.’ Mr Chen stopped. ‘Is the car fit to drive?’

‘Of course it is; it’s in the basement waiting for you. James has been taking it out for regular runs.’

‘You had the rollbar fitted?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good,’ Mr Chen said. ‘I’ll drive it myself to Cambridge.’ He bent his head to speak to Simone. ‘Do you want to come for a drive with me before I leave?’

‘Not in that funny old car,’ Simone said without looking at him.

He moved his face closer to hers. ‘You love my funny old car.’

She glared into his eyes. ‘It’s a silly old car.’

‘Well, I’m a silly old man,’ he said, and they both collapsed laughing.

Leo came in, and stopped when he saw them.

‘Daddy’s going to drive his silly car, Leo,’ Simone said through her giggles.

Leo pulled a coffee mug out of the cupboard. ‘It’s not silly; actually it’s a very nice car.’

‘It’s silly,’ Simone said with scorn. She glared at her father. ‘And so are you.’

‘I know.’ He saw my face. ‘MG TF, 1500cc model, one of the rarer ones. Bought it in 1955. Original owner, low mileage.’

‘Black?’ I said. ‘I didn’t know they came in black.’

‘Nope.’ His eyes sparkled over the congee. ‘Racing green. Only car I’ve ever owned that wasn’t black.’

‘Take me for a ride in it, please,’ I begged.

‘I will if I have a chance, Emma, I promise. But I can’t guarantee anything.’ His face softened as he remembered. ‘All my friends thought I was crazy to buy it. They said it was much too cheap and old-fashioned.’ He looked down at his congee and his voice softened. ‘Michelle loved driving it.’

Leo cleared his throat uncomfortably and poured himself some coffee.

After Mr Chen had gone out, Leo sat next to me at the table. ‘That’s the first time he’s mentioned his wife’s name since the funeral.’

‘Michelle,’ I said. ‘There’re no photos or anything in the apartment.’

‘He shouldn’t have kept it bottled up for so long, poor dear,’ Charlie said. ‘It’s good to hear him talk about it. He’s changed.’

‘In what way?’ I said.

Charlie stopped and mused. Then, ‘I think he just seems happier. Last time he came, he didn’t talk much, he didn’t laugh, he didn’t want to do anything. It’s good to see him so happy.’

‘I wanna go to the Science Museum!’ Simone yelled.

Leo and I groaned.

The next day we all went shopping in Harrods so that Simone could see the toys and Leo could check out the menswear. After the third time through the toy department Simone was becoming restless, so we went back to the menswear section.

Mr Chen called Leo over. ‘How much longer will you be?’

Leo glanced back at the racks and the shop assistant he’d been talking to. ‘Just a bit more.’

‘You’ve already been more than an hour,’ I said, exasperated.

Leo glared at me.

‘We’ll take Simone to the big toy shop in Regent Street,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Take your time, and we’ll meet you back at the house.’

Leo didn’t hesitate. ‘Yes, sir.’ He returned to the shop assistant without looking back.

Mr Chen and I shared an amused glance.

‘I just prefer to be comfortable,’ I said.

‘Me too.’

‘Yeah,’ Simone said. ‘Both of you are really scruffy. Leo says he’s embarrassed to be seen with you, and I should never let either of you buy clothes for me.’

Mr Chen grinned. ‘Good.’

On the final day, we all went to the zoo in Regent’s Park.

‘I’ll have to take you to the zoo in Sydney one day, Simone,’ I said. ‘It’s heaps bigger than this one, and it has a great view of Sydney Harbour.’

‘Turtles!’ Simone squealed and ran to see the Galapagos giant tortoises. She leaned over the fence, delighted. ‘I love turtles. They’re so ugly.’

Mr Chen came and stood between us, leaning on the railing. ‘You think they’re ugly?’

She grinned up at him. ‘Yes.’

‘What do you think, Emma?’ Mr Chen said.

I suddenly realised that he was standing very close to me. Very, very close: his whole body was stretched alongside mine. He put his arm around me to lean on the rail and the shock of the chemistry went right through me.

I took a deep breath and tried to control my reaction.

‘I like snakes better,’ I said. ‘I had a pet carpet snake back in Australia.’