As they climbed the stairs, Charlie said in a low voice, “My mum is getting more and more needy every time I see her.”
“She just misses you. It must get rather lonely for her now that none of you are around in Singapore.”
“She’s surrounded all day by her staff of twenty.”
“It’s not the same and you know it.”
“Well, she has a house in Hong Kong—she could spend all her time there if she wants, but she insists on staying here,” Charlie argued.
“This is where most of her memories are. Just like yours,” Astrid said as she entered Charlie’s bedroom. The space had been redecorated several years ago in cool, masculine tones with shagreen-covered walls and custom-designed contemporary wood furnishings from BDDW in New York, but Charlie had kept one reminder of his childhood in the bedroom: The entire ceiling had been installed with a mechanized mural depicting all the constellations in the sky, and as a kid, Charlie would go to sleep every night staring at the glowing ceiling of stars as they rotated daily according to the zodiac.
Today, he wasted no time in pulling Astrid onto the bed and smothering her with kisses. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” Charlie said, kissing the tender area right above her collarbone.
“Me too,” Astrid sighed, as she put her arms around him, feeling the ripple of muscles down his back.
After spending some time making out, they lay entwined in each other’s arms, staring up at the sparkling night sky together.
“I feel like a teenager again.” Astrid giggled. “Remember how you used to sneak me up here after MYF*3 on Saturdays?”
“Yeah. I still feel like I’m doing something naughty having you in here right now.”
“The door’s wide open, Charlie. We haven’t done anything R-rated,” Astrid said with a laugh.
“I’m so happy to see you in such a good mood,” Charlie said, running his fingers through her hair.
“I feel like the storm’s finally lifted. You have no idea how amazing it felt to be in the breakfast room yesterday when my grandmother came downstairs.”
“I can only imagine.”
“She made everyone look at my engagement ring. It’s like she was daring the rest of the family to challenge us.”
“Your grandmother is one cool lady. I’m looking forward to seeing her tonight. She invited my mum too, you know?”
“Really?” Astrid looked at him in surprise.
“Yeah, an engraved invitation was delivered this morning. My mother could hardly believe it. She never thought the day would come that she would be invited to Tyersall Park. I think she’s going to frame the card.”
“Well, it’s going to be quite a party. I can’t wait to see the looks on certain faces when I walk into the drawing room with your mother!”
“Which ones?”
“Oh, you know, one or two of my aunties are snottier than others. And there’s one cousin in particular who’s going to lose his shit!”
“Rico Suave, the Best Dressed Man in Hong Kong?” Charlie teased.
“Best Dressed Hall of Fame, he’ll tell you.” Astrid laughed. “Come on, let’s go back downstairs before your mother thinks we’re doing something nasty up here.”
“I want her to think I’m doing something nasty.”
They got out of bed reluctantly, straightened their clothes, and strolled down the gracious curving stairway hand in hand. Passing through the archway underneath the staircase, they entered the grand living room, which was handsomely decorated in French Empire style intermingled with museum-quality Chinese antiques. In the middle of the cavernous space was a large free-form pond, where a grove of tropical trees grew out of the water, reaching almost to the top of a glass-domed cupola. Big koi swam in the gurgling pond, but the focal point of the living room was the main wall, which featured a two-hundred-gallon fish tank painted pitch-black that was recessed into the wall.
“Valentino looks happy to be home!” Charlie said excitedly as the two of them went up to look at him. Inside the tank, Irene’s precious super red arowana undulated happily all alone, the pink fiber-optic light making his body glow an even brighter iridescent red. Astrid looked down at the coffee table, which was groaning with a colorful array of nyonya dessert cakes on navy-and-gold-rimmed Limoges plates.
“Kueh lapis, my favorite!” Charlie said, plopping down on the plush gold-brocade sofa and picking up one of the buttery pieces of cake with his fingers.
“Don’t you think we should wait for your mum?”
“Oh, she’ll be out in a minute, I’m sure. Let’s get started. You don’t ever have to stand on ceremony here—you know how down-to-earth my mother is.”