CHAPTER XXXII : AMBASSADOR YALOURIS.
Tasos arrived in London a few months later. He immediately called Annie and with a voice quivering with emotion he asked her to come see him at the Greek Embassy at 1A Holland Park. I am dying to see you my beloved, he told her. To have a wife you love and not seen for quarter of a century is a terrible plight. It is an affliction. I would have come rushing to your house but this is not quite done. Please come anytime you can. Annie left work the next day and took a taxi to Holland Park. She asked to see ambassador Yalouris and was asked for her name. I am his wife Mrs. Yalouris, she said to the befuddled receptionist who got up and walked hurriedly to the ambassador’s chamber further down a corridor. Tasos appeared within seconds breathlessly, almost at a run. They stood staring at each other for a moment and then without a word he took her hand and led her to his office. There he hugged her with glistening eyes. Oh Annie, he said, this is a moment I have been praying and dreaming about for many, many years. You look absolutely ravishing. Annie kissed him smiling and told him he looked fine as well. He had put on a little weight and lost some of his hair which was now grey but he was one of the male species that look more attractive and distinguished as they age. Not only that. Tasos had acquired the poise that comes later in life after travelling and living in many countries and associating with a great number of diplomats of his caliber, educated and erudite. These are a strange species of bureaucrats who are well paid, pampered, are self-important and who believe they are doing vital work though in reality they dawdle around in most countries filing reports that the Foreign Ministry takes little notice of. For what can be happening in Bolivia, for instance, Tasos’ first ambassadorial post, that vitally affects Greece’s national interests? Nonetheless the authority of his position that he now wore like a badge on his well-cut blazer induced an increased interest in Annie whose ancient complaints and cause of her flight expired with the death of his mother. They sat intimately on the gilded Aubusson sofa of his office and talked about their lives while he held and often bent and kissed her hand. Their love was renewed. It was always there for Tasos but due to her current status quo with Omar, a spark of interest started titillating Annie’s heart anew. Tasos told her that after the ceremony of accreditation at the Palace, he would give a big cocktail reception at the Dorchester to get acquainted with his colleagues in London, the ambassadors of other countries. I shall send you a formal invitation home and I insist that you attend. I also want to meet that superman Omar as well who deprived me of you for so long. Annie made a face. He was that, she said, he is no longer. Glad to hear it, Tasos said.
When the invitation arrived at their home, arguments flared between Annie and Omar. I won’t go, Omar said. I don’t want to meet that nincompoop. If you think that by calling him a nincompoop you are demeaning him, let me tell you that, rather, you are disparaging yourself. In any case, Omar, whether or not you attend the reception, I shall definitely go, and if I go alone I might not come back. Yes? he asked mockingly. Yes, she answered angrily. And for all I know it might suit you. It might suit both of us, he countered. But, nevertheless, he did not risk it. They drove to the Dorchester in Mayfair in silence and entered the reception hall and what ensued was in the best tradition of Noel Coward’s social comedies. Tasos saw them enter the hall and rushed to greet them. A smiling Annie introduced them formally. Tasos, this is my companion Omar Abdel Moneim, father of my son Michael, and, Omar, this is the Greek Ambassador, Tasos Yalouris, my husband. It was the magic moment that Tasos, after a quarter of a century, took possession of his wife again from an unsuspecting Omar. As soon as they shook hands with frigid smiles, Tasos took Annie’s left arm, wrapped it around his right arm, keeping his left hand on it as if to prevent it escaping and with an, excuse us, to Omar, pulled her in the crowd and began introducing her to the many small groups of diplomats who were, drinks in hand, noisily chatting amongst themselves. I would like to present to you Annie, my dear, my cherished wife, he repeated over and over again. Omar, terribly annoyed, drifted to the bar and downed flute glass after flute glass of French champagne, cursing silently under his breath the moment he gave in and decided to attend the cocktail party. When he was quite dizzy he stumbled in the thick of the crowd trying to find Annie and, not succeeding, left the hotel taking a taxi home because he was too drunk to drive his car. When the reception ended and the last stragglers departed Tasos kissed Annie and told her she was wonderful, a worthy wife of an ambassador. Let’s go and have dinner, Tasos suggested. In the hullabaloo we did not manage to get a bite. They went upstairs to the French restaurant and had consommé à la tasse, poisson maquereau sauté, poulet à la cocotte and a bottle of champagne. They, too, were quite dizzy when they left the hotel but the chauffeur, Thanasy, who drove the embassy’s limousine was quite sober and they arrived at the ambassador’s Belgravia residence safely. There, for the first time they kissed erotically, Tasos with trembling hands undressed her and they ended on Tasos’ king-size bed for a long and repeated exercise in lovemaking after quarter of a century’s abstinence from one another. Before going to sleep, Annie wearing nothing more than one of his silk shirts for pajamas told him, Taso, truly, it’s the first time I enjoyed sex with you. The agony of whether I would conceive or not was absent and you were absolutely magnificent.
Next day Annie did not go to work. In any case, she and Tasos woke up late, had a leisurely breakfast prepared by the professional cook on the Greek government’s payroll and served by a uniformed maid, ditto, dressed, and with Thanasy driving the embassy limousine, dropped Tasos at the embassy. Then, the cool and sensible Annie went on to Harrods, bought three extra-large suitcases, went home and spent a good two hours packing her things, dresses, suits, underwear, shoes, jewelry and toiletries. Thanasy, sat in the living room in his dark-blue suit and cap in hand, and one by one, as they were filled, transferred the bags to the car parked below. The au paire girl went in and out of the rooms going about her duties with a worried look on her face and just before the last items were packed and ready, Michael came in from his classes. He stared at Thanasy and stared at his mother as she was packing her last pieces. What’s happening, mother? he asked. I’m leaving your father and going back to my husband, she said looking at him, waiting for his reaction. Is it this fellow Tasos, the ambassador you’ve been quarreling about? Yes, she said. I thought you were better than that, mother, he said. Better than what, Michael? That you would not be seduced by the showiness of ambassadorships and chauffeur driven limousines and cocktail parties. I was not seduced by any of that Michael. I was seduced by Tasos’ constant, steadfast, years’ long love for me. He loved me so much that he did not seek a divorce when I left him, nor even when I had a child with another man, and kept writing to me tender letters all through the years and calling me by telephone whenever possible. I loved your father much more passionately but our passion has withered by the wear and tear of the twenty five years we have been together. This often happens in life and unfortunately nothing remains. We lived well and most of the time happily but it’s all over. Your father was a big ladies’ man before we got together and the miracle is that he stuck with me for so long with fidelity and devotion but I believe he is back to his old habits, albeit discreetly, and I cannot tolerate that nor can I stay with a man who is indifferent and aloof with me. In any case, my dear, I shall be three subway stops away from you and I hope you, my son, will not neglect me. Annie kissed Michael, held him tightly, then followed Thanasy who was carrying the last of her affairs and left, muttering, bloody, wretched flat.