Malta Children

Edward steps out of the airport building and into the open. Oh. This Malta sun is so bright, where are my sunglasses ? Now where do I go to get the bus, ah, over there. He joins the queue for the Valetta bus, and looks at his leaflet. There should be a bus in about two minutes.

A lady joins the queue. Edward says, "Only two minutes to wait. You timed that well."

The lady laughs. "Twenty minutes more like, and then three buses will come at once." She continues, "Why didn't you take a taxi ? I see that you are not a tourist, by your neat clothes, and surely your business would pay for a taxi."

"Well observed, madam, but I thought I would see more of the real Malta if I took the bus. Ah, here it comes. Sit together ?"

"Why not ?"

"I'm Edward, and I've come to Malta for a few weeks to work on upgrading the IT system at the airport."

The lady turns away and is silent.

Edward continues, "My hotel is in Sliema, Le Soleil."

"That's a nice hotel, still full of 1920's character, much better than all these modern ones. It used to be called The Plevna, everyone on the island remembers that, and I'm Marletta, by the way."

She is obviously not interested in what I am working on. "That's a nice name, Marletta. Swap numbers ?"

"Why not ? And since you want to see more of the real Malta, I can tell you lots of interesting places that tourists rarely visit."

A few days later Edward will have some spare time, and he decides to ring Marletta.

"I have to wait for some other people to get their work done, so I will not have anything to do this afternoon."

"There are some nice gardens near Mosta that you might like to see," she says.

"Perhaps we could meet there at lunchtime."

"Why not ?"

She notices that Edward often looks at her left hand. "I live on my own," she says. My husband had a good job in the naval dockyard, but one day, about five years ago, there was an accident ..."

"I am sorry," says Edward, slowly, then pausing, "I too live on my own, but only because of divorce. We have two girls, one married, and the other one is still at university."

"I also have two girls, as well as a boy. Well, of course, they are all grown up now, like yours, and have left home. Children seem to grow up so quickly."

"Yes, Marletta. When I was a child, time seemed to drag, especially in the long summer holidays, and at every birthday I longed for the next one."

"I remember that too, but not now. Time seems to be passing faster and faster each day."

"So now we need to make the most of each day."

"Will you be free tomorrow, Edward ? It's nice finding someone like you to talk to."

Edward rings Marletta each day, "I'm sorry, I still have no free time."

"Well, come over one evening. Let me give you my address."

"How about this evening, Marletta ?"

"Why not ?"

Edward takes a bottle of wine. I hope she will like it.

"Edward, you told me why you now have to live on your own, so I'm wondering if you were once a naughty boy, and how did that come about."

"I was once more careless than naughty, but that wasn't why we eventually divorced. I had a language student, Anna, and we had become friends. We got on well, rather too well, and when my wife returned after visiting her sister for a few days, she found Anna's bracelet under a pillow."

"Men," says Marletta. "You are all the same."

"But we had never been lovers, just kissing and caressing. Anna still had her monthly nuisance and she was really frightened about having a baby, especially in a strange country, away from all her friends and family. However, one day she told me directly, "Divorce your wife, and marry me." It was a tempting offer, and I knew things would be different, although not necessarily better. Also I knew that if I did divorce my wife, my wife would be very unhappy, and that if she were unhappy, my children, who were still quite small at the time, would also be unhappy, and so in the end it would simply not be worth it."

"Well done, for putting your children first. But why did you say that she was in a strange country ?"

"She was a refugee. She had escaped from her country after the revolution. I had been doing voluntary work, teaching English to refugees, for a few years. In my spare time I wanted to do something completely different to my day job in IT, computers and all that, and so I was asked to teach her. The teaching was always one-to-one in people's homes, but it was also well known that students can develop a crush on their teachers. This is quite understandable, as their English teacher is ususally the only friendly face these people see, in a country where they don't yet understand the language, or the strange ways to get things done, and they hate the food, the weather and any racism they find."

"Didn't your wife mind you teaching Anna ?"

"No, she didn't mind. Whenever I had a new student I always introduced them to my wife, for two reasons. Firstly I didn't want my wife to worry about a woman I was visiting, and secondly, I wanted my student to see that there was no prospect of husband stealing."

"A wise precaution, but I suppose it was things like that which eventually led to your divorce."

"Well, not really. As the children grew up and needed us less, we found we also had less in common, and we were simply drifting apart. My ex-wife and I are still quite friendly, and single, and we sometimes joke about getting married again."

Silence.

"Thanks, Marletta, and thanks for a lovely evening, but I ought to be getting back to my hotel now."

They shake hands, and then she opens her arms for a hug. They embrace and he squeezes her a little. They hold each other for a moment, and then she lightly kisses him on the lips.

"I can stay a bit longer, if you like," says Edward.

Marletta smiles, "Maybe next time."

Edward rings Marletta next day, "I'm sorry, I will not be able to visit this evening. We have to do a night-time test on the new system."

Edward tries ringing Marletta on the day after, but he gets the message, "Voice Call. No Answer", and he wonders why. He gets "Voice Call. No Answer" on the next day also. She hasn't tried ringing me. Has she dumped me already ? What on earth did I do wrong ? I was so careful not to say anything that might upset her. Oh, I should have remembered the rule of three, letting her kiss me on three occasions before offering to get more involved by staying longer. Or was it because I took the wine ? Did she think I wanted to get her drunk, and then have my way with her ? Maybe chocolates would have been better. I could visit, but if she really doesn't want to see me again, she'll only shout at me to go away. Oh, I wish I knew one of her children, to ask them to be a peacemaker.

On Friday at work, Edward is still worrying about Marletta, and making it difficult for him to concentrate on his work, when a colleague calls him, "Edward, there's a woman at the staff entrance asking for you."

Can it be Marletta ? Well, I don't know any other woman on the island, as he rushes to the entrance.

He sees Marletta, and they hug and kiss.

“Edward, your colleagues will see you.”

“Let them see, and let them talk. I don't care.”

“Neither do I,” laughs Marletta, “and I have missed you so much, I see that you are still busy at work, but please visit me this evening, and I will explain what went wrong. It was not your fault at all."

"It was my son's fault. Ever since the accident, when my husband died, my son has felt that he has to be the man of the family. He feels he has to protect me, and his sisters, but it's more like controlling us, although my children always say they just want me to be happy. The evening after you came, my son saw the empty wine bottle. I told him that my friend, Edward, who is an English man working on the island for a few weeks, had brought it. My son told me not to have anything more to do with you, Edward, and that any man here for a short time, away from his family, will only be wanting one thing. I shouted back that Edward is a good man, and if I wanted a new friend in my life, and in my own house, I jolly well could, and, what's more, if we ever became lovers, that would still be none of my children's business. He was shocked at my boldness, and later he left. After I had calmed down a bit I tried to ring you, but he must have got hold of my phone, and deleted you, as there was no longer any contact for "Edward", but first he must have also blocked your number, so that all the call records with your number, had disappeared, and so I couldn't find your number to ring you. I was so miserable, and angry at my son."

So, she had never dumped me, it was just that we couldn't phone each other. Her controlling son must be the reason she has never wanted me to meet her children.

"Edward, tomorrow is Saturday. If you don't have to get up early for work, can you stay the night ? I do so miss having someone to wake up next to in the morning. But I don't want us to go all the way, it makes things too complicated, so nothing more than simply kissing and caressing. Can we agree on that ?"

"Yes, we can agree on only kissing and caressing, as above the waist interests me much more than below."

"Really ? I thought men ..."

"Well, I'm curious to see below the waist, but only to see. Maybe I am not like most men. But it's good to discuss this, as we both know that this is only a holiday romance, which can never lead to anything."

In the morning Marletta gets breakfast, which they both have in bed.

"This is rather like my wife and I, before the divorce," says Edward. "She had to work nights more, and our children were grown up and independent, so we separated. However, we usually spent the weekends together, often at her place, but no longer being lovers, just trying to stay friends."

"Were you still seeing your language student, Anna ?"

"Oh, no. That was several years ago. She lost her appeal to stay in the U.K., and so she was sent back to her own country, which has been very difficult for her there. We always knew that our friendship could never have any future, although we still send emails and Christmas cards."

There is a pause.

"Can you move in with me, for the rest of your stay on the island ? I do so hate having to live on my own, and I desperately want someone I can really talk with. My children visit and chat, but it's never anything deep, simply things like, "Can I get you another drink ?" or "How was your day ?". Edward, go back to your hotel now, to get your things, and then come straight back and stay with me."

Next morning they kiss, a long passionate kiss, and caress each other. Then Marletta asks, "Can you give me an orgasm ? It's only a bit more than kissing and cuddling, but please, still without going all the way."

Afterwards Marletta is panting for breath, and whispers, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Has it been a long time ?"

"A very long time."

"Haven't you ever been able to do it yourself ?"

"No, Edward. I've tried, many times, but I can never continue to arouse myself after I get excited, and so it always fizzles out."

She waits. "And thank you for being so considerate. You let me take the lead, you never rushed me, and I felt sure that you wouldn't suddenly stop, so that I could completely relax, never worrying that I would be left with that empty, unfinished feeling. But now you must be wanting to have your own orgasm."

"I'm okay. Don't worry about that. I used to get more pleasure from my wife's pleasure, because I always let her take as long as she needed, which can sometimes be a long time, much more than I ever needed for my own pleasure, which is all finished in a minute or two."

"Ha, and then all the man can do is to turn over and go to sleep."

One morning, when the IT work is almost finished, as Edward goes to work, he is met by a small demonstration outside the staff entrance, with banners, placards and shouts of "Save Our Jobs".

"What was all that about ?" Edward asks a colleague.

"Some people, mainly in check-in and baggage handling, will no longer be needed when the new IT system is fully operational."

"Well, I expect they can easily find other jobs, especially in tourism."

"No, it's not as easy as that. Malta is in the European Union, and so people from other European countries can work here. Haven't you noticed that all the taxi drivers are Croatian, all the waiters are Greek, and all the barbers are Portuguese. People from other countries now control access to many of the jobs here."

It is Edward's last evening in Malta, and he is still curious about Marletta's children, and he asks her if he can see them, before he leaves the island.

"You have already seen them, and they have all seen you. They were at the airport today, taking part in the demonstration."