Singapore
Monday 1st April, 2019
A couple of hours later, Emma and Annabel were getting ready to go out. Emma had suggested a rooftop bar in the downtown Marina Bay area of the city. Tom was working late, on a conference call with his company’s US office, so it would just be the two of them. They had an early dinner with the children, after which Annabel read them a story while Emma sorted a few things for work, then they left the children’s bedtime routine in Gloria’s capable hands.
The rain stopped as quickly as it had started and, within half an hour, the storm had blown over and the flooded pavements and roads had cleared. The air had lost its earlier mugginess and now had a fresh, earthy scent. To Annabel’s relief, it felt much cooler as they stepped outside and got in the taxi to head downtown.
The sun had set by the time they reached the CBD and Annabel recognised some of the sights from the taxi ride the previous evening. She gazed up at the brightly lit skyscrapers and felt the thrum of the city. The roads were busy with early-evening traffic and the pavements were buzzing; a mix of locals, expats, tourists and office workers. Office lights were still on and people were still working. What time did they finish? According to Emma, many didn’t. With so manyinternational businesses, like Tom’s, working across different time zones, this really was a city that didn’t sleep. Annabel thought of her lovely Bath and how quiet and provincial it seemed in comparison; by around 2 a.m. everything was closed up for the night and the lights were all off. Here, it all felt so alive, so vibrant.
‘OK, so we’re going to one of my favourite visitor spots! It’s a bar on the rooftop of the National Gallery,’ Emma explained. ‘It has the most amazing view and the cocktails are delicious!’
The taxi dropped them outside the long, columned building of the gallery and they took the lift right to the top. They went through the bar, a stylish and modern place with mellow jazz music and low lighting, and Annabel gasped as the waiter led them out to their table on the balcony.
‘Wow! You weren’t wrong about the view!’ Open-mouthed, she gazed out at the panorama. ‘It’s fantastic!’
Ahead of them was the large, green Padang, where Annabel spotted a floodlit cricket match taking place. The Padang had been the site of parades and ceremonies over the years, Emma explained, but was now mainly used as a sporting venue, with the Singapore Cricket Club at one end and Recreation Club at the other. Beyond the Padang, she could see the sparkling water of the bay, reflecting the lights of the skyscrapers and the little tourist ‘bumboats’ as they made their way around the bay and up the river. A pair of domed, spiky-roofed buildings sat off to the left, the Esplanade Theatres, Emma told her, designed to look like the local fruit, the spiky durian. Her friend also pointed out the large Ferris wheel attraction known as the Singapore Flyer and the quirky, lotus-shaped ArtScience building.
But the icing on the cake was straight ahead of them, across the water: the fabulous, glittering skyline of Marina Bay Sands.The iconic landmark looked even more spectacular lit up at night. Annabel got her phone out to take photos while Emma ordered a couple of Singapore Slings.
‘When in Rome! Or, rather, Singapore!’ she quipped to Annabel when the long, pink drinks arrived and they raised them in a toast. ‘Cheers!’
‘And thanks again for having me!’ Annabel smiled back before taking her first sip. ‘Ooh, that is delicious! Well, I’ve only been here just over twenty-four hours, but I’m definitely enjoying it so far. Life is pretty good, I can see why you like living here!’
Emma laughed. ‘It’s not bad, hey? Sometimes I get stuck in the daily grind of work and kids, and forget to come down and enjoy all this.’ She raised her glass and indicated the beautiful view. ‘So it’s great to have you here to remind me how lovely it is!’
‘And having Gloria must make things so much easier, she’s amazing!’ Annabel said, before taking another sip of her cocktail. The fruity drink was delicious and was slipping down far too easily.
‘I know! I wasn’t joking when I said we’d be lost without her! She’s so good with the kids and keeps the apartment and all of us on track. And it’s so easy to go out when we have a live-in babysitter. I honestly don’t know what we’ll do when we have to move home again one day!’ She pulled a horrified face and Annabel laughed.
‘Hmm, you’ll have to do what the rest of us mere mortals do and do your own washing up and cleaning!’ She grinned mischievously at her friend.
‘Let’s not think about that!’ Emma screwed her eyes closed in a bid to make the unwelcome thought disappear. Then sheopened them again and smiled. ‘We’ll just enjoy it for now, the kids are happy at school and it’s all so safe for them here. And now they’re a bit older, hopefully we can start doing a bit more travelling with them and see the area a bit more. There are so many great places nearby, all within just a couple of hours’ flight; Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam’ – she held up her fingers, counting them off – ‘and the flights are pretty cheap.’ An idea hit her and her face lit up. ‘Come for longer next time and we can go and do a bit of exploring! Ooh, and bring Jenny, that would be even more fun!’
Annabel grinned at the idea and nodded. Midweek cocktails were right up Jenny’s street and she knew she would love this place.
They worked their way through another couple of cocktails on the menu and Annabel felt herself relax. There was a gentle breeze out on the balcony which made the balmy temperature perfect. The venue was fabulous, the view amazing and the company fun. She found herself opening up when Emma asked her about recent events with Dotty and Luke and it felt good to talk. Emma was a good listener and, now that a bit of time had passed, Annabel was finding it helpful to talk things through.
After a while, Emma checked her watch and pulled a face; she had work in the morning and they should make a move. They took the lift down and were just arriving at the taxi rank when a vacant cab pulled up.
Emma had just opened the door and was telling the driver their destination, when Annabel gasped.
‘Oh my goodness! The white church!’ she interrupted, grabbing her friend’s arm. She pointed at a building across the road. ‘Can we have a quick look?’
‘St Andrew’s?’ Emma asked, following her gaze. She apologised to the cab driver, closed the car door and followed Annabel across the road. Annabel seemed drawn like a magnet to the snow-white, Gothic structure that was glowing in the floodlights.
‘Yes!’ Annabel said, a smile of recognition spreading across her face as Emma caught up with her. They stopped at the railings that bordered the cathedral gardens. ‘This is it; the church from the wedding photo! This is where Dotty became Mrs Llewellyn in 1939! But I guess finding it was the easy bit.’ She sighed. ‘Next, I need to find outwhoshe married.’ She screwed her face up as she looked at Emma. ‘It’s been baffling me since I saw the photo: who the hell was herMrLlewellyn?’
CHAPTER 15
Singapore
May 1940
Dorothy stood in the shade of the Saga tree outside St Andrew’s Cathedral and took a deep breath. Her heart was racing and, as she looked down at her bouquet of pink roses, she saw that her hands were trembling. The last couple of months had been such a whirlwind and she had been swept along by the romance and excitement of it all. But was she doing the right thing? She closed her eyes and concentrated on taking slow, steady breaths.
Her first two years in Singapore had flown by and so much had changed. She had completed her training and now had a part-time position working as a secretary for the women’s page at a local newspaper, theStraits Times. She loved the sense of purpose that she got from going out to work, not to mention the independence of earning her own money and not always relying on her parents.
Despite her initial misgivings about leaving London, Dorothy had adjusted to life in South East Asia relatively smoothly, largely thanks to her close friendship with Clara. Her new friend didn’t have Daisy’s musical talents or dress-making skills, but she was always so much fun to be around and had introduced Dorothy to an exciting new setof friends. Life had taken on a pleasant routine of cinema outings, shopping trips, tennis at the Tanglin Club, family picnics at the cricket on the Padang, and cocktails and dancing at the Raffles Hotel.
