Notes for a Love Story

 

NOTES FOR A LOVE STORY

Eduardo, 1994

A man and a woman search for each other across the world. They are strangers, yet they have met in dreams. The search is long, and the clock of life ticks on inexorably; between its hammering beats, some loves have foundered like paper boats. They had dreamed of one another so much that, upon meeting, they would surely know it.

Eduardo left Chimbote and went to Trujillo in 1983, then to Europe in 1994. Terry left the United States and flew to England in 1987, traveled through Europe and Africa, and finally returned to England in 1996. Both separately, and chasing their dreams, settled in London.

The prestigious Southbank International School in the English capital is a key point in these notes. Once in England, Eduardo worked in the maintenance department of this school alongside a British citizen named Terry King; the two formed a great friendship.

Mr. Terry King liked to joke with Eduardo, and because of his bachelorhood, he used to tell him: “It’s the first time I’ve met a thirty-three-year-old Latino without several women and no children. You should marry an Englishwoman.” Eduardo would reply: “I’d like to marry one, but all the women in this country are taller than me.”

One day, Eduardo was traveling on the London Underground. He was absorbed in his thoughts, scribbling a poem in his inseparable notebook. Suddenly, he had a hunch. The train had stopped at High Street Kensington station. He looked up instinctively toward the platform. He caught sight of a beautiful woman; her petite figure stood out among the crowd of people much taller than she was. The train slowly began to move again, and the image of that woman remained etched in Eduardo’s mind.

By one of those coincidences of life, months later, the same woman arrived at Southbank International School to work as a teacher. Her name was Terry; she was an American-British citizen, single and with no children.

During the first few weeks following the teacher's arrival, it was clear that there was a natural chemistry between her and Eduardo. But a friendship could not develop because she didn't speak Spanish, and he didn't speak English... or at least that’s what he said to avoid speaking in a language in which he didn't feel comfortable.

Today, when Terry talks to her friends about those days, she still tells how she once ran into Eduardo on the red stairs that connected the two buildings of Southbank International School. She was going down to the old building, and he was going up to the new one. Both stopped halfway. In her own words, Terry recounts it this way: “I said Hi, and Eduardo replied Hi. I tried to start a conversation, but he smiled shyly, raised his arms, and told me he didn't speak English.”

A few weeks after the encounter on the red stairs, Eduardo finally found his voice and spoke with Terry for two hours. It was the first of November. Both remember the date easily because it happened to be his mother's birthday. It was then that he mentioned having seen her once at High Street Kensington station. In turn, she recalled that on that day, she was returning from a travel agency, as she was considering a move back to Africa at that point. (*)

The decisive moment came a few months later. One day, Mr. Terry King called Eduardo and said: “Go to Teacher Terry’s classroom and fix a wire she uses to hang her students' paintings.” He asked what tools he should bring. “Just a pair of pliers,” was the answer. He headed toward the new building, but after a few steps, he stopped and looked at his hands. It seemed strange to him that he was only carrying a pair of pliers. He turned back toward Mr. King and saw him smiling; on his lips, the words were clear: “Good luck.”

Both the school and Terry's classroom occupied a privileged spot. The school was tucked away in the very heart of the famous Notting Hill neighborhood, and Terry’s windows overlooked Portobello Road—one of Europe’s most iconic streets. There, world-famous celebrities could be seen drifting through the crowds of tourists who flocked to the area daily.

Eduardo continued on his way to Terry’s classroom, reaching the end of a short corridor. He stopped at the threshold. The classroom was split-level, with six steps leading down into its interior. From the top, he saw the unhooked wire, the tourists beyond the windows, and there, in the center of the room, he saw her from behind.

When the teacher turned to welcome him, they knew the long search was over. Thousands of miles traveled were left behind. It was as if each had kept half of a photograph, and upon putting them together on the table, the pieces fit, and the dream finally became reality.

FINAL NOTE: That day, Terry and Eduardo did not talk about love. It wasn’t necessary. They did so a few days later with the help of a dictionary. In 1999, their only daughter was born in London. In 2003, they moved to the United States, and they have lived in the state of New Hampshire ever since.

(*) Details of that November 1st encounter are shared in the story: Sorry, The Light Was On?

New Hampshire, USA

December, 2012

Terry - Kenya, África, 1995

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