The day Azura was arriving, I was up before dawn. I was excited, thrilled and nervous. I chose the clothes I wanted to wear, and went to a hair dresser to have my hair blown dry. She knew I was to be at the airport welcoming her.
I was there one hour before her flight was due to arrive, a bouquet of red roses in my hand and a sling beg over my shoulder with her gift inside.

Azura walked straight into my embrace. She jumped into my arms and we hugged and kissed. My world came alive again. My heart bloomed and happiness filled every part of me. I knew more than I ever did before that I loved her so much. She held and squeezed my hands like she didn’t want to let me go.
Momentarily we broke from embrace. Then she giggled and used tissues from her handbag to wipe my cheeks and my lips.
“Lipstick all over.…sorry…” she said between her little laughter.
“I don’t mind …I love you” Said I.
Then she wiped off any remnants of lipstick from her lips. And after, she kissed me again. I just love it when she initiated the kissing.

I helped her with her luggage – two big Echolac suitcases and one trolley bag of the same brand and all three in matching color.
Once we were in the black cab, she pulled out a small box from her hand-bag.
“For you….Hope you like it” She handed a well wrapped box of a gift.
I took the opportunity to give her my gift, the Ring, which I have been carrying in my shoulder beg.
“And darling, this is for you …bought with my wages from the one month I was working” And she accepted my gift with a kiss to my cheek.

“A ring!!! It is beautiful…..I love it ! Thank you D” She exclaimed, and I received yet another smother on my lips. We embraced and kissed passionately and shamelessly at the back of the black cab.

Then she asked me to open the gift she had given me. I carefully unpeeled the wrapper. Slowly and steadily although my hands were shaking.

“ Ohhhh my God….!!! It must have cost you a fortune!” I said in disbelief.
“I love you….and it is worth every cents paid”

I held her face in my palms and tenderly kissed her lips. A slow lingering kiss, sucking on her lips…..feeling their soft tender texture. Then prompting for her mouth to open, and my tongue searched for hers.
It was at that point, my tears came trickling down my cheek. Then….I felt the same warm drops of tears from hers.

And we embraced to steady our trembling bodies. Simultaneously, we whispered
“I missed you…I love you”.

I have been busy the last few days, too busy to continue my reminiscence about Azura but not busy enough to shake her off my mind. She was there - everywhere.

That first summer separation with her was the longest summer I ever had. I found myself counting days for her return, and waiting for morning to arrive to bring me another postcard or aerogramme from her.

Midway through the summer Azura suggested that I take up a summer job. Besides earning extra pocket money, it would help to occupy my mind and my days, she said.
I had a friend who was studying in Nottingham and he was working in a Frozen Peas processing company not far from where he lived. Before the week was over, I was comfortably settled sharing his room and working as a production operator. My tasks were to pick up any unwanted elements from five of the production belts - where washed peas traveled on their way to cold storage for rapid freezing. I had to keep watchful eyes on the belts - but my mind was with Azura. I would be wondering what she was doing at the same time in Malaysia. The job was monotonous and repetitive - but my thoughts about Azura were not, always colorful and sweet. I would play back her kisses - the tenderness of her lips and silky smooth touch of her skin. I would imagine our future - then I would be really anxious about the differences in our status.

At the end of one month, I quit for it was time to return to London. College would be re-opening and Azura was returning in three days time. All together, after paying my share of living expenses to my Nottingham friend I managed to save more than pound-sterling150. In those days when a fish and chip cost only 50pence, a hundred and fifty quid were really good money.

I went shopping -I walked in out of many jeweler shops looking for the best ring which was within my budget. Finally I chose a silver ring with a solitaire ruby. Memory of the ring always brings sadness to my heart. The ring was given to her with love and returned to me with tears.

I still have the ring in my safe keeping.

During those days, there were no mobile phones and internet was not the in-thing. I wrote and mailed letters to Azura almost everyday. I used aerogramme, I used postcards, I sued colourful letter writing pads and I have also used napkins - I used them all to carry my words of love and my words of yearning for her presence.
Azura would asked me to wait at a certain time, at a certain public phone so that she could call me. I would be happiest every time she called - which was like once every other day. And just to let me know she was missing me too, she posted me letters to carry her own words of love and affection. Receiving her letters which were always signed off with her lipstick and kisses was the highlights of my summer days. In one of them, she sent me strands of her hair. In another - when she was in a particular melancholic mood - there was sumdges of tears too.
I kept them all. And until today, there is a shoe box stored safely on the top drawer of my personal cabinet, filled with letters and special pictures of the two of us.

Azura shared wih me her daily activities. How she spent time window shopping, not the ladies section of the stores but instead looking for gentleman's stuff with me on her mind. She shared how she visualize me modelling the clothes she was selecting. And when she was visiting families and friends, how she imagined introducing me to them as her fiance, or her husband. Those were the content of her letters - similar to the contents of her heart, she assured me when I queried what was in her heart during one of our phone calls.

To her questions about how I spent my time - I simply say, I spent my time waiting for her letters, her phone calls and her return. Then quickly added, that I have also been busy reading books about the finer arts of how to please a woman. She giggled feverishly. I teased her that she had a naughty mind for assuming that I was reading Kamasutra! She burst into a laughter - and I joined her laughing. Happiness was knowing that she was happy.

Tonight, I was flipping through my old copy of the Kamasutra and wondered whether she uses the positions and postures from our personal favourite pages with her husband. It hurts!

I am missing you even more!