Dear Paul,
I write to you from a land that I can’t pronounce its name. I am incapable of describing it as well. All I can say about it is that it's yellow. My brother chose a spot in the middle of the desert to be our home; they call it Egypt. He claims that it carries a hidden rich future which no one else sees; like when he claimed that you and I have no future. I sincerely wish that time swallows this land and forgets all about it just to prove him wrong; maybe then he would know that we are inseparable.
We arrived 15 days ago but we were staying at the mayor’s house until the servants clean the palace. The palace that my brother, Baron Edward Empain, had been building for the past five years. Merriam, my niece, is telling me that it looks similar to the one we used to live in back in Belgium, however it seems absolutely unfamiliar to me. All the details are different; I can barely relate to anything except to my pen.
Darling, can you imagine that my brother had chosen the farthest chamber in the palace to be mine? As if the thousand miles that already separate me from you are not enough for him. But again, he does not know that I have got my pen. We have been busy all week long in preparing ourselves and the palace for the grand reception that Edward is holding tonight to introduce us to the city’s most prominent figures; and of course by prominent I mean the city’s most untrue and lame figures.
Edward invited them all; the ambassadors, ministers, mayor, and others. In fact, as I am writing to you now darling I hear Merriam echoing my name against the walls of the palace to help her with the preparations. Excuse me love, I’ll leave you for a while and come back to you with all the boring stories from the party.
Yours Helena,
1911
Helena lays down her pen on the desk with a heavy sigh and walks away towards the door with her eye focused on the letter. She gets out of her chamber and locks the door behind her. “I am coming!” she echoed back. The sound of her echo actually scared her a little which made her walk faster towards the staircase. Oh the staircase! Perhaps it’s what she most fears in this palace. It is twisted in a way that makes it seem endless, which reminds her with the possibility that her stay in this palace may be infinite. She finally reaches the final step of the staircase with a little relief that she landed safely. “The pink rose or white rose?” rushed Merriam towards her holding a set of different flowers. “Pink” answers Helena without even looking at the options. “From where did you get the flowers any way?” asks Helena after realizing that she had never seen a plant since she had arrived to this bald land. “I thought you’d never ask.” replied Merriam with a cunning smile “Come, I have a surprise for you” She grabs Helena from her wrist and runs towards the Palace’s garden. “Look Helena! The gardeners have been working since dawn in beautifying the garden. They had brought with them the most famous and rare plants and flowers from around the world! Papa had ordered them especially for tonight!” Helena was confused and had mixed feelings of pitying her brother for faking a garden and of feeling glad to have finally seen her most favorite flowers. Her happiness shortly vanished after she remembered that in less than few hours these flowers will be dead. “I too shall die soon flowers. I left my roots in Belgium” Helena whispers to the flowers. What kind of a challenge is Edward having? And what point is he trying to prove? The flowers look extra-ordinary contradictory among all the sand that surrounds the palace, Helena desperately thought to herself. Suddenly, a very loud sound came out from the palace so Helena and Merriam rushed back inside to see what happened. It was the clock that had never worked since they had arrived. The clock that stood with pride and refused to let time pass just for Helena, now, it breaks its promise and loses to time. Now, the clock will remind her in the most disturbing way with every hour, day and month that she spends away from Paul. She stands still in front of the clock for a while silently confronting it with its betrayal.
“Papa is here!” screams Merriam in excitement. She ran towards him while hiding the flowers behind her back to surprise him too that they are finally here. Just before she shows him the flowers, he precedes and places a flower in her hair with a genuine smile. “You didn’t believe me Merriam when I promised you the flowers”. Merriam responded with a tender hug to hide her embarrassment. Edward then headed towards Helena who was standing still in front of the clock. He gently placed a white flower in her hair as he stared at the clock in admiration. “Amazing huh! It’s the only clock in the world that counts not only the hours, but also the days and months. The only similar clock is found in Buckingham Palace”. Helena pays attention to his presence, and to the flower that is now in her hair. She gets it off and slowly walks away.
She hasn’t spoken to her brother since the day he decided she is never to see Paul again. Back in Belgium, Paul and Edward were business partners and good friends for many years, which was an enough reason, or excuse, for Paul to visit Edward's family every now and then. Helena and Paul’s love story had a typical start of first encounter attraction that soon developed to stolen gazes at dinner parties and secret meetings. Helena believes that Edward knew about their secret love story all along but he just found it inappropriate to speak about it and chose to remain silent until the time is right. She also never doubted that her brother may not approve of their love. In fact, she thought that this would be delightful news to him. Series of events such as the death of Paul’s mother followed by his sudden travel to his sister in Paris that lasted for a year in order to settle inheritance issues had stopped Paul from directly approaching Edward and revealing his hidden love for Helena. Aside from Paul’s mother’s death, everything else seemed peaceful and serene. Until one day, Paul and Edward had a huge dispute over how to use a large piece of land that they both owned; Paul wanted to keep it for future investments, while Edward wanted to sell it because he sought a more prosperous opportunity in Egypt. The dispute shortly extended till it reached Paul and Helena’s story when Edward decided to break his silence and accused Paul for betraying their honorable friendship. Paul, then, had to sacrifice the land in order to prove to Edward, and to Helena, that he never intended to misuse his love for her for business purposes. For that reason she detested her brother. It was very clear for her that he was the one who used her for business purposes. At once, she lost the love of her life as well as her respect to her older brother. As for Edward, he, very easily and without demonstrating the least signs of shame or guilt, had sentenced her with lifetime suffering and now he’s trying to make it up for her with that miserable flower that will die soon!
She decided to withdraw herself from all the madness happening in the palace and went upstairs to get dressed; it was about time to get ready for the night anyway. As she climbed the stairs, she contemplated the statues surrounding the staircase. She once heard her brother telling the mayor about his trip to India and his passion about Hinduism culture which made him hire two Indian architects to design and build for him Indian statues all over the palace. Despite her overall resentment of the palace, Helena could not hide her admiration of the statues; she sensed special holy aura around them.
Two hours later, the clock stormed again announcing its eight o’clock. This time, Helena was relieved that the clock broke its promise with her as she wanted time to rapidly pass tonight. Shortly, Merriam, Helena and Edward met in the hall and were all dressed elegantly. Guests slowly flooded to the palace and soon the palace was crowded with strangers who do not even speak her language. The few who could communicate with her only spoke about how magnificent the palace is. She only found company with the mayor’s daughters since she had spent with them her first days in Egypt; and since she had told them about Paul. She needed to speak about Paul since she was incapable of speaking to him. However, the mayor’s daughters were also drunk on the palace’s radiance and found no interest at all in trading the repetitive tours around the palace with a talk about someone they do not know. Helena tried to discretely excuse herself and to disappear for a while but her brother’s arm gently grabbed her to join one of the ongoing conversations. “You know, Mayor, if you honor my family with a visit during the morning, you will enjoy the sun from every angle of the palace. As a matter of fact, the sun is the reason that brought me and my family to Egypt or to Heliopolis as I prefer to call it, which means the city of sun”. Food, music, tours around the palace and finally the night was over. Helena impatiently saluted the last guests as they leave and flew to her room. She fell into Paul's arms as her hands hugged the pen tightly and drowned him with kisses as the ink flooded on the papers...
I write to you from a land that I can’t pronounce its name. I am incapable of describing it as well. All I can say about it is that it's yellow. My brother chose a spot in the middle of the desert to be our home; they call it Egypt. He claims that it carries a hidden rich future which no one else sees; like when he claimed that you and I have no future. I sincerely wish that time swallows this land and forgets all about it just to prove him wrong; maybe then he would know that we are inseparable.
We arrived 15 days ago but we were staying at the mayor’s house until the servants clean the palace. The palace that my brother, Baron Edward Empain, had been building for the past five years. Merriam, my niece, is telling me that it looks similar to the one we used to live in back in Belgium, however it seems absolutely unfamiliar to me. All the details are different; I can barely relate to anything except to my pen.
Darling, can you imagine that my brother had chosen the farthest chamber in the palace to be mine? As if the thousand miles that already separate me from you are not enough for him. But again, he does not know that I have got my pen. We have been busy all week long in preparing ourselves and the palace for the grand reception that Edward is holding tonight to introduce us to the city’s most prominent figures; and of course by prominent I mean the city’s most untrue and lame figures.
Edward invited them all; the ambassadors, ministers, mayor, and others. In fact, as I am writing to you now darling I hear Merriam echoing my name against the walls of the palace to help her with the preparations. Excuse me love, I’ll leave you for a while and come back to you with all the boring stories from the party.
Yours Helena,
1911
Helena lays down her pen on the desk with a heavy sigh and walks away towards the door with her eye focused on the letter. She gets out of her chamber and locks the door behind her. “I am coming!” she echoed back. The sound of her echo actually scared her a little which made her walk faster towards the staircase. Oh the staircase! Perhaps it’s what she most fears in this palace. It is twisted in a way that makes it seem endless, which reminds her with the possibility that her stay in this palace may be infinite. She finally reaches the final step of the staircase with a little relief that she landed safely. “The pink rose or white rose?” rushed Merriam towards her holding a set of different flowers. “Pink” answers Helena without even looking at the options. “From where did you get the flowers any way?” asks Helena after realizing that she had never seen a plant since she had arrived to this bald land. “I thought you’d never ask.” replied Merriam with a cunning smile “Come, I have a surprise for you” She grabs Helena from her wrist and runs towards the Palace’s garden. “Look Helena! The gardeners have been working since dawn in beautifying the garden. They had brought with them the most famous and rare plants and flowers from around the world! Papa had ordered them especially for tonight!” Helena was confused and had mixed feelings of pitying her brother for faking a garden and of feeling glad to have finally seen her most favorite flowers. Her happiness shortly vanished after she remembered that in less than few hours these flowers will be dead. “I too shall die soon flowers. I left my roots in Belgium” Helena whispers to the flowers. What kind of a challenge is Edward having? And what point is he trying to prove? The flowers look extra-ordinary contradictory among all the sand that surrounds the palace, Helena desperately thought to herself. Suddenly, a very loud sound came out from the palace so Helena and Merriam rushed back inside to see what happened. It was the clock that had never worked since they had arrived. The clock that stood with pride and refused to let time pass just for Helena, now, it breaks its promise and loses to time. Now, the clock will remind her in the most disturbing way with every hour, day and month that she spends away from Paul. She stands still in front of the clock for a while silently confronting it with its betrayal.
“Papa is here!” screams Merriam in excitement. She ran towards him while hiding the flowers behind her back to surprise him too that they are finally here. Just before she shows him the flowers, he precedes and places a flower in her hair with a genuine smile. “You didn’t believe me Merriam when I promised you the flowers”. Merriam responded with a tender hug to hide her embarrassment. Edward then headed towards Helena who was standing still in front of the clock. He gently placed a white flower in her hair as he stared at the clock in admiration. “Amazing huh! It’s the only clock in the world that counts not only the hours, but also the days and months. The only similar clock is found in Buckingham Palace”. Helena pays attention to his presence, and to the flower that is now in her hair. She gets it off and slowly walks away.
She hasn’t spoken to her brother since the day he decided she is never to see Paul again. Back in Belgium, Paul and Edward were business partners and good friends for many years, which was an enough reason, or excuse, for Paul to visit Edward's family every now and then. Helena and Paul’s love story had a typical start of first encounter attraction that soon developed to stolen gazes at dinner parties and secret meetings. Helena believes that Edward knew about their secret love story all along but he just found it inappropriate to speak about it and chose to remain silent until the time is right. She also never doubted that her brother may not approve of their love. In fact, she thought that this would be delightful news to him. Series of events such as the death of Paul’s mother followed by his sudden travel to his sister in Paris that lasted for a year in order to settle inheritance issues had stopped Paul from directly approaching Edward and revealing his hidden love for Helena. Aside from Paul’s mother’s death, everything else seemed peaceful and serene. Until one day, Paul and Edward had a huge dispute over how to use a large piece of land that they both owned; Paul wanted to keep it for future investments, while Edward wanted to sell it because he sought a more prosperous opportunity in Egypt. The dispute shortly extended till it reached Paul and Helena’s story when Edward decided to break his silence and accused Paul for betraying their honorable friendship. Paul, then, had to sacrifice the land in order to prove to Edward, and to Helena, that he never intended to misuse his love for her for business purposes. For that reason she detested her brother. It was very clear for her that he was the one who used her for business purposes. At once, she lost the love of her life as well as her respect to her older brother. As for Edward, he, very easily and without demonstrating the least signs of shame or guilt, had sentenced her with lifetime suffering and now he’s trying to make it up for her with that miserable flower that will die soon!
She decided to withdraw herself from all the madness happening in the palace and went upstairs to get dressed; it was about time to get ready for the night anyway. As she climbed the stairs, she contemplated the statues surrounding the staircase. She once heard her brother telling the mayor about his trip to India and his passion about Hinduism culture which made him hire two Indian architects to design and build for him Indian statues all over the palace. Despite her overall resentment of the palace, Helena could not hide her admiration of the statues; she sensed special holy aura around them.
Two hours later, the clock stormed again announcing its eight o’clock. This time, Helena was relieved that the clock broke its promise with her as she wanted time to rapidly pass tonight. Shortly, Merriam, Helena and Edward met in the hall and were all dressed elegantly. Guests slowly flooded to the palace and soon the palace was crowded with strangers who do not even speak her language. The few who could communicate with her only spoke about how magnificent the palace is. She only found company with the mayor’s daughters since she had spent with them her first days in Egypt; and since she had told them about Paul. She needed to speak about Paul since she was incapable of speaking to him. However, the mayor’s daughters were also drunk on the palace’s radiance and found no interest at all in trading the repetitive tours around the palace with a talk about someone they do not know. Helena tried to discretely excuse herself and to disappear for a while but her brother’s arm gently grabbed her to join one of the ongoing conversations. “You know, Mayor, if you honor my family with a visit during the morning, you will enjoy the sun from every angle of the palace. As a matter of fact, the sun is the reason that brought me and my family to Egypt or to Heliopolis as I prefer to call it, which means the city of sun”. Food, music, tours around the palace and finally the night was over. Helena impatiently saluted the last guests as they leave and flew to her room. She fell into Paul's arms as her hands hugged the pen tightly and drowned him with kisses as the ink flooded on the papers...
