Interview
"Hello Orlando, great to see you."
"You too."
"You are looking good, is that because you have taken a break?"
"Yeah, of course, I mean, it is great to have a lot of free time again. I can sleep long..."
"What are you doing the whole time? Isn't it boring?"
"No, of course not. I meet friends, take long walks with my dog, go shopping, read a lot, simply relax..."
"When do you plan to go to work again?"
"Well, I'll see... There were a lot of interesting scripts, but I've nothing planned yet."
"What do your fans think about your break?"
"I get a lot of letters where people are asking, when I am going to come back again, but some fans can understand me, that's quite good to know..."
"But you miss your work?"
"Of course I do."
"Who is that pretty girl you were seen with several times in London?"
"..."
"Orlando?"
"You know that I am not answering questions about my personal relationships."
"Well, I am sorry... Would you like to answer just one more question?"
"Go ahead."
"Is it true, that you thought about moving to America?"
"Were did you get that? It's definitely not true. London is my home and will always be my home. I don't plan to move away."
"Thank you for the interview."
"No problem."
How everything had begun
"Sidi, come here!" the young man shouted. "What are you doing?"
Seeing, that his dog wouldn't listen, which was the exception, because normally the dog listened to every word his master was speaking, Orlando ran after Sidi and murmured to himself:
"Crazy dog!".
The big black dog was jumping over a few little bushes, running across the grass towards a big tree and then disappeared.
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining brightly, all kinds of birds were singing and a gentle breeze was blowing. The young man suddenly stopped running and looked around. He couldn't see his dog anymore. Shaking his head and shading his eyes from the sun with his hand, Orlando took a few steps towards the big tree.
"Where are you? Come outta there!"
First he thought, Sidi wasn't there, but then he suddenly heard his dog barking.
"What's up, Sidi? I don't want to run after you to take you. Come here!"
But Orlando's dog wouldn't listen. He still barked, being very excited and seemed to say:
>Come, follow me, I've found something interesting!<
Orlando took a deep breath and suddenly had to smile. He loved his dog. Having been picked up by Orlando while the actor was shooting the movie "Kingdom of Heaven", Sidi had never left the side of his master up to now. So the young man gave in and walked through the dense bushes until he reached the big tree, whose branches were almost hanging on the ground. Pushing away some branches, Orlando entered the shade of the big tree. When his eyes got used to the dark, he could see his young dog, sitting next to a person who was lying in the long grass. Sidi looked at him and barked low, wagging his tail excitedly, but he didn't come to his master, he remained sitting where he was. Orlando raised an eyebrow and stepped slowly to his dog, who was like saying:
>Hey, look, do something!<
Being speechless, the young man bent, then kneeled down, looking at the lying person. It was a girl who seemed to be fallen asleep. Orlando would say that she was about maybe 15 years old. Her dark hair was very long, hanging all around her face, her eyes were closed. She was wearing jeans and a coat over a thin pullover. Sidi stopped barking and waited for his master, to do something. Gently touching her, Orlando tried to wake the girl, but she didn't move. There were neither other people nor was there any stuff around like a backpack or something. The young men had gone for a walk alone with his dog, so he didn't know what to do. Giving Sidi a stroke, Orlando remained unmoved, still looking at the pretty girl.
"What shall I do, Sidi boy? She seems to sleep, what is she doing here?" the young man asked his dog, without expecting an answer. Sidi looked at him, seeming to know how his master had to feel.
Making up his mind, Orlando gently lifted her up and was surprised, because she almost seemed to weigh nothing at all. He carried the girl carefully the way back to the house, and even then she didn't wake up. The black Labrador-cross followed him close by step.
Being inside his house, Orlando gently laid the girl down to a couch, covered her with a blanket and thought about what to do.
"Well, it's simply the best to wait until she wakes up, huh buddy?"
His dog barked excitedly and wagged his tail. His master laughed, kneeled down and stroke him a while. But he had to look back to the girl. She looked kind of Asian, maybe she was from China or Japan. What was she doing on his plot of land? And why didn't she wake up?
The young man shook his head and thought for a second about calling somebody, maybe the police? But that was not quite a good idea... Well, she would certainly tell him when she woke up, so he went to the bathroom in order to shave. When he had nothing to do he was too lazy doing it, but he wanted to make a good impression when the girl woke up. Then he waited in the living room, because he had nothing else to do.
After half an hour Sidi got bored and started playing with Orlando, who was just sitting on the ground, looking out of the window, enjoying his free time and being in deep thoughts. When his dog attacked him just for fun, he laughed and tried to catch Sidi, who was wildly running across the room, waiting for his master to follow. So Orlando played with his dog.
***
That was how he had found her, and he had nobody told about the girl. But how did the press get to know about her? After the interview the actor was kind of angry. Interviews were okay, but only when talking about his work, not about his personal life or rather his personal relationships. Nobody had to know about how he was living or whom he was meeting. Personal questions about people he was meeting slowly got on his nerves. He had to be careful not to involve other people. All he hated was, when he couldn't live his own life anymore, because the press would be always after him, trying to get some good photos or to catch some news. But the actor tried avoided this, that's why he said very clearly that he didn't want it, but there were often people of the press, being very persistent. Somebody must have seen him together with her, and Orlando never wanted to know what several magazines were writing about this news. Ignoring them was the best solution.
When he finally reached the house he forgot all about his worries. His dog welcomed him at the front door and she was sitting in the living room, waiting for him. She smiled, and so did Orlando. He was home.
***
There were noises, strange noises, seeming to come from afar. Slowly, very slowly she opened her eyes. It was very light, and her eyes needed some time to get used to that. Her head was terribly aching, so she remained still unmoved, until she felt a little bit better. She moved her head to the side where she could hear the noises now louder. Her look fell on a person clothed in black, sitting on the ground and playing with a black, excited dog. The girl realized that she was lying on a big couch and her body was covered with a soft blanket of a yellow colour. Feeling warm and comfortable, ignoring her headache, the girl just thought about sleeping again, when the big dog suddenly ran to her and licked off her hand. She looked at him, being irritated. Slowly she started thinking. Where on earth was she? Who was that dog?
"Hey Sidi, what's up?"
She could see the person, who had shortly played with the dog and now stood up, coming towards her. She couldn't remember, having ever seen him, so she just looked at him. The big, slender, young man was now standing in front of her. He had longer, dark brown hair and looked at her with bright, shining, brown eyes and a smile on his lips. His face was beautiful and the girl just could look at him without being able to speak.
Orlando, who followed his dog, looked at the girl and was happy that she finally didn't sleep anymore. At the moment, when he wanted to talk to her, he saw her eyes and was suddenly surprised. He had never seen this colour of eyes in his life! They were dark blue, being a big contrast to her black hair. Her colour of eyes reminded him somehow of midnight. He thought her to have brown eyes at all and he suddenly realized, that she was looking at him and. Having forgotten about his dog, he smiled at her. Finally he found words to say:
"Hey, how are you doing?"
Still looking at him she answered with a soft voice after a little pause:
"Except a bad headache I am fine, thank you for asking."
Orlando nodded, and then asked:
"Want something to drink?"
"Thank you that would be great."
The young man went to the kitchen and came out again after a minute, a glass of juice in his hand. Sidi was still sitting at the girl's side. Orlando raised an eyebrow, looking at his dog, then shook his head and gave the juice to the girl. She took it gratefully and drank very slowly. After a while she wanted to know:
"Where am I?"
Orlando waited, until she was ready with drinking, then he said:
"Well, I found you outside on my plot of land, I mean, Sidi found you", he looked proudly at his dog, and then continued:
"You were sleeping, I guess, or you lost your consciousness, so I carried you into my house, because I didn't know what else to do..."
The girl thought for a while, then mentioned slowly:
"I... I can't remember anything... Where did you find me?"
"You were lying below a big tree... Without Sidi, that's my dog, I'd have never found you... But tell me, you can't remember anything? Not even your address or something...?"
The girl shook her head and slowly rose.
"No... Hell no! I can't even remember my name! Do you know me?"
Orlando sat down next to her, looking at his dog and answered:
"If I did I wouldn't have asked you... but..."
Suddenly he had an idea, coming straight into his mind, so he asked:
"...do you know me? I mean, by sight?"
She took a look at his face for a while, and then she answered:
"No, I haven't seen you before..."
The young man just nodded. Thinking about what to do, he suddenly realized a silver necklace, hanging from around her neck. She followed his look and pulled the necklace out of her pullover. At the end of it hang a small silver sign. Orlando remarked:
"Looks kinda Chinese...", but the girl shook her head, still looking at the sign.
A few pieces of her memory came back.
"No", she said. "That's >ai<, the Japanese word for >love<. It's a kanji-sign, which the Japanese took from the Chinese in the past..."
The young man was impressed by her answer.
"How comes that you know this?" he asked, being curious, but after having asked this question he regretted.
"I do not know!" the girl said worried.
Orlando looked out of the window, being deep in thoughts. Sidi lay to his feet, not moving.
"Well, I am sorry, but calm down", Orlando said softly, looking at her again. "I'll take you to the doctor, when you feel that you can get up... By the way, I am Orlando. I totally forgot to introduce myself to you..."
"Nice to meet you...", she said, and then she picked up the topic Orlando mentioned before introducing himself:
"It's a good idea to see a doctor, but only if that is okay for you..."
She looked at him.
"Of course", he answered. "At the moment I have nothing else to do..."
The girl just nodded. In that very moment Orlando had a strange feeling. He thought:
'She doesn't speak like a girl... Of course she looks very young, but she behaves like a woman...'
***
So the young man took her to the doctor, who examined her and after doing some tests told him:
"Well, according to her teeth she must be around 20 years of age, but concerning her amnesia I can't do anything, I'm sorry. She somehow must have been fallen on her head, because she has a bump at the back of her head, and as a result she lost her memory. There is nothing else to do, besides waiting, until her memory comes back, and no one can tell when that will be..."
He stopped speaking for a short while and then added:
"But I couldn't find other injuries. I can give her some pills against her headache..."
Orlando took the pack, thanked him and went back to his car with the young woman.
"What... what shall I do? I am nobody, I have no name...!" she said very despaired.
The young man tried to comfort her:
"Hey, don't worry. All you can do is waiting, until your memory is back..."
He laid his arms around her shoulders and led her the way back to his car.
Inside the car, while driving, Orlando said after thinking a while:
"Well, the only thing I can do is to drive to the police... if you want me to...?"
"Seems to be the only solution...", the young woman agreed, so the young man drove to the next police station.
But there they couldn't get much help, either. The policeman promised to do anything he could, asked a lot of questions and took some photos. Orlando agreed, taking the young woman with him, so that she had at least a place to sleep until the police found out something, or her memory came back. The policeman namely had no better idea of what else to do. So Orlando left him one of his phone numbers and then went out of the police station quickly, because he recognized some people, staring at him.
Walking along the road, the young woman looked at him and wanted to know:
"Is that really okay for you? I mean, we don't know each other... and I don't want to disturb your life and your privacy..."
Orlando smiled at her, saying:
"Believe me, it's very okay. I somehow feel responsible for you, because you were on my plot of land... And I love, when lots of different things happen in my life, so I will never be boring... But maybe I should ask your question the other way round: Is it okay for you to live together with a man, you just know since some hours...?"
She looked at him and said, smiling:
"Don't ask me why, but I simply know that you would never harm me or something... Thank you so much. I wouldn't know what to do if you weren't there..."
"You're welcome", Orlando replied and then suddenly mentioned:
"Wait a moment! When you are going to live with me for a while, you will need a lot of things, because in my house there normally are no women..."
He somehow was embarrassed.
"You... you are right...", she said nervously, and the young man answered:
"Well then... I love shopping! Let's go!"
He laughed and went to the next shopping mall, where not so many people were.
"Here are a lot of different shops", Orlando explained.
He gave her a little card, saying:
"Buy what you need and want, it's all right with me, do not think about it. I will wait outside..."
She wanted to protest, but when she saw his look, she just nodded, slowly took the card and went to the first shop, in order to buy some clothes.
'He's really smart', the young woman thought. 'He waits outside so that I can by my private things, without him standing behind me and looking...'
When she had found what she needed she paid and wanted to leave, when she saw shelves with magazines, and she couldn't believe her eyes. At the cover of one of the magazines was the face of the pretty young man who was standing outside, waiting for her! She took the magazine and glanced through the article. She couldn't believe what she was reading. This man with the long name of Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom was a famous actor?! He was born in Canterbury, Kent, England on January 13th 1977, so he was 29 years old. There were a lot of fans, and he was single. He played important roles in big movies like "The Lord of the Rings", "Pirates of the Caribbean", and one of the newest movies: "Kingdom of Heaven". She also read that having made one movie after another, he now had taken a downtime for some time... She didn't read the whole article, but simply bought the magazine, put it in one of the shopping bags and then went outside.
She could see Orlando, being surrounded by some people who obviously wanted to get an autograph, and she stopped walking, in order to watch the scene. So it really was true, she couldn't believe that. She suddenly remembered when she watched "The Lord the Rings", she had been fascinated of the Elf Legolas, whom Orlando was playing, from the beginning... but she couldn't remember where she had watched the movie...
"Everything all right?" she suddenly heard the voice of Orlando.
He had been left by the people and was now standing next to her, watching her concerned with his dark brown eyes. 'No wonder I didn't recognize him', she thought. 'He's looking totally different than Legolas...'
"I am fine", she just said, smiling at him.
So they went to a lot of other shops, until the young woman had everything she thought she would need. Orlando insisted on carrying her shopping bags as they walked back to the car, and people often talked to him or wanted him to sign something. Being always friendly and smiling, the young actor signed everything and talked to his fans. That took some time.
"I am sorry", Orlando said some time later, apologizing. "I still can't believe that I am so famous... You know, I am an..."
"... actor, I know", she ended his sentence, smiling, and he looked at her, being very confused.
"Where on earth...", he only managed to say.
The young woman laughed, took the magazine out of one of the shopping bags and showed him the page. He saw his face at the front page and just said:
"Oh... well..."
She explained:
"Well, seeing your face at this page I was curious. So I read one article..."
The young actor nodded.
"Okay. I hoped that you maybe remembered me or something..."
The young woman looked down and said:
"No, I am sorry... I just remembered having seen "The Lord of the Rings", but I couldn't remember where it was..."
Orlando again tried to comfort her:
"Hey, don't worry, I was just very confused..."
He laughed and then they finally reached the big black car and got in.
Orlando started driving and didn't talk, because he could see that the young woman sitting next to him was deep in thoughts. She was looking out of the window and was very quiet. She didn't seem to care, that Orlando was a famous actor and the young man somehow was relieved. He often had the problem that people saw in his person one character he had played in one of his movies, and that they somehow didn't really want to see him as a person. The young woman sitting next to him didn't mention the topic again, at least not at the moment. When she finally started talking she said:
"I realized that I was watching the road signs and the way how you are driving and draw the conclusion, that I am able to drive a car... But where then is my driving license? Why didn't I have anything with me when you found me?"
The young actor gave her a short look, and then concentrated on the road again. After a while he said:
"Well, maybe you were on the way to me, getting something signed, whatever, and then, I don't know, fell from something and lost your mind?"
She just shook her head.
"I don't think so, because I had not even keys with me... and do you think people know where you are living? I don't think so, but anyway..."
There was a pause, until Orlando mentioned:
"Well, I guess you just have to concentrate on yourself, on the way how you react, behave and think..."
The young woman nodded and totally agreed with his opinion. Out of the blue the young actor suddenly wanted to know:
"How can I call you?"
She looked at him, being confused, and he explained:
"Well, when you cannot remember your name... I can't shout all the time >Hey, young woman, whom I've shortly picked up...<..."
He smiled, and the young woman had to laugh.
"Well, yes...", she said, and gently touched the Japanese sign, hanging at her necklace.
At this moment she had an idea.
"What about... Ai? That's a Japanese name..."
"Why not? Sounds quite cool", Orlando answered, smiling.
So the young woman at least had a name.
***
"Hey", Ai said friendly and brought him something to drink.
Orlando said:
"Thank you", took the glass and sat down on the yellow couch.
The young woman wanted to ask him, how the interview had been, but she felt that it wasn't the right time of asking this question. She could see it in his face. Before she could say anything else, the actor wanted to know:
"How are you doing?"
"Fine", she answered. "I had a nice time with your dog."
She smiled, and then added:
"He's so cute!"
Orlando nodded and agreed:
"He is. I am glad that somebody takes care of him when I am away, because I can't take him with me all the time..."
Ai smiled and wanted to know:
"How old is he?"
Orlando said:
"I don't really know for sure, but he is still young, about..."
"How comes that you do not know the age of your dog?" the young woman wanted to know.
Orlando smiled and answered:
"That's a great story."
Ai looked at him, waiting for him to continue. She hadn't to wait long.
"I found Sidi on the street in Morocco, while we were filming >Kingdom of Heaven<. He was in the arms of this old man the first time I saw him. He was a puppy who looked like he was three weeks old at that point, but of course I do not know for sure. But then I came back three weeks later he was just stumbling around all dusty. He was starving and trying to beat out the camels for street scraps. There were a lot of camels on the set. He was eating camel droppings out of a cardboard box on the side of the road, when I saw him. He was just, like, tiny, and there were so many dogs astray."
He was silent, his arm around Sidi, who was sitting next to him at the couch and listening. After a while he continued:
"Well, I rescued him. I just picked him up and I said: 'All right, let's get him cleaned up and see what happens.', and then I was in love and ended up wanting him for ever. At that time he was kind of aloof, but he's a good dog, and very playful. I got him a doggy passport, so that he doesn't need to go through quarantine and can accompany me wherever I go. Sidi was even out in the Caribbean when we were filming >Pirates<. I can't imagine my life without him anymore, we are now inseparable. He is such a good boy."
He paused, then smiled and said:
"Watch this."
Orlando told Sidi to jump off the couch, to lay down and roll over. The black Labrador-cross did it immediately at his command. Ai laughed and said:
"Wow!"
"I'm trying to teach him a few little tricks. He's my mate." Orlando explained.
"I see", the young woman said, still laughing. "I love dogs, too."
"I know a lot of dogs", Orlando said. "Dogs are cool. They listen to you, you can teach them tricks and they are faithful."
"You are right", Ai agreed, watching Sidi who was sitting next to his master again.
Orlando nodded, leaned back and suddenly fell asleep, after some minutes of silence, where nobody of them knew what else to say.
'Must have been a hard day for him...', the young woman thought and watched him, breathing deep.
Then she had a sudden idea and took paper and pencil from the table where she had left it when the actor had come. The black Labrador-cross jumped off the couch and tried to play with Ai at the beginning, but seeing that she had something else to do, he finally laid himself down at the carpet between the couch and the table.
***
When the young actor finally woke up, he found himself covered with a blanked. It was already getting dark outside and just a little lamp in the corner of the living room was switched on. Orlando looked around. There were no signs of Ai and none of his dog either. The house was completely silent. Slowly he got up and started to think. He wasn't sure how long he had been sleeping, but it must have been some hours. He took a glance on the table, where he could see a slip of paper and some pencils as well as an eraser beneath it. He took the paper and looked at it for a while. It was a little but very good sketch of his face, which must have been drawn when he had slept. Orlando was still looking at it when he heard some noises at the door, the sound of a key and then the squeak of the front door. Finally his dog ran inside and jumped at him.
"Hey Sidi, not so fast!"
He laughed, looked at the big black dog and patted him. At this moment Ai who had closed the front door before, entered the room.
"Oh, you finally got up?" she asked, smiling and not expecting an answer.
"Yeah, somehow", the young man said. Then he pointed at the sketch and wanted to know:
"Did you draw that?"
The young woman looked at the table and answered:
"Yes I did. It was boring, so I just took pencil and paper... But then your dog went crazy, I guess he needed a walk, so I went for a walk with him... I am sorry. Maybe I should've told you..."
"It's quite good!!" Orlando still admired the picture, not going into her absence.
"Thank you", Ai said, taking off her jacket. "I just felt like drawing something... I didn't even know that it would be so good..."
"It really is." the actor confirmed, not being able to break away from the sketch.
"You can keep it", the young woman said smiling.
Before Orlando could say anything, she put the dog leash of Sidi, as well as the keys of the house into his hands, and left for the bathroom.
Living together
Orlando and Ai had lived almost three days together, when she asked him one day:
"Please, would you show me that place where you found me? Maybe it helps me to remember something, I don't know..."
Orlando, who got up half an hour ago, left his room. He was dressed in jeans and shirt and was looking for his watch, he had taken of and laid down somewhere the evening before.
"Of course, why not?" he answered. "But before I have to find my watch..."
"I guess you removed it when going to bed, so I suppose it is either in the bathroom or somewhere next to your bed...", the young woman said, giving him advice.
The actor disappeared into one of the rooms and Ai could hear a voice from away:
"How did you know? You were right!"
"Well, normally it's the same with me, so..."
She smiled and waited for him, until he was ready. Orlando took the leash of Sidi as well as the keys and closed the door. So they went for a walk. It was late in the morning, and a lot of clouds could be seen at the sky. A fresh wind was blowing, and Ai was glad, wearing a warm jacket. After some minutes it started raining.
"Great", the young woman just said sarcastically, putting on her hood.
"Well, that's the typical weather in London, but look", Orlando pointed to a big tree, whose branches almost hang on the ground. "That's the tree where Sidi and I found you."
After a while he added:
"It will protect us from the rain...", although he didn't seem to be impressed by it.
He was used to the bad weather, it was normal.
"I hope so", Ai answered.
Her clothes were already wet.
Sidi barked and ran straight to the tree, then disappeared behind the leaves. Ai and Orlando followed him, entering the dark shade of the big, old tree. The Labrador-cross was sitting in the long grass, waiting for them. He shook his coat, so that all the water got out of it. The young woman laughed and then looked around. She couldn't remember having been here before. Kneeling down, she listened to the soft dropping of the rain on the leaves of the big tree. There was nothing to be seen on the ground. There were no broken branches or damage at the tree, there was nothing. Ai stood up again and took a few steps towards the trunk, then suddenly stepped on something, lying in the grass. She looked down and Orlando, who was watching her, wanted to know:
"What is it?"
"I don't know for sure...", Ai said, bending down and grasped at something, lying deep in the long grass.
When she took her hand out again, she was holding a blue dog leash. The young woman looked at it closely. There was something in her mind, telling her, that she knew this leash. Orlando took a few steps towards her, looking over her shoulder.
"Looks quite used..."
She looked at him, being deep in thoughts.
"That's mine...", she finally said, looking around. "But where then is my dog???"
The young man patted Sidi and said:
"Maybe he ran away? And maybe that's why Sidi ran towards this tree?"
Ai shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe..."
They searched together in the long grass for some minutes, but didn't find anything else again. Sidi sniffed at the big tree, snooped around the grass, and then looked at them.
"The rain had almost stopped", Orlando reminded, and the young woman said:
"Then let's go back... I think I don't find anything else here..."
The actor nodded, kept open the branches for Ai and then followed her. Sidi was running in front. The air was fresh, the grass and bushes wet, but that wasn't annoying. Slowly and being deep in thoughts Orlando and the young woman followed the black dog back to the house.
***
The fact that she had an own dog didn't get out of her mind. Ai had recognized, that she could get along with Sidi very well, from the beginning. Orlando picked up her thoughts when saying:
"Ai, your dog must have been female, I suppose..."
"Why do you think so?" she wanted to know.
The actor explained:
"Because Sidi ran away from me very fast and then snooped around the tree... That's typical for male dogs, smelling a female one..."
"Makes sense", the young woman agreed, and then added:
"... and it must have had a different color than black..."
The young man raised an eyebrow and asked:
"Why that?"
Ai tried to explain:
"Well... that's got something to do with when I first saw Sidi here... I just remember wondering about the black colour of the dog... I for sure expected another dog, with another colour of coat, you know..."
"If you say so...", Orlando only replied, looking thoughtfully at Sidi.
The young woman was sure. She was silent for a while, then asked:
"Well, it's almost noon, what about cooking us some meal?"
She went into the kitchen without wating for an answer. Orlando followed her, saying:
"Hey, that's a very good idea."
Searching in the fridge she thought for a while. After a while she took out some vegetables and then turned around. Orlando was standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, and watched her. When she turned around to him he asked:
"Can I help you?"
She smiled, and pushed him out of the room.
"Today I will cook for you, okay? And you aren't allowed to come in until I am ready."
He laughed and said:
"As long as you don't burn off my kitchen. But hurry up, I am curious!"
"Yeah, don't admit that you are hungry!" Ai said and laughed.
But before Orlando could reply the young woman went back into the kitchen and remained smiling.
"If you can't find something or want to know anything just ask me.", the young man said.
"All right I'll let you know", she answered, closing the door.
Orlando sat down next to his dog on the couch, saying:
"Well buddy, what are we gonna do now?"
Sidi looked at him, and then laid his head down on Orlando's legs.
***
Orlando leaned back and said:
"Man, am I full! Where did you know that I used to be a vegetarian?"
Ai smiled and answered:
"Did you forget that I read that magazine with your face at the cover? But I would have cooked vegetarian anyway, because I do not eat meat, either."
"That's cool", Orlando was pleased and then added:
"But I am not as strict being a vegetarian anymore, like I was some years ago. Once I quit a pal's friendship because he ordered calf's liver!"
"Really?" Ai said, taking a swallow of her tea and then wanted to know:
"So you are eating meat, too?"
Orlando said:
"Yeah, usually once a week, because I had a bad accident..."
Ai looked at him and asked:
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Sure", the actor said. "Everything started eight years ogo with visiting some friends. They had a roofed terrace that needed to be opened, but the door was warped by the weather. It was on the landing below their apartment, and it needed to be kicked open from the outside. I could have jumped straight across from the window, but instead I got onto this drainpipe and fell...."
He paused, and Ai looked at him, being really frightened.
"And... then?" she managed to ask after some time.
"Well, I couldn't move. I couldn't walk", Orlando continued. "I had no strength in my legs. I crushed one of my vertebrae, scratched a few of the others. I bruised my spinal cord, but I didn't tear it or anything. It was all such a mess that a normal X-ray wasn't cutting it for the doctors. I thought for four days that I would never walk again, and then I knew I would always have problems with my back... "
He was silent for some minutes and seemed to remember everything very clearly. Ai could imagine how he must have felt that time. Then Orlando looked at her agein, and continued:
"Well, they did a neuro scan and saw that they could operate, but they weren't sure how successful it would be. They operated, and I had this miraculous recovery. I managed to walk out of the hospital - on crutches - like 12 days after I had the accident. They thought I would be on my back for at least six month. I couldn't remember how to walk at first, and so I had to relearn that."
"I can imagine", Ai said. "But so fast, that's a big miracle!"
Orlando nodded, and then remembered Ai's question from the beginning.
"To your question why I eat meat once a week: The doctor that operated me at the time, told me later that my back was cured. My back migth have been cured, but I kept an annoying pain. When we shot "The Lord of the Rings" I went to an expert. He told me, that one steak a week would lighten the pain. It is a complicated medical story, but it does work! Since then my pain is gone."
"Really? That's cool!!!" Ai said without expecting an answer and Orlando nodded.
Then he told her:
"An accident like that really does change you. To be honest, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me because it made me realize that life is preciuos... and that wer're all human and precious."
He fell silent, and Ai thought about what Orlando had said. His last words made her thoughtful.
***
When the actor was away, or had something else to do and didn't take his dog with him, Ai went with Sidi for long walks, always having the hope of finding her own dog. But she had no luck.
During the days she was happy, drawed and had fun with the dog and good conversations with Orlando, but in the evening, when it was getting dark, she lost her energy and turned pessimistic and sad.
So Orlando saw her almost every evening sitting near the window and looking outside, having that sad look in her eyes. At the beginning he talked to her, trying to comfort her and taking her mind off her worries, but all his efforts wouldn't help. He didn't even know if she was listening to him or realized the words he was speaking. She didn't move or say anything. Then he decided to leave her alone, hoping that she would change her behaviour on her own.
But today the actor couldn't resist going to her and trying to comfort her. He wanted her to be happy and not to be as melancholy. So he took a seat next to her, saying:
"Come on, I can't see you, being so sad. Don't let hope go, everything will be all right again, I am sure. I know that waiting is hard..."
But she only nodded, didn't say anything and just stared out of the window.
The actor thought for a while about what to do. The only thing maybe was to do something together with her, to go somewhere or to do something. She simply needed distraction.
After a while he had an idea and he decided to ask her, if she could draw his dog, who was lying next to them on the ground. As he could see later that was the only right thing to do.
So Orlando asked her, and after a long time, where the young man didn't know if she had heared him or not, she turned her face towards him.
"Pardon?", she asked with this sad look, telling him that her thoughts were far away.
Orlando repieted the question:
"Would you like to draw Sidi? Well, I have a lot of photos, but a picture of him would be great."
It took a while, until she knew what he ment, then she answered listless:
"I don't care... but I need paper and pencil..."
"I'll get you that", Orlando answered with thirst of for action and walked out of the room.
Ai looked out of the window again and didn't move.
When the young actor entered the room again he put down paper, pencils and an eraser, then he placed a chair in front of the young woman and called his dog. He pointed to the chair and said:
"Come Sidi, jump."
The dog jumped and sat down on the chair, when his master told him so.
"Stay", Orlando commanded him, then he went to Ai and said with a smile:
"He is waiting for you."
She turned her head around and first looked at him, and then at the huge black dog. Slowly she took a pencil and started drawing, without saying a word.
For some time Orlando watched her, but then he decided to read a book and leave her alone. But he couldn't really concentrate on the text he was reading. His thoughts always turned towards the young woman. What else could he do for her? If she had a dog, where was she then? Orlando leaned back on the couch, laying the book aside and watching Ai. She was now really concentrated on drawing and Sidi seemed to know that he played an important role, because he didn't move, just his head a little bit from time to time.
'Maybe her dog ran away?', the young actor thought. 'Then she has to be here somewhere... Maybe she's at an home for animals? We should watch out tomorrow, maybe we are lucky... '
At this moment Ai layed down the pencil, took the paper and said to the dog:
"All right Sidi, you can go to Orlando. Thank you."
The dog barked shortly, jumped off the chair and ran towards his master, who patted him on his head. Then the young man got up and went to Ai, who gave him the drawing. Orlando looked at it and was surprised. The dog at the picture was Sidi, without doubts. He could only praise her. The young woman watched him and smiled shortly. She said:
"I know you want to comfort and divert me, thank you for that, it helped a little."
She was silent for a while. Then she stood up and said:
"I am very tired, I think I will go to bed..."
Orlando nodded, watched her leaving the room and answered:
"Good night...", before she closed the door.
***
The next day Orlando suggested:
"Let's go a bit outside, go for a walk with Sidi."
"Okay, yes, why not?", Ai agreed.
So they went outside. The sky was cloudy, but it wasn't raining at all. Orlando showed her the part of London he was living at, and she was interested in everything the actor said.
Suddenly Sidi barked and wanted to run forward, but Orlando kept him on a short leash and the pushed off.
"Hey Sidi, what's up, my boy?", the actor wanted to know , but the dog didn't listen to him.
It was still early in the morning and nobody was at the street. Everything was quiet, besides the barking of the Labrador-cross.
At this moment Ai saw her. A Golden Retriever lady, who came through some bushes across the footpath. Just at this time Orlando wanted to run with his dog, but when he saw the other dog, he kept his dog on a short leash and walked slowlier. He commanded:
"Sidi, stay!" then he realized, that Ai was running towards the Golden Retriever, shouting:
"Goldy!!"
The dog ran towards her, being very excited and licking off her face when the young woman kneeled down to hug her dog. She was about to cry.
"Everything okay?" Orlando asked carefully, and Ai nodded.
"Yes... But I still can't remember everything..."
Being deep in thoughts she touched her dog and the young man tried to calm Sidi down, which he managed after some minutes. Then he took a few steps towards Ai and her dog, holding the leash very short. He looked closer at the Golden Retriever and realized:
"She looks dirty, look. Her coat is dusty and covered with sand. And she seems to be hungry..."
"Yes...", the young woman could only say, not knowing what to do.
There were some minutes of silence, where the dogs watched each other, then Orlando finally said:
"You don't remember where you are living, do you?"
She shook her head and looked down, being deep in thoughts.
"Well", he continued, "when the dogs come along with each other it is better to bring your dog to my house to clear her up and give her some food. She can't stay at the street..."
Ai stood there, looking at her dog, who was really glad to see her, and said:
"It is the best thing to do, I suppose..."
There were many things which wanted to come back into her mind, and she saw pieces of former events, that didn't make any sense.
So she followed Orlando and Sidi. Her dog listened to every word she was saying and stayed close by her side.
***
The two dogs got along surprisingly well. Goldy had been adopted by Sidi as a kind of mother, because she was some years older and the Labrador-cross was glad about being in another dog's company.
After Ai had bathed Goldy and brushed her coat, the Golden Retriever looked very good. When the sun was at the sky, her coat was shining like gold. And after having some meals Goldy was really fit again. Orlando liked her, and she accepted him, too, although she would first listen to Ai.
But there were more and more times when Ai suddenly held her head and closed her eyes. She had to sit down for some minutes, and after a glass of water she would open her eyes again. Orlando watched Ai, beeing concerned about her, and after he had seen this situation more often, he asked her what the matter was.
"I have a terrible headache", she answered. "I don't know where it comes from..."
"Shall I get you some medicine or call a doctor?" the actor asked, being worried, but the young woman shook her head and answered:
"No, that's not necessary, they will be gone soon..."
But two days after they had found Goldy, Ai didn't get up in the morning, and Orlando was surprised, because normally she woke up very early, got up and made breakfast.
So he knocked carefully at the door of the room she was sleeping in and asked, if everything was okay. When he didn't get an answer, and just heard Goldy barking, he opened the door and stepped into the room. Ai was lying in the bed and stared at him, but didn't recognize the young man. She was sweating and her face was pale. Being shocked, Orlando stood there for some seconds, then he went to the bed and touched her forehead. It was hot.
"You have a temperature!", he said and remembered how she often had had headaches.
Immediately he ran to the phone and called the same doctor, who had examined Ai after Orlando had found her. The doctor promised to drop in as soon as he could.
After the call the actor went back to the young woman, sat down at the edge of the bed in which she was lying and watched her being very worried. She had her eyes closed now and was talking from time to time. The only sentence Orlando could understand, was:
"Help me know my name!!"
The young man didn't know what to do and patted Goldy, who was nervous and realized, that something was wrong with her mistress. She often looked at Ai and tried to move her with her nose. Orlando only looked at her. He had prevented Sidi from jumping at the bed, and his black dog was now lying to his feet at the carpet, feeling that something was wrong.
Finally the door bell rang and Orlando jumped to his feet and hurried to the front door. He opened it and led the doctor in, to the room where Ai was still lying. He examined her and the young actor told him about the headaches she had had before.
"Did she get her memory back?" the doctor asked, looking at Orlando, who answered:
"No, just pieces of it. This Golden Retriever is her's, we found her two days ago, and that was when the headaches started, I guess..."
The doctor nodded and said:
"Okay. Hm, that's no wonder. I suppose the dog caused memories, but too many at one time. That's why her body reacted with headaches and fever."
"What can I do?", Orlando wanted to know.
The doctor took a pack of pills out of his bag and explained:
"These are against headaches, and I will give her an antipyretic, too."
The young man nodded and said:
"Okay, thank you!"
When the doctor had finished the medical treatment he said when leaving:
"All she needs is sleep and enough to drink. Warm and fresh tea is the best you can give her. And she shouldn't be allowed to think too much about her past or to try to remember things. That will come all alone."
"Okay, I will tell her when she wakes up. Thank you again for helping."
"That's why I am there for", the doctor said and then left.
***
It almost took a week until Ai was fine again. In this time Orlando had cared for her and did everything for her to get healthy again. He made tea, gave her the medicine and read books out for her, so that she didn't have to think about other things. She was very grateful. He also went for a walk with both dogs and cooked. She often layed on the couch in the living room and watched him.
One time she suddenly asked:
"You are such a smart and diligent young man, how comes, that you do not have a girlfriend?"
He stopped tidying up and stared at her. It took a while until he answered:
"Well... I had a girlfriend. We were together for about two years and we were very close. But, you know it's very difficult to hold down a relationship when you are travelling around the world. She is an actress, I am an actor, you know. It's hard when you travel. It makes relationships a challenge. It's simply the fact that you are often apart, and at this time I was shooting one movie after another, we simply couldn't meet each other very often, although we tried of course. So we decided to take some time out. She is shooting some other movies, I took a downtime. But of course it took a long time for me to come over that and realize that I am single again..."
He looked at her, and she only said:
"Oh... I am sorry. It must have been hard for you...", and looked down, watching the dogs.
"Well...", Orlando didn't know what to say.
Ai changed the topic when saying:
"It's so great that the two dogs get along so well."
The young man nodded and agreed:
"Yeah, that's pretty cool."
There was a silence because nobody knew what to say.
"I had an idea", Ai said after a while, and Orlando, who had been deep in thoughts looked at her.
She continued:
"Maybe Goldy can show me the way back to wherever I live..."
"Maybe...", the young actor answered, then said his thoughts aloud:
"But why then didn't she return? Why did she live at the street?"
The young woman thought for a while and then admitted:
"I have no idea... But it's who trying it, isn't it?"
"Well, of course, why not?", was the answer.
***
Lost memories
They stood in front of the big tree, where everything had begun. Orlando kept Sidi on the leash, but Ai let her dog run free. Goldy was sitting in front of her, looking watchfully at her mistress. The young woman bent down and talked with her dog:
"Goldy, we went here together, I suppose. But where did we come from? Where do we live? Where is our home? Show me, where our home is, Goldy."
The Golden Retriever looked at her, then slowly stood up and went in direction of the centre of the town. She stopped, turned around and waited for Ai to follow. The young woman smiled to Orlando and they followed the Golden Retriever. Sidi watched Goldy and was curious, but he went next to Orlando without trying to run.
They went along some streets and some people wondered about the dog, running in front without being kept at a leash. After some time Goldy went into a smaller street and finally stopped in front of a big house, which had a lot of flats and wasn't very far away from Orlando's house.
"Oh my", Ai said. "Where should I know which one mine is?"
"Look at the nameplates", Orlando suggested. "Maybe you can remember your name..."
Ai nodded, stepped to the door and looked at the names. At this moment an elderly woman left the house, held out the door and greeted her. Ai greeted back, although she had no idea who the woman was. Probably a neighbour.
The young woman stepped into the house, together with her dog. After Orlando and Sidi had followed them, she closed the door. Being at a loss she stood in the hallway, until Goldy climbed the stairs, turned around and barked.
"I am coming", Ai said and followed her dog, who showed them the way.
When they were at the second floor, Goldy stopped in front of a door and sat down, looking at Ai. The young woman slowly went to her dog, touched her and looked at the nameplate.
"Aiko Hirota", she read aloud, and Orlando said:
"Well, >Ai< was a good guess."
The young woman nodded, and lifted the shoe screaper. Beyond it was a key. She smiled, took the key and placed the shoe screaper back at the right place again. Then she opened the door with a beating heart. It was a big flat, and Goldy ran inside and disappeared into one room. Ai looked around and then remembered Orlando and his dog. They were well-behaved and were still waiting outside.
"Oh, come in, please, you don't have to wait outside!" she told them, and the young man smiled and entered the flat, being followed by his dog.
Ai went into the living room and offered them a seat. Orlando sat down at the couch, and asked:
"Do you mind Sidi, sitting at the couch? If not, I will tell him not to..."
"Oh, that's okay, no problem.", she interrupted him, looking around.
She went into the kitchen and saw Goldy, who was drinking water out of a bowl, standing at the ground.
"I would gladly offer you something to drink", she said, looking into the fridge, "but I guess that's not a good idea, I've been too long away and don't think that the food is still good..."
"Don't go to any trouble", Orlando answered. "We're okay."
He patted Sidi, who was sitting next to him at the couch, as he was used to.
Ai just nodded, and changed the water of the bowl, her dog was drinking of. Then she went to the other rooms in order to remember something. At the bathroom she found a silver chain with another Japanese sign hanging at it.
"Look", she said to Orlando, coming into the living room again. "That's the Kanji-sign of >ko<, which means >luck<." "So you have both syllables of your name as a pendant, that's cool!" Orlando said, looking at both signs.
"Yes, it's funny", Ai said. "But... I still don't remember everything..."
Thoughtfully she went to the corridor, and Orlando followed her. He wanted to help her, but didn't know, how. He only knew, that they were very near. He looked at the pinboard and said:
"Maybe you have to look at some photos, read some letters or something?"
Ai, being very sad, shook her head.
"No... that doesn't help, I tried it..."
Orlando looked at her and just wanted to say something, when the young woman shouted:
"Wait!"
She looked at the little table, standing in front of a big mirror and the only thing, lying there, was a bunch of keys. Ai took the keys, looked at it, and her eyes started shining.
"The keys were the missing part!" she said. "I... Yes, I can remember everything!!!"
She was so happy, that she flung her arms around Orlando's neck and hugged him and he returned it. After a while she let him go and told him:
"The keys! I remember going for a short walk with Goldy at the evening, but I forgot to take the keys with me. Of course I had the second key lying under the shoe screaper, but that was only the key to my flat, I also needed the other keys in order to get into the house. So when I realized, that I forgot my keys at home, I already was some miles outside. Well, I let Goldy run free, because normally she is listening to every word I am saying, and that's why I was holding her leash in my hand. But I needed the keys, so I called her back, but she suddenly ran away. She had never done so, I guess she was afraid of the sudden lightening and thunder. The weather got really bad and dark! Shortly after the first lightening it started raining, and I could see Goldy running towards the big tree, you know, and I ran after my dog into this huge tree. But it was very dark in there, and I lost the orientation, so my head bumped into the trunk of the tree. That was the last thing I realized. And when I woke up, I saw your face..."
She smiled and was so happy remembering everything again. She continued, looking at Sidi:
"And Goldy must have ran away very far, so that she couldn't find me anymore. And because of the rain she couldn't smell me, either. I guess she found the way back home, but there was nobody to open the door, and I wasn't there, either. So she hung around in order to find me somewhere, what a faithful dog!"
At this moment Goldy came back from the kitchen and looked at her. Ai kneeled down and hugged her dog.
"You are such a great dog! Who knows if I'd ever had found my home without your help!"
The Golden Retriever licked off her face and Sidi whimpered. He wanted to get attention, too. So Orlando hugged him, too and said:
"Yeah Sidi, without your help we would have never found this wonderful woman below the tree, right?"
The Labrador-cross barked and Ai and the young man laughed. Then she said, looking at Orlando:
"Well, to complete the picture of me: My name is Aiko Hirota, I am 21 years old and I went to London about one year ago. I was born in Japan, and grew up there, too. My family is still living there. When I was old enough, I wanted to practise my English, so I decided to go to England for some time. By the way, my dad was born in England, that's why I was taught English language very early. He told me great stories from the time he was in London, and I got really curious. Well, when I was finally here I loved it! The people, the landscape, the buildings... I got work as an interpreter for Japanese, but that's part-time, so I have a lot of free time. When they need me, they call me... oh well..."
She looked at her phone, and there were a lot of messages. Orlando looked at the books, standing at a cupboard while Ai was listening to some of the phone messages. He looked up when he heard her speaking another language and watched her. She had called somebody and when she'd fineshed, he wanted to know:
"Was that Japanese?"
"Yes, I called my family, they are fine."
She smiled, and the actor said:
"Sounds good."
Ai nodded and said:
"Yes, but it's very different from the Englisch language."
"I can imagine", Orlando said. "But how do you translate words from other languages into Japanese? The writing is very different, too, as far as I know..."
Ai laughed and said:
"Good question! But, you know 11 percent of all Japanese words were adopted from other languages, and the mayority from the English language. So you have an advantage when you are able to speak English. The share of foreign words in Japanese is higher than in every other language of the world. Of course we can also write names of persons or geographical names that are not Japanese. For that we use >Katakana>, one of the writing types we have in Japan. But the names have to be changed into words that equivalent the Japanese phonetics. So let's take for example your first name, Orlando."
He had listened very interested and looked at her. She took biro and a piece of paper and wrote his name down:
ORLANDO.
"That's te English form. To translate your name into Japanese you have to know, that in Japan we don't have the letter >l<. So we write >r< instead of >l<. Then we have two times >r< in your name, and we can leave one out."
She wrote it at the paper and explained further:
"Well, now you have to consider the Japanese syllables. There are just 6 letters which can stand alone, and that are: a, e, i, o, u and n. The other letters are syllables, for example ra, ri, ru, re, ro, ma, me and so on. A grammatical rule is, that you have to add the letter >u< to every consonant, standing alone, besides >t< and >d<, there you have to add an >o<. So in your name >o<, >a< and >n< can stand alone, and the syllable >do< also excists in Japanese. And >r< cannot stand alone, so it has to be changed into >ru<. So in Japanese your name is Oruando."
She wrote it below the other forms of his name.
"And now I can write it with the Japanese Katakana-signs."
She wrote some signs at the piece of paper and gave it to Orlando. He looked at it and smiled.
ORLANDO
ORRANDO
ORUANDO
オㄦアソド
"Hey, that's cool! Can I keep that?"
Ai laughed and said:
"Of course, I did it just for you..."
Then she added, looking at the phone:
"Well, I have to make another call..."
The young man looked at her, smiled and said:
"I don't mind, just do it."
Ai nodded and dialed the number.
"Hello? Here is Aiko Hirota... yes, I know... I am sorry... Pardon? ... Well... I was with a friend...", she smiled to Orlando and he smiled back, then she turned around, looked out of the window and continued:
"... and I forgot the time, you know... well... yes... okay, that's fine... okay, thank you... bye!"
She sat down at a chair in front of the couch the young man was sitting at.
"Well...", she didn't know what to say.
Orlando looked at her and smiled. Finally Ai said:
"I'd like to thank you for everything you did for me..."
"You're welcome", Orlando replied, looking at her.
"It was a great time and very interesting", he said.
"It really was..", she agreed, and the young man changed the topic when saying:
"Well, what shall I do with all your stuff in my house?"
Ai had to laugh and answered:
"Oh well, I don't know... I won't need it anymore, I suppose..."
Orlando laughed, too, and then took a glance at his watch.
"Oh, it's late..."
He watched Sidi, who stood at the front door and barked.
"I've gotta go..."
Ai nodded and took her keys.
"I'll bring you downstairs."
She waited for her dog, who followed her and then closed the door. They were silent when going downstairs. Ai opened the door, and when Orlando was outside, he put the dog at the leash and then looked back at the door, where the young woman was standing, her Golden Retriever sitting next to her. The Labrador-cross barked and watched them.
"See you!", both said at once and had to laugh.
Then Orlando left, taking some looks back.
Ai watched him until he went around the corner and wasn't to be seen anymore.
The clouds left, and everything got a golden colour when the sun was shining again.
It was a great day.
THE END.
