The photos showed a slim woman with short platinum-blonde hair between two vibrant-looking hippie types. Pete, with a goatee beard and navy scarf, tied bandana-style around his head, looked like an old rock star, Marcia, with her waves of long black hair, was in a red kaftan and amber beads, his rock-chick companion. I was wearing a long black linen dress, 1930s Prada sunglasses, a single, long rope of silver that matched my earrings, and had painted my lips bright red. It was a style Marcia had come up with when my brown hair had begun to grow grey in my mid-forties. ‘Think Annie Lennox 1980 – spike it up at the front a bit,’ she’d told me, ‘add a slash of bright lipstick, then go for plain colours with your clothes and you’ll be seen as cool and chic, not middle-aged. With your fine bone structure, you could take it.’ I’d taken her advice, had my hair cut, and stuck to black, navy or white clothing ever since.
We’d planned the trip to India for months, the holiday of a lifetime to celebrate our birthdays. We had agreed no gifts until the end of the journey, then we’d all surprise each other with something. So far on our travels, we’d had a chill-out week on white sands by the sea in Kerala, and drifted peacefully on rice boats through palm-tree-lined canals in Alleppey (the Venice of the East). We’d done the Golden Triangle: Delhi, insanely busy with traffic, where we’d had a near-death experience in a tuk-tuk; Agra where we saw the Taj Mahal before the crowds arrived, its iridescent white marble glowing rose pink in the dawn light; Jaipur, where camels, elephants, pigs, cats, dogs and chickens could be seen strolling along the streets, narrowly missed by mopeds sometimes carrying five or six people. Everywhere we’d been was photo-worthy: women in jewel-coloured saris on bicycles; big-eyed children waving or begging from the side of the road; honey-stoned temples with intricate carvings on pillars and arches; market stalls overflowing with fabrics, pashminas, jewellery, fruits and spices; lorries painted bright yellow, red and green, strewn with garlands of flowers and tinsel. I loved India and, although I’d been before on short trips buying jewellery and trinkets for my shop back in the UK, the vibrancy and beauty never ceased to impress and inspire me.
Four days ago, we’d arrived through the three-arched gate into Udaipur in Rajasthan, the last leg of the journey. We’d been on a budget for most of the trip, but had agreed to splash out for our last few days and stay in the Shiv Niwas Palace, a heritage hotel on the shore of the lake. Our time there was made even more special when, on hearing that we’d all just turned fifty, the hotel manager, Rakesh, an elderly man with an impressive white moustache and big smile, had insisted on upgrading us to the royal suites. ‘My biggest pleasure,’ he’d said when he showed us the rooms that were out-of-this-world fabulous. ‘Hotel used to be royal guesthouse, long time ago. Suites empty today, now full with you my new friends. Everyone happy. Good to be happy on big birthdays.’
We couldn’t believe our luck. The rooms were vast with high ceilings, and decorated in the glorious colours that India does so well. Mine was sugar pink and apple green, Pete and Marcia’s pale grey with royal blue stained-glass windows and, hanging from the ceiling, an enormous chandelier in the same vivid shade. Both suites had arched doorways leading to balconies where we could sit and marvel at the magnificent City Palace to our right, the lake in front of us, and the purple and ochre mountains in the distance.
Pete indicated the envelopes again. ‘Go on then, open them,’ he said. Marcia and I did as we were told and found vouchers inside for Ayurvedic massages.
‘Just what I wanted,’ said Marcia.
‘Perfect,’ I agreed. ‘Some pampering to end the trip. Thank you.’ I pulled out two parcels that I had hidden under the table earlier. ‘And these are from me.’ I’d thought long and hard about what to get for Marcia and Pete. We were all at an age where we had most things we wanted, and at first I had been at a loss as to what I could possibly add to their lives. In Jaipur, I’d had an idea. I’d been out one afternoon buying merchandise for my shop and had passed a stall bursting with fabrics of every colour. I’d bought metres of gunmetal silk for Pete and scarlet for Marcia, then found a tailor in Udaipur with a sign outside his shop advertising that he could make anything in twenty-four hours. I’d asked him to make the material into long kimo-no-style dressing gowns and he’d been true to his claim: the gowns had been delivered to my suite yesterday evening and the stitching was immaculate.
Marcia and Pete ripped the wrapping paper to reveal the robes. Both immediately put them on. ‘Wow,’ said Pete, as he gave us a twirl, then looked at Marcia. ‘You look amazing. Bea, these are fabulous. What a great idea.’
‘Yes, thank you. I love it,’ said Marcia as she stroked the soft fabric. ‘I hope you’re having one made for yourself too. In fact, you ought to think about manufacturing these and selling them.’
‘My thoughts exactly,’ I said. ‘But Stuart gave me a stern talking-to before we left about not spending until business has picked up back home.’ Stuart was my accountant and a good friend and I knew he was concerned about the drop in profits in the last year.
‘The killjoy,’ said Marcia.
‘Looking out for me as always,’ I replied. ‘And he’s probably right. I need to get things back on an even keel before I think about expanding into importing silk dressing gowns.’
Marcia sat down. ‘OK. My turn.’ Like Pete had done a few minutes earlier, she produced three envelopes, handing one to Pete and one to me and keeping
