It May Rain

Chapter Twenty Seven

"I can't believe I've travelled halfway across the world, just to end up in a country where it's about to be winter. I bloody hate winter."

"Why, what's so bad about winter? There's lots of good things that happen in winter. Christmas, Thanksgiving if you're American, winter solstice, New Years...."

"I don't hate that kind of stuff. I hate the winter weather, and the rain especially. In fact I hate the rain all year round, it always depresses me. But yeah, I'm just not made for cold weather, I'm more of a summer dress and sandals kind of girl."

We're walking through a city park and the air is mild, but the warmth of summer has definitely disappeared. Although a winter here must be a lot more tolerable than a winter in dreary London. To take advantage of the milder weather I'm wearing a slinky cowl top and leather leggings.

Hugo's just given me a whistlestop tour of Wellington, and we're due to explore more of North Island tomorrow. It's an unplanned holiday, but somehow I don't think the boss will mind us being away from work.

The day I arrived we hugged, we kissed, we hugged some more, we caught each other up on the past week, and we talked everything through. We laid our hearts out, flaws and all, even talked about how we'll approach having to work with Konrad when we're back, and although it was painful at times it was more than worth it, because we're stronger than ever now.

And more to the point, I'm the happiest I've felt in forever. As I was laying in bed last night thinking about how much has changed since the start of the year, I realised it's all down to Hugo. He brings out the good side of me, and he encourages me to see the bright side of things even when I feel like giving up.

Sometimes it scares me how happy Hugo makes me, because I have no control over it, but there's no one else I'd rather offer my heart to. Hugo is my ray of sunshine whether I like it or not, but luckily for me, I do like it very much.

"Mmm..." he muses.

"What? What are you thinking?"

"I'm just imagining what you look like in a summer dress."

"Pervert," I joke as I roll my eyes back.

"I don't mean in that kind of way," he sniggers. "I mean, I'm wondering what kind of outfits you wear over the summer. You're really into your fashion, but during winter everyone just dresses to keep warm. Is that why you like summer so much? So you can express yourself better with fashion?"

"I don't know, I've never thought of it in that way. But yes, maybe that does have something to do with it...You know, your brain works so differently to mine. I just take things as they are, and if something's not right, then I try something different or I remove myself from the situation. But you, you're always analysing the situation and trying to make sense of it. You try and fix things before giving up on them. It's such a mystery to me how we work so well together."

"Hmm, well I'm one step ahead of you there, Maeby. I think I've already worked it out," he winks. "Do you want to know?"

"Go on then, enlighten me."

"The major histocompatibility complex. It's a set of genes that play a major role in our immune response, and some other stuff, but I'll explain that to you another time. Basically, these genes influence how our immune system interacts with the world around us. They make us who we are. For evolutionary purposes, it's more advantageous for two people with completely different complexes to mate, because the offspring will have a more diverse set of genes. I think we must have different complexes so that's why we're so attracted to each other."

I pull a face at him, which is a usual occurrence when he goes off on a tangent like this.

"Hugo, baby, I'm sorry but I'm not following you at all."

He stops walking and turns to me, an unexplained grin on his face.

"Opposites attract, Mae. And me and you are total opposites, but that's why we're genetically made for each other."

And now I start grinning, because that simple explanation I do understand.

Just as I'm about to kiss him for being so brilliant, his eyes light up and he rushes over to a patch of grass behind me. The grass is damp from the rain, and puddles line the areas where it meets the pavement, the May sunshine glistening off the wet ground.

He stoops down and plucks a daisy, then runs back over to me.

"Why did you just do that?" I laugh.

"You said you hate the rain. But I think you should look at it from a different perspective."

He hands me the daisy and I tentatively take it.

"Next time it rains, just remember that without the rain the flowers would never bloom."