Chasing Daisy

this thing,’ I say into my earpiece.
    ‘Just relax and enjoy the ride.’
    He starts up the rotors and moments later we’ve left the ground and are soon swooping over towns and houses far below. I wanted to scream at first, but now I’m just taking in the sights. I’m still stunned that he can fly as well as drive so fast. I wonder what else I don’t know about him.
    His home is a sprawling mansion surrounded by acres of private land. It’s dark now, but the lights around the house are welcoming. Luis sets down the helicopter, switches off the engine and comes around to help me out.
    ‘That was crazy,’ I exclaim.
    ‘Crazy good or crazy bad?’ he checks.
    ‘Crazy amazing. What other surprises have you got lined up for me?’
    ‘No surprises, just family.’
    ‘Come on, then.’
    When he said his family was big, I didn’t know he meant this big. There must be thirty-odd people here, including siblings, cousins and aunts and uncles, not forgetting his parents, of course. It turns out they live in the house along with his teenage sister, Clara, because he’s so rarely here to look after the place. His other brothers and sisters live in the surrounding area and it doesn’t take a genius to work out that Luis is looking after his family very well.
    His mother embraces me in a big hug the second we walk through the door.
    ‘What about me?’ Luis berates her.
    ‘Daisy, first,’ she jokes, before turning to engulf her son in a suffocating squeeze.
    Clara is standing just behind Luis’s father and she smiles shyly at me. ‘Hello,’ I call, after getting a hug from Mr Castro. Clara comes through to kiss my cheeks, but I impulsively give her a hug, too. And that’s the way it goes from then on. I’ve never been hugged so many times by so many people. There is so much warmth in this one enormous room, and I can’t help compare Luis’s family to my own. How I wish I had been raised in surroundings like this. Not in a mansion, you understand, just with people who loved me. And they’re all so proud of Luis. I’ve been swept away by Mrs Castro to meet various members of his family, but I keep looking back and catching glimpses of him laughing and chatting away.
    I wonder how he copes in England when his family are all here. He must miss them. Suddenly I feel bad about saying he lives in that big house in Hampstead, all on his own. He must be lonely.
    ‘And this is my granddaughter, Rosa,’ Mrs Castro says, after introducing me first to Fatima, another one of Luis’s sisters, and then to Fatima’s little baby girl.
    ‘She’s beautiful,’ I say, as Rosa coos and gurgles in Fatima’s arms.
    ‘Would you like to hold her?’
    ‘Um, will she cry?’ I ask hesitantly.
    ‘No, no, she’s as good as gold.’
    Fatima hands her over and, after a moment, I realise the baby isn’t going to scream so I relax. ‘How old is she?’ I ask her mother.
    ‘Just under six months.’
    ‘I think she has Luis’s eyes,’ I comment, looking into the baby’s brown ones.
    ‘Daisy thinks Rosa has your eyes!’ Fatima calls to her brother. Luis glances at me, amused.
    ‘I used to know a Rosa,’ I say to Fatima, handing the baby back. ‘She was an excellent cook.’ I think of Johnny Jefferson’s cook and how she inspired me. I wish I could tell her I’m going to apply to catering college – I know she’d be proud.
    ‘Speaking of cooking, it’s time to serve up!’ Mrs Castro exclaims.
    ‘Can I help with anything?’ I ask her.
    ‘Absolutely not! You’re our star guest. Please go through to the dining room.’ She points to large double doors on the far wall, then turns and shouts in Portuguese to her vast family. Everyone starts to file through to the other room.
    Luis appears by my side. ‘Are you okay?’
    ‘I’m good.’ I smile at him. ‘Your family are so lovely.’
    ‘You’re going down pretty well with them, too.’
    As he leads me through to the other room, I suddenly feel very strange. What am I doing here? He’s brought me to meet all his loved ones. That’s so personal and . . . I don’t know, odd? Why would he open himself up to me like that? I’m seeing Luis in a whole new light, here, and it scares me how much I like it.
    Two hours later, he tells his family we have to leave. His mother protests, suggesting we stay the night, but Luis is quite firm in his negative response, which is something I have mixed feelings about. Doesn’t he want to spend the night with me? Then