The Diamond Connection
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Nov 7, 2020
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - DAY
The TV is on, reporting US Presidential election news. PETER checks his phone messages.
PETER: (V.O.): Oh, my cousin has asked my wife about my Mom's telephone number?
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My wife has my Mom's telephone numbers but doesn't know which one is the direct one.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, I bought my Mom a smart phone and a plan; but she doesn't use that phone. She prefers her ordinary phone.
Peter types on his phone and replies.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That my cousin who is senior to me by about 6 years would connect with my wife as the first point of contact is pretty interesting.
Peter looks at his ring finger.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My cousin first made our stylish diamond wedding rings.
Art 2
FLASHBACK
INT. MELBOURNE HOUSE - DAY (1993)
Secured office. COUSIN (45) shows some loose diamonds to Peter (39) and his young wife.
PETER: Cousin, something small and simple will do.
COUSIN: Let me design a triangular diamond cut for you.
PETER: Anything you suggest. They can't be bad.
RETURN TO PRESENT
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the early 1960s when my cousin was in his teens and I was still in primary school, we discussed the use of English.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Life was hard then. He had to cease his schooling to become a jewellery apprentice.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was meant to become a car-repairing apprentice but for my exceptional performance in the first year of my secondary schooling.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I actually wrote a letter in English to my cousin about it and demanded him to buy me a present.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And he did. He posted a Parker fountain pen to me.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I shouldn't have done that. I was young and didn't know how hard life could be.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I should add that the senior members of the family thought that my cousin and my sister should make a perfect match.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): If things happened as they had wished, my cousin could have become my brother-in-law.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the end, they found their own partners.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My cousin was resilient and strong. He gradually developed a solid diamond business.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Whenever I think about diamonds, I would think about my cousin.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I only needed one small piece for my wedding ring.
Smiling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And even that only one came loose months after I got it. I didn't know what had caused that.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But my cousin was so professional to insist that I should have a substituted one free of charge.
Act 3.
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I believer diamonds are forever, and so my wife doesn't mind to have more.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yes, I've bought her some from my cousin. But she herself has also become my cousin's loyal customer.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's understandable as she gets great value for money; and we need to reward ourselves for jobs well done.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): So that's the diamond connection.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Mom will turn 90 soon. My cousin's late mother witnessed how my Mom dated my late Dad in the late 1940s. It's good that he wants to get in touch with my Mom.
The TV is still reporting US Presidential election news as Peter takes another look of his diamond ring in his ring finger.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): For over 25 years now, the substitute diamond has never come loose, no matter what pressure I have applied to it.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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