The Happy Endings Book Club

by Jane Tara

  Michi cringed at her father’s use of young’uns. “That’s Jake’s call. He’s the local.”

  “I thought we’d just see how the day pans out. We’ll use the force.”

  “How very Jake Skywalker of you.” Michi pretended to be enthusiastic, but preferred it when things were scheduled.

  Keith and Kayoko led them to the door. Michi suddenly felt fifteen again.

  “Be a good girl,” Kayoko advised.

  Michi fought the urge to slap her mother and headed for the door. Her mother’s idea of being a “good girl” was a little different to hers and usually included sex toys.

  Michi ducked her mother’s attempt to hug her (Jake wasn’t so lucky) and escaped out the door. She noticed Jake’s battered old 4WD in the driveway. She was a little surprised. He looked more like a motorbike kind of guy, or at least like he’d drive something slightly pretentious, like a new Jeep.

  “Does this thing drive?”

  “It did on the way here.”

  Jake opened the door and Michi climbed in. Then he went round to the driver’s side. Michi noticed a bunch of maps shoved between the seats. She flicked her finger over them: New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland.

  “Do you like driving long distances?”

  “I like getting out of the city when I can. I go camping.”

  “In a tent?”

  “That’s usually what camping means.”

  “Did you get the memo about snakes in Australia?” Michi asked.

  Jake looked amused. “I did, and I try not to bother them.”

  “Are you sure you’re English? You’re a little Crocodile Hunter.”

  “Born and bred Brit, but I love this place.”

  “Different strokes for different folks.” Michi looked out the window at the Mosman houses. “Where are we going? Skydiving? Shark hunting?”

  “Luna Park.”

  “Luna Park?” WTF? “What am I, six?”

  “No, but you could do with a dose of childlike joie de vivre.”

  Michi was shocked. “Are you saying I’m uptight?”

  Jake gave her one of his already infuriating shrugs. “I barely know you. Are you?”

  “I’m not uptight.”

  “No problem if you are.”

  “You’d be a little conservative too, if you grew up with my parents.”

  “Sure, I get it,” Jake said. “That whole teenage rebellion thing. But how old are you now?”

  “I’m twenty-eight and I’m not rebelling. This is who I am.” Why was she defending herself to this guy?

  “I like who you are. I think you’re kinda cute.”

  “Kind of cute?” Michi sniffed. “Now who’s acting like a child?”

  Half an hour later, after an argument about who was paying (Michi paid for her own ticket—after all, this wasn’t a date) they had their wristbands on and Michi had first pick of the rides.

  “Let’s start with the dodgems,” she said. Usually she’d head straight for the carousel, but somehow she didn’t think that would go down too well with action man, and she considered the dodgem cars to be quite wild.

  “Sure, we’ll start tame and work our way up.”

  Tame? Before long they were hooning around in separate dodgem cars. Michi was doing her best to stay on her own side of the circuit and not hit anyone. Jake seemed to enjoy slamming into everything he could, including Michi’s car.

  “Back off, Jake,” she screamed after the third strike.

  Jake roared with laughter. “You’re driving like a nanna.”

  “You’re driving like a madman.”

  “It’s a dodgem car, nanna.”

  Michi bit her tongue. Literally. Jake slammed into her, down went her teeth and she could taste blood. Damn him. But the worst was yet to come.

  “My choice,” Jake announced once they were out of the dodgem pavilion.

  Michi glanced toward Coney Island. She could handle that. Instead, Jake grabbed her hand and strode toward the Wild Mouse. Michi wanted to throw up. She hated amusement parks, she hated rides. She wasn’t a fan of frightening herself on purpose. Her friends at her book club even teased her about her aversion to dark paranormal romances. Quite simply, Michi didn’t like to be taken too far out of her comfort zone.

  “Ever been on the Wild Mouse before?” Jake asked.

  “Not that I can recall.”

  “A wild mouse virgin!” Jake shoved her into a carriage.

  Naturally Michi thought of Toblerone.

  Jake slid into the carriage behind her. “I’ll be right here.”

  “Do I need a safety harness or something?”

  “You’ll be fine.”

  Her hands clutched the safety bar as the carriage slowly made its way to the top of the roller-coaster.

  Michi glanced over the side of the carriage. “This thing is as old as your car.”

  “Hope it’s maintained better.”

  The old carriage rattled high along the top of the roller-coaster scaffold.

  “Check out that view.”

  Michi looked out at Sydney Harbour in all its blue-watered sunny glory. It was absolutely magnificent. For just a moment, the carriage paused … and then they dropped.

  “Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaark.”

  The carriage lurched and rattled its way around the tracks. Michi clutched the bar as her body heaved in one direction then another. She screamed the whole way while Jake sat behind her and laughed. She wasn’t sure if he was laughing out of fear or at her.

  “Having fun, Michi?” Jake yelled.

  He was laughing at her.

  Finally the carriage rolled into the station and Michi stumbled out.

  “Did you enjoy that?” Jake asked.

  “It was great.” Right up there with my last pap smear.

  “Didn’t scare you?”

  “Not overly.”

  “Then you must always have that look on your face.”

  Jake pointed at the screen near the exit showing the photos taken of each carriage. One photo showed Michi, eyes rolled back in her head, tonsils on show as she screamed.

  Michi flinched when she saw it. “Not my best angle.”

  “Shall I buy it for you?”

  “No thanks.”

  “Late Christmas gift?” It was clear Jake enjoyed teasing her.

  “Pass.”

  Jake thought it was hilarious. “You could give it to your dentist in lieu of dental X-rays.”

  Michi glared at him but Jake just smiled. To her surprise, took her hand and led her out into the main thoroughfare. Once they were through the crowd, he turned to her.

  “You could just say you don’t like scary rides.”

  “I don’t like scary rides.”

  “Why not?” Jake asked.

  “I don’t know. I don’t like caramel either. Are you going to interrogate me over that?”

  Jake gave her a look of faux horror. “You don’t like caramel?”

  “I can do the Ferris wheel if you want.” It was the best pick of a bad bunch.

  Jake took her hand again and they walked toward the ride. Michi didn’t like all the hand-holding. What did he mean by it? She knew it was crowded, but surely he knew she was perfectly capable of following him through the crowds without getting lost. It was difficult enough to stay cool in the summer heat without his hand sending pulsating waves of heat up her arm.

  Holding hands also meant she wasn’t able to put space between them. She could only keep him at arm’s length, no further. Occasionally she caught a whiff of his scent. Male was the one word that came immediately to mind. Her friend Eva always described her husband as male. She joked about how so many men didn’t smell male. They doused themselves in awful aftershave. Or their natural scent wasn’t that appealing. She said those men stunk of estrogen. Not literally, but they just weren’t male. Michi had never really understood what Eva meant until this moment.

  Jake was male.

  Jake was so male it made Michi a li
ttle dizzy. And she didn’t like it.

  He let go of her hand once they were in line for the Ferris wheel, but that wasn’t any better. The line was crowded and she found herself pressed even closer to Jake. Every way she turned, another part of her body was pressed against him. She could barely breathe. So much so that she was relieved to board the carriage—something she’d never felt at an amusement park before.

  Once they were floating up toward the sky, Jake spoke. “You cut up dead bodies for a living but you don’t like being scared. Why is that?”

  “You sound like my roommate Clementine. But I find my work to be … ordered. There’s a certain way of dealing with the body and the tissue, and it’s the same every time. To me it’s just a process that I implement, and if it’s successful, it’s an opportunity for someone else to regain their sight. It’s anything but scary.”

  “Do you always like things to be ordered?”

  There was that stare again.

  “It’s preferable.”

  “When was the last time you did something that frightened you?”

  “Quite frankly, I’m frightened now.” Michi turned away from him and looked down at the park below and then out at the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. “The harbor’s busy,” she said, trying to change the subject.

  Jake looked at her in total disbelief. “Christ, you’re really a tourist. It’s the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race today. Everyone is out on the water.”

  She glanced down at the line. “Or on a Ferris wheel.”

  “You hungry?” he asked.

  There was something about his question that unnerved her. In fact, everything about him unnerved her. Michi was self-aware enough to know it wasn’t just him. She was like this with anyone who flirted with her. Throw some sexual energy into the mix and suddenly she felt like prey.

  Michi had the urge to run, but that would’ve meant instant death, off the side of the Ferris wheel. She needed to change the dynamic between them. “How about we make a deal?” she asked.

  Jake seemed interested. “Okay.”

  “I’ll go on a couple more scary rides with you …”

  “Yes?”

  “If you stop flirting with me.” There, she’d said it.

  He clearly had no idea what she was talking about. “I’ll be honest, I find you attractive, but I’m pretty sure I’m not flirting with you.”

  “With respect, guys like you just do it automatically, with anything with a pulse.”

  “Yes, that was respectful,” Jake said sarcastically. He turned away for a moment as if to gather his thoughts. Then he looked back at her.

  “There. There it is again. That look,” she said.

  “That’s just my eyes.” He crossed them and stared at her.

  “That’s better.” She couldn’t help but laugh.

  His eyes rolled back in place and he narrowed them slightly. “You work with eyes but you don’t see very clearly.”

  “I see that the way you look at me makes me uncomfortable.”

  Jake immediately looked apologetic. “Okay, I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable around me.”

  There was an edge in her voice. “Well, I am. I don’t know you, but you’re looking at me like …”

  “Like what?”

  Michi could feel a trail of sweat down her back now. “Like you’re weighing up what it would be like to kiss me.”

  Now it was Jake’s turn to look unnerved. “What if I am?”

  “No offence, Jake, but you seem like the kind of guy that looks at every woman like that.”

  Jake flinched, as though he’d been slapped. “No offence, Michi, but you seem like the kind of woman who makes broad and inaccurate assumptions.”

  “It’s not going to happen.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Absolutely. Because I’m about to go on the Rotor with you and that means you back off. That’s the deal.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Their ride came to an end. Ever the gentleman, Jake took her arm as she stepped off the Ferris wheel, but dropped her hand once she was on solid ground. Then, as they headed toward the Rotor he said, “Do you always choose the safer option?”

  *

  Ten minutes later, Michi wasn’t so sure. She’d started to sweat in the line. By the time their turn came, her legs were shaking. The guy who ran the ride had to pull her onto it, because she was frozen and getting in everyone’s way. She now had her eyes squeezed shut but still felt like parts of her were going to fly off. The Rotor was every bit as frightening as Michi expected it to be.

  But on the flip side, Jake hadn’t touched her since he’d helped her off the Ferris wheel. She kept telling herself that she was relieved, but as she emerged from the Rotor and followed him into Coney Island she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. He’d given up easily. Quitter!

  “Let’s try the Mirror Maze,” he called over his shoulder.

  Okay, quitter.

  Coney Island was packed, with long lines for all the rides, but the Mirror Maze was relatively empty. Michi laughed as she stepped into it and caught sight of herself in dozens of mirrors. Short, fat, tall, each reflection was weirder than the last. They moved from mirror to mirror, laughing and waving their arms around. The maze was lit with strange lights and carnival music played loudly. They were surrounded by dozens of misshapen versions of themselves, and each turn they took was the wrong one.

  “Oh shit, my eyes! This one is so unbelievably grotesque,” Jake called out.

  Michi ran over to him but then saw it was a normal mirror. “You’re right, that one’s hideous.”

  He moved on to the next one.

  “Check this one out.”

  Michi doubled over laughing. He was wider than he was tall.

  “No wonder you wouldn’t kiss me,” Jake moaned.

  Michi gave him a playful slap. “That was more your attitude than your looks.”

  Jake grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him. Very close. Too close. She stopped laughing and stared into his eyes.

  “You promised,” she said. “If I went on the Rotor, you promised.”

  “I didn’t promise anything. I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

  And with that he kissed her. His lips slammed down on hers. She didn’t even bother resisting. She slid her arms up around his neck and responded with ferocious desire. He pushed her back against a mirror, and around them hundred of versions of them kissed like it was the first and last time it would ever happen. Finally, Jake pulled back. His eyes were glazed.

  “You’re right. That’s way more frightening than the Rotor.”

  Michi turned and ran from the maze.

  *

  Michi stared out the window at the harbor. Jake had finally caught up to her and brought her to Luna Park’s bar, The Deck. He’d put her in a seat by a window and gone to get them both a drink.

  She needed one.

  What the hell was that kiss? She’d never been kissed like that. She didn’t know it was possible to be kissed like that. Oh yes, she read romance books—she had a real soft spot for them—but even in the books she read it wasn’t like that. She was awash with desire. She could feel the moisture between her legs and knew it wasn’t sweat because the bar was air-conditioned. Sitting here now she could barely think straight.

  “Here’s your beer.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jake sat opposite her and watched her for a moment. “You okay?”

  “Sure, why wouldn’t I be?” she said way too quickly.

  “I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment I laid eyes on you yesterday.”

  Christ, they needed to turn up the air conditioning in the bar.

  Michi gave him the evil eye. “You make it sound like you deserve a medal for waiting so long.”

  “And right now,” he continued, “I’d like to take you back to my place, but I won’t because I don’t want to scare you off.”

  “What makes you think I scare that ea
sily?”

  As soon as she’d said it she wished she hadn’t. They locked eyes, and there was a moment where he visibly bit his lip … and then they both cracked up. As daft as she felt, it broke the tension.

  “Yeah, right, you’re a regular adrenaline junkie,” Jake laughed.

  “You must think I’m such a wimp,” she said.

  “C’mon, with your job? No. You know what I think?” Jake ran his eyes over her face. “I think you like things to have a certain order to them. I bet your apartment is very organized.”

  “Yes, it is. Drives my roommates mad.” Michi squinted slightly. “So what else, Sherlock?”

  “You live a life that to most bystanders seems quite interesting, even courageous. You’ve left your home country, moved to London. You probably travel to Europe when you can.”

  Michi didn’t like where this was heading now. “I do.”

  “You have a job that is great dinner party conversation and god knows would give me nightmares.” He leaned forward. “But you don’t want to lose control. Screaming your arse off on a ride feels out of control to you. And I imagine it’s the same for you in bed.”

  There was an intake of breath. “You know, if I wanted a full psychological evaluation, I’d speak to my parents.”

  “But why would you do that when they’re the root of your problem, right?”

  “Are you always this rude?”

  “You seem to bring it out in me.”

  “I have no intention of sleeping with you,” Michi said.

  “Good, because I have no intention of sleeping either.”

  “I won’t fuck you.”

  “Michi, you said you wouldn’t kiss me either.”

  Michi turned and stared out the window. She yearned for London. She always felt trapped in Sydney and Jake was making it worse.

  “Don’t you like what you see here?” Jake asked quietly.

  “You mean in the view, or in you?” Michi gave him a resigned smile. “Why do people love particular places? Because they’re the best version of themselves there, right?”

  “I guess that’s one reason.”

  “You like Australia because you get to be all nature boy.”

  Jake looked like he was about to laugh. “That’s right, and in fact, I’ll be getting my own cartoon soon, The Adventures of Nature Boy.”

  “Make fun of me if you want, but I never had a chance to know or like myself in Sydney,” Michi said. “I was raised in a bubble that was very much about my parents. I look at that harbor and remember the yacht we’d spend every New Year’s Eve on. Josh, Greg and I would be dressed like dolls, but as the booze flowed, the adults would forget we were there. The things I saw were not appropriate for children.”