She complied.
‘Now up.’
She gathered it back up again.
‘Down . . . Up . . . Okay, now drop it again.’
‘Oh my God, you’re totally messing with me.’ Georgia let go of her hair, grabbed one of her shoes and threw it at Amber.
Amber caught the shoe. ‘You kept going with it way longer than I thought you would.’
‘You are such a bitch.’
‘And yet you love me anyway. Wear it down. I’d kill to have your curls.’
‘Everyone always wants what they don’t have.’
‘I know, right? Oh hey, you know what I keep meaning to ask you? Did you ever hear from the dickhead who stood you up last weekend?’
‘Brett? Yeah, I did actually, yesterday. He texted me out of the blue saying something like, “sorry I couldn’t make it on Saturday, let’s reschedule”.’ Georgia stood and walked over to retrieve her shoe from Amber.
‘Are you fucking serious? So, there was no explanation as to why he didn’t show up? Put the shoes on, I want to see what they look like with your outfit.’
‘Nope. Nothing.’ Georgia stepped into the shoes and took a few paces back so Amber could see the whole look.
‘Shoes are perfect,’ she declared. ‘Who the hell does that? What did you say?’
Georgia sat down next to her. ‘Nothing. I ignored it. He doesn’t deserve a bloody reply.’
‘Yeah, good call. Although I’d still want to tell him where to go. But I guess it isn’t worth the energy.’
‘Trust me, I know it isn’t.’ She lay back on the bed and sighed.
‘Ooh, speaking from past experience?’ Amber flopped back next to her.
‘Huh? Oh, not really. I just mean . . . you know what men are like.’
Georgia realised she’d let her tone give herself away, the same way she had with Jerry. Amber had lifted herself up on one elbow and was looking at her with a quizzical expression. What was wrong with her lately? Why did her past seem to be getting to her so much? Infiltrating her mood, making her feel cynical about everything.
‘I guess so,’ Amber said slowly. ‘But not all men are the stereotypical arsehole Bretts of the world. You know that, right?’
‘Well, seeing as I’m about to go out with an absolute gentleman, yes, I think I do know that.’ Georgia was sick of being in the hot seat. ‘How about your ex? Violet’s dad. What’s he like? Good guy or no?’
Amber’s eyes slid sideways. ‘He’s not my ex,’ she said. ‘We never dated. Anyway, I’m going to leave you to finish getting ready for your date.’ She sat back up too quickly and gave Georgia a slightly forced smile before standing. ‘Good luck, okay. I really hope it goes well.’
Georgia felt bad for asking. There was an unspoken rule between them that Violet and her dad were a subject they didn’t broach apart from surface chatter. She wished she hadn’t pushed it.
‘Hey, thanks for coming around. It was nice.’
‘Any time.’
*
Georgia hadn’t exactly intended on inviting Luke back to her place — and more specifically, into her bedroom — after only one date. It wasn’t like she had a rule, it was more that she usually liked to wait. Liked to get to know a guy better, liked to be sure, to feel . . . safe. But it was one of those dates where everything went so well that she didn’t want it to end. So, suggesting they head back to her place for a drink after dinner seemed like the obvious progression. Because the thing was, she did feel safe with him.
Dinner had been at a restaurant overlooking Norwest Lake. They’d sat outside underneath the gas heaters, which had kept them toasty warm despite the chilly June night air. Luke had somehow snuck his credit card to the waiter at some point so there was no chance for her to argue over the bill, and while she would have been happy to split it, there was something quite sexy about the way he’d taken care of it.
Now they were sitting side by side on her couch, a bottle of open wine on the coffee table in front of them and glasses in hand. Both were turned slightly to face one another, allowing their body language to do most of the talking. Georgia had one leg folded underneath her and was playing with her hair, her elbow resting on the back of the couch. She’d switched on her two floor lamps and turned out the overhead lights to create a bit of atmosphere and also to hide the cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling. For added ambience, she’d also switched on the string of fairy lights she kept wound around the balustrade of the small balcony off her living room.
‘So, there was something I kept meaning to talk with you about at dinner but I kept chickening out,’ Luke said.
‘Really? That sounds ominous.’ Her body tensed.
‘It does, doesn’t it? I’ve made it worse by giving it an introduction like that, I should have just come right out and said it.’
‘All right, best thing to do now is to say it, whatever it is. The longer you draw it out, the worse it’ll get.’
‘Here goes. I want to be upfront about my baggage. There’s a reason I didn’t invite you back to my place tonight . . . I have a problem ex and I still live with her.’
Georgia stopped playing with her hair. She took a large sip of wine before responding. ‘You still live with your ex? As far as baggage goes, that’s pretty much up there.’ She took another sip and when she spoke again her voice was a note higher than she’d intended. ‘I can see why you were nervous to bring that up.’
He still lived with his ex? God, she really did know how to pick them. Was tonight’s date not heading where she’d thought after all?
‘I know. It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? The thing is, I thought it would be okay at first, that we could have a mature break-up but still live together until our lease was up, but it’s turned really sour.’
‘What exactly do you mean by sour?’
‘I mean she’s gone a bit “single white female” on me. Don’t get me wrong — she’s not the type that’s going to start killing puppies or anything like that. I just mean she’s sometimes really nasty to me. But then the next minute she’ll be begging me to take her back, or sometimes even pretending we never actually split up.’
‘And you’re still living there?’ She just stopped herself from adding, are you kidding me? This ex of his sounded obsessed. Was this something she wanted to get caught up in?
‘I know, I know. Obviously, the plan is to move out now that she’s got like this. The only thing holding me back is the finances. There’s still a few months left on the lease and I know she can’t afford it on her own. If I had enough money for two places, I’d get my own place to get away from her and pay so she could stay there till the end of the lease. As much as I can’t stand the way she’s acting right now, I still don’t want her to end up on the street.’
‘That’s very sweet of you.’
‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I’m trying my best to do the right thing here, but it’s hard. I’m sure the whole thing would be fine between us if we could just have that clean break that we need. Not see each other ever again.’
Georgia was slightly happier to hear that he sounded as though he was completely over her.
‘Can you crash with friends or family until the lease is up?’ she suggested.
‘Unfortunately no. My family and all my best mates are back in Perth where I grew up.’
‘Ah. What about sort of coordinating your schedules a bit so that you’re home when she’s not and vice versa?’
‘I’d love to. Problem is she works from home, so she’s there all the time.’
‘Bugger. What does she do?’
‘She’s an artist.’
‘An artist? That’s pretty cool.’
‘I suppose. But it can be really hard to support yourself as a full-time artist, so that’s part of the reason she’s not financially stable enough to afford a place on her own.’
‘Ah, difficult.’
‘I’m sorry, I’ve done exactly what I didn’t mean to do.’
‘What�
�s that?’
‘Talk about my ex on the first date. I knew I needed to tell you about my living situation with Cadence, but I didn’t mean to start venting about her. I’m so sorry. If you want you can even the scales by telling me about your last ex?’
‘Ha. Not bloody likely.’ Georgia couldn’t help allowing an image of Will, her last serious boyfriend, swim through her mind. She made an involuntary face of disgust. ‘Let’s talk about something else altogether.’
‘What did you have in mind?’
‘Anything!’
Luke reached out for the wine bottle and topped up both their glasses. He clinked his glass against Georgia’s and then leaned in close and lowered his voice. ‘Or . . . maybe we don’t need to talk.’ And then he kissed her gently on the lips before holding still, giving her the opportunity to pull away if she wanted.
She hesitated for a split second.
Everyone had baggage, right? How bad could one ex-girlfriend really be?
She kissed him back.
THE ELEVATOR
Georgia took another step back, until she was almost pressed against the back wall of the lift. Cadence hadn’t seen her yet, she was facing the doors. Georgia’s breathing rate increased, she was trying to keep quiet but her chest was heaving and she knew that Cadence was going to hear the sound of her ragged breathing.
She should never have come here.
CHAPTER THREE
When Georgia woke the next morning, rolling over with a smile on her face, her heart sank to discover the other side of the bed was empty. Luke had left without even saying goodbye: the trademark move of a fuck boy. How could she have been stupid enough to think this was anything more than a one-night stand? Why did she keep doing this — reading men wrong, convincing herself that she could still meet the right guy when, deep down, she knew she was damaged goods? She cringed at the way she’d snuggled into him after they’d had sex. Was he lying there all night just waiting for the chance to extract himself from her embrace?
She sat up, letting the covers fall down to her waist, revealing her naked breasts. That’s when the door opened and Luke stepped into the room holding two cups of takeaway coffee. His eyes widened at the sight of her.
‘Oh my God,’ said Georgia, snatching at the covers to pull them back up.
‘Now that is the best morning greeting ever,’ said Luke, walking over to hand her one of the coffees.
Georgia kept one hand on the sheet as she took the coffee with the other. ‘I thought you were gone!’
‘Sorry, you were sound asleep so I thought I’d duck out for a quick jog and then I grabbed us a couple of coffees on the way back. I’ve got a killer headache after all that wine we had last night.’
She tried to hide the smile of relief that she hadn’t misjudged him after all. He sat down on the side of the bed and touched the covers she’d pulled over herself. ‘Umm, Georgia, you know I saw all of that last night when we . . . you know?’
‘That’s a hell of a lot different to copping a full frontal in the harsh light of day.’
Luke laughed. ‘Yeah all right, fair enough. But just so you know, you look gorgeous in any light.’
‘Hang on, did you just say you went for a jog, with a hangover?’
‘Jogging clears my head. But the coffee definitely helps too.’ He kissed her forehead and stood up. ‘I’ll give you some privacy to get dressed.’
Georgia hesitated for a split second then reached out to catch hold of his hand. ‘Or . . . you could come back to bed.’
‘Brilliant idea.’
*
It was well past midday when they finally surfaced from the bedroom, deciding to take a walk to a local cafe for brunch. Luke took her hand as they headed up the hill towards Old Northern Road and Georgia loved how easily her fingers laced through his. How the rhythm of her step fell into line with his. She couldn’t help thinking of Will, her ex who used to always be at least half a step in front of her, as though everywhere they went was a race to some imaginary finish line. Thinking of him turned her mind to Luke’s ex.
‘Hey,’ she said, ‘not to bring up exes again, but how’s yours going to react to you staying out all night?’
Luke shrugged. ‘Honestly, it’s none of her business. But she already sent me a few texts asking about it.’
‘Oh shit, really? What did she say?’
‘They start out friendly enough. The first one came through late last night. It was something like, “Just making sure you’re okay.” Then they get a little . . . shall we say, hostile?’
‘Bloody hell, no wonder you want to move out.’
‘It’s all good. Last night and this morning with you more than made up for copping a few nasty messages.’ He squeezed her hand and grinned sideways at her.
*
Georgia looked up from her phone, bored of scrolling through her Twitter feed while she picked at her hospital cafeteria salad. Down the hall she could see a Catholic priest in full-length robes paying for his parking, while a woman in a burqa and a young man in a turban waited behind him. She smiled at the tableau of Western Sydney multiculturalism. An orderly walked by, pushing a woman in a bed with a blue disposable cap covering her hair. She wondered if the woman felt self-conscious about being trundled right through the hospital foyer and past the cafe while lying flat on her back in bed. She saw Amber approaching then and used her foot to push out the opposite chair for her. Amber caught the back of it and sat down. She pulled a sausage roll and small tomato sauce packet out of a brown paper bag and then bit the corner of the packet to open it before squeezing the sauce over the sausage roll. Their breaks didn’t always line up, so Georgia was glad to see her friend.
‘I am in the worst mood,’ said Amber, speaking loudly enough to turn a few heads at the neighbouring tables.
‘Fabulous. What’s up?’
‘Shocker of a date last night.’ She picked up the sausage roll and took a huge bite, getting sauce on her chin as she did.
‘Girl or guy?’ Georgia tried to say it in a casual tone even though she still found it a little intimidating how progressive Amber was with her sexuality. It was funny, Amber was so cagey about her past, but when it came to her current escapades she was an open book, always keen to discuss her dates — both the success stories and the failures.
‘Guy.’ Amber spoke through her mouthful. ‘I’m anti-girls at the moment.’
‘Since when?’
‘Since the Holly incident.’
‘Ah yes. Holly. Didn’t realise she’d deterred you long-term.’
‘Yeah, well, maybe after last night I might switch back. Or maybe I need a breather from the lot of them for a while.’ Amber wiped the sauce from her chin with the back of hand and took another large bite. Now sauce dripped onto the front of her uniform.
‘Amber, use a serviette for God’s sake. So, what happened with this guy?’
Amber ignored the serviette comment and continued to eat as she spoke. ‘We went for dinner at the Thai place on Lark Avenue. I suggested it, and you could tell he didn’t like it the second we walked in. He kept making snide comments about the plastic tablecloths or whatever. Anyway, his phone must have rung at least five times throughout dinner and he answered it. Every. Single. Time. Twice I was mid-sentence and he held his hand up to silence me while he took the call.’
‘That’s so rude!’
‘Right? I really regretted sleeping with him.’
‘You still slept with him after that?’
‘No! I was joking. You know I never sleep with people on the first date.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘Yeah, you got me. Holy shit. I haven’t asked you how your date went on the weekend.’
‘I know you didn’t. I’ve been bloody waiting for you to.’
‘Okay. So? Tell me!’ She finished off the last bit of her lunch and licked her fingers.
Georgia hesitated then gave her a smile. ‘It was awesome.’
‘Really? Give me details.�
�
‘Well . . . speaking of sleeping together on the first date . . .’
Amber slapped her hand down on the table. ‘Georgia Anne Fitzpatrick! You didn’t!’
Yet again people nearby looked pointedly at them and Georgia felt guilty when she saw that the husband of a teary-looking woman was eyeing them reproachfully. Sometimes it was easy to forget that while for them it was just their lunchbreak at work, for other people it was a break from watching a loved one reach the end of their life. She lowered her voice and leaned across the table. ‘Yep. I did. And my middle name isn’t Anne by the way.’
‘Yeah well, I needed a middle name for impact and I didn’t know what yours was.’
‘It’s Louise.’
‘I don’t care. So, how was he?’
‘Really, really good. And even better the second time round in the morning.’
‘He stayed the night?’ Amber’s voice was in danger of getting shrill again and Georgia flapped her hands at her.
‘Shh! Yes, he did. And then we went out to brunch. And then we hung around for an afternoon coffee, and then a drink, and then dinner . . .’
‘You’re joking. How bloody long did this date last?’
‘He went home late that night. So it was an epic, like, thirty-hour date. Best first date I’ve ever had.’ She put a forkful of salad in her mouth and immediately regretted it. The lettuce had already wilted. She should have got a sausage roll like Amber. She pushed the salad to the side.
‘You should have had a sausage roll; it was delicious,’ Amber said. ‘You weren’t getting sick of him and going, when is this guy going to leave?’
‘Not even a little bit.’
‘Wow. Impressive. Let’s hope he can back it up on the next date.’
‘I reckon he will.’
‘So when is it?’
‘Wednesday night, because I’m working all this weekend.’
‘Ooh, a mid-week date. You can’t get drunk and stay out all night. That’s the long-term relationship stage already.’
‘No it’s not!’ Georgia paused and drummed her fingers on the table top, wondering if she should tell her the one worrying thing on her mind.
Ex, The Page 3
