‘I didn’t meet him through Tinder,’ she said through gritted teeth.
‘I thought Mum said it was a Tinder date,’ said Pete.
Had her mum been telling all her brothers about Luke? She’d barely mentioned him when they’d spoken on the phone recently, but somehow her mother had picked up on the significance of this new guy in her life. She glared across at her mother, who smiled back serenely, oblivious.
‘No, it’s just that I was meant to be on a Tinder date when I did meet him.’
‘What happened, Georgie, you get stood up or something?’ Pete asked.
Georgia breathed out slowly through her nostrils. ‘Can we talk about something else?’
She wished Marcus was here. It wasn’t like there weren’t times growing up that he picked on her or made fun of her, but he also knew when she’d had enough. If he was here right now, he’d pick up on her discomfort and say something funny to divert attention away from her. Instead, everyone was continuing to stare at her expectantly, ignoring her request to change the subject.
Thankfully, she was saved by Hattie, who stood up on her chair, leaned forward and vomited all over the table. There was instant chaos. Most people lurched backwards while Troy lunged forward, putting his hands out as though to catch it.
‘Why did I do that?’ he immediately wailed, realising his mistake, while his wife Chloe grabbed Hattie under the armpits, lifted her up and raced towards the bathroom, holding her out in front. Kate started snorting and they all watched in horror as Troy hovered over the table holding a handful of regurgitated goat curry. ‘For fuck’s sake, someone get me a bucket!’
Pete started gagging, and when Susan rushed to the kitchen to grab paper towel she knocked over the gong, causing a huge reverberating clang, which woke up Emma in her stroller and immediately added her distressed wails to the fray.
Georgia used the commotion to sneak out onto the back patio and call Marcus. Sure, she could help out, or she could let all the parents deal with the joy of having children and take advantage of the fact that right now, kids weren’t something she had to deal with . . . even if she often wished she did.
‘Georgie Porgie!’ Marcus greeted her.
‘Is there any world in which you might stop calling me that?’
‘Hells no. What’s up, littlest Fitz?’
Georgia sighed down the phone, taking her time to respond.
‘Come on,’ Marcus coaxed, ‘tell me what’s wrong.’
‘I’m at Mum and Dad’s,’ she said eventually. ‘Everyone was quizzing me on whether I’m bringing a date to your wedding.’
‘Ah. You know they’re just jealous ’cause your life is more exciting than theirs.’
‘I don’t think so. Hattie just threw up on the dinner table. I think their lives are exciting enough.’
Marcus started laughing. ‘I love that kid, she’s a classic.’ He paused. ‘So, are you?’
‘Bringing a date?’
‘Yep. You can if you want. We’re doing cocktail-style so it doesn’t matter to us.’
‘I don’t know. I mean there is this guy. And I really like him. But I don’t know if it’s too soon to do the whole invite to a family wedding thing.’
‘Do you want to have him there?’
‘Kind of. Maybe. I don’t know!’
‘Georgia? Come on. You know.’
‘Okay. I want to invite him. But what if he’s like, what the fuck? I’m not coming to Melbourne for a family wedding after only four or five dates.’
‘If he says “what the fuck” to you then I’m flying up there to punch him in the face.’
Georgia laughed. ‘Thank you, but I’d rather you didn’t do that.’
‘Listen, if coming to a wedding scares him off, then maybe he’s not the guy for you. Or maybe it is too soon and that’s okay. But if you want to ask him, then ask him.’
Georgia sighed again. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll ask.’
‘Good.’
‘Oh hey, just a warning, Mum might be wearing a sari to your wedding.’
‘Yeah, I’m all over that shit. She already called and asked if she could do a traditional Hindu blessing at the ceremony.’
‘Of course she did. What did you say?’
‘Well, Bianca was all good with it so I gave her the go-ahead. Look, it’s just easier to give in to Mum on this shit.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right. Okay, I better go back in. Thank you.’
‘Any time. See you soon.’
Georgia hung up and turned around to head back in, but saw one of her other nieces had followed her outside.
‘Hey sweetie, aren’t you cold out here?’ Georgia asked, crouching down in front of Gertie, Aaron’s youngest, who was standing in front of her with a thumb in her mouth. Gertie sucked earnestly on her thumb and stared back at her. ‘Or are you escaping the drama too?’
Gertie pulled her thumb out of her mouth, blew a raspberry at Georgia, then stuck it firmly back in again.
‘I know exactly what you mean,’ Georgia said, taking her by the other hand and guiding her inside.
*
Georgia was in the car and about to pull away from the kerb when she saw the edge of paper on her windscreen. Someone had shoved something under the wiper blade. It didn’t look like a flyer; it looked like a handwritten note. She hesitated. Wasn’t there some story doing the rounds on Facebook where you weren’t supposed to get back out of your car if you spotted something on your window because a carjacker could lurch out of a bush nearby? But she was right outside her parents’ house in the middle of Castle Hill. The street was quiet and empty. It seemed highly unlikely that there was a carjacker waiting to leap out at her. Maybe it was from one of her brothers; they’d all left before her tonight. It had been the kind of sudden mass exodus that always happened when everyone realised that the last person standing would have to help with the cleanup. The lot of them claimed they all needed to get small people home to bed, leaving Georgia behind to stack the dishwasher with her dad while her mum did her night-time goddess stretches.
Georgia took the keys back out of the ignition — just in case — hopped out of the car and walked around to the passenger side where she could reach the note. She unfolded it and read.
You’re ugly as sin.
Georgia let out a bark of laughter. She looked around, half expecting to see someone watching her, waiting for her reaction. Maybe a couple of teenage kids who’d written the note as a nasty joke. In fact the back of her neck was prickling. Was there someone watching? She scrunched up the paper and shoved it into her pocket then called out to the street, ‘No I’m not. I’m hot, you little dicks.’
Then she got back in her car and drove off, marvelling at her unexpected burst of self-confidence.
THE ELEVATOR
Cadence suddenly lurched towards the control panel and slammed her hand against the large red stop button. Georgia’s head snapped up. What was she doing? What was about to happen? How far was she willing to go?
CHAPTER SIX
The previews had already started and they both ducked their heads low as they turned sideways and moved along the row of seats, trying not to step on toes or bang against knees. They found their seats and Georgia fell into hers before dumping her bag and jacket on the floor by her feet.
Luke leaned in and whispered in her ear, ‘Hope we’re in the right cinema; I didn’t even look.’
‘We’re good, this is right.’
‘Want me to run back out and get popcorn?’
‘Thought you weren’t fussed on popcorn?’
‘I’m not, but I know you are.’
‘Yeah, but you’ll miss the start.’
‘No, I won’t. I’ll be super speedy. Thirty seconds, in and out.’
Georgia laughed softly. ‘Stay, I’ll be fine without it.’
He looked sideways at her and then stood up decisively. ‘Nah, I’m going back.’
Before she could stop him, he was squeezing his way b
ack down the row past several disgruntled patrons who all had to press themselves back into their seats out of his way.
Georgia remembered coming to the cinemas with Will once. As she’d grabbed popcorn and Maltesers from the candy bar, he’d raised his eyebrows and said, Do you really think you need all of that? She’d flushed red and put the Maltesers back on the shelf.
By the time Luke came back, the movie had already started. Luke sat down and passed over the popcorn along with a bag of Maltesers and a bottle of water, then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.
She smiled and reached across to take his hand. ‘You’re the best,’ she whispered.
*
Georgia shook out her jacket for the fifth time. The credits had almost finished rolling and Luke was on his hands and knees peering under their seats.
‘It’s not looking good,’ he said. ‘I can’t see anything under here, apart from rubbish.’
‘Shit,’ said Georgia. ‘Maybe I dropped them somewhere else?’
She’d been in such a good mood when the film finished. She loved happy endings. That was something she’d discovered when she’d finally started to work her way out the other side of her darkest time. If she was going to escape into a fictional world for a couple of hours she didn’t want to emerge feeling raw and wrecked, she wanted to feel warm and refreshed.
And she’d been feeling pleasantly contented after making her way through the entire box of popcorn and bag of Maltesers, pretty much on her own too. But now her keys were missing. When she’d picked up her bag, she’d realised it had tipped sideways and half her stuff had fallen out. She’d gathered up her purse, phone, lipstick, and a few loose tampons and hair clips, before realising her keys were missing. She got down on her hands and knees for another look but Luke was right: they weren’t anywhere.
‘Could have fallen out of your bag in my car?’ Luke suggested.
‘Maybe. Lucky you drove, otherwise we’d be stranded.’
‘Come on,’ said Luke, standing and offering his hand to pull her up. ‘Hopefully we’ll find them in the car or on the way back to the carpark.’
Georgia didn’t want to keep comparing him to her ex, but she couldn’t help it. If this had happened with Will he’d be grumbling about how annoying it was that she hadn’t kept a closer eye on her things.
On the way out they checked with the staff to make sure the keys hadn’t somehow ended up in lost property, and when that didn’t turn up anything, they walked slowly back to the carpark, eyes scanning as they went. A thorough search of Luke’s car didn’t offer any results either and eventually Georgia had to accept that she’d lost them.
‘You definitely had them with you?’ Luke asked on the drive home. ‘You couldn’t have left them inside your apartment?’
Georgia shook her head. ‘Impossible, I lock the outside of the apartment door with the key as I walk out. One of my neighbours has a spare though, so at least I’ll be able to get back inside. And I have a spare car key at home too.’
‘That’s good. Call the cinema tomorrow. Maybe the cleaner will have found them.’
‘Hope so.’
They started chatting about the movie, discussing whether or not one of the main characters was actually British, or an American doing a British accent.
‘You could tell,’ Luke argued, ‘by the way he said “aunt”. He actually sounded like he was from Boston.’
There was a lull in their conversation, until Georgia found herself blurting out her invite. ‘Do you wanna come to Marcus’s wedding?’
‘I’m sorry, what?’ He laughed.
Georgia winced. ‘Sorry . . . umm, would you like to come to my brother’s wedding with me? Honestly, it’s fine if you don’t want to.’
‘Ooh, wedding date. Serious stuff.’
‘I know, I know. And it’s a family wedding, so if you don’t want to, honestly, just say no. I don’t want to make you meet everyone so soon.’
‘Georgia, I’d love to come.’
*
Georgia turned her bare feet outwards, lifted her heels and pushed the balls of her feet against the bar. She was lying flat on her back on a Pilates reformer bed, staring at the dark timber ceiling above and strongly regretting trusting Rick’s advice, namely: ‘You should come and do the advanced Pilates class with me, Georgia. You’ll be fine without doing the beginner class first.’
‘Breathe out as you release,’ instructed the teacher from the front of the class. ‘Drop back, bring your heels together, breathe in, tighten your core, draw your pelvic muscles up and in, curl your toes around the bar, heels together, push out, knees come apart.’
‘How are you supposed to keep up with all of that?’ Georgia hissed sideways at Rick.
‘Focus,’ he whispered back. ‘It’s easy.’
It bloody wasn’t easy. It was impossible. Her muscles were quivering as she tried to hold the pose and she kept breathing out when she was meant to breathe in, or bending her knees only to look around and see that the rest of the class had their legs lengthened.
‘Feel that stretch through your calves,’ said the teacher. ‘Isn’t it yummy?’
That was the other thing. The teacher kept calling everything yummy. The pain in her hamstrings was yummy. The burning in her obliques was yummy. Georgia was pretty sure that wasn’t the word she would use to describe her aching muscles right about now.
Oh, screw this.
She sat up as quietly as she could, lifted the panel on the end of the reformer bed and soundlessly unhooked the springs that provided the resistance for the exercises. Then she lay back down and got back in position. Much better. Now she could slide the bed back and forth with ease.
‘We’re shifting the focus now to your glutes and taking one foot off the bar. As you stretch out, lift your hips and push up towards the ceiling. Squeeze your buttocks together.’
Georgia pushed hard with one foot. With no resistance, the bed flew along the carriage, thrusting her backwards and she smacked her head against the bar on the other end. ‘Ow!’
‘Now really!’ said the teacher.
‘Sorry,’ Georgia called out meekly.
An hour later she sat in the gym cafe opposite Rick, glaring at him over the top of her cappuccino.
‘I swear to God I thought you’d be fine. It’s not my fault you have the core strength of string cheese.’
‘String cheese? Really? That’s what you’re going with?’
‘I stand by that assessment. Come to a spin class with me next week, you’ll like that better.’
‘I really doubt that.’
‘Hey, how’s it going with the boyfriend who’s not yet a boyfriend. Luke, was it?’
‘Ah, actually . . . he kind of is a boyfriend now. We had the “conversation” recently.’ Georgia held up her fingers to do air quotes.
‘The “conversation”?’ Rick treated the word with the same reverence. ‘Big stuff.’
‘Yep and he’s coming to my brother’s wedding down in Melbourne.’
‘Jeez, you don’t waste any time.’
‘Yeah, well, who’s got time to waste?’
‘You’ll have to bring him to drinks at the Bella Vista some time so we can all meet him.’
‘Only if you promise to behave. Remember when I brought my ex Will to a nurses’ get-together, and you all started talking blood and gore in front of him and he ended up being sick?’
‘I’m ninety-nine per cent positive it was the Jägerbombs he was drinking and not our shop talk that did that.’
‘Fair call.’
‘All right, I need to take off. I’m on arvo shift. I’m booking you in for spin next week though. Your fitness game is weak, Georgia, weak.’ He wrapped his knuckles on the table for extra emphasis as he stood up, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and left.
‘Who says I even want to improve my fitness game?’ Georgia called after him, but he just waved his hand in the air without turning around and she grumbled into her coffee. ‘How did
I let him talk me into joining this bloody gym?’
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned it back on — Rick had insisted it needed to be completely off for Pilates, not just on silent. ‘Who ever turns their phone off these days?’ she’d responded before giving in and doing as she was told.
The screen lit up and after a moment it dinged four times in a row as the messages she’d missed came through. The first was advising her she had a voicemail, and she listened to it and discovered that her keys had been found at the cinema. She was glad she’d left them her contact details. She’d have to go and pick them up later today.
The next one was from Luke:
How’s your day going? Been thinking about you. Don’t think I can wait until Saturday to see you again. Dinner tonight?
Georgia smiled and tapped out a reply.
Been thinking about you too. Just did a Pilates class at the gym. I’m 100% certain it was ten times harder than the weightlifting you do. HA! Huge yes to dinner tonight. Want to go out or come to mine?
She checked the last two messages. They were both from Brett.
Hey, can you please stop ignoring me? It’s actually really rude.
The second message was two words.
Stupid slut.
Georgia felt her stomach plummet. Slut? He was calling her a slut? How dare he? She knew she shouldn’t care, knew she shouldn’t let the words of a virtual stranger affect her, but that word held so much power for Georgia. It made her skin crawl. And it brought back memories. Nasty memories.
She wished she’d listened to Rick the other day and blocked Brett’s number right away. She did so now. Pressing ‘block this caller’ didn’t feel quite as satisfying as slamming a door in his face would have, but at least he couldn’t bother her anymore.
A moment later, Luke replied to her message:
Let me take you out. We can always end up back at your place afterwards. ;-)
The smile returned to her lips and the joyfulness, which had been knocked out of her when she’d read Brett’s nasty messages, flooded her body again.
Ex, The Page 5
