Georgia leaned in and said in a mock whisper, ‘No, no, boys, we’ll be doing that when we get home.’
One drink later, Georgia was washing her hands in the bathroom when she noticed a blonde woman standing at the next sink, checking her eyeliner in the mirror. Was it her imagination, or was the woman looking sideways at her as she checked her makeup? Georgia’s eyes were blurry from too much vodka. She couldn’t properly make out the woman’s features. She closed her eyes and tried to picture the photos Luke had showed her of Cadence. Was it possible? She didn’t know. She couldn’t think, couldn’t concentrate. She opened her eyes and her gaze met the other woman’s in the mirror. The woman winked.
Georgia stepped backwards and stumbled a little.
‘Are you okay?’ asked the woman.
‘Fine,’ Georgia mumbled, turning and hurrying out of the bathroom and back towards the bar.
As soon as Luke saw her face, his expression changed. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘It’s probably nothing. Just this woman in the bathroom, I thought . . .’
Luke jumped up and pulled Georgia towards him. ‘Shit! It’s not, is it?’
‘I don’t know! I mean I’m probably being paranoid. It was just that she kept looking sideways at me, but maybe I was imagining it. And then she winked, but it could be that she was being friendly. Women do that. Women are friendly and chatty in the ladies’ bathrooms.’ She knew she was babbling, but the combination of drunkenness and fear wasn’t doing her any favours.
Luke looked past Georgia in the direction of the bathrooms. ‘Did she come out after you? Do you see her anywhere?’
Georgia turned around to look. ‘I don’t know, I can’t see her.’
‘Do you think it was Cadence? Did you recognise her from the photos?’
‘Not sure. I mean, she had long blonde hair. I couldn’t focus on her face properly. She was tall, I guess, although maybe she was wearing heels? I don’t know how else to describe her. She was pretty, and that’s one thing I do remember from her picture — she was pretty.’
‘I guess you could describe Cadence as tall, especially with heels on. But I don’t know. Surely she can’t be here. Do you want me to go into the ladies’ and check?’
‘No, no, that’s crazy. You’ll get yourself into trouble. Let’s just go home.’
‘Okay, going home is probably a good idea. I don’t want her anywhere near you. I can’t believe this, I can’t believe she cornered you in the bathroom. That absolute psycho.’
The fear in Luke’s voice was making Georgia feel nervous. ‘It might not have been her,’ she said in a small voice.
‘Yeah, well, considering everything else she’s done, it wouldn’t surprise me. Come on, let’s get out of here.’
They said goodbye to the German tourists and headed back out into the cold, wet night.
*
Sunday morning Georgia slept late and woke to find Luke lying next to her, propped up on one elbow, watching as she opened her eyes. The sun was across her face and she squinted back at him. ‘Creepy,’ she said.
‘Not creepy, sweet. Romantic.’
‘My mouth is like sandpaper.’
‘Not surprised. You drank like a fish last night.’
‘So did you.’
‘Yeah, but I hydrated more between drinks than you did. Every time I tried to get you to have water you told me water was for pussies.’
Georgia yawned. ‘I’m so charming, right?’
‘Absolutely. Here,’ he rolled away and pushed the hanging curtain aside so he could reach a glass of water from his bedside, ‘drink this. Or is water still for pussies?’
‘Water is liquid gold,’ she replied, sitting up and taking the glass. ‘Thank you.’ She took a long sip. ‘Hey, I keep meaning to ask you — do you totally hate sleeping in this ridiculously over-the-top bed?’
‘No way. This bed is awesome.’ He sat up cross-legged with a straight back. ‘Check me out, I feel like a sultan in this bed. Or like an Arabian prince or something. We need to buy ourselves some silk sheets for it.’
Georgia laughed. ‘Silk sheets, going on the shopping list.’ She took another big gulp of water. ‘Do you think I was being overly paranoid last night?’
‘Not at all.’ He reached out for his phone. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘do you want to look at her photo again, refresh your memory, see if you think it really was her?’
Georgia was about to accept, but then she changed her mind. Wasn’t this exactly what Cadence wanted? To constantly interfere in their relationship? To always be on their minds? Georgia didn’t want to look at her face again. She wanted to think about other things, to start moving forward, away from Cadence. ‘No. I want to forget about it.’
‘Okay, well hopefully it wasn’t her, but I’m not liking the way she’s made you feel. You shouldn’t have to be afraid that my idiotic ex is following you. I really am sorry.’
‘It’s okay. You don’t need to apologise.’
He climbed out of bed and pulled a T-shirt over his head. ‘Come out to the kitchen when you’re ready. I’m making pancakes and bacon before I go for my run. Killer hangover cure.’
‘I knew there was a reason I let you move in.’
Georgia rolled over and picked up her own phone from her bedside. There was a message from a number she didn’t recognise. Oh God, not again, not another one. She opened it up and read it.
It was a pleasure to meet you last night.
But you’re even uglier up close.
She almost dropped the phone. So much for moving forward. She climbed out of bed and strode straight out to the kitchen where she held up the screen for Luke to see. ‘It was her,’ she said. ‘It was Cadence in the bathroom last night.’
‘Shit, I’m going to kill her,’ he said, snatching the phone and looking at the message. ‘She must have got your number off my phone when I was still living with her.’
‘And this means she followed us again last night. Maybe she followed you back here when you drove the truck over?’
‘Maybe. Dammit, I didn’t want her to know where you lived. I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve to be copping any of this shit.’
‘It’s all right, this isn’t your fault. She already knows where I work and she left me that note at my parents’ house. It’s no surprise she found out where my apartment is.’
‘Well, it feels like it is my fault. I’ll call her now, tell her to back the fuck off. I hate the fact that I’m away for work for the next two nights. I don’t feel at all comfortable leaving you alone with this going on. I’m worried you won’t be safe.’
Georgia gave him a wry smile. ‘I can look after myself. You forget that until yesterday I lived alone. I’ll be fine.’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Georgia was surprised to find that the apartment felt empty when she arrived home from work. Even though Luke had only just moved in, it already felt as though he was meant to be there. Maybe it was the sight of all his things around the place. His weights bench squeezed in beside the couch. His grey shirt on the back of a dining room chair. His collectibles crowding the shelf. And maybe, if she was entirely honest with herself, she didn’t love being alone because of Cadence.
Come on Georgia, she scolded herself, shake it off. You’re not a scaredy cat.
She was starving, so she dumped her bag and went straight to the fridge to see what she might be able to cook. As soon as she opened the door she smiled. On the middle shelf were two Tupperware containers with Post-it notes attached.
The first one said, Having seen you cook, I don’t get how you survived this long. Put this in the microwave for 2 mins. Miss you.
She opened the lid to find a chicken stir-fry with brown rice. The note on the second container read, This one is dessert. Dessert comes after dinner. X
She laughed and pulled her phone out of her back pocket to text him.
Just discovered my dinner. Don’t deserve you. Xx
She put
the food in the microwave and then dialled her brother’s number while she waited for it.
‘Hey Georgie Porgie, what’s up?’ Marcus answered with his usual greeting.
‘Not much, how’s married life?’
‘So far it’s exactly the same as pre-married life.’
‘Fair enough. When do you guys head off to Europe?’
‘Day after tomorrow. We had to wait for Bianca to wrap up a case at work before we could go. What’s happening with you?’
‘Not much.’ Georgia rested the phone between her ear and her shoulder while she crouched down to open the microwave and pull her dinner out.
‘Your voice just went squeaky. What’s going on?’
‘Okay, okay.’ She spooned the food out of the container and onto a dinner plate. ‘I haven’t told anyone this yet because I know you’ll all think it’s too soon, but . . . Luke moved in over the weekend.’
Marcus made a spluttering noise like he was spitting out a drink but she suspected he was faking it to be dramatic. ‘Jesus, are you serious? I mean, I know you brought him to the wedding, but didn’t you guys only just meet?’
‘Oi! You’re the one family member who’s not supposed to judge me. Oh, and don’t tell Mum. She doesn’t know yet.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Just be careful, okay? I might come up and visit after we get back from the honeymoon. Suss him out properly.’
‘Okay, sounds good — as long as you’re nice. Anyway, I’ve gotta go, my dinner’s getting cold in front of me.’
‘No worries, take care, Little Fitz. Talk soon.’
She hung up the phone and was about to sit down to eat when she heard the sound of a sharp crack against her glass balcony door.
‘What the hell was that?’ she murmured to herself. She strode over to the door and then stopped with her fingers on the handle. You’re not a scaredy cat, she reminded herself. She opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony. A small rock was on the ground by her feet. Had someone thrown that up here? She picked it up, stepped forward to the balustrade and looked out at the street. It all seemed quiet and still. She turned back to the door to check the glass for damage. There were a few small scratches, but it was too hard to tell if they were all old. She took one more look at the rock in her hand then tossed it over the balcony into the bushes below.
When she went back inside to her dinner, she locked the door behind her, drew the curtains and switched on the television, turning the volume up loud.
*
Georgia dragged one of the chairs over closer to the hospital bed and sat down. She knew full-well that she didn’t have the time right now, but she couldn’t help it. She was feeling a weird mixture of happiness to see her favourite patient again, guilt that she felt happy to see him when it meant he was unwell, and concern that he was back.
‘So,’ she said, ‘I hear you took the express route here last night.’
Jerry looked sheepish. ‘I didn’t ask Eileen to call an ambo, she did that on her own.’
‘She was worried about you.’
‘Yes, well, maybe I was carrying on a bit.’
‘Actually, she says you weren’t carrying on and that was what worried her more. Not like you to go quiet if something’s wrong.’
Jerry looked sideways and Georgia was surprised to realise that he was having trouble meeting her eyes.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked. ‘You don’t seem like yourself.’
He kept looking past her, his gaze fixed on the abstract artwork on the opposite wall. When he spoke there was a tremor to his voice that she’d never heard before. ‘My mother used to have this sixth sense when it came to death,’ he said. ‘My old man died when I was a young fella. He worked on the rail and there was an accident. You know what my mum said? She said, “I knew it.” She said, “I told him not to go in today after that dream I had last night.” Scared the bejeezus out of me.’
‘Oh, Jerry,’ Georgia tried to interrupt, but he held his hand up.
‘Happened again and again throughout her life. Night before her best friend passed she had another dream. Night before my uncle died? Dream.’
Georgia nodded, letting him speak, despite the fact that she was confident Jerry’s mum had stretched the truth about these so-called prophetic dreams.
‘Night before she kicked the bucket herself she called me to say, “Jerry, that’s it. I’m gone.” She’d had the dream. She knew. She was right: next day I got the news, she was gone. Last night I had a dream. Saw my mum, my old man, my uncles, aunts. The whole lot of ’em, all giving me this friendly wave, like, come on over. And I was thinking, Well, Jesus, you don’t have to all look so happy about it.’ He finally made eye contact with Georgia. ‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘I’m a goner.’
Georgia stood and took hold of his hand. ‘Jerry,’ she said, ‘to use your own words, respectfully, that’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard. A dream is nothing more than neurons firing in your brain during REM. You are not a goner, you’re going to be perfectly fine and we’ll have you back out of here and home with Eileen in no time. That’s a promise.’
Jerry cracked a smile. ‘Look at you getting all schoolmarm with me.’
‘Yes, well, sometimes you have to be firm about these things.’
In fact, maybe I ought to use the same attitude on some of my own problems with Cadence, she thought to herself. Get firm with her, tell her to stay out of lives. If only it were that simple.
She returned her focus to Jerry and an idea occurred to her. ‘Actually, hang on one sec, I’m going to get something for you,’ she said, letting go of his hand and striding from the room.
She came back five minutes later and handed him a small yellow stone. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘First of all, do not breathe a word of this to the other nurses or doctors, because the idea of using healing crystals goes very much against my medical training. However, this is a citrine crystal. It’s something this amazing nurse, Kathy, gave to me a long time ago when I was . . . going through a difficult time. In fact, Kathy was the reason I decided to even become a nurse. When she gave it to me, she said it was a pocket-sized piece of sunshine to carry with me always. Although I wouldn’t tell her this, these days it mostly just lives in my locker. Anyway, if you can believe that dreams are prophecies, then you can believe that crystals have healing powers. This is supposed to fill you with positivity, okay? So, cut out this negative “I’m a goner” talk and believe in a different outcome. Got it?’
Jerry stared down at the stone sitting in the palm of his weathered hand, then his fingers closed around it. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘I’ll give it a go.’
*
The line at the bar was at least five people deep.
‘See, this is why we should go somewhere else once in a while,’ Georgia said to Ally, one of the other nurses who’d come to help her carry back the round of drinks. She had to shout to be heard over the music.
‘I know. I hate trying to get to the front when it’s this busy, everyone’s always pushing in on you. So, where’s this boyfriend we all keep hearing about?’ Ally asked as they took a step closer towards the bar. ‘I thought maybe we’d get to meet him tonight?’
‘I would have loved to have brought him along to meet everyone. But he’s away for work.’
‘What does he do?’
‘He’s a sales rep, travels all over the state.’
A few people moved to the side in front of them and they took the opportunity to sneak further towards the front of the queue. ‘Is that hard?’ Ally asked. ‘Or good because you get lots of space?’
‘Probably a bit of both. Spot at the bar, grab it.’
Ally darted forward and squeezed her way between two tall women to claim her place at the bar. She was already a petite girl, but she was also wearing flats so she looked like a schoolgirl next to the other women. She twisted back around. ‘What’s our order again?’
Georgia relayed the order from the table and waited while Ally got the
attention of a bartender. A few minutes later they carried the drinks back to their table to find half their group missing.
‘Where’s everyone gone?’ Georgia asked.
‘Outside to smoke,’ said Victor.
‘Someone text them,’ said Ally. ‘Tell them if they don’t hurry up we’ll drink their cocktails.’
Rick and Amber appeared next to them. ‘Who’s drinking my cocktail, bitches?’ Amber asked.
‘Us,’ said Ally, ‘because you ditched us to go outside and smoke.’
Amber reached out for her drink. ‘Don’t even think about it. You know how much I need this after today’s shift.’
‘Why? What did I miss today?’ Georgia asked.
‘Just a really shitty situation helping a patient to the bathroom. And when I say a shitty situation, I do mean that literally.’
‘Delightful,’ said Rick.
Amber shrugged. ‘Hazard of the job.’
‘Do you ever think it’s weird that more of us smoke than not?’ asked Ally. ‘With everything we see, I don’t get why we’re not the healthiest people in the world.’
‘Nope,’ said Amber firmly, ‘with everything we see, we need alcohol and cigarettes to survive.’
‘True that,’ said Rick, leaning across to high-five Amber.
‘Mmm, would we call this a high-five-able moment?’ Georgia felt her phone start vibrating in her back pocket. ‘’Scuse me,’ she said, turning away to pull it out and take a look. It was Luke. She smiled and answered it, pressing her finger to her other ear to try and block out the noise. ‘Hey! How’s Inverell?’
‘It’s fine, but listen, I need to ask you something. What are you wearing tonight?’
Georgia frowned, suspecting she must have misheard him. He sounded worried, but why would he be worried about what she was wearing? She moved away from her friends.
‘What?’ she said.
‘I know it’s a weird question, but what are you wearing? Or more specifically what colour?’
His tone was starting to worry her. She pushed through the crowd and found a door that led to the quieter outdoor area. ‘Green,’ she said as she walked. ‘A green top and dark jeans.’
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