by Mott, Teisha
Andie did not care what Samantha and Grandma Sylvia said. There was nothing wrong with an eighteen-year-old girl getting serious with a twenty-year-old boy. Moreover, she knew that Nathan was an exceptional twenty-year-old. He was no Jeremy Malcolm for sure. He was polite and charming, and never even kissed her on their first date – except for a peck on the cheek. He made her laugh, and he made her feel good about herself. And certainly, bragging rights with him was a non-issue. Andie smiled to herself. Nathan was all right. If he wanted to be her boyfriend, she would gladly accept the offer.
When breakfast was over, while her mother, grandmother and sister oohed and ahhed over the Miss World wardrobe, Andie went to her room under the guise of studying. She got back into bed, and curled up with the book that Nathan had given her. She read of Anne, a red-headed girl just like her, but one with such joie de vivre that Andie felt a little bit dizzy reading about her. She glanced at the clock by her bed. It was eleven o’clock, and Nathan had not called her all morning. She frowned a bit as she wondered why. He had said over and over that he had a good time. Shouldn’t he at least call to say hello? Or was he waiting for her to call him? Andie turned to a new chapter of Anne of Green Gables. She decided that she would wait until noon. If he truly liked her, surely he would call her by then. If he didn’t – well she would have to be brave and call him.
***
It was ten o’clock on Sunday morning when Nathan opened his eyes. They felt heavy and crusty, and he had a headache. He was not surprised. That is how he usually felt when he did not get enough sleep. Nathan had lain awake for almost the entire night. He could not get Andie off his mind. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her face. He saw her wavy red hair piled on top of her head. He saw her mesmerising dark brown eyes looking into his. He felt her again, as they danced in the gardens of Bella Mia, and he smelled her perfume. His mind was like a video stream set in a loop that continuously replayed the entire evening over and over and over.
Nathan got out of bed. He pulled his fingers through his hair and sighed deeply.
“I am in deep shit!” He thought. He was entering the fourth week of the bet. He had four weeks after Thursday ended to get Andie Persaud to sleep with him. So far, everything was going his way. She seemed to like him. He definitely liked her, and her family certainly approved of him, based on what he saw the night before. So why did he feel like his world was coming to an end? Why did he feel like the moment he won the bet, he would join his father in Hades?
“Naa- -- thann!!!”
Nathan snapped back to the present world when he heard Fern McNally’s shrill voice bellowing for him.
“Nathan Hansen! Did you die in your sleep or something?” This time it was Shauna.
Nathan groaned, wishing he had indeed died in his sleep. Then he would not have to sit through badgering from, doubtlessly, the two most annoying individuals in the world. He opened the window, and peered out at the two girls.
“Why are you shouting at my window so early?”
“It’s not early!” Fern protested. “We want to hear about your date.”
“And Micah will not let us in!” Shauna added.
“Good man, Micah!” Nathan muttered. He slugged to the front door, and opened it up, letting the two excited girls in.
“Can you at least sit in the common area and let me put on my clothes?” Nathan asked, as the girls followed him to his room.
“You can change in front of us,” Fern said smugly. “You don’t have anything under your night clothes that we’ve never see before!”
“Oh really now?” Nathan glared at his two cluster sisters. They shrunk back from the look Nathan gave them. Neither Fern nor Shauna had brothers, but Nathan was doing a very good job as a surrogate. “Wait in the common area for me please?”
Shauna and Fern had no choice but to obey. They sat quietly in the common area, until Nathan emerged from his bedroom, dressed in Khaki shorts and an oversized white tee. He had not bothered to comb his hair and it was a mass of curls around his head.
“You need a haircut,” Fern commented when she saw him.
“Or someone to put it in cornrows for me,” Nathan said, pouring himself a glass of crangrape juice. “You want to do it for me later, Shauna?”
“Sure, that can be arranged… if you tell me what happened last night with you and Andie,” Shauna bargained.
Nathan sat at the table, and opened a foil wrapper containing a power bar. He knew his mother and grandmother would be distressed to discover that all he was having for breakfast was a granola bar and a glass of juice, but although he loved and appreciated good food, Nathan was no cook. He wondered whether Andie knew how to cook. He doubt it. When would she have gotten the chance to learn, being surrounded by cooks and housekeepers all her life? He turned his attention back to Fern and Shauna.
“What you want to know?”
Everything!” Fern declared. “From you left here until you came back!”
“And don’t you dare leave out the juicy bits!” Shauna warned.
“Where’s Jeremy?” Nathan asked.
“Who the hell cares?” Fern screeched. “Tell us!”
“Alright! Don’t pop your heart string!” Nathan finished his granola bar and crangrape juice before beginning. “I got to her house, and Dr Persaud let me in…”
“Is it a nice house? Where does she live? What did Dr Persaud say…?” Shauna interrupted.
“Stop interrupting and let Nathan talk, nuh!” Fern said snappily.
“She lives in Norbrook, and it is a really nice house.”
“What you expect?” Fern said. “The Persauds are rolling in money!”
“She wasn’t ready when I got there,” Nathan continued. “So Dr Persaud and Christopher and I talked for a while…”
“Who’s Christopher?” Shauna demanded.
“Her brother!”
“Andie has a brother?”
“Don’t get excited, Shauna,” Fern cut in. “He’s only eight.”
“But seriously force ripe!” Nathan said. “He warned me off properly before I left the house with his sister.”
“Go on,” Fern prompted. “What happened next? What did she wear?”
“She had on a green dress and green shoes,” Nathan related, recalling the tiny mini dress and Andie’s fantastic figure in it. “She had her hair up in some twirly things. Man, she looked gorgeous!”
“Having money does that to a person,” Shauna said, nodding. “You can buy all sorts of fancy clothes and put yourself together well. I’m definitely marrying a money man!”
“You won’t live to get married if you don’t stop interrupting and let Nathan talk!” Fern warned, giving her roommate the hairy eyeball.
“I met her mother,” Nathan continued. “Her picture in the paper not saying a thing. The woman looks good – she looks like Samantha though.”
“Yeah, yeah, she looks like Samantha,” Fern said impatiently. “What happened at Bella Mia?”
“I ordered for her, and she had no idea how to eat spaghetti, so I fed her,” Nathan told Fern and Shauna.
“Aww!” Both girls sighed, simultaneously.
“Then we had dessert, and then we went for a walk in the gardens.”
“Andie is so lucky!” Shauna sighed. “Imagine strolling through the gardens of Bella Mia with a guy who likes me. Do you like her, Nathan?”
Nathan did not respond. “After that I took her home,” he concluded.
“Did you kiss her?” Fern demanded.
“No!” Nathan said, indignantly.
“Why not?” Fern asked. “Didn’t you want to kiss her?”
“I’m not answering anymore questions,” Nathan said.
“Does Andie like you?” Shauna asked, oblivious to the fact that Nathan said he was answering no further questions. “Is she your girlfriend?”<
br />
“No, she’s not my girlfriend,” Nathan said.
“But you want her to be?” Shauna persisted.
Nathan did not respond. He did not know what he wanted. He only started talking to Andie because of the bet. What he wanted more than anything was to shut Jeremy Malcolm up. He had not bargained on liking Andie so much. He would not be averse to being her boyfriend, but what kind of a relationship would they have, if the foundation was a stupid, immature bet.
Micah entered the common area, dressed to the nines in a tweed suit. He carried his Bible and hymn book, obviously on his way to church.
“Wha a gwaan?” He greeted his cluster mates.
“Nathan telling us about his date with Andie last night,” Shauna explained. “It is the most romantic thing in the world, Micah! I want to go on a date.”
Micah gave Nathan a strange look. “Be careful what you wish for, Shauna,” he warned. “Gone church. Later!”
“Pray for me!” Fern called, as Micah went through the door.
“I’ll pray for Nathan, too,” Micah promised.
Nathan blushed, turning a fierce russet. Micah hated everything to do with Jeremy and the bet. Not as much as Nathan hated it, though. Every second, with every phone call, and every moment spent together, he was getting in deeper and deeper with Andie. Nothing good could come of the bet, a little voice inside his head told him. But it was too late to back out now.
“I think Andie likes you,” Fern said positively. “If you ever see how she lights up whenever anyone calls your name! If you like her, Nathan, you have my full support in pressing forward. Ask her to be your girlfriend, get married, and name your first daughter Fern!”
Nathan laughed. “Slow your roll, tootsie!” He said, patting Fern’s hand. “Don’t bother marrying us off just yet.”
“Marrying off who?” Jeremy Malcolm asked, entering the common area. As usual, he was clothed in gym attire, and layers of sweat. Obviously, he had just completed his Sunday morning workout.
“Nathan and Andie,” Shauna volunteered, before Nathan could stop her.
“You get lucky last night, my yout’?” Jeremy asked, grinning at Nathan.
Nathan ignored him.
“I didn’t think you would,” Jeremy continued. “Shame, isn’t it – after you spent so much money on dinner?”
“Is that all you think about, Jeremy?” Shauna snapped. “You think Nathan stay like you?”
“I think it is better to be a wolf in no clothes than a wolf in sheep’s clothes like our friend Nathan,” Jeremy said. He hopped up the stairs two at a time. “See ya. Sure as hell wouldn’t wanna be ya!”
“I think he is such a Neanderthal!” Fern said with a frown. “I can’t stand him.”
“Join the club!” Nathan said.
“What is he talking about wolf in sheep’s clothing?” Shauna asked.
“Who the hell knows what that asshole is talking about on any given day?” Nathan said evasively. He rose from the table. “I’m going to the pool. Later.”
***
Six laps later, the thought of Jeremy Malcolm’s obnoxious smirk giving his muscles the strength they needed to press on, Nathan pulled himself out of the University’s pool. He pulled his goggles off, and dried his body with his huge blue towel. He rubbed furiously at his curly hair, which became curlier with each rub. He pulled on his shorts and shirt, deep in thought. He had four weeks to win the bet. Already, Andie liked him. He did not think he could lose, if he played his cards right. When he won the bet, Jeremy Malcolm would not have anything to say to him. He liked Andie, Nathan tried to rationalise to himself. Winning the bet would not be altogether unpleasant. He realised that he would probably be the first guy in the world to prove that he could have his cake and eat it, too.
Nathan sat on the pool deck with his feet in the water. He opened up his Microeconomics textbook, and began reading the chapter on Slutsky Substitution, once and for all deciding that the bet was still on. No more ifs, ands, or buts. He would win the bet, shut Jeremy Malcolm up, and have Andie Persaud, all in the next four weeks.
***
“Whatcha doin’?”
Andie smiled at the sound of Nathan’s voice as it came through the telephone. She glanced at the clock. It was ten minutes before twelve. He had called her before she got around to calling him.
“I’m in my room, reading Anne of Green Gables,” Andie told him. “And it has taken me from the heights of joy and passion to the depths of despair. It is the most romantic book I have ever read, and there is so much scope for imagination on every page I turn!”
Nathan laughed at Andie’s attempt to copy Anne Shirley’s exuberance. “So you’re enjoying your book,” he surmised.
“Yep!” Andie affirmed. “Thank you so much for getting it for me, Nathan.”
“You’re more than welcome, Andie,” Nathan replied. “So how has your Sunday been so far?”
“So much better now that I am talking to you!” Andie replied, shocking herself. “I mean, apart from the book, the day has been really unexciting.”
“Glad to know that I can add sparkle to your Sunday,” Nathan said. Andie thought she could hear him smiling. She could close her eyes and see his dimples appearing even as he spoke.
“You add a sparkle to everything I do, Nathan!” Andie confessed.
“So what you doing later? Nathan asked. “You want to hang out? We could go see a movie, and grab some pizza or something.”
Andie smiled into the telephone. “That sounds great…” she began.
“Excellent!” Nathan said. “So what time should I pick you up?”
“But I can’t,” she finished. “My grandparents – all four of them are coming over for dinner. Even Uncle Marcus and his wife will be here. There’s no way my parents will allow me out today.”
“Oh!” Nathan sounded disappointed. “That bites.”
“Yes it does,” Andie agreed.
“Anne Dru!”
It was Grandma Sylvia bellowing for her.
“My grandmother is calling me, Nathan,” she said. “I have to go.”
“Wait a minute!” Nathan did not want her to hang up just yet. “When can I see you?”
“At school tomorrow,” Andie suggested.
“Anne Dru, darling, where are you?” Grandma called again.
“I’m in my bedroom!” Andie called back. “I’m on the telephone.” She turned her attention back to Nathan. “I’ve got to go, Nathan.”
The door burst open. “Anne Dru, I want to show you something!” Sylvia Persaud frowned at her granddaughter. “Who are you talking to on the phone?”
“My friend,” Andie said, blushing a little bit.
“The boyfriend?” Grandma asked.
“He’s not my boyfriend, Grandma!” Andie blushed even more. Nathan was hearing all of this.
“Well, then you will not mind hanging up from him and coming downstairs then,” Grandma looked at her pointedly.
“I’ll see you in school tomorrow, Nathan,” Andie said, looking away from her grandmother. “We can see the movie next weekend.”
“Oh, all right…”
Andie thought he sounded disappointed. She was disappointed, too.
Grandma poked her shoulder. “Hand me the phone, dear!”
Andie handed her the cordless, thinking Nathan had hung up. She was shocked when Grandma put it to her ear.
“Nathan, is it? Are you still there? This is Anne Dru’s grandmother, Sylvia Persaud. How are you?”
Andie thought the world would open up and swallow her.
“I’m good, thanks,” Grandma continued. “Would you like to come over this evening and have dinner with us? I am sure Anne Dru’s grandfathers would enjoy meeting you.”
“Please say yes! Please say yes!” Andie pleaded mentally. The look of
delight on her grandmother’s face made it clear that Andie’s prayers had been answered in her favour. “Good boy. We will see you no later than six? Excellent. Now say goodbye to Anne Dru!”
Grandma handed the phone back to Andie. “Hurry up, dear,” she instructed, leaving Andie’s bedroom.
Andie waited until she had left before talking to Nathan again.
“I am so sorry about my grandmother,” she apologised, not sorry at all. “I am so sorry she suckered you into coming over.”
Nathan laughed good-naturedly. “Don’t apologise, Andie,” he said. “Your grandmother did not have to twist my arm. I would have done anything to see you this evening. Should I bring anything with me? A dessert, maybe?”
Andie felt chills run up her spine. She weighed his words carefully. He said he would have done anything to see her. Andie did not like to jump the gun, but she thought that had to mean that he liked her.
“Andie? Are you still there?”
“Yes,” Andie snapped back to attention. “I don’t think you have to bring anything. Theresa has it covered.”
“Okay,” Nathan said. “So I’ll see you around six.”
“Come at about five,” Andie advised. “Then we can hang out a bit before dinner.”
“Okay, no problem,” Nathan agreed. “Bye Andie.”
“Bye, Nathan.”
Andie hung up, and went to find her grandmother. In about five hours, she would be seeing Nathan. “Roll on, five o’clock!” She thought. This was one Sunday dinner she was definitely looking forward to.
***
“Mom is going to kill me, or send me to Tamarind Farm to do hard labour!” Nathan thought, as he passed over his credit card to the cashier at The Guilt Trip.
Andie had told him that he did not have to take anything to dinner, but he thought that since her grandparents and Professor Brown were going to be there, he had to do something extra to impress them. He had stopped at That Blooming Florist, and had put four boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates and a dozen long stemmed white roses on the credit card. The chocolates were for Andie’s mother, grandmothers, and Samantha and the roses were for Andie. He almost wet his pants when the woman told him that his order was over three thousand dollars! His next stop was The Guilt Trip, where the Mandarin orange and lychee cake, smothered with whipped cream which he had ordered earlier, cost him another twenty-five hundred dollars. He would have to get a job this Christmas to pay his mother’s credit card bill!
