Room 46 & Short Story Collection

by Helen McKenna

  Even if Matt didn’t know and love Clare he would have been impressed with the evening. Full of practical advice delivered in Clare’s trademark no-nonsense style, it was actually kind of fun. He had little doubt that most of the men there had been ordered or at the very least coerced into going by their girlfriends or partners but most seemed to be enjoying it and interacting, which was obviously the whole idea.

  ‘All right, now we’re at the critical point,’ Clare announced, back at the lectern after mingling with various groups during the last discussion time. ‘The proposal.’

  She paused dramatically, allowing the words to permeate around the room.

  ‘The proposal is the big moment, right?’

  She was answered by a barrage of nodding and some mumbled yeses.

  ‘It’s the moment that your other half puts all the emphasis on.’

  More nods.

  ‘Would you say it sets the tone for a marriage?’

  At least half the audience nodded.

  ‘Do you feel like it has to be perfect?’

  A barrage of nods this time.

  Clare sighed dramatically. ‘Oh dear! Well if that’s what you believe I predict that both you and your beloved are in for some disappointment.’ With that she raised her eyebrows and nodded meaningfully, locking eyes with Matt in a way that made him feel very nervous.

  ‘Of course social media has a lot to answer for,’ Clare continued. ‘Fifty or even twenty years ago most couples only shared details of their engagement with their closest friends and family but these days it’s all over Facebook and YouTube. I get it, I know that puts you guys under a lot of pressure.’

  Pausing, she met Matt’s gaze again and this time he saw the hint of a smile on her face.

  Matt immediately slunk down in his seat, realising with a jolt that she was going to somehow involve him. What an idiot he was for coming! Please don’t, he pleaded silently. Please, please, please don’t make me do something…

  Alas, his pleas remained unanswered as Clare resumed her speech. ‘Gentlemen, I believe there is nothing like a true story to illustrate a point and I’m sure among you there is somebody who would just love to share their own experience, good or bad, with the group. Having read through your questionnaires I know there are many case studies we could discuss.’

  Unsurprisingly, almost every head bowed at that point to avoid making eye contact with Clare, everybody else as desperate as Matt to avoid being singled out.

  ‘Oh, come on gents, it’s not that bad! How about I nominate someone? Yes, that’s a good idea. Let’s see, hmmm, what about you sir in the very back row?’

  Matt kept his eyes down in the hope Clare would choose somebody else, but of course she didn’t.

  ‘Come on now sir, yes I can still see you – black hair, green hoodie … I’ll just send the roving microphone down to you.’

  Matt slowly raised his eyes and shook his head, but only as a token gesture. Like it or not, he was about to bare his soul to the world, or at least to a room full of strangers.

  * * * * *

  Even though breakfast service at the Windsor started at seven o’clock, the dining room was still quiet when Matt arrived just after eight. It didn’t surprise him though, in fact it was one of the things he had come to expect from Melbourne. It took longer for the day to get rolling down here, unlike Queensland where everyone tended to be up and about early. He didn’t consider it a bad thing, just one of those little observations you make about different places.

  Matt had decided it had a lot to do with climate. Take this morning, for example, upon looking out the window he noted it was a cool, overcast morning. By eight in the morning in Brisbane in late spring, you pretty much knew what how the day was going to turn out. Not so in Melbourne though. Melbourne didn’t hit her straps until mid-afternoon, with the late afternoon generally being the hottest part of the day. The people were similar. Not too many ventured out early, but as the day wore on they gradually emerged, doing most of their socialising in the afternoon or evening.

  The waiter’s voice brought him back to the present. ‘Table for one sir?’

  Matt sighed deeply. ‘Yeah,’ he answered forlornly. ‘Table for one.’

  Although he had initially considered himself too depressed to eat much, Matt still managed to put away a two egg omelette, three rashers of bacon, two sausages, toast and coffee. Patting his mouth with a monogrammed linen napkin, he took in his luxurious surroundings and tried to be enthusiastic about it. After all it wasn’t every day he ate breakfast at The Windsor or stayed in the exclusive Victorian Suite. In fact it was the first time he ever had.

  ‘Cheer up sir, it might never happen.’

  Matt looked up to see a waiter with a coffee pot.

  ‘You look like you won the lotto and lost your ticket,’ the man said, leaning over to refill Matt’s cup.

  Matt smiled wanly. ‘I think that might have been less depressing,’ he replied.

  ‘Oh dear,’ the waiter said. Around sixty with greying curly hair, he was as lean as a greyhound and had a kind face that invited the sharing of confidences. His name tag read Barry.

  Realising how pathetic he sounded Matt shook his head. ‘Sorry, this was supposed to be a really awesome weekend and it’s turned out the exact opposite. No offense to your beautiful hotel of course.’

  ‘None taken. Obviously it’s something pretty major if The Windsor can’t work its charm on you.’

  ‘Oh yeah, it’s major all right.’

  Looking at his watch Barry glanced at Matt thoughtfully. ‘Tell you what, my shift finishes in ten minutes and I’ve got nothing on this morning. You know Pelligrinis?’

  ‘Yeah, of course.’

  ‘Meet me there in an hour. We’ll have some decent coffee and you can tell me what’s on your mind.’

  ‘For real?’ Matt replied.

  ‘Of course. What’s the worst that can happen? I could make you even more depressed than you are already?’

  With nothing better to do and his flight home not until five Matt nodded his agreement. ‘Sure, why not?’

  Fortified with a double espresso, Matt told Barry his sad tale. ‘I’m actually supposed to be celebrating my engagement this morning,’ he admitted.

  Barry took a sip of his own espresso. ‘Oh, I see,’ he sympathised. ‘She said no, huh? Even after you treated her to the Victorian Suite? That’s harsh … and extremely expensive.’

  Matt shook his head vehemently. ‘No, hell no, if that had happened I think I’d be suicidal.’

  ‘Right,’ Barry said slowly, raising his right eyebrow enquiringly. ‘So, something else catastrophic happened?’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t say catastrophic exactly,’ Matt mumbled. ‘More like a comedy of errors, culminating in me being here alone while my girlfriend is back up in Queensland.’

  ‘Listen Matt, you’ve dangled the carrot here, I need some details or I’ll die of curiosity.’

  ‘Righto, I’ll start at the beginning. My girlfriend Clare is from Melbourne, I’m from Brisbane, well I live on the Gold Coast now but you get the picture.’

  Barry nodded.

  ‘Anyway, long story short, Clare moved up to Brisbane about six months ago after we long distanced it for a year. She still works down here one week a month and her parents still have a place here so we’re in Melbourne a lot, you know.’

  ‘Sure, sounds like a good deal, with Queensland’s weather and Melbourne’s culture.’

  Matt nodded. ‘Something like that. Anyway, Clare’s a psychologist you see and although she never makes me feel like she’s analysing my behaviour I wanted to show her how much she means to me by orchestrating an amazing proposal.’

  ‘A very noble ambition if I ever heard one. So I guess that’s where The Windsor comes in?’

  ‘Yep. Melbourne is still really special to her and I wanted to take her to the grandest place here.’

  ‘Well, that’s The Windsor all right.’

  ‘Anyway, Clare�
�s working down here next week so the plan was to come down for the weekend. She couldn’t get a frequent flier flight until yesterday arvo, but I came down on Friday night. I told her I was catching up with a uni mate but it was really to get myself organised.’

  ‘Righto.’

  ‘So I booked in, got everything sorted and then she rings at three o’clock to say her work schedule has changed and she’s not coming until Wednesday.’

  ‘Oh and I guess you couldn’t make a big song and dance about it because you didn’t want to arouse her suspicions, right?’

  ‘Uh, huh.’

  ‘Well it’s a bummer all right and I know it’s a lot of money to spend, but can’t you just reschedule?’

  ‘I don’t know. It feels kind of like the opportunity has passed. I mean after all that effort and we couldn’t even end up in the same city on the same day? Maybe it’s not meant to happen because we’re such different people.’

  ‘Different in what way?’

  ‘Clare is really successful in her career. Besides counselling people she’s got a talkback radio slot back in Brissie and she’s becoming a big name on the corporate speaking circuit.’

  ‘Wow. And what do you do?’

  ‘I’m a journalist for a travel magazine.’

  ‘Nothing wrong with that. In fact I imagine you get lots of perks.’

  ‘Yep, definitely. How do you reckon I afforded to stay at the Windsor?’

  Barry laughed. ‘I must admit you didn’t really fit the bill of our average clientele. Not that we don’t welcome every guest, of course.’

  ‘Of course,’ Matt echoed with a smile.

  Barry shook his head. ‘Is that all you’re worried about, that she’s more career focused?’

  ‘It’s not just her career, she’s got her life totally sorted out and I’ve always just taken it as it comes. I’ve been told I’ve got a bit of a Peter Pan complex.’

  ‘Do you think that’s necessarily a bad thing?’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘Come on Matt, plenty of couples are opposites. Has she ever asked you to change?’

  ‘No, she’d never do that.’

  ‘Well there you go, you’ve got nothing to fear.’

  Matt took his last sip of espresso. ‘Yeah, I guess you’re right.’

  Matt contemplated Barry’s words as he mooched around Melbourne for the day. He had come to love the city and had even spent three months working there. The weather was the killer, a Queensland boy through and through, he just couldn’t acclimatise to the harsh winters.

  Usually he and Clare had a great time on the monthly weekend visit whether it was just relaxing at home, taking in an AFL game (she loved the AFL, he had come to kind of understand it but would always be a League man), hanging in the city or visiting the art gallery, it was just fun being together.

  It wasn’t like he had never been down there without her either. He had made some friends of his own in Melbourne and there was always someone from Clare’s extended family to visit. But today Melbourne just seemed cold and empty and he couldn’t wait to head back home.

  Maybe it just wasn’t meant to happen in Melbourne, he decided as he stowed his backpack in the overhead locker. Flying with Jetstar so often, he had become a master at packing light so he didn’t have to pay for checked luggage.

  His phone beeped just as he sat down. He couldn’t help but smile as he read Clare’s message. “Travel safe - I’ll come and pick you up. Missed you heaps xxxx”

  Matt flicked a love heart smiley face back in reply then switched to flight mode and shoved the phone in his pocket, feeling his mood lift long before the plane took off.

  * * * * *

  Matt debriefed the situation with his best mate Liam and another friend Tom. It was a more civilised chat than he had envisaged. His initial thought had been a decent pub session but given that his mates were married with kids, the best he could arrange on short notice was a Saturday morning takeaway coffee in the park at Rainbow Bay. Tom had a brief window before he had to pick up his children from swimming training and Liam had enlisted his twin ten-year-old nieces Anna and Belle to babysit his ten-month-old daughter Milly so he could talk unfettered for a while.

  ‘So, you reckon it really was just bad timing?’ Matt asked, after he finished speaking.

  ‘Yeah buddy,’ Liam assured him. ‘There’s always variables you can’t control, especially when it involved planes and travel.’

  ‘I guess so,’ Matt sighed.

  ‘Come on mate,’ Tom said, ‘it’s not like you didn’t put the effort in.’

  ‘Totally,’ agreed Liam. ‘Although I must say, I’m pretty amazed you came up with The Windsor!’

  ‘Now I know for sure you never read my articles. Didn’t you see my feature on The Windsor last month? I interviewed a woman who organises romantic getaway packages and she arranged the whole thing for me.’

  ‘Okay busted,’ Liam admitted. ‘I’m just a bit behind on my reading at the moment.’

  ‘Yeah, you and Clare both. It was lucky on this occasion though.’

  ‘Yep, you might have lost a few points for originality,’ Liam agreed.

  ‘Maybe I dodged a bullet?’ Matt pondered. ‘Maybe Clare subconsciously sensed it was coming and backed off.’

  Tom shook his head. ‘Are you kidding? Clare is a woman in her thirties, it’s not possible she doesn’t want to get married.’

  ‘Dead set?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Liam agreed. ‘Mate you’ve been together for eighteen months and Clare is a woman who knows her own mind. She wouldn’t be still hanging around if she didn’t want to be with you.’

  Matt was still uncertain. ‘I don’t have a lot to offer her though. I was supposed to be a successful novelist by the time I was thirty.’

  Liam lay down on the grass and closed his eyes. ‘Yeah that’s right,’ he chuckled. ‘You’re only six years behind schedule. How’s the brilliant, as-yet-unnamed book going anyway?’

  Matt crushed his empty cup and threw it at Liam’s head. ‘It’s going about as well as that rusty, dilapidated Kombi van you’ve been restoring for the past decade.’

  ‘Hey, low blow! It’s really hard to get parts.’

  The conversation was interrupted by the sounds of bickering. ‘Uncle Liam!’ Anna was shouting, ‘Tell her it’s my turn to change the nappy.’

  ‘They’re fighting about changing a nappy?’ Tom asked incredulously.

  Liam smiley wryly, his eyes still closed. ‘They get a five dollar bonus for the gross ones. Sometimes I think they secretly feed her prunes just to make a profit.’

  Belle ran over to where they were sitting and stuck her hands on her hips. ‘Uncle Liam it’s MY turn!’ she announced.

  Liam sat up, stuck his hand in his pocket and extracted a handful of two dollar coins. ‘How about you share it for eight dollars?’

  Belle considered for a moment then scooped the change into her hand. ‘All right,’ she agreed and ran off.

  Tom checked his watch and took his last sip of coffee. ‘Okay, gotta head guys, but keep me in the loop hey?’

  ‘There’s a loop?’ Matt asked.

  ‘Yep, you’ve involved us now,’ Tom replied.

  ‘Uh huh,’ Liam agreed. ‘Run your next idea by us first and we’ll green light it for you.’

  ‘Who says you bogans know anything about awesome proposals?’

  ‘Says the single guy to the married men,’ Tom replied with a smirk.

  Matt gave Tom the finger as he gathered his phone and keys.

  Tom laughed as he walked away but Liam looked thoughtful. ‘All right then, I’ve got a bit more time to spare. Let’s thrash out some ideas for attempt number two.’

  * * * * *

  Matt paused for a moment and met Clare’s eyes for the first time since he had started speaking.

  She was all business. ‘So,’ she said, ‘you were game to try again?’

  ‘Um, yeah, I was. Let’s face it, bad timing affects everybody at some
stage.’

  ‘Yes, it certainly can,’ Clare agreed giving him one of her best cool stares.

  ‘And it wasn’t like the intention wasn’t there.’

  ‘That’s true.’

  ‘Uh, I suppose you want me to keep going with the story then?’ Matt murmured, desperate to break the tension.

  ‘Oh yes, definitely, we’d all love to hear what happened next.’

  ‘All right,’ Matt agreed, then cleared his throat and started talking again.

  * * * * *

  Although he hadn’t been doing surf patrol as long as Liam or Tom, Matt was still an established member of his local surf club. So, once the renewed proposal plan was hatched, it wasn’t too difficult to arrange a ride for he and Clare in the rescue helicopter one day, while it was on patrol.

  A little more difficult to arrange was a careful configuration of words on white poster board up at Point Danger. Fortunately Liam’s nine nieces and nephews (plus a few of their friends) had willingly agreed to be the poster holders once he promised them all a season pass to Wet and Wild. It was just as well that Liam came from a big family and that Matt could get a 70% discount on theme park passes through work.

  Matt tried to keep his expression normal as he and Clare waited to board the helicopter at Coolangatta. Well aware that he was liable to break into a stupid goofy grin if he concentrated too much on what was ahead, he leant in to hug Clare so she couldn’t read his face.

  ‘Wow, this is very nice,’ she said, hugging him back. ‘May I ask what inspired you to arrange all this?’

  ‘Does there have to be a reason?’ he replied, holding her a little tighter.