Spin the Bottle

by T L Osborn

  And when he invaded my dreams, wearing his policeman’s uniform shirt, unbuttoned, showing me his abs. God! That image made me hunger with lust for him in a way I haven’t experienced with Kyle for a long time.

  I’d slept in this morning because I didn’t want to stop dreaming of him. While I do feel bad for feeling this way, I’m with Kyle after all, but it’s not like he’s shown me any affection since I moved in. In fact, he’s treated me like his live-in maid. He’s going to be in for a shock because now that I’m working, I expect more help from him.

  “Mummy…Daddy, come on,” a little girl whines from outside my classroom, making me snigger.

  Someone is eager to get to class.

  I wish all my students were that excited. Smiling, I return to writing on the whiteboard when I feel a cool breeze blow over me as my classroom door opens. Turning to greet the family, I find myself face-to-face with Aria—Toby’s sister—and a man who is obviously the husband Toby had spoken of.

  “Sasha, Toby said you were back in town but he never said you were working here,” she greets me warmly, taking a step towards me and I get the feeling she wants to hug me but can’t. She never made me feel excluded or treated me differently because I was Toby’s best friend. If I could’ve had a sister I would’ve wanted one like her. “You’re looking great,” she observes.

  “You too. I heard you’re married now,” I say, steering the conversation away from Toby.

  “Yeah, nearly three months. This is Simon and the little girl who came in with us is Charlotte, our daughter. She’s starting Year 2 this year.”

  “Nice to meet you. I assume you’re Charlotte’s teacher this year.” Simon holds out a hand for me to shake.

  “I sure am. Year 2 this year and I’m excited to teach it.”

  He chuckles. “You’ll have your hands full. She’s precocious and demanding, much like me.” He only gets that in before he’s dragged away by Charlotte to see her desk.

  “So does Toby know you work here?” Aria asks, coming to stand by me.

  “He does. I told him yesterday when we met up for a coffee before it all turned sour.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Sighing, I walk over to my desk to grab some paperwork off it.

  “We argued over something silly, something personal between us. Now, instead of me boring you with my personal issues, this is a list of paperwork that I would like you to fill out. It’s a form of your goals for Charlotte this term and how I can help you achieve those.”

  “Sasha, what did Toby do?” Aria says, looking me squarely in the eyes.

  “How did you know he did anything?”

  “Because I know my brother and you don’t want to talk about him.”

  “Well I–” I’m cut off by the door to my classroom opening, ending our discussion.

  “You! What are you doing here in this room?” a voice shrieks through my room before coming to view and I recognize her as Felicity.

  Aria turns to face her. “Felicity, meet Miss Sasha Reeves, the Year 2 teacher this year. She has every right to be in his classroom as it is hers.” Aria throws me a wink before walking over to join Charlotte and Simon.

  “You’re kidding?” Felicity looks at me.

  “Sadly, no.”

  Felicity squares her shoulders as she eyes me up. “Well then, you’ll be teaching my son. His name is Connor.” She places her hand upon a boy’s shoulder.

  “Welcome Connor, you’re hook is over there if you’d like to go hang your bag.” He gives me a small smile and wanders away to hang his backpack and I hand Felicity the same form I gave Aria. “This is for you. I’d like to know what goals you have for Connor to learn this year. I’d like it back before the end of the week.”

  She looks down and then back up at me. “Just so we’re clear, stay away from Toby. He’s mine,” she snarls before walking to her son.

  Aria and Simon come over. “Don’t worry about her. They’re not seeing each other.”

  “Oh, I’m not worried about her.”

  “We’re heading off to work but we should catch up. What do you think?”

  “Sure thing, but how about once everything has settled down?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll see you this afternoon once I pick up Charlotte.” I nod.

  She and Simon leave the room as more families arrive to drop their children off. Suddenly, I find myself overwhelmed with a classroom full of excited students. Where they get their energy from I don’t know, but I’d sure like some.

  After a full day of teaching energetic students, I finally make my way home at 6.30 pm.

  I stop at the supermarket to grab some meat for dinner and white wine. Slowly, I drag my feet up the stairs, my arches killing me from wearing high heels all day. It’s my own stupid fault really for not taking a pair of flat shoes as I have done all of last week. I should for emergencies.

  “Hey,” I call as I open the front door. Walking into the dining room, I find Kyle sitting at the table, an open beer in front of him as he reads over some paperwork. He stops reading, picks up his beer and takes a sip as his eyes lock on me.

  “How was your day?” I ask, walking into the dining room.

  “Shoes, Sasha,” he snaps at me like I’m a child.

  Kicking my heels off, I carry them back over to the rack by the door and re-enter the room.

  “I asked how your day was,” I repeat, dropping my bags onto a chair.

  “Busy. What’s for dinner?” he snaps.

  “I was thinking chicken stir-fry.” He wrinkles his nose. “You know you could come up with some ideas too instead of screwing your face up at everything I suggest.”

  He throws me a glare. “Don’t take that tone with me. I’ve had a busy day and don’t need to deal with your shit too, so just cook dinner and be done with it.”

  I turn away from him and take a sip of my wine saying nothing as I prepare dinner.

  He doesn’t say much for the rest of the night, disappearing into his office straight after dinner has been eaten, leaving me once again alone to do all the house work and then catch up on my own work for the evening.

  It’s nearly midnight before I crawl into bed next to Kyle. I don’t even have the energy to read. Hopefully once things settle down, Kyle will see how busy I am and help more.

  Toby

  I can’t stop thinking about Sasha. The way she walked out on me last week, and knowing I was the reason for her pain, caused me more hurt than I care to admit. I dug out the shoe box in which I stored everything from our love, including: every single letter she wrote me and every one I sent her as well as the ‘return to sender’ ones, pictures of us, and even her promise ring.

  Laying on my bed, I roll over and see the box sitting on the floor where I left it after viewing a photo of us. We were so young and carefree back then. Searching through the box, I find the royal blue ring box and open it. Inside it sits an oval-shaped diamond ring set in white gold. I remember the day I bought this and not just the day I gave it to her.

  It was the night of our six month anniversary and I was a nervous wreck. I’d planned to cook her favourite dinner and asked if she wanted to stay the night afterwards. I was busy cooking dinner when she burst through the front door of the house, her cheeks stained with tears.

  “What’s wrong baby?” I asked.

  “I have to tell you something. It’s not good news.” I’d gulped back saliva, really hoping she wasn’t about to tell me she was pregnant. We’d been so careful. She certainly wasn’t ready to be a mother and I didn’t want to be a father quite yet. “I’m moving. Dad made the decision to move us to Christchurch and he’s enrolled me in school already.”

  “When do you go?” I ask, wrapping my arms around her.

  “In a few days, but he said tonight needs to be our last night together. I’m allowed to stay, but I have to be home early tomorrow to help pack my room. I don’t want to go, I don’t want to leave you. I can’t be without you.”

  “You
could stay. Live here with me,” I suggest.

  “My dad would never allow that and we both know it.” She bursts into tears again.

  “Baby, it’s okay, we’ll find a way to be together here or down there. No matter what, I love you,” I promise.

  “You love me?”

  “Yeah. I wanted to make it more special than this, but it hasn’t gone to plan. I love you, Sasha, with all of my heart.” I pull the ring out of my pocket and hold it out. “I promise to love you forever and always. You’re my one and only. My angel.” Sliding the ring onto her finger, she bursts into tears and we spend the remainder of the night just holding each other and not talking about the move.

  Two days later, I followed the car down the driveway as tears streamed down her beautiful face while her dad drove away not even allowing me a good bye kiss.

  Snapping the box closed, I toss it back into the shoebox and cover my old memories with the lid. Her dad was a jerk and I knew he didn’t approve of us dating since I was older but still, he wouldn’t even give me the chance to talk about her staying with me.

  My thoughts are interrupted when my phone rings from my bedside cabinet. Picking it up, I see ‘unknown number’.

  “Hello Toby speaking,” I answer the call.

  “Hi my name is Maria and I work for Upper Hutt Veterinary Clinic. I believe you dropped a gorgeous ginger kitten off to us on Wednesday?”

  “I sure did. Is everything okay?” I’m suddenly alarmed there is something wrong with the little thing.

  “Absolutely. He is just fine; a little malnourished but in reasonably good health. He can’t have been there more than maybe one night.”

  “That’s great,” I say, relieved. “Is there an owner?”

  “No, so that’s why I’m calling you. He’s not microchipped to let us know there’s an owner. We were wondering what you’d like to do. We can take him and have him adopted if you like?”

  Rubbing my palm over my beard, I make a split second decision. “No. I’d like to keep him. I’ll come down to the clinic and pick him up along with other items that he needs.”

  “Are you sure?” the vet asks.

  Am I sure I want to take on a cat?

  Hearing a wee meow in the background settles it.

  “Yes,” I reply.

  “All right, we’re just waiting on his final test results to come back and he’ll be ready to pick up so any time after twelve is great.”

  “Excellent, I’ll see you then.”

  Hanging up my phone, I just sit on the floor for a moment wondering whether or not I’ve done the right thing. We’ve not had a pet since we were all kids and I always assumed as an adult I’d get a dog.

  Looking at my phone I see the time is 10:00 am. I have enough time to run a few errands and pick up some items from our local pet store, then I’ll go and pick up our new roommate.

  I stroll out to the lounge, grab my keys and pocket them as Jake steps into the house.

  “Where are you off to?” he asks.

  “I’ve got some errands to run and a new roommate to pick up,” I tell him.

  “Oh, I thought you might have been going to work.”

  I shake my head. “Nope, day off.” I walk out the door and leave him alone. Poor Jake is going to flip his lid when I return with the cat but hey…he’ll be my responsibility. There might be the odd time Jake has to feed him but I’m sure he won’t mind.

  A few hours later, after getting everything I think the new kitten will need, I walk into the vet clinic and wait for him to be brought out to me. As the nurse appears, carrying him in her arms, I can hear him crying. My heart aches; poor thing probably hasn’t had much attention. Almost the instant I pick him out of her arms, he calms down and snuggles right into my chest, purring his head off.

  “Someone likes you,” the nurse observes.

  I pay the bill and place him into his new cat carrier. Along the journey home, he sleeps peacefully and I start to think of a name for him. None come to mind and by the time I reach my driveway there are still no ideas. Grabbing the cage from the passenger seat of my Ute, I carry it inside.

  “Hey,” I call as I enter the house.

  “What is that?” Jake asks, pointing at the cat cage I place in the middle of the lounge floor.

  “This is our new roommate. Jake meet…um well, he doesn’t have a name yet.”

  Slowly the kitten makes his way out of the pet carrier and begins sniffing around the lounge. He makes his way over to the couch and tries to jump up but doesn’t quite make it. I pick him up, placing him onto the couch which he walks the length of before settling in the spot that is usually Jacobs.

  “Great, he’s already been here a minute and thinks he’s king of the place.”

  “Henry,” I announce.

  “What?” Jake asks.

  “I’ll name him Henry. You just said he’s king of the place.”

  Jake shakes his head. “You’re cat, your call.”

  “You’re okay with us having him as a pet?” I ask.

  “Yeah, he’ll be more self-sufficient than a dog which means less work.”

  I chuckle as I pop open a beer. “You’re all about not doing housework aren’t you?”

  “That is what our lovely sister is for. Speaking of, she called while you were out.”

  “About?”

  “I can’t remember.”

  “Some PA you are.”

  I head back out to the car to grab all the stuff I need for Henry and get things sorted for him. I place some food into a bowl and some water in another beside it. When I sit down on the couch later in the day with a beer to watch some TV, Henry comes and lays on my lap and I sit petting him as he falls asleep.

  “You’re a great guy, Toby, not many men would rescue a cat then adopt it,” Jake says, sitting down next to me.

  “I felt sorry for the wee guy.”

  “You should’ve let Charlotte name him.”

  “Probably.”

  I think Charlotte will be delighted we have a cat for her to play with when she visits.

  Chapter Seven

  Sasha

  With my first week of teaching done and dusted, I decide I really need to clear out the spare room wardrobe so I have somewhere to store all of my school and teaching supplies. Kyle refuses to even share the office with me that he’s created in the other room so I’ll make do with what space there is elsewhere.

  Opening the wardrobe door, my mouth drops open and my eyes widen at the horrific sight before me. Boxes are ripped, torn, shredded so their contents are spilling out everywhere and more than one has a footprint in the side of it.

  Kyle hasn’t given a shit about my things.

  Tenderly, I pull the boxes out and upon doing so, I discover a blue painted box and I immediately know what’s in here. I open it and find all my letters from Toby. Taking a gulp, I pull one out and skim over it. I really did believe we were meant to last forever. I hide the box back in the top of the wardrobe, knowing Kyle won’t look there. I continue pulling boxes out and place them onto the spare bed with a few splitting open at the bottom and their contents spilling all over the floor.

  “Damn it,” I yell into the empty room.

  “What are you doing?” Kyle asks from behind me.

  Spinning on my heels, I place my hands on my hips. “Why is all my stuff damaged? You said you’d take care of it and now I find this?” I point to the stack of items.

  He shrugs. “Must’ve been the movers. Besides, I dunno why you’re keeping half this stuff anyway; it’s all junk, right?”

  “It’s not, Kyle. There’re things I really wanted to keep considering they’re part of my travels around the world. Collectible things, stuff I wanted to display in my office.”

  “You mean of the life you had before me? Well you can forget travelling again any time soon. We have other things to think about so I suggest that you sort through this mess and tidy it up. I’ve got the guys coming over later and they don’t need to see y
our shit all over this room.” He exits. “Oh, and I want bacon, eggs and hash browns for breakfast,” he calls as he descends the stairs.

  Turning back to the pile, I see that my items are indeed smashed and broken beyond repair. Ornaments I bought from Disneyland and Sea World in America are shattered.

  Tears stream down my face as I place them into boxes to be thrown away along with any dreams I had of travelling again. I wanted to show Kyle how much fun travelling can be and share the amazing views of the countries I’ve seen and yet, this is another thing he doesn’t want to do.

  What sort of man have I agreed to marry? All the promises he made in the start, are they all lies?

  Wiping my eyes with the back of my hand, I decide I need to get out of here and get some space. Gathering my handbag together, I walk down the stairs.

  “When are you going to start breakfast?” Kyle demands.

  “I’m not. You want something to eat, cook it yourself. I need to get away from here and have some time to think.”

  I pick up my keys, and exit the house slamming the door behind me. I climb into my car start the engine and begin to drive on autopilot.

  Making my way towards Upper Hutt, I think things over. I’m sure Kyle didn’t mean everything he said to me this morning, perhaps it was in the heat of the moment. Everyone says things they don’t mean when they’re angry.

  I park my car and make my way to the very same café Toby and I went to. I order my drink, then head to find a table and see Aria sitting at a table with two other women. Turning her head slightly, she sees me and waves me over. Hesitantly, I go over to their table.

  “Sasha, I was just telling my sisters-in-law what a fantastic teacher you are. Charlotte loves going to school knowing you’re teaching her.” She smiles.

  “I wouldn’t say I’m that great of a teacher, I’ve barely done it a week.”