by Lisa Edward
Unfortunately, I didn’t know much.
We said our goodbyes to Nicole and made her promise to come into Songbirds that night. I would be playing, but I wanted her to get a feel for the place. I had a good feeling about her; we were on the same wavelength, and had similar ideas. She was really bright, and would be a great asset to my new team.
But above all that, I wanted Marcus to be happy, and I thought she could be just what he needed.
I smiled to myself as I entered Songbirds that evening, and made my way over to Marcus. He wasn’t wearing his usual bar outfit. He was dressed in one of the tight-fitted Songbirds T-shirts, and rather sexy, low-slung jeans. His hair had its usual ‘no style’ style about it. But I knew him well enough to know, he had spent quite a lot of time in front of the mirror to get it looking that way.
Hugging him, I complimented his outfit, which made him blush, before brushing it off as nothing special. We both knew differently.
Nicole came in not long after me. She was dressed casually in skinny jeans, knee-high boots, and a long-sleeved green top that offset her red hair. She greeted me like an old friend, before shyly saying hello to Marcus.
We headed over to a table while Marcus arranged a pitcher of margaritas for us.
“Okay, so what’s the scoop?” Nicole asked quickly, as soon as Marcus was out of hearing range. “Is he single?”
I laughed. “That’s funny. He asked me the same thing about you.”
She gave me a huge grin.
“So, are you?” I asked inquisitively.
“Yes, definitely. Is he?” She was leaning in to me, anxiously.
“Yes he is, and he’s interested.”
She gave a little fist pump. “He’s gorgeous, oh my God.”
I had to laugh again at her exuberance. “Yes, he is. He’s also one of my best friends, and I care a lot about him. We have some history, and he hasn’t had a lot of luck with girls, so please be gentle with him.”
She gave me a wicked smile. “Oh, I’ll be real gentle.”
We were laughing about all the ways Nicole could be gentle with Marcus, and didn’t notice Cole walk up behind me.
I felt his hands on my shoulders, and froze while the jolt of electricity passed through me.
“Hello, beautiful girl,” he whispered in his deep, gravelly voice as he leaned down to kiss my cheek.
“Hey, you.” I reached my hand around to cup his face, and returned his kiss.
I looked over at Nicole as Cole took a seat beside me. Her eyebrows had shot up almost into her hairline.
I made the introductions, and waited while they summed each other up. Nicole was taking in Cole, in all his tight-shirted tattooed glory.
Cole was taking in Nicole’s red hair.
Marcus joined us with an extra beer for Cole, while Cole shuffled over closer to me so he could rest his arm on the back of my chair.
“I missed you,” he whispered. “I didn’t hear from you all day.”
“I was busy doing important restaurant stuff,” I said playfully. “I’ve already hired our first waitress.” I indicated to Nicole, and she beamed at me.
I leaned into Cole. “And I’ve been playing matchmaker.”
I indicated to Nicole and Marcus who looked like they were on a first date, then I smiled cheekily at Cole.
“Nice work, babe.” He leaned over, and gave me a lingering kiss on the cheek.
Maybe he had really missed me today.
“So, how long have you two been engaged?” Nicole asked, interrupting my moment with Cole.
“Ah, sorry, how long have who been what?”
She laughed. “How long have the two of you—” She pointed to Cole and me. “—been engaged?”
Marcus was sitting back with an amused expression as I turned to Cole. I was expecting him to be white as a sheet at the suggestion that he would be engaged to anyone. Instead, he was comically tapping his chin with his finger, like he was trying to think of the length of time.
I slapped the back of my hand into his stomach, and he laughed.
“We’re not engaged,” I replied to Nicole. “Cole and I are just really good friends.”
“Oh?” She looked at my engagement ring, and I understood how she could be confused.
“I’m engaged to someone else. His name’s Riley, and he’s a soldier who’s currently serving overseas.” I looked up at Cole. Any hint of a joke had left his face as he exhaled deeply. “We’re just friends,” I finished.
Cole nodded, and then drank half of his beer in one gulp.
Well, that wasn’t awkward, much. I didn’t know where to look.
Marcus quickly tried to change the subject. “So have you been here before, Nicole?”
“No, but I’ve heard about it. A couple of the girls who are regulars at the cafe come here. They’ve told me you have a great band called The Sons that play here on a Saturday night.”
I could see Cole’s chest pumping out with pride.
“They said the singer is super-hot, but a bit of a dick.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop laughing.
“Apparently, he’s really full of himself.” She leaned in to us. “Mind you, they still want to sleep with him. They don’t really care about his personality. They’ve heard he has his thingy pierced, and they just want to see him naked.”
She laughed, but she was the only one.
“Ah, Cole is actually the singer of The Sons,” I interjected before she could put her foot any further into her mouth.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.” She was flustered as she tried to back pedal. “I don’t think you’re a dick, it’s just what they said.”
Cole gave a husky laugh. “It’s okay; I’m less of a dick now than I used to be.” He looked down at me, the humour back in his eyes. “I’m a bit of a work in progress, aren’t I, babe?”
I squeezed his leg under the table, and gave him a wink. “I think you’re just the right amount of dick.”
The table erupted with laughter, and I gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading over to the piano to start my first set.
I watched Marcus and Nicole interact as I played. Marcus had to work, but went back to the table every chance he got to speak to her. They seemed to get along like a house on fire, and it made me so happy that Marcus had finally met someone.
I also watched Cole. He had his usual presence about him, he couldn’t help that, but he had dialled back the charm. Nicole occasionally batted her eyelashes at him, but every time she did, he sat back and would take a pause from conversation.
I was very proud of him.
I knew how easy it was for Cole to get girls wrapped around his little finger. He had even done it with my mother. But he was deliberately not doing it with Nicole. Whether it was for my sake or Marcus’s, or just because he didn’t find her attractive, I didn’t know. For whatever the reason, when I had finally finished playing for the evening I went straight over and sat myself down on his lap.
“You were great tonight, babe,” he told me, with a grin on his face.
“So were you,” I replied gratefully.
His brow furrowed for a second, before realising what I was referring to. He smiled. “There’s no comparison. Why flirt with second best?”
The last few stragglers were leaving, and Marcus came to join us.
“So, are you going to make an announcement?”
I looked at him, alarmed. Now what?
He gave me a dimpled grin. “Nicole said you’ve decided on a name for the restaurant. What is it?”
I smiled at Nicole. She knew the name, and the idea I had behind it. She also knew a couple of other redheaded, out-of-work dancers who were making ends meet by waiting tables.
“Drum roll please,” I commanded.
Cole drummed his hands on the table, and Marcus joined in.
“The name of the restaurant is … Reds.”
The drum roll stopped, and Cole and Marcus both looked a bit confused
. So that was an anticlimax.
“Okay, so Nicole is the first waitress, but there will be others who look like her working here—at Reds.”
There was silence, before Cole finally got it and burst out laughing.
“Only you would think of something like that. A whole demographic out of scope.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled into my neck. “Oh babe, what am I going to do with you?”
I WAS excited and nervous when I saw the envelope in my letterbox. I recognised Riley’s handwriting straight away, and I had to steady myself before opening it. I knew he loved me, of that I was certain. But I also had absolutely no doubt that he would be really upset, and maybe even angry with me, for accessing my trust fund.
Putting the letter on the table, I poured a cup of coffee before sitting down on the sofa. I picked the letter up and turned it over and over in my hands before finally ripping it open.
Hi my gorgeous Fox,
I was so happy to get your letters. You must have written back straight away. Your first letter was post marked a little over a week after I sent mine, so the mail service isn’t too bad. The second letter came a day or two later. I was out on patrol at the time, so I got both of them together when I returned.
I’m really glad you stayed at my place in Sydney, and found the notes. I want you to feel like it’s your home too, so please, snoop as much as you want. I have nothing to hide. How many notes did you find? I think I left eight for you.
It’s funny you mentioned the photos on the wall. I printed out copies of them all, and carry them with me. I look at them every night, and kiss you goodnight. It makes me so sad that I can’t really kiss you, but it keeps me grounded to know that you’re there waiting for me.
The guys stir me up a lot. They tell me I’ve gone soft since meeting you, but I don’t care. I love you, and if that makes me soft, then I’m happy to be a big softie. I’m still hard where it counts ;)
Kelli wrote to Chook, and told him her news. He couldn’t keep it to himself, even though she asked him to, so we all know he’s going to be a dad. He can’t wait, reckons he has super sperm because Kelli was on the pill and still got pregnant. I don’t think he understands the biology of it all. More likely Kelli missed a pill, or something went wrong from her side (?) You might know more about that.
I read your first letter, and was going to write back and give you my opinion of you accessing your money and buying into the bar. But then I read your second letter, so I guess my opinion doesn’t matter, since you decided not to wait for it after all.
You know how I feel about your money. I don’t know how much it is, and I don’t care. I want to be the one to support us. I want us to buy a home when we’ve saved up a deposit, like normal people, not have everything handed to us. Which brings me to the second issue—you leaving work. If you’re not working and earning money, then I guess you are relying solely on your trust fund now.
I don’t want to get into an argument with you through our letters, babe. I don’t want us to be writing angry letters to each other. I just need you to know that I really wish you had waited to hear back from me before making any decisions. We’re engaged, now, we’ll be getting married soon, and I see that as a partnership.
I know money has been tight for me, but that’s changed. I didn’t tell you before, but I had been helping Rebecca out with raising Jacob. Patrick is such a loser, he was drinking his money away, and Rebecca needed my help, but I’m not sending her money anymore after she tried to break us up. I told her she was on her own from now on the last time I spoke to her, so this means there’ll be more for us, and I’ll be able to save and support us like I should.
Now you know how I feel. I will respect your decision, I have no choice really, and I’ll support it as best I can until we can talk about it properly.
I miss you so much, and wish I was there with you to talk things through. Please just know that I love you more than anything, so we’ll work everything out.
I’ve heard that you’ve been spending quite a lot of time with Cole. You know how I feel about him. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I do, I just don’t trust him. You know he is only interested in you for one thing, and I’m worried that he will try to manipulate you and take advantage of you. Please, please be careful. I know you like writing music with him, but please don’t spend any more time with him than you have to.
Just have faith in me and in us, and never forget that you are my number one priority. You are number one in my life, and always will be.
I know you are probably upset now from this letter, and I’ve contemplated screwing it up and rewriting it. But I think it’s important that we are honest with each other, and we should be able to voice our opinions and communicate. I wish I could wrap my arms around you, hold you tight, and never let go. But for now I will just have to tell you one more time that I love you, and I’m thinking of you every minute of every day so please, just have faith that we’ll be together soon.
All my love forever,
Your Irish xxxx
I put the letter down and slumped back on the couch. I knew he would be upset with me, maybe even angry, but I had a churning in my gut, as one part of the letter in particular stood out.
I was furious with him!
Why hadn’t he told me that he was supporting Rebecca? She wasn’t his responsibility, so why had he been sending her money? And why didn’t he tell me about it?
I reread the letter, and then read it again but this time, I broke down each section, analysing it.
There was the part where he was bitterly disappointed in me, and felt like I didn’t bother to wait to hear from him because his opinion wasn’t important to me.
Of course, the part about Cole just trying to get into my pants was a doozy. After everything Cole had done for me, including being there for me day and night when Riley and I broke up, he still didn’t trust him. I didn’t know which part upset me more, but I knew he was wrong about Cole.
But the best part was where he admitted to talking to Rebecca, and telling her he wasn’t going to support her anymore, because he said it was the last time he’d spoken to her. He had sworn black and blue to me that he hadn’t talked to her since she tried to break us up, but he definitely didn’t mention money then.
So the only conclusion was that he had lied to me, plain and simple.
Whether it was just to tell her he wasn’t going to be her meal ticket anymore, he had been in touch with her and lied about it.
I was absolutely fuming. So angry, in fact, I laughed out loud, unable to believe what I’d just read.
I dropped the letter back down and ran my hands through my hair. Riley hadn’t told me about Rebecca, and I didn’t know why. Had he lost faith in us? Did he really feel he had to lie to me, and keep his relationship with Rebecca a secret?
I had to believe he had done it for a good reason.
I had to have faith that at least now he was being honest with me, and Rebecca was in the past. If I didn’t, then our relationship was in serious trouble.
What was it that Riley had told me about faith when I had first read his tattoo? We need faith that we are doing the right thing and making the right decisions in life, even when the right thing is sometimes the hardest.
I did have faith in us, and I believed that we would get through this little hitch in our relationship. But I also had faith that what I was doing was the right thing for me, even if it was hard because I didn’t have his full support.
I picked up the phone and called Cole. I had one purpose in mind, and I knew he would be able to help. Fifteen minutes later, Cole was at my door with an incredulous look on his face.
“Are you seriously thinking about getting a tattoo?” he asked with a smirk as he came in. “What are you getting? A pretty little butterfly on your hip, or a rose on your shoulder?”
I rolled my eyes at him. Of course he would think I would get the cliché girly tattoo. “Neither, Mr Smarty-Pants, I w
ant a word on my wrist.”
Holding out my right wrist, I pointed with my left hand. “Faith. But I don’t know which way the text should face.”
“Well, Lou is the best, he did all of mine, so I’m sure he’ll have an idea.”
He drove me to the other side of the city, to a little tattoo parlour that sat in the midst of a variety of second-hand stores. The shop from the front was unassuming, and I looked uncertainly at Cole as he pushed the door open.
As soon as we stepped inside, I was blown away by the images on every wall. There were samples of pictures on the right side, and photos of completed work on the left. I scanned the wall on the left, and found photos of both Cole’s back and arm.
“Can you see mine up there?” he asked, leading me over to the wall.
I pointed to them straight away. He smiled and nodded. “How did you know they were mine so quickly? You can’t see my face in the photos.”
“I’d recognise your body anywhere,” I said absentmindedly, before realising that that may have sounded slightly stalker-ish.
Blushing, I looked out the corner of my eye at Cole to see if he’d heard. He had—the cheeky grin on his face said it all.
I went to stand at the counter and wait for someone to come out, but Cole unlocked the little gate and just walked straight in, so I followed.
Around the corner of the main store in a private room we found who I assumed was Lou. He was working on a woman’s shoulder and back, deep in concentration. I looked at the intricate design, studying the swirls and colours, before realising she was topless with just a towel across her chest.
She was also staring at me with a scowl on her face.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” I stammered. “The design is just so beautiful.”
She nodded at me, then her focus shifted to Cole. So did mine.
“Maryanne,” Cole acknowledged a little awkwardly, as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, before his eyes darted to me.
“Cole, nice to see you. I was wondering if our paths would cross again one day,” she purred at him.
Oh, great, another girl he’s slept with. I immediately wanted to turn tail, and get the hell out of there. But instead, Lou looked up.
