It’s Holly who sneakily slips me $50 on the way out and tells me to have a great time. Really, you can’t help but love her.
That done, I ring Seth and tell him I’ll meet him in the lobby at 9.30 am.
And that done, Nat practically wets herself and tries to give me a mini-makeover with her Hilary Duff makeup set.
I have to push her out of the bathroom, lock the door and … oh yeah … thank God for never giving me a little sister. Well, until pretty soon, and I don’t think G is going to be into mini-makeovers with Hilary Duff makeup sets for quite some time.
You know, it’s very hard to look like you’re not trying when you’re so obviously trying very, very hard to look like you haven’t tried to look good. Does that make sense? I spend waaaaay too long picking out what I probably would have worn to the aquarium if it had been just Alexa, Nat and myself going. I end up wearing dark capri jeans, a halter neck white linen shirt I picked up at Gap while we were out shopping at Ala Moana the other day which shows off my newly tanned shoulders, and my favourite vintage sunnies (pink with rhinestones – fabulous, dahling!) that Holly and I picked up in Chelsea and that Nat has been secretly stealing and wearing this entire trip, ever since she first viewed How to Marry a Millionaire.
‘Well?’ I ask the girls, when I finally emerge from my room.
‘Perfect,’ Alexa says, looking up from the sofa. ‘Casual, but not too casual. You’re not trying too hard to impress.’
‘Needs more cleavage,’ Nat says, giving me the once over.
I ignore her and head for the door. ‘See you guys around four. I’ll give you a call if I’m going to be back sooner.’
‘You’d better not be!’ Alexa calls out after me and I laugh.
But I’m not laughing as I wait for the elevator. And I’m not laughing in the elevator. Actually, I have to take a few deep breaths because I start slightly freaking out. I’m not sure why. Because of what happened yesterday? No, I don’t really think so. I think it’s something more along the lines of the fact that I really do like Seth. Much, much more than I ever liked any of the gas pump jockeys (I have a feeling that name might just stick). And it’s a bit scary to like someone more than them, especially someone who wants to work in Holly’s industry and who’s probably going to lose the plot entirely when he finds out she’s my stepmother. Not to mention the fact that he lives in LA and I live in NYC. Hmmm.
Maybe I should have kept on using my head, rather than my heart, after all? I can see myself getting burnt here all too easily. But no. I have to go with my instincts, don’t I? Holly’s advice on friendship was good advice and she knows what she’s talking about. If I feel like Seth is someone worth getting to know, then I should make that leap and get to know him better. So, before the elevator doors open, I take another deep breath and try to remember Holly’s words from back home. If I want to find real friends, people who matter, I have to keep sifting through the junk. Which I guess means using my heart (which, I suppose, I have been. I mean, it wasn’t my head doing the thinking for me at Pearl Harbor, was it?). I just have to trust that Seth won’t be the kind of person who’s interested in me just for Holly. That he’ll be interested in me for … I don’t know. My wacky vintage sunglasses? Yeah, good luck with that, Nessa.
‘Hi, Nessa.’ Seth is waiting for me in the lobby and spots me as the elevator doors open.
‘Hey,’ I try to say normally, but it comes out something more close to shyly. Gag.
‘If we hurry, the next trolley’s in three minutes.’
I take another, final deep breath. ‘Let’s go then!’
Neither of us says much on the short trip down Kalakaua Avenue to the aquarium, but it’s okay – the trolley driver is of the usual cheery, chatty variety and says plenty for everybody on board. As we disembark, I’m already desperately hunting for a topic of conversation. ‘So what are Jason and Connor up to today?’ I ask and then instantly regret my words. I don’t care and Seth probably doesn’t either.
But he doesn’t look put out. ‘Most likely plotting something sinister,’ he answers. ‘How about Alexa and Nat?’
I laugh. ‘Nat’s probably doing the same. Alexa will be shopping, like she told me she would be. There isn’t very much that’s sinister about Alexa.’
‘No,’ Seth says. ‘She seems like a good friend to you.’
‘She is. The best.’
We pay for our admission, collect a map of the aquarium and head inside. ‘What first, do you think?’ Seth asks as we stand to one side and view the map.
‘Um …’ I check out what’s on offer. The indoor galleries, the outside ‘edge of the reef’ exhibit, or maybe the monk seal pool (I have to try hard not to snicker, thinking of Alexa here). Just as I’m about to open my mouth and reply, someone bumps into me, pushing me into Seth’s side. He half grabs me around my waist to steady me.
‘Hey, are you okay?’
‘I’m fine,’ I squeak, righting myself. ‘How about the indoor galleries first?’
Seth lets me go. ‘Sounds good.’
‘Right.’ The indoor galleries sound perfect. That way, in the half-dark, Seth won’t be able to see me blushing. And he might not notice that I’m crawling along the floor. Seriously, after being held by Seth, my knees feel so weak that I might just have to crawl.
‘Oh, look at this one. He’s beautiful!’ I press my face up to the glass like I’m a kid again and watch in awe as the neon blue-striped angelfish swims past my nose. ‘It’s hard to believe anything’s naturally that colour. It’s almost as if he’s lit up from inside.’ I finally pull back, realising I might have said enough now.
But Seth doesn’t seem to notice. He has his own face pressed up to the tank. ‘And look at that yellow one! I mean, how can they be such different colours and come from the same place?’
At first I think he’s making fun of me, but then I look at his expression. He’s not. We’re just as daggy as each other. Suddenly, he turns his head and his eyes read shock, as if he’s just realised he might have said enough as well.
We spot each other’s expressions and laugh.
‘That’s it. I think we need to pace ourselves,’ Seth says, standing upright again. ‘In case we get too excited.’
Too right, I think. I might be calling Dr Reid after this jaunt to the aquarium to have my own blood pressure tested.
Slowly, we make our way along the gallery, stopping to look at the things that catch our eyes as we go. Just as I thought, it’s reasonably dark inside, which is a blessing, as it seems to make our first-date chatting easier. I think we’re still both finding that what happened yesterday keeps popping up in our minds from time to time. We talk about LA and NYC (where Seth actually grew up and his father still lives, which is kind of handy if this is going to go anywhere beyond Waikiki), about film school, about what I’m going to do after I finish school (who knows? Just finishing is enough for me at this point) and how we’re going to have to return to the real world pretty soon (damn).
I don’t ask about Seth’s transplant and we don’t talk about our mothers, or our families. We don’t talk about Jason and Connor, or Alexa and Nat, either. Instead, we focus on talking about us.
After we finish looking at all the indoor galleries we head outside for some lunch and keep right on chatting. About our childhoods, about how I moved around so much because of Dad’s work, about his father’s endless stream of too-young girlfriends, about how much we both love NYC, but can hate things about it at the same time.
We talk and talk and talk.
Without a doubt, it is the best date I have ever been on.
We ooh and aah at fish like people who’ve never seen tropical fish before. We say the dumbest things, trip over the silliest words, drip mustard down our chins and ice-cream down our shirts and neither of us seems to care. Seth just isn’t one of those people you have to watch yourself around, pretending to be someone or something you’re not.
Like I said, without a doubt, it is the best da
te I have ever been on.
Seth is no gas pump jockey. Seth is one of a kind. Like Marc said, ‘a great guy’.
He really is.
‘I guess we’ve got time for one last thing and then we’d better head back.’ Seth inspects the map at about 2.30 pm. ‘How about the “edge of the reef” exhibit? Didn’t you say you wanted to see that one?’
‘I did,’ I say, polishing off my macadamia ice-cream cone, then having another wipe at my shirt (of course it was me doing the spilling).
We navigate the paths towards the exhibit and, when we get there, I’m glad we left it for last. It’s gorgeous – a raised pool about waist height that you can peer into and sticky-beak into the lives of its inhabitants. Meant to simulate the Hawaiian shoreline, the exhibit has sand dunes, a rocky tide pool and even a coral reef.
Slowly, we move around the exhibit, pointing and talking and eventually stopping for an extra-long look at the rocky tide pool. Standing close together, we peer in at something round, coloured a deep purple. A shingle urchin, the sign reads. Just as I’m pointing at its small spikes, something happens. From behind the urchin, a blast of water comes rushing in. Quickly, I pull my hand back and step back with a yelp. Once again, Seth is there to save me from falling. Except, this time, when I right myself, he’s laughing.
‘I can’t believe you jumped! It’s a tide pool, Ness. It sends in a wave every three to five minutes.’
‘I …’ I start, but then can’t help but laugh at myself as well. I can’t believe I’ve been talking about tide pools for the past fifteen minutes and never even thought there might be a tide. Um … duh.
Like idiots, the pair of us stand beside the tide pool and laugh ourselves sick until everyone within a ten-metre radius is watching us and wondering what’s so funny. Um, tides! What else?
Finally, we both calm down, gulping for air.
And this is where things become awkward.
Because it’s now that, at exactly the same time, the two of us realise we’re both still holding on to each other. Facing each other. Gripping on to each other’s arms.
I’m about to start to panic (either that, or pull away), because this is seriously starting to feel like Pearl Harbor all over again, when something completely unexpected happens. Seth pulls me in further.
And kisses me.
Oh.
And, without a doubt, it’s the best kiss I have ever had.
On the best date I have ever been on.
When we step back again (I really try not to gulp for air this time – so unromantic), I’m not really sure where to look.
‘Nessa, I’m sorry about yesterday. I just …’ Seth starts.
‘No, it’s okay.’ I wave a hand, turning around and sitting on a nearby bench (I really do think I may need to crawl soon. My knees are like jelly today). ‘I know it must be difficult to talk about, um, you know …’ I don’t want to bring up the topic again.
With a sigh, Seth sits down beside me. ‘It’s not that …’ He runs a hand through his hair. ‘God, I have to, but I don’t know how to say this …’
I glance over at him. He looks worried. Like there’s something really playing on his mind. ‘What?’
‘I …’ he starts again, then pauses. He looks like he doesn’t know where to start. ‘It’s just that there’s something I have to tell you …’ Again he pauses.
Oh great.
This doesn’t sound good.
‘You know what?’ I say quickly. ‘Maybe we don’t have to. It’s been such a nice day. Maybe we shouldn’t spoil it. We don’t have to talk about anything serious. I think we’ve done enough serious in our lives. Maybe today, just once, we can take a break.’
Seth doesn’t look convinced.
‘Really,’ I tell him. ‘Just for today. Today’s about fish and wayward ice-cream drips and …’
‘Tide pools?’ Seth tries.
I laugh. ‘And tide pools. Let’s not spoil it with anything else. Okay?’
Seth pauses one more time and looks more serious than ever.
‘Please?’ I beg, my eyes saying even more – don’t spoil this day, Seth. Don’t be a gas pump jockey. Please.
It takes a while, but finally his eyes smile back, relieved, at me. ‘Okay. But just for today.’
‘Right on time.’ I check my watch as Seth and I turn into the path that leads up to our apartment building. I don’t tell him what for – that at 4.01 pm, one minute after curfew, my dad will have me turned into a pumpkin, a mouse, or maybe a Hawaiian-themed sea urchin or a cocktail umbrella or something, Cinderella style.
‘I …’ I start to say, before I look up and spot them. ‘Oh. Uh oh.’
‘Uh oh what?’ Seth asks, following my gaze.
‘It’s my dad. And my, um, my … stepmother.’ Yeah, right. Like Seth hasn’t already noticed that my stepmother, approaching us, looking gorgeously stunning despite her huge bump on front, happens to be Holly Isles.
‘Hi, pumpkin!’ my dad calls out, waving (I guess I was half right about that Cinderella thing, even if I am back before curfew).
‘William …’ Holly gives my dad a sly dig in the ribs. ‘She’s sixteen now! Don’t call her that.’
I give her a wan grin in return. Too late. I think he already did.
Dad and Holly stop in front of us.
‘Um, Dad, Holly, this is Seth. Seth, this is my dad and my stepmother, Holly.’ I introduce everybody. In case Seth hasn’t already noticed that Holly is, in fact, The Holly, I watch him carefully. But, to his credit, he doesn’t freak out, or curtsy, or do anything remotely weird. I guess with his father being so big in business, he’s probably had to meet important people all his life (‘Could you pass the potatoes, please, Bill Gates?’; ‘Would you like another slice of apple pie, Oprah?’). The one thing that Seth does look, however, is kind of like he wants out of here, and fast. Still, that’s pretty normal, isn’t it? Who wants to meet someone’s parents on the first date? And, frankly, after the pumpkin thing, I want out of here and fast too. And I’m related to these people.
‘Did you have a good time?’ my dad asks after everyone’s done the ‘lovely to meet you’ stuff.
‘The aquarium was great,’ I say. ‘You guys should go.’
Holly sighs. ‘I don’t know if we’re going to have time. We’re already halfway through our stay and there’s still so much we haven’t done. How about you, Seth? When are you headed back home?’
Seth coughs. ‘Er, I’m not sure about when we’re leaving yet. In the next few days, I guess.’
My dad rubs his hands together. ‘Right. Well, we’re off to meet the girls for an ice-cream. Coming?’
I shrug. ‘I just had one, but I’ll come anyway.’
With this, my dad reaches over and pinches my stomach. ‘Always room in there for another ice-cream, isn’t there, poppet?’
‘Dad!’
‘William!’ Holly seconds.
Oh brother. I glance sideways at Seth, whose eyes are now searching wildly for exit signs.
‘Seth?’ My dad turns to him.
The poor guy jumps a mile and it takes him a moment or two to work out my dad’s inviting him for ice-cream as well. ‘Er, no. Sorry. I’ve got some work to do, I’m afraid.’
‘I guess I’ll see you later, then,’ I tell Seth, who’s already edging towards the elevator. ‘Thanks for the fun day.’
‘You’re welcome. Later!’ he calls out, gives me a quick wave and heads over the tiled floor. The three of us watch him enter the elevator and disappear.
‘Thanks for that, Dad.’ I give the old pumpkin a look. What was I saying about Cinderella? Looks like Seth just did the disappearing from the ball trick.
To his credit, my dad looks amazed. Like he hasn’t done anything. Like he’s completely innocent in all of this. ‘But what did I …?’ he starts, before Holly shakes her head at him.
‘You know exactly what you did. Honestly, William, you know how to scare them off.’
But maybe he�
�s not so innocent after all, because Dad kind of can’t help grinning at this. ‘I know,’ he says. ‘And I don’t even need a big stick to do it with.’
‘Hey, Ness!’
‘How was the date?’
Both Alexa and Nat sit up at the table they’re occupying at Dave’s Ice-Cream Parlor on Kalakaua Avenue, waiting for Dad and Holly (guess which one of them asks about the date rather than greets me?). I grab a chair and sit down next to them, leaving the opposite side of the table for the older generation. As I settle myself in, I give them a quick warning. ‘Keep it clean, girls.’
‘Cool.’ Nat’s eyes widen.
‘Nothing like that.’ I give her a look.
‘It was a good date, though?’ Alexa asks.
‘It was great. Well, except for the tide pool. It sent a big wave out and I embarrassed myself by jumping a mile.’
Alexa laughs.
‘What’s that?’ Nat leans over and points at something on my shirt.
I look down. ‘Ice-cream. Yet another highlight.’
‘Speaking of which –’ My dad, sitting down, deftly changes the subject away from the date and dating in general. ‘– What’ll it be?’
‘The coconut macadamia for me,’ Nat says.
‘Ooohhh, that sounds good,’ Holly says. ‘Me too. A sundae. With just a little bit of cream on top because I need my dairy. And nuts are healthy, right? Good fats! Plus, coconut’s lovely and fibrous, I think.’
‘I’ll believe all of that. Count me in,’ Alexa threes.
Everyone turns to look at me.
I shrug. ‘Hey, when in Hawaii, do as the Hawaiians do, I say.’ Sadly, what my dad said as he pinched my stomach before was something close to right. There’s always room in those intestines of mine for another ice-cream.
‘Finally!’ Nat says, jumping into the spa beside Alexa and me. ‘Tell me I didn’t miss anything. I want to hear it all. All the good bits. All the bits you edited out for your dad’s sake.’
I roll my eyes. Not likely. I’m guessing Nat’s ‘good bits’ would be all the embarrassing bits that I didn’t think were so ‘good’ at all. Like how I threw myself upon Seth in front of an unsuspecting sea urchin (although, come to think of it, it resulted in something quite nice, so maybe it was a ‘good bit’ after all). Either way, I give her an answer she’s really not looking for.
How to Date a Millionaire Page 8
