‘We looked at fish. We ate ice-cream. It was nice.’
Nat sits up in disgust. ‘Nice! Nice?! You’ll need to do better than that. We’ve been dying to hear about this all day. Now spill!’
So that’s how it is, huh? I laugh, looking at her expression, and she slumps back down again and starts in on the whining. ‘Oh come on, Nessa. Tell us something. Anything! Was there any … kissing?’
I look out at the palm-treed view and try to act nonchalant. ‘Kissing? Perhaps. There were plenty of couples there. I’m sure I saw some of them kiss.’
Nat groans. ‘You know what I mean.’
Alexa pipes up now. ‘You can at least tell me.’
I turn back to the pair of them. ‘Okay, okay, so maybe there was a little bit of kissing.’
Nat practically jumps out of the spa and over the balcony railing with excitement. ‘Anything else?’
Alexa and I both give her the same dirty look. ‘Like what?’ we say at the same time.
Nat shrugs. ‘I don’t know.’
I shake my head. ‘Yeah, well I left the groping up to the groper fish, thanks very much.’
‘Did he tell you anything else about his transplant?’ Alexa asks, giving me a worried look.
I shake my head. ‘It didn’t really come up.’
‘Did you …’ Just as Nat starts asking another one of her incessant questions, she trails off as the three of us turn our eyes upwards, to the balcony upstairs. We’d been able to hear the guys talking in the penthouse before, as soon as we’d jumped in the spa, but over the past few minutes their conversation has definitely been getting a little heated, rather like our water temperature. Now the three of us stop talking, turn the spa off and shamelessly eavesdrop, every so often giving each other a quick look here and there to see if we’ve all heard the same thing.
‘What was that?’ I whisper. ‘Something about something being “disgusting”?’
‘That’s what I heard too,’ Alexa replies. ‘And something else about someone going too far and making things right.’
The fighting continues for another minute or so, then dies down.
‘Well, what was all that about?’ I raise my eyebrows at Nat and Alexa.
‘Beats me,’ Alexa answers, turning the spa back on again, effectively muting our own conversation. ‘But Jason and Connor were acting pretty weird when we saw them out today.’
‘You saw them? And weird how?’
Alexa twists her mouth sideways, thinking, before she replies. ‘We saw them at the mall and it was almost like they didn’t want to talk to us because you weren’t there. I mean, they did and everything, but we could both tell they didn’t really think it was worth their time.’
Nat sighs. ‘Yeah, trust you to have all three guys have a crush on you at the same time, Nessa.’
I sit up a bit. ‘What? Don’t be ridiculous,’ I tell her. ‘I don’t even like Jason and Connor. And I don’t think they like me much, either. Maybe they’re just sick of the lot of us and it would have been the same if I was there.’ I glance at Alexa, who shrugs an ‘I don’t know’ shrug.
‘What I don’t understand is that Seth doesn’t seem to like them and yet he’s obviously invited them here. To Hawaii,’ Alexa continues.
‘Because he’s working with them. On the screenplay,’ I remind her.
Alexa shakes her head. ‘But he’s not, is he? They’ve finished that one. And they’re not working on a new one together. Seth’s working on one by himself. So what are they even doing here?’
My brow furrows as I think about this. ‘You know, you’re right. I never thought about it like that. It is kind of weird.’
There’s silence as we all consider this. Silence, that is, until Nat adds one of her amazingly brilliant observations to the conversation yet again.
‘You know what?’ she starts.
‘What?’ Alexa and I ask obligingly.
‘I think I should write a screenplay. I could stand Jason and Connor decorating my penthouse apartment 24/7. No arguments there.’
Sigh.
I don’t see Seth the whole of the next day and by about 4 pm, I’m starting to think he’s avoiding me. Nat, Alexa and I spend the day in and out of the apartment – at the beach, strolling down Kalakaua Avenue, people watching and eating ice-cream (yes, more ice-cream. And at the rate I’m hitting the scoops, I may fit into Holly’s maternity-wear soon. It’s been a nice day. A relaxing day. Apart from the Seth thing. Because, as Alexa pointed out, he might be busy working, like he has been this whole trip, but, as Nat pointed out, he still could have called for a quick chat, texted, or left a note under my door. Or something.
Anything, really.
Not that I want to seem desperate, but it would have been nice. Right?
Right.
Anyway, what I’ve been thinking about all day (namely Seth) must have been written across my sad little face a tad obviously because Alexa drives me into a corner, away from Nat, when we get back to the apartment.
‘You should call him,’ she tells me. ‘Why wait for him to call you? Maybe he’s been up there all day waiting for you to call him.’
I almost laugh. Yeah, right. Because guys are always hanging about all day waiting for me to call them. It happens all the time.
Not.
‘I really think you should.’ Alexa leans in further, giving me her best best-friend death stare that I know for a fact isn’t going to end until I’ve dialled the number for upstairs and Seth is on the line.
‘All right!’ I give in. ‘All right!’
‘Here.’ She passes me the cordless, efficiently hidden in the back of the waistband of her hipster shorts. ‘I’ll keep Nat away.’
I take the phone from her meekly. ‘Thanks. I think.’ And then I skulk off to my bedroom to embarrass myself further in private (always the best way to embarrass yourself, I find). I ring the front desk and get put through to the penthouse. As I’m waiting and the phone is ringing, I start to pray – please don’t let Jason or Connor pick up. Please don’t let Jason or Connor pick up.
‘Hello?’
Phew. Prayers answered. ‘Um hi, Seth. It’s Nessa.’
‘Nessa. Hi. How’s it going?’
‘Good.’
Silence.
Right then. ‘And how are, um, things with you?’ (Okay. Dying here.)
‘Good,’ Seth answers. ‘Good.’
More silence.
‘So what have you been doing today?’
‘So what have you been up to today?’
We ask the same question at exactly the same time. And then, after we’ve done so, neither of us laughs.
Rather telling, no?
‘Um, Nat and Alexa and I have been down at the beach most of the day.’
‘Nice. I’ve been doing some more work. You know me. Work, work, work.’
Yeah, sure. Work, work, work. Avoid Nessa, avoid Nessa, avoid Nessa.
Just when we’re about to head into another minute of silence, I can’t help myself. I have to find something to say. And so I blurt the following: ‘Look, I’m sorry about yesterday. About my dad. He can’t help himself. He thinks he’s hilarious and …’
‘Nessa …’
‘What?’
‘There wasn’t anything wrong with your dad. He seemed nice. Funny.’
‘Oh.’ But wait. Funny? My dad? I don’t think so. Maybe Seth’s actually deaf? Maybe that’s why we’re having communication problems here?
‘Is it Holly then? I mean, I know I should have told you who my stepmother was, especially because you’re in the same industry, but it’s difficult. Sometimes it causes problems. Big ones and …’
‘Nessa …’
‘What?’
‘There wasn’t anything wrong with you not telling me who your stepmother was.’
‘Oh.’
Even more silence. I didn’t know there could be so much silence in one conversation. Or, if there’s so much, is it then not a conversation at all? Don
’t say that out loud, Nessa, don’t say that out loud.
Gulp.
‘So … but I thought we had a good time at the aquarium.’ Oh, fantastic. Where did that come from? Just when I thought I had censoring my thoughts under control – whammo. From way too teenagerish ‘I can’t believe I have parents, how embarrassing’ to baby snivelling ‘I thought we were best friends’. How low can I go?
‘We did, Nessa. We did. Look, I’m really sorry, I …’ Seth pauses and then, when he starts speaking again, his voice sounds strange. ‘I’m so, so sorry, Nessa. I never meant to … look, I have to go …’
Beep, beep, beep.
Fine. See you later then. Surfing anyone? A dip in the pool? Another scoop or two?
Not likely.
I sit on my bed for a minute or two, the phone in my hand and stare at it, thinking. What’s gone on here? Just twenty-four hours ago, Seth and I were having an amazing time together. And now this. Is it me? Him? Dad? Holly? Jason and Connor?
I look up as my door handle twists and Alexa’s head pops in. ‘I saw the phone wasn’t in use any more. How’d it go?’
I shrug. ‘He’s acting really weird.’
Alexa checks outside the door for Nat and then slinks inside and comes over to sit beside me on the bed.
‘I just don’t understand it. We got on so well yesterday,’ I tell her. ‘And now we’re doing the whole long silences on the phone thing.’
Alexa makes a face.
‘Something’s going on with him. I just don’t know what.’
‘Something’s going on with Jason and Connor too. That whole thing at the mall yesterday was really strange. I don’t know about you, but I get a weird vibe off those two.’
‘Yeah, so do I.’
‘Maybe the Seth thing is something to do with them?’
I shrug. ‘I’ve got no idea. And the way things are going with Seth, maybe we’ll never know.’
Alexa and I sit in silence together for quite some time, as only best friends can. There are just some people you can be with where silences don’t matter. And I’m not sure what she thinks about (maybe how to get me out of my misery? Maybe what’s for dinner? Who knows?), but I know what I think about.
The gas pump jockeys.
Yes, again.
I’m about to mull over the whole bad conversation with Seth once more and decide if I should add him to my list, or whether it’s too early yet, when something happens. Slowly, very slowly, I start not to feel quite so sad any more.
Ben. Ned. Justin. And Seth. My new gas pump jockey addition.
This is one gas station that’s going to be making me a mint.
Slowly, very slowly, I start to get something a bit closer to angry.
Because you know what? What is it with guys and the holidays? Ben messed up Thanksgiving (Holly kind of messed it up too, trying to cook the most gigantic turkey ever, but we won’t go there – it was easy to forgive that), Ned messed up Christmas and Justin messed up Valentine’s Day. And now it’s Seth’s turn for Spring Break in Hawaii.
Well, I don’t think so, buddy.
Frankly, I’m getting a bit sick of this. A bit tired of it all. And I think it’s time Nessa took back some dating control. It’s time guys started telling me the truth. It’s time someone made them.
I sneak a quick peek sideways.
Like Alexa.
Okay, okay. Not Alexa. I guess it should be … me.
Gulp.
So, before I lose my confidence, I turn back to Alexa again and pick up the phone. ‘Hey, can you give me a minute?’
Alexa glances down to the phone in my hot little hand. ‘Are you going to call him back?’
I’ve had enough of this heart stuff. It’s too tricky to read. No. This time I’m going with my head and it’s easy to read – it’s just plain angry. My head’s had enough.
‘I’ve decided,’ I say. ‘No more games. I’m sick of guys and their games. I’m just going to come right out and ask him what’s going on.’
Alexa’s eyes widen. ‘Really?’
I don’t hesitate. ‘Now run. Before I hide under the bed and refuse to call anyone ever again.’
‘Okay!’ Alexa springs up and is at the door in an instant. ‘Good luck!’
I take her good luck. Because something tells me I’m going to need it.
Right then. Deep breath …
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, Seth. It’s Nessa again.’
‘Nessa, er, hi.’
But no more silences this time. Not from me, anyway.
‘Seth, what’s going on? What’s the big brush off about? You’re acting weird. And from what Alexa and Nat tell me, Jason and Connor are acting pretty weird too.’
There’s a pause. A big pause. And then Seth sighs. Not a ‘you’re boring me, Nessa’ sigh, but a ‘coming clean’ sigh.
‘Look, can I come down and talk to you? In person?’ is what he finally says.
‘Sure. That would be good.’
‘See you in a minute,’ he says, like he’s not really looking forward to this, and hangs up.
Something in the tone of his voice tells me not to bother putting any lip-gloss on. Not that I have any time, because I spend the minute racing out of my room, locating Alexa and begging her to keep Nat busy. As it turns out, though, Nat’s already busy in the spa, reading a magazine, so we’re okay on that front. And Alexa will make herself scarce, so I’ll have Seth all to myself.
Yay. Won’t that be fun?
The knock on the door makes me jump, even though I’m hanging around next to it, expecting it. I hesitate for a second before my hand reaches out and tugs the handle open.
‘Hi, Nessa.’ Seth is standing there, arms crossed (not, I’m thinking, a good sign).
‘Hi. Um, come in.’ I hold the door open for Seth. When he passes by me, he pauses and there’s an awkward moment where I think he’s going to kiss me hello, but then he seems to change his mind at the last second.
Ugh.
I clap my hands together as he moves back again. Suddenly, I feel awfully, terribly self-conscious. ‘Right. Um, can I get you a drink or something?’ Double ugh. So nice. So polite. But I’m on a roll now and can’t help myself. I continue to gabble, filling the silence. ‘Yes, a drink. I need one. We’ve been living off guava juice lately. Have you tried it? It’s really nice.’ Blah, blah, blah. I’ll talk about anything right now. In fact, if I’m not careful, I’ll probably start in on the weather and make moves to bake a batch of scones. Anything to fill in that awful, awful silence.
‘That sounds good. Thanks.’
Seth follows me around to the kitchen and takes a seat on one of the bar stools on the opposite side of the kitchen bench while I spend a few minutes filling two glasses with ice and juice. ‘There you go.’
‘Thanks.’
He can’t even look at me. Wow. This is going so well. I can only imagine what he’s going to say next.
‘So, um …’ I take a sip of my juice.
Seth looks up. ‘Nessa, I’m just going to come out and say this, because there’s no other way to do it. I’m really sorry, but I haven’t been honest with you about …’
Another, louder knock on the door makes us both jump this time.
‘Hang on,’ I tell Seth. ‘I’ll just see who it is.’
But Seth is already off his seat and grabs my arm as I come around the bench to head for the front door. ‘If it’s Jason and Connor don’t let them know I’m here. And don’t let them in.’ He looks serious. Deadly serious.
‘Um, sure. Okay.’ I start towards the door again. This is getting weird.
Another tug on the door handle sees me staring right at Jason and Connor, as Seth predicted.
‘Hi,’ I say to them both.
‘Hi, Nessa,’ Jason, speaking for the pair of them as usual, says. ‘Hey, did Seth come down here?’
I shake my head. ‘Seth? No. I spoke to him on the phone before, though. He said he was going to be working today. Hey
, the three of us are just about to go up to the pool. Want to come?’ Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.
‘Er, no. That’s okay.’ Jason shakes his head and shoots a half-confused, half-relieved look at Connor. ‘If you see Seth, can you let us know?’
I shrug. ‘Sure. No worries.’ I close the door on the pair of them. Fast. And then I march back to Seth, furious at the spot he’s put me in.
‘I want to know what’s going on. Now. Why don’t Jason and Connor want you down here? And what’s going on between you three?’
Seth shakes his head. He looks as if he wishes he could be anywhere but here right now. Anywhere at all.
I sigh. ‘Oh come on. It can’t be that bad.’
Seth looks up at me.
‘Can it?’ I’m starting to get worried. Seth’s eyes look like they’re saying it can. That it can actually be worse than ‘that bad’. Instinctively, I move back to my former position, placing the bench between us.
‘I was trying to say that I haven’t been honest with you. And I haven’t.’
‘About what?’ I say, but just as the words come out of my mouth, I start to get an inkling of what this is all about. Why Jason and Connor don’t want Seth down here. Why Alexa thought the pair were only interested in me, and not in her and Nat. Why all they’ve been talking about since we’ve met them is their screenplay. The one with the feisty heroine. The one that sounds just that bit too perfect for Holly. And how, when Seth met Holly he didn’t freak out. He didn’t even look all that surprised.
Oh.
So that feeling I’d had when I was talking to Marc on the phone had been right after all – the boys had known about Holly.
Which means I can add Seth to my gas pump jockey list.
Well, what a surprise.
More trash to add to my pile. So much for giving him a chance. If I’m not careful, with all my trash, I’ll be on the NYC sanitation department’s ten most wanted list soon.
How to Date a Millionaire Page 9
