by Suzy Shearer
Her eyes filled with tears. Paul looked concerned “What has happened? Is he sick?”
“I don’t know. He said he isn’t coming in to the Club because something has come up. That’s garbage. Unless I am greatly mistaken, I just got dumped.”
Paul looked confused. “Go back inside, I’ll ring him and see if he tells me anything.”
Erin looked about ready to cry, but she nodded to Paul and went back into the main Club. Paul dialled Val’s number.
“Hey, mate. What’s happening?”
“Paul? Oh, hi.”
“You coming to the Club soon? Saw your girl waiting for you.”
“No. No, I’m not coming. She’s not my girl, anyway. I’m not sure when I will be back. Gotta go.” With that, Val hung up leaving Paul confused and rather angry. He immediately rang back but it went to voice mail, so he left a message.
“Val, what the fuck is going on? I know you came to the Club tonight and then walked out. What are you doing? I thought you and Erin were good.”
He walked back into the Blue lounge and told Erin that Val had said he was not coming back to the Club for a while. Erin looked really confused.
“Did you two have a fight or anything?”
“No. No. We have been together every night this week. Been out for dinner each night. Val slept over, and I slept at his place last night. He had a meeting this afternoon in the city, so we arranged to meet here. I don’t understand.”
She looked so lost and forlorn, ready to burst into tears. The man had stolen her heart.
“I’m sorry, I just…this is really weird. I’m sorry. I think I have to go home.” She said good-bye to everyone and rushed out of the Club.
* * * *
“This is really strange, Paul,” Fleur said. “I wonder if Richard knows what is going on.”
“Beats me. Val sounded really weird. He sounded upset, actually.”
They sat talking together wondering what could have happened when Richard came in. Paul filled him in on all that had happened, but he was as much in the dark as the rest of them. He left them to ring Val but came back soon, telling that his call had also gone to voice mail.
“Let me get this straight. He came in. Erin was talking at the bar with Stuart and Veronica. Val got nearby, then turned and walked out.”
“That’s about it, Richard.”
Richard walked out again and went to speak with Stuart before returning.
“Well, Stuart can’t shed any light either. He said Erin and Veronica were talking. Veronica was being her usual self and going on about how cute Val was. Erin ended up telling her she should look beyond a person’s looks and maybe she would meet someone nice.”
“This is getting weirder and weirder.”
Richard told the others he would drive over, see Val tomorrow, and try to get to the root of the matter.
Chapter Nine
The next afternoon, Fleur and Richard drove over to Val’s office, only to be told he had flown interstate at lunchtime and would not be back for a couple of weeks. His secretary told them she would give him the message to ring Richard as soon as possible when he rang in.
“Richard, what is going on?” Fleur was upset. Val and Erin seemed to be falling in love and she thought they were perfect for each other.
“I don’t know, baby. It is as if Val has changed his mind about Erin. I really thought he was falling for her.”
“This is crazy, Rich. You only have to look at her to know she is in love with him, and I know he loves her.”
“Well, I don’t know. You know what it is like. Remember when all those women were throwing themselves at him and he turned tail and ran?”
“But Erin hasn’t thrown herself at him. She isn’t the sort of person who only cares for appearances.”
“I know, babe, but that’s what it looks like.” He put his arm around Fleur as they walked back to the car.
“I think I will talk to Stuart and then Veronica. Maybe Val overheard something and took it out of context. You know how he is. He may look confident and assured, but he has always been insecure.”
“Not that anyone would blame him, Rich. Look how those women used to act with him. They would tell him how much they loved him and it was all just so they could hang off his arm.”
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s swing past Stuart and Peter’s place.”
“Oh, yes.” She grinned at Richard. “If we are lucky, Peter may have bought something delicious home to eat. I love his cakes.”
Twenty minutes later, Fleur got her wish. She was sitting drinking coffee and eating a rich continental cake. Peter was laughing at her, when Richard told him she had hoped he would have cake.
Stuart tried to recall the entire conversation between Veronica and Erin, then tried to remember at what point in it Val would have been able to hear.
“I think Veronica was going on about how good Val looked on a woman’s arm and how envious all the girls were. Erin said something about women being jealous and envious of her but that it would not matter to her if he were ugly. It was more important that he was caring and considerate or something along those lines.”
“Bet that was it. I bet he heard the part about women being envious and jealous of her. He would have freaked. Bloody fool! We have to sort this out, otherwise two people who should be together are going to spend the rest of their lives being miserable and apart.”
Peter settled on the chair arm that Stuart was sitting on. Stuart squeezed his knee and turned to Richard.
“How on earth are we going to get them back together?”
“Good question. Val’s secretary said he is away for two weeks. I told her to get him to ring me, but I have the distinct feeling he will ignore me. I guess until we can get in contact with him, there isn’t much we can do.”
Peter spoke up. “Why don’t you leave a message on his phone telling him you think he overheard part of a conversation and took it the wrong way?”
“Might be worthwhile, Pete. He is so damn sensitive, not that I blame him. Remember what those bloody women were like when he was here before Fleur?”
“Don’t remind me! It was sickening, you should have heard them talking about him in the change room. It was like some game with them. No wonder he ran then.”
“I guess we are lucky he didn’t run overseas this time, then,” Stuart said. “Thank goodness he has a business to run here.”
“Fleur, can you drop by Erin’s tomorrow afternoon, when she gets home from work? Tell her what we think has happened.”
Fleur agreed and the four of the spent the next hours talking about Peter’s business and listening to Fleur suggest cake fillings.
Late the next afternoon, Fleur drove over to Erin’s hoping she had arrived home from work. Erin opened the door.
“You look terrible!”
“Oh gee, thanks, Fleur, you really know how to make a girl feel good.” Erin grinned to take the sting out of her words. “Come in.”
“Sorry, Erin, I didn’t mean it.” Erin rolled her eyes. She had not gone into work. Instead, she had lain around the house in old sweats and spent most of the day crying. She knew how bad she looked. Her eyes were red and swollen from all her tears.
“Do you want a coffee?” Fleur nodded and followed Erin to the kitchen. Erin filled the kettle and stood staring into space.
“Erin?”
Erin turned to Fleur, the tears falling again, “Oh, Fleur, what am I going to do? I fell in love with him, and now he has dumped me for no reason.”
Fleur wrapped her arms around her friend and let her cry.
“Come and sit down. I have to tell you what we found out.” She then proceeded to tell Erin what they thought had happened.
“No! No, Fleur. I don’t care what he looks like. He is sweet. He is so caring and considerate. Oh, what a mess!”
“You have to understand, Erin. Those women before were like piranhas. They were all bragging about how they could get him to like them and how jealous
the others would be. It was sickening.”
“Great! So he must have heard me talking to stupid Veronica. She was going on about how good he looked. Why couldn’t he have just asked me instead of dumping me? Better still, why didn’t he stick around to hear the rest of the conversation?”
Erin burst into tears again, Fleur felt like crying, too. Erin was so perfect for Val, and now he was ruining it.
“What will I do? Do you think if I rang him, it would help?”
“I don’t know, Erin. Richard keeps ringing, but it just goes to voice mail. He left him messages telling him what he thinks happened, but so far, there has been no response from Val.”
Fleur stayed with Erin for a while longer until Erin said she was going to have a bath and then go to bed. Fleur promised she would ring if she heard anything. She hugged Erin and went home to Richard.
* * * *
Val was distracted. Hearing Erin talk about other women being jealous of her because she was with him broke his heart. He was sure she was different to the others, yet it looked like she was just as shallow.
He knew he was being silly to run away, but he could not face seeing anyone. Fortunately, there was work he could do personally interstate. A few weeks away might settle things down, although he was unsure he could face going to the Club again and seeing Erin. There were dozens of phone messages from Richard and Paul, but he deleted them without listening. Why bother listening when he knew all they would be doing was asking him what had gone wrong?
He missed her. He had fallen in love with her, and he missed her. He thought he had finally found a woman who accepted his bisexuality, who could see beyond his looks and loved the same kinky sex as he did. Now, it looked as if he had it all wrong. He had trusted her immediately and dropped all pretenses. He should not have been so vulnerable.
His secretary told him that Richard was hounding her with phone calls, telling her that she had make Val ring him, that it was important, but what could be more important? He ignored those as well, telling his secretary that the next time Richard rang, she was to tell him that Val would not be contacting him.
The two weeks dragged by. Paul and Richard had stopped phoning. One day there was a message from Erin. He was so inclined to listen to her, to hear her lovely voice again, but he could not bear to hear whatever she had to say. He saved the message, but did not listen to it. Finally, he could not delay going back home any longer. It was Saturday afternoon and he had a meeting scheduled for Monday morning that he could not afford to miss. He flew back, picked up his car from the airport, and headed straight to his house. He had been tempted to drive past Erin’s house. Maybe she would be at home, but he knew he was being a fool. Better to make a clean break.
He walked through his house. It reminded him of Erin. In the bathroom, he found her blouse behind the laundry hamper. She must have missed it. He recall the night she had done the strip tease, throwing her clothes at him, and it brought a smile to his face. He bundled it in his hand and brought it to his nose. The scent of her filled him with longing.
He walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed, her blouse under his nose. How could he live without her in his life?
Maybe he should just accept her even though she was only after a pin-up boy. At least that way he would still have her in his life. At the moment, it was so empty without her. He lay back on the bed and before he realised it, he had fallen asleep. A pounding on his door woke him. Groggily, he went and opened it to find Richard on his doorstep.
“Of all the fucking big-headed, stupid pricks in this world, I have to be friends with you! What the fuck do you think you are doing?”
Val stood in the doorway as Richard ranted at him. Richard pushed past him and went into the front room. Val shut the door and followed him.
“Why the fuck didn’t you answer your phone? Surely you could have rung one of us after you got our messages.”
“I didn’t listen to them, I just deleted them.”
“Oh great! Geez, you are the stupidest man I have ever known. I love you like a brother, but you have been a real prick with Erin over this.”
Val bristled at Richard’s words. “You don’t understand, Rich. It happened again, just like before. She doesn’t love me, she just wants someone to make everyone jealous. I heard her.”
“Bullshit! You only heard part of a conversation and then, like the fucking idiot you are, you jumped to the wrong conclusion.” Richard was screaming at Val, he was so angry.
Val stood there, openmouthed. Could he have been wrong?
“I don’t understand.”
“No, you wouldn’t, and you wouldn’t give anyone a chance to set you straight. Instead, you ran away and left the one woman in the world who loves you for who you are and not for what you fucking look like.” Richard shook his head at Val. “You blew it! You blew it big time.”
Val dropped to a sofa. He just looked at Richard. Richard stood over him, still angry.
“If you had stayed and listened to the whole conversation, you would have heard Erin telling Veronica that she didn’t care if you were fucking ugly, she loved you. She told Veronica that she should look past a person’s looks and then she might meet someone as wonderful as you. Oh…but that was before you walked out on her. I doubt she thinks you’re wonderful anymore.”
Val could only stare at Richard as his words starting to sink in.
“We tried to tell you, but instead, you turned tail and ran and then pretended we didn’t exist.”
Val jumped to his feet. “I’ve got to see her. I’ve got to explain.”
“I doubt she wants to see you. After all, you dumped her for no fucking reason! Left her standing like a fool in the Club!” Richard screamed at his friend. Val slumped down again. He ran his fingers over the stubble on his head.
“What am I going to do, Rich? I love her.” He looked so lost that Richard felt his anger dissipate. He sat beside him.
“What were you thinking? Why on earth shut us out like that?”
“I don’t know. I was so unhappy, so hurt, I couldn’t face you. I couldn’t think straight.”
“Well, you’ve got a hell of a job to do if you want to win her back. Fleur tells me she is devastated and refuses to go to the Club ever again. She won’t even go out with the girls. She is just sitting at home, moping about the fucking idiot who broke her heart.”
“I’m sorry.” Val looked down at his hands. “I’ve lost her, haven’t I?”
“I don’t know, Val. I honestly don’t know. Fleur said she is really upset. She cries a lot. I have no idea if she is prepared to give you a chance.”
Val took a deep breath. He looked at Richard. “I have to see her. I have to try and explain what happened.” Richard nodded.
“Even if she kicks me out, I need to tell her I love her.” He got to his feet, determined to see Erin and try to set things right. “What time is it?”
“Just after eight.”
“Look, Richard, I’m sorry. I…I guess I went crazy. I guess I should have at least listened to the rest of the conversation or asked her about it instead of running.”
“Yes, you should have. You are going to have to be honest with her, and you will have to mean every word you say if there is any chance at all.”
Val nodded. He and Richard walked to the door. Val picked up his keys and wallet from the hall table and followed Richard outside.
Richard held out his hand and shook Val’s. “If she takes you back, you do one thing to make her cry and I swear I will never see you again.”
“I promise I won’t.”
Chapter Ten
Val was so nervous driving across town to Erin’s. He was not sure if she would even answer the door, let alone let him in. How could he explain things to her and make them right? He wanted to stop for flowers but then thought he would look silly. He stopped at the bottom of her street, his head on the steering wheel. What if she refused to take him back? Damn, he should get flowers.
He turn
ed to car around and drove to the closest florist, only to discover they were closed. He was not thinking straight. Of course they would be shut. What could he take? Then he had a brainwave and raced into the nearest mall. Running like a maniac, he raced through the complex until he found a shop that sold white paraffin wax candles. He bought two and asked the man behind the counter to wrap them, as they were a special gift. He must have realised the significance of them as he wrapped them in tissue paper and attached a ribbon. He gave them to Val with a smirk on his face as Val handed over the money.
Finally, he was pulling up in front of Erin’s. He sat in the car for at least five minutes. He could not bear to think of what would happen if she refused to see him. Finally, taking a deep breath, he picked up the gift and headed for the door.
* * * *
Erin heard a car pull up and carefully looked through a darkened window. She drew her breath when she saw it was Val’s car. She felt sick in the stomach. What to do? Should she let him in, or just send him away? The past two weeks had been hell and she did not want to risk being hurt any more. She headed down the hall and caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror. Her hair was a messy, long plait. She could not remember if she had done it this morning. She was dressed in sweats again, and her eyes were still red and puffy. Well, if he wanted to see her, he would just have to put up with seeing her like this.
She waited for him to ring the bell. When he didn’t, she risked another peek. He was still sitting in the car. Her heart was pounding, and tears threatened to fall again. Suddenly she heard the car door slam and footsteps heading up the path. She jumped when the doorbell rang, although she was expecting it. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
“Erin,” Val croaked. “Erin, I am so sorry.”
Erin just stood and looked at him. He looked as if he had slept in his clothes.
“Can I come in, please, Erin?” She walked into the lounge room, hearing him shut the door and follow her. She turned and faced him, not able to speak.
