by Dale, Lindy
Then something dawned on her, ‘How would James know about the tree?’
‘Lucky guess?’
Flora frowned. ‘I suppose I could have mentioned it in passing.’ Stepping out into the quadrangle, she made her way towards the gaggle of children. ‘I seem to be forgetting lots of things lately, my mind’s been elsewhere.’
Luke folded his arms, surveying the children that marched between them and through the doors to the classrooms. ‘Shirt, Oliver. Do up those laces, Ben. You’ll trip over.’ His reply came over their heads. ‘Right, now that we have that sorted, I’ll see you at seven. And get a can of whipped cream on your way …’
Flora watched his tight backside as it walked away. He didn’t care at all that another man had sent her flowers. He was too busy planning some wild sexual event in his head. Men.
Chapter 23
‘I don’t see how it should affect you, Lou,’ Flora answered, ‘we never go out on a school night, it’s not like this is a personality change.’
On the other end of the line, Louise drew in a breath. ‘I don’t think I like your tone…. and… I was counting on you to come to the Gold Class with me. I have the tickets and everything. Who else am I going to perv on Robert Pattinson with?’
Flora sighed. There were two things wrong with that statement. Firstly, they hardly ever went to the Gold Class Cinema because Flora believed it to be an extravagance she could live without. And secondly, she didn’t like Robert Pattinson. She had never liked him or those ridiculous Twilight movies. An evening on the bed with Luke and a bowl of strawberries was far more amusing than watching Louise drooling over a man she would never meet.
‘You only want to go with me because PJ’s busy.’
‘And you’re only blowing me off because of lover boy. You know, you’ve developed something of an attitude of late. You’re very smarmy.’
Flora eyed Luke, who was crawling over the bed towards her, the can of whipped cream in his hand poised like a weapon. Everything Louise said was true. It was as if a puckish little demon had taken over her conscience, instructing her that fun, independence and belief in herself were the order of the day.
Luke shook the can and sprayed some cream on his finger, sliding it across her mouth. Mmm, she quite liked that demon. She wanted him to stay. On the other end of the phone, Louise continued to rant but Flora was watching Luke.
‘Get rid of her,’ he mouthed, as he put down the can and began to unbutton Flora’s jeans, sliding them off her hips.
‘I’m trying,’ she whispered back, her hand covering the mouthpiece. Unsuccessfully, she slapped him away as Louise continued the tirade.
‘I mean, what’s with all the secrecy anyway? I couldn’t give two hoots if you’re shagging James. Apart from the fact that I think he’s weird. It’s obviously doing you the world of good, so who am I to interfere.’
Flora stared down at Luke, on his haunches between her feet, concentrating on kissing a spot on the inner part of her thigh. His dark hair was tousled and as she shoved a hand through it he looked up and smiled. She would love nothing more than to show him off in public, to have the world recognise them as a couple but it just wasn’t going to happen. They were secret lovers. ‘Mmm,’ she mumbled.
‘FLORA!’ Louise screamed into the phone. ‘Are you having sex? God, you are so disgusting.’ And with that the phone went dead.
Luke removed his lips from her thigh and picked up the can again. He began to paint a delicate pattern in cream along it.
‘I guess she’s not talking to me now.’
‘Oh, well,’ said Luke, his face alight with mischief. ‘You’ll just have to find something else to do and you can start by removing those undies.’
****
Straddling Luke’s naked chest, where she had only that minute finished an edible art work in cream and fruit with the full intention of eating it off him, Flora’s attention was interrupted by an insistent banging at the buzzer on her intercom.
‘What now?’ she groaned, scrambling under the covers to find her underwear and wrap herself in a robe. Wasn’t it enough that Louise had berated her and then ten minutes later PJ had got in on the act, accusing her of dumping her friends for a shag. Like she could talk.
‘It’s probably just the Jehovah’s,’ Luke muttered from the bed. ‘Ignore it, come back here, I’ve got something special to show you.’
Flora rolled her eyes and went to the intercom. She knew what it was he wanted to show her and it would still be there when she got rid of who ever it was at the door.
‘Yeeessss,’ she grizzled into the speaker. Couldn’t whoever it was run away? Didn’t they know she was busy?
‘Open the door. I’m coming down.’
‘Louise?’
‘Yes. Now open the gate and let me in or I’ll break it down.’ There was some heavy breathing and a rattling of iron on the other side of the intercom that sounded like Louise was trying to scale the gate. It wouldn’t be the first time. Last Christmas eve, fuelled by Vodka and Red Bull she had done exactly that in a bid to go skinny dipping before midnight. Flora’s compound was the only one that had a heated pool.
Flora stifled a titter. ‘Are you checking up on me?’ She could picture Louise’s thigh slung over the gate, her butt skyward. Hopefully, Mr Davis in Number One wasn’t in his usual vigilant spot by the window. It would tip his sense of decorum over the edge.
‘Damn right I am, now open the gate.’ Louise’s voice sounded distant as if it didn’t matter whether the gate was opened or not, she was already over it.
‘Shit, Flora,’ hissed Luke, racing around the flat, packing food items away and retrieving pieces of clothing. ‘Nobody can know I’m here.’
‘I realise that but if I don’t let her in it will look more suspicious and she sounds like she’s climbed the fence anyway.’
The doorbell rang.
‘See.’
‘Fuck, where can I hide?’
Flora pushed him back towards the bedroom. ‘Get under the bed,’ she giggled, shoving the rest of his clothes at him, ‘and don’t make a sound.’
From under the valance Luke poked his head out and grinned. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got a Playboy or something I could read while I’m waiting, do you? Just for the articles, of course.’
****
If Louise had been indignant on the phone, it was nothing the look of utter fury that was on her face when Flora opened the door.
‘Look at my new pants, Flora. They’re ruined,’ she screeched as Flora dabbed her knee, grazed in the fall from the security gate, with Betadine. She wasn’t going to feel guilty. This was not her fault.
‘Nobody asked you to climb the gate.’
‘And nobody asked you to be a secretive cow. Why can’t I meet this lover boy of yours? Do you think I’ll blab to the world if you don’t want me to? I can be the epitome of discretion, you know.’
Flora didn’t like to say that blabbing was what she knew Louise would do. If she found out it was Luke, there’d be an announcement on Facebook within the hour.
‘Where is he anyway? It would be such a hoot if he was under the bed.’
Oh yes, thought Flora, such a hoot.
‘Who?’
‘James.’
Flora looked Louise straight in the eye and with absolute sincerity she replied, ‘I am not seeing James, or shagging him for that matter. I went out with him once and he was not my cup of tea.’
Louise jumped off the kitchen bench and picked up a shoe from where it was poking out under the couch.
‘What’s this, then?’ she asked, waggling the suspicious item in the air. ‘Unless I’m mistaken, it’s a man’s shoe….. so come on, where are you hiding him? In the wardrobe?’ Without waiting she ran into the bedroom and flung up the bed valance, dropping it again as surely as if it had been scalding hot.
‘Holy shit, Batman.’
Flora stood in the doorway waiting to see what she would do next. Clearly, Louise had seen Luke under the bed. She w
as as white as the sheets on top of it. ‘Um, Flower, Luke’s under your bed,’ she said, as if she couldn’t believe the truth in what she was saying.
‘I know.’
‘Oh. My. God.’ Louise’s eyes widened. Her mouth moved up and down as if to add something more as she took another look under the valance. ‘Are you sleeping with him?’
‘No, he comes over to play hide and seek.’
Louise smacked her arm. ‘Don’t be a wise arse, it doesn’t suit you.’
Luke crawled from under the bed and stood, buttoning his fly. Despite the gravity of the situation, his smile was wide and very smug. ‘I guess you found us out.’
‘Oh my God! I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it. Never in a million years…..’ Louise muttered to herself, walking off into the living room.
****
Louise, Flora and a fully clothed Luke sat on the lounge. Flora and Luke had glasses of wine, Louise a stiff vodka tonic, her third since the ‘discovery’ twenty minutes prior.
Flora held her breath and bit her lip. Her hand gripped Luke’s. ‘You won’t tell will you?’ she pleaded. ‘If you tell, it could mean the end of Luke’s career.’
Louise took a slug of her vodka. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she kept repeating. ‘Flower and Luke. God, I was so blind. There we all were, thinking you were so good and wholesome and the whole time you were rooting the boss. I can’t believe it.’
Flora put down her glass. ‘Please. This is serious. We need this to stay quiet until the end of term. It means a lot to both of us.’
But Louise was not listening. She was staring at Flora’s naked shoulder where her gown had fallen open.
‘When did you get that?’ She pointed to a tiny frangipani tattoo on the crest of Flora’s shoulder. Her attitude was not the only thing that appeared to have taken on a different appearance.
Flora pulled the wrap closed. ‘It’s nothing.’
‘It’s a tattoo, Flora. The very thing you swore and declared you would never get on Party Bus night. God, what other surprises are you going to spring on me? Have you got the Olsen twins in the shower?’
Jokes and the look on her face aside, Louise was not dealing well with the revelations of the evening. Kneeling in front of her, Flora’s clasped her friend’s hands in hers. ‘I know this is very confusing and out of character for me but we’ve been friends for a long time, Lou.’
Louise was in a state of shock. ‘Six years. And you’ve never done anything like this.’
‘You’re my best friend in the world and I need you to keep this secret for me, just for a while. You can’t tell PJ. You can’t tell anyone, not even that manicurist you’re having a therapy relationship with. Please?’ Flora looked up into her friend’s eyes. ‘Please?’
‘But why? What does it matter? He’s going in a fortnight.’
Luke’s face was grimmer than ever. ‘I’m engaged. My fiancé’s father is the high in the Department in Queensland. He could ruin me.’
‘So this is a sex thing?’ Louise looked at them both incredulously. It was bad enough that they were having sex without her knowing but empty meaningless sex? For fun? Oh my God. What had happened to quiet, mousey Flora? She had been kidnapped by same crazy, tattooed, sex fiend.
‘No, it’s not just for sex.’ Flora’s laugh was bitter. ‘I wanted it to be, I tried, I really tried to be like you and PJ told me to be but I can’t. I love Luke and if you destroy him then you destroy me, too.’
****
It was two a.m. Louise had gone home to her empty flat, promising to keep mum about Luke, though whether she could remained to be seen. She had a dreadful habit of blurting things out without realising and Flora was worried that it would be all over school by the end of the week. Then what would they do?
Tenderly, Luke’s hand stroked her hair. Flora’s pressed against his breastbone, toying with the ring in his nipple. They had lain that way for over an hour, both deep in thought. Neither able to sleep. Flora spoke. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered through the darkness.
‘What for?’
‘For getting you into this mess. I know we said it was a casual thing between us but it’s not for me. I love you and I don’t want you to go.’
Luke crushed her to him. Her tears stained his palm as he wiped them away. ‘I made it clear at the start. You knew all along that I was going home. I told you I had a commitment to honour.’
‘I know.’ Deep inside she had hoped he would love her too, that he would toss everything away to be with her but it was just as every magazine always said. Sex was never simple for women. It was an emotional thing. A man could put it out all over and feel nothing but for a woman the connection was greater. Flora looked up at him and sniffed another tear away. If only he could feel what she did.
‘I’ve never felt anything like this before.’
Luke rubbed her back. He smoothed her hair and kissed her brow. ‘And you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met. I’ll never forget you and I’ll always remember the time we’ve had together. You’re very special to me.’
But he didn’t love her.
Flora’s finger grazed the frangipani tattoo. ‘I won’t forget either.’
Looking down at her shoulder, he kissed the spot. ‘I can’t believe we did that…..’
‘Me neither,’ she said, eyeing the spot on his bicep where a tattooed band, with her initials woven into it, wound around the top of his arm. Nobody would ever know they were there unless he told them. She was a secret.
****
The next morning, getting ready for school, Luke emerged from the shower to find Flora’s bedroom in uncharacteristic disarray. The head of his lover was in the top drawer of her dresser and a new collection of knickers was strewn across the floor. Rubbing the towel through his damp hair, he stopped in the doorway between the ensuite and the bed.
‘What’s going on?’
Flora’s head appeared from inside the drawer. Her face was troubled. ‘I cant find them anywhere, Luke. I’ve looked and looked but I can’t find them.’
Luke walked over to where she stood, tossing underwear to the ground. ‘Can’t find what?’
‘That cute bra and knickers you gave me with your initials sewn into the love hearts.’ Her lip began to wobble. It was not like her to be so emotional over a piece of underwear but she had had enough. Luke had given it to her. She precious little from him as it was.
‘Did you leave them at my place?’
Flora looked at him. As if she would have left his house without her underwear. She may have been forgetful of late but she wasn’t mad.
‘When did you have them last?’
‘I can’t remember,’ she replied, her brow drawn to thinking. ‘Wait…. I washed them and put them in the drawer on Sunday. I always wash on Sunday. Now they’re gone.’ Suddenly, she was still. Recognition hitting her. ‘Someone’s taken them, Luke. Someone has been in my apartment and taken them.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, they’ve fallen between the drawers and under the dresser or something,’ he said, bending to look. ‘Nobody would come into your house.’
‘Why not? He sends me notes and perfume. He knows where I work. Why wouldn’t he think he can just come into my house and take my precious things.’
Falling to her knees in the pile of underwear, Flora began to sob.
‘I can buy you another,’ Luke soothed.
Flora sobbed harder. ‘It wont be the same.’ He didn’t understand. He just didn’t understand.
****
The next afternoon, a red heart shaped package from the most exclusive lingerie shop in Subiaco materialised on her desk between her walking the children to library and coming back to class. It was only the space of five minutes but he must have been watching or how would he have known.
Lifting the lid of the box Flora put on her glasses and peered inside. A set of white satin underwear lay on the lining. They were very virginal. A heart shaped card bore the note,
The
se will look much better. x
Flora stared at the note before stuffing the box into her satchel. She knew Luke was trying to make her feel better but really, she never wore satin. She’d have thought he’d have realised that small fact.
****
James was waiting at the carpark again after school. Walking towards him as he stood at the gate, Flora prayed he wasn’t going to ask her out. She wasn’t good at having two boyfriends and she was too tired for small talk.
‘Bye James,’ she said, strolling past him and pushing on the gate. ‘See you tomorrow.’ If she walked fast enough, he might get the hint and get into his car.
‘Flora,’ he called. ‘Wait up.’
Flora hesitated. Oh God. Maybe she could pretend she hadn’t heard him call.
‘Flora!’
She stopped. There was no way she could avoid it. Turning, she put on a tight smile. ‘I’m in a bit of a hurry, James.’
‘Um, yes,’ he replied, steeping forward and pushing the hair from his face the way he did when nervous. ‘Listen, I was telling Mother all about you the other night and she was saying how she’d love to meet you. Would you like to come over for dinner one night this week? She’s always complaining she never meets any of my girlfriends.’
Flora’s eyes widened. ‘I’d like to meet your mother James, but I’m not your girlfriend.’
‘But we had coffee and we went for pizza.’
‘Yes but I’m not your girlfriend. We’re friends. That’s what friends do.’ Flora could feel the tension rising in her stomach. She should never have agreed to the pizza thing. She should have left it at coffee.
James’s face fell. He shuffled his foot in the gravel. ‘Oh, of course. Yeah. Friends. Right.’
‘Thanks for the invitation, though. Maybe in the New Year? After all this ‘end of year’ stuff is over?’
‘Yeah. Okay. Hey, did you get any good presents from the kids, yet? I got a Dockers mug today. Guess I’ll have to re-gift it.’
Flora glanced down to the red box poking out of her satchel. ‘No, nothing as yet.’
‘That’s a mighty big box.’
She tried to laugh. ‘Mmm. Chocolates. I hate it when they give me chocolates. I’m only going to go home and eat them all. Maybe I should re-gift like you?’
