nothing’s wrong.” I gave a swift shake of the head and started dicing Roma tomatoes trying to ignore the disbelieving gaze staring at me.
“I call bullshit. Tell me what’s really going on, or do I have to shake it out of you?” Poppy forewarned rounding the bench. Carefully, she extracted the sharp knife out of my shaking hand, setting it down on the counter.
Taking one look into those coffee brown eyes, I dissolved. “Yesterday, as I left work, someone was watching me in the garage. I think it was…” I choked on my tears, unable to speak his name. I didn’t have to.
“Are you sure? Maybe it was just a homeless person or somebody who looked like – him?”
Poppy and I had met after her father’s job transferred him from London to Melbourne, merely months before my life changed forever. She was the one and only person I had openly told about my sordid ordeal. Mind you, when your best friend finds you crying your eyes out and trying to swill an entire bottle of scotch stolen from your father’s liquor cabinet, it was bound to raise a few concerns.
Her forthright manner always had a way of making you open up, even when you’ve tried to tell her, repeatedly, that you weren’t in the mood to talk about it. Without her friendship, coming to terms with my past may never have happened. Her support hadn’t ever wavered, sealing the bond we now shared, one so much stronger than sisterhood.
“No, I can’t be certain, unless he has an evil twin. I’m sorry. Perhaps it was just my imagination, and it was just a homeless person?” Who was I trying to convince more, her or me? I smiled weakly. “That’s why I went for a run early this morning, and to the gym this afternoon. I have to regain control over my life before it takes hold of me again.”
“That’s right, you do. Just keep focusing on the positive influences around you, and you’ll be fine.”
“Thank you for always being there for me.”
“I’m always here if you need me, but next time – don’t hide your issues from me, okay?” Poppy chided sternly, wagging a finger at me. Clear and direct; an approach she’d mastered and used in her skills as an English teacher at Beaumont Grammar, a prestigious school in Melbourne’s northern district.
“Okay, but I won’t say I promise to either,” I said, turning my guilty gaze away from her under the pretence I was grabbing the knife to finish my food prep. Some secrets just weren’t meant to be shared; it was against the rules.
“Mm, I’m starving. What’s on the menu tonight?” Dominique asked eyeing the small feast spread over the long wooden dining table hungrily.
I chuckled in amusement. “Spinach and ricotta tortellini deliciously coated in a mushroom sauce, with garlic bread and a simple salad, nothing too spectacular. I picked it up from the deli on the way home from the gym,” I replied, setting a bottle of Pinot Grigio in the centre of the table as I slid into one of the empty seats either side of Poppy.
“Who cares where it came from, its dinner, and it smells amazing. Let’s eat,” Poppy responded, shovelling a forkful of pasta into her mouth.
“So girls, are we all set for Saturday night?” Dominique queried, through a mouthful of salad. “I’m so excited; mum throws the best parties. The food, the people, the booze, and let’s not forget the hot guys in fabulous tuxes’!”
Scarlett picked up a serviette and playfully wiped down Dominique’s chin. “For the drool,” she uttered dryly. “You’ll ruin your dinner with it.”
Dominique giggled, swatting Scarlett’s hand away. “You’re an idiot.”
“Have you got your dresses organised?” Poppy enquired tearing at the garlicky baguette. The girls nodded in unison.
“I have too,” I added, clutching the wine bottle, and filling everyone’s glasses. “What time are we expected at your mother’s soiree, Dom?”
“Seven, or eight, I can’t remember exactly.” Her nose scrunched. “It doesn’t matter if we’re a little late, mother would faint on the spot if we ever arrived on time anyway.”
I giggled. Audrina Jaeger represented everything a mother was supposed to be; kind, loving, and most of all, fun. Unlike mine, they were opposites in every way. “Your mother knows us well.”
“And you know… Ari shall be there,” Dominique told me ever so casually, lifting the wine glass to her lips as she tried to hide her not so innocent smile.
“So?” I sighed, pushing to my feet. “What does Ari being there have to do with me?” I challenged, gathering dishes, and carting them to the sink. Inside I was delighted, but it was a sentiment I refused to share with my persistently intrusive roommates. As always though, their sixth sense to my take flight response whenever Ari’s name came up was on overdrive.
“So?” Scarlett intoned, rolling her eyes and bouncing around me as I rinsed the plates under the hot water. “Is that all you’ve got to say about the man you’ve unequivocally lusted after your entire life? You two have it bad for one another,” she uttered. “The moment you two are in the same room, the sexual tension blows the roof from its rafters.”
I spun on my heel and shot her a deathly glare. “We do not!” The high octave in my voice was a sure sign she was right on the mark. Her smirking expression told me so. She was such a bitch. “We’re just friends. We grew up together, so naturally, we’re bound to have some feelings, you know, like a brother and sister,” I argued nonchalantly, and again, not one of them bought it.
“That’s crap, and you know it. What you and Ari share, Teddy is most definitely not like a brother and a sister. A brother-sister relationship is what we have – the whole love-hate thing. And I agree with Scarlett; Ari acts like a lost puppy whenever he sees you,” Dominique interjected, sticking a finger in her mouth. “…It’s sickening.”
Snap. There it was, and it had nothing to do with the crude gesture causing one of my brows to rise sharply. In my attempt to ignore the continually churning digs about Ari, I turned back to the sink and started stacking the dishwasher.
I loved Ari and had for years. But the problem was my past, it always stood smack bang in the middle of the road like a large crevice, preventing any chance of us ever coming together.
Scarlett bounded around the bench like that jacked-up rabbit I’d always thought her to be and grabbed me by the waist. “Come on, sissy; you know ya wanna!” Her eyebrows jiggled scaring me or scarring me. Whichever way I was concerned. Moreover, she had me cornered. A shitty predicament to be in if you asked me.
“Yes, all right! You’re a bunch of nags. I do like him! A lot!” Finally and much to their impish delight, I caved. I was sure my cheeks burned the same colour as my hair; so much so, astronauts could detect me glowing from outer space. Mars to be precise. I’d just died of embarrassment twice in one day. I had set a new record. “There, I said it. Are you happy now?”
“Of course we are. Why wouldn’t we be?” Dominique giggled, sidling up beside me. “Why don’t you try on the weekend at mum’s party? You may find my brother will be more than happy to reciprocate,” she stated matter-of-factly. Cheeky bugger.
“Okay, okay,” I conceded blushing. “This weekend I’ll tell Ari – but only after a few glasses of champagne and all this nagging!”
