Chapter 6
Have A Go
Part of Kylie’s job was to pick up bread and milk for the team at the Port Office. She normally fit it in with her lunch break and the regular mail pickups from Head Office which was located four kilometres away in the Townsville CBD. After the loneliest weekend she had ever experienced, Kylie was determined to do something proactive. The first step was to check the notice boards at Woolworths when she dropped in for bread and milk. As she scanned the board, a short lady with short coppery hair, reached up to pin a new flyer on the noticeboard.
“Are you interested in coming down for a practice session?” asked the woman, who was wearing a Woolworths uniform.
“Oh, maybe?” Kylie answered, taking note of the woman’s fit and athletic build.
“Here, take some flyers, I have a couple spare, take them to work, see if anyone is interested in coming down?”
“Okay thanks. What is it exactly, this...Out Rigging?”
“Oh, it’s a Hawaiian style canoe that has six people in it, all sitting behind each other, and it has an armour which is a side arm that stabilises the canoe. It’s heaps of fun and very, very social!”
“Social hey? Now I’m interested!” Kylie said smiling.
“Oh yeah, when you compete in Outrigging Regattas during Racing Season we go away for the weekend, once a month for about 6–8 months. We have the best time!”
“Sounds great, but I’m not very athletic, I mean, when it comes to sport I have low expectations and I meet those expectations!” Kylie said.
The lady laughed at Kylie’s candidness. “Look we don’t play for sheep stations, there are people with various skill levels so we cater for everyone.”
“Well, that’s good. Because I have a mantra which is: Sleep in, Turn Up, See What Happens,” Kylie said.
The lady burst out laughing. “That’s classic but you may need to change the sleep in bit because as well as training in the afternoons after work, we also train on Sunday Mornings.....on the water at 5.30 am.”
“Flamin’ WHEN?” Kylie said.
“5.30 am on the water, so we meet at 5.15 am. You might need to invest in an alarm clock but believe me, it will be worth it!”
“Righto. Wow, that’s rude! I know I can get up that early, I get up for work at 4.30 am sometimes.” While Kylie was learning how to operate the Ship loader, her additional shifts started at 5.30 for 6:00 am dirt on board the vessel.
“There you go! This is way more enjoyable! Plus you get to see the sunrise over the water. It’s absolutely magic!” she said emphasising the glory of watching the ocean sunrise with her hands.
“Righto. Thanks, I’ll have a good think about it.”
“Oh, I nearly forgot. I’m Shooters.”
“Pow Pow,” Kylie said with her fingers imitating pistols. “I’m just Kylie.”
“I’m sure there’s more to you than Just Kylie. Hopefully we’ll see you at training and find out Just, what it is!” she said. “I’ve got to get back to work but come down after work by 5.15 pm on a Monday or a Wednesday. On the beach out the front of the Watermark on the Strand. Okay?” she said walking off backwards to remain in eye contact.
“Righto,” Kylie replied. “I’ll have a go, see what happens!”
“Yeah, That’s the spirit, come down and have a go,” Shooters said as she slipped back behind her counter.
“Rogerhhh,” Kylie said to herself, folding up the flyers and putting them in her handbag. She grabbed a trolley and quickly stacked it with the items she needed for work, paid for them using the company card and then headed towards the Town Office to pick up the mail.
As there were no other females working at the Port Office, Kylie took every opportunity to get to know the people in the Town office. She would walk around the open plan set up to say hello to the other employees, crack jokes and ask them how their day was going, what they had planned for the weekend and general questions that showed she was interested in finding out more about them. She found that people always enjoyed talking about themselves and even if it was a short chat that only focused on them she always left feeling energised after engaging with other people. She was also hoping to find a female friend she could call on after the work day was over to share a coffee or a movie with. Unfortunately she hadn’t cracked the friend market as yet and was still heavily reliant on the E.T. stance of religiously desiring to ‘phone home’ each night to stay connected to her lifelong mates and her family.
“Ah Kylie, when you are free, I’d like to see you for a moment please,” her boss said as he walked past.
“Uh-oh,” said Kylie playfully.
“Oh it’s nothing bad, I would like to introduce you to someone.”
“Is it a good looking man who is single and looking for a Capricorn who likes walks on the beach, romantic dinners, holding hands and girls who talk ALOT!”
“Noooo. She is not.”
“She?” Kylie said. “I’m looking for a husband, not a wife!”
He laughed. “I’ll be at my desk. Come over when you’re ready!”
Kylie looked at the people she was talking to and said, “I’ve gotta act like a banana.....and spuh-lit! Toodles” and she walked off following her boss.
As she walked into his office she saw a lady sitting down with her back to her. She had lovely thick shiny brown hair that rested in the middle of her back and she looked like a very tidy little package from where Kylie was standing. Kylie was one trillion percent heterosexual but her lack of ability to engage brain before opening mouth resulted in filter-less and blatantly honest commentary when she encountered beautiful people – male or female. She worked on the principle that any compliment toward another person would always be welcomed. It never occurred to her that others might question her preference of schlong versus skirt after a simple verbal observation.
“Kylie, I would like to introduce you to Mila, our new Marketing Assistant,” her boss said, extending his arm towards the lady sitting in the chair, who then stood up and spun around to face Kylie and him.
“Far out, how hot are you?” Kylie said without thinking. “I mean, in a non-sexual way, you know, womano to womano” Kylie was now blushing.
Mila – pronounced Mill-lah – was startled by the comment and a little embarrassed. She outstretched her lovely tanned right arm to gently shake Kylie’s right hand.
“Thanks, I think. Kylie is it?” Mila said.
“Yep. Or you can just call me by my Indian name “One with Foot In Mouth.” Kylie laughed at her own joke. So did her boss.
It was a lot for Mila to take in. Clearly, she wasn’t sure how to take Kylie and managed a half-hearted smile in response.
Kylie
