Double Trouble (3 page)

Chapter 4.

We drank a glass of wine to celebrate Stephanie’s victory. And then we drank another glass to thank the
spider
for its participation and patience. Then
another
one to celebrate….well, who
cared
? The meeting broke up in a very
merry
mood.

“We’re doing so well, girlfriends,” Stephanie declared. “Even
Kim
.”

“And what exactly did you mean by
that
?” I asked in a huff.

“Be
practical
, sweetie,” Stephanie declared. “Out of us all,
you’re
going to have to work the hardest to win. My spider phobia is
nothing
compared to you keeping your temper. In fact, I’m a bit worried that you’re going to do yourself some internal
injury
by keeping all that anger locked away. Something’s bound to
explode
in there. There’ll be
bits
of you spread all
over
the place.”

The other laughed at Stephanie’s remarks but I couldn’t see what was so funny.
Bits
of me? And they thought that was
humorous
? Some friends
they
were!

“What’s the
joke
?” I complained. That invited them to laugh all the harder.

“
Stop
that!” I ordered. “It’s not
funny
!”

Stephanie sobered and held up her finger and thumb a few centimetres apart. “
Oooh
, Kim, you were
this
close to breaking your dare then,” she smirked.

The others were grinning at my flushed face.

“
Nearly
blew it, sweetheart,” Janice gloated.

“So
close
,” confirmed Maureen.

“Well, thanks for all your
support
,” I grumbled.

“Oh, sweetie, we didn’t
mean
it,” Stephanie remarked, kissing me on the cheek. “We don’t
really
want you to fail. We’re just having a bit of fun.”

Maureen cuddled me from behind. “Sorry, Kim,” she repented. “It was
mean
of us.”

“Yeah,” Janice chimed in, “you’re doing
great
so far. Who would have
thought
it?”

“There you go
again
!” I complained. “Always with the
doubts
. Don’t
any
of you believe I can do this?”

I was instantly surrounded with cries of support and encouragement.

“Of
course
we do, honey,” Stephanie told me.

You’re half way there
already
,” Janice pointed out.

“We’re
with
you, girl,” Maureen told me.

“Okay then,” I said. “Stephanie’s place is next. I’ll see you all there.”

As arranged, we congregated the next week and Stephanie had something
odd
to report. “Before we begin,” she announced, “I want to
show
you something.” She pulled out an envelope from her pocket and extracted a piece of paper from inside it.

“What
is
it?” Janice asked, curiously.

“It’s a note from a secret
admirer
, I think,” she replied. “I found it under the door this morning.”

We passed the note around. It was beautifully hand written, on quality paper and. Although it was brief, its message was clear:

I think you’re wonderful. I’d love to know you better, but I’m very shy. Please be patient until I work up the courage to approach you in person.

An ardent admirer.

“Well, that’s certainly something you don’t see
every
day,” Maureen claimed, after we’d all read the missive.

“
Wow
! Someone has the
hots
for you, Stef,” I said, a little jealously. “Do you have any idea
who
it could be?”

“Not a clue,” she replied frankly. “And anyway, what makes you think it was meant for
me
?”

“Of
course
it was,” I demurred. “It was slipped under
your
door, for goodness sake. It
has
to be for you.”

“Not necessarily,” she disagreed. “This person might have known that we all meet every week at each other’s places. We’ve been doing it often enough, after all. It
could
be for any
one
of us.”

“That’s stretching the facts a bit
thin
, don’t you think,” Janice said. “I suppose it’s possible, but not very
likely
.”

“Still, I’m not taking anything for granted until I’m positive,” Stephanie declared. “My money’s on
Kim
.”

“Me?” I asked, surprised. “Why
me
?”

“Let’s face it, girlfriend,
you’re
the beautiful one in our little group.” Stephanie answered with a grin. “I think that everyone here would agree to that. I don’t have any delusions about my
own
looks. If this guy is after anyone, it’d
have
to be you.”

The others murmured their agreement. “That’s not
true
,” I protested. “Stef, you’re so self-assured and in control. You
always
know what to do and you have the most amazing
eyes
I’ve ever seen - a person could
lose
themselves in there. Janice’s concern for the group’s
welfare
is the strongest of us all and she has the greatest sense of
humour
. And Maureen’s looking
prettier
all the time with her weight loss, plus her hair is to
die
for – it’s so soft and fine. It actually could be any
one
of us.”

“Nice
try
, sweetie,” Stephanie said, “but I
still
think it’s for you. You’re
gorgeous
and if you weren’t a close friend I’d be
sooo
jealous…..well, I am, just a
little
, but you can’t blame me for that. Males always go for the
pretty
ones first, and that means
you
.”

“That’s not true
either
,” I pointed out. “What about
Paul
?”

This observation uploaded an enforced silence in the group.

“Yes, well,” Janice mused, “your brother is….
unusual
.”

“Very,” agreed Maureen. “He doesn’t seem to care what you
look
like at all. He’s
not
a typical male.”

“Yes, he
is
,” I argued. “He simply judges women on their
inner
characteristics and not their
outer
shapes. How do you know the secret admirer isn’t
another
Paul? The fact that he’s
shy
is something in common with my brother.”

“Point taken,” Stephanie admitted. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. We’ll just have to wait and see about our admirer. Let’s get down to business. Anything to
report
, Maureen?”

“Another
two
kilo loss,” she proudly announced.

“Way to
go
, girlfriend!” Stephanie applauded, clapping. We all joined in until Maureen, blushing, told us to stop. “Only one and a half to go,” Janice remarked. “You’ll do it
easily
, honey.”

“My clothes are all
loose
,” Maureen complained, pulling the top of her skirt outwards. “Look at all that
stretch
. It’ll be falling
off
me soon.”

“
Oooh
, we should have made
that
her dare,” Stephanie declared, with a lascivious wink. “Her dress had to fall off by itself in a
public
place.”

“Very
funny
, Stef,” Maureen said, poker-faced.

“Hey, I try,” Stephanie replied, ignoring Maureen’s disapproval. “What about
you
, Jan?”

“Good,” Janice announced. “Yesterday I went to the beach and looked over the cliffs and didn’t even scream or
anything
. I think I might be ready for my parachute jump next week. I want one of you to come
with
me though; otherwise I’m definitely
not
going.”

“
I’ll
come with you, Jan,” I volunteered. “It’s been ages since I went on a jump. It’ll be
fun
.”

“I’m glad
you
think so,” Janice muttered. “Frankly, I’m
terrified
.”

“We could do a
double
jump,” I suggested.

“What’s
that
?’ she wanted to know.

“That’s where one person is strapped to the front of another person and they do the jump
together
,” I explained. “Is
that
within the rules, Stef?”

Stephanie thought for a second or two and announced her decision. “I don’t see why not,” she said. “The dare will be completed,
regardless
of how it’s done. Very well, the judges rule in
favour
of a double jump.”

“Excellent,” I told a relieved Janice. “I’ll be holding onto you right down to the ground, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Kim,” Janice said, brushing her hand over my arm in gratitude. “I
owe
you one.”

“What about you, Stef?’ I asked. “How are
you
getting along?”

“Not
too
bad,” she told us. “I actually
touched
one the other day. It was the
brother
of the one we had last week, so it wasn’t scary, but I could manage only the quickest of touches. I’d like you guys to help me again, if you don’t mind. I want to let it
crawl
on me this time, but be prepared with the smelling salts and anti-hysteria medication”.

“What’s the anti-
hysteria
medication?” Janice wanted to know.

“A bucket of
ice
cream
,” Stephanie promptly replied. “I want it standing by, ready for
instant
consumption.”

We all laughed, but promised that everything would be in place. Then we all went spider hunting – all of us except
Stephanie
, of course, who sat in a chair, doing deep breathing exercises to control her nerves.

Chapter 5.

Janice found our experiment participant in the garden, hiding under a leaf and brought it inside. I didn’t believe it was possible, but it was even
smaller
than the first one. She deposited it in a glass jar and invited Stephanie over. The rest of us crowded around her as she made her unsteady passage to the jar.

“Try it with your eyes
shut
first,” Maureen suggested. “That way it’ll just feel like a tickle.”

“Sounds sensible,” Stephanie agreed. “But I want physical support on both sides for this. Don’t let
go
!”

“We won’t,” I soothed, taking one of her hands, while Maureen took the other.

“
Ready
, Stef?” Janice asked.

“No, not really,” Stephanie said, “but let’s
do
it anyway.”

Janice carefully let the spider run up her finger before depositing it on Stephanie’s arm. Stephanie flinched as she felt the barely discernable sensation of the spider’s movements on her skin.

“Take it
easy
, honey,” I advised, feeling her hand tighten. “It’s harmless and so small. It can’t possibly
hurt
you.” Her hand relaxed and she exhaled sharply.

“You’re right, of course,” she admitted. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m perfectly safe.” She breathed deeply. “Okay, I’m going to open my eyes. Stand
by
.”

I gripped her hand more tightly. She peered out from slitted eyelids and watched the spider slowly making its way up her forearm.

“I’m fine,” she whispered. “I’m in total control. This thing can’t bite me. It’s just a
baby
. I’m fine.” She opened her eyes fully and observed the spider’s progress for another few minutes.

“Let go of my hand, Kim,” she asked. “I want to
touch
it.” Obediently, I released her hand and she gingerly poked a slightly wobbly finger at the oncoming invader. The spider stopped at the finger’s edge, investigating the suddenly appearing obstacle, and then climbed up the extended digit. Stephanie tensed, but made no other movement. She allowed the spider to crawl up to her palm, then leant over and deposited it back into the jar. Then she turned back to us and, clasping her hands over her head, danced a little jig of pure joy. This action was greeted by shouts and cheers from the rest of us. We swarmed her, flooding her with congratulations and hugs. It was a memorable moment for us all.

After all the excitement had settled and the appropriate amounts of celebratory wine drunk, I was asked about
my
dare. “I’ve had a few close calls,” I admitted, somewhat shame-faced, “but I’ve managed to survive so far. I have to admit that I’m finding it a bit difficult. It’s not like the spider thing, where you can gradually desensitise yourself. I’m
always
going to have this problem. It’s
never
going away.”

“You can
do
it, honey,” Maureen told me, hugging me. “
Other
people go through life without losing their temper every minute. If they can, so can
you
, because you have the
strongest
will power of anyone I’ve ever seen. There’s
nothing
you can’t do once you set your mind to it.”

Stephanie and Janice added their positive comments also until I felt that maybe I could get through this.

“
Thanks
, guys,” I said, gratefully.

“No problem,” Stephanie commented, grasping my shoulder in a friendly manner. “We’re all behind you, love. We’re the Four Musketeers, you know. ‘All for One and everything for
Me
!’”

“Your slogan needs a little
work
,” Janice commented, wryly.

“It’s not
quite
right yet,” Maureen suggested.

“
Stef
!” I objected.

“Okay,
okay
,” she laughed. “I was only trying to be funny. Still, you can’t blame a girl for trying.”

We drank a toast to the Four Musketeers, released the spider back to its home and agreed to meet at my place the next week for the Dare Finals.