Looking for a Hero (15 page)

I nodded again. Joe.‘I’ll get a vase,’ I said.

I took the flowers, put them in a vase then went back upstairs and placed Joe’s flowers next to Bruno’s on my desk. Jut looking at them made me smile.
Just wait until I tell Erin,
I thought as I typed my way into MSN.

‘INDIA,’Aunt Sarah’s voice called up the stairs.

I leapt back down the stairs two at a time and arrived with a thump at the bottom. ‘More flowers?’ I asked.

Aunt Sarah was making a strange face and jerking her chin towards the living room.

‘So many admirers, so little time,’ I said in my fake actor luvvie voice.

Aunt Sarah gave an exasperated sigh and jerked her thumb towards the living room. ‘In there,’ she said.

‘Who?’

A tall handsome boy stepped into the hall.

Tyler.

My jaw fell open. ‘Ohmigod, it’s you!’ I said. I turned to Aunt Sarah. ‘This is Tyler. He’s the boy who brought me home that day I was mugged.’

‘Pleased to meet you, Tyler,’ said Aunt Sarah. ‘Now, India, remember your manners and show Tyler back into the living room and I’ll bring you some drinks.’

‘Oh. Right.Yeah.’

‘Coffee or tea?’ asked Aunt Sarah.

‘Coffee. Black please,’Tyler replied.

Aunt Sarah disappeared and I stood rooted to the spot staring at Tyler. My mind had gone blank and my legs seemed to have frozen. Tyler was looking at me, waiting for me to say something. ‘Oh yeah, um, come through,’ I said finally and led him into the living room.

‘I wanted to see how you were doing,’ said Tyler.

‘Me too. I mean ... I wanted to see you again too – to thank you. I ... I was in a daze that day. I can’t even remember what I said or how we got home hardly.’

Tyler sat on the sofa and crossed his legs. I couldn’t help but notice that he had a cat-like grace about him, very at ease in his body.

‘Understandable after what had happened. You don’t have to thank me,’ he said. ‘I just did what anyone would have done.’

‘So where have you been then?’ I blurted. ‘I mean, I don’t mean that in a demanding kind of way, I … oh, this is coming out all wrong. I mean, why have you waited until now to come round?’

‘I only got back yesterday. I’ve been in New York. Remember I told you I want to do journalism? My uncle got me some work experience there. I was leaving the night you got mugged, which is why I had to go immediately after I’d brought you home. I was so preoccupied in getting you back safe and then getting home and then to the airport in time to make my flight I totally forgot to get your phone number so I could call to check up on you.’

‘Wow. You were very chilled for someone who had a plane to catch.’

Tyler shrugged. ‘Sometimes you have to go with what’s in front of you,’ he said and flashed me a wide flirty smile.

I felt myself blush.‘Well here you are now,’ I said.‘I’m so glad you came round. Work experience in New York? That sounds fab. Tell me all about it.’ I wanted to get him talking so that I could look at him properly. Brown eyes. Cheek bones to die for. A gorgeous sensuous mouth. And he looked toned, like he worked out.

‘It was ace,’ said Tyler.‘I’d love to tell you all about it but how about a bit later this afternoon? I know I’ve just arrived out of the blue and butted my way in - your Aunt Sarah was very cagey when she saw me at the door. So would it possible to meet up some place away from here and get to know each other properly?’When he said that he looked directly into my eyes and I felt myself blush even more.

‘Er … yes, that would be great,’ I said.

Boys really are like buses,
I thought.
No one for ages then three come along all at once!

I needed to consult the committee.

As soon as Tyler had gone, I dashed upstairs and got on the phone. I felt so confused.Tyler. Bruno.Joe.What was going on? I tried Erin first, but her mum told me that she’d just gone out on an errand. Next I called Leela.

‘What am I going to do?’ I asked her after I’d filled her in. ‘Which boy should I choose?’

‘Bruno. Stick with Bruno,’ she said. ‘He’s The One for you. I remember what a high you were on when you came back from Ravello. And you did say he might be your soulmate.’

She was right. But that had been before Joe had sent the roses. And before Tyler had got in touch. But it had been so lovely to get Bruno’s flowers and get the message that he would be over the next weekend. Hearing his voice had brought back the wonderful time that I’d spent with him in Italy. But then . . . Tyler was such interesting company and so handsome – but more than that, there was something about him, like he viewed the world with a quiet intelligence and calm. It would be a shame not to spend some time with him. There was no guarantee that things were going to work out with Bruno and the fact that he lived in Italy was always going to cause some problems. And Joe. What about him? I knew that Joe and I had a connection but he was always on about not wanting to be tied down. It would be a pity not to explore what might be there with Tyler in the hope that Joe might come through, only to be let down by him again. Or had he changed his mind and begun to see that we really did have something special? God, it was difficult.

‘What should I do?’ I asked Brook after I’d hung up from talking to Leela.

‘Joe, definitely,’ she said. ‘He’s always been The One for you and you know it.You’ve been into him ever since your summer in Greece and now maybe he’s beginning to realise it too. It was always a matter of time. I really believe that these things are never one way. And OK, so Bruno is probably lovely but you have to be practical and face facts, India – he lives in Italy. A long distance love affair. They never last.’

‘Hmm. That’s what I was thinking too,’ I said.

I felt sad after we’d hung up. She was right about the distance, but it had felt so special with Bruno especially now I knew that he had been feeling the same as I had all along. Maybe there would be a way around it.

I called Zahrah.

‘What should I do?’ I asked.

‘No contest,’ she replied. ‘Tyler. You were looking for a hero and he came through for you. He’s the one with the least complications. Bruno lives abroad and, yes, there are phones and email but you can’t snog in cyberspace. Joe doesn’t know what he wants and has messed you about already and would do it again if you give him half a chance. He’s not ready yet. So it has to be contestant number three. Tyler.’

‘Tyler. Oh right,’ I said. ‘Thank you very much.’

After I’d hung up, I realised that I felt more confused than ever. Luckily Erin called soon after and I was able to put my question to her.

‘Woah. I wish all decisions were so difficult,’ she said when I’d finished telling her about the three boys.‘Hmm. Gorgeous boy one, two or three?

‘I know. It’s like it’s raining men over here.’

‘Lucky you. It’s raining water over here. I just got soaked when I went out. But you . . . How fab. Sounds like you got the hat-trick. Three in one.’

‘Yeah but now I am so confused. Reeling. Bruno. Joe. Tyler. All in one afternoon. Why, oh why does it have to be like this? Nothing and then they all come at once.’

‘What exactly did Bruno say on the message?’

‘He was so sweet and apologetic. I can’t think why I ever doubted him. And he said that he’s coming over next weekend on business.’

‘And Joe?’

‘He just sent the flowers. No promises or proposals, but he suggested we meet up next week – kind of casual.’

‘Hmm. But sounds like an opening of sorts. A maybe. And what about Tyler?’

‘He asked me out later this afternoon.’

‘So are you going to go?’

‘Yes, I think so. For one thing, I owe him one for coming to my rescue that day and it might not be a date date. Just coffee and getting to know each other.’

‘OK. This is what you do. No harm in postponing your decision. You see what happens. You don’t have to decide this exact moment. Go out with Tyler, see if there’s anything there. Go out with Joe too – or at least meet up with him next week. See what he says and if there is anything still there. And when Bruno is over, spend time with him. Decide later when you’re clearer about how you feel.’

‘But would I be being unfaithful to any of them? I’d hate to hurt anyone.’

‘Are you engaged to be married to any of them?’

‘No. ‘Course not but, if we heard about a boy seeing three girls, we’d all think he was a total love rat – and now I’m doing
it.’

‘Yeah. I see what you mean. Like it’s OK for you but not for a boy’.

‘Sort of. But I am not a love rat. I didn’t set out for any of this to happen.’

‘OK. So chill. It’s early days.You’re not even going out with any of them, are you? It’s not like any of them really sees you as their girlfriend.’

‘Not exactly . . . maybe Bruno does a bit.’

‘Yeah but he lives in Italy. Listen. Go with the flow.That’s my advice. Decide later. And until you snog Tyler, you won’t really know if there is chemistry.’

Just thinking about snogging Tyler made me feel funny so I had no doubt the real thing would be fab.

‘You are very wise, O lady from the green land,’ I said.

‘Oh yeah, we’ve forgotten our Shakespeare-speak lately, haven’t we? Well, get thee on some dates fair maid and let thy heart speak its own desire.’

‘Verily I will. So what about yon naughty knight of the realm, Sir Scott? He that dost sup till stupor on yon ale?’

‘I have decided to try a zen approach since we spoke earlier and that is to let him be. Let myself be. Let the universe be.’

‘Cool. And if that doesn’t work what else are you going to do?’

‘Not sure. Witchcraft maybe. Wait until the next full moon. Cut off some of his toenails while he’s asleep, put them in a bowl, a bit of slug and a few herbs and do a spell.’

‘Sounds as good a plan as any and at least you sound happier than this morning.’

‘Exactly. I was thinking about what you said. It has to come from him. I’ve done what I can and sometimes there is time for a plan. Other times not. This week we let the universe unfold its great plan to us. OK? You don’t have to decide which boy. I don’t have to sort out Scott.’

‘OK,’ I said. I knew I could rely on Erin to come up with the best advice.

I met Tyler in a café just off Portobello Road at around four – thirty. It was Tyler’s choice – a funky old place with big squashy sofas and a big fire at the far end. He bought us hot chocolates with marshmallows on the top and then we bagged a sofa near the fire, settled back and got down to the business of getting to know each other.