Peer Pressure (13 page)

After a brief chat in the doorway of the restaurant, he passed the test and they walked slowly to the car park, enjoying the last of the summer night air, in full knowledge that such a walk wouldn’t be possible in another six weeks, at least not without thermals.

At the car, Rob opened the door for Katy, unbeknownst to him, passing another test. He passed two more when he got into the car, turning the radio volume down and the air-con up. Katy was quietly impressed. Rob clearly had manners.

During the drive, Katy grilled Rob on his music tastes, flipping through his in-car cd collection with the same sort of fascination that a historian might have for an ancient map. Now in her mid-thirties, she felt completely out of the loop as far as music was concerned, so took any opportunity she had to peek into the contemporary tastes of those younger than her, even her daughter. In truth, Katy felt slightly embarrassed by this. Her music tastes hadn’t really changed too drastically in the last decade. She had even found herself partaking of the cardinal sin of the thirty-something: the compilation disc.

Rob, however, shrugged off any confessions she made about her musical inadequacy, even going so far as to point out the embarrassing, dad-like albums he had buried deep in his own collection. I mean,
Dire Straits
were one thing, but, really,
Status Quo
?

“Let’s call it the sins of the father being revisited on the son,” Rob quipped. Katy smiled, but the joke hadn’t quite hit home, so Rob, sensing this, added, “Just stop me before I make a prick of myself, okay?”

“Too late for that,” was Katy’s dry response. Their eyes met and they both shared a laugh.

“You know, I really enjoyed this,” said Rob, recovering from the sarcasm, “Am I allowed to say that?”

“I’ll allow it,” Katy nodded, “...just.”

Katy was flirting now and she knew it. Maybe it was the wine, or perhaps it was Rob, but something was making her feel less restricted this evening.

By the time Rob pulled up in front of Katy’s house, she was surprised to find herself more than ready to invite Rob in for a coffee. This wasn’t like her, but there was something about Rob that had made him trustworthy in her eyes. Sure, he was a teacher, but also, his age made him feel less of a threat. Katy was also pretty sure that she would be able to take him in a struggle...and not the fun kind. It was only when she looked up at her house and saw the light of Jodie’s bedroom was still on, that she reconsidered her position. It was like crashing down to earth and back to reality. She turned to Rob and gave him a sympathetic look.

“On any other night, I’d invite you in for coffee,” she said. But Rob didn’t need her to explain.

“It’s fine,” he smiled, “You don’t have to make excuses for my benefit. I get it.”

This almost made Katy weak at the knees and she felt that if she had been standing up when Rob had said that to her, she might have fallen to the ground. She shook her head in quiet disbelief.

“What?” he asked, intrigued.

“Nothing. It’s just...I’m so used to having to play the single mum card that it’s refreshing to have the man take the lead.”

Rob took this in, before replying,

“Well not to worry, It’s probably the last grown up, mature thing I’ll ever say, so there we have it.”

They shared a smile. Rob then took off his seatbelt and opened his car door.

“I’ll walk you to your door,” he said. Another test passed.

He got out of the car and walked round to the passenger side to let Katy out. He then walked her all the way up her path to her front door. Katy, her back to Rob, rummaged in her bag for her front door keys. That is when she felt something lightly rest against the back of her neck. She froze for a moment, trying to figure out what it was, before turning to see Rob’s arm adjusting the collar of her coat. Their eyes met for longer than both thought would have been possible tonight. For a moment, Rob thought he should apologize and so attempted one.

“Sorry, I was just...your coat was slipping.”

Katy stared at Rob for what seemed like an eternity, but he didn’t look away.

And then she leaned forward and kissed him.

It was just a light kiss, but it took both of them by surprise. For Katy, the surprise was that she had actually leaned forward and instigated it at all. But more surprising still, for her, was that this was not the wine acting on her behalf. She was lucid and knew exactly what she was doing: what she wanted.

For Rob, the surprise was that he hadn’t been the one to make the first move. It had always been his role in the past, but now, on this doorstep, the responsibility had been someone else’s, a feeling he had never experienced before, the experience of someone wanting him as much as he wanted them. That was the difference for both of them, really.

They both knew that there would be no sex tonight, but they were both more than happy to take it to this level, even after only one date.

Their lips parted and for a good ten seconds no one said a thing, but their eyes never broke their stare. It was only when the neighbors’ cat meowed that the silence was finally broken and Rob mustered up the courage to say anything.

“Um, what was that?” was the best he could offer. He could smell Katy’s perfume, the wine on her breath, the taste of her lipstick. Katy stepped back towards the door and shook her head.

“Can we put that down to an impulse?” she asked, but even she wasn’t buying that one.

Rob stepped forward to keep their bodies close.

“An impulse?” he asked.

Katy nodded.

“Nothing more?”

Rob moved closer still.

“Is that what you think it was?” he asked.

Katy pretended to think about it, but really, she was thinking about kissing him again.

“Maybe,” was all she could say, before she grabbed him and they kissed again. This, again, took Rob completely by surprise, and they stumbled against the front door. This time the kiss was more intense. Rob tried to keep his balance, grabbing onto the doorframe with his left arm and allowing his right hand to come up to touch Katy’s face as they kissed. Katy’s arms remained around Rob’s waist where she had grabbed him, but the kiss became so intense that Katy ended up leaning against the door to keep herself steady. As the kiss broke, Rob stepped back, his head spinning from the sensation of what had just taken place. He tried to compose himself enough to say something, but, for once, words were failing him. Katy wasn’t sure what would come next, but she couldn’t help but start to smile. She felt sixteen again, making out with the boy she had always fancied in school, who had finally asked her out. For tonight, at least, it didn’t matter that she was nineteen years late for her own dream date. Now it was here, she’d take it, any way it came.

“That was pretty...” she searched for something poignant to say, something that would keep them in the moment, but alas, the sixteen year old girl was still fighting to have her say, “...pretty cool.”

Rob smiled and they both started to laugh, a laugh that meant something different for both. And there they stood, a man and woman, with so much potential and so much to give each other. And it was a feeling that probably would have served them for a good five more minutes of kissing, had it not been followed by the front door being opened by her daughter.

For a moment, Jodie saw only the back of her mother’s head and thought that she had simply forgotten her keys. She sighed and was about to search her brain for the right comment with which to mock her mother, when Rob took a step back and Jodie’s eyes met his.

They both froze. At first, it took Rob a few seconds to register where he recognized Jodie from. When he did, however, he felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach, which coincidentally was exactly what happened to Jodie also. Katy turned to face her daughter, still a little light-headed from the kiss.

“Oh, sorry honey. I must’ve pressed the bell by mistake.”

Jodie said nothing and Katy realized that something was up. She surveyed her daughter’s face, looking for clues. Jodie, meanwhile, had not broken her eye contact with him.

Confused that she was getting no response from her only child, she turned to Rob, only to find the same look plastered on his face.

“Are you guys alright? What’s going on?”

“Ro...” Jodie stuttered before correcting herself, “Mr. Peer?”

Rob’s eyes then snapped to Katy’s, looking for the reaction that he was sure was coming.

When it hadn’t arrived, Rob tried his best, but found words hard to come by.

“Katy...um, this is...?”

“What?” asked Katy, a slight panic building in her belly, “You two know each other?”

“This is your daughter?” asked Rob, which seemed an almost redundant question to ask at this point. He already knew the answer, but was just delaying the moment.

“This is your date?!” Jodie snapped, with more force and jealousy in her voice than perhaps she had intended. Nevertheless, it did the job on Katy, who now finally had a grasp on the situation, if not the answer to it. So she just reacted as appropriately as she knew how to with

“Oh shit.”

Nobody spoke. A pin could have dropped and it would have been heard. It was only once Katy had allowed her brain to process what had just happened that she spoke again, directly to Rob.

“So, this is my daughter, Jodie. And, I’m guessing, you’re her new English teacher?”

Rob felt like a child being talked down to, but he had no game plan for this sort of situation, so replied as meekly as possible.

“That’s me.”

“Right,” said Katy, before pausing and then repeating, “Right.”

Jodie felt like she was going to throw up, but instead attempted to make herself heard.

“Mum, I...” but that was as far as she got, before Katy continued, still looking to Rob.

“So, I had a really nice time, Rob.” She was speaking in a strange tone, both friendly and conversational, as if this was all normal behavior, a typical Friday night for her. And it caught both Rob and Jodie off guard, as they both then replied,

“What?”

Katy ignored the surround sound confusion and continued.

“Well, you have my number?”

“Katy,” said Rob, trying to snap himself out of it and behave like the adult he was, “don’t you think we should...”

“Talk about it? I guess you’re right. But not tonight, it’s too late. Why complicate things further?”

Rob nodded, adding

“I’m sorry about this.”

Jodie could only lean against the doorframe, a supporting character in her own personal tragedy. Katy just shook her head.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault, I mean, you didn’t know, did you?”

“No.”

“And Jodie,” Katy turned to face her daughter, who felt, suddenly, like she was five years old again, being taught a lesson for being naughty, “You didn’t know, did you?”

Jodie shook her head.

“Well, no, but...” Of course she hadn’t known. If she had, she would have done something about it earlier.

“Then no one’s to blame,” said Katy, turning back to Rob.

There was silence now, as though a sermon had just taken place and the congregation was now being asked to stand and contemplate the lesson behind it.

“Should I go?” asked Rob.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Katy said, with a nod.

“Right you are then,” he said, slowly starting to turn, before hesitating, adding, “I’m sorry about this, girls.”

Katy shook her head and gave him a reassuring,

“Don’t be.”

“Well, goodnight.”

And then he was off down the garden path. Katy gave him a wave, before walking through her front door and closing it. Katy leaned her head against the closed door and couldn’t help but giggle. It may have been a night of surprises, but it had also evolved into a night to remember.

Jodie had already started her slow walk up the stairs to her room, feeling as though her head was on fire. It was a mixture of embarrassment and anger, a lethal cocktail which would guarantee no sleep for her tonight. Katy watched her go, sensing that perhaps what had just happened was a bigger deal for her daughter than it had been for her, before calling out to her as she got to the top landing.

“Jodie?”

Jodie came to a stop and leaned against the banister.

“Yes?”

Katy looked up at her daughter.

“Are you okay?”

Jodie sighed, taking a moment to reply.

“I guess so.”

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow, yeah?” was the best she could offer her daughter tonight. Jodie nodded, before turning and heading to her room, offering a

“Goodnight mum.”

Katy breathed in and out slowly, calming herself down, and waited for the sound of her daughter’s bedroom door closing.

“Goodnight,” she replied, although now, she was talking to herself. She stood in the hallway for a moment, not sure what to do next. It was then that she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the hallway mirror and found herself taken by surprise. She almost didn’t recognize the woman staring back at her. There was a look on her face, brightness in her eyes and the way she stood, that gave her a glimpse of something she hadn’t had in ten years.

Excitement.

And that was when she let her impulses take control again.

Rob walked to his car and fumbled for his keys. He felt embarrassed and awkward, the night having not gone exactly to plan. He also felt sorry for Katy and Jodie. In the history of coincidences, this ranked pretty high. It got worse still when Rob looked back to Katy’s house, only to have a figure catch his eye in the window of the house opposite.

Rob squinted before finding focus on Sean, who was leaning out his window. Again, Rob’s reaction was delayed, before he realized who it was. Sean waved at him.

“Sean Lewis?” was all Rob could say.

“How’s it going Mr. Peer?” he replied.

Rob couldn’t help but look around and wonder to himself,

‘Where the fuck am I? The Twilight Zone?’

Rob tried to shake it off, before replying,

“You live here?”

“Sure do,” Sean nodded, his evening suddenly seeming just as random as his teacher’s,