Summer Fling (2 page)

Lorraine laughed as Scott opened the
passenger door of his car for her. She slipped into the car and
turned to Donna, who was already snuggled into Tony’s side on the
back seat.

“I think I just got the third degree,”
she said, watching Scott walk around to the driver’s side.

Tony laughed. “Don’t worry about Scotty.
He means well.”

Lorraine took the time while he was
driving to study Scott carefully. A line of concentration creased
his broad forehead as he navigated the busy city streets out to the
sparser suburbs. Street lights flickered across his face and
through his shortly cropped hair. In this enclosed space he
suddenly seemed very big. She let her mind drift to the lineal
muscled shape of his arms and wondered what it would feel like to
be in them. She shook the thought from her mind. Hadn’t Donna
indicated he had a string of girlfriends?

Worse luck
, Lorraine thought to
herself as she turned to the window, trying to distract her current
train of thought.

“Hey, Scott, let’s have a party tomorrow
night?” Tony suggested through the dark silence.

“I have to work,” Scott shot back.

“Come on, Scotty. One night off won’t
hurt,” Donna said as she leaned forward and placed a hand on
Scott’s shoulder. There was no reply from him but they could all
tell that he was thinking about it.

“It’s too late to organise a party,”
Scott said.

“Bullshit,” Tony said. “We’ll ring
everybody tomorrow.”

“I could swap shifts with Marty,” Scott
said. “But I’m not buying the booze. They can all bring their
own.”

“That’s my boy,” Donna said as she gave
Scott a quick pat on the back.

Once back at Tony and Scott’s house, the
four went inside to organise the party. They sat on the floor in
the living room trying to figure out where all the furniture could
be shifted to.

“The sofa can go out in the hallway,”
Donna suggested. “It’s wide enough.”

Tony nodded. “And the two chairs can
move into my room for the evening.”

“Where’s the tv going to go?” Scott
asked.

“Why can’t it go on the kitchen table?”
Lorraine asked.

“Okay, how about the coffee table?”
Scott asked, his piercing gaze lighting on Lorraine.

She smiled. It was obvious he was trying
to stump her.

“Out on the back porch. It’s covered in
and if it rains the table won’t get wet. Then if you have food we
can put it out there.”

Scott flashed her a smile. “Takes
brains, I suppose.”

Lorraine felt the pull of his chocolate
gaze, her eyes tracing the shape of his mouth as it curved
teasingly.

The telephone rang and Tony got up to
answer it. He returned a few moments later.

“Telephone, Scotty.”

As soon as he was out of the room, Donna
pounced on Lorraine.

“He likes you,” she said as they shared
a secretive smile.

Lorraine felt her face go bright red.
“Now, I bet he’s friendly to all your friends,” she said.

Donna shook her head. “He doesn’t
usually like any of my friends. He’s a nice guy and they normally
don’t like naughty girls.”

Lorraine laughed. “But, didn’t you say
he was ‘busy’ with somebody else?”

“He’s fighting to keep them off,” Donna
said. “But they’re all like me. And that’s not what he wants.”

“But I’m like you,” Lorraine protested.
“We’re best friends—”

“No way, girl,” Donna interrupted. “We
may be best friends, and maybe you see a different side to me when
I’m in Blenheim, but we’re as different as chalk and cheese.” Donna
threw her arms around Lorraine’s shoulders. “You stay that
way.”

Lorraine smiled deep into Donna’s eyes.
“But—”

At this stage, Tony joined in on the
conversation. “Scotty hasn’t got a girlfriend. He doesn’t believe
in them. But if you treat him nicely he’ll show you a bloody good
time while you’re in Christchurch.” He winked playfully and pulled
both girls onto his knee. “Just don’t expect any commitment from
the guy. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word.”

Lorraine giggled, and as Scott walked
back into the room, she slid onto the floor in front of Tony.

“I have to go out for a while,” Scott
said, a worried expression painted clearly across his features.

“What’s up?” Tony asked.

“Tracey needs me,” Scott said
hesitantly. “I’ll be back quite late I think.” He turned and strode
from the room.

Lorraine watched him go, wondering who
this Tracey person was. A girlfriend? Hadn’t he said that he’d be
back quite late? Lorraine guessed that he probably wouldn’t be back
at all that night.

Her guess proved to be right. The two
girls ended up staying at the flat all night.

Donna rang Lisa and explained, and
Lorraine was given the sofa to sleep on while Donna disappeared
into Tony’s room. She came back long enough to toss Lorraine a
large shirt of Tony’s to sleep in, which she quickly slipped into.
But as soon as she laid down to sleep, she found that she wasn’t
tired.

She switched on the small reading lamp
on the coffee table and sat silently beside the dim light. Her
thoughts kept turning to Scott. All she could see was his smiling
face as he crept into bed with Tracey, whoever she was.

Well, what else could she expect?

Tony had warned her that he wasn’t the
type to stick to one girl, and although she wanted more from Scott
than a one night stand, that was all she might get, if that.

Sleep finally took her around 2am, but
she was woken by a terrible nightmare. She sat up in fright,
breathing hard and dripping with sweat. The light was still on and
Lorraine dropped her feet to the carpet, nausea sweeping over her
in a tide of relief. Her dark, tangled hair fell about her face,
and she pushed it away. The dream was still fresh in her mind,
bringing fear into reality and she went quickly to the kitchen.
Searching for a glass, she poured a drink of cool orange juice and
sipped it thankfully.

Sitting at the large kitchen table, she
rested her head on her crossed arms, hoping that soon the memory of
her dream would fade. Lorraine had been having the same nightmare
ever since her mother had been tragically killed when Lorraine was
only six. It would start at their beautiful two storied home in
Blenheim, and Lorraine would be standing in their living room
looking out onto the busy street.

Her mother’s red Cortina would drive
past, and for a few moments Lorraine could see her mother’s
beautiful face, smiling and happy. Then a green station wagon came
into view, travelling far too fast. Before Lorraine’s six year old
eyes, the station wagon hurtled towards her mother, and before she
knew it, the smile on her mother’s face had turned to an agonising
scream as she flew through the front window screen.

It was always the same nightmare and
every time Lorraine woke feeling sick and coated in sweat. Then the
thirst would hit her.

When she had been smaller, her father
had made her hot, sweet lemon drinks to put her to sleep after a
bad dream. Lorraine smiled to herself as she remembered the long
hours he had stayed awake by her bedside, only to get a few hours
of sleep for himself before he had to leave for work.

“Not sleeping, huh?” Donna’s voice broke
into Lorraine’s thoughts.

She walked to the fridge, wearing Tony’s
bathrobe and began to devour the remains of a chocolate pie.

“I had another bad dream,” Lorraine
murmured through the soft material of Tony’s shirt.

Donna strode to her side and laid an arm
across her shoulders. “Wanna talk about it?”

“I just want to sleep,” Lorraine said.
“I’ve only had about an hour of sleep.” She lifted her head and
attempted a smile. “I haven’t even had any beauty sleep.”

“How about you go back to the couch and
I’ll make you a nice hot toddy,” Donna suggested as she ran a hand
over her friend’s sweat beaded brow.

Lorraine didn’t need to be told twice.
She slipped back under her blanket and made herself comfortable
once more.

Her last thoughts before she dropped
into a deep sleep were of the next night and their planned party.
She wondered what the evening was going to turn out like, or
whether it would be a memorable night, something that she would not
forget for a long time.

* * * *

“Donna, telephone,” Lisa yelled up the
stairs. “It’s Tony.”

But Donna was already talking on the
second line on the telephone in her bedroom.

The girls were lying on their beds and
Donna was busily ringing all her friends about the party.

“I’ll go,” Lorraine said as she got up
off the bed and walked down to the kitchen. She smiled as she took
the phone from Lisa. “Hi, Tony, it’s Lorraine,” she said through
the receiver. “Donna’s on the other line.”

“Is she? That’s okay then,” Tony
replied. “I was just making sure that things were getting
organised.”

“Being organised,” Lorraine corrected.
“But I feel a bit useless. There’s nothing else I can do, is
there?”

“I don’t suppose you can get a car?”

“Hang on…” Lorraine cupped a hand over
the receiver and turned to Lisa. “Would Aaron mind if I borrowed
his bike?”

Lisa shook her head. “He has the day off
so he doesn’t need it today. Just bring it back in one piece.”

“Thanks.” Lorraine gave her a warm smile
and turned back to the phone. “I have transport. What do you want
me to do?”

“Would you mind going to the supermarket
and picking up a few things?”

“Sure.”

“Have you got a pen and paper
handy?”

Lorraine looked around and found an old
envelope and a pencil. “Ready.”

Tony read out a whole list of items and
before too long she was on her way to the mall.

It was one o’clock when she left the
house, and being a Saturday the mall was busy. Lorraine had thrown
on her cut-off jeans, her favourite red sleeveless blouse and
commandos. Her hair was pushed back into a high ponytail and she
wore no makeup.

By seven o’clock, however, she had
undergone a complete transformation for the party.

As she stood before the mirror, wrapped
neatly in a soft purple towel, her hair twisted onto the top of her
head, Lorraine thought about what she would wear.

Donna had told her to come to
Christchurch prepared for a party, but as Lorraine looked through
her clothes, none of them appealed to her for that evening. They
just didn’t seem to fit the mood she was in. Being unknown to most
of Donna’s friends, she wanted to make a good impression, meaning
she wanted to wear something that would turn a lot of heads.

Her own clothes were spread across her
bed and she glanced through the pile once again before slumping
down among them.

“I don’t have anything to wear,” she
said as Donna appeared from the bathroom.

Donna laughed. “What are those?” She
walked to the bedside and began to rummage through Lorraine’s
clothes.

“I’m sick of all my stuff,” Lorraine
said as she let her hair out and began to brush it.

“Okay, let’s go and see what Lisa’s
got.” Donna slipped into a white towelling robe and pulled the ties
tight around her waist in a loopy bow.

Lisa was already in her bedroom, getting
ready for her own night out. She was more than happy to let the
girls paw through her wardrobe.

“Have you got any black trousers?” Lisa
asked Donna. Seemingly, she was in the same predicament that
Lorraine was.

“I have,” Lorraine said in haste.

“Would you mind?” Lisa asked, giving
Lorraine a cheeky smile.

“If I can wear this.” Lorraine held up a
red taffeta skirt with flecks of gold through the material.

Lisa looked at the skirt for a moment.
“Go ahead.” She followed the girls through to their bedroom, where
Lorraine handed over her black trousers. Happy with their trade,
Lisa disappeared again to continue getting ready.

Thirty minutes later, Lorraine stood
before the mirror once more. The red skirt went perfectly with her
white sleeveless blouse, white stilettos and red denim jacket,
finished with a simple string of pearls that had once been her
mother’s. Her makeup was light, her sparkling blue eyes highlighted
with azure eyeliner and dark mascara. Her lips shone a glossy red
to match the rest of her outfit.

She caught Donna’s reflection behind her
in the mirror and whistled loudly.

The slimmer girl wore a brown leather
minidress with a black stretch belt around the middle, black shoes
and black studded earrings. Her hair, freshly washed, had been
braided into a French plait, small curls left to frame her petite
face.

“Watch out, Tony,” Lorraine said,
smiling.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” Donna
said as she grabbed her coat. “Shall we go?”

Chapter
Three

They were the first to arrive at the
flat, but they had planned to get there early to help Tony and
Scott.

“Here’s my two lovely ladies,” Tony said
as they let themselves into the kitchen.

He turned and took Donna into a warm
embrace, kissing her tenderly on the lips.

Lorraine made a gagging sound as she
took off her jacket.

Donna giggled as she pulled away from
Tony.

Tony’s attention was immediately torn
away from his girlfriend when he caught sight of Lorraine without
her jacket on.

“You’re going to turn a few heads
tonight,” he said. His attention soon swung back to Donna as she
began to unbutton her black trench coat. “What’s under here?” he
asked.

Donna slipped the coat from her
shoulders and added it to the pile forming on the back of the door.
“We work in pairs.” She looped her arm over Lorraine’s shoulders.
They both smiled at Tony. “You like?”

“Very nice,” Tony replied as he blew
Donna a kiss.