Three Words: A Novella Collection (18 page)

“
Stop laughing. It isn’t funny.” Nate grabbed a t-shirt from
the floor and flopped down on the side of the bed, wiping his foot.
He looked like he was going to vomit.

“
It, sort of, is. Think about it… every time we get ready to
do the deed, something goes wrong.”

“
And you think that’s funny? I can’t take much more. There’s
only so much wanking a guy can do.”

Georgie knew
she’d gone too far. She shifted to her knees, draping her arms
around his shoulders and kissing each one in turn. “Poor baby. I’ll
fix it.”

She felt
Nate’s body relax against her.

“
How about you go and wash your foot? I’ll tidy up the sick
and we can try again.”

She shuffled
from the bed and picked up Samba, who looked most offended having
settled himself for the night on an armchair in the corner.

“
There’s no point, I think I’ve lost my mojo,” Nate whined,
indicating his sudden limpness.

Georgie tossed
the cat out the door and slammed it shut. Walking to the side of
the bed, she knelt down before him. “I’m sure I can fix that, too.
I’m very capable when I put my mind to it.”

So she
did.

Chapter 10

Georgie lay
beneath the jumble of covers in Nate’s arms, her breathing
returning to normal. Beside the bed, a glow of lamplight revealed a
pool of wet pirate clothing on the floor and a pair of jeans hooked
over the bedpost. Snuggling into Nate’s side, she smiled, still
unable to believe he was here. With her.

“
Wow,” she said, thinking that the last hour had been possibly
the most amazing experience she’d ever had and when she recouped
the energy, she’d like to have it again.

“
Yeah, wow.”

“
When I said that was going to be better than the first time,
I didn’t expect it to be that much better.”

Nate’s fingers
combed lazily through the nest of tangles in Georgie’s hair. “I
thought the first time was fairly ordinary actually. You’ve
certainly lifted your game since we were in our teens.”

Georgie leant
up on her elbow. “Are you saying I was crap?”

“
No. But you’ve definitely improved.”

“
So I
was
crap? If I remember rightly we got
interrupted an awful lot when we were teenagers. I didn’t have a
chance to be good. Anyway, I don’t remember you being that much of
a stud back then.” She punched at the pillow, fluffing it up and
pretending to be upset. Beside her, Nate gave a chuckle and lifted
his arm to cradle the back of his head. From the corner of her eye,
she saw him smile to himself.

“
I had external factors to contend with,” he
conceded.

“
Excuses, excuses.”

“
Georgie?”

“
Hmm?”

“
What happened to us? One minute we were in love, the next we
were split up. It was so instant. I always thought we were forever.
I felt like my life was over.”

“
So did I. Plus, I had the added pressure of being pulled in
two directions. I had no idea what was right. I wanted to be with
you but I wanted to make everyone happy.”

Georgie
recalled that last day like it was yesterday. Mum and Dad had been
at one end of the hallway, Nate at the other. It was like a Mexican
stand off without the sombreros. Nate had begged her to go with
him, to travel the world for a year. Mum had said he was
inconsiderate to ask Georgie to give up a chance at one of the best
universities in the country. If he really loved her, he’d let her
go.

Nate squeezed
Georgie tighter. “I only wanted you to see there was more to life
than doing what your parents wanted. You could have gone to Uni
anywhere and done anything. You didn’t have to be tied to them. I
never wanted to hurt you.”

“
I think we hurt each other equally. But what choice did we
have? I felt obligated to do as my parents wanted and you wouldn’t
go to Melbourne with me because you wanted to see the world. The
sad thing is I believed that doing what my parents wanted was the
way to be happy and when I realized they were wrong, it was too
late. I rang your house, you know, a couple of weeks after we split
up. I wanted to tell you I’d changed my mind. Your mother said
you’d left the day before.”

“
I had a round the world ticket and a backpack. I had no idea
where I’d end up. I just wanted it to be far enough away so I could
forget you. But I never could, Georgie. I saw you on every street,
in every bar. Every girl looked like you. Every beach reminded me
of you.”

Now, Georgie
was crying. Huge blobs of tears streamed down her cheeks, wetting
Nate’s shoulder. “I tried to forget you too but, without you, all I
wanted was to die. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I was a
wreck.”

“
Jesus, what did we do?”

“
We listened to other people instead of listening to our
hearts.”

Nate rolled
over, his chest partially covering Georgie’s. He kissed the damp
from her eyelashes. “What about now?”

“
You mean, is it too late for us?”

In the past
twelve years, she’d done everything she could to make her parents
proud. They’d been devastated after she swapped her vet science
degree for something with ‘no job prospects’ but she’d proven to
them that she could have a successful career. When she’d become
engaged to Matt, who’d charmed everyone including grumpy old Samba,
her parents had been over the moon because she was going to have
the kind of life every girl should have, with a perfect marriage
and
a career. They’d even called him, ‘Son.’

So what about
now? She’d dumped her boyfriend, tossed her job and sold her house.
She had nothing but, clearly, that perfect life was not the life
she needed. Was this a sign? Maybe fate had dealt her this hand
because it was getting ready to bring Nate back into her life.

“
Would you like to try again?” Nate whispered.

“
I don’t know.”

He leant up on
his elbow, his solemn gaze so like the one she’d seen all those
years ago in the wardrobe, when he’d proposed to her. “Come with me
to South Africa. I have work to do for a few weeks and then I’m off
to Mongolia. Wouldn’t you like to see Mongolia and China?”

Mindful that
she didn’t have an income and only a small amount of savings
Georgie balked.

“
I have plenty enough for both of us,” Nate reminded her.
“Let’s travel, see the things we always wanted to see and if at the
end, you want to come back and get a ‘normal’ job we’ll do that
too. I’ve been on the road for a long time, Georgie. I’m ready to
stop. I want to be with you. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

Georgie lifted
her hand to graze the side of Nate’s face. A glimmer of hope
twinkled in his eyes as he waited for her answer. A tingle of
anticipation, sparked in her hand, sprinted its way up her arm and
exploded through her body. Her stomach, far from being in knots,
was filled with that thrill she used to get when she and Nate
headed to the beach for the day and saw an awesome set of waves.
She used to get so amped at that. If she did this, it would be up
there with her most impulsive acts ever — apart from sleeping with
Nate ten hours after meeting him again, of course. That would rank
as number one for a very long time.

“
Our surfboards are still in the garage,” she said. “We can
take them with us.”

“
As long as you promise not to show off doing aerials. You
make me look bad.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Come on, I know you used to pull back for me. You could surf
rings around Taj Burrow.”

“
It’s because I loved you, Nate. I’ve always loved
you.”

“
So kiss me like you did when we were eight, and promise
you’ll be mine forever.”

Georgie placed
a chaste kiss on his lips. “I always have been. Since that day we
got married in the closet.

THE END

A Cupid Kind Of Day

Chapter 1

“
Arrrggghhh.”

Lily tossed
the folded newspaper onto the table, pushing it as far away as the
menu and table number would allow. Her coffee cup wobbled at the
intrusion and foamy latte dribbled over the rim and down the side.
Picking up the cup, Lily wiped the edge clean with her napkin and
took a sip.

She let out
another exaggerated sigh. “Do we
have
to discuss Valentine’s
Day?”

To Lily, a
discussion about love at that point in time was akin to a vegan
having a discussion about meat. Distasteful. Rebecca knew she was
single. The whole world knew she was single. There was no need to
draw attention to her status by talking about it. It wasn’t like
she was going to pick a boyfriend from the boyfriend tree before
tomorrow.

Rebecca looked
across the table to her friend. “Uh, possibly, yes we do. I mean,
Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. We have to get organised. Well, you
have to get organised. I’ve been ready for weeks.”

Of course, she
had. Rebecca had planned her own funeral by the time she was
twenty.

“
But it’s just so… so…” Lily rolled her eyes.

“
So… what?”

“
I don’t want to discuss it. Suffice to say there will be no
valentines in my letterbox this year,” Lily said.

“
But you can still come to the ball. The whole purpose is
about meeting people and maybe finding a new valentine. Unless
you’ve got one. In which case you’d be celebrating your love at
such an event. Like me and Shaun.”

Lily glared at
her.

“
Sorry. Didn’t mean to gloat.”

“
I know. And I’m sorry for being such a Debbie Downer but I
can’t do it. Not this year. All those people in love, pretending
that this is forever when they know perfectly well that it isn’t.
I’d throw up in my handbag.”

“
But you love Valentine’s. You’ve always loved Valentine’s.”
Rebecca seemed to be struggling with the change of heart on Lily’s
part. It was as if someone had told her John Mayer didn’t like
girls anymore or something.

“
I’ve seen the error of my ways.”

“
I distinctly remember you bursting into tears last year, when
you realised that massive bouquet that was making its way through
the office was for you. And what about all those tiny love hearts
you cut out by hand and left as a trail for Travis to follow and
find the romantic dinner you’d made? The homemade liqueur
chocolates? The teddy dressed as you?”

Lily’s mouth
twisted at the recollection. It had been an overt gesture on her
part. “That was last year.”

“
Look, Hon’, if you don’t want to go to the Valentine’s Ball,
that’s fine. I just thought it’d be fun. Give us a chance to frock
up. And I’ve already bought the tickets.”

“
Fun? Watching loved-up couples sticking their tongues down
each other’s throats on the dance floor? I’d rather poke out my
eyeballs with a satay skewer.”

“
God, you’re depressing.”

“
Thank you.”

Reaching into
the voluminous handbag that sat at her feet, Lily produced a clear
lip balm and smeared it across her lips. She pressed them together
for a second as if absorbing the idea that she was, in fact, the
killjoy of Valentine’s Day. Just the way she liked it.

But Rebecca
wouldn’t give up. When presented with an opportunity to pop on a
pretty frock and dance the night away she was as persistent as a
nagging wife. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a date. Please,
come.”

Her appetite
now completely gone, Lily pushed the remains of her baguette away
and took another sip of her coffee. It was almost cold and left a
horrid taste in her mouth, a bit like the idea of going to the Ball
alone. Where had it all gone wrong? Romance had been one of her
strengths. She’d been proud that she was able to be romantic
without seeming needy or clingy like other girls, that she could
find romance in daily events or take her man completely by surprise
with a gesture like last year’s. She’d loved the fact that people
considered her and Travis the perfect couple ~ able to be together
yet apart, able to show their affection with a look or a touch.
She’d thought that maybe this year she’d be engaged. And where had
she ended up? On the couples scrapheap with all the other losers
who couldn’t make a relationship work.

No. She
couldn’t do it. Romance was officially dead. It had died the night
Travis had packed his leather travel bag and walked out the door.
Now all she had to do was bury it.

Lily and
Travis had been an item for two years before he’d gotten the big
promotion. That was when everything had changed. He’d walked into
the kitchen of their warehouse flat late one evening and after
wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing the nape of
her neck ~ as he did often but on this occasion he totally reeked
of garlic ~ he calmly informed her that he’d been promoted. He then
whipped out a bottle of chilled Moet, that he’d bought at the
bottleshop on his way home from work or wherever it was he’d been,
poured two glasses and told her to start packing.

The main
problem with this scenario had been that Lily didn’t want to pack.
She liked her life and her job as it was. She had her friends and
her family. She went to yoga on Wednesdays and the rugby on
Saturday afternoons. She ate dinner in the city at cheap curry
houses and cafes and went to the outdoor cinema with her mother.
And when it came down to it, being handed an ultimatum like that ~
without a hint of warning, which was
sooo
Travis’s way ~
made her utterly miffed. She didn’t want to have to choose.