Will to Love (15 page)

"Umm, he's good."
 
Clarise mentally prepared how she was going to tell her family that they were no longer 'together'.

"Why didn't you bring him here today?
 
Or are you not ready to do that yet?" Megan asked.

"You do know he's welcome here, right, Clarise?" her dad added.

Geez, my love life is the centre of attention again,
Clarise thought uncomfortably.
 
She looked at Rick who was the only quiet one.
 
He grinned and winked at her as if to say 'I'm on your side'.
 
He knew how her family always brought up the subject of her love life - or lack of it - and how uncomfortable it made her feel.
 
She smiled at him warmly.
 

She realised everyone was expecting her to answer their questions about Victor.
 
Okay, then.
 
Telling the truth is always the easiest.
 
"Well, I have a confession to make," she started.
 
Everyone seemed to freeze and waited for her next words.
 
"Victor and I were never an item.
 
He's actually gay."

"What?" they all exclaimed at the same time.
 
Their surprise - or was it shock - was evident in their expressions.
 
They seemed frozen in time as they stilled and stared at her - her dad holding a fork with a piece of sausage midway through his mouth, her mum cutting up the meat on her plate, Megan helping herself to some salad and Rick about to bite on a chicken leg.
 
It was really quite comical.

"Well," Clarise looked at Megan and spoke with laughter in her voice.
 
"You really scared me with your matchmaking plans.
 
I thought the whole thing would have been too embarrassing and the only way I thought I could stop you from embarrassing me at your party was to pretend I already had a boyfriend."

No one said anything.
 
They just continued to stare at her.

"Oh, come on, guys.
 
It was actually kind of fun.
 
And I'm really sorry I ruined your plans but..." she shrugged.
 

Finally, everyone moved again.

"Well, well, well," Megan said, looking at her intently.
 
"What a damn shame.
 
You certainly acted to the hilt."

"I'm sorry.
 
Don't be mad at me.
 
I didn't ruin your party, though, did I?"

"No, of course not," Megan conceded.

Rick piped in.
 
"Well, it was a good thing that the guy we were going to set you up with was relieved it didn't happen either."

"Oh, really?" Clarise asked, knowing full well who Rick was talking about.

"Yeah.
 
He said he wasn't interested in being introduced to anyone anyway.
 
He's really not looking for a relationship at the moment by the looks of it.
 
Too busy with his business."

A certain sadness enveloped Clarise.
 
He doesn't want to be with me like I want to be with him.
 
But I already knew that.

"So who was this guy?
 
Did I meet him at your party?" Carla asked curiously.

Clarise squirmed with discomfort.
 
She didn't want to discuss Will.
 
She remembered his words from last night, 'let's keep 'us' to ourselves for now'.
 

"Oh, mum, it doesn't matter now.
 
We won't mention names.
 
It's obvious both Clarise and our friend aren't into matchmaking."
 
It was Megan to the rescue.
 
Clarise breathed out a quiet sigh of relief.

"So, Clarise, does that mean you're not going out with anyone at the moment?" Clara prodded.

Clarise thought of Will and their confusing status.
 
"No, mum, I'm not," she answered, not realising she said it with a tinge of sadness that was obvious to her family.

Clara and Megan looked at each other and a gleam appeared on Megan's eye.

~~

"I'll bring out more drinks and some water," Megan offered after everyone finished their lunch.
 
They were now ready to dig into Clarise's tiramisu.
 
"Would you like to help me, darling?" she said to Rick.

Rick nodded and followed her into the house.

Once out of earshot, Megan said to Rick, "You know we can still continue with our matchmaking plans for Clarise."

"Why?"

"Darling, you saw her sad look when she said she wasn't with anyone.
 
You know she's not much of a party girl or anything like that.
 
She doesn't meet enough nice guys.
 
And you've got some single friends.
 
I'd love for her to find that special someone like I found you," she smiled at him alluringly.

Rick laughed as he hugged Megan.
 
"Babe, you're such a romantic."

"Okay, so who else can we introduce to her?
 
Is Will definitely out?"

"I think so.
 
He definitely said he didn't want a relationship with anyone when I prodded him about it last Sunday.
 
He assured me he was very relieved we didn't go ahead with our matchmaking plans."
 
Rick paused before continuing.
 
"I think Jared Brigden will be a good candidate."

"Jared?"
 
Megan frowned as she tried to remember who he was.

"Yeah, from Brigden Sports Merchandise, remember?
 
He gave Clarise some tennis lessons last year, after she won them from mum's charity fund raiser.
 
I seem to remember he was keen on her back then but he knew he was moving to Brisbane so he didn't pursue it."

"Oh, yes, I remember," Megan said excitedly as she pulled out a bottle of dessert wine and mineral water from the fridge.
 
She handed them to Rick and reached in for a beer for her dad.
 
"Is he back here in Sydney?"

"Yes, he's been back for a couple of months now.
 
He's managing their branch here after his dad decided to take an early retirement.
 
His younger brother's up in Brisbane now.
 
He's been around the tennis courts recently.
 
We've played a couple of games with him."

"Great!" Megan said gleefully.
 
"Hmm.
 
Maybe we can organise something for all your sports buddies as an excuse.
 
That way it's not too obvious to Clarise or she'll run for the hills.
 
We need to make sure we don't tell them our plans," Megan cautioned.

"Okay, Miss Cupid.
 
I'll leave all the planning to you.
 
That's your thing."
 
Rick said fondly as they walked back out with drinks.

~~

Clarise sat in front of the TV as she ate some leftovers from her parents' barbecue.
 
She thought of calling one of her friends but she still felt like wallowing.
 

Will hadn't called all day.
 
It's Saturday!
 
Surely he would have had some time to at least say 'hi' and 'hello'?
 
She may be a bit unreasonable with her expectations but she couldn't help compare him to Daniel.
 
Daniel used to call her every day even if it was just to see how she was, or how her day went.
 
And she didn't even sleep with him!

Deep down, Clarise knew she was really nervous about their relationship status and was looking for some reassurance.

'Why don't we just take it one date at a time?'
she remembered saying to him.

'You'll be okay with that?'
he had asked.
 
And she led him to believe she was.

Am I really okay with that?
 
Clarise tried to understand her emotions as she stared at the TV unseeingly.
 

What if his schedule only allowed him to see me occasionally?
 
But, isn't that what we agreed to -
 
whenever our schedules would allow?
 
But could I really handle that?
 
I know it's not what I really want.
 
I want him to be mine and I want to be his.
   

Her phone rang, startling her out of her rumination.
 

Will!
 
Her heart pounded rapidly.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Hi, baby."

Baby!
 
And he called!
 
Clarise's face broke into a grin.
 

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No.
 
I'm just watching TV."

"What are you watching?"

"Umm," Clarise focused on the TV screen to see what was showing.
 
She wasn't really paying attention.
 
Unfortunately, the commercials were on.
 
"I'm still flicking the channels.
 
I haven't decided on what to watch yet.
 
What are you doing?"

"Talking to you."
 
She could sense the grin on his face.

"I meant, apart from the obvious?"

He chuckled.
 
"I was working."

She looked at the clock.
 
It was 7:45pm.
 
On a Saturday night.
 
"Wow, you really do work all hours."

"Yes, all hours," he agreed.
 
"Some of my business contacts are overseas.
 
And the tourist trade is 24/7.
 
In fact, I
 
never turn my mobile phone off."

"What?
 
You mean to say you can take business calls at two o'clock in the morning?
 
Don't they call your office landline?"

He laughed.
 
"There was a time when I was giving out my mobile phone number to business prospects instead of the office number.
 
So, some of them still call me direct on my mobile.
 
Fortunately, my overseas business partners are considerate enough to check the time difference before they call.
 
But I'm just the kind of person who doesn't want to miss opportunities, I guess.
 
When I first started, someone from the US did call me at around midnight.
 
For some reason he thought I was in Austria and not in Australia.
 
Well, that phone call led to a very profitable business partnership."

"Wow.
 
So when you answered the phone for that guy from the US, did you sound like you just woke up from sleep?" she asked humorously.

"No, I was still awake.
 
Just.
 
I usually go to bed around midnight or thereabouts."

"Oh."
 
She wanted to ask what time he usually woke up but he spoke before she could ask.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to have lunch with me tomorrow?"

"Oh, you don't have anything more important to do?"
 
She said it teasingly, but she really wanted him to say seeing her was more important than anything else he could do on a Sunday.

"No, not during mid-day.
 
I think I should be able to do most of what I need to do tomorrow morning."
 
He continued in a lower voice, "besides, I really want to see you."

It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear but it was enough to melt Clarise.
 
She really missed him. "Yes, I'm free tomorrow."

"Good.
 
I'll pick you up at 12?"

"Sounds good," she said grinning like an idiot.

"Goodnight, Clarise."

"Goodnight, Will."

~~

It was another beautiful autumn day.
 
The sun was shining outside and Clarise was feeling as bright as the day looked.
 
She was seeing Will again.
 

The buzzer sounded.
 
"Hi, Will.
 
I'll be downstairs in a sec."

"Can I come up first?"

"Yeah, sure."
 
Clarise buzzed him in.
 
She felt the butterflies fluttering in her stomach so she looked around her apartment to double-check its state of tidiness to distract herself.
 

There was a knock on the door and her heart skipped.
 
"Hi."
 
Clarise said to the handsome face before her as she opened the door.
 
God, how could she have missed him so?
 
How could she have fallen for him so fast?

"Hi," Will gazed at her warmly, drinking her in, as he closed the door behind him.
 
"There was something I wanted to do first before we go."
 
Before she could ask him what it was, he took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly, sweetly.
 
Clarise let out a little sigh and put her arms around his neck, kissing him back.
 
Will held her tight against him and within seconds, the nature of the kiss changed.
 
All of a sudden he was kissing her like he hadn't seen her for months instead of mere hours.

Oh, Will.
 
Clarise was all feelings as Will ravished her mouth.
 
Her body heated and she felt desire unfurl within her.
 
Within moments, she was as hungry for him as he was for her and was returning his kiss with equal fervour.

Her response spurred Will on.
 
He roamed his hands on her back feverishly as he trailed hot kisses on her jaw, her chin, her neck and back to her face.
 
Clarise couldn't help but press her body against his.