A Beautiful Forever(11)

“Deal,” I say mentally preparing my first question. As she adjusts herself in her chair, sitting even straighter than she was before. It’s as if I can actually see her defences go up, her glare has an edge to it, warning me not to push too hard.

“Where did you grow up?”

“Miranda.”

“A shire girl huh? You don’t sound like one when you speak.”

“No. I don’t. Where did you grow up?”

“Bondi. Where did you go to school?”

“Danebank.”

“Did you like it there?”

“It was a school. How about you?”

“Sydney Grammar. First job?”

Watching her, she is clearly uncomfortable talking about herself, her arms folded protectively around her waist while she watches me as if she is ready to shut down at any moment. I could just end this now, let her be, but I can’t.

“Sex toy.”

I simply sit and stare back at her trying not to react to this one, there’s a challenge in her eyes, and I feel like she’s trying to shock me or test me to see how far she can push before I’ll stop. When I open my mouth, I force my voice to stay even as I speak. “Sex toy?”

She shifts in her chair again and sighs, but continues eye contact, “Salon hand.”

“How old were you when you lost your family?”

“Fifteen.”

“Then what happened?”

“My life changed.”





Paige


I feel like we’re playing a game of battleship in this rapid-fire question and answer session, but he’s getting more turns than I am as he moves towards the area of my life I really don’t want to talk about. It’s time for me to focus more on him.

“Tell me about your family, are they good to you?” I urge him, trying to get him to talk about himself, so I don’t have to refuse him an answer. As much as I’ve had enough of talking about me, I don’t like the thought of him being upset with me.

He sits forward, taking a drink from his mug now that it’s had some time to cool down. “Does it upset you - talking about other people’s families?”

I laugh; he is playing me at my own game, “Are we only going to ask questions now?”

“Are you finished answering questions?”

“Are you still asking them?”

“Would you like a Tim Tam with your coffee?”

“Touché, Elliot,” I laugh, “You just played the chocolate biscuit card, and you won – yes I’d love a Tim Tam.”

He smiles slightly with only half his face. It's not in any way cocky; I get the feeling he’s been trying to show me what it’s like not to be given answers. I watch him as he rises gracefully from his chair, the muscles in his arms rippling as he reaches up and pulls a packet out of the cupboard, the plastic crinkling loudly in the quiet room as he slides the biscuits out of their packaging and places the tray between us.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he says quietly. “Does it upset you?”

“No, it doesn’t. I actually like hearing about other people’s lives – their families, their friends, their interests. It’s part of what I love about my job, these people come in and share so much about themselves, and my gift to them is an understanding ear and little extra confidence in their looks. So please, I’m now begging – tell me about your family.”

“Well, my mum is fantastic,” he starts. I sit and listen as Elliot gives in and talks about his family, he’s an only child and his parents divorced when he finished school. I can tell from the way he talks that he adores his mother and step dad, but he doesn’t say much about his father.

“So where’s your father now? Do you have much to do with him?”

“We don’t talk much anymore. He wanted me to be a barrister and when I threw in the towel and altered my career path – he threw in the towel and stopped caring about me.”

“Do you miss having him in your life?”

“I don’t know - he was very controlling. I hated being a solicitor, but he was so intent on having his son follow in his footsteps that he wouldn’t listen to me. We’ve never really had much in common besides work and now that’s gone so…” he shrugs, letting his shoulders drop heavily, as his sentence trails off unfinished.

“Are happier now though? I can’t really imagine you confined to desk in an office.”

“I am much happier now. He’ll get over it eventually, or not… I don’t know; it doesn’t really matter I guess. My mum and step dad are very supportive, so I can’t really complain.”

A squeal of laughter filters in from the stairwell and we both turn our heads toward the door, listening to the noise of everyone else coming home. Bursting through the door, laughing and falling all over each other, they immediately start babbling on about how much fun they had.

“There she is! The Cock Smasher!” Shane slurs, pointing at me as the others all burst out laughing, I can’t help but smile along with them as I watch their faces all screw up with drunken laughter.

“I can’t believe you dropped that guy,” Naomi laughs as they all gather round the table. There’s a flurry of hands in front of me as the Tim Tams are snatched up and devoured in seconds.

“God I love these things,” Petra says through the chocolaty goodness in her mouth. “When I get home I’ll send you some more packets.”

“You’d better,” Brian tells her. “It’s an unwritten law for a returning Aussie you know.”

“What is?” I ask. “Sending Tim Tams?”

“Hells yeah,” answers Naomi. “Every time one of us goes home, they have to send back a box full of things we can’t buy here like Tim Tams, Vegemite, Minties, Milo – stuff like that. Our families send things too but we kind of do it as a farewell gift for each other.”

“They don’t have Milo here?” I ask surprised. Milo is a staple in almost every Aussie household.

“No, they drink Ovaltine instead,” Petra puts in.

Brian gets up and starts making coffee for everyone as we continue talking about the differences between Australia and here, laughing and joking together as we do. I look around the table, taking in all the smiling faces and suddenly feel a sense of belonging. I haven’t felt a part of something in such a long time. Smiling inwardly, I think I’m really going to like living here.





Chapter 9


Elliot


Life is starting to feel normal now that I’ve been in London for a month. Although, it’s kind of funny being the guy with the accent for a change, to me, it still sounds like everyone else has an accent.

Coming here seems to be exactly what I needed to start feeling more like myself again. There’s nothing like having a limited time somewhere to make you see what’s most important, three months isn’t long in the grand scheme of things, and you don’t waste any of it, so I’ve been having fun wherever possible and trying to live each day the best that I can.

There seems to be a bit of an Aussie culture over here where we all tend to stick together. Sometimes, when we go out as a group, we’ll run into another group of Aussies – then we all start hanging out and acting like long lost friends. I find it funny that we’ve all traveled to the other side of the world just to hang out with other Australians, but it’s fun, so much more fun that it is at home.

My job is amazing; I'm working at The City Point Club. It's this beautiful up market fitness club and spa that offers everything you could possibly want to take care of your body. I’ve been booked with clients pretty solid since I started so my boss is really happy with me.

Paige has been living with us for the past three weeks. I love seeing her every day, but we’re still solidly in the ‘friend zone’. I’m not sure if I’m ok with that, because I do really like her. Although I understand where she’s coming from, there’s no point starting with something that has to end by the time I leave. If she was any other girl, I’d be fine with entering a short term relationship just for the fun of it, but she’s not any other girl. I get along with her. I can talk to her. That’s not something that’s easy to come by. The last person I clicked remotely with was Katrina. Jumping into a relationship with her just ruined the friendship we had in the end, and now I don’t have contact with her at all, I don’t want that with Paige, I would rather the friendship… I think.





Paige


After a whole month living in London, I have yet to contact my father. He’s aware that I’m here as I contacted him before I left Sydney, but I’ve been so wrapped up working and hanging out with my housemates that I’ve let it slide. It sits in the back of my mind niggling at me to do something, but I guess I’m just erring on the side of being chicken shit. I really am afraid to go and meet him, because I have no idea what to expect.