A Beautiful Forever(12)

Work is great, and my roommates are great. I’m getting along well with Andrea and Naomi; it's really nice to have friends around me - close personal connections are something that I’ve been avoiding for a long time. Living in London, I feel like a new person, no one knows more about me than I want them to, so I am just Paige, the Aussie hairdresser – it’s truly freeing, and I’m finding that I'm relaxing, laughing and enjoying life more and more every day. I exist in a large group of people, all trying to have a good time and live for the moment – they're all only here for three to six months so every day matters to them, it’s hard not to let their enthusiasm rub off on me too.

I never thought I would enjoy sharing a room with someone, but Naomi is proving to be very easy to live with – albeit a little untidy. She doesn’t snore. She is careful not to wake me if she comes home later than me, and she’s a great conversationalist. I’m starting to feel a little like her therapist though as she’s a big inner thoughts sharer, but it’s nice for me; I like to listen to her chatter about her own insights on life.

A hot topic of conversation is Elliot. She has a HUGE crush on him and when she’s around him, the hair starts to flick, and the smile comes out. She finds every joke he makes hilariously funny which in turn is hilariously funny to me – so I try to stay out of the way around them because Elliot is still a little too focused on me, and I don’t want to embarrass her.

“So you’re pretty close to Elliot aren’t you?” she asks me one night as we both sit in our room preparing for bed.

“Um, not really – I mean we’re friends, but I wouldn’t call us close…Why?” I ask, looking at her in via mirror on my wardrobe as I rub leave-in conditioner into the ends of my hair.

“No reason, you just seem to be together a lot. You’re kind of attached at the hip, we’re all wondering what’s going on that’s all.”

“There’s nothing going on Nomes, he goes home in two months – we’re friends,” I say, wiping my hands clean on a moist towelette and depositing it in the small bin by our door and avoiding any eye contact. I can feel her still watching me, but I continue to focus on myself, feeling relieved when I hear her get into bed and open her book.

I’m going to go right on ahead and admit that I’m attracted to him, Elliot Roberts is by far the most beautiful man I have ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on – there, I said it. I mean who wouldn’t be attracted to him, he turns the head of every female, every single time we go somewhere. But he seems oblivious to all of it, taking it all in his stride; it amazes me.

That being said, I have lived without the ‘help’ of men for the last eight of my 25 years on this earth, and I’m not about to go all gushy over one now. Truth is, even though I'm trying, I just don’t do well in the ‘getting close to people’ business, there is too much about my life that I don’t want to share with anyone and my lack of sharing, well - it eventually causes problems.

Rising from the end of the bed, I move over to the light switch, as I do Naomi reaches out and switches the lamp on, so she can continue to read while I go to sleep.

“Good book?” I ask her as I slide beneath my covers.

She rests it open on her chest and sighs smiling as she looks at me. “It’s the best,” she says, “so romantic!”

Laughing a little to myself, I roll over to face the wall and bid her goodnight, leaving her to read her cheesy romance novel and wishing life was really like one. I’d love noting more than a happy ending, but I’m fairly sure people like me don’t get them.





Chapter 10


Elliot


This is one of the rare days when I had a late client, so I didn’t meet up with Paige to walk home with her like I usually do. Once I’m back at the flat, I dump my gear in my room and then head out to the living area. I notice that Paige and Naomi’s names are missing from the whiteboard we write our names on, to say who’s going to be home for dinner.

“Where are the girls?” I ask Gavin and Brian, who are sitting in front of the television watching the cricket, beer in hand, bag of chips on the couch between them. They let out a loud cheer as the batter gets caught out before they answer me.

“Nomes dragged Paige out with her for a girly night,” Gavin told me without taking his eyes off the screen.

Brian laughs and throws a handful of chips into his mouth, crunching down loudly, “Yeah she didn’t look too happy about it,” he says. “Fuck that Paige chick’s hot though, you should have seen her in that dress,” he nods his head thoughtfully and blows out his breath.

Gavin’s head joins in, “Are you two banging? ‘cause if you’re not…” he asks finally looking away from the tv.

“Don’t talk about her like that,” I warn them defensively.

Gavin raises his hands signalling ‘no offense’, “It’s alright mate, we’re just talking. Everyone can see you’ve got a thing for her – no one’s cutting your grass.”

I shake my head, “Whatever,” I say, moving into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge.

“Hey, Elliot, can you grab us another one as well,” Brian calls out, returning the mood to normal.

Handing them their drinks when I return to the living room, I take a seat on the other couch, while I stare at the game on the tv, not really watching. I’m busy thinking about where Paige is. I can’t help but feel kind of annoyed that she didn’t text me to say she was going out. Then I kick myself because it’s not like I own her, it’s not like she owes me anything. I guess I’m just used to having her around. I don’t really want to hang out without her… geez… I’ve got it bad.





Paige


Naomi has taken me to this Salsa club she’s heard about and has been dying to try out. We've both put on our most flowing dresses, and I helped her curl her hair and pin it back to suit her outfit. I even went a little wild and put some red lipstick on myself – it was under slight duress. Naomi insisted I needed red lips to go with my black knee-length dress. Other than that, I just have mascara on.

Sitting at the bar, I watch Naomi strut her stuff on the dance floor with a guy who certainly knows his moves, he’s spinning and swinging her around the floor effortlessly, and I have to resist the urge to clap whenever they finish a song.

“Come and dance with me,” she asks breathlessly when she walks back towards me.

“Oh I don’t know. I'm really not that coordinated,” I laugh.

“Nonsense! Come with me and I’ll show you.” She grabs my hand and pulls me off the stool and starts to try to show me how to move my feet and swing my hips. I don’t do too badly, but I feel a bit awkward next to the smooth moving Naomi.

The guy Naomi had been dancing with moves back over to cut into our lesson, and I happily step away, bumping straight into a guy who, when I turn around and see him, is the epitome of tall, dark and handsome.

As a grin spreads over his face, I feel his eyes drag over my body, “Can I interest you in a dance,” he rumbles in a deep baritone.

Instantly, I shake my head. “Oh no, I’m not much of a dancer.”

“Not from what I saw,” he responds holding out his hand for me to take. I look at it and step away from him, refusing his offer.

“No thank you,” I say firmly, walking directly back to my still vacant bar stool.

I notice the guy shake his head before he moves on to some other pretty girl who’s smiling and practically swooning the moment he holds his hand out to her. Watching them move for a little while, I start to wish I hadn’t agreed to this as I get restless and wonder when it’s time to go back to the flat.

Playing with my phone in my hand, I finger the touch screen, trying to decide whether I want to text Elliot or not. I feel lonely without him all of a sudden.

Hey, what are you up to? I tap out and send before I have a chance to change my mind.

He responds quickly, like he had his phone in his hand and was waiting on me. Watching cricket with the guys. U?

Me: Watching Naomi dance.

Elliot: Y aren’t u dancing?

Me: I don’t like strangers touching me.

Elliot: U want me to come get u?

My thumbs hover unmoving, as I contemplate whether or not I should bail. I jolt my head up and cradle my phone in my lap guiltily as Naomi comes over holding a bottle of beer and smiling. “How’s Elliot?” she asks, nodding at my phone.

“What? Why would I know?” I reply, feeling strange that she immediately jumped to that conclusion.

She tilts her head and looks at me like she can’t believe I think she’s that stupid. “It’s obvious you two are into each other Paige. It hums in the air whenever you’re around each other.”

I frown a little, “I thought you were interested in Elliot.”