A Beautiful Forever(13)

She laughs, “I am, of course I am! If he said ‘hey Nomes, you, me in the bedroom – leave your clothes at the door’ I’d say, ‘hell yeah’ and run in there. However, that’s not going to happen - he’s not interested in me; he's interested in you.”

Laughing, I say, “I don’t really think he talks like that.”

She shrugs, smiling and taking a sip from her beer. “So what’s holding you back? Why aren’t you making wild monkey love with him every chance you get?”

“Because, I don’t know – maybe I think he’s too good for me, maybe I don’t want to get my heart broken, maybe I don’t want to ruin our friendship. There’s literally dozens of reasons why it’s a bad idea.”

“Maybe, but if you like each other, why can’t you have an amazing couple of months together – even if that’s all it is, it’s better than doing nothing, watching him leave and then regretting it for the rest of your life.”

“He doesn’t really want me Naomi. It’s the unattainable thing that’s making me attractive right now. He'll find someone else to turn his head eventually, and this will all be a moot point.”

“Paige, have a look around this club,” I do as she says and scan the club taking everything in, “Do you see one guy even remotely as good-looking as Elliot?”

“Well… no.”

“Then why would you knock that back?”

“Because… I feel like I have to,” I say looking down at my phone. Naomi looks down and takes it out of my hands reading the message across the screen. “Hey! What are you doing?!" I grab for my phone as she steps away, keeping it out of my reach as she types out a message.

“There, it’s done – you’re welcome,” she says smiling and heading back over to her dance partner. My phone beeps in my hand and I look at the message on the screen.

I’ll b there in 10

Feeling nervous all of a sudden, I get up and head to the ladies' room to check my reflection, frowning when I see the painted lady looking back at me. Turning on the tap, I grab some paper hand towel out of the dispenser and wipe the lipstick off my face. I look ridiculous. This isn’t me.

Looking at myself again, I take a deep breath. “Don’t do this, nothing changes,” I coach myself. I can’t believe I was just entertaining the thought of having something more with Elliot. Bloody Naomi, I had this all under control. Didn’t I?





Elliot


I borrow Shane’s car and drive to the club to pick up Paige. She's waiting outside with Naomi, who’s leaning up against some guy. When they see me pull up, Naomi waves at me then nudges Paige towards the passenger-side door.

“Have fun!” she sing songs as Paige climbs in.

“Has Naomi hooked up?” I ask once the doors shut, as I watch Naomi walk back inside the club entwined with that guy.

“She has, thanks for coming to get me,” she says pulling on her seat belt.

“You rescued me actually. I hate cricket,” I confide in her.

“Isn’t it blasphemy to say that!” she replies mockingly.

“It is, don’t tell anyone.” I wink as I pull out into the traffic and start to make my way through the streets to turn us back towards the flat, although I’m not interested in returning to watch cricket again.

“You want a coffee?” I ask when I spot an open café.

Paige looks ahead to where I’m indicating. “Yeah, I do actually.”

We keep our eye out for a parking spot, finding one quickly and walking back to the café. It’s surprisingly busy, and we have to line up behind another four people to order.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look really beautiful tonight,” I tell her, nudging her lightly in the arm with my elbow.

She laughs, and I prepare for the coming lecture. I know I shouldn’t have said anything, but I couldn’t really help myself – the woman is gorgeous, she should be told.

“Thank you Elliot,” is all she says.

“Wait, what? Where’s the brow beating?” I ask jokingly.

She shrugs and smiles at me as we reach the front of the line, I order for both of us, and we go and sit at a table near the window while we wait.

“So why did you go to a salsa club if you didn’t want to dance?” I ask, watching her play with the packets of sugar on the table. She's reorganising them, so they're lined up in their colour groups.

“I don’t know why,” she answers. “I hate clubs; I really do – all that gyrating against strangers,” she makes a face to illustrate her distaste before continuing, “it just… isn’t my thing. I suppose I thought a salsa club would be a bit different, and it was. It didn’t have the massive crowd, but it still had the gyrating and the touching. So I was glad to leave. Thank you again for coming to get me.”

“It was my pleasure Paige,” I say placing my hand over hers to stop her fiddling with the sugars. “Relax.”

Quickly withdrawing her hand, she places it in her lap, her cheeks flush as she looks around the room nervously.

Feeling an emptiness in my palm where her hand was, I move the sugar to the side and watch her flit, curious as to her behaviour. “Paige, does it also bother you when I touch you?” I ask, suddenly concerned.

The flush on her face seems to increase as she focuses her attention on me and meets my eyes. “No,” she breathes, shaking her head lightly. “No, it’s just the opposite. That’s what bothers me.”





Paige


Did I seriously just say that? I see confusion pass over his face before the realisation of what I admitted dawns on him. I’m ever so grateful when our coffees are brought over, and our attentions are diverted as we accept them and thank the server.

He’s watching me, his eyes boring through me as I take a shaky sip from my coffee. “Oh, f*ck that’s hot!” I exclaim, almost spitting the scalding liquid back into my mug.

A smile plays on the edge of his lips as he watches me fiddle about with a napkin as I wipe my mouth and try to cool my tongue.

“So um… Naomi’s a fantastic dancer. You should see the way she twirls around the dance floor. I’ll have to ask her if she’s had lessons when I see her next,” I say, trying to salvage some sort of normal conversation.

“Paige,” Elliot says reaching across the table and placing his hand over my own. My breath catches in my throat as I close my eyes to the feeling his touch evokes inside me. I’m aroused and frightened all at the same time. My fear wins out and I try to pull my hand away, but I’m met with resistance as he encloses his hand firmly over my own. “Please don’t pull away,” he whispers.

With a shaky breath, I open my eyes, focusing on our combined hands. I catch myself thinking about what it would be like to give in to this attraction between us and simply go with the flow for a change instead of trying to control everything. It’s so tempting, being half way around the world, to just pretend everything will be ok… so tempting.

I place my other hand on top of his, my thumb caressing his skin absently as I meet his intense eyes. The attraction between us crackles and sparks through the air between us, numbing our senses to all that surrounds us. Closing my eyes, I inhale slowly in an attempt to calm my rapid heart. “Please Elliot, just let go,” I whisper, a frown etched on my face as my words betray my feelings.

The moment his hand retreats, I’m at a loss. The ache in my chest seems to slide down into my stomach and turn sour. “I’m sorry Elliot. It's not you ok?”

“Save it Paige,” he says, unable to hide the hurt in his face. “I don’t need any speeches ok. I know where we stand.”

I attempt to fill the emptiness in my hands by wrapping them around my mug and taking careful sips.

“So, um… Naomi can salsa can she?” he asks, ending the silence that was stretching out uncomfortably between us.

“She can. She's really amazing actually,” I gush, so grateful to him for speaking normally to me.

Despite the easy conversation that continues between us, I can’t help but feel that things have changed between us and not in a good way. Maybe I need to move out and let him go so he can find someone else. But, the mere thought of cutting my ties with him causes my chest to constrict and tears to spring into my eyes.

“Paige, what’s wrong? Are you ok?” Elliot asks quickly as he watches me clearing my throat and blinking rapidly as I try to get a handle on my emotions.

“I’m fine Elliot,” I lie. “I just bit my tongue.”

“Oh,” he laughs, settling back into his seat. “Are you bleeding? Do you want some water?”

“No, I’m fine. It's okay now. Are you ready to go?” I ask, pushing back my chair and reaching for my bag.