THE TROUBLE WITH PAPER PLANES(47)

Did I?

Maybe it wasn’t a matter of belief. Maybe it was a matter of experience. I had never had this happen to me before, so I had nothing to compare it to. Scepticism, born out of ignorance. Whatever it was, it felt real, and it was happening to me. To us.

As I was finishing up for the day, my phone buzzed with an incoming text and I fished it out of my pocket. It was from Vinnie.

’Sup stranger?

Sledgehammer subtle, as usual. He was right, though. I hadn’t spoken to him since his party on Friday night. I’d been so busy with Maia, I hadn’t even noticed. I felt a bit guilty, now. I swiped the text off the screen and called him back instead. He answered on the first ring.

“Who is this?”

“Yeah yeah, very funny,” I smiled.

“Hello?”

“Vin. You texted me, remember?”

He chuckled. “So I did. How’s things?”

“Great. You?”

“Fine.” He paused for a moment. “You sound weird.”

“Define weird.”

“Happy. Not your usual self. Weird.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “Whatever.”

“It’s Maia isn’t it?”

The smile disappeared. “What? I mean, how –“

He chuckled. “Bridget. She told Jas you were seeing a bit of her. I was just calling to find out which bit.”

“Jesus, Vin… ”

“What?”

He was loving this, I could tell.

“Let’s have dinner, or go for a drink. Jas spent some time with her setting up for the party, and she says she’s pretty cool, so she has the Jas seal of approval. I feel left out, though. I want to get to know her better, too – there are some things she should know, and being your big brother, it’s kinda my job to fill her in.” I could just imagine the kinds of stories he wanted to tell, and I was less than keen to subject Maia to that. “So, tonight?”

“No bloody way!”

“Why not?”

“Because!”

Him acting like a two-year-old was making me act like one, too.

“Aw, come on. I’ll be on my best behaviour – promise. So will Jas. Please?”

“Jas isn’t the one I’m worried about. She’s got class, unlike you.”

He gasped dramatically. “Whoah! That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“Look, it’s way too soon for that. We just need a bit more time to, y’know, sort through some stuff. Trust me though, when she’s ready for this, you’ll be the first to know. Okay?”

I wanted to keep Maia to myself for a little while longer. We were still figuring this thing out. Henry was one thing – I knew he wouldn’t embarrass me – but Vinnie was something else entirely. I needed to make sure Maia was able to handle his particular kind of ‘humour.’

“Fine,” he huffed. “But meet me for a drink after work? If she’ll let you out unsupervised, that is.”

I was torn. I wanted to spend the evening with Maia, but I needed to see Vinnie, too, to try and explain properly so he’d get off my back for a while.

“Funny,” I said, without a trace of humour. “Yeah, okay. Just one though. I’ve got plans with Maia tonight and I don’t want to be late home and screw them up.”

“Jeez, it must be serious,” he mumbled. “One beer. Hardly seems worth it, but okay. Because I miss you and because you never call anymore.” Sarcastic bastard. “What kind of plans?”

“Picnic.”

He started making kissing noises into the phone.

“I’m not doing this,” I sighed. “See you at the pub in an hour. I need to finish up here and get a shower.”

He was still making kissing noises.

“Vin?”

He stopped. “Yeah, alright. See you there, Romeo.”

I finished up and went home to shower. It’d been less than a week since I’d met Maia, yet it felt like my whole world had turned upside down. Hell, we were living together and I still knew bugger all about her. Still, I had plans to rectify that, hopefully tonight.

I was planning on taking her on another picnic, this time to a different spot. I was going to show her all my favourite picnic spots, one after another. It’d be like a magical mystery tour of the area. She said she liked surprises.

When I got to the café shortly afterward, I went to the back door, as had become my habit over the past week. The door from the kitchen into the delivery lane was open, and I poked my head in. Maia was standing with her back to me, at the counter, preparing food. Just the sight of her made my heart race. I crept up behind her, sliding my hands around her waist.