Bounce Down: 1st Quarter: Start of Play (12 page)

“
But he is
tall, dark and extremely well built, not to mention he plays with
Trent. And you haven’t answered my question, how did you manage to
hook up with a Crocs player?”

Mandy and now, due to her loose
lips, Peter, were the only two who knew about the blind date. It
would be too hard to explain why an AFL football star would need to
go on a blind date. Without revealing too much, I resolved to stick
to the truth as far as possible. If I was going to lie, I would be
more successful if I had some elements of truth to my story.

“
We met at a
park in Fremantle, the Esplanade.”

“
At the
Esplanade Hotel?”

“
Not the
hotel, the actual park.”

She didn’t buy my story for a
second. “Why would you go to a park and furthermore, why would
he?”

“
It was
during the Fremantle Festival and I was at a loose end, because my
best friend had abandoned me. Sorry, I can’t speak for Brendon, but
I’m glad he was there.”

Thursday flew
by and so far, Peter had kept his distance and his silence. After
work, as I arrived at the pit,
I knew I
had been premature in my assumption. I could hardly believe my eyes
as I spotted him, leaning casually against my bonnet, waiting for
me. The pit was basically a sandy vacant block situated some five
minutes walking distance from work, where several other public
servants and I left our cars, as it was about the only place we
could park without having to pay.

I opened my mouth to ask what
the hell was going on, but he got in first. “Hey, before you go off
your face at me, I’m here because of your restrictions.” He raised
his hand to silence me. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t talk to
you at work, I can’t email you and Jill would kill me if I saw you
out of work.”

The last part puzzled me.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t this out of work? So why won’t
your wife kill you now?”

As I unlocked my car, he opened
the passenger door. “Because you’re just giving me a lift home,”
and slid into the passenger seat, shutting the door and leaving me
standing there, amazed at his audacity.

I buckled my seat belt and
glanced across at him. “What’s on your mind to make you resort to
these measures?”

He put on his own belt, as he
avoided my question. “Start driving, I’ll explain on the way.”

I gave him a suspicious glare,
before starting the car and heading out onto the streets of
Northbridge.

He was silent for a few
minutes, which irritated me all the more. “Why did you want me to
drive? Why couldn’t we have talked in the car park?”

I caught a glimpse of a smile.
“This way, you won’t be able to kick me out if you don’t like my
questions.”

I returned his smile despite
myself. “Don’t bet on it. Well... hit me with the first one. You
might as well get everything out now, while you have this small
window of opportunity.”

“
I was
wondering why this high profile footballer would go on a blind date
with you? Who introduced you two?”

I shouldn’t have been surprised
he’d finally queried the whole blind date story. In hindsight, it
was probably the first thing he’d questioned, but not had the
opportunity to quiz me about it, until now.

“
Technically
that’s two questions.”

He turned to face my profile as
I drove. “Damn it Suzie, just tell me the truth!”

I stopped at a red light and
took a deep breath, as I looked at him. “It’s complicated and as
much as I’d like to tell you what you want to know, I can’t.”

“
Can’t or
won’t?” The traffic lights changed to green and drove through the
intersection.

“
Can’t.” I
kept my eyes on the road as I spoke, not daring to look at
him.

“
Why wouldn’t
you be able to tell me?” After a slight pause, he answered his own
question. “Unless he’s preventing you from telling
anyone?”

I sighed with frustration.
“Can’t you just leave it alone?”

“
No!”

I echoed his words. “Can’t or
won’t?”

“
Won’t. You
know that if you confide in me, I will keep your secret. I have
already; you don’t hear the guys talking about him, do
you?”

“
Please don’t
do this, Peter.”

“
You said I
could ask questions, yet you never had any intention of answering
them, did you?”

“
I won’t to
lie to you. I value our friendship too much.”

“
So
you
can’t
tell me
the truth and you
won’t
lie to me?”

I turned into his driveway.
“Basically. I will see you tomorrow.”

He shook his head in defeat, as
he opened the door. “Thanks for the lift.”

I rushed inside and checked the
answering machine.

“
No, he
hasn’t called,” advised my flatmate, as she descended the
stairs.

“
Oh okay,
thanks,” I mumbled, a little embarrassed at my
eagerness.

“
You haven’t
told me much about him. Keeping this one all to yourself, are
you?”

I laughed at her comment,
before telling her about Brendon. She would probably not recognise
his name or photograph, as she was interested in was rugby, both
league and union, not Aussie Rules. Still, she seemed happy for me
and asked when I would be bringing him home.

Once again, I reeled off my
spiel about keeping our relationship quiet for the time being and
not to tell anyone about us.

I showered early so I would not
miss his call. He had said he would contact me Thursday. He hadn’t
specify a time, but I presumed it would be 6.00 p m like last week.
As six came and went, I shared a plate of chicken nachos with
Diane, before she got ready for work.

Around eight, I went up to my
room to mope. I was not too concerned yet; after all, he didn’t say
what time.

At 9.30 she stuck her head in
my room, before she left for her night shift duty. “I’m off now,
don’t sweat it, he’ll call.”

It was late,
almost eleven and I was half-watching some re-run on TV, when I
heard the Crocs’ ring tone on my phone. I picked it up and read the
five word text from Brendon.
‘Friday at 6
my place B’

That was it – a five word text
from him? He didn’t even text his full name, just B. Perhaps he was
not big on texting, yet he seemed fine with emails.

I knew I shouldn’t be
disappointed, but I was. After all, he did say he would contact me
but I had believed it would be a phone call, not a text. However,
as he had so clearly pointed out, I was not his girlfriend so why
should I expect a romantic message?

I arrived at work the next day
and had put my bag under the desk, but before I could turn the
computer on, Mandy phoned me.

“
You’re not
going to believe this.”

“
I’m sure I’m
not, what’s up?”

“
There’s
something on the internet about lover boy.”

“
Shh, these
phones have ears remember?”

“
Oh soz, well
come downstairs and I’ll show you.”

In the elevator, I mulled over
her comment. Sure, there were things on the internet about him,
what was the big deal? It was my first question as I arrived at her
desk.

All she said was, “Look at the
picture.”

I did. There was a news article
about an incident the previous night at a popular city nightclub,
involving two of his team mates. There were a few pictures and one
of them clearly showed him with his arm around a beautiful girl. I
was not prepared for how jealous I felt. It hit me, hard!

I tried to keep my emotions in
check and made light of it. “It may be his sister.”

“
Yeah,
right.” Her reply clearly showed she didn’t believe that for a
moment and neither did I.

I returned to my office, still
reeling from this latest development. I was soon confronted by
Peter with a printout of the damning photo, which he shoved under
my nose. He was quick to tell me his initial source was a news
headline on the radio. Naturally, he had then searched online for
juicer details.

I didn’t make any comment,
causing him to lean down to whisper in my ear, “I thought you said
it wasn’t a threesome?”

Luckily Steve chose that moment
to interrupt. He gave Peter a sideways glance. “Suzie, are you able
to type a report as I dictate it?”

Quite often
the bosses sat with me and dictated as I typed. Usually it was
urgent reports and requests to be authorised by a higher authority,
who would generally want the document on their desk
‘
by yesterday’
.

“
Of course,
pull up a chair,” I said and gave Peter a dismissive
nod.

About a minute after Steve left
me, Peter phoned me. He must have been watching and seen him return
to his office.

“
So, what are
you going to do about it?”

“
Pete, I’m
busy at the moment.”

“
Are you
going to ignore it or confront him?”

“
Don’t talk
about this on the phone, I don’t trust them.”

“
You really
are paranoid, aren’t you?”

“
Bye Pete.” I
ended the conversation and hung up.

I later sent Mandy an email,
asking if she wanted to hit the shops with me during our lunch
break. Being the shopaholic she was, she readily agreed and within
half an hour later, we exited the building.

“
So, what are
we shopping for?” she asked as we walked into the city
centre.

“
Lingerie.” I
uttered the word quietly.

“
Ooh la lah,
Suzie Price you are sooo naughty. How long have you known the guy,
a week?”

“
No,
two.”

“
Ha! Fine,
are you looking for anything in particular?”

I smiled, as I pictured what I
wanted. “Something hot and it has to be red.”

I think she knew what I was up
to, fighting fire with fire. While I may not be able to match the
other woman in looks, I could at least impress him with some sexy
underwear.

Luckily Mandy never brought her
up in the conversation, so I was able to enjoy searching several
speciality shops until finally finding the perfect outfit.

At 6.30 p m I pushed the button
announcing my arrival – precisely 30 minutes late. I had intended
it to be an hour, but I couldn’t wait any longer.

I knew I was being childish,
but I wanted him to be on the receiving end for a change – waiting,
wondering if I was going to show. Maybe he had assumed I had seen
the picture and was not coming at all.

Instead of the security gate
opening, I heard his voice come through a speaker. “You’re
late!”

Surely he
couldn’t be serious?
Yet his voice sounded
stern. So what was he doing, banning me entry because I was half an
hour late?

“
Push the
button to answer me.”

Shit, he
wanted an answer?
I pressed down the
button and spoke out, clear and confident, “The traffic was
bad.”

Take that! Everyone knew it was
a lame excuse for being late, but you couldn’t dispute it, because
it may be the truth.

Silence greeted me. After about
a minute, the gate slid open.

On parking the car, I was
surprised to see the front door closed, with no sign of
Brendon.

Confused, I walked to the door
and, on seeing another security/speaker panel, pressed the call
button.

“
Yes?”

“
It’s
Suzie.”

His cool tone could clearly be
heard. “What do you want?”

My mind instantly recalled the
last time he asked me that; I was bent over his knee, being spanked
for my bad language. How did I answer his question and how long did
he intend leaving me standing outside? I elected to play along.
After all, I did start this by arriving late.

“
I want to
apologise for being late. I’m sorry.”

The door opened instantly,
confirming he had been standing behind it. I smiled hesitantly and
moved to step over the threshold, but he raised his hand, halting
me.

He looked serious, angry even.
“If I allow you into my house, you know that my rules apply?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

“
And you will
abide by them?”

Oh no, he was going to
discipline me for being late. I closed my eyes for a second,
contemplating my options. As usual there were two, do what he wants
or leave.

I opened them, knowing that I
was going to agree. “Yes.”

He took a step to the side and
waved his arm, indicating I could enter. Now I knew what it felt
like walking into a lion’s den, no, panther was my preferred
analogy. However, I could not deny I was also excited, maybe not
about the discipline, but the pleasure I was hoping would
follow.

I walked a few steps into the
room, until I sensed he wasn’t following. I turned to see he had
closed the door and was leaning against it with his legs casually
crossed, staring at me. It made me nervous not knowing what he was
thinking.

We continued to silently assess
each other for a few moments, before he made his move. He pushed
away from the door and stalked towards me, until I was staring at
the buttons on his white shirt.

“
Look at
me!”