Finding My Way (29 page)

After a few minutes
he hands it back to me.  Just as he does that his mobile rings, but
instead of answering it, he hits the ignore button.  When he notices me
looking at him, wondering why he didn’t take the call, he answers my silent
question.

“I just programmed my
number in your phone,” he holds his mobile up and waves it at me, “and now I
have yours.”

I just nod my head,
put my phone on the table and silently turn back towards the TV.  However,
I can barely contain the thrill at that the thought we have just exchanged
phone numbers, even if I had nothing to do with it.

Her face is so red
after I read the text, it makes me hard.  Why is her blush such a turn
on? 
Maybe because I would love to see her hot and
bothered for other reasons.
  Shaking my head I turn my
attention back to the TV, turning the movie back on.  I need a distraction
before I do something that
she
may regret.

“Please can I have my
phone back?”  She pleads as she slaps me again.  I didn’t know she
had it in her. 
See it is the shy ones you have to watch out for.

“Stop beating me
woman and watch the damn movie!”  I snatch hold of her wrist before the
next incoming slap connects.  That gets her attention.  She stares at
me for a moment and then looks back to the TV so I let go.

I figure while I have
her phone I might as well take advantage of the opportunity.  I program my
number to her contacts logging into my iTunes account I download a new ring
tone that I think may amuse her.  Then I send myself a text so that I have
her number too.

My text comes through
as I hand Emma back her phone and she looks at me questioningly.

“I just programmed my
number in your phone,” I explain as I hold up my phone, “and now I have yours.”

She nods and turns
her attention back to the TV.  I’m not entirely sure, but I thought I saw
her eyes light up a little before she turned her head and then it looked like
she was struggling to hold back a smile.  I try my best to pay attention
to the movie from then on and I manage quite well,
most
of the
time.  Though she is quite distracting, I’m content to sit by
Em
like this.  I thoroughly enjoy listening to her
laugh at zombies.

When the movie is
finished I turn my full attention to her, shutting off the TV so that I have
hers.

“So
Emma Taylor
what do you like to do for fun?” I ask, pausing when she blushes again,
maybe she does have a dirty mind. 
Nice. 
“What do you do in
your spare time when it’s not pyjama day?  Do you like to go clubbing?”

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”  She says
again.

“So we’re back to
monosyllables again are we?”  I ask her fondly recalling our earlier
conversations.  “Why don’t you go clubbing?”

“It’s just not my
scene.  I don’t like
doof-doof
music.”

“
Doof-doof
music?”
  I tease her, though I know
exactly what she means.  I like her terminology; it proves we’re on the
same wavelength.  I however, love dance music.  I am a DJ after
all,
clubbing is a lifestyle for me.  It sucks that we
don’t have that in common.

“Yeah you
know,
doof-doof
. 
Music that has a repetitive base beat and not much else to it.”

“You mean dance
music? 
Music that you dance to?”
  I
joke.  “A good base line is necessary to dance to.”

“I don’t
dance.”  She shrugs.

“Really?
 
You don’t dance?  Why?”

“I can’t.”

“Bullshit!”  I
watch as she almost chokes on her drink at my sudden outburst.  “Can’t
dance?  I don’t believe it for a second.  I bet you’re not only a
good dancer but that you’re damn fine one!  You’ll have to come clubbing
with me sometime so I can win that bet!”

“Not
gonna
happen.” 
Well that would be a damn shame!

“We’ll see about
that.  I can be very persuasive.”  The look she gives me when I say
that is unreadable.  Maybe she
is
having dirty thoughts… or maybe
that’s just me.  I think perhaps I should leave her on that note.  I
promised Dan I would help him move that furniture this arvo anyway.  I
stand up.  “Well I better get going.”

“Oh okay.”  She
replies blinking up at me. 
Did she just sound disappointed?
 
I hold her hand as we walk to the door.  I open it and then turn to give
her a hug.

“I’ll call
you,” I say in her ear as I hold her tight.  I think I see her
shiver.  That does it.  It takes all my restraint not to kiss her
right then.  I almost cave.  Staying strong, I let her go instead.

“Bye Nick.”

As I’m walking away,
before
Em
has even finished shutting the door, I take
my phone out of my pocket and call her. 
Well I said I would. 
Cheesy I know!

Other than laughing
at all the funniest bits, we spend the rest of the movie sitting in
silence.  I sneak the occasional glance in his direction feeling aroused
just by his presence.  I watch as he takes a swig of his Coke (why is it
so damn sexy to watch a man’s throat while he swallows a drink?) and when he licks
the salt from the chips off his lips my knickers dampen with thoughts of where
else he could lick.

I shift uncomfortably
when the movie finishes, trying to remember that Nick only sees me as a
friend.  He switches off the TV and repositions himself on the couch to
face me.

“So
Emma Taylor
what do you like to do for fun?” he asks seductively, making it feel like
a loaded question.  He asks if I like to go clubbing, which I don’t,
that’s not my scene at all.  All that
doof-doof
music, it is so repetitive.  Music is important to me.  A song can
set your mood, recall
fond,
or not so fond,
memories.  The lyrics of a song can set off all sorts of emotions.  I
get that dance music is for dancing but seeing as I don’t dance I just don’t
understand the point of listening to that crap.

When I tell him that
I can’t dance, he doesn’t believe me and makes a bet that I can, although we
never agree on a wager.  He claims to be persuasive, and I can think of
many things that he could persuade me to do (if he wasn’t just a hopeless flirt
who only thought of me as a friend) however dancing isn’t one of them.

Disappointingly, Nick
decides to leave then.  When he grabs hold of my hand it sends a thrill
through me.  He gently pulls me to the front door, then opens it and turns
to face me.  I catch his sparkling blue eyes and my heart skips a
beat.  Then he lets go of my hand to give me a firm hug.  I melt into
him, marvelling again at how well I fit into his arms, and feel a wave of
disappointment again that a hug is all that I get.

“I’ll call
you,” he says close to my ear sending a bolt of pleasure through my
body.  Then he lets go.

I hear music as I
shut the door.  It takes me a moment to realise that it’s coming from my
phone,
it’s not a ringtone I recognise.  As I get
closer LMFAO start singing ‘I’m Sexy and I Know It’ and I know immediately,
without even looking, exactly who’s calling.

“Great song,” I
answer.

“I thought you’d
appreciate it,” Nick laughs down the phone.

“Highly appropriate,”
I giggle back.

“
Em
…
thanks for today.  I really enjoyed it.  I’ll speak to you
soon.  Bye.”

“Bye Nick,” I
say again, smiling widely as he hangs up.  Got to hand it to him, he’s
good.  If that’s the kind of flirting he gives to his
friends
that
happen to be girls, I’d like to see what he does when he is really pursuing
somebody.

***

After Nick leaves I
put on another DVD.  However all concentration has gone out the window as
I think of Nick and Seth, Seth and Nick.  How can I be so attracted to
both of them when they are both so different?  Seth seems genuinely
interested in me; I can see myself having a relationship with him.  Nick
on the other hand is a player and sees me as a friend, that doesn’t mean I’m
not interested in him though.  Can I have a relationship with Seth if I have
feelings for Nick?

Eventually I call Kat
back and explain my dilemma to her.  Of course after she gets over the
initial gushing that I actually have some exciting news for her for a change,
she enlightens me in only the way Kat can.

“Who says you can’t
have both?  Guys do it all the time!  You can date both of them and
just see what happens.  Stop over-analysing things and just have some
fun!”

“But I don’t think
Nick wants to date me-”

“So be his friend
then, you are allowed to have friends you know.  Doesn’t matter if you
find him attractive, whether you act on it or not, you don’t need to commit to
either of these guys.  Gee
Em
, you’ve only just
met them both, no need to make any big decisions. 
Stop
over-thinking!”

“You’re right.”

“Of course I
am.  Now on another note, Luke’s footy presentation night is tomorrow
night and he wants me to go… would you mind if I cancelled on you?”

“Of
course not!
  I’m sure I can manage
one
Monday night without
you Kat.”

“Three,” she
corrects me.  “I will be on my honeymoon for the next two Mondays after
that.”

“Oh shit that’s
right, three… Wow Kat!  Only what, six more sleeps to the big day?”

“I know, right! 
AHHH!”
  I can hear her pure excitement in that
squeal.  “Speaking of, you going to your parents for dinner on Tuesday?”

“Yep.”

“Do you think you
could come by Mum and Dad’s after and help with the chocolate boxes for the
tables?  I only got through about thirty of them today.”

“Sorry Kat, is that
why you wanted me to come over earlier?  You should have said, I could
have-”

“It’s cool,” she
interrupts me, “you had way more exciting things going on.  But I’d like
to get them all finished on Tuesday night if possible.”

I agree to meet Kat
at her parents after dinner on Tuesday and then we chat for a little bit more
before saying our farewells.

Mum and Dad don’t
make it home until dinner time on Sunday night.  Not that it bothers me in
the slightest.  It’s not like I have anywhere else to be.  I spend
Sunday just hanging out with
Tahlia
and
it’s
fun.  Better than being at home by myself
anyway.  We play pool, of course, but I don’t agree to any bets, I think
I’ve learnt that lesson.  We watch a movie and I update her laptop with
some of my CDs.  It’s relaxing.

I contemplate calling
Emma at almost every moment of the day.  I’m not sure on the correct
etiquette post-date.  Is calling the next day too soon? 
Especially if I will see her at work the following day anyway.

“Hello?  We come
bearing pizza!”  I hear Dad bellowing from the kitchen. 
Tahlia
and I are sitting out in the backyard, it’s just
gone dark.

“Hey
Dad!
  Hey Mum!”  I greet them as I enter the back door into
the kitchen as
Tahlia
follows.  “How was your
trip?”

“Wonderful!” 
Mum says, grabbing plates from the cupboard and taking them to the table where
Dad has put down two large pizzas.  “Thank you so much for looking after
Tahlia
so we could go-”

“Huh! 
More like I looked after him!”
 
Tahlia
jokes and I nudge her with my shoulder.  Mum just smirks at us both.

“How was the motel
you stayed in?”  I ask as I take a seat next to Dad, grabbing a slice of
pizza and a plate.

“It was the
bomb!”  Yep my Dad likes to talk like a teenager.  “We had a balcony
overlooking the foreshore as well as a spa… we gave that a workout,” he says as
he turns his attention to Mum and wiggles his eyebrows, and he likes to act
like a teenager.  Mum flushes with embarrassment.

“
Ew
!
  Please don’t! 
Too
much info!”
 
Tahlia
interjects.

“
What
?” 
Dad asks laughing as he smacks Mum on the butt.

“Honey, stop it,
you’re embarrassing the kids.”  She laughs as she takes a seat opposite
me.  She’s right, your parents having sex is not something you want to
think about,
ever
.  But at the same time I can’t help but be glad
that my parents are still so happy to be together, when most people I know that
are my
age seem
to have parents that are divorced.

“So what did you two
get up to this weekend?”  Mum asks as her eyes shift back and forth
between
Tahlia
and me.

“Not much.” I reply
at the same time that
Tahlia
blurts out,

“Seth had a girl over!”

“
He did?”
 
Mum asks incredulously.  All eyes are on me then.

“Not like
that
…
she didn’t stay over or any-”

“I should hope
not!”  Mum say in mock anger.

“Why
not?
  He’s an adult,” Dad says turning to her, not realising
that she’s joking.

“Coz I don’t want to
think of my son having sex! 
Ew
!
”
Mum chuckles.

“Too right,” Dad
agrees pretending to shudder.  Yes, they are quite the comedy duo, and
they don’t care in the slightest how red my face has just turned.