The Numbers Game (10 page)

            “You must
meet heaps of guys doing all those classes,” Serena said, buffing her
fingernails. “How come nothing eventuates then?”

            Tabitha
stopped her buffing and looked up at her best friend.

            “What do
you mean by that?” she said, obviously offended.

            “Well…”
Where did Serena begin? Her best friend was a beautiful girl: tall, stick thin
with luscious black wavy hair and blue cat-like eyes. A bit gothic for most men
with the overboard eyeliner usage but if Serena was a guy she’d be intrigued by
the whole outside package. As for once she opened her mouth, sure Tabitha was a
bit thoughtless, frivolous, and shallow but deep down, once you got to know
her, there was plenty of gold underneath the dirt.  

            Any
average bystander would consider Tabitha a sex machine but honestly the girl
hadn’t ever had a proper boyfriend in her life. Not one and she was the same
age as Serena. Admittedly Tabitha always had good excuses why potential Mister
Right was really Mister Wrong (like too ugly, too stupid, too poor) but after
all these duds, Serena was getting a bit skeptical. They couldn’t all possibly
be the son of Satan and Dumb and Dumber character replicas. Maybe eighty per
cent of men but not the entire lot! There had to come a time when Tabitha stopped
to ask herself who was really the one with the problem.

            Oops
judging by the look on Tabitha’s face now wasn’t the time to ask.

            “Nothing,”
Serena replied, secretly annoyed that she couldn’t tell her best friend the
truth. If only Tabitha wasn’t so bloody fiery and defensive, she could let it
spill. “I just thought there’d be at least one nice guy who had crossed your
path.”

            “Well
there hasn’t been.”

            That was
when Serena wondered whether she should bring up the topic of Rick. Ever since
the two had met at Guerrilla Zoo’s big launch (when Markie was so rapturous
with joy he momentarily forgot all about his contempt for Tabitha and invited
her anyway) her eyes had glazed over at the thought of Rick. Tabitha got that silly
schoolgirl grin that stretched way too wide across her face whenever Rick’s
name was mentioned. It was just a shame the feelings were so obviously not
reciprocated. Rick had taken one look at Tabitha that night and ran straight into
the arms of another girl. Literally. So despite the attraction, Tabitha hadn’t
forgiven him for that slap in the face just yet. Even to this day speaking his
name outside the professional context was dangerous territory. Of course Tabitha
was allowed to bring him up whenever she had a temporary memory lapse (which
was quite often actually) but Serena - never, no, under absolutely no
circumstances.

            Right now
however, seeing that she and Tabitha were living together like a husband and
wife, Serena felt tempted to break tradition. Why not mention Rick just once in
a casual sort of way? Maybe it was okay if she treated it as an experiment,
just to track the reaction in Tabitha: pupil dilation, increase in breathing,
that sort of thing.

            “Markie
will probably move in with Rick when we do the swap in six weeks, you know.”

            Tabitha
raised her eyebrows. “Oh so does that mean you’ll be seeing Markie then?”

            “I guess
so.” Serena shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t think we’re immature enough to
schedule the move on different days.”

            “You never
know,” Tabitha pouted back. “It makes sense to avoid a clash, just to keep a
bit more suspense in your break up.”

            Excuse me?
Break-up? Did Tab just use the word
break up?

            “This is
not a GOD DAMN break-up,” Serena seethed. By this point, she had really had
enough. Why did
she
have to watch her words about Rick when Tabitha obviously
felt comfortable enough blabbing all sorts of slapdash about Serena’s man?

            “A break
up,” she continued,” is when partner A & B go separate ways, never ever to
be seen again. I, just to clarify, am on a break. I will be seeing Markie again
– in six weeks time when we do the switch and at twelve weeks to consolidate.
But I guess you couldn’t establish the difference given you’ve never actually
had a relationship.”

            Tabitha
smiled back, blinking her eyes rapidly. Oh, gosh, that couldn’t be a good sign,
could it? If the past was anything to go by it meant she was angry, very, very
angry.

            “Since
when have you been waiting to get that crap out?” Tabitha asked flippantly. Gosh
that girl knew how to do flippant so well it was irritating.

            “Since
now,” Serena replied. She took in a breath. “I’m concerned for you.”

            “Don’t
be.”

            “Well I
am. Being your best friend and all I can’t help it.”

            “Oh how
nice,” she smiled, except her words came out sounding all sarcastic and icy
cold.

            “Has this
anger got anything to do with Rick, by some chance?” Serena dared to ask. But
all she got was the death look.

            “I told
you never ever to go there,” Tab replied.

            Then she
got up and walked out the room.

Tabitha stormed
upstairs into the loft and kicked off her clogs. How dare Serena bring up the
subject of Rick! It wasn’t as if they were somewhere neutral like at the coffee
shop or sunbathing at the sea. They were on her territory and still Serena had
the nerve to mention him.  

            The cow
probably thought she had a right given they were best friends but really some
lines you don’t ever cross.  Tabitha understood the line well: she didn’t freak
out over Markie’s last vouch for freedom; she even kept her mouth shut whilst
Serena earned a pittance slaving away on the movie set. Not that Tabitha earned
a whole lot more in her job as a copywriter but at least she got paid what she
was worth. For her the formula was simple: fifty dollars an hour meant two
hundred bucks for four hours, three hundred for six and so on. Not work a
frigging fifteen hundred hours and get paid only for bloody eight like Serena
was doing.

            Though who
was Tabitha to complain; at least Serena loved her work - she sure as hell didn’t.
Sure there were worse ways to earn your money: garbage collecting, kindergarten
teaching, and cleaning to name just a few but Tabitha’s heart definitely wasn’t
in her job anymore. Had it ever been?  It was just a career she had fallen into
after getting a degree in communications, after doing well in her high school
English classes. Writing was something she simply hated doing less than she
hated doing other things.

            Tabitha
didn’t know how much longer she could last at it, this freelancing and writing
boring press releases for companies as exciting as law firms and real estate
agencies. In an ideal world, she would be a housewife working on The Great
American Novel. Her ideas would be absolutely flowing, she’d sit at the
computer after bidding her husband farewell and these ideas would fall like
raindrops on cold winter’s day. Tabitha would have two children: one boy and
one girl and the boy would be called Saxon. Once grown up he’d take care of his
baby sister Serenity and introduce her to all his good-looking friends and both
of them would be proud of her famous mama, a filthy rich novelist, but not
nearly as much as her husband Blank.

            Tabitha
didn’t have a name for him yet. Whenever she tried to envisage the family
portraits, the stupid face of Rick just kept popping up like pogo stick. Pick
me, pick me, it seemed to be saying, which was funny because she couldn’t pick
him even if she wanted to.

            Rick had
run away from her at the launch party, remember? As if Tabitha were literally a
freak of nature, he’d taken one look at her, turned around and toppled over a
petite gorgeous woman.  Serena had made some excuse about how he was just
trying to be gentlemanly, carrying the woman to the couch and making sure she
didn’t go without food, drink or conversation for the entire night but Tabitha
knew better. Christ sakes the girl was her complete opposite: blonde, curvy and
small! She made Tabitha want to go out and eat McDonalds every night just to
add some meat to her bones.

            Unfortunately
when she did try just that (quite earnestly too), Tabitha learnt the awful
truth: small and curvy was one thing, tall and curvy was another, some might
even call it fat. Even now, almost two years later, she still carried around
with her a tiny potbelly to mark her dip and induction into the world of
dieting. Of course since then she’d also come to terms with the fact she was a
natural beanpole. No more trying to be a Pamela when one is really a Giselle.

            It was
such a shame Rick wasn’t interested because to Tabitha, he was everything she
was looking for. He was tall, just like her, but in a big strong cuddly way. He
also had black hair and bluish eyes which was a bit scary because if they got
together, they’d have the lookalike brother/sister thing going on. But that was
the point wasn’t it? Birds of a feather flock together? From the way he took care
of Miss Blondie that night, it looked as if attentive, funny and good-hearted
could also be added to Rick’s character trait list. In sum: her kind of guy.

            Since the company’s
launch two years ago, Tabitha had bumped into Rick only another six and a half
times. Those meetings took place either when Serena needed to drop by the Zoo
with Tabitha (which counted for two of the occasions) or when Rick dropped by
Serena and Markie’s place and Tabitha also happened to be there (the other
four). The half-time she usually didn’t care to mention took place in the supermarket,
where Rick was fiddling about in the cheese section and all she needed was a
pack of cigarettes. Ah but a man who loves cheese is a man indeed!

            If truth be
known, from the way Rick behaved on every one of those occasions Tabitha had
reason to suspect he also cared. Okay so forget the first stupid night but all
the other times…She felt really stupid trying to explain it given that the
signs were so petty: an accidental brushing of the hand, fleeting looks that
weren’t so fleeting, the interest in her boring writing career…the signs were
there nonetheless.  If only… if only he and she were cast off on a desert
island then it would be easy for their fate to eventuate.

            One would
think that as Markie’s best bud, Rick would’ve been over at Serena’s place all
the time. You would think that right? But no, he never was. It got to the point
where Tabitha became as annoying as a mosquito on a hot sticky summer night
(which Markie wanted to kill with a fly squatter) and after a year ‘s worth of
constant surprise visits (always dressed in the latest high street fashion)
Tabitha fully understood the terms ‘if looks could kill’ and ‘overstaying your
welcome.’

            Now
Tabitha was in panic mode. This break-up between Serena and Markie was not a
good thing. If they broke up permanently what hope in hell did she have in ever
getting together with Rick? At least when they were a couple, she stood a tiny
chance. One per cent had to be better than none.

            “I’ll make
sure Markie doesn’t screw it up then,” Tabitha decided. “I’ll make sure he comes
running back into Serena’s arms.”

            She lay
back on her bed and walked her feet up the slanted wall, towards the skylight
sprinkled with stars, thinking, dreaming.  It didn’t take long before she had
devised a plan.

After her fight with
Tabitha, Serena had a dreadful sleep.  She had nightmares about being lost in
an obviously haunted castle and no matter which path she took it was always a
dead end. No amount of running or silent screams seemed to do Serena any good;
she was stranded in a “Flowers in the Attic” type maze, with nothing but a
thick stench of isolation and panic to keep her company. Eventually when she
had the good sense to bite her tongue for real (a tip for snapping out of
dreamland) her nightdress was filthy and soaked in sweat.

            What in
the world did that crazy dream mean? Despite having an aversion to
over-analysis, Serena was always keen to decipher her dreams. She believed
fervently they held the key to her unconscious.  Like when she dreamt of her
teeth falling out, Serena agreed it had to do with some truth she was unable to
swallow (a boss she hated in one instance and a deceitful friend another
time).  Now it was a different scenario, running but going absolutely nowhere,
feeling lost and confused and deep down betrayed. During her morning scrutiny,
she tossed and turned until the obvious finally dawned on her. Of course! Once she
removed the lurking monsters and spider webs, the feelings she had in that
dream pretty much paralleled how she felt in everyday life. Ever since Markie
left…

            Oh gosh
it’s true, Serena cried, burying her head back into the blankets. She was hovering
on the cliff edge of a major depression.  She might think she was all fine and
dandy, that it was very new millennium, being able to sleep with other men, but
the truth was her relationship was on the line here. If she didn’t find an
ex-one-night-stand to sleep with soon, Serena would definitely be unable to live
with herself. Worse still she wouldn’t be able to function normally around
Markie, the sex stud extraordinaire. She was sure he was having no problems
whatsoever finding sexy young things to take to bed.