Three Words: A Novella Collection Read online

  On the Saturday night of the party, Georgie had everything prepared. She’d walked the half block to home during the day and made her bed with fresh sheets. She’d put a scarf over her lamp to create mood lighting and she’d dug out the condoms and candles that she’d packed in her drawer months back, thinking she may need them some day. She felt a bit odd at having planned the event with such detail, right down to her knickers, but she wanted Nate to see how special this was for her and how much she loved him.

  At ten p.m. that night, Georgie asked the host of the party if she could use the phone. Then she rang Jan, explaining she was going to help tidy up after the party but would be home by twelve — a very plausible excuse, she thought. With a hug of her girl friends, and the excuse she’d forgotten to feed the cats and had to do it before curfew, Georgie skipped out the door and down the road.

  Nate was waiting on the verandah under the porch light. His big shoulders were silhouetted against the front door and it made Georgie shiver to think that very soon they would be in her bed together. She wasn’t nervous at all. Nate knew what he was doing and he would never hurt her.

  Turning the key quietly in the lock, Georgie and Nate entered the house.

  “I told them I forgot to feed the cat,” Georgie said, between kisses.

  “What about Jan?”

  “I said I was helping tidy up and would be home by twelve. We’ve got an hour or so.”

  Spurred on by the thought that they were, at last, about to go where they’d never gone before, Georgie and Nate began to kiss earnestly. As Nate’s hands travelled into her shorts, her breath sped up in his ears and her chest heaved with it. As he kissed her bare neck and the spot behind her ear that made her quiver, Georgie put her fingers to his fly, and undid the buttons. Then she wobbled, one-footed, as Nate’s hands flew across her body, peeling her clothes away and sending the vase on the hallstand crashing to the floor.

  “Shit,” Georgie giggled, as she stood, pressed against him in a puddle of china, wearing only the specially chosen underwear.

  “Forget it. Nothing’s going to spoil it this time. Not even your Mum’s best vase.”

  Nate lifted Georgie into his arms and carried her to the bedroom, avoiding bits of broken china as he went. He lay Georgie gently on the bed, staring at her as if worried she might break or disappear, or worse, change her mind. He reached over and flicked on the bedroom lamp. A soft pink glow filled the room from the scarf. This was the time. They were ready.

  As Nate climbed onto the bed next to her, Georgie’s heart began to thump harder in her chest. His fingers traced her body. She felt the heat spread and she kissed him hard, shifting her bottom so he could remove her knickers. Now, Georgie was completely naked beside him. His erection was digging in to her leg.

  “I love you, Nate. I’ll always love you.”

  “I love you too, Georgie.”

  “Put a condom on.”

  Nate did as he was told, breaking three before he managed to get one on. It wasn’t easy with Georgie all over him while he tried to work. At last, he lay down beside her again, pulling her eagerly towards him. He moved her hair aside and kissed her neck, then her jaw, her rosebud lips. His fingers played in tiny circles between her legs as he spoke dirty words in her ear.

  “Now Nate,” Georgie urged. “We’ve waited so long. Do it now.”

  Which, of course, was the cue for Samba, the family cat, to make a grand entrance, hop onto the end of the bed and relieve himself of a particularly troublesome fur ball. Right on Nate’s left foot.

  “What the fuck?” Nate jumped up, shaking his foot. “Samba just threw up on me. Jesus, Georgie.”

  But Georgie couldn’t do anything. She was too busy having a fit of giggles. Her eyes were watering she was laughing so hard.

  “Stop laughing. It isn’t funny.” Nate grabbed a t-shirt from the floor and flopped down on the side of the bed, wiping his foot. He looked like he was going to vomit.

  “It, sort of, is. Think about it… every time we get ready to do the deed, something goes wrong.”

  “And you think that’s funny? I can’t take much more. There’s only so much wanking a guy can do.”

  Georgie knew she’d gone too far. She shifted to her knees, draping her arms around his shoulders and kissing each one in turn. “Poor baby. I’ll fix it.”

  She felt Nate’s body relax against her.

  “How about you go and wash your foot? I’ll tidy up the sick and we can try again.”

  She shuffled from the bed and picked up Samba, who looked most offended having settled himself for the night on an armchair in the corner.

  “There’s no point, I think I’ve lost my mojo,” Nate whined, indicating his sudden limpness.

  Georgie tossed the cat out the door and slammed it shut. Walking to the side of the bed, she knelt down before him. “I’m sure I can fix that, too. I’m very capable when I put my mind to it.”

  So she did.

  Chapter 10

  Georgie lay beneath the jumble of covers in Nate’s arms, her breathing returning to normal. Beside the bed, a glow of lamplight revealed a pool of wet pirate clothing on the floor and a pair of jeans hooked over the bedpost. Snuggling into Nate’s side, she smiled, still unable to believe he was here. With her.

  “Wow,” she said, thinking that the last hour had been possibly the most amazing experience she’d ever had and when she recouped the energy, she’d like to have it again.

  “Yeah, wow.”

  “When I said that was going to be better than the first time, I didn’t expect it to be that much better.”

  Nate’s fingers combed lazily through the nest of tangles in Georgie’s hair. “I thought the first time was fairly ordinary actually. You’ve certainly lifted your game since we were in our teens.”

  Georgie leant up on her elbow. “Are you saying I was crap?”

  “No. But you’ve definitely improved.”

  “So I was crap? If I remember rightly we got interrupted an awful lot when we were teenagers. I didn’t have a chance to be good. Anyway, I don’t remember you being that much of a stud back then.” She punched at the pillow, fluffing it up and pretending to be upset. Beside her, Nate gave a chuckle and lifted his arm to cradle the back of his head. From the corner of her eye, she saw him smile to himself.

  “I had external factors to contend with,” he conceded.

  “Excuses, excuses.”

  “Georgie?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What happened to us? One minute we were in love, the next we were split up. It was so instant. I always thought we were forever. I felt like my life was over.”

  “So did I. Plus, I had the added pressure of being pulled in two directions. I had no idea what was right. I wanted to be with you but I wanted to make everyone happy.”

  Georgie recalled that last day like it was yesterday. Mum and Dad had been at one end of the hallway, Nate at the other. It was like a Mexican stand off without the sombreros. Nate had begged her to go with him, to travel the world for a year. Mum had said he was inconsiderate to ask Georgie to give up a chance at one of the best universities in the country. If he really loved her, he’d let her go.

  Nate squeezed Georgie tighter. “I only wanted you to see there was more to life than doing what your parents wanted. You could have gone to Uni anywhere and done anything. You didn’t have to be tied to them. I never wanted to hurt you.”

  “I think we hurt each other equally. But what choice did we have? I felt obligated to do as my parents wanted and you wouldn’t go to Melbourne with me because you wanted to see the world. The sad thing is I believed that doing what my parents wanted was the way to be happy and when I realized they were wrong, it was too late. I rang your house, you know, a couple of weeks after we split up. I wanted to tell you I’d changed my mind. Your mother said you’d left the day before.”

  “I had a round the world ticket and a backpack. I had no idea where I’d end up. I just wanted it to be far enough
away so I could forget you. But I never could, Georgie. I saw you on every street, in every bar. Every girl looked like you. Every beach reminded me of you.”

  Now, Georgie was crying. Huge blobs of tears streamed down her cheeks, wetting Nate’s shoulder. “I tried to forget you too but, without you, all I wanted was to die. I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I was a wreck.”

  “Jesus, what did we do?”

  “We listened to other people instead of listening to our hearts.”

  Nate rolled over, his chest partially covering Georgie’s. He kissed the damp from her eyelashes. “What about now?”

  “You mean, is it too late for us?”

  In the past twelve years, she’d done everything she could to make her parents proud. They’d been devastated after she swapped her vet science degree for something with ‘no job prospects’ but she’d proven to them that she could have a successful career. When she’d become engaged to Matt, who’d charmed everyone including grumpy old Samba, her parents had been over the moon because she was going to have the kind of life every girl should have, with a perfect marriage and a career. They’d even called him, ‘Son.’

  So what about now? She’d dumped her boyfriend, tossed her job and sold her house. She had nothing but, clearly, that perfect life was not the life she needed. Was this a sign? Maybe fate had dealt her this hand because it was getting ready to bring Nate back into her life.

  “Would you like to try again?” Nate whispered.

  “I don’t know.”

  He leant up on his elbow, his solemn gaze so like the one she’d seen all those years ago in the wardrobe, when he’d proposed to her. “Come with me to South Africa. I have work to do for a few weeks and then I’m off to Mongolia. Wouldn’t you like to see Mongolia and China?”

  Mindful that she didn’t have an income and only a small amount of savings Georgie balked.

  “I have plenty enough for both of us,” Nate reminded her. “Let’s travel, see the things we always wanted to see and if at the end, you want to come back and get a ‘normal’ job we’ll do that too. I’ve been on the road for a long time, Georgie. I’m ready to stop. I want to be with you. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

  Georgie lifted her hand to graze the side of Nate’s face. A glimmer of hope twinkled in his eyes as he waited for her answer. A tingle of anticipation, sparked in her hand, sprinted its way up her arm and exploded through her body. Her stomach, far from being in knots, was filled with that thrill she used to get when she and Nate headed to the beach for the day and saw an awesome set of waves. She used to get so amped at that. If she did this, it would be up there with her most impulsive acts ever — apart from sleeping with Nate ten hours after meeting him again, of course. That would rank as number one for a very long time.

  “Our surfboards are still in the garage,” she said. “We can take them with us.”

  “As long as you promise not to show off doing aerials. You make me look bad.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Come on, I know you used to pull back for me. You could surf rings around Taj Burrow.”

  “It’s because I loved you, Nate. I’ve always loved you.”

  “So kiss me like you did when we were eight, and promise you’ll be mine forever.”

  Georgie placed a chaste kiss on his lips. “I always have been. Since that day we got married in the closet.

  THE END

  A Cupid Kind Of Day

  Chapter 1

  “Arrrggghhh.”

  Lily tossed the folded newspaper onto the table, pushing it as far away as the menu and table number would allow. Her coffee cup wobbled at the intrusion and foamy latte dribbled over the rim and down the side. Picking up the cup, Lily wiped the edge clean with her napkin and took a sip.

  She let out another exaggerated sigh. “Do we have to discuss Valentine’s Day?”

  To Lily, a discussion about love at that point in time was akin to a vegan having a discussion about meat. Distasteful. Rebecca knew she was single. The whole world knew she was single. There was no need to draw attention to her status by talking about it. It wasn’t like she was going to pick a boyfriend from the boyfriend tree before tomorrow.

  Rebecca looked across the table to her friend. “Uh, possibly, yes we do. I mean, Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. We have to get organised. Well, you have to get organised. I’ve been ready for weeks.”

  Of course, she had. Rebecca had planned her own funeral by the time she was twenty.

  “But it’s just so… so…” Lily rolled her eyes.

  “So… what?”

  “I don’t want to discuss it. Suffice to say there will be no valentines in my letterbox this year,” Lily said.

  “But you can still come to the ball. The whole purpose is about meeting people and maybe finding a new valentine. Unless you’ve got one. In which case you’d be celebrating your love at such an event. Like me and Shaun.”

  Lily glared at her.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to gloat.”

  “I know. And I’m sorry for being such a Debbie Downer but I can’t do it. Not this year. All those people in love, pretending that this is forever when they know perfectly well that it isn’t. I’d throw up in my handbag.”

  “But you love Valentine’s. You’ve always loved Valentine’s.” Rebecca seemed to be struggling with the change of heart on Lily’s part. It was as if someone had told her John Mayer didn’t like girls anymore or something.

  “I’ve seen the error of my ways.”

  “I distinctly remember you bursting into tears last year, when you realised that massive bouquet that was making its way through the office was for you. And what about all those tiny love hearts you cut out by hand and left as a trail for Travis to follow and find the romantic dinner you’d made? The homemade liqueur chocolates? The teddy dressed as you?”

  Lily’s mouth twisted at the recollection. It had been an overt gesture on her part. “That was last year.”

  “Look, Hon’, if you don’t want to go to the Valentine’s Ball, that’s fine. I just thought it’d be fun. Give us a chance to frock up. And I’ve already bought the tickets.”

  “Fun? Watching loved-up couples sticking their tongues down each other’s throats on the dance floor? I’d rather poke out my eyeballs with a satay skewer.”

  “God, you’re depressing.”

  “Thank you.”

  Reaching into the voluminous handbag that sat at her feet, Lily produced a clear lip balm and smeared it across her lips. She pressed them together for a second as if absorbing the idea that she was, in fact, the killjoy of Valentine’s Day. Just the way she liked it.

  But Rebecca wouldn’t give up. When presented with an opportunity to pop on a pretty frock and dance the night away she was as persistent as a nagging wife. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a date. Please, come.”

  Her appetite now completely gone, Lily pushed the remains of her baguette away and took another sip of her coffee. It was almost cold and left a horrid taste in her mouth, a bit like the idea of going to the Ball alone. Where had it all gone wrong? Romance had been one of her strengths. She’d been proud that she was able to be romantic without seeming needy or clingy like other girls, that she could find romance in daily events or take her man completely by surprise with a gesture like last year’s. She’d loved the fact that people considered her and Travis the perfect couple ~ able to be together yet apart, able to show their affection with a look or a touch. She’d thought that maybe this year she’d be engaged. And where had she ended up? On the couples scrapheap with all the other losers who couldn’t make a relationship work.

  No. She couldn’t do it. Romance was officially dead. It had died the night Travis had packed his leather travel bag and walked out the door. Now all she had to do was bury it.

  Lily and Travis had been an item for two years before he’d gotten the big promotion. That was when everything had changed. He’d walked into the kitchen of their warehouse flat late one evening
and after wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing the nape of her neck ~ as he did often but on this occasion he totally reeked of garlic ~ he calmly informed her that he’d been promoted. He then whipped out a bottle of chilled Moet, that he’d bought at the bottleshop on his way home from work or wherever it was he’d been, poured two glasses and told her to start packing.

  The main problem with this scenario had been that Lily didn’t want to pack. She liked her life and her job as it was. She had her friends and her family. She went to yoga on Wednesdays and the rugby on Saturday afternoons. She ate dinner in the city at cheap curry houses and cafes and went to the outdoor cinema with her mother. And when it came down to it, being handed an ultimatum like that ~ without a hint of warning, which was sooo Travis’s way ~ made her utterly miffed. She didn’t want to have to choose.

  It was then that Lily realised, that as much as she loved Travis, she was not prepared to uproot her life and begin again in a new city on the other side of the country. Yes, she wanted to be with him but not at the cost of everything she’d have to give up. He was being a teeny bit selfish in asking her to do so. She’d never expect such a thing of him.

  Travis had appeared stunned when she informed him of this. His face took on the pallor of a pair of old greying sports socks and his mouth opened and closed like a fish trying to breathe out of water. He seemed unable to believe that she wouldn’t want to drop everything for him. She’d always been so easy going and accommodating in the past. The whole thing had ended with Travis calling her a ‘spoilt, self-centred bitch’ and her replying that it was lucky he thought that way because she’d always thought he was a pretentious arsehole. Especially when it came to her friends, to whom he was positively rude.

  That had been three months ago and Lily had to say, there had been times when she’d regretted those words. Once or twice, she’d found herself missing him so much that she’d had a bag half packed before she came to her senses.

  “No,” Lily replied, trying to shake the thought of Travis from her head. “I don’t think it’ll be that much fun if I’m single.”