Tall, Dark & Distant

by Julie Fison

  ‘So, you still haven’t really told me why you came to Australia,’ Georgia said at the end of their sixth morning run. She’d asked the same question in a different way pretty much every morning, and he had batted her query back with a vague, Why not? His past was the one topic he’d stayed well away from all week, despite Georgia’s questions.

  On this morning, for no particular reason that he could think of, he didn’t offer his standard answer. He actually told the truth. Or a selective version of it, anyway. ‘I needed a break from Europe. Too many parties.’

  ‘Really?’ she asked.

  Nik shrugged. ‘I got into a bit of trouble in Monaco.’

  ‘Gambling?’ Georgia asked, raising an eyebrow.

  ‘No, I fell off a jetty after a party – no biggie really. But I just decided it was time for a change of crowd.’

  Nik didn’t mention that he’d intentionally driven his Porsche off a jetty and into the sea after a bet with a totally insane American heiress. He’d been doing 200 clicks at the time. His father wasn’t too impressed and nor was hers. They’d both nearly drowned.

  ‘I see,’ Georgia said, but she understandably still looked confused. ‘I fell into a fountain once, after a party – in my school uniform. It was so embarrassing.’

  Nik laughed. She was so cute. And, momentarily blinded to reason by her cuteness, he found himself saying, ‘Care for a swim?’

  Nik knew he couldn’t invite her back to the house. Even if he had decided to break the rules (which, as yet, he hadn’t), Georgia couldn’t come over because Kat was due to turn up any day. But there were plenty of other places to swim, including a particularly inviting ocean no more than 20 metres away.

  Nik nodded to a set of stairs leading to a rocky beach.

  ‘Great,’ Georgia replied. ‘But how about we go to a proper beach?’

  ‘Here’s fine,’ Nik shrugged, pulling off his shirt and trainers and making his way to the water’s edge.

  Nik watched a wave crash over the rocks, sending spray into the air. He waited for it to retreat and then picked his way between the barnacles, stumbling slightly, and falling more than diving into the water.

  ‘Come on,’ he called.

  Georgia hesitated. ‘It’s pretty rocky.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ Nik insisted.

  Georgia spent another minute or so assessing the rocks, then she stripped down to her knickers and a cropped running top, and waited for a break in the waves. Nik had absolutely no chance, after that, of keeping focused on her smile. He let his eyes dawdle from her long brown hair, across her face and all the way down her body. By the time he got to her legs, he was imagining them wrapped around his back. He blinked, forcing himself to snap out of it.

  ‘Watch your step,’ he called, as Georgia picked her way across the rocks. But the advice was a second too late. A wave came in and knocked Georgia off balance. She stumbled a few steps and then went down with a squeal.

  Nik leapt towards her, stretching out his arms. Georgia fell between them, pushing him backwards into the water. She landed with her face under his chin.

  For just a few moments he savoured her smooth, wet skin against him. The muscles in his chest tightened as a wave washed over them, splashing their faces. The saltwater clung to her lashes, and he thought that he had never seen such beautiful blue eyes. Never been so close to such a kissable mouth …

  ‘Sorry,’ Georgia said, scrambling to her feet. ‘I’m not normally that clumsy.’

  ‘Are you okay?’ Nik asked as he helped her back to the safety of the dry rocks.

  ‘It’s nothing,’ Georgia said. She wiped away the blood from a gash on her left foot.

  Nik took her foot and gently bathed it in the saltwater. Then he placed it in his lap and patted the wound dry with his shirt. He left her foot there, not because he could do any more to help, but just because he wanted to touch her. He looked into her eyes. They were hypnotising. It was killing him not to kiss her.

  ‘We should have dinner tonight,’ Nik said, surprising even himself. ‘How about Sails, on the beachfront? I’ll book a table.’

  Girls aren’t part of the plan, he kept reminding himself, but Georgia was making him forget. She wasn’t just making things difficult; she was making them impossible.

  ‘Are you free at seven?’ he asked.

  ‘Yep,’ Georgia replied, looking a bit stunned. ‘Of course. Sure, dinner would be great. Tonight at seven.’

  ‘It’s a date,’ Nik said.

  He was breaking the rules. There was no getting around that fact. But what could he do? Some girls operated in an orbit of their own, with exceptional gravitational pull. And Georgia was definitely one of those girls.

  ‘Are you wearing that dress?’ Alice asked, with a look of horror on her face.

  There was just twenty minutes to go before Georgia was due to meet Nik and she was no closer to finding the right thing to wear than she had been an hour before.

  ‘You look like you’re going to the beach, not to a restaurant,’ Alice said.

  Georgia sighed. It was one thing taking advice from a friend with extensive dating experience. It was quite another taking tips from her sister.

  ‘What about that dress you bought in Hastings Street? That would look nice,’ her mum offered.

  ‘Too embarrassing,’ Georgia said, remembering the last time Nik had seen her in that dress.

  ‘I hope you’re not driving anywhere with him,’ her dad said. It was an instruction more than a question.

  ‘No, Dad, I’m walking to dinner. I won’t be late, I can walk home as well,’ Georgia replied.

  Georgia’s relationship with Nik had moved from a private affair conducted in the rainforest mostly between the hours of six and eight, to something for the whole family to weigh in on. But if she didn’t get going soon, she wouldn’t even make dinner. Georgia returned to her room to try on another combination. She finally settled on the only other nice dress she owned. Alice even lent Georgia her new wedges. There seemed to be a ceasefire between them. Georgia wondered if Alice had a boyfriend. That generally improved her sister’s mood – for a short time, anyway.

  Her mum had disappeared into the bedroom. She emerged with a small box that Georgia recognised at once – it was used for her mother’s own jewellery designs.

  ‘I was going to give this to you for Christmas, but you might as well have it now. It will go so well with your dress.’

  Her mother was right. The silver and aquamarine pendant went perfectly. Georgia could see Alice’s eyes flitting between the wedges and silver pendant. A flash of concern crossed her face. Then she relaxed. ‘Looks all right, actually. Good, even. And seeing as you’re borrowing my wedges, maybe I could borrow that pendant sometime.’

  ‘Sure,’ Georgia replied. It seemed a small price to pay to maintain Alice’s good mood.

  ‘I’d like to know a bit more about this fellow, if you’re going to be spending time with him,’ Georgia’s dad said as she headed for the door. ‘We don’t know a thing about him.’

  ‘Sure, Dad,’ Georgia said. She had no trouble agreeing to that request. Finding out about Nik was her top priority. After a week of running together, Nik knew all about Georgia – her family, her friends, her plans to study medicine – but she still knew almost nothing personal about him. Sure, she knew which running shoes he liked, his favourite skis, where he liked to scuba dive and even his favourite art museum – the Hermitage in St Petersburg. But otherwise Nik was extremely skilled at evading questions. All Georgia had to show for her six mornings was a collection of Nik snippets. It was adding up, but she still didn’t know what it was adding up to.

  She was particularly concerned about Nik’s accommodation arrangements. He could be staying with a girlfriend for all Georgia knew. But after several hours with nothing to do but talk and eat, Georgia hoped she’d come home with some answers.

  Nik was already sitting at an outside table when Georgia arrived at the restaurant. She couldn’t bel
ieve she was at Sails on her first actual date. Surely the world’s most romantic restaurant – fine dining on the beachfront. She’d dreamt of coming here with a guy forever. And now it was really happening.

  Massive torches lit up the pandanus palms, and the surf rumbled gently in the background. Couples occupied most of the tables. Many of them looked like honeymooners – sitting close and smiling over oysters and champagne.

  Nik stood as Georgia approached and kissed her on both cheeks. He looked unfeasibly cute, dressed in a watermelon-coloured shirt, his eyes sparkling in the torchlight. She did her best not to stare, reminding herself that she had all night to admire him.

  ‘Great necklace,’ Nik said, as Georgia sat down.

  ‘Thanks,’ she replied. ‘My mum made it for me. I’m just wondering if she put a hidden camera in it.’

  Nik leant over and took the pendant carefully between his fingers, inspecting it and the delicate silver chain it hung from. His fingertips brushed against her neck, putting every nerve ending in her body on high alert. He replaced the pendant with a serious expression.

  ‘All clear,’ he reported.

  She breathed out and tried to calm her nerves. ‘I was only kidding,’ she said, smiling. ‘Mum actually trusts me. She’s a little highly strung sometimes, but I don’t think she’d really be spying on us.’

  ‘I know,’ Nik said, but something about the way he said it made Georgia wonder if he did.

  ‘What’s your mum like?’ she asked, seizing the chance to raise one of the topics on her list.

  Nik looked a little taken aback by her question. He paused. ‘She used to be fine. But now …’ He shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Is she okay?’ Georgia asked.

  ‘She’s up and down – you know how mothers are.’

  Georgia nodded, but she could tell Nik was evading her question. He looked away and the shutters had come down. She knew that look by now.

  Georgia was about to ask him one last time about his mother, but a waitress hovered by the table. It gave Nik the perfect escape route from her questioning. It also presented Georgia with a problem of her own. She’d barely glanced at the menu.

  ‘You go first,’ she said, hoping a few extra seconds would give her enough time to decide.

  ‘The specials look good,’ Nik said, peering at the blackboard. ‘I think I’ll have the prawns to start and then the barramundi.’

  ‘Good choice,’ the waitress said. She turned to Georgia. ‘And for you?’

  Georgia concentrated on the menu, hoping to pass herself off as a sophisticated, regular diner. What had Ella said about menus? Avoid the spaghetti – it gets all over your face. No corncobs, spinach or black pepper – they get stuck in your teeth. But what was she meant to order? She was beginning to feel like a fraud.

  ‘The same for me,’ Georgia said, taking the path of least resistance. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to get through too many prawns. They were all right in sushi, but a plate of naked crustaceans wasn’t top of her list of favourites.

  ‘So you want to be a doctor,’ Nik said, steering the conversation away from him again. ‘Why’s that?’

  ‘I really want to work for Médicins Sans Frontières,’ Georgia replied. ‘You know, Doctors Without Borders. They do a lot of work in war zones, that kind of thing. Or maybe the Fistula Foundation. They support women who’ve been injured in childbirth – mostly in poor parts of Africa. I’m actually spending February in Kenya, seeing what they do.’

  It was all true, but even as she said it, she could hear how desperately worthy it sounded. She might as well have said she wanted to solve global warming and secure world peace.

  ‘An unusual place to start your medical training – Kenya.’

  Georgia smiled. ‘I’m not training – I’m just visiting a hospital in Nyanza Province. A friend of my father’s has invited me. Of course it’s going to cost a fortune. But I really want to see how it all works. Do you think that’s weird – blowing all my savings on a trip to Africa to see a hospital and watch some doctors?’

  ‘I think it’s quite … impressive,’ he said. ‘No-one I know has ever thought of helping other people as a career option. They just like to spend money. It doesn’t really matter whose money it is, as long as it doesn’t run out.’

  Georgia smiled, not knowing quite how to respond.

  ‘Some people would call them well-dressed parasites.’ He laughed, but he seemed a little bitter.

  ‘And you?’ Georgia asked, tentatively. ‘Do you have any career plans – or is life just one big holiday for you?’

  Nik shook his head. ‘The work begins in March. I start at the University of Sydney – International Business.’

  ‘Oh, Sydney,’ Georgia frowned. It was closer than London, but it was still a thousand kilometres away from her home in Brisbane – probably too far away for anything long-term.

  Nik nodded. ‘My father bought me a place at Point Piper to … help me commit.’

  Georgia didn’t know Sydney well, but she’d heard of Point Piper. Anyone who’d ever picked up a gossip magazine would know Point Piper. It was where Australia’s film stars and media magnates holed up – with some of Australia’s most expensive real estate, full of harbour-view mansions and lap pools.

  Georgia imagined Nik sitting on a white leather sofa watching the yachts sail past on Sydney Harbour. She was there with him, her head on his shoulder. She knew she was getting ahead of herself, but what the hell.

  ‘It’s not a bad place,’ Nik said. ‘You can see the Harbour Bridge from every bedroom in the house.’

  ‘How many bedrooms does it have?’ Georgia asked.

  ‘Eight,’ Nik replied, without the slightest hint of embarrassment ‘You know … just in case we have visitors.’

  ‘Of course,’ Georgia replied. In her world, a sofa bed was perfectly fine for a casual visitor.

  Every snippet Georgia uncovered about Nik reaffirmed the mind-blowing privilege that he was accustomed to. His family apparently owned a string of houses. There was his father’s apartment in London, one for his sister in Paris, St Tropez for summer holidays, Aspen for skiing, Barbados to escape the European win ter, Milan, Sydney and Noosa. And those were just the ones that came up casually in conversation. She noticed his father featured in his anecdotes, but there was never a mention of his mother. Perhaps there had been an ugly divorce. Maybe she had abandoned the family and taken off with another man. There were also very few details about how his father had made his enormous wealth.

  ‘He has businesses in Europe and Asia and is looking at a few things in Australia,’ said Nik, when Georgia asked. And then he changed the subject. ‘Hey, I’ve just worked it out!’ he said excitedly. ‘I’ve just realised who you remind me of.’

  ‘Who’s … that?’ Georgia replied nervously. She wasn’t actually sure she wanted to know the answer.

  ‘In that blue dress, with your hair pinned up, and the red lipstick,’ Nik continued. ‘You’re straight from a painting!’

  Georgia blushed. ‘Which one?’ she asked hesitantly.

  ‘You know, I can’t remember the name of the painting or even where I saw it – it might have been the Tate, or the Hermitage, or maybe even the Louvre,’ Nik mused.

  ‘Now you’re just showing off,’ she grinned.

  ‘I’m not trying to,’ he laughed. ‘I really can’t remember where I saw it. I just remember the girl in the painting – so pensive, so beautiful. Was she holding a piece of fruit – an apple or something? I’m pretty sure it was Pre-Raphaelite, which means I probably saw it in London.’

  Georgia blushed. She had no idea which painting Nik was talking about. She knew almost nothing about art, or even what Pre-Raphaelite was. But the painting was obviously something that had left a mark on Nik and he was comparing her to some beautiful Pre-Raphaelite girl. She felt slightly dizzy just thinking about it.

  ‘Sorry,’ Nik said, ‘that’s like telling a joke and forgetting the punchline.’

&nbs
p; Georgia shrugged. ‘No need to apologise.’

  ‘I’ll pay more attention to the notes next time I visit a museum. I like to look, but I’m too lazy to read. Does that make me a bad person?’

  Georgia shook her head. ‘There are worse crimes. Like just reading the notes and forgetting to look at the painting – that’s something I’d do. Just in case I’m tested on it later.’

  He smiled. ‘You’re really that studious?’

  ‘Worse,’ she replied. ‘A complete nerd.’

  The conversation moved from art to school, where Georgia was more comfortable. But that made Nik embarrassed. Apparently he hadn’t been much of a student – always in trouble. He looked quite remorseful about it. ‘I should have been expelled. But it’s amazing how money can smooth things over. It changes everything.’

  ‘Not always,’ Georgia said. ‘I know of a guy who got punched in a fight. Smashed his head on the gutter. He’ll be wearing nappies for the rest of his life. Money won’t help him.’

  Nik nodded. ‘How tragic.’

  ‘Sorry, I’m sounding all worthy again,’ she said.

  Nik raised his eyebrows. ‘You don’t need to be sorry. You have a really clear vision of right and wrong. I wish I had such a precise moral compass.’

  Georgia looked at him closely. ‘Are you making fun of me?’

  Nik shook his head. ‘I just don’t question things in the same way you do.’

  Georgia paused. There was one question that had been weighing on her mind all evening. She spoke hesitantly.

  ‘Do you remember the first day in the park, when you found my hair-tie?’

  Nik nodded.

  ‘How did you see it fall when you were running the other way?’

  Nik took a deep breath, suddenly lost for words. She felt his leg shuffle under the table as he prepared to answer the question. Nik settled with his leg against hers, sending a torrent of blood rushing to her face.

  ‘I turned around to watch you,’ Nik said, almost embarrassed.