by Megan Keith
“So what are your plans this weekend Kaz?” I asked before taking a sip of my coffee, the hot liquid scalding my tongue.
“Well, after work tonight I have the place to myself, a few hours of peace as the kids are at their grandparents for a sleepover. Then, tomorrow the usual really… running kids around to their friend’s houses and the like. Nothing exciting. How ‘bout yourself?”
“Ah… I’ve actually got a date tonight,” I said bobbing my head shyly. Karen was well aware that this was a rare occurrence for me. With eyebrows raised and a surprised look on her face she waited patiently for more information, though I didn’t have much to give. “I met him at Woolies.”
“Really? I’m so happy for you Olivia. It’s about time, maybe your dry spell is about to end. Hang on – tonight?”
“Late dinner, don’t panic.” I reassured her that I still intended to work back late.
“Phew, for a sec there I thought you were dumping me and I really need you here if we’re ever gonna get back on schedule.” She hissed through her teeth staring at my chin. “Well if you’ve got a date tonight I better get you some tea tree to put on that humongous zit on your face.”
“Gee, thanks for pointing that out,” I giggled at her.
“It’s kinda hard to miss.” Karen laughed, dodging my slap. She left the room only to return a few minutes later with a small amber bottle of oil and a tissue. “Here you go, I whipped up a little blend for ya. Dab it with this every four hours or so.”
“Okay, thanks Kaz.” I immediately opened the bottle, dripped a little oil onto the tissue then held it up to the zit.
I may work for an essential oil company but I rarely paid any attention to the aromatherapy side of things anymore. When I first started I was fascinated by it, studied up on what oil did what, but all these years later I really just come here, do my job, then go home. I should pay more attention, having access to aromatherapists and discounted oils could probably benefit me some. Luckily I have Karen who is always full of information.
Karen and I had the place to ourselves until just before eight a.m. when others started showing up. We’d managed to make great progress by that stage but unfortunately that was when Karen had to return to her desk to get on with her normal duties, leaving me to fend for myself for the remainder of the day.
Daniel, who worked in despatch, was at a loose end and helped me for about an hour before he knocked off at five o’clock. He was a sweet guy, twenty-one and cute. A few of us sometimes went for drinks after work on Friday’s and Daniel was usually one of them. Although, it seemed no one was really interested in going out tonight, which he was a little disappointed about when he left.
“Say hello to Ally for me,” were his parting words. I replied that I would, but I had no intention of actually doing so. Just the thought of the two of them together made me cringe. A few Fridays back we were having after work drinks, Ally had the night off and had been complaining of having no plans and so I had invited her along. Daniel was instantly taken by her and I was not surprised that my twenty-six year old sister took him home to our place that night. Age had never been a barrier for her, nor had one night stands. It didn’t really even matter to me but it did make things very awkward when I had to face Daniel at work the following Monday. There are just some things that shouldn’t be shared with co-workers and the noises they made in bed was one of those things. Daniel wasn’t fazed by it though and didn’t seem to mind that I knew what went on. So eventually I let it go and stopped feeling so awkward around him. Didn’t mean I wanted to encourage it to happen again though.
Around six-thirty Karen went out for take-away. The smell of the Chinese food she was eating in the staff room wafted through the factory making my stomach twist in hunger. I’d decided to forego any food because of my date with Joel, but I was insanely hungry.
“Mmm this is delicious, are you sure you don’t want any?” Karen called out to me.
“Stop teasing me!” I yelled back.
“Hey where’s this guy taking you anyway?” she asked, poking her head out the doorway.
“Um, good question,” I replied, standing up and heading over to her. Somehow during my dreary day I had actually forgotten to check my messages, I guessed because I was so used to not get any. “I’m meeting him somewhere, he was supposed to text me,” I explained as I went to my locker to fetch my phone, checking it for the first time all day. I pressed the button revealing that I had missed two text messages. Both from a number I didn’t recognise. Joel. The first one was sent at about ten o’clock this morning and it was the address of a local pub that I had been to before. It was a little classier than your average pub, with a newly renovated intimate bistro. I thought it was a perfect choice and when I told Karen, she agreed. The second text was only sent about twenty minutes ago and it read:
Looking forward to seeing you soon
That message made me jump up and down like a school girl, I’m embarrassed to admit. Karen of course grabbed the phone off me to see what I had got so excited about and her eyes went wide.
“And you only met this guy last night?”
“Mhmm.” I bit my lip in an attempt to contain my excitement.
“Well he’s obviously been thinking about you all day. Which Woolies did you say you went to? I think I need to do me some shopping!” She giggled as she handed me my phone and sat back down to eat her dinner. I put it back in my locker and returned to the factory with a smile plastered on my face.
I felt sorry for Karen, she’s a single parent, which I can only imagine must be tough. She has dated a couple of times but doesn’t have any luck with men, not that I ever do either. I’m used to being single though and she has a tough time with it. I’ve never even lived with a guy, whereas she was married to her high school sweetheart for fifteen years before they got divorced last year. She still gets on well with her ex-husband, Matt, and they have the co-parenting friendship down pat, but I know that she misses having a partner. Comments like the one she just made in jest remind me that she is lonely.
By nine o’clock I was exhausted and ready for bed. I couldn’t believe that I had to go on a date after such a long day. No matter how tired I was though there was no way I was going to miss it. So after farewelling an equally weary Karen I headed home for a shower to freshen up. Ally was at work when I got there and for once I was disappointed not to have her about. I really had hoped to ask for her advice about hiding the zit on my face. Not that she gets them often but she knows more about make-up than me. I sifted through her stuff in the bathroom and found something called concealer which hid it a little. It had gone down a lot since this morning, though the ‘miracle cure’ that Karen gave me hadn’t made it completely disappear.
Knowing where I was headed for dinner I opted to wear my best jeans, with my sheer red short-sleeved shirt and matching camisole top. I really wanted to wear my black, heeled boots to finish off the outfit, but it was still rather hot outside so I chose a pair of beige wedged sandals instead. I’m not much interested in dressing up, and definitely not one to wear high heels, so this was actually a good effort for me. I left my long hair down and I also decided to wear a little make-up, just foundation, some mascara and a bit of lip gloss, too.
I hastily drove the short distance to the pub, my nerves reaching breaking point as I parked the car. I took a quick look in the mirror and found that my concealer was already coming unhinged and my zit was far more noticeable than when I had left the house. Shit! Not being able to do anything about it, I just took a few deep breaths instead and exited the car.
I spotted Joel straight away. He was sitting at a booth, large enough to seat six, against the far wall of the room. The restaurant was dimly lit creating a slightly romantic ambience which made my heart pick up in speed – this was a real date, it had been so long. When Joel noticed me and gave me a breathtaking smile my heart went into overdrive. He stood as I got nearer to the table. He was wearing jeans, the same dark denim as my own and an
untucked polo shirt. Thank god - I can’t stand it when guys tuck their shirts into jeans! His shirt just happened to be red, too. I chuckled when I realise that we’d co-ordinated our outfits.
“Sorry I’m so late,” I said as I reached him. It was already quarter to ten.
“No problem, I’m just glad you came,” he said with what I thought was a smile, though I couldn’t quite tell because he had his hand in front of his mouth. He motioned for me to sit down with his other hand and then he sat opposite me, leaning his elbow on the table, his chin in hand. “Too many Tim Tams?” he asked with a laugh, pointing directly at my chin. Right at my zit! I gasped at his rudeness and went beetroot red with embarrassment.
And then he moved his hand from his chin revealing a zit twice the current size of mine in almost the same spot on his face. We’d co-ordinated those too! I lost it. I laughed loudly, his laughter joined mine and increased. All the tension and nervousness left my body as Joel’s hearty belly laugh warmed me from the inside.
“Well that’s a relief. I tried everything to get rid of this thing today,” Joel smiled, pointing at the lump on his chin. For a moment he spoke in an almost shy manner. “I even considered Windex, like in that movie… um, what’s it called?”
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding?”
“Yeah, that’s the one.” He nodded, still smiling at me.
“Do you reckon that works?”
“No idea.” He shrugged as he laughed, there was a casual easiness forming between us. He no longer looked nervous either.
A waitress came over and placed a bowl of potato wedges in front of me and a plate of calamari in front of Joel. I was about to say something to her, tell her she had the wrong table as we hadn’t ordered yet, when Joel spoke.
“I hope you don’t mind, I was starving and the kitchen was about to close, so I ordered for you. Chauvinistic, I know. I wasn’t sure what you liked so I ordered these for us to share and I ordered three mains, so you can take your pick. Stupid of me to choose this place. I didn’t even think about the kitchen closing so early. I’m really sorry.” He spoke so quickly with a look of concern, that casualness quickly draining from his face. He was obviously worried about my reaction.
“Not your fault I got here so late and I’m starving, too. I’ve just worked a sixteen hour day, so I’m not that picky, but this is a great place.” I smiled at him reassuringly.
He looked instantly relieved at my words and moved the plate of calamari to the centre of the table.
“I like calamari,” I said grabbing a piece and taking a bite. Then I moved the bowl of wedges to the centre of the table so Joel could reach them.
“What would you like to drink?” he asked as he stood up. I noticed that he had an empty beer glass on the table.
“I’ll have a beer thanks,” I said with a nod to his empty glass. “Whichever you’re having.”
“Okay.” He smiled at me before grabbing a potato wedge and walking off to the bar as I finished the piece of calamari.
The smell of the freshly fried goodness in front of me was momentarily overpowered by Joel’s spicy cologne when the air conditioner picked it up and blew it in my direction just as he stepped away. If I wasn’t already so starving for food, that scent could have made me follow him instead. Mmm delicious. It’s amazing what a good cologne can do to you, and his was mighty fine. Instead, I focused my attention on the bowl of wedges in front of me, dipping one in the sour cream and sweet chilli sauce and biting into it. Joel couldn’t have ordered better, besides Tim Tams, potato wedges were my biggest weakness and these ones were divine.
“Busy in here tonight,” Joel said placing a beer in front of me and taking a seat opposite. I’d been so busy tucking into the wedges that I hadn’t even noticed how long he had been gone. Looking down at the bowl in front of me, seeing that it was half empty, I realised that it must have been a while.
We both reached for the same wedge. “Sorry,” we said at the same time, again. Joel moved his hand over to pick a different one. We smiled at each other and I revelled in the familiarity of it. I grabbed the wedge and took a bite, grinning at him.
“So sixteen hours you say? That is a long day.”
I nodded and shrugged, continuing to chew my mouthful of food. I expected him to ask what I do, that being the next obvious question, but he just started hoeing into the calamari instead. I ate a couple more wedges and then had a sip of my beer.
“I like this place. Have you been here before?” I asked.
“Once or twice,” he said with a smile, “You?”
“Once or twice,” I repeated with a nod.
I took a moment to study his face while he was looking downward. God he was so good looking! He was clean-shaven tonight which made him appear more youthful than the last time I saw him. It also highlighted his mouth, drawing my eyes in that direction. Looking a little lower I saw his huge zit and smiled.
“I can’t believe we have matching zits!” I giggled when my eyes landed back on his lovely multi-coloured ones that were suddenly full of mischief.
“Too many Tim Tams. Though, that’s not all I had for dinner last night,” he said with a smile before popping another wedge in his mouth. His eyes remained focused on mine and it almost felt as though I was naked with the way he looked at me. It was unnerving. Then he blinked, “Did your ice cream survive?”
“Ah,” I blinked back at him. It took me a moment to recover, especially as my eyes made their way to his mouth as he chewed, “yes thanks, got it home in time.” I loved how attentive he was to remember such a small detail.
We polished off the rest of our entrée just in time for the waitress to come back over and place our mains in front of us. Joel instructed her to put them in the middle of the long table. He had ordered a steak with mushroom sauce, a chicken schnitzel and beer-battered fish, all with chips and salad.
“I can’t believe you ordered three meals,” I said, eyeing all the food in front of us.
“I know. What was I thinking? We’re never going to get through all of this! So, which one do you want?”
“No, which one do you want?” I countered.
“I asked first.” He smirked at me.
“Well I asked second.”
His chuckle, as he laughed at me, was throaty and deep, and god was it good - made my stomach clench all the way down to my tailbone. He leaned away from the table, back against the dark brown leather padding of the seat and crossed his arms. Staring me down with a sexy smirk until I made a decision.
“Fine, I’ll take the chicken schnitzel then,” I snapped happily at him, moving the plate in front of me.
“Good, because I really wanted the steak,” he said, leaning forward to grab the plate.
I shook my head at him, popping a chip in my mouth. He passed me some cutlery from the end of the table and I thanked him. Joel looked at me with an odd expression on his face and then started laughing at me again.
“What? Have I got something on my face?” I asked, grabbing a napkin to wipe whatever it was off.
“Other than that huge zit? No,” he joked and it made me feel like slapping him playfully, but I held my hand in place, we weren’t at that point of familiarity yet.
“Then what are you laughing at?” I asked putting the napkin back down.
“What you just said.”
I looked at him with my eyebrows raised. What had I said?
“Spank you.” He chuckled.
My hand automatically lifted to cover my face. “Oh,” I sighed, and then laughed, shaking my head. “Did I? I can’t believe I said that!”
“Neither can I.” He snickered.
“It’s something that my sister and I have said since we were kids,” I explained, dragging my fingers away from my face, “instead of ‘thank you’, we say ‘spank you’. Sometimes it just slips out and I don’t even realise it.”
“Don’t be embarrassed, I like it, it’s cute… Spank you for coming out with me tonight.”
I f
elt myself blush all over at his words and attention. Our eyes caught and I swear I felt a jolt all the way down to my knickers. He raised his beer glass in salute before taking a gulp, his mischievous eyes still locked on my blue ones. I couldn’t stop staring at his eyes, I was trying to figure out their exact colour. At first I thought they were hazel, that’s browny-green, right? But I could also see flecks of blue in there. Whatever their exact colour, I found myself getting lost in them.
My sister and I had started saying ‘spank you’ when we were just innocent kids. I’d never heard those words said quite the way Joel just did. Images of all sorts of kinky fuckery flooded my mind. I’m not into spanking and that sort of thing. At least I don’t think I am. I’ve never tried that stuff though, so I can’t say for sure. God, now I can’t stop conjuring up thoughts of things Joel could possibly do to me.
My eyes involuntarily made their way to his strong looking hands. Totally distracted by him, I almost choked on my lettuce. I polished off the rest of my beer just trying to wash it down.
“Another drink?” I asked breathlessly before placing my empty glass back on the table. He made a move to stand but I stopped him by lightly touching my fingers to his arm. Touching him… not helping to quell those thoughts. I gulped. Standing up I said, “You bought two entrées, and three mains, I can at least buy you a drink.”
“Wait.” He stopped me from walking past him. I paused and waited while he lifted his hips, shoving his hand deep in his jeans pocket. Looking there… not helping either. He put his hand out, placing something warm in mine as he said, “If we’re keeping score, then I think this belongs to you...” When he moved his hand away I saw that it was a one dollar coin. I sniggered and shook my head when I remembered the trolley incident the night before. “...the other half of your money. I’ll have a Coke thanks.” He smiled at me sweetly, sending a shockwave to my heart. I turned and headed to the bar.