by Chris Watt
“Any embarrassing break-up stories?”
Rob pondered, at first unsure if she was trying to get back at him for scraping through her own emotional garbage, or whether she was actually interested. And if so, why? Surely his experiences would pale in comparison. After all, he hadn’t lost his virginity until he was eighteen, by which time Katy would have been celebrating Jodie’s tenth birthday.
‘ Yeah,’ he thought, ‘ that’s a bit of a head fuck!’
However, at the risk of trying to keep Katy’s interest in him alive past at least the main course, Rob went for his most recent romantic entanglement.
“Okay, there was this one girl. Jane. She and I had been going out for a year and then, one day, I’m walking through the shopping center and I’m just about to get into the elevator when the doors open and there she stands, making out with my cousin Nick.”
At first, Katy said nothing. She didn’t even give Rob the satisfaction of a facial reaction.
Rob, sensing that this could go any which way, didn’t react either. He picked up a bread stick and started to nibble. Then Katy laughed, saying,
“Keeping it in the family?”
Phew! Rob laughed as well, the pressure off now, and he continued enthusiastically, between mouthfuls of crispy bread.
“No shit. It was ugly. They moved to London together. The last I heard, he sells cars.”
Katy laughed again.
“God, did you love her?”
“I thought I did. At the time it felt like heartbreak, but whoever knows these things?”
“When was this?”
“Eighteen months ago”
“Not that you’re counting or anything?”
“Okay, I’ll admit it, I still think about her from time to time.”
“What do you think about?”
“What would be the best car to run her over with?”
“No fond memories, then?”
“It’s funny, isn’t it? You spend so much time with someone and what do you remember?
The little things. The quirks. It’s always little moments that linger. You know what I mean? Those small moments that seem insignificant at the time, but somehow, they stick in your memory.”
Katy said nothing, her head now resting on her hands, as she listened tentatively to what Rob was saying. Rob, of course, took this as a sign that she didn’t quite understand what he meant, and added,
“Or maybe I’m just being stupid. What I meant to say was she had a nice rack.”
They shared a laugh, but it was brief, as Katy gave him a re-assuring shake of the head and leaned forward, speaking in almost a whisper.
“You know what? I think that if we have anything worth holding onto, then it’s those moments. I don’t think it’s stupid at all. When you look back in fifty years, what are you going to remember? It won’t be minutes or hours, but those little moments and the people who were there.”
“Or not there?” added Rob, trying to hint at an emotional maturity that even he didn’t think existed. Katy narrowed her eyes at him, almost in a grimace. Rob copied her and nodded his head in agreement, saying
“We went a little deep there didn’t we?”
Katy smiled, changing subject rapidly, with
“Give me your wallet.”
Rob, confused, tilted his head.
“What? Why?”
“Because you can tell a lot about a person from the contents of his wallet. You can look in my purse.”
Katy flung her purse at Rob, who caught it in mid-air, dropping his breadstick on the floor in surprise. He still didn’t quite know what Katy meant, but went along with her regardless, rummaging in his coat pocket and handing her his wallet.
They both took a look.
In fact, Katy literally dumped the contents of Rob’s wallet onto the table in front of her, while Rob merely fingered through the wasteland of paper in her purse. Katy was intrigued, maybe even a little relieved to find there were no condoms to be found.
Instead she found herself looking at a couple of credit cards, a gym membership card and at least ten cinema tickets.
“You have a lot of movie tickets in here.”
Rob nodded, too engrossed in the contents of Katy’s purse to look up.
“And you seem to be storing up your receipts for a rainy day. Scared of the tax man or something?”
“Better safe than sorry. I like to know I can return things if I don’t like them.”
Rob held up one receipt in particular.
“This one is dated for three years ago, I think that ship has sailed.”
Katy made a face, indicating a silent laugh, before asking,
“So, the movie tickets?”
“I’ve only lived here a few months. It kills boredom when you don’t have any friends.”
Katy’s bottom lip started to quiver, as she tried to hold back a laugh. Rob looked at her, quizzically.
“What?”
Katy then replied with a half mock, half serious,
“Oh, you’re going to make me cry. I’ll go with you.”
Rob smiled, getting it.
“You will?”
“Well, if you want me to.”
“Sure,” he nodded, before adding, “of course.”
They both shared a warm smile with one and other and, for the first time that night, looked each other directly in the eye. If either of them had known that at that moment, they were both thinking the same thing: I want to kiss your face off, then maybe they wouldn’t have made it to the main course.
However, the shyness factor was still in play and Rob, sensing that perhaps their silence was about to lead into another awkward moment of honesty, held up a small passport sized photo that he had plucked from Katy’s purse.
“Who’s the guy in this photo?”
Katy looked at the photo and instantly started to chuckle. Rob laughed a little too, not knowing why, but feeling he should play along.
“What? What are we laughing at?”
Katy shook her head, replying,
“That’s me.”
Rob squinted at the photo.
“In 1995,” she continued.
Rob’s face dropped and he took another look at the photo, before holding it up to Katy’s face, trying to make a comparison. Katy continued to laugh and added
“It’s the hair.”
THIRTY-THREE
The heavens had opened up by the time Rob and Katy left the restaurant. The plan had been to take a walk along the beach, let their dinner settle and then head back up into town and maybe hit a bar or two.
However, it only took about twenty seconds for that idea to go out the window, as Rob and Katy tried to negotiate the walk from the restaurant’s entrance, to across the road, before realizing that perhaps they had underestimated the force and persistence of the weather.
This might have been due to the rumble of thunder in the air, but more likely was the fact that they both now resembled victims of a shipwreck: Rob’s suit losing its shape and form under the weight of the water, his shirt clinging to his chest for dear life, while any work Katy may have put into her hair or make up had vanished, along with the neck line of her top, which was starting to reveal more than even Rob may have been expecting that night.
They had to make a decision quickly, as they were in very real danger of drowning. Rob draped his arm around Katy and directed her towards a nearby doorway, where they found shelter. They were both out of breath and soaked to the bone. There was heat in the air, steam coming up from the ground, causing both of them to sweat as they tried to shake off some of the rain.
“Jesus, it’s really coming down out here,” said Rob, before bringing his face up to meet Katy’s. Katy was embarrassed by her own appearance, but couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I’m a mess.”
Rob looked at Katy for a few seconds. Maybe it was the heat in the air, maybe it was the fact that he found Katy even more attractive soaking wet than sitting dry and comfort
able in the restaurant; or maybe it was that he found the idea that she was embarrassed, to be seen this way by him, cute. Whatever it was, something inside Rob’s head clicked and he stepped forward, so that Katy had no option but to face him. He brought his face down to hers and whispered,
“I think you look great.”
He leaned in and kissed her. Katy, a little surprised at first, slowly gave in and kissed him back. Rob brought his hands up to her face, placing them on each cheek as he continued to kiss her, every second becoming more intense - more passionate. The rain continued to pour down, but neither of them would have noticed by now, as they stood there in that darkened doorway, arms staring to move around one and other.
It was almost a cliché that was not lost on Katy, as amongst the many other emotions going through her mind at that point, was the one that was taking her back to being fourteen, making out in the back of movie theatres, or under the slide in Duthie Park, even back to when she first kissed Tom, Jodie’s father. Perhaps it was this last memory that caused her to break off the kiss, but more likely it was the headlights of the oncoming bus.
“Come on,” she said, “Let’s catch it.”
Rob, disorientated from the kissing, found his arm being tugged, as Katy, holding his hand, ran to the side of the road and stuck out her arm for the bus.
Mercifully it stopped, although not before drenching their feet as it drove through one of the many large puddles that had formed at the roadside. Neither Katy nor Rob really noticed this however, already wet beyond comprehension, and hopped on.
Rob dug in his pocket for change, before drawing a blank as he looked at the driver, who smiled and posed the question:
“Where to?”
Rob and Katy looked at each other, before grabbing a bus schedule, neither actually sure where the bus was going to take them.
Rob could see from the schedule that they would be passing by his flat and, despite a moment of hesitation, was still riding high from having seized the moment in the doorway, so stuck a handful of change into the ticket slot, saying:
“Two to my place.”
The driver gave him a ‘what the fuck?’ look. Rob amended his statement.
“Um, just before King Street please,” before turning to make sure Katy was okay with his decision. She smiled at him and, still holding his hand, started to walk up the aisle, to find them both a seat. They ended up at the back of the bus, as it pulled out and headed off into the rainy night.
They both sat in silence, soggy and uncomfortable, but still holding hands. Rob smiled to himself. Katy did nothing, but the buzz of what had just happened was still going through her body. Their eyes met briefly, but it was all they needed, to start laughing, a laugh that continued for the next eight hundred meters before they reached their stop, just a three minute dash from Rob’s flat. They jumped off the bus, the rain still firing towards the ground like it was aiming just at them, before running all the way to Rob’s doorway.
He struggled with his keys, before shoving the door open and leading Katy into the hallway.
“That was smooth”, Katy quipped.
“Yeah, that door is a pain in the ass.”
“But such a nice ass.” It was said in flirtation, but Katy worried that it might have been too much, as if she had revealed her hand too early. Rob, however, gave her a polite chuckle and led her into his flat.
“Coffee? Wine?” asked Rob as he quickly tidied up his lounge around Katy.
“Wine would be great, thanks,” she replied, with a smile.
Rob disappeared into his kitchen, while Katy looked around the room, surveying the various shelves of books and CDs that Rob had arrayed around the television and above his couch. Rob returned with two glasses of red wine, handing one to Katy. They clinked glasses.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Cheers.”
They both drank from their glasses, followed by an awkward silence, as both looked at one and other. They were both fully aware of what was happening here, or indeed, what was about to happen, but they hesitated. Rob, through politeness, while Katy’s was more a case of savoring a feeling she hadn’t experienced in years.
“You have a lot of books.”
Rob shrugged.
“I’m an English teacher.”
“And I don’t recognize any of the bands in your CD collection. Apart from Bob Dylan.”
“Do you like him?”
“Not really.”
Rob nodded, sensing a change in Katy’s attitude. Her face confirmed this, a hint of melancholy entering her eyes.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“I just feel old.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Behind the times. I know nothing about music these days. Or films or books.”
“You’re not exactly over the hill.”
Katy smiled,
“Thanks for saying that, but sometimes I feel like it.”
Rob stepped forward and kissed her hard on the lips, making sure his tongue touched hers. There was intent behind this kiss and he wanted to make sure Katy knew this.
Then, quick as he had kissed her, he broke it off and asked,
“How do you feel now?”
Katy paused for a moment, before answering,
“Do you have a towel?”
“Sure,” Rob nodded, “hang on.”
Rob walked through to his bedroom and grabbed a large towel out of his chest of drawers, before returning to the lounge to find Katy standing in front of the television, with the top of her dress pulled down, exposing her bra.
He stopped as quickly as he entered, taken aback, to say the least, by what he was looking at. Katy said nothing. She just stood there, looking at him, waiting for him to make the next move, which he did by slowly walking towards her and handing her the towel. This allowed their hands to meet, a moment that was not lost on either of them. The touch turned into them both standing in the middle of the room, hand in hand.
“You are so beautiful,” was the only thing he could think of to say. It was a compliment, to be sure, but there was more to it than that. He wasn’t just re-assuring Katy, who he sensed felt vulnerable, but he truly meant it at that moment. And then she started to laugh.
She didn’t mean to be rude. She was even touched by the sentiment. It was just that it seemed silly, despite the fact she relished how refreshing it was to hear a good looking man say something like this to her. Rob rolled his eyes.
“I was serious,” he said, a little serious, a little hurt and now a little embarrassed. Katy shook her head and gave him a quick, re-assuring kiss on the cheek, adding,
“I know you were.”
Katy then looked straight into Rob’s eyes, with a look that suggested so much, but said nothing. Rob understood, immediately.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
Katy merely nodded, her mind and her libido now somewhere between lust and a little too much enthusiasm. Rob took her in his arms, kissing her with all the force he had in him.
Katy returned this with a passion she had not felt in years, turning Rob and pushing him down onto the couch. He looked up at her, smiling. She threw the towel over his face, before running out of the lounge and into his bedroom. Rob felt it would be plain bad manners not to follow.
THIRTY-FOUR
Jodie woke the next morning filled with an uncharacteristic bout of enthusiasm. Despite the fact she had spent the previous night in front of the TV, filling out her university applications, while her mother had been taken out by the man of her dreams, her mood was surprisingly chipper.
This may have been due to the confidence Laura had instilled in her about the sabotage list, which Jodie had decided to hold onto and which now resided between chapter eight and nine in her copy of ‘Jude the Obscure’.
It may have also been due to the buzz she had gotten from completing her university applications, one to London and one to Edinburgh, which she would mail later that day.
She had spent most of the night looking over the prospectuses, already deciding how her room would look in her halls of residence, where she would go every morning for coffee with friends, how she would dress, what kind of persona she would adapt, and yet nothing about her course or the workload. It felt like a fresh start, with one exception. In her mind, every weekend, Rob would travel down to spend time with her. She thought about the friends she hadn’t made yet. About how jealous they would be of her when they met Rob. How impressed they would be to find out she was dating a teacher seven years older than her. And she thought about the nights she would spend with him, alone in her room, just the two of them.
But more likely than any of these, Jodie was excited to talk with her mother and find out how badly the previous night out had been, desperate to discover if any of her earlier tactics had been successful.
She expected her mother to be upset, if only temporarily. She also expected some gossip on Rob, what he wore, what they talked about and, most importantly, what had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, what had been the main reason that they had decided to call it quits. Was it circumstance? Or lack of attraction? Or was it simply that Rob was too young for her mother and that really he would be better suited with someone like...oh, let’s say her?
Surely that was it.
Jodie swung her legs out of bed and sat up, rubbing her eyes a little and allowing herself a couple of minutes to wake up properly. The she stood up slowly and shuffled to her window, opening her curtains and blinds and letting the morning sunlight into the room.
She let her eyes adjust, before opening her window to let some fresh air through the room. She noticed Sean across the way, his back to her, doing chin-ups on a bar that was attached to his doorframe. She watched him for a few moments, even allowed herself to admire his build, his broad shoulders and strong back. But just as quickly as she admired him, she quickly glanced down at her alarm clock and noticed the time, thinking to herself,
‘ Who the hell does chin-ups on a Saturday at 9 am?’
“Mentalist,” she said to herself, before turning away from her window, grabbing her dressing gown and opening her bedroom door.