Murfey's Law

by Bec Johnson

  A multitude of enquiries from Saturday's open home had been waiting for her in her inbox when she'd gone to check her emails at the end of the day yesterday, and so taking the laptop to the comfort of her bed she had sat and sent her replies. Thankfully, the questions had all been fairly straightforward, asking about everything from the dates of the most recent termite inspection to the number of power points in the kitchen, and Lori had been able to answer them with the bare facts only. Relieved that no one else had indicated they were even close to making an offer, she had closed the lid, placed it beside the lamp and had fallen asleep excited at the prospect of Zeb's arrival, as he had done each morning since New Year's Eve, sometime around five-thirty.

  Five-thirty?

  Lori bent her arm backwards and groped for her phone, bringing it round in front of her face she pressed the smooth round button prompting the screen to come alive.

  ‘Six forty five?’ She shook the phone as though there was something wrong with it and at the same time stretched her left leg out until it reached the edge of the mattress.

  PING!

  Now wide awake, both confused and disappointed, Lori grabbed the laptop and flipped the lid open.

  PING! BIIIRDDYY???

  Sara's messages took up the entire screen and rolled through varying degrees of frustration.

  I'm here, I'm here! Stop yelling! Lori's fingers tumbled over the keyboard while at the same time her mind raced through all the scenarios as to why Zeb wouldn't have come round. Checking her phone's text messages and voicemails produced no answer. Bile rose in her throat as she allowed herself the fleeting thought that somehow he had found out about the offer that she still hadn't told him of, despite the investors' meeting being merely twenty seven and a quarter hours away. Not that she was counting.

  PING! Ah hah! At last!

  Good morning Sara, or should I say evening? Are you still at work? Grateful they weren't video chatting Lori peeled off the sexy underwear she'd put on last night in honour of today's occasion but as Zeb had clearly found something better, or granted maybe more important to do today of all bloody days, she may as well slip into something more comfortable.

  Having woken much later than she'd recently been used to, the sun had now broken completely over the horizon and was already shining its light in a square plot on the foot of the bed. Sat recharging her body with the warmth Lori unenthusiastically picked up a bikini and slipped it on. Today she at least deserved a swim. Then, after that, she'd have to pluck up the courage to go and find Zeb and tell him the truth.

  PING! Oh my god woman stop with the small talk I've been trying to reach you for over an hour!

  It's not even seven in the morning Sara, why on earth would I have been up an hour ago? Lori smiled, knowing full well why her friend would have thought she should be up, if she was still in the UK then Sara would have had every last minute of today planned out.

  PING! Because today, or tomorrow for me, but today for you, is your 30TH FREAKING BIRTHDAYYYY!!!

  Not wanting to get into a long drawn out conversation about the bad choices she'd made and the now much more than awkward situation she'd put herself in Lori didn't share too much information with Sara, choosing instead to keep the conversation to the goings-on at Hunter & Hunter. Although she missed the familiarity of her old job and her old life, Lori was able to gain from their chat the fact that the life she used to have, where it was and the way she used to live it, now seemed dreary and meaningless. If she sold the shop she would certainly have both the opportunity and the means to draw a line under that part of her past and go to wherever in the world she wanted to be. All she had to do was work out where that was?

  After a brief Happy Birthday from Max, Lori logged off, properly this time, and took her laptop downstairs in search of breakfast.

  Jenny and Tyler weren't in yet, and so Lori used the chance to walk around the shop and café in silence. She smiled as she ran her fingers slowly along the shelves. Mr Kelly's honey stockpile was slowly diminishing, and the other home-grown goods she'd taken on had seen an excellent turnover. The relationships she'd built with the producers even in such a short space of time would no doubt remain strong when Mr and Mrs Peters took the helm. She made a mental note to write them a list of the sweets and ice-creams that the beautiful little group of school kids had told her were ‘gross’ the day they had sat crowded round her laptop excitedly picking out new flavours.

  By the front door Lori's fingers met the counter and the well worn blue 'Resident Accounts' book. Drawn to the back she flicked the pages over, stopping herself at 'Y'. Prolonging the inevitable wasn't doing her any good, her chest ached and her stomach churned.

  Bob appeared at her feet and Lori bent down to scratch his ears, a lump forming in her throat as she looked at his innocent face, ‘Let's get this day over with shall we?’

  On the other side of the door Lori was greeted with the usual order of bread. Propping open the screen she stepped out onto the verandah in her bikini and noticed a large brown paper bag tucked in amongst the loaves, on it, scrawled in rushed writing was a note from Simon. Happy Birthday Lori! Sorry, we had no idea. Inside is something to see you through until this evening when we'll be round with a much better version. Love Simon xxx p.s. Kristy will kill you when she finds out you tried to keep your 30th from her!

  Opening the bag Lori found a little cupcake, iced in baby pink and sprinkled with edible glitter she dreaded to think whose order it had been pinched from. Her guilt didn't last long though, as dipping her finger in she scraped off some of the smooth butter cream and licked it decadently off again.

  How the hell had he known? She'd not told anyone.

  With all her self-control she closed the bag and dropped it on top of the bread, she'd eat it later. Gripping the bottom of the stacked trays she groaned as she lifted them off the verandah, her arms straining under the weight, and turned carefully around to go back inside.

  ‘Holy crap!’ Shocked and fearing she was about to lose her grip Lori put the stack straight back down again. So that's how Simon had known.

  Against the front of the shop, beside the door was the most beautiful surfboard she'd ever seen. Wrapped in an enormous bow her fingers shook as they traced the incredibly intricate and colourful custom design, a Rainbow Lorikeet.

  Attached to the bow was a piece of paper, Happy 30th Lorikeet. Breakfast on the sand, seven-thirty, bring your gift. Z.

  Her heart pounding she tugged the bow off and threw it in the direction of the counter. Shuffling backwards she dragged the bread delivery through the doorway and left it in front of the shelves, Jenny and Tyler would no doubt sort it for her, she'd just have to apologise later for leaving them to deal with the morning preparations alone. After pouring a huge bowl of dog food out for a very excited looking Bob, Lori ran back out the front, grabbed the board, and flew across the driveway.

  Over the road Tyler was just coming out of his grandmother's front gate, when he noticed Lori running away from the shop. He called out after her, ‘Nice artwork!’

  ‘Thanks! Sorry, bye! Be back later!’ She didn't even flinch when the gravel on the edge of the road dug in to her bare soles as she ran down the street in the direction of the beach.

  Still too early for the families the sand was almost empty bar the odd morning walker and in the distance, at the far end, a couple of fishermen. Churned up by the strong winds that had been bringing the evening storms the swell looked a little choppy today. As the note had promised, Zeb was stood at the water's edge facing the horizon where the water met the sky, his feet sinking into the sand as the foamy waves crashed against his shins. Behind him a safe distance from the water his board was propped up on its edge and a blanket laid out with breakfast waited for her.

  ‘Wow!’ Lori was almost speechless at the effort he'd gone to and so she pinched herself just to make sure this was real. It smacked a little of 'gay assistance' but the thought of Zeb enlisting his brother's help only made it more impressive.


  On hearing her exclamation, Zeb turned around and grinned. ‘Happy Birthday Lorikeet, did you really think you could keep it a secret?’

  Flinching at his choice of words Lori swallowed hard, she had to tell him, just not right this minute. Smiling back she asked, ‘So how did you know?’

  ‘Ah, well, you remember the night you met Tyler? The night I came to sort out your little insurance indiscretion?’ He laughed as he said it.

  ‘My driver's licence.’ Lori figured it out and laughed with him. ‘You took my date of birth from my driver's licence.’

  ‘No magic involved I'm afraid.’

  ‘Oh my god, don't say that! This is incredible.’ Lori waved at the picnic he'd set up. ‘And my present, you really shouldn't have, it's stunning.’

  ‘You deserve it, you can't turn thirty without a present, and besides it gave me the excuse to go and see an old school mate who turned his childhood love of graffiti into something that got him out of juvenile detention and into a two bedroom top floor apartment overlooking one of Sydney's best beaches.’

  ‘Well, thank you. For everything.’ She stepped forward and placed her hands on his chest, stretching up on her toes to kiss him.

  ‘Hungry?’ He asked as she pulled away.

  ‘Starving.’ Lori gripped her stomach. ‘I thought you'd never ask!’

  Laid on opposite sides of the blanket they ate huge slices of melon while they cloud-watched before tucking in to two little matching jars of yoghurt layered with granola. Zeb reluctantly admitted that this touch was indeed thanks to his little brother. What was his idea though was the plastic bottle of decanted champagne he pulled from the cool box at the end of the blanket. Unscrewing the lid he poured it into two mismatched plastic camping mugs and topped them with freshly squeezed orange juice.

  ‘You're funny,’ Lori giggled.

  ‘How so?’ He frowned as he passed her the bright blue cup.

  ‘This,’ Lori took it and held it up. ‘You'll jump off a bridge, which I'm fairly certain is illegal, and yet you won't bring glass on to the beach.’

  ‘Actually I fell off the bridge. As far as the law is concerned, there's a big difference between doing something by accident and doing something on purpose. One is forgivable, the other isn't.’ He grinned at her, though when he saw her face fall a little he stopped. ‘Is everything ok?’

  Gulping down the fizzy contents of the cup she avoided his gaze and just nodded. ‘Mmm hmm.’

  Satisfied but not overly full Zeb suggested they take her new board out to get it wet. The conditions were terrible for catching any surf but he thought a bit of fun might take her mind off whatever it was that was bothering her. Presuming it was probably just the emotions of the milestone she'd reached without her parents he grabbed her wrist and pulled her up off the blanket.

  Together they waded out through the bubbles and fought through the messy waves until they'd both made it beyond the breakers. Sitting up on their boards they bobbed around for a while talking about anything and everything other than what Lori knew they should have been discussing.

  High above them the sky grew gradually darker as a huge black cloud passed in front of the sun. It didn't look like it would hang around for long but when it opened up on top of them the rain drops were so hard and so heavy it stung their eyes and smarted against the bare skin of their shoulders.

  Over the noise the rain made as it hit the sea Zeb yelled at Lori to follow him and he pointed at the little shelter in the rock platform not far to their right.

  Pushing their boards up and in Zeb climb skilfully over the sharp rock and turned around to pull her in by her arms.

  ‘You've done this a few times haven't you,’ Lori asked as she squeezed the water out of her eyes and settled her bottom on to the smooth surface of her board.

  ‘It's been here longer than I have.’ Zeb shuffled himself around so his legs were spanning both boards and Lori's back was leaning against his chest. ‘I used to bring Jonah in here when he was younger and listen to his stories of how he felt different to everyone else.’

  ‘He came out to you in a cave?’ Lori chuckled.

  ‘I know, ironic eh?’ He threw his head back and laughed. Wiping the wet strands of hair away from her shoulder, he leant his head forward again and kissed the length of her neck.

  Lori shivered. She couldn't put it off any longer. If she kept finding inane reasons to wait then it'd never happen. It wasn't as if any time was going to be the right time. That she hadn't even thought about how she was going to say it or even what she was going to tell him was her own stupid fault. The simple facts were that she had a buyer for the shop, and although she was having second thoughts she couldn't fight the feeling that keeping the place would mean she had somehow forgiven her father. That's all she needed to tell him. He'd understand that surely?

  Turning the words over and over in her mind Lori felt Zeb's teeth grazing the back of her neck and his hands massaging her shoulders. Breathing deeper against her skin he slipped one hand round to the front of her chest and into the wet fabric of her bikini while the other moved down to grasp her hip.

  ‘So... you never found a buyer?’ He asked casually.

  Oh. Shit.

  This is what happens when you lie.

  ‘Zeb.’ Lori turned herself around to face him and took his hands in hers. She searched his eyes, imploring him to appreciate why she did what she was about to tell him she'd done.

  ‘Lorikeet?’ He questioned her, pulling out of her grip.

  ‘I... I wanted to...’ Lori faltered unable to form any sentence that wouldn't sound like a pathetic excuse for making a stupid choice.

  ‘You have a buyer?’

  ‘I'm so sorry, I wanted to tell you but then we had, well you know, and...’

  ‘What the fuck?’ Zeb spat. ‘You had a buyer before New Year's Eve? I asked you specifically that night if you'd found a buyer and you said no. Do you remember that Lorikeet?’

  ‘I'm sorry...’

  ‘So you keep saying.’ He'd now recoiled so far from her she couldn't even reach him when she tried to put her hand on his arm.

  ‘Zeb please, listen to me, I didn't mean for it to happen like this,’ Lori pleaded. ‘I accepted the offer because of my feelings towards my father. When I came here I was absolutely set on selling so that I could erase all trace of connection to him, but I started to have doubts and I didn't know why. And then we kissed, and then the Peters' made their offer and I thought I had to see it through because staying in Murfey's Beach would be so awkward for both of us if we'd had a fling...’

  ‘If we'd had a WHAT?’ Zeb was yelling now, his rage incandescent.

  ‘I thought that was all you...’ Lori tried to interject.

  ‘How fucking dare you assume to know anything about me, or about anyone here. You swept in all bitter and wallowing in self-pity and everyone bent over backwards to accommodate you, Jenny has been waiting on you hand and foot, the other residents have been trying to help you realise the shop's potential in the hope you'd stay and as for me...’ He stopped himself. ‘No, I'm not doing this.’

  Sitting up on his haunches he pushed Lori's knees aside and threw his board into the water. Without another word he dove in after it.

  Tears streaming down her face Lori watched as he powered through the choppy waves reaching the beach in no time, storming out of the water he walked straight past the picnic and up the beach toward the road. As he disappeared from view Lori allowed the great heaving sobs she had pushed down in her chest to escape.

  ‘Lori?’ Kristy's voice called from the other side of the locked bedroom door.

  Woof!

  ‘Lori come on, let me in.’ Kristy jiggled the door handle gently.

  Woof!

  ‘Listen, Bob sounds hungry can I at least feed him? You can't keep him locked in there with you, he'll need to poop at some point.’

  Woof! Woof!

  ‘I have cake.’

  ‘Cake and wine.’r />
  Just as Tyler was about to have a go at the door handle with a screw driver he'd found in the cupboard under the sink, the lock on the inside clicked. Rubbing Kristy's arm encouragingly he turned and went back down stairs leaving the girls to themselves.

  In the kitchen Jenny looked dreadful. She hadn't cared for a second when she had found out that Lori had kept the offer on the shop secret from her, it was the utter desolation she'd seen on Lori's face when she'd marched back in to the shop mid-morning. With a surfboard under one arm, an esky in her hand and a bundled up picnic rug, clanking with goodness only knows what, in the other, Lori had dragged the whole lot up the stairs without saying a word, Bob following closely at her heel, and locked herself in her room. When both Jenny and Tyler were unable to rouse her they had decided to call Kristy. Between Kristy's confession to knowing about an offer on the shop, and the note they'd found on the bow that had dropped behind the counter it didn't take long for them to work out what had happened.

  ‘Heeyyy,’ Kristy spoke softly as she opened the bedroom door and crept in with cake and wine as promised. Bob shot out the gap and Kristy pushed the door shut behind him.

  Curled up on the bed beside the surfboard and wrapped in the damp and sandy picnic blanket Lori lay blotchy eyed and snivelling. Apart from getting up to unlock the door just now, she'd been in the same position for hours. Her hair had dried in a great mess of knots and her bikini was covered in salty tide marks. She wiped her nose on her pillow, making Kristy shudder.

  ‘How about you take a sh...’

  ‘No,’ Lori snapped like an irritable toddler.

  ‘Ok, lets start with the wine and cake then.’ She pushed the esky to the other side of the bed so she could sit down and pulled two plastic cups out of the pile of rubbish on the floor. ‘Ugh, reminds me of my Uni days.’

  Lori didn't flinch.

  ‘Here.’ Kristy held out a bright blue cup for Lori to take.

  Shuffling a little further up the pillows Lori reached her arm out and took the dark green one instead.