The Best Man

by Dianne Blacklock

  Liv was watching as Madeleine blatantly pawed at Aiden, and decided she had to put an end to this. ‘I think it’s time to call it a night,’ she announced, slipping off her stool.

  There was a loud protest from around the table.

  ‘It’s not that late,’ Madeleine slurred. ‘And besides, it’s my bachelorette party.’

  She could hardly get the word ‘bachelorette’ out. Liv came around and leant in close to Madeleine. ‘Don’t you think you should quit while you’re ahead?’

  Madeleine gave her a petulant glare. ‘You’re as bad as Henry.’

  Okay, that was it. Liv reached behind Madeleine and tapped Aiden on the shoulder. He looked around. ‘Can I speak with you for a minute?’ she said in a low voice.

  ‘Sure.’ He disentangled himself from Madeleine and propped her up against the table, and then stepped away to face Liv.

  ‘You have to take her home,’ Liv said.

  ‘Why? She’s having fun.’

  ‘She’s had too much to drink and she’s not handling it. What do you think Henry would want you to do?’ she said pointedly.

  Aiden frowned. ‘But I can’t just order her.’

  ‘Well, I can,’ said Liv. ‘If you won’t take her home, I will. Then you can go off with your little cheer squad over there.’

  He rubbed his forehead with his hand. ‘No, I got her into this, I’ll take care of her. You’re right, I’m the best man.’

  ‘Then act like one.’

  They turned back to the group, and Madeleine grabbed Aiden’s arm. ‘We’ve decided – next stop, karaoke!’

  ‘I’m sorry, Maddie, I’m suddenly feeling shattered.’

  ‘Awww!’ The girls chorused in dismay.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Natalie asked Aiden. ‘Can I get you anything?’

  ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘But I just need to go home. I’ve been in meetings for three days solid, I haven’t got the energy for karaoke.’

  Madeleine pouted. ‘But it’s my bachelorette party!’

  He took her by the hands. ‘And it’s been a good one, but I’m with Liv, I think it’s best to call it a night while we’re all still standing.’

  ‘Come on,’ said Liv, ‘we’ll walk back to the taxi rank together.’

  The others decided they were going to kick on anyway, so everyone gathered around to give Liv, Aiden and Madeleine the kind of farewell that drunk people do, as though they were seeing off loved ones on a journey abroad and didn’t know when they would meet again. They finally extricated themselves and started off down the concourse. Madeleine was a little wobbly on her feet, but Aiden seemed to have a firm hold of her, and they made it to the Quay with her dignity intact.

  There was a long line of taxis waiting. ‘You guys go first,’ said Liv.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Aiden said.

  ‘Absolutely. Bye now, Mad, have a good night’s sleep.’

  Madeleine threw her arms around Liv with a dramatic flourish, and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek. ‘I love you. You’re my best friend in the world,’ she slurred. ‘She’s my best friend in the world,’ she said to Aiden as he peeled her off Liv.

  ‘I know,’ he said. ‘She’s a very good friend.’

  ‘The best.’

  Liv waited while Aiden helped Madeleine into the taxi. He turned back to her. ‘It was good meeting you, Liv.’

  ‘Well, aren’t you going to give me a hug? I don’t bite, despite all the evidence to the contrary.’

  He smiled, and bent down to hug her. ‘Thanks for the voice of reason. I promise I’ll take good care of her.’

  ‘You better. See you at the wedding.’

  He climbed into the taxi and closed the door behind him, giving her a wave through the window. Liv walked down to the next taxi and got in.

  ‘Oatley, thanks,’ she said. The driver should be pleased with that, it was a decent fare, though she was never sure; they didn’t much like being stuck out in the suburbs on a Friday night. But he just said okay and pulled away from the kerb.

  ‘You don’t mind the music?’ he asked, turning up the radio.

  ‘Not at all,’ said Liv. That meant she wouldn’t have to make conversation. She didn’t mind talking to cabbies, they were often quite interesting in their take on the world. But tonight she was tired, and it was a fairly long drive, too long to sustain a conversation with a stranger. So she settled into her seat, resting her head against the back. She’d done the right thing sending Aiden and Madeleine on their way, even though she’d felt like house mother doing it. She was worried about the amount of alcohol Mad had put away; she’d started off so well, pacing herself, but it was the shots that had been her undoing. Liv wasn’t sure what to make of Aiden. He was charming, no doubt about that. And he seemed to genuinely care about Madeleine. But what was that about him going to her fitting? Mad hadn’t mentioned that – not surprisingly. It was a little odd, and she wondered if Henry was okay with it; if he even knew about it. She must remember to call Madeleine in the morning to check on her.

  Liv was also glad for her own sake that she’d called it a night. She had a nice buzz on, but at this point it would be so easy to take it further, and such a mistake. She was getting too old to deal with hangovers; years of early-morning soccer games had cured her of that.

  But she had to admit it was fun to have a night out. At different times throughout the evening she’d found her thoughts turning to David, wondering how he would fit in with everybody – say, for example, she were to bring him to Madeleine’s wedding. Not that that was going to happen; Liv didn’t know why she was even entertaining the idea. But still she wondered, idly, what it would be like to be out with David socially. She supposed it would have to happen eventually, if they kept seeing each other. He was a nice man, an attractive man; she would be proud to have him as a date.

  She took out her phone now and scrolled through her contacts to his name. It occurred to her that she could just ring him. Might be a bit strange – it was kind of late – but she could ring him if she wanted to. What do they call that? A booty call. She could give David a booty call . . . She grinned to herself in the back seat in the dark. Hilarious. And tempting. Lucky she’d stopped drinking when she had.

  She must remember to call Madeleine in the morning.

  Chippendale

  ‘Maddie, we’re here,’ Aiden said gently.

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Home. At your apartment.’

  Madeleine squinted, peering out the window. When did they get in a taxi? Last she remembered they were going to karaoke . . .

  She must have dozed off. Aiden started to shift away from her; she could feel his hand on her arm, keeping her upright. Okay, she had to get her act together. She sat up straight, wiping a trail of drool away from the corner of her mouth. Gross, she hoped she didn’t slobber all over Aiden. Her head felt a little clearer now. She fumbled for her handbag.

  ‘Oh Aiden, I don’t have my bag,’ she said, alarmed.

  ‘It’s okay, I’ve got it,’ he said. ‘Come on, slide across the seat. Now give me your hand.’

  ‘Wait, we have to pay the man,’ she said urgently.

  ‘It’s all taken care of.’

  She reached for his hand: he was already out of the taxi. She stepped out onto the footpath and he helped her up to standing. All good.

  ‘Thank you,’ she called to the driver as Aiden closed the door.

  ‘Are you right?’ he asked, linking his arm through hers and clasping her hand to support her.

  ‘Yep.’

  They walked slowly down to the entrance, where Aiden swiped them in, and then into the elevator. Madeleine leant back against the wall, hanging on to the railing as they ascended. Not so good.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Aiden asked again.

  ‘I feel a little dizzy.’

  He drew in closer, bringing his arms around her and holding her head firmly against his chest. ‘It’s just the movement of the elevator,’ he murmured into her hair. ‘I
t’ll be over in a minute.’

  Madeleine leant into him, feeling safe, and secure . . . There were other nice men in the world. Henry wasn’t the only one.

  ‘Thank you for looking after me,’ she said. ‘Sorry I’m such a bother.’

  ‘You’re not a bother,’ he said, and kissed the top of her head.

  He took her arm again when the doors opened, and they walked up the hall to the door of the flat. Aiden unlocked it, letting her through ahead of him.

  Madeleine kicked off her shoes and sauntered across the living room.

  ‘Do you want to go to bed?’ said Aiden.

  She swung around. ‘Is that an invitation?’

  ‘Don’t tempt me.’

  She supposed she should have been mildly outraged, but she knew he was only joking, so she just laughed. ‘What time is it anyway?’

  Aiden checked his watch. ‘Not quite eleven.’

  ‘Well that’s not late at all,’ she declared. ‘I wonder if I’ve got anything to drink here,’ she said, heading for the kitchen.

  But as she opened the door of the fridge, Aiden was suddenly behind her, scooping his arm around her waist and drawing her out of the way as he closed the door again. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ he said.

  ‘Ohh,’ she whined, ‘not you too!’ She turned around to face him, looping her arms around his neck. ‘I’m perfectly fine, you know.’

  ‘Mm,’ he grunted dubiously. ‘Have a glass of water first, and then we’ll see.’

  Madeleine kept her arms around him as they shuffled over to the sink, only removing them when he handed her a glass. But even so, she didn’t step back, and neither did Aiden.

  She sipped the water. She did feel fine now, the sleep must have rejuvenated her. In fact, she felt better than fine. That was one thing she missed about drinking, she always felt so free and loose, and horny. Like the other night, and Henry had rejected her. Old stick in the mud.

  ‘Can we see if there’s anything to drink now?’ she pleaded.

  ‘Not until you finish your water,’ he said.

  ‘All right.’ Madeleine brought the glass to her lips and tipped it back too far. She couldn’t drink fast enough, and the water dribbled down her chin and onto her neck.

  ‘Maddie,’ Aiden scolded, taking the glass from her, ‘you’re making a mess.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  He wiped his thumb across her lips and her chin, gazing intently at her. Madeleine arched her head back, as his hand moved down her throat, coming to rest flat on her chest.

  ‘I can feel your heart beating,’ he murmured.

  ‘That’s a relief,’ she said. ‘I hope yours is beating too,’ she said, lifting her head again to look at him, as she undid the top button of his shirt.

  ‘What are you doing to me, Maddie?’ he said in a low voice.

  ‘Just checking on your heart,’ she said simply, as she slipped her hand under his shirt, grazing the skin on his chest with her fingers.

  He released a shuddery breath, bringing his hand up to cup her face and draw her closer. He pressed his cheek against hers, and breathed her name into her ear. Madeleine’s chest was heaving now. They had to be careful, or something might happen. But this was okay. She could feel his lips on her cheek, nothing wrong with that, he’d kissed her on the cheek many times. He tightened his other arm around her, just like one of his signature hugs. Then his lips made their way to hers, brushing against them. That was still fine, it was nice, they were just playing. Now his lips were not so much brushing, as caressing . . . she supposed that might be another way of saying he was kissing her. So it seemed they were kissing, but it was okay, really, they were just friends . . . Madeleine could feel every nerve ending tingling all over her body. Her lips parted, and his tongue plunged into her mouth.

  Hold on, that wasn’t right, was it? They weren’t supposed to kiss like that. But it was so . . . hot. She was losing it. She felt his hand on her breast, and then his lips left hers as he pushed aside her top and her bra, and bent to take her breast in his mouth, sucking and nipping. Madeleine could feel it all the way down to her groin. As if he could read her mind, he pushed his thigh between her legs and she pressed herself hard against him. She heard a loud moan . . . oh, that was her! Wait . . . she should stop this. But Aiden was lifting her up now. She glanced around. She was on the kitchen bench! This was a dream! It was what she’d always dreamt. It was okay to dream about having sex with Aiden. She lay back and closed her eyes, throwing her arms above her head, and knocking over something that clattered to the floor. Madeleine giggled. She could feel Aiden’s tongue, sliding across her belly . . . it was excruciating and delicious . . . He was easing her zipper down, and his tongue was following . . . Jesus! He tugged at her jeans, pulling them all the way off, and then he took hold of her bare legs, bending them at the knees and pushing them wide open. Her pelvis rutted involuntarily, and then he was inside her. Madeleine gasped, opening her eyes. Aiden was standing at the end of the bench, thrusting into her, over and over, his eyes glazed, his expression contorted into that sex face guys always pulled.

  Shit, this was really happening. Fuck! She couldn’t have sex with Aiden, that was wrong, it was definitely wrong. Damn, why did she have to drink so much? Why couldn’t she just control herself? She’d asked for this, she’d begged for it, now she was just going to have wait it out. Surely it couldn’t take much longer. She steeled herself as Aiden grasped hold of her breasts, kneading roughly, as he rammed harder into her, her body jerking against his. This wasn’t like she’d imagined in her fantasies. The bench was hard, and cold, and uncomfortable. She wasn’t feeling lust any more, only disgust, with herself . . . She just wanted it to be over.

  Aiden suddenly let out a loud grunt, grabbing onto her shoulders to push himself in further, and that was it. He was done, thank God. He rested his head on her stomach, catching his breath. She was going to be sick.

  ‘I’m going to be sick,’ Madeleine cried out loud.

  Aiden jolted upright, grabbing her by the hands to haul her up. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘No, I’m going to be sick,’ she repeated, cupping her hand across her mouth.

  He lifted her off the bench and onto her feet, and she staggered half-naked to the bathroom. She dropped onto her knees, holding onto the toilet bowl, and threw up, again and again, her whole body shaking violently. Saliva streamed from her mouth along with the tears pouring from her eyes, even her nose was dripping; she was a mess. She slumped beside the toilet, finally spent, and reached up to yank a towel off the rail. She buried her face in it, sobbing. What had she done? And what was she going to do? She couldn’t even get up. Her head was swimming as she rested it against the towel, leaning on the rim of the toilet. She would just stay here for now.

  Morning

  Suddenly a loud, shrill, urgent noise crashed into Liv’s dream. Her eyes sprang open. Was that her alarm? What day was it? No, it was her phone. She fumbled for it on the bedside table, blinking furiously to clear the blurry film of sleep from her eyes. She squinted at the screen. Fuck, it was Lachie. What time was it?

  ‘Lachie,’ she croaked. ‘What’s up, did I sleep in?’

  ‘Mum,’ his voice was trembling, ‘you have to come, Dylan’s sick.’

  She bolted upright, instantly awake. The boys were at the sleepover. She glanced at her clock: it was 6 am.

  ‘Tell me what’s happening,’ she said in a steady voice as she leapt off the bed and strode over to her wardrobe.

  ‘He’s been throwing up heaps,’ Lachie said, and she could hear the tears in his voice.

  ‘For how long?’ She grabbed a T-shirt off a hanger and tossed it on the bed.

  ‘It started a few hours ago. They thought it was all right at first.’

  ‘Who’s they, Lachie? Who thought it was all right?’ Her voice was completely calm, not accusing.

  ‘Jared’s mum and dad. They tried to get him back to sleep, but he’s got a really bad pain in his stomach, it won�
��t stop.’

  ‘Is Jared’s mum or dad there?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Put one of them on, okay?’

  Liv switched the phone to speaker and grabbed a pair of jeans off the shelf as a woman’s voice came on the line. ‘Hello, Liv, it’s Allison.’

  ‘I’m here.’ Liv put the phone down on the bed. ‘Can you hear me?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Liv stepped into her jeans while Allison spoke.

  ‘Poor Dylan’s in a bad way, I’m afraid. At first we thought he’d just eaten too much, but now he’s doubled over, and I think he has a fever.’

  ‘Okay, I’m on my way,’ Liv said, before pulling her nightie up over her head.

  ‘I wasn’t sure if we should call an ambulance.’

  Liv caught her breath. ‘Do you think it’s that bad?’

  ‘I don’t know, it’s just that nothing we do seems to help. He’s getting distressed, poor kid.’

  Liv knew Dylan would only be more distressed with sirens wailing and ambulance officers prodding at him, especially if she wasn’t there with him. She picked up the phone. ‘Allison, I’m coming right now. I’ll be out the door in sixty seconds, and you’re only ten minutes from here, so we can make a decision when I get there. I’m sorry you’re having to go through this.’

  ‘Don’t even say that,’ Allison assured her. ‘I think Lachie wants to talk to you again.’

  ‘Could you tell Lachie that I’ll call him from the hands-free in the car in, like, three minutes? Tell him not to worry.’

  ‘Of course, see you soon.’

  Liv hung up and threw the phone on the bed. She pulled on the T-shirt as she walked into the bathroom to the vanity. She splashed water on her face, breathing deeply. Something always came over Liv in a crisis, she became incredibly calm and focused, almost unshakable. It wasn’t that she was not affected; she was, but it usually hit her a day or two later, when the danger had passed, and then she collapsed in a heap, sobbing uncontrollably. But in the moment it was incredibly efficient, and not a bad quirk for a parent to have.