by Robin Storey
‘Yeah.’ She looked away, eyes following the waitress as she wove her way through the tables with a tray of drinks. ‘They went to Malta for a holiday to visit my mother’s family – she was Maltese, Joe’s sister. I didn’t go. I had exams so I stayed with Uncle Joe and Aunt Ettie. They took a plane to one of the islands and it crashed. No survivors.’
She repositioned her coffee cup in its saucer. ‘For a while I wished I’d gone with them because I’d have been killed as well. But I got through it, somehow. It’s all a bit of a blur now. A couple of years later, Auntie Ettie died of cancer so now there’s only Uncle Joe and me.’
‘That explains it,’ Reuben said, ‘why he’s so protective of you.’
She smiled again, her eyes moist. ‘He thinks I’m still fourteen, that I’ve somehow been frozen in time. But it doesn’t worry me. I know it’s only out of concern for me.’
‘So you’re an only child?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then we’ve got two things in common.’
‘We have?’
‘We’re both only children and we’re both orphans. If that’s not a case for existential angst, I don’t know what is.’
He screwed up his face in exaggerated torment. The waitress paused at their table with her empty tray, but when she noticed Reuben’s expression, she kept walking.
They both burst out laughing.
***
I made her laugh. She looks so beautiful when she laughs. The evening was muggy as he headed home along Boundary Street after walking Nina to her car and giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek. But his footsteps were light, as if he were hardly making any imprint on the ground. The lights and chatter spilling out from the pubs and restaurants were just a dim background to his churning thoughts.
He tried to imagine himself shooting a movie. Would he have his own trailer? And make-up lady? ‘Small but dynamic’ was probably a euphemism for low budget start-up. He’d probably be lucky to have a patch of dirt under a tarpaulin and have to do his own make-up. There’d be an awful lot of lines – would he have to learn them all at once? And would it be like making the ad, with the director running around yelling ‘Cut!’ every time Reuben looked at the camera?
There was one good thing – it wouldn’t be such a stretch playing a small-time thief. But hopefully he wouldn’t be typecast in that role, unless of course there was a lot of money in playing criminals. That would really make Nina laugh.
And maybe in a cinema somewhere, Lucy would be watching High Jinks and would nudge her husband and say proudly, ‘I used to be his parole officer.’
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are many people who have contributed to the writing and publishing of this book and if I have forgotten anyone, I apologise, and can only offer a writer’s natural absent-mindedness as an excuse.
Sarah Endacott of manuscript critique agency Edit or Die came up with the title and gave me invaluable feedback and encouragement on all aspects of the novel, which helped me to re-write and polish it. Inga Simpson and Nike Bourke from Olvar Wood, an organisation for emerging writers, also offered excellent advice in the early stages. Christine Cranney, my copyeditor, did a wonderfully thorough job and also offered some editorial input.
My heartfelt thanks to Pam Mariko, my critique buddy, who has appraised this book, chapter by chapter, and given me constructive feedback over countless cups of coffee and the occasional champagne. Fellow writer Ian Walkley has also provided me with lots of useful information and tips on publishing as well as support and encouragement.
Thanks also to all my family for their advice and support – especially Jenny Busch for her idea for the cover design. And finally, my eternal gratitude to my partner Aaron Parker, who’s also my brainstorming buddy, reviewer, technical advisor, marketer, PR agent and cheerleader.
Watch for PERFECT SEX
also by Robin Storey
available on Amazon from August 2013.
Here’s a teaser:
What happens when a middle-aged woman leaves a long, unfulfilling marriage and discovers she has the sex drive of a teenage boy?
Freelance writer Susie Hamilton joins an internet dating agency, attracts a long list of admirers and begins an exhausting dating schedule – all under the guise of professional research.
When she writes a novel based on her experiences and it becomes a best seller, her dream of being a successful author is realised. But after dozens of dates and some disastrous encounters, she's still relying on Fred, her vibrator, for sexual fulfilment.
Is perfect sex an oxymoron? Will Susie meet Mr Right on the internet, or will she have to make do with Mr-As-Good-As-It-Gets?
Robin Storey is a freelance writer and creative writer from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. She’s published a number of short stories and plans to write many more novels. Read more of her work and join her on her blog at www.storey-lines.com.
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