“Yes... Sorry... Thank you,” Gemma expressed.
“No problem,” said Michael as he reached in with his bare hand and made himself a sandwich out of her leftover bacon and her other slice of toast.
“Michael...” Nathan scolded him.
“Gemma doesn’t mind, do you?” Michael stated and then winked at her.
She shook her head and shyly grinned, “No...” Truth be told, she was quite taken with his comfortableness and his casual way.
Nathan chuckled and asked her, “So Gemma, what do you do?”
“I’m studying – landscaping,” she informed them.
“Really..?” Michael exclaimed between mouthfuls, raising his eyebrows and looking to Nathan.
“Mmm-hmm. I also work part-time cleaning – just to make ends meet until I finish my course.”
“Then what..?” Michael asked.
“Well, it depends... Eventually, once I build up a reputation I would like to design and engineer the creation of private gardens, but until then it is a matter of going where they are hiring and gaining some experience.”
“I don’t think I have ever met a Goth gardener,” Michael commented and Gemma’s expression became concerned. “You could trim bats and gargoyles into the topiaries...” He grinned.
“How about I trim a gargoyle into the back of your head..?” she threatened playfully, twiddling her hair around her finger – something she tended to do when she felt a need to be defensive. Nathan laughed and Michael grinned. He was intrigued by Gemma’s polarities... On one hand she was terribly timid and unsure of herself, but every now and then she just stuck it to him with nonchalant confidence.
“Well on that note... I have to get going home...” Nathan announced.
“Oh? You aren’t living here?” Gemma asked.
“No. My fiancé and I live a couple of suburbs over. Michael is going to live here while we renovate, though.”
“I should go, too...” Gemma said.
“Soon...” Michael stated, as he swung her around, pushed up her skirt enough to be able to lift her left leg onto his knee and started unlacing her boot.
“What are you doing?” Gemma asked.
“Undressing you...” Michael said and she slammed her hands down on his to stop him.
“See you later...” Nathan said, chuckling.
“Yeah, see ya... I’ll ring you later,” Michael told him.
“Bye,” said Gemma, “Thank you.” Nathan smiled at her and then grinned at Michael.
“I thought we might go hang our feet in the pool. Cool down...” Michael took her hands and placed them further up her lap and smiled, “So just relax...” He untwisted the criss-crossed laces from her knee all the way down and removed Gemma’s boot. Instantly she started wiggling and flexing her toes. “That feels good, doesn’t it?”
“Mmmm,” it wasn’t a real word but in her tenor was clear testimony to the relief Gemma felt. Michael squeezed her foot with his strong workman’s hands for a minute, before sliding them northward along her leg. Gemma jumped!
“I’m just taking your stocking off.”
“I... I will.”
“Okay,” he said as he retracted his hands, but ogled as she went to do it herself.
“Close your eyes,” Gemma insisted. Michael closed his eyes with a smirk. She quickly reached up under her skirt and pushed both stockings down below her knees, repeatedly double-checking the status of his eyelids as she did so. “Okay...”
“I can open?”
“Yes...”
Michael opened his eyes to see her peeling her left stocking all the way down her shapely leg to her ankle, where he took it out of her hands and finished removing it for her. He then set out removing the other boot and stocking and once finished he got up, lifted Gemma into his arms and started carrying her to the pool. “Don’t you throw me in..!” she warned him.
“If I was planning on throwing you into the pool I would have given you a white t-shirt to wear.”
Gemma gasped, shocked and then accused, “You have a kind of a boob thing, don’t you..?”
Michael grinned widely and unapologetically admitted, “I do... I surely do..!”
The water was like an island holiday as it engulfed first her toes and feet and then her tired calves, cooling and refreshing her in its paradise. “It’s nice, isn’t it?” Michael spoke her mind.
“It is very nice...” Gemma agreed and then offered, “This is a nice area actually... What are you planning on doing out here?”
Michael looked around at the unkempt backyard, “We’re not really sure about that...” Michael tested her, “This is your field – what would you suggest?”
“I would make it a tropical retreat... Low maintenance... Work with the spirit of the city!” Gemma suggested.
“Yes, that would make sense...”
“You need to get rid of those trees...”
“Oh?” Michael exclaimed as he observed the offending foliage she was gesturing towards, “Why is that?”
“Well, they are both in dreadful condition... That palm is shabby and doesn’t self-shed... And that tree has never been pruned properly – it is not meant to be that shape,” Gemma stated and then added disgustedly, “It is an abomination.”
Michael snickered fondly at her passion, “An abomination?” He noted how much of her shyness retreated when she spoke about her vocation.
Gemma looked at him smiling, “Yes.”
“Well then, I guess it will have to go...”
Gemma smiled and asserted, “Good!”
“So what happened with that loser last night,” Michael interjected to Gemma’s surprise.
“Huh?”
“Your boyfriend...” Michael continued.
Gemma’s expression twisted from soft to hard, from hurt to defensiveness before her voice became monotone and she started twisting her hair around her finger. She answered Michael’s question, “He dumped me for someone else.”
“What a loser... When you came in the room I was happy to see you - I had heard that you busted up,” Michael turned to her, but she couldn’t look at him. “Rob and Sandi are friends of Nathan’s...”
“Sandi’s nice... I only just met her, but she was really nice to me.”
“Yeah, she is... I wanted to make sure you were okay... Anyway, I knew you were in good hands...” Michael’s voice drifted off, and then he came back and added, “And then you came into my room...”
“So-so what colour are you painting the kitchen?” Gemma interposed, staring indomitably at her feet as she swirled them in the clear, cool water.
Michael caught her frightened tone and promptly attuned his conversation to what she was comfortable with, “Not sure... We have someone coming to work out a scheme for the interior.”
“Oh... Okay.” Michael looked at her and smiled to himself at the effort she put in to appear at ease.
“So do you live by yourself?” Michael inquired.
“No, I’m sharing a house with three other girls... It only costs me a hundred dollars a week and two of the girls are air hostesses and are away a lot. Most of the time it is just Lana and I there,” Gemma’s voice began to trail and she allowed her eyelids to shade out the sunlight, its presence still warming her face.
Suddenly Gemma jerked and Michael noticed how she quickly grasped the predicament around her, before gently nodding off again. “Come on - you’re tired... I’ll take you home now.”
On the trip home, they discussed utility vehicles, Michael being extremely impressed that an attractive young woman would drive a work vehicle similar to his – by choice... He pulled up out the front of Gemma’s home and insisted on getting her mobile phone number, and she happily gave it to him. Then before she had time to get away, he leant over, clasped her face in his hand and gave her a peck on the lips. She felt that strange sensation wash over her again, that sensation that leaves her breathless and misty eyed, and her heart beating just a little more frequently. Her lips parted slig
htly, and upon noticing, Michael looked into her gentle grey eyes and moved in to kiss her again, tenderly wrapping his lips around hers. A small noise gurgled up from her chest and her eyelids sank under their own weight and she kissed him back. It was just a quick kiss, but it left her dizzy.
She climbed out of the Michael’s Ute and managed to giddily stumble half way up her footpath, her boots tucked under one arm, before her phone rang... It was an unknown number. “Hello...” Gemma greeted the caller.
“Hi! Umm... Would you like to have dinner tonight?” the familiar sounding caller asked. Gemma frowned in confusion – it couldn’t be! She spun around and saw Michael sitting in his Ute with his phone to his ear, grinning at her. Gemma’s expression rested somewhere between amusement and accusation of idiocy...
“Huh?”
“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” Michael repeated the question.
Gemma teasingly brushed him off and claimed, “I’m washing my hair tonight,” then she grinned at him daringly.
“Oh... Okay,” Michael said, and he hung up the phone, and waved her goodbye. Gemma waved back, turned around and kept walking. Then her phone rang again, “Gemma?”
She spun around again, “Yes.”
“Gemma, will you have dinner with me tomorrow night, please?” Gemma was silent... She knew he was only asking her out because he felt bad about taking her virginity while they were both alcoholically prejudiced – he was nice like that. He was nice... and funny, and he didn’t need to feel guilty – it might not have been what she would have done if she was sober, but she knew what she was doing. Truth be told – she was glad! Glad about everything... “Gemma..?”
“Yes, okay..!” It was just dinner... What harm could come from one date?
Michael grinned, satisfied, “Okay. I will pick you up at seven!”
“Okay... Um..?”
“Um..?” Michael imitated.
“What should I wear?”
“Something low-cut...” Michael stated and chuckled as he saw her deplored expression, “Just joking...” he saved himself from retaliation just in time, “No, wear something nice... We’ll go somewhere nice...”
Chapter Two
Gemma came in from college and flicked through the clothes in her wardrobe for something to wear... She had put away quite a bit of money to help her settle in to her new life and so for somebody who had only recently moved to the city she had quite the collection of garments – she had done a lot of shopping.
The thing is... She was actually looking forward to going out to dinner with Michael... On the one hand, she knew it was a “penance” date, but she quite liked Michael’s companionship. He was nice, and funny, casual... and very hot! He had dreams and was hard-working... Actually, there wasn’t much wrong with him at all. Actually... there wasn’t anything wrong with him... And if she wasn’t in such a state of perplexity Gemma could like such a man. It’s just with Greg leaving her like he did, because of her overcooked sexual morality... And the general unfamiliarity and clumsiness she experienced within her peer group... New landscape, new home – her college was the first real school she had ever attended... Her whole world was just so overwhelming, and even Gemma didn’t appreciate quite to what extent. She didn’t really even know who she was; which is why she bought so many clothes – an outfit for every face! Eventually she would work out which one was hers... Besides... Michael was just being polite.
Well, at least for a while Michael thought she was sexy... Though Gemma was aware that he now knew that she wasn’t the wild and confident sex kitten that he thought she was when she entered his room. She pondered how it must have been such a letdown for him to discover the truth... Oh well, at least she got to be sexy for a while... And a least she shed that shackle that was her virginity – tying her to a life of exile. Now at least her relationships could be simpler!
She flicked through her clothes... Well, no use going for sexy – Michael would just laugh. Goth..? No, he seemed to think her and Goth were a strange mix... He had suggested something nice... all of a sudden her long, light dusty pink beaded dress came to the fore. It was simple – lines that followed the contours of the body without being tight. It was long but had a small split up to just below the knee on the right side. It had short sleeves and a round neckline that sat halfway up her chest, well above her breasts. But, it did have a diamond shaped window cut out below the neckline which intended to stylishly frame a woman’s cleavage. Gemma smiled as she contemplated, “That ought to get under his skin – sex kitten or not!” Gemma then set out to find her similarly coloured high-heeled shoes and her small silver evening bag.
She showered and blow-dried the natural wave back into her hair, and pinned it up on one side with a pink flowered hairclip, put on simple gold earrings and a gold locket her parents had given her and applied soft make-up. Gemma slid into her dress and did up the zip, put on her shoes and handbag and stood in front of the mirror – she looked pretty, she thought, but the ebony undergrowth of her hair was kind of hard against the pink... Oh well, it was ten to seven – not time to change now!
One thing Gemma really liked about Michael was his lack of false chivalry... There was simply no need for him to come up to her door when blowing his horn could get the same result... He did however walk around and open the passenger’s door for her – this was after all a semi-formal affair. Michael smiled and then quietly cleared his throat before uttering, “You’re really pretty...”
Gemma smiled delicately and expressed, “Mm, thank you.” Gemma thought he looked good, too, in his loose-fitting casual black slacks with an overhanging slim-fitting dress shirt made from a shiny fabric and sporting what resembles brush strokes in black, cobalt and powder blue. The cuffs were done up but the top couple of buttons at his neck weren’t and Gemma couldn’t help but notice his stupendously man-scaped chest.
Then Michael helplessly peaked at the window in her bodice for just a second before looking accusingly into her eyes, “Nice dress too...” then he smiled and looked up to heaven – he raised his hand and shook his head. Gemma wasn’t sure if he was thanking or cursing the all mighty, but she did get under his skin – she wasn’t an over-virtuous “Plain Jane” in his eyes on this evening, and she was pleased about that... She climbed as elegantly as she could into his ute and he closed the door, then she watched amused as he walked around to the driver’s side shaking his head and waving his hand at God. He was a funny man and he made her smile rosily.
The restaurant was upmarket yet friendly and sat overhanging the beach. Michael requested a table outside and then he instinctively took Gemma’s hand and followed the maitre d’ as he escorted them to the balcony. The balcony hung about six foot above but directly over the sand and gave them full viewing access to the medium-sized waves tumbling in towards them about twenty-five metres away.
The maitre d’ held out a chair for Gemma, and she removed her small handbag and sat down, placing the bag on the floor beside her. Michael, of course found his own way to the seat opposite her and helped himself. Their host handed them a menu each and informed them, “Your waiter will be out to collect your order shortly... Can I get you something to drink?” Michael ordered them a glass each of sparkling house wine.
“Michael, this is a beautiful place...” Gemma offered as she looked about her. The chairs were dark wood and comfortable, the tables all dressed in long white cloths and each adorned with a long vase containing a single orchid and a beaker containing a flickering candle and protecting it from the ocean breeze which threatened to snuff it out... There was calming, un-intrusive classical music tuning in the background, and melding perfectly with the sound of the crashing waves. But of course, the most amazing feature of all was the proximity to the beach itself, bathing them in its delicious scent and freshness.
“Yes... I’ve always wanted to come...” Michael told her.
“Oh, you haven’t been here before?”
“No. I’ve seen it advertised and I’
ve driven past it...” Michael said and then he smiled and pointed to the ocean, “I’ve even swum past it.” Gemma chuckled as she pictured him splashing in the surf. “But I’ve never been...”
“Well, now you have...” Gemma offered and they smiled.
The maitre d’ returned and placed a couple of flutes on the table and proceeded to pour each of them a glass. “Can I get you anything else?” he asked. Michael declined, and the man left.
Gemma lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip. “Mmmm..!”
Michael too, sampled the swill, “Sweet and fruity!”
“Just like us!” Gemma declared with a grin, and Michael observed her surprising sassiness, his caterpillars once again wriggling across his brow.
“What? Wait, who is sweet and who is fruity?” Michael inquired and Gemma giggled.
“Well, I definitely think I’m sweet...”
“Which leaves me with fruity..? Cheeky...” he accused as he raised his glass, “Hmmm, to the sweet and the fruity!” Gemma giggled again as she raised her glass and Michael chinked his against it.
The waiter came and they placed their orders. Michael chose a Reef and Beef Platter, Gemma selected a dish of Creamy Garlic Prawns and for an entree they ordered a plate of Oysters Kilpatrick to share.
Michael picked up one of the marinated oysters from the bed of sea salt and dug the meat out with the small fork, holding it out for Gemma to eat, before picking up a second for himself and simply slurping the treat from its jagged shell.
“Mmm, yum! I haven’t tried oysters like this before,” Gemma shared.
“Really..? They are good aren’t they? And you know what they say about oysters...”
“No, what do they say?” Gemma inquired. Michael stopped eating and stared at the oblivious expression on her face, contemplating whether or not to enlighten her; but, after considering her recent jumpy reactions to some of his flirtations, he thought it best to keep that information just to himself for the present.
“Just... that they are good for your... health,” Michael added, carefully guarding the small smirk which was threatening to expose his untruth.
A Dozen Dates Page 3