Page 10 of Merlot Marriage

Every inch of me tenses. Am I being weird? I thought I was acting naturally, but maybe I’m not? I turn my head to look at Philip over my shoulder. “Why?”

“You’re very quiet.”

“Uh…” I move in slow motion, easing myself an inch away from his warm body. My stomach clenches, my heart races, and I don’t know what to do with my body. Worse, now all my arms and legs feel too long.

Last night, we were both so tired after the graduation ceremony and dinner with my family that we’d fallen asleep on the couch. Tonight, I’m tired, but not too tired for my mind to spin in circles, wondering how Philip feels about what happened.

Concern fills his face. “Did you not like it? Or did someone give you a hard time at work?” He reaches out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear, and I hold still. “Oph?”

My heart slows at the touch of his fingers. A giant exhale escapes me, and I lean into his hand for a moment. “Work was fine. I’m just very peopled-out.”

Philip pulls his hand away and sits back. “Do you want me to leave? I can go—”

I grab his arm before he can finish standing up from the couch. “No, not you. Just.Otherpeople. Yesterday was a lot, you know? I feel like I’ve been putting off being a real grown-up until graduation. But now we’ve graduated, and I don’t feel any different.”

He chuckles, and my heart slows a little more as he sits back down and throws an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. “It was definitely a lot. And dinner with your whole family. And now I’m invading your space too. My poor little introvert is overwhelmed by people.”

A laugh bursts from my lips, and I cuddle in closer, wrapping an arm around his waist and settling my head against his chest. I’ve done it a thousand times and never thought twice about it. Despite the waves of awkwardness that have been washing over me, this feels right.

Pushing my silly thoughts away, I exhale and melt into my friend, the last of the tension I’ve been feeling leaving me in a rush.

“Good?”

I nod against his chest. “Much better now.”

Philip

My brother’s face keepsfreezing at the most inopportune times. Bad for him. Good for me, as I take screenshot after screenshot of him looking absolutely terrible.

I don’t currently need to blackmail him, but it never hurts to be prepared.

I also know for a fact that Jonathan has a folder of similar screenshots of my face on his phone. His wife told me. It’s why, even though it’s late and I’m ready for bed, I keep myself from yawning—nothing looks worse than a photo of you mid-yawn.

“…Mum’s blood pressure medication.”

“Jono, you cut out. What about Mum’s medication?”

“The doctor is reducing her dosage. Apparently, leaving Cape Town was good for her heart.” Jono laughs at something off-camera. “Hold on, Flip, someone wants to say hello.” Everything moves wildly, and the sound of my nephew’s little voice hits my speakers. I settle deeper into Ophie’s couch, my head tippingback to rest on the back of it while I wait. She’s working a closing shift, and I was half waiting up for her, half waiting up for my weekly phone call to my brother.

A moment later, the scene stops, and the screen fills with the cherubic face of my two-year-old nephew. “Unca Pee-Pee? Where you?”

Did I say cherubic? I meant booger-encrusted and suspiciously wet.

Jono roars with laughter, and the screen goes wild again. Henrik’s cries of “Unca Pee-Pee, where Unca Pee-Pee?” get progressively louder as the phone is wrestled away from his sticky hand.

Jono’s wife, Nicola, comes on screen laughing. “Sorry, sorry, Flip. Davy was trying to teach him to say ‘Uncle Flippy,’ and things devolved from there. I’m afraid you may be Unca Pee-Pee forever now. They’ve been saying it everywhere we go for days.”

I burst out laughing at the image of my nephews, four and two respectively, chanting “Unca Pee-Pee” over and over in public while my sister-in-law and brother try to shush them. Delightful payback for any embarrassment I might have felt. I wonder how much it would cost to get a shirt printed up?

“Philip?” Nicola says my name again like she’s been trying to get my attention.

“Yeah, sorry. Just pondering the feasibility of shipping some ‘Unca Pee-Pee’ merch to my favorite nephews.” If shipping to Australia wasn’t so ridiculous, I’d do it, too.

“How’s the job hunt going?”

“It’s going.” It’s a constant ticking clock in my mind—I only have six months to find an employer to sponsor me before my student visa expires. Thinking about it makes me itchy, so I push to my feet and pace, needing the movement to settle my mind as I change the subject. “At least the weather’s finally turned nice. I was going to lose my mind if there was one more rainy day.”

“It’s still so strange to me that you graduate in May. Why don’t they do it in December like normal people?” Jono takes the phone from her, handing off Henrik in a practiced maneuver.

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