Page 24 of The Winter We Met
They did. But I was distracted.G’day mate.Great to meetya.Arvo.Sheila.You little ripper.They lookace.I looked at Nik and his eyes twinkled as if to say is this Australian enough? Suppressing a chuckle, I picked up my drink, which was bright orange and had a sliver of circular citrus fruit floating on the top.
‘Thanks, Nik.’ Oliver rolled up his grey shirt sleeves. He had nice forearms. I’d always thought that. ‘They’re clementine martinis.’
Nik gave a thumbs-up. ‘Chrissie can never come too early.’
I gave him a pointed look and, out of sight, gently punched his thigh. The light in his eyes flickered. ‘Cheers,’ he said and sipped it. ‘Mmm. This certainly isn’t a let-down.’
‘Enough,’ I hissed at him and we both started laughing. I looked at Oliver. ‘Sorry. Nik’s just being silly. This cocktail really is delicious.’
‘Nothing to do with me. The clementine juice is freshly squeezed here and Misty sourced the fruit from an organic grower.’
‘Misty is a real person?’ said Nik, his Australian accent back to normal.
‘She’s been running this bar for years now – used to be an actress but never got the break she wanted. All those years of waitressing, though, to pay the bills – it paid off; taught her what she needed to know about the drinks and hospitality business. She bought this place with her wife.’
‘Pan would love to meet her, wouldn’t she, with her drama background?’ said Nik.
I looked at Oliver.See. He thinks of other people and remembers details about them even though they’ve only just met.
‘Unusual name,’ he continued.
Oliver swigged back a large mouthful. ‘It was popular in the 1960s apparently. Her parents chose it because they went on a cruise for their honeymoon and the sea was often foggy…’
‘That’s so romantic,’ I said. Mum could never remember why she’d chosen Jess – she said something once about it being the name of the handsome doctor who helped deliver me.
‘Jess?’ Oliver lifted up a small bowl. ‘Your favourite.’
I still wasn’t used to the little ways Oliver showed that he cared. I took a stick of honey-roasted sweet potato and dipped it in the Punjabi orange pickle, put it in my mouth and closed my eyes. When I’d finished chewing, I opened them. Oliver was staring at me, a smile on his face.
I passed the bowl to Nik. ‘Try this. It’s a slice of heaven.’ Thinking I should leave the two of them alone for a moment, I muttered something about powdering my nose before heading off. I actually did powder my nose and refresh my mascara. I even zhuzhed up my hair. It wasn’t like me to wear makeup and it felt good to want to make the effort. It had been a while since I’d been on a night out that I’d felt excited about.
I came out of the toilets and started to cross the dance floor but walked straight into a man who was shouting at anyone who would listen. Accidentally, I stood on one of his feet.
‘Watch where you are going, you stupid bitch,’ he slurred, deep lines in his face, the reek of alcohol hitting my face. I froze, heart thumping louder than the bass beat as he staggered towards me. Like watching a film I saw Oliver appear out of nowhere, a furious look on his face. He dragged the man out of the door by his shirt collar and onto the pavement. Moments later he was back and took both my hands. He led me to a quiet corner, by the window. I couldn’t breathe.
‘Inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale,’ he said gently. ‘It’s okay, Jess, you’re safe. You’re a grown-up now. You’re the one in control.’
Mouth feeling dry, I nodded. He rubbed his thumbs over my palms and it felt so reassuring. My breathing slowed.
‘Thanks,’ I whispered.
‘You did it yourself,’ he said and kissed me on the forehead before following me back to Nik who was chatting to a couple behind our table.
He looked up and grinned. ‘Everything okay?’
‘Never better,’ I said took a large gulp of my cocktail.
‘Oliver and I were just talking about the Christmas party, before he left to sort out some trouble. I was just telling him how much the residents think of him. Alf said he wished he was generous enough to let his good friend Oliver actually win at dominoes for once, and Pan told me he looked just like Brad Pitt… which you do, of course, mate,’ he added.
Oliver smiled but concern etched his face. Perhaps he was worried that man would come back in. I picked up the last chip. At least he and Nik were getting on.
‘You okay?’ said Oliver when Nik left to buy more drinks.
‘Yes,’ I snapped. ‘Just leave it.’
He leant back. I put my hand on his knee.
‘Sorry. I… I just feel stupid that’s all. Disempowered.’
