Page 63 of Wish You Were Here
‘What?’
‘Someone else came in after we had our offer accepted and offered way more. Az reckons it was probably investors. Anyway, we couldn’t match it, so we lost it.’
‘That’s shit, sorry, Jess. Aaron must be devo.’
‘Yeah, he was a bit, but we’ve found another house.’
‘Where?’
‘You’ll like this. It’s in Dee Why, so it’s much closer than Avalon. It’s an old house that needs a lot of work. An old woman lived there for like fifty years with her husband, he carked it a few years ago, and she basically let it go to shit. Plus, she was a hoarder. We need to gut the whole place and start again from scratch, but it’s awesome. It’s a five-minute walk to the beach, a ten-minute drive to Manly, and I can be here in like forty minutes.’
‘That’s great, Jess. I’m so happy for you guys, and Dee Why is so much better. I dated a bloke from Dee Why once. The one with all the tattoos.’
‘Oh yeah, I remember him. Dylan something, right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Whatever happened to him?’
‘We broke up because he was really into porn. Like really, really into porn.’
‘What sort of porn?’
‘Really big women and very small men. It was quite niche.’
‘Gross.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Speaking of gross, what’s happening with you and Brad?’ says Jess, and I give her an expression of disapproval. ‘Sorry, too soon?’
I laugh. ‘Brad and I are still together, and it’s good. We did a cold plunge bath and a sauna yesterday. Oh, you’ll love this. He calls me babe, and I call him boo.’
‘Sorry, I just need to step outside so I can vom all over the place.’
‘I know it’s gross, but we’re exclusively together and happy. Will you be all right with it?’
‘In time, yeah. What’s happening with the English boy?’
‘Beno?’
‘Yeah, I thought you and Beno were really into each other.’
‘We were, but it feels weird at the moment. I think because when we met, we were both single, but now he’s seeing someone, and I’m with Brad. It leaves us sort of nowhere. We can’t be together, and talking to him feels weird with a boyfriend, but I don’t want it to stop. I don’t know, Jess. I’m thirty tomorrow, and I feel like there’s so much I need to sort out.’
‘You and me both. So, tomorrow is the big day. Is the Fudge Cake gig still on?’
‘I’m on at nine.’
‘Az and I can’t wait. Are you nervous?’
‘A bit.’
‘You’re going to kill it,’ says Jess, and we talk for two hours, rattling off conversation after conversation, drinking another glass of wine each, and getting some food, before eventually we leave the pub and walk back towards her flat together. It feels sogood to be us again. We are part of each other, and we need each other.
When we get back to her flat, she invites me in, but I tell her I need to get back home. I want to have another practice before tomorrow night, and Brian mentioned something about a special Columbian birthday cake he has made for me – coconut pudding?
‘Happy birthday for tomorrow. I’ll call you in the morning,’ says Jess.
