Page 46 of Where She Is
I attempt a smile. “I’m fine. I was mulling over what you said about having one of everything. It’s a good philosophy to have going forward.” He doesn’t catch my double meaning and kisses my nose.
“I meant it. Now come on, let’s get ready so I can show you off.”
My faithful Jimmy Choo’s adorn my feet to compliment one of my favourite dresses. It’s an old black halter-neck fromMonsoon, very light and flouncy, but elegant. I tie my hair up into a high, tight ponytail and apply some mascara and lip gloss. When I enter the kitchen, I nearly stumble at the sight of him. Daniel is dressed in a navy fitted suit and white open shirt. His beautiful dark hair is slightly messier than normal, not quite parted to the side. It’s more casual tonight and I like it. He smells delicious; I could eat him up, and not for the first time. His face lights up as I walk towards him. “Fuck me, you look bloody gorgeous. Should I take a rain check on dinner?”
Heat radiates my skin. There’s something amazing about being greeted with this much enthusiasm and Australian. I doubt I will ever tire of his accent. “You don’t scrub up too badly either cowboy.”
He smirks, taking my hand in his. “Let’s get going, crazy girl, before I change my mind.”
We reach the restaurant in less than ten minutes. The head waiter stands at the door and greets Daniel like an old friend. As we enter the vast room which houses everything from the bar to an open chef’s area, I note the lack of free tables and the volume of excited chatter and laughter. It’s not the kind of venue I imagine Daniel visiting until we’re shown to our seats on the secluded veranda. The black ocean expands before us, offering a spectacular view while a warm sea breeze gently ripples in the air. Once seated, Daniel takes my hand across our table for two. His deep breath and pursed lips worry me and cause my heart to beat a hard rhythm through my chest.
“Would you agree things are going well between us? I mean, are you happy?”
“Daniel, I couldn’t be happier, but it’s still early days.”
He huffs out a smile, “I know, yet I’ve realised I can trust you with anything. You’ve changed my life, and you deserve nothing but my honesty.” Relief washes over me. “It’s time I told you about Lou and me.”
“Okay.” I realise he is about to open up. He squeezes myhand, perhaps because I sound unsure, although I’m absolutely not.
“I suppose I should begin by saying we had an unusual marriage. We met as teenagers and were pretty immature. Everything we did was a bit of a joke. We were part of a gang of rich kids who had a privileged upbringing, although we were always getting into trouble. Nothing major, mainly drinking and late nights. We got a warning for disturbing the peace once or twice. We were well known in the area as local brats, but we thought we were cool.”
I huff out a laugh. “Don’t we all think we’re cool at that age?”
“I suppose, but we really were a pain in the arse.” We both smile, and he continues. “There were four of us. Lou, Freya and another guy called James, and we all stuck together like glue. Back then, Freya and I were best friends and were rarely apart. That was until I started dating Lou. It wasn’t exclusive, we saw other people. We were more like fuck buddies and Freya seemed fine with it. I had no idea she saw me as more than a friend.”
“Daniel,” I’m nervous to ask, but I have to know. I stutter slightly when I say, “did… you ever sleep with her?”
“Christ! No!”
Thank God.
“I was never attracted to her in that way. She was my mate.”
Sweet Jesus, Daniel has no idea how stunningly sexy he is and I imagine the teenage Daniel was just as charismatic as the one in front of me. It must have been hard to 'just be friends’ and I understand why Freya is bitter towards me. I’m another female predator on her patch. However, I wonder why she married Joe, or why Joe married her? I have to park those questions for now as Daniel continues.
“The year we turned eighteen, the entire crowd took a trip to Fiji. This was the stuff we did. Honestly, when I look back, I was lucky mum and dad let me get away it. I was so spoilt. Anyway,to cut a very long story short, Lou and I got married.” Daniel’s focus rests on our entwined fingers as his thumb furiously rubs over my knuckles.
“How did that happen? Were you drunk?” I ask with some caution. I don’t want him to clam up on me now. He looks up, and the tick in his jaw is obvious.
“No, it was all planned out before we left home. We wanted to make our eighteenth year special, so we came up with this stupid idea that getting married was the only way to go. We got a package deal, told all our friends, but not our parents.”
“Right.” Not what I expected. I’ve seen how much he loves his parents.
“We were eighteen, Han. Jesus. It seems ridiculous now, but at the time, it was exciting. We couldn’t wait to rebel against our families.” He shakes his head. “God… we thought we were in love when really, we didn’t have a clue what genuine love was. Can you understand what I mean?”
“Yes, I get it.” I try to soothe him with my voice and squeeze his hand in return.
“When we got home, the shit hit the fan and our parents went ballistic. They tried to get the marriage annulled, but we were happy being married and wouldn’t agree to it. We were bloody stupid, stubborn kids, so the annulment didn’t happen. The compromise was, we lived with mum and dad, mainly so they could keep an eye on us and make sure we didn’t get into any more trouble.”
“So, what happened? You obviously stayed together.”
“For a while, but things changed. We grew apart.”
The waiter interrupts to take our drinks order and hand out menus. I smile when he nods and takes his leave before Daniel continues.
“I pulled my socks up and dad took me on at the company. I enjoyed work, making my own money and becoming independent.I liked how that felt. Unfortunately, Lou took a different path.”
“What happened?”
