Page 75 of The Player in New Zealand
“It wouldn’t be fair to Iris,” I pointed out. “Or to me. I need to pay her back to feel better about my life and my choices.”
Tane crossed his arms. “You are stubborn.” His resignation was clear, and I relaxed, glad to not have to argue about it.
“So are you.”
He gave me a small grin and bent down, his arms wrapping around me, and we settled in, pressed together and warm.
“Can I come visit you in Auckland?”
“You gonna drive all the way? Sleep in my hostel room with me?”
“I’m not hearing a no.”
I grinned up at him. “No, you aren’t.”
Tane bent his head, pressing his lips to mine. And that night we started saying our goodbye-for-now.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Ninaand I worked together to cover my shifts after I gave my official notice. She had assured me that it was fine for me to leave earlier than expected. “With Tane working the bar more,” she’d said, “and the slow season, we needed to cut staff anyway.” I had made sure to write down all my recipes and even create a few more for the bar to have as backups.
I worked the Saturday night shift, and Sunday morning Tane and I looked at hostels in Auckland. “I didn’t realize how lucky I’d gotten here in Wellington,” I commented. “These places are not cheap.”
In fact, the difference in my pay rate was probably going to go into my hostel. And after my experience in Wellington, I knew that I couldn’t handle skimping on a place to live.
Together, we picked a place in a decent part of town that was walkable to McGraves’ and had a good rating on Hostelworld.
“Okay, one more thing done,” I said after making the booking. “Just have to pack.”
“About that,” Tane said, getting up from his couch and walking back to his closet. He pulled something out of it, and I heard aclack-clack-clackas wheels rolled across the floor. “Even if it’s just for the one trip, you needed a bigger suitcase last time I checked.”
“Aw,” I said, snickering. “One that actually fits all my stuff. How reasonable.”
“Well,” Tane amended, “it might fit all your stuff. I don’t know how much you have back at your hostel, but you need to pack up here first. You’ve got a lot of stuff in my place.”
We both worked through the apartment, throwing things into the new suitcase and putting dirty clothes into Tane’s washing machine. When his space was de-Claired, we went downstairs and joined Nina in the kitchen, where she was cooking breakfast.
“Claire,” she wailed. “Your last day!” She wrapped me up in a huge hug while Tane prevented the eggs from overcooking.
I spent the day at the bar—not as staff, but as a customer. My fellow staff members said goodbye, and even some regular customers—like Evans and his wife—made sure to come in and have a cocktail to say goodbye too. In fact, Nina encouraged me to indulge in some of my own drinks, and by the time Tane tried to herd me upstairs, I was a little drunk, a little nostalgic, and a lot sad.
“Wait, wait, wait, Tane,” I said—slurred—while Tane helped me up the stairs to his place so I could get my stuff. “I didn’t do something.”
He smiled down at me, bemused. “What didn’t you do?”
“I didn’t”—I looked around dramatically—“I didn’t hit a bull’s-eye. Like, how can I leave without doing that?”
He tipped his head back and laughed, halfway up the stairs. “Well, it’s not happening today, babe. You’re liable to hurt yourself or someone else in this state.”
“Well then, what’s the point of having both axes and booze?” I grumbled.
Tane continued our journey up the stairs. “You’re supposed to be delightfully buzzed when picking up the axe, not on the turps.”
“On the turps? I’veneverbeen on the turps. How dare you. I’m good and properly munted.”
He snorted. “Now you’re just showing off your Kiwi slang.”
We made it up the stairs and Tane poured me onto his bed. He pressed both hands into the mattress on either side of my face. “You can throw an axe again when you come back to visit.” He bent in for a kiss. “But you’re going to have to practice a lot more if you want to get the bull’s-eye.”
