Page 21 of Night and Day
Chapter 10
They found Deke atthe dining table, eating a massive portion of nachos with store-bought jars of salsa, guacamole and sour cream arranged around his plate. Salsa music blasted from another room and he bobbed to the beat with a cheery grin on his face.
Whatever Mia had imagined, Deke wasn’t any of it. He was skinny, with round cheeks and an adorable baby face. His hair resembled a clown wig, down to its orange colour. He wore a shirt, or rather a blouse, with flared arms and a happy sunflower print. It had to be from a women’s collection.
At the sight of Mia, Deke stood up, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He crossed the floor in two giant steps and took Mia’s hand before she had a chance to extend it. “Wow! You’re so pretty!” He turned to Izzy. “Isn’t she pretty?” His rough, worn jeans offered an odd contrast to the ultra-feminine shirt, like someone had been playing with two halves of male and female paper dolls.
Izzy cleared his throat. “Sure. Look, Deke, this is Mia. She’s staying with us for a while. I thought I’d introduce you guys.”
“Absolutely. Absolutely. It’ll be an honour, mi’ lady!” Deke performed an odd curtsy, swirling his hand in the air.
“What’s with the shirt?” Izzy asked, his voice a bit wary.
“Ah, this one?” Deke grinned. “Mum Marie Kondo’ed her house and this wasn’t bringing her joy, so I took it in case of an emergency.”
Izzy opened the fridge, letting out an audible sigh. “What’s the emergency?”
Deke returned to his meal, gesturing Mia to join him. “I haven’t done laundry in a while.” He lifted his nacho plate to Mia, but she shook her head, smiling.
Something about Izzy’s flatmate immediately put her at ease, exactly the opposite of how she felt with Izzy. Deke grinned, diving back to his meal. The room filled with the sound of his crunchy chewing, chorused by the Latin dance track that made Mia feel like she was attending a Zumba class. She wondered if Despacito was next on his playlist, and if her body would launch into an involuntary choreography.
Izzy took a seat next to her, handing her an opened bottle of beer. Mia thanked him and took a sip, trying to remember the last time she’d drunk beer. Well, if she was looking for something new, this was perfect. The beer tasted malty and strong, nothing like the watery piss she remembered from her youth; bottles she’d hidden inside woollen socks and stuffed under her bed to keep her parents from finding them before Friday night.
“So Deke, what do you do?” she asked, raising her voice over the music. “I mean, do you study or work or...?” Mia flashed him a nervous smile. Was there a third option?
Deke raised a pair of round, blue eyes at her. “I’m an actor, but when I’m between acting gigs, I do other stuff. Earlier this week, I was a hair model.” He pointed at the orange cloud framing his head. “I like to volunteer.”
Izzy nodded in confirmation. “Deke’s very agreeable. You can talk him into doing pretty much anything.”
Deke grinned back. “It’s true, but Izzy can talk me out of things as well. He makes sure I don’t do anything stupid or embarrass myself. You see, I’m looking for true love and I don’t want to miss my chance if I meet the one.”
Mia searched his face for hints of sarcasm, but came up with nothing. She glanced at Izzy, who quickly hid his smile. “I don’t always get there in time,” he explained. “But we’ve agreed he shouldn’t get a tattoo without my written consent.” He lowered his voice, giving Deke a meaningful look. “And we’ve talked about borrowing your mum’s clothes, haven’t we? Even if they fit. Nothing wrong with cross dressing, but it might signal that you’renotlooking for a girlfriend.”
Deke frowned like a hurt toddler. “I haven’t left the house, have I? I wasn’t expecting female company.” Deke eyed Mia with such open interest that she felt a giggle bubbling in her chest and clamped her lips together to stop it from escaping. “But now that I find myself in this situation, I’m happy to change into something... um, butch.” He turned back to Izzy, wiping salsa off his chin. “Can I borrow one of your shirts?”
Izzy’s face palm was GIF-worthy. “Just do your laundry, man!”
Deke’s gaze flicked between the two of them, his smile softening into a look of solemn understanding. “I can see she’s taken. I’ll back off.”
Izzy took a swig of his beer, grumbling something incoherent. Mia wasn’t sure what was going on, but her breath came in shallow gasps as she observed his sudden discomfort. Had Izzy just claimed ownership of her? She should have been outraged, but part of her felt inexplicably thrilled.
As if on cue, Despacito burst from the speakers, and Mia’s mouth stretched into a ridiculous grin. She set down her beer and let her hands do the dance they remembered, weaving in the air, drawing her shoulders and upper body with them. Something new indeed. Dancing outside of the dance class, even if only with her hands, was so out of character it felt like an out-of-body experience.
Deke dropped a corn chip and stood up. “Oh, please show me the steps!”
He circled the table and grabbed Mia’s hand, pulling her up to standing. Captured by his child-like enthusiasm, she danced, her body remembering what her mind would have never recalled. She danced and Deke imitated her movements, picking up the routine fast, moving as gracefully as a scarecrow being whipped around by gusts of wind. They both laughed, holding eye contact. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Izzy sitting up in his chair, his gaze glued to her body. Was he angry with her? Was she not supposed to goof around with his flatmate? Was he jealous?
