“I felt it, too.” He wipes his nose on the back of his hand.
“What is it?” I ask him.
“I don’t know, but I felt it.” He shrugs. “Chemistry. You’re beautiful, but it’s not just that.” He looks past me, like he’s looking for something. An answer?
His ice-blue eyes meet mine. “Whatever it was, whatever it is, it’s there, and it’s here now.” He gestures between us with his hand. “It’s here right now, in this room; it’s here between us.” My mouth is slightly open as I try to take in air; my lips and mouth feel dry.
“What do we do?” I whisper.
He shrugs again, shaking his head. “I don’t know… I have to go and finish my set; can I come up after?”
I shake my head. “No, that’s… no.”
His eyes roam over my face. “Tomorrow then, can I come around tomorrow?”
I nod. “I’m working the breakfast shift in the morning. I finish at eleven-thirty, come around at about twelve-thirty.” He takes a deep breath, steps inside the door and kneels down level with me.
“Are you okay? I mean, if I go, will you be all right?” His voice is so soft, barely a whisper, and it sends goose bumps across my skin.
“I’ll be fine. Go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
His right hand comes up and he runs his knuckles backwards and forwards across my cheek, and I shiver. He leans in and kisses my forehead. “I really am so very sorry, Georgia. I hope I’ve not ruined the chance for us to be friends. I… I’m sorry.”
“I know,” I whisper. He gets up and leaves. He doesn’t shut the front door behind him and he doesn’t look back. I stay on my knees, wondering what the fuck just happened.
*
I go straight to bed after Roman leaves; I have an early start and I feel completely drained. I vaguely remember hearing “Wonderwall” start playing, but I must soon drift off and it seems like moments later when I’m woken by my phone ringing. I grab it from the bedside table; it’s Jimmie.
“Jim,” I croak into the phone.
“Sorry, George, did I wake you? You did say to call at any time.”
“Yeah, yeah, na.” I’m not making sense so I sit up straight and try to get my shit together. “Yeah, you woke me, but I had to get up anyway. What’s happening, what’s Lennon have to say?”
“It’s, erm… it’s all good, George. It’s pretty disgusting, but it’s not… he’s not done anything wrong.”
“You wanna dish, or do I not wanna know?”
She’s quiet for a few seconds. “Well, I said to ya that he’s been really busy, didn’t I? Well, it seems he’s been missing me as much as I’ve been missing him. Anyway, he was driving home the other night and he called me and we had a bit of dirty talk on the phone, ya know, what he was gonna do to me when he got in, what I wanted…”
“Yeah, yeah, Jim, I get the picture.” I didn’t want to hear this; this was my brother and my best friend, after all.
“Yeah, well, anyway, after all the talk, he couldn’t wait till he got home and pulled over at a petrol station and bought a pack of condoms and you know…” What am I missing here, because I don’t know. I need coffee is all I can think.
“No, Jim, I don’t know.” I hear her take a breath before she speaks again.
“He had a wank while he was driving, and so it didn’t go everywhere, he wanked into the condom.” Well, I did ask.
“That’s gross, Jim. Now I have to go and serve breakfast to hot surfers and builders with that thought in my head. Tell my brother, he’s a fiend, but I’m glad he’s a fiend and not an adulterer.”
“Fuck. Me too, George.”
“You do know he loves you and would never do that, right?”
She’s quiet for a few seconds. “Yeah, he was really pissed off with me for even thinking he would be interested in anyone else… Did you just describe the builders and surfers as hot, George; did I hear that right?” What’s she getting at?
“Yeah, why?”
“You do realise that’s the first time I’ve heard you describe another bloke as hot since… Well, you know, in a while.” I think about what she’s said for a few seconds.
“Yeah, you’re probably right; what d’ya think that means?”
“I think it means that my beautiful best friend’s made a massive leap forward. How hot are they exactly, on a scale of one to Maca, I mean?”
I laugh before I answer, “Some are one, some are eight and some are ‘oh, my fucking God, bend me over and fuck me right now’.”
“Georgia!” she shrieks “Oh, my fucking God, babe, you’re back. Georgia’s back! Fuck you, you’ve made me cry.” I hear her sob into the phone and I hear Len say something in the background. “I love ya, George. I’m so proud of ya, so fucking proud, babe. I wish I was there to witness this, but I’m so glad you’ve got there.” I wish she was here, too, but I’m not going to tell her that; otherwise, she’ll be on the next flight down here.
“Jim?”
“What, babe?”