We chat, and he asks me about my life. Where I have been, what I do other than work. I tell him I love adventure, and that I am the black sheep of the family. He doesn’t believe me. But he hasn’t met my sister yet either.
He goes on to tell me about his life before he moved to Brisbane but leaves out his wife. Not once does he mention her. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask, but I choose not to, not yet anyway.
I can save that for another day.
Chapter Five
He doesn’t kiss me. He’s a gentleman. Instead, he walks me to my door, says goodnight, and waits until I get inside before he walks back to his car and drives away.
The date was perfect.
We held hands, we talked, we got to know each other.
We kept difficult questions at bay and stuck to things that first dates should consist of.
The smile on my face is large, even if I didn’t get a kiss.
My phone beeps when I enter my lounge room and see Vicky sitting with a bowl of popcorn on her lap as she watches television.
I’m already planning our next date.
“Well, you either got really lucky, or you plan to. I can’t decide which by looking at you,” Vicky says.
I put my phone down, but the smile on my face doesn’t shift. It can’t. Because I’m ridiculously happy. Who would have thought the man I have been crushing on for months is now no longer in my dreams but a reality? “I’m waiting for you to tell me everything,” she shouts as I plonk myself down next to her.
Reaching into her bucket, I grab a whole handful of popcorn and stuff my face full. She watches me eagerly, waiting for me to speak patiently, but her eyebrows are raised in anticipation.
“You are just mean. Stop eating and tell me,” she says as I smile at her words.
The door to our apartment opens, and my sister walks in. She comes to sit right next to me and drops her head on my shoulder.
“Do not stop because your twin is here, I want to hear how the date went.”
“So do I,” Rylee chimes in, not moving her head from my shoulder.
“He took me to the top of the city and had a picnic planned out with champagne. It was…”
“Perfect,” my sister finishes for me with sadness in her voice.
“Yes, it was perfect. No one has done anything like that for me before.” They both go quiet, and I nudge Rylee, who’s still lying on my shoulder. “Tell me what’s wrong with you?” I know something’s wrong, I know her better than anyone. It’s a twin thing.
“I’m fine, just tired.” I taste the lie, but I don’t say anything. Obviously, she doesn’t want to speak in front of Vicky, and Vicky looks to her then to me, before she offers us more popcorn.
“If you two weren’t sisters, you know I would have worries about how close you two are.” Rylee dips her hand into the bowl and takes some popcorn. We ignore her comment because while growing up we got the same thing, and Vicky knows us too well. Other than Rylee, she’s the one person who I trust completely.
My phone dings again from the kitchen counter, and butterflies take flight in my stomach. It’s hard for me not to get up and retrieve it, but I don’t. Because I have a feeling Rylee will fall apart, and she is someone I never want to see cry.
Ever.
She is one of the strongest people I know—the smartest. And my biggest cheerleader in this thing called life.
“Let’s go to bed.” I stand after watching a movie, offering Rylee my hand. Vicky is alternating between snoring and breathing heavily on the couch, but once I flick the television off, she makes a move to stand and heads off to bed.
Shutting the door to my room, Rylee climbs into my bed and curls herself into a ball.
Getting changed into my nightie, I climb in and throw the blanket over us and scoot up behind her, cuddling her from behind.
“Tell me,” I urge.
“I don’t love him. I don’t want to marry him,” she says, and I hear it clearly in her voice. The finality. The decision.
“So, leave,” I say.
She shakes her head. “It’s not as easy as that. Our families—”
“Ry, stop. You don’t have to do anything that they want you to do. You are already the perfect child. This is one thing. It will pass. They will get over it.”
“Mum’s already planning the damn wedding,” she says in a defeated voice.
“Tell her to stop,” I say.
Rylee isn’t one to hold back, but she also doesn’t like to disappoint either. She fights those demons all by herself. I’m used to being the disappointment, so it doesn’t bother me that much, but I get it’s harder for her.
“You don’t love him anymore?” I ask after a few moments of silence.
She takes a while to answer me. “I never loved him. It was just a good match,” she says in a voice that breaks my heart.
I never knew that. I assumed with how long she has been with him that she did love him. I never really thought to ask, I simply assumed.
Rylee’s phone starts ringing, but she makes no move to get it.
“Tell me more about your date. Do you get butterflies?” she asks.
“Yes, oh my God, yes. I don’t even know him that well yet. But he makes my whole body tingle. I’m excited for what is to come,” I tell her as she snuggles into me.
“I’m excited to meet him. If he makes you this happy, I know I will automatically like him.”
And she will, she will love him based on the fact he makes me happy.
“You deserve to be happy too, Rylee. You know that, right?”
“My expectations are different than yours, I have more pressure.”
“I know, but you need to remember this is your life and not theirs. No matter how much you want to make them happy.”
She nods but doesn’t reply.
“Want to hear more about my date?” I ask her in the dark, the only light coming from the moon through the small gap in the curtains.
“Yes,” she says.
And I do.
I keep talking until I know she’s asleep.
I take her from the beginning to where I first met him right up to when he dropped me off tonight.
It makes me excited for what’s to come.
Chapter Six
Rylee is gone when I wake. I expected as much, though. She is usually an early riser. But next to me is my phone, which I left out on the kitchen counter, with a text from her that said she will see me tomorrow.
Opening up the text from Noah, I smile.
Lunch today?
He sent it early this morning. I, of course, was sleeping. I love to sleep.
Yes. I have work today but can take a break for you ;-)
He replies back asking what time, and I tell him I will be there. Vicky is in the kitchen with Danny behind her, whispering something into her ear as she looks up at me. She smirks, already dressed for work, as I reach her. She hands me a coffee, which is funny, considering ours tastes like utter shit compared to the ones we make at work, and we obviously get free coffee at work.
“When did you sneak in?” I ask Danny, cupping the coffee mug between my fingers.