‘You and Jamie sure seem close?’ I questioned out loud, whilst the other three continued to chat and sip coffee, perfectly at home on the beach. I just wanted to feel at home somewhere, though preferably in an apartment in Randwick.
‘Yeah.’ He beamed at the thought of her; the Jamie effect. ‘I love that girl.’ Did she really need to take all the guys? I gave him a weak smile in return. Poor Joshua. It didn’t even make sense. Here was a gorgeous, adventurous, church-going man who loved her. And still she wanted Sam. Jamie and Joshua; it even sounded right. And Lord knows, Sam and Jess had always sounded right. Clearly fate had got its wires crossed. ‘We couldn’t be closer,’ Joshua reiterated. A glimmer of an idea darted across my mind. We’d see about that.
Chapter 22
9 August 2020 – Sydney, Australia
The photograph of Coogee Backpacker mocked me from my phone, warped at the corners to make the dorm rooms look more spacious than they were. With my early pay packet I could afford to stay there for a bit, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was throwing money away. And I needed a semi-permanent address if I had a hope of getting myself a semi-permanent job. I looked again at the misleading pictures: a downgrade from Sam’s box room for sure. As painful as it was, I’d almost enjoyed being in such close proximity to him. And I knew he’d enjoyed it too. But could I really take him up on his offer to stay? He thought I was moving into my apartment this weekend. Hearing Sam’s key turn in the door, I stashed my phone and shelved the thought, reclining on the sofa. It was gone one o’clock and they’d only just arrived home from church. I’d thought it was an in-and-out situation, especially given Sam’s ‘a couple of hours on a Sunday’ comment during the other night’s living room affair. I quickly stood up to check my reflection in the mirror. Hair waved, make-up applied, in a loose-fitting and low-cut black dress enhancing my two USPs, I looked ten times better than the heroin-without-the-chic mess Sam had rescued just over a week ago; but I guessed that wasn’t saying much. I smiled at my reflection. Living arrangements be damned; this was going to be great.
Jamie had near enough squealed when I’d suggested we invite Joshua around for lunch. Smiling broadly and bounding over towards me, she had squeezed my arm and gushed: ‘Oh, Jess, I thought you’d never ask.’ She laughed as if recalling a private joke she and Joshua clearly shared, before adding wistfully, ‘He’s such a great guy, Jess.’
That he is, Jamie; and absolutely made for you.
‘There she is,’ Sam exclaimed as he entered the kitchen-living room to see me casually flicking through the pages of whatever magazine I had just picked up from the coffee table. I looked up to see his gleeful expression. ‘I love your hair like that,’ he added. I knew he did. I mirrored Sam’s smile in return. For a moment I felt nineteen again.
‘Hey, Jess,’ Jamie interrupted, catapulting me back into my twenty-seven-year-old self. Jamie looked great. Of course she did, effortlessly pulling off a loose-fitting jumpsuit, her blonde hair cascading down her back in natural waves; unlike the ones I had spent the last two hours trying to make look natural. ‘No sign of Joshua? He set off on his bike before us,’ Jamie said, taking stock of the room, concern flashing across her face. Of course Joshua rode a bike; one step up from a skateboard, I guess. Just as Jamie put her too-expensive handbag down on the marble kitchen surface, another key turned in the door and there were heavy footsteps in the corridor. Jamie’s face lit up. He had a key? Why the hell would he have a key? I looked at Jamie’s grin, seductive and suspicious. Maybe I wasn’t the only one with secrets? Sure enough, seconds later, Joshua popped his head around the archway into the room.
‘Joshua!’ Jamie squealed as she flung both arms around his broad-shouldered frame. He embraced her tightly, hands resting on her upper back, face nestled in her freefalling locks. I glanced towards Sam, whose head was downcast, his hands fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. He looked up at Jamie and Joshua briefly and then turned to me, holding my gaze for a little too long. He was never one for details but even he must have been able to feel the chemistry between them. Slowly letting go of Jamie, Joshua turned to me and gave me the same assured kiss on the cheek; no squeals, no lingering hair sniff. He then put his arms around Sam, giving him a backslapping man-hug. Sam’s smile looked strained.
Before I even noticed her knocking together our starters, the wooden table in the centre of the kitchen was set with a colourful display of Mediterranean tapas. Bread, oils, olives, halloumi; it was a doppelgänger for the dinners Sam and I had shared on our graduation getaway. I’d had to hold out after my own graduation for Sam to finish the following year, and I’d had to go with his lot, not mine. And yet, stealing away from his medic friends to grab a moment alone with Sam in Cyprus had been worth the wait.
I sat down at the table and stretched my hand out to the halloumi; Sam did the same, our hands colliding in the middle. ‘After you,’ Sam said; like he had a choice. He pulled his chair closer to the table, his foot grazing my own in the process, muscle memory bringing our bodies back together.
‘This looks amazing, Jamie,’ Joshua gushed, placing an affectionate hand on her angular shoulder. ‘Thanks so much for having me.’ Their eyes met. I looked at Sam, who was looking from Joshua to me. Even I couldn’t read his expression.
‘Hey, it was Jess’s idea,’ Jamie deflected. Joshua grinned in my direction. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I could imagine Zoe pacing the floor, gesticulating with her hands, telling me again and again that this was a stupid idea, that I should stop meddling, that I should let Sam move on. That I should do the same. Reaching across the table for another pitta, I silenced the thought. Zoe wasn’t here; she hadn’t even called me back. And I wasn’t meddling. My suggestion had got Joshua sitting opposite the girl of his dreams. And it just so happened that it had also got me sitting in front of the man of mine.
By the time Jamie had served the main dish (lamb tagine and couscous with a fun-free version for her), the table conversation was in full flow. Jamie and Joshua had shared everything but an awkward silence; their connection was undeniable.
‘Joshua, that sweater is such a good colour on you… Joshua, the work you do with the youth is just amazing… Joshua, it’s so good to have you here with us…’ I wasn’t sure whether Sam noticed the fact that Jamie had complimented Joshua more times in one and a half courses than I’d seen her compliment Sam all week. After all, I had done all in my power to keep his attention on me. And that was working perfectly. Topping up our glasses at twice the rate as Jamie and Joshua, our own conversation flowed as freely as the wine. It was almost like old times. You know, except for the fact his fiancée was sitting beside us.
‘Do you remember that time? Austin. The pool?’ Sam struggled to say through his laughter. After five years together, we’d developed a few private jokes of our own. I snorted my Sauvignon. I remembered it well. Unbeknownst to Jamie, her medi-spread had prompted no end of medic-holiday memories. Sam was in his element.
‘I literally couldn’t get the image out of my head for days!’ Sam wiped away a tear. I did the same, looking up at him and holding his gaze for less than two seconds before he crumbled into laughter once again. One week, six boys, three girls and a whole lot of alcohol.