Commitment: The Beauty in Between (A Beautiful Series Novella) (6 page)

The weather is starting to warm up and David and I are
heading to Bondi beach to enjoy sun and the sand. It was all my idea, so no
wedding surprise today. It’s just me and my man, spending some quality time
together.

Since we moved to Surrey Hills, we’ve come to the beach a
fair few times, although David still isn’t interested in surfing. I think he’d
look really hot in a wetsuit, pulled down around his waist as he strolls along
the beach with a board under his arm. It gives me shivers just thinking about
it. But he’s adamant that surfing isn’t his thing.

“You’re lucky I swim at the beach. There’s freakin’ blue
bottles, jelly fish and sharks to worry about close to shore. Why the hell
would I want to swim even further out to surf? God only knows what’s lurking
around out there.”

His fear of ocean animals makes me laugh. He would take down
anyone or anything in his bid to protect me, but he’s scared of a blue bottle
sting. Instead, he’s happy to spend most of his day laying on a towel and
reading. He had to get a pair of reading glasses while we were still uni, so I
love it when he reads, especially on weekends when he hasn’t shaved. There’s
something about seeing him with his hair stylishly messy, his face scruffy and
a pair of glasses that is so appealing to me.

“You should surf because it would mean that you were a definitely
going to get lucky once we got home - especially after I’ve sat around watching
you all day.”

“Princess, you can’t keep your hands off me,” he grins, looking
at me over the top of his glasses. “I’m lucky all the time.”

I laugh and flick him with some sand and he gives me a half
amused, half unimpressed look as it clings to the sun cream on his chest and
refuses to move.

“Come and swim with me, I’ll wash it off for you,” I
suggest.  

He raises his eyebrows and lets his eyes wander over my
bikini clad body. My body tingles under his gaze and I half think that maybe we
should go home and shower together instead.

“David, Katrina. Hi,” a voice says from above us. I cover my
eyes against the sun and look up to see Elliot standing in front of us, clad in
a pair of board shorts and nothing else. His chest is still as defined as it
always was. He really looks like he belongs on the beach, or at least on a
billboard advertising it.

Behind him is Paige who is wearing a simple black string
bikini that has little gold embellishments on the ends of the ties. With her curves,
she looks amazing in it. I can see her standing right next to him in that
billboard ad.

Looking at her body, I feel like I’m all bones and hard
angles in my own royal blue Seafolly bikini, although I have to admit, this one
makes me look like I have curves. The bodice is ruched, and twists in the
middle to make you look a little fuller in the chest, and the bottoms are
topped with a little ruffle that kind of gives me hips. So I shake the tiny
insecurity away. I’m fine in my own skin.

“Hi,” David and I say in unison. No one speaks for a beat
until I ask, “Where’s Grace?”

“Oh she’s with my dad and his wife Erica,” Elliot tells us.

“I think she might be taking her for hair extensions,” Paige
puts in. She’s smiling, so I wonder if perhaps she doesn’t hate me after all.

“Seriously?” I say, crinkling my nose up.

“No,” Elliot laughs. “She just spoils her rotten and Paige
likes to joke about it.”

“Oh. Ok.” I laugh a little. It sounds forced. I don’t know
how to take Paige yet.

“So, um, mum tells me she’s having a BBQ between your family
and ours at the beginning of December,” Elliot starts. “I was going to call you
and maybe say hi. Get the ball rolling on this ‘getting along’ thing. But we
saw you here and thought we’d come over instead.”

We all kind of just nod and look at each other, not really
knowing what to say until David comes to everyone’s rescue.

“Listen, we were just about to go and get an ice-cream or a
cold drink from across the street. You want to join us?” David says. I slide my
eyes over to him – no we weren’t.

“Um. Sure, that’d be ok,” Elliot says glancing at Paige who
isn’t showing any obvious yes or no signs.

Everyone seems fine heading off to get something to eat and
drink together. I know it’s a little odd, but I figure we’re obviously going to
see them or run into them occasionally. Especially when you consider how close
Kathy and Carol are - it’s inevitable that we’re going to be in the same room.
We may as well make friends as far as I’m concerned.

“So how’s life in the legal world?” Elliot asks me as we
cross the busy street via the zebra crossing.

“It’s busy. I like it though. I get all my arguing out at
work so I’m pretty calm outside the office,” I laugh.

“What area did you go in to?”

“Employment law. I’m all about fighting the good fight for
the little guy, although half the time I find myself assigned to a case where
we’re fighting for the multi-million dollar company. But such is life huh.”

“Yeah, I can definitely relate. You start off with great
intentions and you get stuck doing what you’re told – good or bad.”

I nod my head in agreement. “How about you? How’s life as a
personal trainer?”

“It’s great. I really enjoy it actually. I take a lot of
clients here actually and run them along the shoreline. It’s a pretty nice
office.”

“I reckon. I think I chose the wrong profession.”

We laugh a little and continue an easy conversation. I can
tell that he’s doing the same thing I am though, we’re both half listening to
each other and half listening to our other halves behind us.

“Listen, I know it was a while ago now. But I really wanted
to say that I’m sorry for mentioning the photos at your welcome home BBQ. I
really didn’t mean anything. I was just nervous and well, I kind of started
talking and couldn’t really stop,” I laugh uneasily.

Paige glances at me and wrinkles her nose slightly. “It’s
ok. That was a really hard day. I was jet lagged and at the time. I still
didn’t like people seeing it. It was very private to me for a long time.”

“You obviously don’t mind now,” I say nodding towards the
bare skin on her back.

“No. I wear it proudly now,” she smiles. There’s a pause and
I wonder if I should ask more questions, but she changes the subject. “So
Elliot tells me you’re a lawyer.”

“Yeah, a solicitor. I work in a little office focusing
mainly on family law. It’s a bit like living in a soap opera half the time. You
can’t imagine what goes on in half of these marriages. So many secrets.” I tell
her widening my eyes and shaking my head as I think about the stories I hear.

“Oh, I can imagine. Everyone has their secrets. I’m a hairdresser
by trade and you wouldn’t believe the things clients like to tell me. It’s like
I’m a confessional or something. I don’t get it, but they love sharing their
problems with me.”

“Really? You know, I’ve never been chatty at the hairdressers.
Is that bad?”

“No. Not at all. You’d be a good client, we could actually
focus on cutting your hair.”

We laugh a little together, the atmosphere between us much
easier than it was the first time we met.

David and Elliot wait up for us to enter the ice-cream shop
and we split off into pairs while we order and then go back outside to where
there are a few tables and chairs.

“So I hear you two are getting married soon,” Elliot
comments between licks of his ice-cream.

“Soon?” I say immediately, hoping to get some information
out of him before David silences him, but I don’t get the chance

“Don’t breathe a word to her. It’s all a surprise.” David
butts in.

“Oh wow! So you have no idea what’s going to happen?” asks
Paige.

“No. I don’t have a clue. I don’t even know what my dress
looks like.”

Paige’s mouth drops open. “Seriously?”

“Yep. I know that it’s possibly strapless and made out of swishy
sounding material and zips up in the back – that’s it.”

“I blindfolded her and took her for a dress fitting,” David
informs them casually, like it’s a completely normal thing for someone to do. Although
we exchange knowing glances, each of remembering how wonderful that day was for
us.

“You are one very brave man,” Elliot laughs.

“Very,” Paige agrees.

We sit around talking easily for while after our ice-creams
are finished. I think we’d talk for longer but Elliot’s phone goes off.

“That’s dad,” he says to Paige. “They’re on their way back
to ours with Grace.”

“Alright, we’d better start walking,” Paige says standing.

“Oh you’re not far from here?” David asks.

“Yeah, I used to live around here when I first met you guys,
but I moved out for a while. Dad kept the place though and when Paige and I got
married, he and his wife did up the old flat and gave it to us a wedding gift.”

“Really? That’s amazing.” I say. “So you’re talking to your
dad again?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we’re all good now.”

“That’s really good to hear,” I smile, and I mean it.

“Well, we’d better go. It was really great talking to you
both,” Paige says with a smile as she slips her hand into Elliot’s palm. “Perhaps
you can come and see the flat some time? I’m sure you’d be really surprised at
how different it is Katrina. I saw photos of it before and you wouldn’t
recognise it.” It surprises me that she’s being so welcoming and I don’t say
anything at first. I just smile and nod.

David rescues me though - I’m pretty sure he can read my
mind and knows what I want to say more often than I do. “We’d love to.” He
stands up and shakes Elliot’s hand then leans over to kiss Paige on the cheek.
I do the same except I just give cheek kisses. It’s like we’ve all known each
other for ages. Things are feeling a little more normal between us now.

“Do you still think she hates you?” David enquires as we
watch them walk, hand in hand down the street.

“No, and what’s more shocking is – I actually think I like
her.”

He chuckles and puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me
closer and kissing my head.

“My Katrina, actually getting along well with a girl. I
think I’ve seen it all now,” he jokes. I elbow him playfully, although it’s
true, I do really struggle making friends with other girls.

Disaster has struck. I left work today and the first thing
that greeted me was a message on my phone, informing me that the celebrant
can’t make it on the date I’ve booked everything for. Some sort of family
obligation has come up.

My chest grips. I’m having a slight panic and when I meet
Trina by the car to drive home, I almost tell her everything, just to share the
burden.

“What’s wrong?” she asks me, concern etching lines in her
face as she regards me.

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out, and I’m grateful
for that. If I tell her one thing, I won’t be able to stop. It will ruin
everything. I clamp my mouth shut and press my lips firmly together.

The message said that I’d been emailed a list of other people
who might be available, so I’ll spend the weekend calling all of them, and pray
that one of them will agree to do it. But it’s getting so close to the date
now. I’m petrified that this might be the one thing that can stop this from
happening.

It’s times like this I wish we lived in America and could
have a friend or family member ordained via the internet. But it doesn’t work
like that here. There are only so many licensed marriage celebrants available.
Everything has to be done the right way to make the marriage legal. No corners
can be cut.

If no one can do it, I’ll have to cancel everything. That
trip to Vegas is looking like it might become a reality after all.

Something is going on and David won’t tell me what it is.
It’s obviously something to do with the wedding. I ask him and he just says
that he’ll deal with it - he’s not breathing a word.

Although, there is a moment when I think he’s going to share
something with me. He looks at me, his face warring with his emotions as his
mouth moves like he’s trying to form words. My heart leaps up in my throat. I’m
both nervous and excited. I want to know. I want to be able to help him. But he
shakes his head quickly, like he’s shaking the thoughts away, and tells me not
to worry before getting the car and driving home without saying a word.

I rest my hand on his thigh and move my fingers soothingly
as I worry. Of course I’m worried. Even though l have no idea what I’m worrying
about.

Christmas time is upon us and so are the usual round of
family BBQs. As Elliot mentioned, we’ve been invited to Kathy and Steve’s house
in early December. Carol and Kathy have been taking turns hosting since they
became good friends. Last year we were at Carol’s so logically it’s at Kathy’s
this year.

After running into Paige and Elliot at the beach that day, I’m
not dreading it is much as I thought I would. Hanging out with the guy who used
to sleep with your fiancée still isn’t the most comfortable thing in the world,
but if Paige can handle Katrina then I can handle Elliot. Besides, he is
actually a pretty nice guy.

As strange as this all is, I’m really glad Katrina’s mum has
found a good friend like Kathy. None of us have a lot of family, so she
believes in spending quality time with close friends. I understand that, but I
just wish there wasn’t that link there. It would be a lot easier to just
pretend no one has ever been with Katrina before me.

Whether I like it or not, we’re linked through family, so I
figure that I have to make the most of it. We all got along really well at
Bondi. I’m sure we can all be friends.