Crossroads (27 page)

Glancing in the mirror after using the toilet, I am more than a little disappointed with my appearance.  I went to the hairdresser after work and asked for a trim.  I got a lot more than I bargained for.  My hair is
short
.  I hear the front door open and pop my head out of the bathroom.

“Hey,” Em says shutting the door behind her
and kicking off her shoes.

“It can’t be that time already
. I was going to meet you at the station.”

“I left a little early,” she says with a shrug.  I glance at my watch, four twenty-five.  “I was too distracted to get anything done.  Hey!  What happened to your hair?”

I self-consciously run my fingers through what is left on my head.

“I had an over-enthusiastic hairdresser.”

“I’ll say.”  She runs her hands through it and I savour the feeling of her touch, briefly closing my eyes.  “Oh Nick, I hate it!”  She laughs.

My eyes pop open and I grab hold of her waist.

“It really is bad, isn’t it?” I ask.

“
Shockingly bad,” she says with a giggle.

“The worst?”
  I kiss her on the cheek.

“
It’s terrible,” she says and I kiss her on the lips.  “So bad in fact, I don’t think I even want to kiss you now.”  She pulls away from my embrace.  I follow her to the kitchen where she dumps her bag on the bench.

“You take that back.”  I wrap my arms around her again.

“Nope.”  She smiles against my lips as I kiss her.

“Close your eyes.”  She does as I ask and I kiss her again.  Slowly I ease her mouth open, sucking on her bottom lip and teasing her with my tongue.  She responds instantly and I feel her whole body relaxing into mine as her mouth begins to move too.  Her arms come around my back
, pulling me closer and I abruptly stop the kiss.  I pull away from her and cross my arms with a smirk.

“You shit!”

“Take it back.”

“Okay I take it back.  I want to kiss you even with a crappy haircut.”

“That’s better.  Now get back over here.”

She
smiles brightly then rushes back into my arms and I lift her.  We kiss as we make our way to the bedroom.

“So why were you so distracted at work?” I ask as I lay her down on the bed.

“Why do you think?” she asks pulling off her shirt.

“Were you thinking about me?” I ask, undoing her work pants and pull
ing them from her legs.

“I was thinking about last night.”

“Me too, all day,” I say as she pulls my t-shirt over my head.  I quickly take my shorts off and then I cover her body with mine.  I work my tongue along the sensitive flesh below her ear and her hands come up to my hair.

“I still hate your hair cut,” she says with a sigh.

***

“I’m starved. 
How about some dinner in bed?” I ask sitting up.  “I’ll bring you a plate.”

“Hmm, that sounds wonderful.”
  She smiles with her eyes still closed.  I lean over and kiss her forehead before climbing from the bed.

I’m standing in the kitchen completely starkers waiting for the
moussaka to heat when there is a knock at the door.  I rush back into the bedroom.

“Em, you expecting anyone?”
I whisper, pulling on my shorts.

“No,” she mumbles sleepily
, her eyes still closed.

“Em, there’s someone at the door.”  She stirs at that, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.  The sheet falls baring her breasts to me.  Of course my focus shifts and I momentarily forget why I was in the bedroom in the first place.  Then I hear knocking again.  Em blinks at me.

“Shit!”  She jumps from the bed and grabs her robe from behind the door, exiting the room.

“Sorry did I wake you?”  I hear a male voice from outside the apartment when Em opens the door.  “Em it’s only eight o’clock, what were you doing in bed?”  Em moves aside, letting the person in and his eyes focus on mine.  “
Ahh, yeah, well forget I asked.  I don’t want to know the details,” he says with a chuckle.

“Hi Ethan,”
I greet Em’s brother as he walks my way.

“DJ Nick, good to see you again mate,” he replies with a shake of my hand.  He walks by me towards the kitchen.  “Something smells good.”

“Nick made some delicious moussaka, would you like some?” Em says coming up beside me and wrapping her arm around my waist, her fingers lightly tickling my bare skin above my shorts.

“I wouldn’t say no.”

“So was there a particular reason you came by Ethan?” I ask after he polishes off his second helping
, and the last bit of moussaka.

“Well it’s obvious he came for my cooking,” Nick answers with a chuckle.

“What, I can’t come visit my sister just because?”

“Of course you can Ethan, but you never do, so I figure there’s
gotta be a reason.”  I again adjust my silk robe, feeling uncomfortable that I am virtually naked in front of my brother.

“Okay,” Ethan sighs.  “I want your advice.  I’ve started dating someone and I’m not sure how everyone is going to react…”

“Go on, I’m intrigued,” I say leaning closer across the table and smiling.

“Well it’s not who you would expect.  We’ve been keeping it quiet because we wanted to make sure that it was something we both wanted, before we told anyone.”

“Okay, are you trying to tell me you’re gay?” I tease.

“What?”
he asks, squinting at me.

“Because I’d be totally fine with that,” I say reaching over to hold his hand.  He pulls
it away and I laugh.

“I’m not gay.”

“So what’s the big deal?  Who is it?”

“April.”  He ducks his head and looks at me
, nervously awaiting my reaction.

“April? 
As in Kat and Jake’s cousin April?  My friend April?”

“The one and only,” he says with a smile.  His eyes light up when he nods, and again says, “April.”

“Well you’ve got your work cut out for you,” I say through laughter.

“Congratulations mate,” Nick says from beside me.

“Sorry Ethan, I don’t mean to laugh.  You really like her?”

“Yeah, but how do I tell the rest of the family?  What about Jake?  He’s
gonna be mad when he finds out I’m dating his little cousin.  How am I meant to tell them Em?  What about Mum, she won’t be happy I’m dating someone that works at a strip club either.”

“Nah, I’m sure everything will be just fine.
  You’re over thinking things,” I say to him, realising how much I have stopped doing that lately.

“If you love her,” Nick says
, clasping my hand under the table, “then you have to fight for her.”  He squeezes my hand and looks at me meaningfully, causing my eyes to water.

“Hey, hey, I never said anything about being in love, settle down.”  Ethan laughs, but I can’t tear my eyes from Nick’s
blue ones.

I left Em at the apartment chatting with her brother and set off for the club on my own.  My second last gig in Australia before heading into the big unknown. I asked Em to join me but she said she’d probably just head off to bed once Ethan leaves.  I’m early and my set isn’t due to start for another half an hour.  I get myself a beer and stand at one of the tall round tables, sipping it, when a woman approaches me.

I pull my phone out of my bag to ring or text him to let him know that I’m here.  Then I spot him across the other side of the dance floor.  He’s leaning against a table with a beer in his hand, while playing with his phone.  An attractive blonde girl joins him and for a moment I’m frozen watching him, wondering what is going on.  Nick smiles politely as he says something to her, then returns his attentions to his phone, brushing her off.  I watch the blonde girl head in my direction and take a seat at the table in front of me.

“No luck?” her friend asks her.

“Nope, he’s taken,” she replies.  I tune out of the rest of their conversation. 
He’s taken.
  Those words send a thrill through me.  I jump when the phone I’m still holding in my hand goes off with a text message.

I wish you’d change your mind about coming out tonight.  I’m miserable without you
:(

I immediately text him back.

Well you didn’t look too miserable a moment ago when blondie was all over you :)

I stand back to watch his reaction.  A huge smile breaks out over his face as he reads my text and he immediately stands taller and looks around the room.  It only takes him a moment to spot me.  Our eyes lock and my body heats with his gaze.  Memories of all our times together flash through my mind.  Just the anticipation alone makes me shiver and he hasn’t even la
id a finger on me yet.  My body’s reaction to him is always so immediate, my muscles clench just at the mere thought of what we did earlier and what will come later tonight.  His burning gaze, full of promise, sets me on fire. 

Somehow I find myself flush against him in seconds.  I’m not sure if he moved, or I moved, or maybe we both did.  It doesn’t matter.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he says in my ear before moving his mouth over mine.  We kiss as if we aren’t in a semi-crowded nightclub but as if we are alone in my room.  Our tongues thrash and our bodies mesh together, filling me with warmth and desire.  Eventually Nick pulls from our kiss.  “Dance with me.”

Dancing with Nick I find it hard to keep my wits about me, hard to keep in mind that we are in public and I can’t just tear the clothes from his body like I want to.  His hands wander over the black sparkly dress I wore last time I came to this club, under much different circumstances.

“I like your dress,” he whispers in my ear, setting my body alight even more.

We grind against each other as one song blurs into the other and then finally one I recognise. 
As Chris Brown sings “Yeah Yeah Yeah”, I find my groove, pulling from Nick’s arms to raise my hands in the air.

I can’t believe this girl ever thought she couldn’t dance!  She has mad skills on the dance floor and I cannot take my eyes off her as she dances her heart out.  I’m finding it hard to control myself especially when I watch a bead of sweat form on her forehead - that’s sexy as hell.  When the song ends the DJ introduces his last song, signalling that it’s my turn.  I grab hold of Em’s hand and pull her towards the booth.  The DJ that is leaving the booth gives me a slap on the back and wishes me the best of luck on my trip as he leaves.  I can’t help but notice him ogling Em as he passes and I squeeze her hand possessively.  She only smiles at me sweetly, paying him no attention, making me so proud to call her mine.

I spend the next two hours explaining all of the equipment to Em
, as much as I can yelling over the music anyway.  I show her which buttons to press and let her choose some of the songs, not surprisingly she chooses ‘Sexy and I know it’ and forces me to dance with her to it in the confined booth.  I have no problem with that, however the way she rubs herself against me I do have a hard time not bending her over the console and taking her there and then.

The club isn’t that busy for a Thursday night, but we still get a huge cheer at the end of ‘our’ set.  Em is on a high as we leave the club.  She dances her way to t
he car in a giddy, almost drunk state, but she hasn’t had any alcohol.  She trips and leans against the car in a fit of giggles.

“Are you right?” I ask with a chuckle, loading the last of my things in the boot and slamming it shut.

“Fantastic!  Nick that was so much fun!”  She tugs on the collar of my shirt and pulls me against her, kissing me hard on the lips.

“Who knew the girl who doesn’t like clubbing or
doof-doof music could have so much fun with the DJ hey?”

“I want more than a little fun with the DJ.”  She pulls me back to her lips
, forcing her tongue into my mouth in a frenzied and passionate kiss.  My hands squeeze her hard against my body, my erection prominent between us.  Em moans when I move my mouth to her neck.  “Take me home DJ.”

I blink my eyes open to Nick gazing at me, his hand lightly tracing the side of my face.  Friday morning, the last morning I will wake up to his handsome face.  I swallow hard and try to push the sad thoughts away.  He leans in and kisses me softly on the lips, before pulling back to gaze at me once more, his eyes full of love and sadness.  He brushes some hair aside my face, his eyes wandering over my features.

“What time is it?” I ask croakily.

“Seven-twenty, your alarm just went off.”

“Oh.” 
I should get up.

Nick moves in to capture my lips once more, his lips soft and tender.  He kisses me slowly and gently.  I run my hands through his
short hair and pull away slightly.

“I still hate your haircut.”

He smiles but doesn’t say a word, just returns his lips to mine.  Cupping my face gently in his hands, he slowly moves his body on top of mine.  We are both naked, having only had a few hours’ sleep since coming home from the club and making love.  And as I feel his erection near my opening I realise that we are both ready for one another already, as if no time has passed at all.  I am in a constant state of arousal around Nick.  He slips inside me with little to no effort and fits perfectly.

We slowly and passionately make love, worshipping each other’s bodies, not knowing when we will next get the chance to be together like this.

***

B
efore I know it’s Friday afternoon and I’m at work with my eye on the clock.  The romantic dinner from two nights ago, as well as rough and fun night last night and the passionate lovemaking from this morning, are all still replaying in my head.

This
is it.  My last night with Nick in my bed is already over.  I don’t know the next time I will have him sleeping beside me.  He has an early morning flight tomorrow and a DJing gig before that.  He plans on going straight from the club to the airport and I’m not going with him.  I can’t.  I won’t be that hysterical woman waving goodbye at the airport.  I won’t.  I’ve told Nick and he understands.  He wants me to go to the club with him though.  But I told him no, I don’t want to cause a scene there either.  So our plan is takeaway and a goodbye at the apartment.  Then I will be messy blubbering idiot for the rest of the weekend.  Sounds great.

Of course Julia pulls me into her office at quarter to five and of course
, she goes to great lengths discussing the specifics of an ad she needs me to work on for a new client.  She said she needed a ten minute meeting but that was half an hour ago.  Julia notices me glancing at the clock.

“Have you got somewhere you need to be tonight, Emma?”

“No...”  Julia’s only response is a raised eyebrow.  “Yes.”

“I think we’ve worked late enough for a Friday night, don’t you?  If you’ve got some place to be
don’t let me stop you, I think I’ll head home shortly myself.”

“Only if you’re sure…
it’s Nick’s last night before heading overseas.”

“
Your boyfriend Nick?  Where’s he off to?”

“Greece.”

“Oh, I love Greece!”

“You’ve been?”

“Oh yes, I actually spent two months there.  How long is he going for?”

“Um, well he’
ll be in Greece for a month and then he’s backpacking through Europe… indefinitely.”  My voice cracks over that last word.

“Oh
.”  I’m not in the habit of sharing my personal life with my boss but the way that she looks at me knowingly, I can sense she realises how much Nick really means to me.  I can’t hide the emotion in my face or the wetness building in my eyes.  “Good for him.  Ah, to be young and carefree… travelling the world… what a wonderful time.  I did that you know…” I can sense the melancholy in her words without even looking at her face.

“No
, I didn’t know,” I reply, though I don’t think it was a question.  She’s not looking at me and I’m not sure she’s even heard me.  It’s obvious by the far away glaze in her eyes that she is lost in her memories.

“I left Australia with a ticket to London in my hands when I was about your age.  I had no plans, just went with the flow… I went everywhere…
did everything
,” she has a wicked smirk on her face, “had the time of my life.  I didn’t come back home for over two years.  But that was a long time ago, before responsibilities, before mortgages and careers, before life got in the way.”  She pauses then and turns her attention back to me.  With a couple of exaggerated blinks she brings herself back to the present.  “Have you done much travel Emma?”

“No I haven’t.”  But again I don’t think she’s really listening to me as she continues.

“When I retire, I plan on doing it again.  It won’t be the same as travelling when I was young and carefree though, not in this old body.”

T
hat faraway look returns with a mesmerizing smile.  I want to ask her what she is thinking about but I don’t.  Whatever it is, she is reliving very fond memories.  I wonder what part of the world they take place in?  Is she remembering a hot fling with an Italian perhaps?  Partying in New York?  It’s hard to imagine Julia having a life like that, but it makes sense, that’s probably where she got all those “laughter lines” from.  Julia has had experiences that I can’t even imagine.  I’ve never even left the country.

She shakes her head. 
“What are you still doing here Emma?  Go.  Have fun.  Say your farewells, you don’t know when you’ll next see Nick.”

And those are the words that replay in my head over and over as I say goodbye to Ju
lia and head home.  I don’t know when I will see Nick again.

What if he’s gone for two years like Julia?