The Beauty in Between: Too Close (A Beautiful Series Novella) (12 page)

Placing her
hands on her hips, she looked at me. “Yeah, and you beat the crap
out of Ben and then insinuated to Ethan that you and I sleep
together all the time. Do you think you could just stay out of this
one for me? Play nice for change?”

“I don’t know
Trina, there’s just something I don’t like.”

“Whatever,
you’re just jealous because he’s bigger than you.”

“Yeah, I wish I
was a muscle-bound meat head. That's why I spend so much time
pumping iron at the gym,” I told her sarcastically.

She placed her
hands on either side of my face and held me, so I was looking right
at her. “I have never said a word about all the girls you have
chasing after you all the time. Please, if he calls. Don’t go all
protective big brother on me, just be nice and let me try to have a
normal relationship. Ok?”

“Fine Trina. If
you start dating the guy, I’ll stay out of your way, and I’ll be
nothing but nice. But I don’t have to like him alright?”

“Alright.”

At that moment,
a girl I’d been seeing on and off, called Linda, came bounding over
and pulled me away from Trina. Normally, I don’t like girls
inserting themselves in between us, but this time I let it slide.
Maybe Trina was right, and I was jealous of the guy – I didn’t even
know him, and I was making a judgement on him already. But there
was just something…something I couldn’t put my finger on.

Unsurprisingly,
Christopher called Katrina a few days later, so they started
dating, and of course, she wanted us all to get along. I went out
with them a couple of times in a group setting, but I always kept
my distance outside of that. He was very possessive of Trina,
always holding her close and never letting her out of his sight. I
was barely even allowed to touch her anymore, and we’ve always been
close like that, so I felt sidelined around them.

I’d like to pin
point one particular thing that Christopher did that gave me the
creeps, but I couldn’t. Outwardly, he was this really charming,
well liked guy. Katrina’s mother thought he was wonderful. Her dad
would spend hours talking to him about cars and sports, and Katrina
was over the moon with his attentions.

As a couple,
they looked fantastic, she looked really athletic these days after
years of training, and he was a great deal taller than her, and was
broad and muscular. You could tell he spent a lot of time at the
gym, which was ideal for Trina, she was backing off her training
and just competing in local competitions, so they would go to the
gym together.

The only person
who seemed to be in agreement with me was Katrina’s brother. Tom
seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face whenever Christopher
was around.

“Just look at
him,” he said to me quietly while we sat outside their house
watching Christopher help Mr Mahoney light the barbeque. “He puts
on this perfect boyfriend act, but it’s all fake. How can none of
them see through him?”

“I don’t know
mate. I didn’t like him the moment I met him,” I replied. “Whatever
it is he does - he’s good at it. They all think he’s amazing.”

We watched
through the kitchen window as he walked inside the house and took
the tray of meat from Mrs Mahoney. It was like watching one of
those happy family tv shows, where everyone can’t stop smiling at
each other.

Perhaps we
should have gone inside and helped too, but I guess we were too
busy judging.

I found myself
trying to be pleasant and act friendly out of respect for Trina,
but quietly I stood by, hoping that eventually she’d see in him
what I did and break it off.

A few months
into their relationship I was at uni on my own for one of my
commerce lectures. I was sitting outside on one of the brick walls
that lined a garden bed, talking to a couple of class mates when
Monica came up to me.

“Hey Dave,” she
said, standing in front of me, dropping her hip to the side. “Looks
like I’m free on Friday night. Will you be at the bar?”

“What happened
to your boyfriend?” I asked her, not wanting to tread on some other
guy's toes.

“Oh, that’s
been over for a couple of weeks. Those guys are dickheads. I was
glad to see the back of him,” she told me, flicking her long blonde
hair over her shoulder.

“Does
Christopher count as one of those dickheads too?”

“Yeah Dave,
Christopher’s a dickhead too. Although, I’m guessing you already
know that since he’s dating your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my
girlfriend. You know that better than anyone.”

The others I
was talking to got up and left. So Monica took the opportunity to
sit down next to me.

“Don’t you see
how your life works? Katrina is the girl in your life. The rest of
us are all just fill ins because you aren’t sleeping with her.
You’re a good-guy Dave. If you could just let go of Katrina a
little, you’d see that you and I could actually have a pretty good
time. We wouldn’t have to restrict it to drunken rebound sex.”

“I don’t know
about that Monica. I'm really not into relationships.”

“That’s because
you already have one. But where is she now? She doesn’t seem to
have any trouble being in a long-term relationship and stringing
you along. Why can’t you have just a fun relationship? We don’t
have to get serious, just know that it’s each other’s beds we go to
until we both agree it’s over.”

“So you want me
to only see you? But not actually be in a full-on
relationship?”

She shrugged
her shoulders. “Yeah. Why not? I think the fact that we keep coming
back to each other should tell us something.”

“I think it
tells us that I’m an easy lay,” I told her, grinning slightly as I
looked around the grounds at all the people walking past us while I
thought. “I’ll tell you what. I can agree to this as long as it
doesn’t turn into something like that,” I stated, nodding towards a
couple laying together on the grass and holding each other
lovingly.

She stood up
and held out her hand for me to shake. “It’s a deal. And don’t
worry. I’m not going to start calling you my boyfriend or anything.
This makes you more of an official ‘fuck buddy'."

“Alright, but
if even one term of endearment comes out of your mouth, it’s
over.”

She laughed.
“It’s ok David. I promise to only want you for your cock.”

With that she
left me sitting there laughing to myself as I watched her walk
away, while I wondered if this agreement of ours would really
work.

On that same
day, I got home to find Trina waiting for me on the front porch,
her face etched with a troubled expression.

“Hey baby girl,
what’s got you looking so sad?”

“Baby girl? Did
you forget my name?"

“No, it’s a
term of endearment, reserved only for someone I care enough about
to give one to.”

Her cheeks
flamed red briefly as she stood up to follow me in the house.
“Sorry. I guess it’s kind of nice that you’re giving me one after
all these years. Did it take you nine years to work that one out or
is it a new thing?” she asked sarcastically.

“Don’t be a
bitch baby girl, it just popped out 'cause of the sad look on your
face. But I’m keeping it now. Consider yourself renamed.” I stood
aside and let her walk past me as I hung my keys on the hook beside
the door. “What’s up anyway?”

“Oh, it’s just
mum and Christopher,” she said, screwing her mouth up in a
grimace.

I grabbed the
OJ from the fridge and poured us both a glass, placing hers in
front of her where she leaned on the bench top while I waited for
her to continue.

“Christopher is
moving out on his own, and he wants me to move in with him. He’s
even taking me around to help shop for furniture because he wants
to buy the things I like. Mum’s totally on board with the whole
idea, but I’m…” she shook her head and took a sip of her juice
before sighing heavily. “I’m nineteen. Moving in seems like such a
big deal, you know? I said I want to finish uni first and honestly
- I’d like it if we were dating for a bit longer than six months
before we moved in together. I just don’t feel ready.”

“Sounds to me
like you already know your answer.”

“Yeah but, how
do I tell them that? Christopher and mum are practically planning
my life. I’m worried if I go, I’ll never finish uni, and I’ll start
popping babies out before I’ve even had my 21st.”

“Trina, you are
the smartest and strongest girl I know. If you aren’t comfortable
with something, then you should just say no. Blow the
consequences.”

“What if he
dumps me?”

“Then it wasn’t
meant to be. No guy is going to break up with you because you need
more time – unless of course, he’s a jerk. The way I see it, you
only move in with someone if you actually think you’re going to be
together for good. Is that the way you see your life with
Chris?”

“Don’t call him
Chris, you know he hates that.”

“Christopher
then, whatever! Trina – please just make the choice that’s right
for you. Don’t listen to your mum, or Christopher, or anyone else.
Just do what’s right for you. Please.”

“Hmmm, you
know, I kind of wanted you to yell at me and tell me not to be a
fucking idiot.”

“I can’t make
your decisions for you Trina.”

“I know,” she
said, downing the last of her drink and setting the glass on the
bench. “I’m going to head off. Thanks for the chat. I’ll think on
it.”

“Alright baby
girl, you do that.”

She grinned at
me and headed toward the door. The next I heard on the matter was
that she had decided to move in. Obviously, things were more
serious between her and Christopher than I thought.

After that, I
went on a bit of a bender. Monica was a great partying companion
and together, we travelled around to different clubs and parties,
doing things to each other that would make most people blush.

Between working
at the supermarket and partying with Monica, I didn’t have a huge
amount of time outside of uni to spend with Trina. For me, it was
better that way. While I missed hanging out with her, I didn’t miss
hanging out with Christopher and the fact that he had become more
of a permanent fixture in Trina’s life had really pissed me
off.

A couple of
weeks after they moved in, Trina invited me over for dinner. She'd
heard that I was hanging out with Monica a lot and asked me to
invite her along too.

“No,” I told
her.

“What? Why not?
Aren’t you seeing her?”

“She’s not my
girlfriend Trina. If I start inviting her to people’s houses for
dinner, she’s going to start thinking I want more from her.”

“Would that be
such a bad thing?”

“Yes Trina, it
would. I’ll come and check out your place, but I’m not bringing a
date.”

“Ok,” she said
defensively. She jotted her apartment number and the street address
on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

“You’re not
going to cook are you?” I asked jokingly, knowing that Trina wasn’t
particularly talented in the culinary arts.

She laughed,
shaking her head. “No, Christopher will barbeque and I’ll just make
a salad. I think I can handle that,” she smiled. “I’m glad you’re
coming David. I’ve missed you lately. I’ve been so busy with the
move that I’ve been a really shitty friend.”

“Don’t worry
your pretty little head about it Trina. I’ll always be around some
way or another.” I leaned over to her and kissed her cheek. “I’ve
gotta go. My tutorial starts in about ten minutes.”

“See you at my
place around seven?”

“Sure, I’ll
bring a cake or something. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to
do?”

“I don’t know.
This is the first dinner I’ve hosted,” she laughed. “If you do,
just don’t cook it yourself.”

“You’ve no fear
of that,” I laughed over my shoulder as I headed to class.

***

I got to
Trina’s new place at around ten minutes past seven. She buzzed me
in through the security door straight away, but before I could even
knock on the front door, Christopher opened it and just said,
“You’re late.”

“Um, Hi, how’s
it going?” I said, holding out a hand in greeting while balancing
the cake I’d bought from the bakery in the other. He looked at it
for a moment, and I thought he wasn’t going to shake it, but when
Trina appeared, his demeanour changed and he smiled at me and took
my hand, shaking it like we were long lost friends.

“David! Thanks
so much for coming,” she said, relieving me of the cake and kissing
me hello.

“Any time.
Thanks for the invite.” I said, nodding at Christopher and
following past him behind Trina to the kitchen.

“Do you want
the tour?” she asked, setting the cake on the counter top.
“Christopher? Do you want to show David around while I finish up in
here?” she asked, looking the picture of domestic bliss as she
stood in the centre of the kitchen.

“Sure,” he
said. “Follow me. There’s not much to see though. This is the
lounge and dining room,” he told me about the room we were standing
in. “Obviously that’s the kitchen, and that’s the patio.” He
pointed to each one on either side of the living areas. The patio
was a big square balcony that was accessible by a large glass
sliding door. It overlooked Jamison Road, which was fairly busy at
this time of night, but once we got out there, I could see all the
way to Jamison Park as well.

Next, he took
me around to the other three doors saying ‘spare room’, ‘bedroom’
and ‘bathroom’ in quick succession, before returning me to Trina,
collected the tray of meat she had prepared and walked out onto the
patio.

“What did you
think?” she asked.

“Um, you have
nice taste in furniture?”

“Seriously
David, do you like it?”

“Of course I do
Trina. It's a nice place. You don’t need me to like it though. You
have to like it.”