The House of Wood (9 page)

“Ah yes, this way please.”

The maître d' led them to a
secluded table at one of the windows looking out over the car park.
Perfect for a quiet chat, she realised, butterflies swarming in her
stomach again. It was never easy to face the past.

“A waitress will be along
shortly to take your orders. Can I get you any drinks whilst you
wait?”

“A bottle of red wine would be
fantastic,” David answered for the both of them.

And with that the maître d' was
gone, leaving the two of them alone to look over the dinner menu.
Rachel had started chewing her bottom lip.

“Nervous?” David asked.

She looked up at him.
“Pardon?”

“You were chewing your bottom
lip. I wondered if you were nervous?”

“Oh.” It was all she could
think of to say. Her cheeks had turned the colour of beetroot.
“Maybe a little.”

“Please don’t be,” he replied,
adding his usual clean white smile. “I don't bite.”

Rachel wondered if he used the
same smile on his patients. She smiled back. “I’ll try not to.”

A tall, wispy haired waitress
returned with their wine. She poured each of them a glass, before
taking out her crisp white pad. “Are you ready to order?”

David ordered first and then
Rachel followed. The waitress dashed off in the direction of the
kitchen.

“So, you mentioned a chat?” He
looked at her over the soft flame of the candle. His voice calm.
Seductive. His eyes penetrating her. They were intoxicating. “Tell
me why you left town?”

Rachel was taken by surprise at
the suddenness of the question. Why start there? She wondered.
“I-I-I’d rather not start with me,” she stammered. “Why don't you
tell me more about you?”

“Okay.” He adjusted himself in
the chair. “I had a relatively normal upbringing. Only one other
sibling. A younger brother. He died when I was away at
college.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Without thinking, she put out her hand and placed it on top of his.
She was so drawn in by him, hanging on every word.

“Thank you,” he said, not
moving his hand away. He cleared his throat. “I graduated from
college and decided I wanted to be a clinical psychologist. This is
my first job. That's about it really. Over to you.”

“There must be more than that?”
She wanted to know it all.

David shook his head. “Besides,
we're here to talk about you.” The smile was back. “Why don't you
start at the beginning of the story, as to why you wanted to have
this chat?”

Rachel knew she couldn't
postpone the inevitable any longer. Her hands shook. The moment to
exorcise her Demons had come.

“It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got plenty of time.”

Outside the rain had started to
fall heavily again.

“It was coming towards the end
of summer. Everything was beginning to wind down. All the senior
class of Willows Peak High School had graduated; bar the odd few
drop outs, but nobody really cares about them…”

Chapter
Nine

I’d just turned eighteen. It
was an amazing feeling to be finally considered an adult. Not that
my parents were strict, or anything. Far from it. But being seen as
an adult in the eyes of the law gave me a strong sense of freedom;
I felt like I could do anything I wanted without consequence. We
all did.

I remember it was a boiling hot
day. The sun beat down on my bare shoulders, as Chelsea and I
weaved in and out of the shops just off of Main Street. Chelsea was
doing her usual ‘shop ‘till you drop’ thing. I just followed.

“Where’d you wanna go now,
Rach?” Chelsea asked, not stopping. The multitude of plastic bags
swung like a pendulum on her arm.

“I don’t know,” I replied. My
feet were killing me. “How about we go get a drink?”

“Don’t be a drag. Daddy upped
my credit limit.” There was a twinkle in her eye. “Victoria’s
Secret has just opened up around the corner.”

“Chelsea, we’ve been walking
for ages. I need a rest.”

“But I’m seeing Tim tonight and
I want to get something nice.” She winked. “To take off.”

“You’re such a slut.” I said,
with a smile. I wasn’t getting on her case; she was my best friend.
We did everything together. “This is the last shop though.”

“Deal.”

Chelsea sped off in the
direction of the lingerie store, me limping behind her like a lost
puppy. We had a strange relationship. At times I was both jealous
and in awe of her. Who wouldn’t be? She had everything a girl could
want. Money; her parents were filthy rich. Still are now. And
nothing was too much for their little princess. The looks; her
hazel eyes matched her mahogany red hair perfectly. It gave her a
starlet kind of quality. Of course that meant she was used to guys
fawning all over her. She just drifted through life like dust on
the breeze, taking everything it threw at her in one simple stride.
What did I have? Parents that didn’t seem to care less what I got
up to, and average looks. I loved her all the same though.

The shop wasn’t very big, but
it was crammed with eager shoppers. The two of us darted around the
place as if our butts were on fire, gathering up skimpy bits of
material to try on in the changing rooms. Bargain hunting, Chelsea
called it.

“What do you think of this?”
she shouted over the rack of bras. “Do you think Tim’ll like
it?”

“It looks like a piece of
wardrobe from a porno shoot. Tim’ll love it.”

Chelsea let out a girlish
giggle. Sometimes it was hard to believe she was also eighteen.

“Talking of Tim, where is he?
You two are usually joined at the hip these days.”

“That’s because he’s so
gorgeous.” She whipped another thong off of the rack. “He’s helping
a friend of his on some renovation job to earn a little extra
money, you know, so he can visit me at college.”

College. The real world.
Everything was racing towards me at an ever increasing pace, but
for some reason I wasn’t scared. The thought of leaving home was
nerve racking, but at least Chelsea was going to be there with
me.

“Do you think you and Tim’ll
continue, after we’re at college?” I’m not sure why I asked. I
already knew the answer.

“Probably. Maybe. At least for
a while.” She paused for a second, her gaze drifting off in to
empty space. “Think of all those poor frat boys I’d have to let
down. We can’t have that now, can we?”

The two of us both giggled at
that. It was true though. There would be countless more ‘Tims’,
when we reached college.

After we had finished hunting,
Chelsea went to try some things on. All I wanted was to get a nice
cool drink, but she insisted it wouldn’t take long.

I sat on a sofa that had been
put out by the changing rooms and started rifling through a glossy
magazine. It seemed like I had been sitting there for all eternity.
Several other customers had come and gone in the time Chelsea had
been behind the fake wooden door of the changing room. I felt
awkward. Out of place.

“Hurry up, Chelsea, it’s
getting late.”

“Almost done.”

I knew why she was taking so
long. Despite all her grit and flirty ways, underneath she wasn’t
as confident as she seemed. Deep down she had serious body issues.
I caught her once, fingers down her throat up to the knuckles,
puking in one of the more secluded bathrooms at school. Of course,
she wouldn’t admit it. But I knew what it meant.

“There you go, all finished,”
she announced, as she near enough glided out of the changing room.
“Let’s go.”

She grabbed me by the arm and
dragged me off to the cashier’s desk. As I stood to one side, a
laugh escaped my lips. Nathan had his face squashed up against the
pristine glass window. The manageress was trying to shoo him
away.

Chelsea walked up beside me, a
scowl furrowing her brow. “Why does that geek have to follow you
everywhere?”

“Leave him alone. He’s a really
sweet guy, if you give him a chance.”

“He’s weird,” she replied.
“Look at him.”

By now the manageress was out
there giving him a stern lecture. He was mimicking her posture.

“You can’t tell me you two have
been friends for like, ever, and not bumped uglies?”

“Eww Chelsea, that’s gross. You
can be so vulgar sometimes.”

“It’s part of my charm.” She
flicked her hair back. “So, have you?”

“You know I haven’t.”

“Not even a grope?”

“Chelsea, it’s not like that
with me and Nathan and you know it.” She could be so annoying at
times, especially if she had a bee in her bonnet about
something.

“It just fascinates me how a
boy and a girl can be good friends without having sex.” She watched
him out of the window then began nodding. “He may be a geek, but he
ain’t bad lookin’ girlfriend.”

“I don’t think of him in that
way and neither does he. He’s like a…” I couldn’t think of the
right word. “A brother. Or close cousin.”

“And he thinks the same?”

“Of course he does. Sex doesn’t
have to be an issue.”

Chelsea smirked slightly. “If
you say so, sweetie.”

The manageress had given up
lecturing him. He beckoned for the both of us to join him outside
by waving his arms around like a madman. He was such a clown back
then.

The late afternoon sun dazzled
me as we walked in to the street. The crowds were beginning to
thin. In the distance, a black silhouette darted across the sky; no
doubt a blackbird getting in some hunting before the last good rays
of sunlight disappeared for the evening. I don’t know why, but
Willows Peak gets a lot of blackbirds.

“Wassup, ladies,” Nathan said,
strolling towards them, his battered old BMX in tow. “What’s going
on in the hood today?”

Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Stop
trying to talk all gangster, moron.”

Nathan got down on one knee.
“For you my lady…” He took her hand and kissed it. “Anything.”

She snatched it back, screwing
up her face. “Freak.”

“We’re off to get a milkshake,”
I butted in. “Fancy tagging along?”

He grinned from ear to ear.
“I’d love to.”

The three of us made our way
down the street to Fred’s Milkshake Bar. I felt like I was at a
tennis game, as the banter between Nathan and Chelsea shot back and
forth over my head. Nothing nasty. It was all kind hearted. They
continued at it all the way down the road, right up until we sat
down in our usual booth.

“Fancy splitting a Cherry
Surprise?” Nathan asked.

“You know I won’t say no to
that.”

Time seemed to fly past. I
can’t really remember what we talked about. I remember it being a
fun afternoon. Fred’s was where everyone used to hang out. Well,
until they got their hands on a fake ID, then they migrated to
Logan’s Bar on the edge of town. I always preferred Fred’s.

After an hour had passed, a
loud growling erupted outside the door, as a black Ford Falcon
skidded to a halt. I could hear Guns and Roses playing
You Could Be Mine
through the frosted window.
Chelsea’s face lit up. Two rough looking guys walked in, their
muscular arms gleaming with sweat.

“Hey Timmy,” Chelsea called
out. “Over here.”

It was a moment I'll probably
never forget.

Tim and his buddy made their
way through the maze of tables, avoiding the other customers. “Hey
baby,” he said, squeezing himself into the seat next to her.
Without skipping a beat, his tongue slipped straight between her
lips. They were like a couple of animals. The other guy just stood
there, as if he didn't know what to do.

“My God you two, get a room
would’ya!” The one thing I hate is watching couples going at each
other. Needless to say, they promptly stopped.

“I told you about that job I'm
working on, didn't I, babe?”

“Yep,” Chelsea replied.

“Well, this is the guy I've
been working with. His name’s Justin.”

The new guy, Justin, nodded his
head in acknowledgement. Up to that point, I hadn't paid much
attention to the two of them. I don't think I ever looked away
again. The guy was stunning. His brilliant blue eyes pierced in to
mine. My heart skipped a beat, as I tried to make it less obvious
that I was staring at him. There was something in those eyes that I
couldn’t pinpoint. He was beautiful. To me, everything about his
features was perfect. His skin was a pale, pearlescent white, which
contrasted with his jet black hair that was styled, so that one
half of his face was covered when his head was bent forward. He
also had some light stubble on his chin that framed his strong jaw.
His black vest t-shirt was tight across his broad shoulders and
chest. I could only imagine that underneath the clothing, was a
stone solid body. Nobody had ever captured me like he did.

“And you would be?” He reached
out a hand towards me.

I took it. “I-I’m
R-Rachel.”

“Pleased to meet you,
Rachel.”

“Jesus Christ, Rach,” Chelsea
piped up. “You sound like such a frickin’ retard.”

Tim was the only one at the
table that laughed. To be honest, I'm surprised he came up for air
long enough. Even to this day, my cheeks still go red at that
memory. That is, when I decide to let myself think about it.

“Well we better get going,”
Justin said, tapping Tim on the shoulder. Even his voice was
mesmerising. “We gotta get to Old Man Marley’s hardware store to
pick up those supplies before he closes, or my old man will have my
balls.” He tipped his head towards me. “Pleasure to meet you,
Rachel.”

I just shot back a dumb smile,
as if to say ‘likewise’. I couldn't speak. Never in all my life,
had I expected a guy to have that kind of power over me. Part of me
was unnerved by the sensation. I tried to ignore it.

Chelsea and Tim finally parted.
She was like a kid at Christmas after all the presents had been
unwrapped. She turned to me as the door closed. “God, I'm glad I
bought that underwear. I think I'm going to need it tonight.”