Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 186(@200wpm)___ 149(@250wpm)___ 124(@300wpm)
CHAPTER SEVEN
Melissa
“Honey? Jesus, Mel! I’ve been trying to get hold of you for hours. Where are you? Are you okay? Remember what we spoke about before I agreed to this trip? You need to keep your phone on, sweetie. I’ve been worried sick.”
My dad’s “hello” is more like a condensed lecture of twenty-one years’ worth of parenting in one breath, but it’s my own fault. If I hadn’t been so distracted with Mark and so tired, I would’ve called dad the second I landed as I agreed to.
“I’m fine, Dad,” I tell him, lowering my voice and moving away from Mark, only so I don’t get more humiliated. I fill Dad in quickly but conveniently, leaving out the part where I’m staying at Mark’s and that he’s been treating me like a princess.
And that he was about to kiss me before he called…
I would never tell dad that part, but did he really? We went quiet, and I felt my insides go all funny. Next thing I knew, Mark was leaning in for the old smoocheroo, wasn’t he?
I don’t know much about men. I know even less about over-sized, handsome-as-hell Australian men and their bizarre customs. Maybe he was just leaning forward to get my phone out. It was ringing at the same time… sort of…
As I try to explain it to myself and talk to my dad at the same time, the more confused I feel as I field his endless questions, forgetting the most important one I have for him.
The whole “coming to Australia for a holiday” ties in a little too nicely with my dad’s mysterious business plans with Mark. Even Mark seems to think I’m here for good. He sure is—was—acting like it.
I manage to get off the phone with my dad, who sounds like he’s trying to say something but won’t get to the point. I tell him I need to sleep and that the “hotel” is okay. I feel a growing sense of alarm when I can’t find Mark anywhere. Making my way to the kitchen, I see he has packed away all the food. The candles are still burning but nowhere near as bright as before.
I cock my head to listen for any sign of Mark and catching the deep resonance of his voice, I follow it down the wide, tiled hallway. A heavy wooden door is closed, and I can just make out the sound of his voice, sounding every bit like a man on a business call.
I feel rotten for ruining his dinner, but worse now, because how will I ever know if he was gonna actually kiss me, or did I imagine the entire episode?
I do my best to tidy up whatever I see left to do, but Mark’s kind of a machine when it comes to cleaning up after himself. I end up shivering a little outside by the pool for about a half hour before I hear Mark’s shuffled step in flip-flops instead of his usual canvas shoes.
I can feel him way before I get up the courage to look at him. When I do look up, he looks at peace about something, but he’s not standing as tall or strong as usual. He’s kind of stooping a little. I even ask if he’s feeling okay, mindful of all the food he ate, plus the lunch I slept through.
“I’m fine,” he says calmly, but it sounds distant, distracted, and uninterested.
Talk about running hot and then cold. I wonder if that’s what Dad meant about Mark and his peculiar ways.
“I think I’ll turn in. I got a big day tomorrow,” he says after shifting on his feet, looking like he has something on his mind.
Maybe it’s his business and not mine, is what I tell myself. I can already feel a painful, aching hurt rising in my throat, making me feel more insecure, all when things were going so well.
Thanks, Dad! Perfect timing, as usual.
I probably just misread all the “signs.” I’m sure in the cold light of day, I can have a laugh at my imagination for convincing me a man like Mark would actually have the hots for a girl like me.
There’s an awkward “G’night” from Mark after he politely asks if I need anything, letting me know to use whatever I need and that he’ll see me in the morning. An even more awkward silence follows as he lingers before turning to go inside again.
My insides feel like they’re being pulled out, not even having to wonder how I’ve ruined everything. It’s being a virgin and having no real experience with anything romantic. I struggle to be a people person on a good day. Even trying to be me around someone as amazing as Mark is impossible.
If he really wants to kiss me so much, why doesn’t he do it now? Why go to bed and leave me hanging?