Chapter 5 MAEVYN
One week later, Aurora’s settled into high school, and I manage to somewhat keep my cool after living next door to a man that’s quite frankly a snack I’d happily over-indulge in, and then go back for seconds.
Westley and his cute dog, Patch, continue to be the best neighbours anyone could hope for. He doesn’t play loud music at inconsiderate times of the day, he put our bins on the verge when I forgot to do it the night before, and let’s not forget the visual perks.
Twice in the last week, I’ve happened to catch Westley coming back from a run with Patch.
Bare chest soaked in sweat, shirt tucked into the back of his running shorts, his thighs flexing as he made his way down the shared driveway.
Who would have guessed the guy was hiding a slutty little tatt on his thigh?
I could see what looked like the wings and talons of a bird, but sadly, the rest was covered by his shorts.
They must go running along the beach because Patch is always covered in sand and requires a hose down, which he then shakes all over Westley, making droplets of water run down his solid chest.
Then there was the incident from yesterday.
I was in the middle of practising a routine on the pole in my front room and caught sight of Westley washing his ute in the driveway.
Thick and veined forearms and rippling back muscles flexed as they worked.
I was left salivating over the white Calvin Klein waistband peeking over the top of his shorts and the tattoo that sits to the side of his ribcage.
I don’t know how long I stood, peeking through the blinds, but by the end of it, I was hot and flustered, and I had to take matters into my own hands…
literally. I had to muffle my cries when I was in bed last night, my favourite vibrator in one hand and nothing but thoughts of Westley on my mind.
I’ve never come so fast. What’s one to do when you’re in charge of your own pleasure, and there’s a thirst trap living right next door?
My life has never allowed much time for physical relationships.
I have no interest in personal ones, but that doesn’t mean I’m lacking in needs.
The desire to be brought to the edge of euphoria, to surrender to my body’s call for pleasure and intimacy.
It suits me to stick to nothing more than casual encounters when I need that itch scratched.
But I never let them get close. Never let them in.
And never let them see what I truly want underneath it all.
“See you after school,” Aurora says, as I pull into the drop-off lane.
I shake off the lingering thoughts as I come to a stop and lean over, letting her kiss my cheek. “Love you. See you at work, babe,” I say.
“Love you, too.” She pops her phone in the front pocket of her schoolbag, then jumps out of my car.
I put her window down as she turns to close the door behind her, smiling at me before she takes off.
I keep watching until she’s almost within the school gates, just enough time for an unfamiliar voice to startle me.
“Good morning.” I jump back, a hand clutched to my chest as the woman grins at me with forced kindness. “I’m Lydia Greene. I’m the head of the P&C Committee.”
“Maevyn Day.”
“I know. You’re Aurora’s mother. My daughter, Jamie, is new this year, too.”
“And you’ve already found your way to the top of the committee? You adding spoonfuls of ambition to your coffee in the mornings?” A light-hearted chuckle covers the sass I want to give her, but I don’t want to risk anything causing trouble for Aurora.
“I have another in tenth grade, and my eldest graduated last year,” Lydia says, and I don’t miss the air of superiority she manages to rub in.
“We’ve been a part of this school community for a long time, and we just love to welcome new members.
” Lydia reaches into her designer handbag before extending a piece of paper to me.
“There’s a camp coming up. It’s how we get the kids to solidify friendships that see them through high school.
We try to get as many new parents to volunteer as we can to lead the children by example and show them how important a sense of community is to the school.
I do hope we see your name on the sign-ups. ”
“Oh, okay, yeah, I’m sure I could figure something out with my work.” I look down at the flyer she handed to me. South Trevally Nature Lodge. Two-day trip. Trail hikes, treetop ropes course, outdoor cinema. As much as I love stargazing, I’m not really one for the outdoors.
“Excellent. We’d love to see Aurora’s father as well.”
Cue the record screeching halt, because what?
“Her who now?”
“See you both there.” Lydia waves a hand over her shoulder as she walks off with a pompous sway of her hips.
My left eye twitches. I’m no stranger to an array of looks when people realise I’m a single parent.
Sympathy, because I must have it so hard.
Pity, because he didn’t want to stick around.
Judgement, because there’s only one of me, and my kid must be a wild, ill-mannered terror.
Joke’s on them. I prefer doing it alone, and my daughter is kind, intelligent, and hilarious.
Aurora’s never once made me feel like I don’t give her enough.
I’ve never outright asked her how she feels about not having a dad, and she’s only ever asked once.
It was her first year of school, and they were doing Father’s Day crafts.
I told her it was just the two of us. I couldn’t think of a better way to explain it to a five-year-old, and I’ve been too scared to bring it up again. The truth.
I look down at the paper in my hands again.
Six hundred and fifty dollars? Jesus. At least I have a few weeks to save.
I dipped into our savings to pay for the move, plus bond and advance rent for the new place.
I wonder if any bachelor parties are coming up at The Matchbox.
A private dancer always earns a higher rate.
That should easily get me the extra cash I need without setting the savings back any further.
I put a reminder in my phone to check with Josie when I’m there on Friday for my next shift, then I stuff the flyer in my handbag and make my way to Parlour Tricks. I pull into my usual spot behind the building and make my way inside, still with ten minutes to spare before my shift.
I use the back door code, coming in through the staffroom, since we’re not open just yet.
Claire’s standing at the kitchen bench, making a coffee from her pink coffee machine. I’m not at all surprised she managed to find one in her favourite colour.
“Morning,” I say, as I cross to the wall of lockers on one side of the room. I keep my phone in my back pocket and pull my container of leftovers out before stuffing my handbag into one of the open compartments.
“Morning.” Claire’s groggy voice has me turning back to her in a hurry.
Her hair and makeup still look flawless, of course, but her golden brown eyes look tired.
“Are you good?” I ask, keeping my eyes on her while I put my lunch in the fridge.
Claire nods as she takes a sip from her coffee. With a groan, she says, “I got dicked within an inch of my life last night.”
“Oh.” I chuckle. “I thought something was wrong.”
Claire raises her eyebrows. “I had to sit leaning to one side the whole drive here. Does that sound wrong?”
We both move down the hallway, heading towards the main floor of the salon.
“I guess that’s a matter of perspective,” I say.
Claire hums as she takes another sip of her coffee, which looks like pure gasoline. “Lover Boy has already sent me two messages this morning, praising how incredible I am. I think you can take that as everything is going amazingly.”
Lover Boy is Claire’s boyfriend, Lee. Or Leif, if she’s the one talking to him.
He comes into the salon often to say hello, and he’s the nicest guy you could meet.
He has nothing but hearts in his eyes for Claire.
It makes me happy to witness it. Real love.
I hope Aurora meets a nice person when she gets older.
I hope I made the right choice when we left.
If she doesn’t do better than what I had, then it was all for nothing. I would have failed.
“I’m glad to hear he’s still treating you like a queen.” I smile as I approach the reception desk up front.
“He’s got a cousin.” Claire smirks as she opens up the rollers on the front window and unlocks the door.
I bark out a laugh. “Not for me, but I appreciate the thought.”
The computer is already on with our schedule up for the day. Claire and I have an almost full day, booked with facials, waxing, and tanning.
Another beauty therapist will start at nine-thirty to do the lash appointments, with the nail tech starting at ten.
“Have you met anyone interesting since you’ve been here?” Claire asks as she joins me behind the reception desk.
“You mean apart from you?”
“Aw, thanks, babe.” She nudges her shoulder against mine.
I start to shake my head, but movement out the front window snatches my attention.
Across the road, I watch as Westley’s ute stops in front of Sweet Escape.
Within seconds, he steps out of his car, the navy blue baseball cap I’ve seen him in a few times pulled low over his eyes.
He’s wearing a white T-shirt that only serves to highlight how sun-kissed his skin is from all his early evening running.
He moves to the back tray, unlocking the utility boxes, and pulls something out. A toolbelt. He wraps it around his hips, fastening it in place. Has a toolbelt always looked so attractive?
“Earth to Maevyn?” Claire calls, then looks over her shoulder. “Oh, it’s Westley!” She perks up and jogs over to the front door.
“You know Westley?” I follow her, slightly hiding behind her back.
“Of course. He works with Leif, and he was the supervisor for the build here.”
“I thought Lee did this build.”
“Leif owns the company, but Westley was my go-to guy,” she says, then leans her head out the open door. “Hey, West!” she shouts before I have a chance to properly hide.
“Morning, Claire.” I hear the faint sound of him calling back. “Hi, Maevyn.”
“Ahh, how do you know West?” There’s nothing but delight in her question.
I peer over her shoulder. “He’s my neighbour.”
“No way! And you’re hiding from him, why?”
I stand up straight, my eyes turning dry as I remain unblinking, faced with the realisation that I have no fucking clue.
“Good question,” I mutter, and step around her, raising a hand and waving to the handsome guy across the street, loading up various tools in his belt. “Morning, Westley.”
He waves a hand back, and I can still see his smile through his thick beard. There we go, totally not awkward, saying hello to the guy I used as imagery to get off to. No one needs to know. No one suspects shit.
With a hoity smile to myself, I’m ready to make my way back over to the reception desk since our first clients should be here any minute, when I find Claire leaning against the doorframe. Arms crossed over her chest, one eyebrow arched, barely containing a knowing smile.
“May I help you?” I ask, spinning on my heel and crossing the room.
Claire follows me, coming to stand on the other side of the desk, and leans over the counter without saying a word. I’m sweating bullets with every passing second she silently assesses me.
“Did you sleep with him?” she nearly shouts.
My eyes bug out. “No!”
“You’d like to?”
Would I? I’m definitely attracted to the guy, more so than I have been to a guy in quite some time. Not sure what that’s about. He’s like a damn thief, stealing all my rational thoughts.
“No.” There’s less conviction in this disagreement, and Claire sees right through it.
She squints one eye and purses her lips as she leans back from the desk. “I’m watching you.”
“He’s good-looking, okay?” I throw my hands up.
Claire’s face remains like stone, and I feel the admission bubbling under the surface, the sins demanding to be purged.
“And… I might have used him as inspiration.” The last word comes out slow and meaningful. I can’t even look her in the eyes at first.
I brace myself as I look at her again. Claire’s nodding her head with a proud smile. “I approve.”
Nervous laughter pops out of me. “What?”
“Hell yeah, girl. There’s no shame in a woman’s needs.” She leans in close, speaking lower and bobs her eyebrows. “Wonder if the live action lives up to the fantasy.”
“You’re wondering about other men?” I tease.
Claire smirks. “I don’t need to. My fantasy and reality are one and the same.”
“How nice for you.”
“I know, right? I feel bad for the people who are out there actively looking for love. I was never looking. I was always running in the opposite direction, but that man came in, hammer wielded, a backwards cap on his head, and shook me up in the best kinda way.” Claire gets a wistful look in her eyes as she looks around her salon.
“That’s life.” I shrug.
“Yep. Nothing but your best girls, a pocket full of ambition, and a man to ride through every sunrise.”
“You mean a man to ride off into the sunset with?”
“I said what I said.” Claire winks as I laugh. “Mark my words, you’ll have all three checked off by the end of the year.”
“I’m good with the first two. I’ll leave the riding to you.”