Chapter 19 #2
“How come you’re not with her?” I ask, before realizing how nosy that is.
“Well, she hasn’t really been on great terms with her parents since she came out. She’s trying to rebuild the relationship so we’ll see how that goes. I’m meant to be going over for dinner next week so,” she says, turning the heat down on the eggs.
“Oh, well I hope that goes well for you guys.”
“Me too honestly,” she laughs nervously. She starts buttering some toast and puts the bacon on top.
“How do you like your eggs?” She asks, holding a metal spatula over the eggs.
“Soft please,”
“Oh, same here actually,” she says as she scoops the eggs out and puts them on top of the toast. The smell seeps into my nose and makes me salivate.
“That smells amazing Cat, thank you,” I tell her. She gives me a soft smile.
“You’re welcome,” she says, heading over to the dining room table. She grabs some forks and knives and we sit down. I notice her nails are painted black so meticulously in a way I could never pull off. Kinda like Teddy’s.
“I love your nails by the way,” I tell her, she looks at them and grins.
“Thanks man, do you ever paint yours?” She asks, cutting up the toast in front of her.
“I’m not very good at it, I used to go to someone to get them done while I was at Uni,” I tell her before biting into a forkful of food. My eyes go wide at how good it tastes.
“These are so good! Exactly what I needed right now,” I tell her, making her smile again.
“I could paint your nails for you, if you want?”
“Would you? I would really appreciate that actually,” I reply, looking down at my nails.
“I only have black though.”
“Not a problem,” I tell her. We both laugh.
I give Cat a hand with the dishes, then we sit at the dining table so she can do my nails. I have my hands extended out as she takes the brush out the bottle and gets to work.
“Daisy told me about last night,” she tells me. My face grows hot.
“Oh, she did?” Is all I can get to come out my mouth.
“Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve punched a guy in a bar to be fair to you, these things happen. You okay though?” She asks, glancing up at me.
“Yeah, Teddy took me home after so…” I tell her. I look down at the bandage on my hand. My knuckles are on fire, but I’m trying to ignore it as much as possible.
“How are things with you and Teddy going? Have you kissed him yet?” She asks. I smile at the thought.
“Yeah, a few times now. It was really nice waking up with him this morning to be honest.”
“So things are going well I take it?” She asks while she finishes my pinky finger. She doesn’t get any on my skin like I would have done if I attempted this myself.
“I think things are going well. I’m trying to take things slow right now.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” she replies as she dips the brush back into the bottle.
“How did you get so good at this?” I ask her. Without looking up from my hand, she laughs a little.
“Well my ex was a nail technician. She taught me how to do basic stuff,” she tells me, moving onto my ring finger.
“Oh, how long ago was that?”
“Well Daisy and I have been dating for two years now. I took like a year long break from dating after my ex. So it’s probably been about three years now,” she tells me as she goes for more nail varnish.
“Well you look really happy with Daisy, I guess it’s good things didn’t work out then?”
“Yeah definitely. To be honest, she was a bit abusive so, I’m much better off,” she tells me. My mouth opens wide when she says this.
“She was abusive?”
“Yeah, she used to scream at me lot and she was overall just quite manipulative. She hated when I went to hang out with friends or family as well. But I’m glad I’m with someone like Daisy now,” she explains, moving onto my middle finger.
I look down at the first two nails. My nails are looking nice so far.
“Yeah you don’t deserve that, you’re really nice. I don’t know why anyone would treat you like that,” I tell her. She puts the nail brush back and looks at me.
“Do you believe in messages from the universe?” She asks, and I think for a moment.
There was a time after my mum passed when I was sobbing hysterically and I heard a song playing in a nearby pub.
It was her favourite song, I Believe In Magic by Halsey.
She always said it reminded her of Dad. It made me think that maybe it was the universe trying to tell me that she was okay.
“Yeah, I think so,” I tell her. She picks up the nail varnish brush again and continues my nails.
“A couple of days after we broke up, I was really upset in my Mum’s house. I was getting texts and voice messages from her trying to manipulate me into believing I was throwing away the relationship over nothing.”
“That’s awful,” I reply, looking at her now. She continues my nails while she talks.
“I blocked her on everything, deleted all our pictures, and binned everything she had bought me. When I finished that, I heard this loud bang. I had no idea what it was, but I saw this orange light peeking through my curtains. When I went to see what it was, I saw a car up in flames. At first I thought it was my car, but it was actually the car next to mine. Even though the fire was basically burning me, I got in the car and drove away. And I took it as a sign,” she explains.
She’s gotten to my thumb as she tells her story.
“What do you think the universe was trying to say?”
“I think it was saying that my ex was the car on fire. And if I stayed with her, she was going to make me go up in flames too. And by leaving, I saved myself. It made me realize I had definitely made the right decision,” she explains. She finishes up my left hand and moves onto my right.
“I’m glad you did. You look really happy with Daisy,” I tell her. She glances up at me and smiles.
“I really am,” she says with a smile.
“How did you two meet?”
“I met Daisy and Eli when I started working at the boba shop, then I met Ted through Eli. Then the rest was history as they say,” she laughs. She’s almost finished with my nails, and they look stunning.
“How did you meet Kai?” She asks, finishing up on my index finger. She’s sticking her tongue out as she works.
“Oh, we’ve been best friends for as long as I can remember. My mum was his mum’s best friend, and they got pregnant at similar times. He’s like a brother to me honestly,” I explain. Cat smiles at this, as she finishes up my pinkie finger. She places the brush back in the bottle.
“What do you think?” She asks as I hold my hands up. There’s no lumps or missing strokes, not a single mistake.
“It’s perfect, Cat, thank you,” I tell her. She grins as she stands up.
“Do you want a cigarette while it’s drying?” She asks while I shake my hands in an attempt to speed up the drying process. We walk to the balcony and she hands me a cigarette.
Our conversation has got me thinking about messages from the universe. I’ll need to keep an eye out just in case the universe has any for me.