Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Sam had wanted to stay longer on the boat this morning, but she knew as soon as the wall went up with Taylor, she’d pushed too far. Why did she even ask if she had a girlfriend? It was none of her business, though she had clearly hit a sore spot. She was frustrated with herself for both cutting short her morning with Taylor and ruining the light-hearted banter they’d been having minutes before.
She dwelled on it as she took down the stock orders for the week, growing more frustrated as the day went on, unable to let it go. Things were still tense at work with her dad, although it had eased slightly. They were at least talking again, but mainly about safe topics like work and customers. She knew she needed to come up with some sort of plan to keep the business going, to sort everything out, but she was kind of hoping for some sign from the universe on how. At the moment, she still had no bloody idea.
“Excuse me?” said a gruff voice behind her.
“Hi, can I help you?” She plastered on her best work smile.
“I hope so,” replied the older gentleman. “I have a bucket of paint back home in the shed, and it’s gone hard on the top. Do you know how far down it’s gone hard?”
Dear lord. How much longer would she be working here again? He looked at her seriously, eagerly awaiting her reply.
“Umm…” Sam took a second to make sure she’d heard right. “I would have absolutely no idea, I’m sorry.”
“Ah that’s okay. Thank you anyway.” He reached into his pocket, fumbling around for a bit, before producing a rusty screw and all but shoving it in front of her face. “Just one more thing, do you have something similar to this but a bit longer?”
She slightly narrowed her eyes. The amount of people she had to hand-hold in this place was getting insane.
“Any specific gauge or length?” she asked sweetly, grin still present, slightly cracked.
“I’m not sure.”
She took the screw out of his hands in an effort to at least get it out of her face.
“I’ll see what we’ve got.”
She headed towards the nuts and bolts and started measuring up the rusty piece of shi— ah found it . She held up a nice pan-head stainless screw, slightly longer than the original. Perfect.
She took it back to the customer, who nodded his approval, then ushered him over to the cash register where she rang up the order.
“That’ll be twenty cents. Would you like a bag?”
“That’s a bit much. Twenty cents for one screw? I thought it would’ve been more like ten or fifteen cents.”
Her smile was wearing very thin.
“It’s marine-grade stainless steel, so you shouldn’t have any more issues with rusting,” she lectured. “Would you still like to go ahead?”
“Oh, I’ll take it,” he conceded, getting out his wallet. Then he took out his credit card.
She baulked. This guy couldn’t be serious. Right? She didn’t have the energy left to argue. She picked up the machine for him to tap his card and handed over his shiny new screw with the receipt, forgoing the unnecessary bag, and moved to throw the old screw out.
“Sorry, can I have the old screw back?”
She glared at the bin. Because of course he wanted it back. She turned around, smile back in place, and handed the rusty bit over.
Finally, he was out of the shop, without so much as a thank you or goodbye. She watched him leave through the window, as he got in his late-model Porsche and drove away. Of course. It was always the wealthy ones who could be the absolute stingiest bastards in the shop.
Her dad looked up from the computer.
“Wow, was he for real?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” she replied, exasperated.
The buzzer sounded again, but when she looked up, she was glad to see a familiar mop of messy short brown hair coming in, lanyard swinging in her hand.
“Hey Taylor. How did you go?” Sam smiled for real.
“Great.” She handed over the fob, looking back to her normal self, the storm cloud from earlier seemingly dissipated. “Wiring is all done, new speaker is in and got the plate back on for you. I didn’t get time to finish off the last few things, but we can organise that another time. I gotta run before the supermarket shuts. See you tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.
“Of course. Have a good night Taylor.”
It was board game night with Taylor, and Sam was nervous.
She adjusted her jumper and checked her face in the car mirror. She had no idea what Taylor’s friends were like, so she’d gone for neat casual with her favourite white sneakers, blue jeans and an oversized cream knit with her hair down.
She got out of the car and took in the quaint ‘80s suburban house with a small lawn area and pebble path leading up to the door. Taylor’s van was in the driveway, and she could hear a dog barking from the window. She made her way up and knocked on the door, the barks growing louder.
Taylor wrenched the door open, holding Belle back, who was very excited.
“Sorry—come in! This monster should calm down in a minute. She’s still a pup.”
To Belle, she said, “Remember, you only get cuddles if you’re behaving yourself and sitting still.”
The dog whined but stayed put long enough for Sam to bend down as the grey ball of pure muscle whirled itself straight at her. She wobbled on the spot at the impact, barely keeping herself upright.
“Woah. Hi! I’m excited to meet you too.” Sam giggled, giving Belle big scratches as the dog licked her arms with enthusiasm.
She looked up to see Taylor smirking at them.
“Sorry, hi,” Sam said sheepishly, standing up again now that Belle was satisfied, trotting off down the hallway.
“So, you’ve met Belle.” Taylor smiled, then ran a hand through her hair. Was she nervous too? “You look great by the way.”
“Thank you.”
She finally took a moment to look at Taylor. She realised this was the first time she’d seen her out of her work gear. She stood in jeans, a white T-shirt and a very warm-looking sherpa jacket.
“You too,” she finally answered, well aware she’d taken way too long to reply. Why did she always start acting so weird around her? It’s not like she’d never made new friends before.
“Also, before we head out,” Taylor started, “I just wanted to clear the air and say sorry for yesterday morning.”
“Oh, that’s okay. That was really none of my business?—”
“I went through a bad break up not that long ago… and it’s still a little sensitive.”
“Shit, and there I was, sticking my foot straight in it. I’m sorry to hear that, but thanks for telling me. I am always up for a chat if you ever need, or just completely changing the subject and being like, ‘Woo, board games!’” Sam replied, trying to cheer her up.
Taylor chuckled. Success .
“Board games, definitely. And thanks.” She looked at her earnestly. “Speaking of, shall we get going?”
They pulled up to a nice two-storey Hamptons-style house. It was all white, even down to the trims, with a large front yard and tall palms lining both sides.
“Wow,” was all Sam could say as they pulled up.
“Cool, looks like everyone’s here,” Taylor said, nodding to all the cars in the double driveway. She must’ve seen Sam ogling the house because she added, “I forget you haven’t seen the girls’ place yet. It’s just as awesome on the inside as it is outside.”
Taylor leaned over the centre console to grab a bag of snacks out of the back, a hit of sandalwood engulfing Sam’s senses as she moved past her. Sam almost leaned into the scent before she realised what she was doing. Stop being weird Sam!
They walked up to the front door, where Taylor opened it without knocking and let them straight in.
“We’re here!” Taylor yelled out, shutting the door behind her with her foot. She looked completely relaxed in the space as they moved down an expansive hallway, into a large open-plan kitchen and lounge. Taylor popped her bag on the benchtop just as a stylish Asian woman squealed across the room, enveloping her in a huge hug.
“I haven’t seen you in ages!” the woman said, letting go. Then, turning to Sam, she added, “Hi, I’m Marie, and you must be Sam.”
Next minute Sam was enveloped in a hug just as forceful as Taylor’s. She loved every second and couldn’t help but smile too. It was contagious.
“I am. It’s lovely to meet you, and thanks for having me,” Sam said.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Marie tutted, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her further into the lounge room to join the rest of the crowd.
“All right everyone, this is Sam!” she said excitedly, showing her off like it was a show and tell class at school.
A woman with wavy blonde hair sat on a blue velvet lounge to her left, her legs resting on a tall, lanky guy with dark wavy hair and glasses.
“Hi, I’m Jess, and this is my boyfriend Adam,” she said, playfully punching him in the arm. He gave her a coy smile, giving her legs a quick squeeze in retaliation, making her giggle. He finally looked back at Sam with a smile and a quick wave.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” said Jess, flashing her a huge grin. “Taylor has told me so much about you, and your boat sounds amazing.”
Her eyes flicked over to Taylor in the kitchen, who was plating up all the snacks she’d brought. She looked up, meeting her eyes and giving her a small smile.
“Thank you—” she replied, at the same time another guy piped up.
“You have a boat? Cool!”
He was sitting crossed-legged on the floor, his back up against a cream couch as he set up the first game of the night on a large coffee table. “I’m Heath, by the way. Adam’s brother.”
That explained the similar features. Heath shook his longer, shaggier dark hair out of his face to look up at Sam with a friendly smile.
“Hey Heath. And yeah, I’ve got a yacht I’m currently doing up.”
“It’s very cool,” Taylor chimed in as she put two large bowls of chips on the table, followed by one of the biggest boxes of Maltesers she’d ever seen.
“Wow, you guys don’t muck around,” Sam commented on the snacks.
“Definitely not when it comes to Maltesers!” said Marie, box already opened as she grabbed a handful of the chocolate balls for herself and took a seat on the couch next to Heath. With all the seats taken, Taylor sat on the floor opposite everyone on a very comfy-looking greige rug. She patted the spot next to her, Sam taking the cue and following suit.
“So, you like board games Sam?” Heath asked.
“I think so? But I honestly haven’t played them in years .”
It turned out Sam loved board games. They’d got stuck into Quacks of Quedlinburg first, the game she finally knew how to pronounce. She’d teamed up with Taylor, and so did Jess and Adam as it was technically only meant for four players. This worked out perfectly; Sam was still learning the rules, and Jess seemed more interested in the chips for this initial game.
Sam’s competitive streak grew as she egged Taylor on to push their luck. They were sitting close now, as Sam held up the bag for Taylor to take out their next token.
“Yes!” Taylor declared, pulling out a number six pumpkin, taking them much further along their board. They high fived and agreed to hold off on picking any more on this last round.
Once everyone had completed their turn, Sam sat back while Heath started counting up the points. Taylor did the same, her hand accidentally touching Sam’s. It sent what felt like a jolt of electricity straight up her arm. She almost flinched, shocked at the intensity. That had never happened before.
They both stayed there, pinkies touching. Sam kept looking straight ahead as her heart rate picked up. She tried focusing on what Heath was saying, but it was like their touch was all-consuming. She had no idea what was going on or why she was even reacting this way. She could just move her hand.
But she didn’t want to.
So they stayed like that.
She was so afraid to move that she didn’t realise she’d been holding her breath until Adam shoved a bowl of chips under nose, snapping her out of… of… whatever that just was.
She pulled her hand away and dove into the chips.
“Thanks.”