Chapter 36 Reubyn
Reubyn
‘Are you ready?’
Faith grins. ‘As I’ll ever be.’
She stands on the trail, sheltering underneath the golf umbrella Reubyn bought in Queenstown.
She grips it with both hands, and it trembles in the wind.
His Lumix is clamped to the shaft, to keep it dry from the rain.
Faith stares out from under her hood, eyes shining with mischief and excitement.
She’s gorgeous – even with her body hidden beneath the borrowed cagoule.
‘Stay close,’ Reubyn says. ‘Keep the same sort of distance as we are now. And don’t worry if the camera’s a little shaky – it all adds to the effect.’
‘Roger that.’
‘Here we go. Take one.’ He walks slowly down the trail, looking back over his shoulder at the camera.
‘Okay, guys, we’ve left the camp in the centre of the forest and are heading east. We reckon we heard the call of the kākāpō last night, coming from somewhere around here, so let’s have a look.
’ They reach a straight bit of path, and Reubyn turns around to face the camera, walking backwards along the trail, his feet squelching in mud.
‘One thing’s for sure, though – there is a strange aura in this place.
It feels ancient, somehow, like we’ve gone back in—’
Reubyn’s standing foot slides and gives way, and before he knows it, both his feet have left the ground and he’s going down. He lands heavily on his side, his hip and shoulder slapping into the mud, sending splatters flying in all directions.
Faith is silent for a second, then the sound of her laughing tears through the air. She hurries to him, but she’s laughing so hard it’s difficult to tell if she’s bent in concern or simply doubled over from hysterics. After a few seconds she manages to gasp out the words: ‘Are you okay?’
Reubyn waves away her outstretched hand and hauls himself up. He assesses the damage; his shorts, socks, raincoat – pretty much all items of his clothing – are smothered with mud down one side. He sighs. ‘A small dent to my pride, maybe, but I’m otherwise okay.’
‘One for the blooper reel,’ she says, and then her face opens again in laughter – great, shuddering laughs that shake her whole body.
Reubyn chuckles too; lightly at first, but Faith’s laughter is contagious and soon he’s lost control of himself as well. And they’re laughing together. She’s not laughing at him – they’re just two people enjoying the moment, reacting to the absurdity of their situation.
She ushers him towards her, holding the umbrella out. ‘Do you want to watch it back?’
Reubyn moves in and they stand shoulder to shoulder.
Their arms are pressed together, through their coats.
As she sets up the clip, Reubyn realises this is the moment.
Although, he hasn’t realised it – he’s been informed by his heart, the way it’s thumping so fiercely it might burst free of his chest.
Faith’s eyes are misty, and even as she concentrates on the viewfinder, her smile remains. ‘All right, here it is,’ she says, and presses play.
The clip starts. Reubyn only knows this because he can hear the audio. He’s not watching the screen. Just her. Faith’s smile broadens as the video goes on, getting closer to his fall. Then Faith tilts her head back and laughs.
She turns to look at him, and her smile relaxes a touch, the plumpness returning to her lips. They’re ripe and red, like summer fruit. Reubyn’s skin tingles all over, from his ankles all the way to his scalp. This is it.
He tilts his head to the side and leans in towards her. All noise seems to cease in that moment, the world put on mute. He puckers his lips and braces for contact with hers.
But there is no contact.
Faith jerks her head back. Her face freezes into something serious, the kind of face a doctor might make before delivering bad news. ‘Oh, Reubyn, I . . .’ She shakes her head.
‘I understand,’ Reubyn quickly replies. And he does. His body has gone numb – stunned and wet feeling, like he’s been doused with cold water. A roiling sickness thickens in his gut.
‘It’s just that . . . Oh God, I really like you,’ she says, her brow furrowed. ‘But I’m not in the right place for something romantic right now. That sounds like such a cliché, but . . .’
‘Of course. I totally understand.’
‘Are you sure? I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea.’
Reubyn stares vacantly into the trees. ‘It’s fine.’
‘Right, well then, shall we do another take?’ Then, after five seconds or so: ‘Reubyn?’
He’s dizzied, unsteady on his feet. His vision is unfocused, and, in front of him, he sees nothing but a blurry barcode of tree stems. Reubyn blinks hard, then turns to look at her. ‘Do you know what, I think it might look more authentic if I film this bit myself, on my phone.’
Faith nods slowly, the life gone from her eyes. ‘Okay. Is there anything I can do to help?’
‘No, I’m good.’
‘Right.’
‘Do you mind taking the camera back to the bus? It would be good to get it out of the rain.’
Faith nods. She looks at the ground, then turns and trudges back up the path. After about fifty yards, she stops and looks over her shoulder. Reubyn pretends not to see, and fiddles with his phone.
When she’s disappeared from view, Reubyn slips the phone back into his pocket.
He closes his eyes for a moment and stands stock-still on the muddy path, listening to the rain patter against his coat, feeling it run cold down his burning cheeks.
He turns his face upwards to accept more of it.
Water cascades off the canopy and the leaves glisten with a green that reminds him of poison.
The sky, as much as he can see of it, is a ruined charcoal sketch – smudged with too much black.
All around him the trees bend and groan.
Reubyn breathes deeply, then lumbers up the trail towards the bus, each step requiring an effort, as if he’s gained a few stone.
Why did he think this time would be any different?
This is how it always plays out, after all.
It’s not possible to become suddenly attractive by taking an online course and watching a bunch of how-to videos.
How stupid can he get? He can’t escape what he is: the guy who’s destined to be put in the friendzone.
The platonic side-dude who the girl will turn to for support when she’s having trouble with her boyfriend.
The boy who was last picked for sport is now the remaining sack of sub-primal cuts left languishing at the bar in the great meat raffle that is dating.
The air crackles as he walks the path, and he kicks loose branches as he goes.
Then, in a direct insult, the heavens break, and rain hammers tenfold, thundering against the trees and surging through the canopy in broken chandeliers.
Reubyn doesn’t quicken his step, just lets it pour on to him.
Allows it to wash the mud from his clothes.
He’ll be damned if he’s going to let the elements get in the way of what he’s here to do.
And he won’t allow himself to be distracted by Faith, either. Not anymore.
Reubyn reaches the path’s end and enters the clearing, greeted by the rain’s raw power; unbridled by treetops, it lashes against the car park and the bus’s roof in an angry din.
He crosses towards the bus and slows up when he sees her.
Only the back of her head and shoulders are visible through the window.
Even that is warped – distorted by the run-off that bleeds its way down the glass.
She sits next to Elis. Not only next to him; they’re so close there’s nothing to separate them at all.
Elis snakes an arm around her shoulders, says something in her ear, and, in a moment of certainty that knots Reubyn’s stomach, normality is restored to the universe.