3. Audrey
Days went faster if you were busy. I couldn’t imagine how Theo spent his time in the past thirty-six hours, but as I went from job to job to make something of myself, it made me wonder how others could feel so free about their spare time. I hated hustle culture, and I wasn’t about to advocate for it… but while I’d love to take a moment for myself as a reward, I also knew I felt immense guilt about going through one day without having something booked in for the next. Whatever it was—whether I was filling in for Lucy at the café, walking some snobbish dogs along the shore whose hair cuts were more expensive than my own, doing one of Henry’s tours and pretending to be the face of the town, or submitting a column to the local newspaper for a crisp $50 every week—whatever I did, it was only to help fill up my travel fund, and I was lucky to have so many people around town be okay with me helping out. That was the one thing I adored about living in this particular town. The community actually had each other’s backs, and we could rely on each other to make plans without any confusion. Even if ‘helping’ others actually helped us out more, where I ‘helped’ Henry to be able to take time off, while he ‘helped’ me by giving me his spare shifts; it was a symbiotic relationship. Everyone hated when favours had the pressure to even out, but somehow, it didn’t get like that here.
Before I could blink, I was at Lucy’s house on a Friday night, heating up three frozen pizzas to keep us fuelled as we watched our movies. One for me, one for Lucy, and one, evidently, for my British guest.
My cheeks reddened over how embarrassing my actions were yesterday, flinging myself into the arms of a stranger, only for them to not be anything I wanted or expected. Sure, it was an accident, but Iknew myself. I was a fan of meet-cutes, and if that did happen to be my French Prince, I would’ve made a fool of myself even further to try to win his heart. I shook my head and let out a gargled bleat to clear the bad energy. Thank God Lucy knew to ignore these bouts of inelegance, because sometimes cringing outbursts are best left unexplained.
“You think this will be enough?” Lucy asked, and in addition to the pizzas in the deep-set oven that she was so proud of owning, she pointed over to the array of chocolates and pre-popped popcorn packets on the counter.
I laughed. “I know it’s probably part of the job description, but Lucy, you’re a feeder.”
She pressed her finger to her chin in contemplation. “You know what? You’re right. But not in a kinky way, more in a ‘I want to cherish my friends with food’ way.” With the insult sinking in, Lucy went to grab one pack of popcorn to put back into the cupboard, then stilled, turning back my way. “Maybe I’ll still leave them out though, just in case we need them.”
“Good thinking,” I lied, trying not to make fun of her antics too much. It wasn’t hard to guess why her parents called her Loveable Lucy. Aside from the comradery of this coastal town, Lucy’s charms were keeping me around like a super-charged magnet.
Moments later, the doorbell rang. I made my way over the charcoal tiles to find Theo’s silhouette on the other side of the frosted glass, peering through the wooden frame. I unlatched and opened the door, and there he stood, a toothy grin in all his glory. It wasn’t often I was nervous about my appearance around town, but suddenly, with his very modern t-shirt and slacks, I felt like my fluffy socks—for tile sliding, of course—and oversized sweater were out of place.
“What, are you smuggling Antarctica in there?” he teased, and I watched him appreciate the air conditioning as it brushed over his skin. We’d chilled the room to make blankets appropriate, since cuddling up under a comforter was a must for our movie night. I swallowed a chuckle, trying not to let him under my skin too easily.
“Something like that,” I played along. “Come on in.”
Lucy greeted him with a smile, ushering Theo over to the couch while explaining what was on offer for today’s menu. I dawdled at the doorway of the living room, wondering where I should park myself for the evening. The side, single chair would be too dismissive, but Theo had seated himself smack-bang in the middle of the couch, and the close proximity to a near stranger always made me nervous. It wasn’t that Theo was threatening, not that we knew him well enough to be inviting him to Lucy’s home in the first place… but the antisocial person in me would rather perish than feel like my reactions to the movie had to entertain him in the process, simply for sitting so close. When Lucy left to the kitchen after hearing the ding of the oven, Theo’s eyes met mine, and he patted the seat beside him. “I’m not going to bite, you know.”
“Sorry, I’m a bit out of it after helping Henry in the sun all day,” I lied, scooching beside him anyway. His eyes went wide in surprise.
“You ended up doing the tour without inviting me to come with?” He feigned hurt. “That’s cold, Audrey.”
“Didn’t think you’d want to spend the whole day together; you’d be sick of us before we even finished the movie.” I laughed, trying to make myself more comfortable on the seat. He noticed, and politely moved over to give me some space to sprawl out.
“When are you doing the next tour?” he asked. “It seemed like that wasn’t your regular day job, otherwise you wouldn’t have palmed me off to Henry so quickly.”
I nodded, showing him that he was right. “Believe it or not, Henry’s wife went into labour yesterday. He asked me to sub in for the next few days, until they could get a proper replacement from the agency.”
“Congrats to him. Have they landed on a name yet?”
“You actually want to know?” My face scrunched together with intrigue. He certainly didn’t look the type to be a family guy, but I also didn’t know much about him at all.
“Why do you seem surprised?” He laughed. “I’ve always wanted a little sibling—being the youngest of the cousins in my family, I never really got to experience the babysitting years.”
“Fair enough,” I admitted, and suddenly, I wanted to ask more. “I know I teased you about the whole ‘finding yourself’ thing, but why did you come to town in the first place?”
He took a moment to think, then met me with a cautious smile, as if he wasn”t ready to get into the whole story yet. I felt bad for prying until he spoke up. “I needed a moment to myself to figure out what I really want—what to do, who to be. You weren”t wrong. I feel like I need to find my own identity, not just follow a path planned out for me, from birth until death.”
I was almost shocked by how open he’d been with me, a complete stranger. But if Lucy and I were all he had in this town, maybe we weren’t strangers to him… and maybe he wanted to learn more about Henry to feel like he was part of the community.
I paused, taking his words in and giving him an understanding glance. “Parents are tough, aren’t they?” I said, but while he was happy being open with me, I couldn’t return the sentiment—not yet. Instead, I offered him something else to make him feel included. “Henry’s little girl is named Daisy, by the way.”
He grinned. “Daisy, what a lovely name.”
Just in time, Lucy entered the room again, balancing three plates on her arms. I used to ask if she needed help bringing food over, but after she kept telling me that she needed to practice for the café, I eventually got the hint and stopped asking.
“Oh wow, this smells great,” Theo commented, and my God, was he right. These may have started off as store-bought, freezer aisle pieces of cardboard, but Lucy knew how to turn anything into a masterpiece. She’d added extra ham, three kinds of cheese blends, and an assortment of olives and sun-dried tomatoes to transform the flavours.
“A simple thanks isn’t enough, Lucy,” I said, taking a slice. “I’m going to cherish every bite.”
“You act like this is a five-star restaurant.” She rolled her eyes. “Have you chosen a movie yet?”
“Shit, was that our job?” Theo asked.
Lucy shook her head, reaching for the TV remote. “You guys are hopeless. That means I get the first choice now.”
I laughed. “Fine by me.”
Lucy settled on some glam horror film, one that had my eyebrows etched to the top of my forehead out of its ridiculousness. “So, he’s a werewolf?” I clarified.
“Yes,” Lucy answered.
“But he died, so he’s undergone Frankenstein-like surgery to bring him back to life?”
“That’s right.”
“And they’re going to try and make him solve a crime once the procedure’s over?”
“Audrey.” Lucy breathed. “Just watch the damn film.”
I chuckled, swiping a piece of pizza and sinking further into the couch. Mid-bite, I turned to Theo, wondering if he was as dumbfounded as me. And based on the ‘what on earth’ expression pasted to his face, I’d say we were in the same boat here. “Not a fan?” I whispered, inching close enough that Lucy didn’t hear me, since she’d have my head for the gossip.
“Fan is a pretty strong term,” he said. “I’m starting to think we should’ve chosen the movie after all.”
“You think that now, but even if we did, she’d say ‘but guys, I’ve heard of this movie that I think you’d really like’, and we’d be back to where we started.”
“You do realise I can hear you?” Lucy glared.
Theo cackled, holding his hands up in surrender, and we took the hint to hold our tongues for at least most of the movie. But come on—when the werewolf found romance at the end of the film, I did have to groan a little to show my displeasure.
“What did you think?” Lucy asked. ‘The End’ was finally on the TV screen, and I felt like this whole evening was meant to be part of some social experiment.
“Well,” I started. “I’m glad it’s over.”
Lucy scrunched her nose at me. “Theo, what would you rate it out of ten?”
He contemplated politely, but flashed me a devilish smile, letting me know I earned his companionship along the way. “I’m going to say a solid two. Could’ve been a three, but they know what they did.”
“The werewolf love scene?” I prompted.
“The werewolf love scene.”
“Alright, get out.” Lucy stood dramatically.
“The food was great though.” Theo bowed his head respectfully.
“Yeah, yeah,” she huffed. “I’m going to bed.”
“Good night!” I called out behind her, trying not to snicker at her antics. I looked up and saw Theo gathering his things, respectfully obeying Lucy’s command, and it almost made me smile. I didn’t know why I was so on edge this evening—believe it or not, I actually had fun. The kind of fun where I wasn’t nervous about impressing a stranger, and it almost made me want to see him again soon. “You’re heading off?”
“I thought I better give you guys some space. Did you need help clearing up first?” He gestured to the empty snack bowls and popcorn packets on the counter.
“Nah, that one’s on me.” I smiled.
He hovered around, swaying from his heels to his toes. In a way, I found it charming. If he were like the men I grew up with, he’d probably still be on the couch, not taking the hint to leave. “Well, I’ll be off then.”
“Wait,” I said, shocking myself in the process. I met him at the entrance of the house, closing the door behind us so that we wouldn’t be too noisy for Lucy. “Did you want to meet up again?”
He looked taken aback. “You’re serious?”
“Well, I think we both had a decent enough time,” I said. “Unless you didn’t get that impression?
“No, Audrey.” He laughed. “I’d love to hang out again sometime. I’m just surprised you beat me to the request.”
“Right.” I nodded. “I guess I’ll see you soon, then?”
“Definitely,” he confirmed, and I exhaled a breath I didn’t realise I was holding. Theo trailed his way down the porch and out of Lucy’s front yard. Oddly enough, when I went back inside, I couldn’t stop smiling.