Chapter sixteen
I spent the next weekafter returning from Hawaii moping around my house. I could only bring myself to leave the house to buy food or to go over to Liam’s house to see baby Erin. I had spent all that time at Nathan’s place complaining about being stuck in the house and now I didn’t want to leave my own.
I woke one morning and a feeling of disappointment ran though me the minute I opened my eyes. I was hoping I’d dreamt Nathan dropping me off a week ago and driving away. I still couldn’t believe Nathan was so worried about having his heart broken again that he couldn’t be in a relationship with me, he was too scared to give it a go. He’d so easily give up on what was growing between us. I’d thought about it so much over the past week that it made me depressed, and it was also beginning to make me angry.
I sat up in bed as I heard a knock on the front door. I got out, wrapped my gown around me and padded my way barefoot to the door. Sam was standing on the other side with the rest of my things from Nathan’s house.
“Good morning, Sam,” I greeted him brightly, surprised by how happy I was to see him.
“Good morning, Rose. I have your things. Sorry it’s taken me so long to bring them over to you, but I’ve just been so busy.”
“That’s fine, I haven’t needed any of it.” I paused, wondering if I should ask Sam the question I was wanting desperately to ask. I couldn’t help myself. “How is Nathan going?”
Sam shrugged one big shoulder. “He’s ok. He’s working all the time, I haven’t seen him much.” Sam smiled. “I think that he didn’t want me to bring your stuff over because he wants you to come back. I’m positive that he misses having you around.”
I shrugged, my heart hardening. “He knows what I want in return.”
Sam smiled, but didn’t say anything, instead he carried my bags inside for me.
“Can I make you a coffee?” I asked. “What about banana pancakes?”
Sam smiled and shook his head. “Sorry Rose, I really have to get back.”
“Ok, well maybe I’ll see you around,” I shrugged one shoulder. I hoped I did see him again, I’d grown to really like Sam.
“Goodbye.” Sam gave me a small wave and walked back out to the car.
I went back to my lounge room and flicked on the TV, not really sure what to do with myself. There was another knock on the door. Thinking Sam had forgotten something, I excitedly put my gown back on and threw it open.
“What did you forget, Sam?” I asked before I had even opened the door completely.
“Well, who’s Sam?” asked a familiar female voice.
I let out a small scream of delight. Standing on the other side of the door was my sister Violet.
“Violet! Oh my... What are you doing here?” I exclaimed.
“I’ve come to visit my favourite little sister for Christmas, of course.”
I laughed and pulled her inside. “Favourite sister? I’m your only sister,” I remarked happily to the joke we shared every time we saw each other after such long periods apart.
Violet held me at arm’s length and looked me up and down. “There’s something different about you sis, you look... grown up.”
I smiled at the one person in the world who knew as much about my life as I did. “Come into the kitchen, Violet, and I’ll make you breakfast. I have a lot to tell you.”
Three hours later I had Violet completely up to date on everything that had been going on in my life for the past two weeks. Violet Sommers sat quiet the whole time, mouth open slightly, listening to and taking in every word I had to tell her.
“I can’t believe it, Rosie. And I can’t believe Liam. I’m going to kill that brother of ours,” she said shaking her head in disbelief.
“Well jump in line, I’m first,”
“And I can’t wait to meet this Nathan Davenport guy either. He sounds like he needs a good smack up the back of the head too.”
“Violet!” I exclaimed at my fiery sister. Violet and I had personalities like chalk and cheese. Violet’s bold, up front, tell it like it is attitude was the complete opposite to my more quiet and reserved personality.
In our late teens and early twenties, I would spend my weekends studying or going to the movies with a small number of friends, while Violet would be out partying with anyone she came across. She had a remarkable ability to make friends wherever she went.
Despite our differences, the two of us never really fought growing up. There is only fourteen months age difference between us and we’d grown up almost like twins, spending most of our youth together. It wasn’t until Violet finished high school that she started going out without me and our lives took separate paths.
“Well Rose, you’re a better sister then I am. I never would have done that for Liam,” Violet stated, shrugging her shoulders. “I would have let them break his bones. I probably would have helped them.”
“You don’t mean that. You love Liam just as much as I do,” I smiled at my tough-talking sister. One thing we did have in common was the ability to act strong, when inside we were terrified.
“I had no idea Liam’s gambling was so out of control. Why didn’t you tell me? You shouldn’t have had to deal with this all on your own. How could you afford to give him all that money over the years?”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. Liam begged me not to tell Mum and Dad and I didn’t see the need to burden you with this too. I see now how much I’ve gone without over the years so I could give everything I had to Liam and Charlotte.”
“I’m so sorry, Rosie. Don’t ever keep something from me like that again.” Violet shrugged. “Of course, if this Nathan is as handsome as you say he is, maybe I would have liked to become his mistress also,” she grinned cheekily.
I laughed and reached over to playfully hug my sister. “Oh Violet, you never change.”
We took our coffees into my sitting room and spent the rest of the day catching up on everything that had happened in our lives since we last spoke. We ended up sitting there until six o’clock that night.
“I’m starving. Let’s go out somewhere for dinner,” Violet suggested, as she stood up and stretched her curvy body.
While I was slightly curvy, with a soft, natural look, Violet was all curves and sex appeal. She didn’t try to be sexy, it just happened. It was also the cheeky sparkle in her eyes and the carefree attitude that made her so, so desirable to men.
“Sure, where do you want to go?” I asked feeling a little surprised that I wanted to leave the house.
We decided on a restaurant and then went into my room to try on some of my new clothes. On my sister’s insistence, I wore the black dress I’d worn the last time I had gone out to dinner with Nathan. It brought up mixed emotions in me, bad memories because it reminded me of Nathan but good memories because of how I felt when Nathan had taken that dress off me the last time I’d worn it.
“No point sitting around the house waiting for him to change his mind,” Violet commented, handing me the dress. “You need to move on.”
I slipped the dress over my head and sighed. I didn’t want to move on because that meant accepting Nathan really didn’t want to be in a relationship with me and I wasn’t ready to let go of that just yet. But instead of arguing with my equally stubborn sister, I just nodded and agreed with her as I slipped on the matching black stilettos.
Violet and I caught a taxi to a restaurant right in the heart of Sydney. We were ushered to a table near the back of the room where it was nice and private. I sat with my back to the restaurant, giving Violet the view of the whole room.
“There are a few cute men in this restaurant tonight,” Violet said as she scanned the room. “The village I’ve been working in is pretty remote, there isn’t a lot of single young men around.”
I laughed at my sister. I couldn’t believe how different we were. “Violet, I thought you were here to see me, not find a man.”
“I’m always on the lookout for a man, sis, and you should be too. You’re not getting any younger.”
“Gee thanks.”
My sister shrugged. “You know me, Rosie, I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you. You need to stop worrying about Liam’s life and focus on your own.”
I sighed. “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately.”
“Wow, now there is a man,” Violet interrupted, staring over my shoulder. “He’s perfect. I couldn’t dream up a more perfect specimen of what an ideal man should look like.” Violet sat up straighter and subconsciously licked her lips.
I casually turned my head to glance at the people sitting down at the table behind us. My heart skipped a beat. Nathan sat down with a man and two women. It looked like the four of them were on a double date. Nathan had sat down in the chair with his back to Violet and I, and I guess he hadn’t seen us sitting there.
I turned back to look at my sister and I could feel my cheeks turn scarlet with embarrassment. I couldn’t believe Nathan had moved on so quickly with another woman. I really had meant nothing at all to him.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look so good,” Violet asked, a frown forming on her face.
I leaned in close to my sister. “That’s him, Violet. That’s Nathan,” I whispered.
“Are you serious?” she exclaimed loudly. A few people turned to look at us and then returned to their meal as Violet ducked her head down.
“Shh, Violet. I don’t want him to see me,” I hissed.
“Why not?”
“Because, look at him. He’s on a date.”
Violet looked at the table and studied them for a moment. “Well, I guess it could be a date, but maybe it’s just a business meeting.”
“On a Saturday night?” I asked.
Violet shrugged, “Maybe...” I could tell in my sister’s voice that even she didn’t believe her own words.
I was beginning to feel extremely uncomfortable. I couldn’t see him on a date, I just couldn’t. “Let’s just go, I don’t want to be here to see this.”
“Don’t let him get to you. The best thing you can do is pretend that he doesn’t even exist.”
“But he does exist. It’s too soon and it’s too hard,” I whispered, my tears threatening to fall.
Violet sighed. “Alright, Rosie. Let’s go somewhere else. There’s a place at the other end of town that has a better chocolate cake, anyway.”
I thanked my sister and quickly stood up. I went to walk past Nathan, my head down, and just as I got behind him, he pushed his chair out, knocking me into the back of another diner’s chair.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” Nathan apologised as he reached out to help me up. I looked up at him and noted the surprised look on his face.
Nathan paused with his arms halfway out to grab my arm, leaving me hanging in limbo. I stood quickly on my own and glanced around at the other people at Nathan’s table. A beautiful brunette woman was smirking at me. Did she know who I was or did she think I was just another young fool smitten by Nathan Davenport’s presence?
“Forget it, I’m fine,” I replied. I turned and walked away as fast as my legs would carry me, not giving him a second look.
Violet turned to Nathan and gave him a dirty look. “Don’t mind us, enjoy your date,” she bit out.
Nathan reached us just as we were getting into a taxi. He called my name and I turned briefly to look at him, then I got in the car and made the driver drive off. I couldn’t bear to talk to him. I was feeling so humiliated.
Sitting in the taxi, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way the other woman smirked at me. Were they on a date? I bet she was the woman Nathan spent the night with the night he found out I was a virgin. She looked at me like she knew everything.