Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
I want to go straight back to the Sunshine Coast and talk to Jarvis, but I still have Frankie to deal with.
I’m not in the mood for this at all, and my heart feels heavy as I see his smiling face at the bar we agreed to meet at.
He looks so hopeful—like an innocent puppy—and I hate that I’m going to be responsible for crushing him soon.
“I ordered you a glass of sparkling wine. It’s a little fancier than the Passion Pop you used to buy back when we were together,” he says.
Oh God. He’s going all in with the nostalgia.
Passion Pop was a cheap fruity wine I used to buy for four or five dollars a bottle back when I was studying my arts degree and had almost no income.
I recently saw it rebranded at the shops, and it made me cringe. Tonight, I experience the same feeling.
I smile weakly. “Thanks. I’ve definitely moved on from Passion Pop.”
“What brings you to Brisbane?” he asks, pointing to a barstool opposite his own.
“I… uh, I came to see my friend Anna. We’re doing a collaboration between her café and my art gallery.” There is no way I’m going into the real reason I was already down here.
“Ooh—I’d love to meet your friends sometime. I never did get to introduce myself the first time around.”
And whose fault is that? I think unkindly.
And then I feel bad. Frankie has well and truly apologised for his past behaviour. If anything, I kind of wish he was as thoughtless as he was in 1999. That way, it would be easier to let him down tonight.
“Listen, Frankie, I know I originally reached out to you, but it seems like maybe you’re after something different to what I want.”
His face falls. “What is it you think I want? And what is it you want?”
“I think maybe you want to explore possibly getting back together?”
“Well, yes, but not right away. We’re different people now. I don’t expect any sort of sweeping commitment or anything. I just thought it would be nice to get to know each other as adults and see where things went organically.”
I swallow. “I’m not sure any version of us getting romantically involved again is a good idea.”
He frowns. “Seriously? Then why the fuck did you contact me in the first place?”
I recoil. His tone remains calm, but his words are like a slap in the face. “Excuse me?”
“Why. The. Fuck. Did. You. Contact. Me. If. You. Weren’t. Fucking. Interested.”
Oh my God. It’s like he’s suddenly snapped and become someone else. Even his eyes look unfamiliar. What is going on right now?
“I think you have a bit to learn about interacting with women if you think their only purpose is to sleep with you.”
“I have guy friends for talking.”
I snort. “So, what? Women are just there to shut up and have sex?”
“I wouldn’t put it that crudely, but I don’t need more women nagging me, especially if they’re not willing to get naked. Otherwise, what’s the point?”
I stand and pick up my wine glass, tossing its contents in his face.
“Exactly. What’s the point?” I turn around and stalk out before he can say anything else.
What the actual hell? Was Frankie just pretending to be nice in the hope he might score? I don’t remember him being like that in 1999, but maybe he really was a misogynistic narcissist who did think I’d follow him to Sydney for his dream job because as a man, his career mattered more.
Now that I think about it, that seems likely.
Even our communication in the last few weeks seemed a bit off.
Like when he said he looked me up online, but only on the day I contacted him.
And what was all that talk about moving back to Shell Beach?
Was he really just saying whatever he thought might get me into bed?
Wow. I have truly terrible taste in men.
Except…
I get back in my car to head for the coast, thinking about my interaction with Nia. At least Jarvis’s messed up behaviour has a reason. Heck, I’d probably have turned out the same way.
And now I’ll get to see what he should have been like all along.