A Beautiful Forever (8 page)

There seems to be a bit of an Aussie culture over here where
we all tend to stick together. Sometimes, when we go out as a group, we’ll run
into another group of Aussies – then we all start hanging out and acting like
long lost friends. I find it funny that we’ve all traveled to the other side of
the world just to hang out with other Australians, but it’s fun, so much more
fun that it is at home.

My job is amazing; I'm working at The City Point Club. It's
this beautiful up market fitness club and spa that offers everything you could
possibly want to take care of your body. I’ve been booked with clients pretty
solid since I started so my boss is really happy with me.

Paige has been living with us for the past three weeks. I
love seeing her every day, but we’re still solidly in the ‘friend zone’. I’m
not sure if I’m ok with that, because I do really like her. Although I
understand where she’s coming from, there’s no point starting with something
that has to end by the time I leave. If she was any other girl, I’d be fine
with entering a short term relationship just for the fun of it, but she’s not
any other girl. I get along with her. I can talk to her. That’s not something
that’s easy to come by. The last person I clicked remotely with was Katrina.
Jumping into a relationship with her just ruined the friendship we had in the
end, and now I don’t have contact with her at all, I don’t want that with
Paige, I would rather the friendship… I think.

After a whole month living in London, I have yet to contact
my father. He’s aware that I’m here as I contacted him before I left Sydney,
but I’ve been so wrapped up working and hanging out with my housemates that
I’ve let it slide. It sits in the back of my mind niggling at me to do
something, but I guess I’m just erring on the side of being chicken shit. I
really am afraid to go and meet him, because I have no idea what to expect.

Work is great, and my roommates are great. I’m getting along
well with Andrea and Naomi; it's really nice to have friends around me - close
personal connections are something that I’ve been avoiding for a long time.
Living in London, I feel like a new person, no one knows more about me than I
want them to, so I am just Paige, the Aussie hairdresser – it’s truly freeing,
and I’m finding that I'm relaxing, laughing and enjoying life more and more
every day. I exist in a large group of people, all trying to have a good time
and live for the moment – they're all only here for three to six months so every
day matters to them, it’s hard not to let their enthusiasm rub off on me too.

I never thought I would enjoy sharing a room with someone,
but Naomi is proving to be very easy to live with – albeit a little untidy. She
doesn’t snore. She is careful not to wake me if she comes home later than me,
and she’s a great conversationalist. I’m starting to feel a little like her
therapist though as she’s a big inner thoughts sharer, but it’s nice for me; I
like to listen to her chatter about her own insights on life.

A hot topic of conversation is Elliot. She has a HUGE crush
on him and when she’s around him, the hair starts to flick, and the smile comes
out. She finds every joke he makes hilariously funny which in turn is
hilariously funny to me – so I try to stay out of the way around them because
Elliot is still a little too focused on me, and I don’t want to embarrass her.

“So you’re pretty close to Elliot aren’t you?” she asks me
one night as we both sit in our room preparing for bed.

“Um, not really – I mean we’re friends, but I wouldn’t call
us close…Why?” I ask, looking at her in via mirror on my wardrobe as I rub
leave-in conditioner into the ends of my hair.

“No reason, you just seem to be together a lot. You’re kind
of attached at the hip, we’re all wondering what’s going on that’s all.”

“There’s nothing going on Nomes, he goes home in two months
– we’re friends,” I say, wiping my hands clean on a moist towelette and
depositing it in the small bin by our door and avoiding any eye contact. I can
feel her still watching me, but I continue to focus on myself, feeling relieved
when I hear her get into bed and open her book.

I’m going to go right on ahead and admit that I’m attracted
to him, Elliot Roberts is by far the most beautiful man I have ever had the
pleasure of laying my eyes on – there, I said it. I mean who wouldn’t be
attracted to him, he turns the head of every female, every single time we go
somewhere. But he seems oblivious to all of it, taking it all in his stride; it
amazes me.

That being said, I have lived without the ‘help’ of men for
the last eight of my 25 years on this earth, and I’m not about to go all gushy
over one now. Truth is, even though I'm trying, I just don’t do well in the
‘getting close to people’ business, there is too much about my life that I
don’t want to share with anyone and my lack of sharing, well - it eventually
causes problems.

Rising from the end of the bed, I move over to the light
switch, as I do Naomi reaches out and switches the lamp on, so she can continue
to read while I go to sleep.

“Good book?” I ask her as I slide beneath my covers.

She rests it open on her chest and sighs smiling as she
looks at me. “It’s the best,” she says, “so romantic!”

Laughing a little to myself, I roll over to face the wall
and bid her goodnight, leaving her to read her cheesy romance novel and wishing
life was really like one. I’d love noting more than a happy ending, but I’m
fairly sure people like me don’t get them.

This is one of the rare days when I had a late client, so I
didn’t meet up with Paige to walk home with her like I usually do. Once I’m
back at the flat, I dump my gear in my room and then head out to the living
area. I notice that Paige and Naomi’s names are missing from the whiteboard we
write our names on, to say who’s going to be home for dinner.

“Where are the girls?” I ask Gavin and Brian, who are
sitting in front of the television watching the cricket, beer in hand, bag of
chips on the couch between them. They let out a loud cheer as the batter gets
caught out before they answer me.

“Nomes dragged Paige out with her for a girly night,” Gavin
told me without taking his eyes off the screen.

Brian laughs and throws a handful of chips into his mouth,
crunching down loudly, “Yeah she didn’t look too happy about it,” he says. “Fuck
that Paige chick’s hot though, you should have seen her in that dress,” he nods
his head thoughtfully and blows out his breath.

Gavin’s head joins in, “Are you two banging? ‘cause if
you’re not…” he asks finally looking away from the tv.

“Don’t talk about her like that,” I warn them defensively.

Gavin raises his hands signalling ‘no offense’, “It’s
alright mate, we’re just talking. Everyone can see you’ve got a thing for her –
no one’s cutting your grass.”

I shake my head, “Whatever,” I say, moving into the kitchen
to grab a beer from the fridge.

“Hey, Elliot, can you grab us another one as well,” Brian
calls out, returning the mood to normal.

Handing them their drinks when I return to the living room,
I take a seat on the other couch, while I stare at the game on the tv, not
really watching. I’m busy thinking about where Paige is. I can’t help but feel
kind of annoyed that she didn’t text me to say she was going out. Then I kick
myself because it’s not like I own her, it’s not like she owes me anything. I
guess I’m just used to having her around. I don’t really want to hang out
without her… geez… I’ve got it bad.

Naomi has taken me to this Salsa club she’s heard about and
has been dying to try out. We've both put on our most flowing dresses, and I
helped her curl her hair and pin it back to suit her outfit. I even went a
little wild and put some red lipstick on myself – it was under slight duress.
Naomi insisted I needed red lips to go with my black knee-length dress. Other
than that, I just have mascara on.

Sitting at the bar, I watch Naomi strut her stuff on the
dance floor with a guy who certainly knows his moves, he’s spinning and
swinging her around the floor effortlessly, and I have to resist the urge to clap
whenever they finish a song.

“Come and dance with me,” she asks breathlessly when she
walks back towards me.

“Oh I don’t know. I'm really not that coordinated,” I laugh.

“Nonsense! Come with me and I’ll show you.” She grabs my
hand and pulls me off the stool and starts to try to show me how to move my
feet and swing my hips. I don’t do too badly, but I feel a bit awkward next to
the smooth moving Naomi.

The guy Naomi had been dancing with moves back over to cut
into our lesson, and I happily step away, bumping straight into a guy who, when
I turn around and see him, is the epitome of tall, dark and handsome.

As a grin spreads over his face, I feel his eyes drag over
my body, “Can I interest you in a dance,” he rumbles in a deep baritone.

Instantly, I shake my head. “Oh no, I’m not much of a
dancer.”

“Not from what I saw,” he responds holding out his hand for
me to take. I look at it and step away from him, refusing his offer.

“No thank you,” I say firmly, walking directly back to my
still vacant bar stool.

I notice the guy shake his head before he moves on to some
other pretty girl who’s smiling and practically swooning the moment he holds
his hand out to her. Watching them move for a little while, I start to wish I
hadn’t agreed to this as I get restless and wonder when it’s time to go back to
the flat.

Playing with my phone in my hand, I finger the touch screen,
trying to decide whether I want to text Elliot or not. I feel lonely without
him all of a sudden.

Hey, what are you up to?
I tap out and send before I
have a chance to change my mind.

He responds quickly, like he had his phone in his hand and
was waiting on me.
Watching cricket with the guys. U?

Me:
Watching Naomi dance.

Elliot:
Y aren’t u dancing?

Me:
I don’t like strangers touching me.

Elliot:
U want me to come get u?

My thumbs hover unmoving, as I contemplate whether or not I
should bail.  I jolt my head up and cradle my phone in my lap guiltily as Naomi
comes over holding a bottle of beer and smiling. “How’s Elliot?” she asks,
nodding at my phone.

“What? Why would I know?” I reply, feeling strange that she
immediately jumped to that conclusion.

She tilts her head and looks at me like she can’t believe I
think she’s that stupid. “It’s obvious you two are into each other Paige. It
hums in the air whenever you’re around each other.”

I frown a little, “I thought you were interested in Elliot.”

She laughs, “I am, of course I am! If he said ‘hey Nomes,
you, me in the bedroom – leave your clothes at the door’ I’d say, ‘hell yeah’
and run in there. However, that’s not going to happen - he’s not interested in
me; he's interested in you.”

Laughing, I say, “I don’t really think he talks like that.”

She shrugs, smiling and taking a sip from her beer. “So
what’s holding you back? Why aren’t you making wild monkey love with him every
chance you get?”

“Because, I don’t know – maybe I think he’s too good for me,
maybe I don’t want to get my heart broken, maybe I don’t want to ruin our
friendship. There’s literally dozens of reasons why it’s a bad idea.”

“Maybe, but if you like each other, why can’t you have an
amazing couple of months together – even if that’s all it is, it’s better than
doing nothing, watching him leave and then regretting it for the rest of your
life.”

“He doesn’t really want me Naomi. It’s the unattainable
thing that’s making me attractive right now. He'll find someone else to turn
his head eventually, and this will all be a moot point.”

“Paige, have a look around this club,” I do as she says and
scan the club taking everything in, “Do you see one guy even remotely as
good-looking as Elliot?”

“Well… no.”

“Then why would you knock that back?”

“Because… I feel like I have to,” I say looking down at my
phone. Naomi looks down and takes it out of my hands reading the message across
the screen. “Hey! What are you doing?!" I grab for my phone as she steps
away, keeping it out of my reach as she types out a message.

“There, it’s done – you’re welcome,” she says smiling and
heading back over to her dance partner. My phone beeps in my hand and I look at
the message on the screen.

I’ll b there in 10

Feeling nervous all of a sudden, I get up and head to the
ladies' room to check my reflection, frowning when I see the painted lady
looking back at me. Turning on the tap, I grab some paper hand towel out of the
dispenser and wipe the lipstick off my face. I look ridiculous. This isn’t me.

Looking at myself again, I take a deep breath. “Don’t do
this, nothing changes,” I coach myself. I can’t believe I was just entertaining
the thought of having something more with Elliot. Bloody Naomi, I had this all
under control. Didn’t I?

I borrow Shane’s car and drive to the club to pick up Paige.
She's waiting outside with Naomi, who’s leaning up against some guy. When they
see me pull up, Naomi waves at me then nudges Paige towards the passenger-side
door.

“Have fun!” she sing songs as Paige climbs in.

“Has Naomi hooked up?” I ask once the doors shut, as I watch
Naomi walk back inside the club entwined with that guy.

“She has, thanks for coming to get me,” she says pulling on
her seat belt.

“You rescued me actually. I hate cricket,” I confide in her.

“Isn’t it blasphemy to say that!” she replies mockingly.

“It is, don’t tell anyone.” I wink as I pull out into the
traffic and start to make my way through the streets to turn us back towards
the flat, although I’m not interested in returning to watch cricket again.