Girl-Code (2 page)

I hear Kate and Sam before I see them,
they have also obviously drunk a great deal of alcohol if the volume level is
anything to go by.  I appeared to have sobered up on the journey home and am eager
to catch them up.

‘Luce!’ Kate calls dramatically, her arms
outstretched and I grin at her inebriated state.

‘Hey,’ I hug her.

‘Where have you been?’ she scolds me.

‘Out with friends from work,’ I inform
her.

Sam approaches me, ‘hey Luce’ she smiles
unexpectedly, well maybe Kate was correct, Sam appears quite relaxed tonight.

‘Hi Sam, I haven’t seen either of you for
days,’ I utter loudly above the din.

‘I know right, busy bees.’ Sam replies.

‘Cocktails!’ Kate yells, dragging me
towards the bar area.

I meet up with a few of the girls from
the previous weekend and catch up on their week.  There are a few guys in the
group who all appear to be intrigued by my new face.

‘Hi, I am Scot,’ a blonde, blue eyed guy
holds out his hand.

‘Hi,’ I return the smile, placing my hand
in his, he is handsome in a surfer kind of way.

‘Lucy,’ I reply.

‘Yes, Sam told me,’ his eyes move over my
body as if he is undressing me. ‘So, do you fancy going out some time?’

‘Wow, you work fast Scot,’ I grin, the
alcohol fuzzing the edges.

He returns the grin and whispers, ‘I am
attempting to catch your attention before the rest of the male population
notice you.’

‘I see,’ I smile, he is cute, not my type,
but cute!

‘Luce,’ Sam calls from beside me and I
turn, ‘this is Cameron,’ she waves at a figure to the side of her and I glance
up, a smile prepared.

‘Hi,’ I call warmly, then it hits, this
is the shower man.

‘Well, hi Lucy,’ he smiles all-knowing
and I flush.

He is handsome in a dark suit and cream
shirt, his narrow tie is low, as if he has loosened it throughout the day.  His
dark hair flops over his brow, I would recognize those eyes anywhere thought, they
remind me of summer holidays, he holds out his hand and it distracts me from my
thoughts.

‘Good to see you,’ he murmurs, holding my
hand tightly as our eyes meet.

‘And you,’ I mumble, my insides squirming
I imagine from the memory that this man has seen me butt naked.  Sam appears
oblivious to my discomfort however and introduces Cameron to Scot, who shakes
his hand politely.

‘Excuse me,’ I turn with a brief smile to
them all and attempt to locate Kate, who is almost draped over the bar towards
the barman.

‘Kate!’ I call and she turns

‘More cocktails?’ she slurs.

‘Sure,’ I wave, ‘Kate, focus a minute
will you?’

She turns and squints towards me, ‘what?’

‘Sam’s boyfriend,’ I raise an eyebrow,
‘that’s the one that saw me naked!’ I emphasize my words with my facial
expression and Kate giggles.

‘Relax! From what I hear, he isn’t that
interested in her anyway….a player.  Hey Paul, how about a slow, comfortable
screw against the wall,’ she giggles childishly towards the barman, who is
obviously intending to take Kate up on the offer.

********

The house is a knocking shop! I have
taken to locking my bedroom door when I sleep, as I am so near to the front
door.  You never know who is coming and going.

Living with the girls is the first time,
apart from when Kate and I were travelling, that I have lived away from home. 
My home life was quiet and comfortable due to the fact that mum and I lived alone
up until recently, when she met Phil, before that we plodded along nicely just
the two of us.  In reality my life was probably too quiet for a young girl of
twenty four, my mum had encouraged me to move out, insisting that I should be
having fun not sitting in front of American sitcoms every night and she was
absolutely correct.   I don’t suppose that she meant to this extent though.

Needless to say, the barman accompanied
Kate back to the house!

In the bar, I had watched Cameron in my
peripheral vision aware of his every move, he moved with a confidence that was
almost cockiness!  I felt his eyes perusing me but I avoided his gaze at all
costs.  At one point, I glanced briefly his way to note Sam playing up to him,
her hand on his chest as she stared up longingly towards him.  He however
seemed immune to her charms and if anything appeared uninterested and
embarrassed by her public display of affection.

Only once, Cameron and my eyes met where
they held for slightly too long, what was I doing he was Sam’s boyfriend?  My
insides fluttered at the eye contact and I rapidly averted them, unable to
breath.

Scot continued his attempt at convincing
me to join him for a date, but I refused, I somehow didn’t think it was a good
idea dating someone who was in Kate and Sam’s social circle.  Scot was a
charming guy, and very respectful, I felt comfortable in his presence.

When we had left the bar Sam and Cameron were
walking behind me.

‘So, you coming back to mine?’ I hear Sam
encourage Cameron seductively.

‘No, I don’t think so Sam, thanks all the
same, I have an early start.  I did mention I could only pop in for one drink.’
Cameron had replied. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck prickle as I
feel his gaze penetrate my back.

‘Surely you can come back for a little
while,’ she whined.

‘No, thank you,’ his voice was sterner
this time and I could all but feel Sam’s pout from behind.

When we had reached our door, Kate had
stumbled and giggled as she attempted to insert the key into the lock.

‘Here, let me,’ I grasped Kate’s key and
unlocked it successfully.

‘Goodnight guys,’ Cameron had called as
we entered and Kate had swung around.

‘You not coming in Cameron?’ she slurred.

‘Not this time thank you Kate, good to
meet you,’ he had smiled.

‘Goodnight.’ I had murmured mildly, my
head turned briefly in his direction.

‘Good to see you again, Lucy,’ he had
purred and I flushed at the insinuation.

I had moved straight into my room until
everyone had moved out of the hall.

After a visit to the bathroom to brush my
teeth, I make my way directly to my bedroom.  The other pro of living on the
ground floor is that I hear very little from upstairs…thankfully!

********

The next morning, I am the first up and
immediately shower and dress unaware of who is in residence.  I enter the
kitchen and pop a bagel into the toaster, switching the kettle on, maybe I
should have rented a flat alone although the reality is I cannot afford a place
of my own at this present time. I remind myself it is only the first week and
that things will settle down. I feel a bit unsettled because I am not
accustomed to so many people in my living space.

The house is relatively quiet on Saturday,
Kate appearing only to fetch a drink of water and pills before returning to her
bed. Her bedmate must have left in the early hours of in the morning, although
I am surprised I never heard him.

 On her way out, Sam pops her head around
the door, ‘I meant to ask you Lucy, how you know Cameron?’ her eyes are less
casual than her voice, but more accusatory.

I shrug, ‘I don’t! We met briefly as he
was leaving the other morning, that’s all.’

‘Oh, I got the distinct impression that
it was a little more than that,’ she mumbles before she dashes to meet a friend
for lunch.  My stomach lurches as I think of how Sam would receive the news
that I was naked at the time.

I tidy up and find homes for more of my
belongings before joining Kate on her bed.

‘Hi,’ I mutter, as I place a cup of tea
and a slice of toast beside her.

‘Erghhh,’ she moans in response.

‘You certainly downed some last night,’ I
scold her, ‘I hope you were careful with the barman.’

‘Oh god,’ she pushes her face into the
pillow, ‘what am I doing?’

‘Erm, do you want a diagram?’ I muse.

‘No, I mean I am not eighteen anymore, I
am a twenty five year old woman!’ she is angry with herself.

‘Do you like him?’

‘I can hardly remember him, Luce,’ she
admits.

‘Oh well, it is done.  There is no good
beating yourself up now,’ I remind her, ‘learn from it and move on.’

‘What happened with Sam and Cameron?’ she
glances over.

‘Nothing, he walked her home and left,’ I
avoid her eyes.

‘Luce,’ she calls, quietly.

‘What?’ I flush.

‘You cannot like Sam’s boyfriend! What I
do distinctly remember is feeling the vibes shooting from across the room
between you both.’

‘I don’t!’ I over enthuse, ‘I am just
embarrassed at him seeing me naked, I mean, he hadn’t even bought me dinner.’ I
joke.

‘Hmmmm,’ she hums, ‘I don’t think he is
into her, anyway.’

I shrug, ‘you….errr…didn’t tell Sam about
the towel thing did you?’ I enquire my eyes finding hers.

‘No!’ she scoffs, ‘she’s not the
forgiving kind, Sam.  He was very open about the fact that it was a one off
when he first came in the bar.’

‘Was he?’ I fake indifference.

‘Before you came in, I overheard him tell
her he isn’t looking for a relationship and it was fun….blah, blah,’ she sits
up and grabs a piece of toast, munching delicately.

‘Is he from around here?’ I ask,
innocently.

‘Not far I think,’ her eyes find mine
once again. ‘Lucy, we all have to live here for the next year in harmony, please
do not do anything silly!’

‘Why do you keep saying that?’ I frown,
irritated.

‘Because you are very rarely intrigued by
the opposite sex.’

‘Yes I am, there was that guy in Sydney.’
I remind her.

‘Oh, the one that you used for sex once,
about a year ago….yeah that one!’ she states, sarcastically rolling her eyes.

‘I have just come out of a four year
relationship Kate, I am entitled to have a rest from the male population. 
Besides, Scot asked me out.’ I add.

‘That was eighteen months ago, how long
are you going to use that as an excuse?!’ she shakes her head. ‘Scot! Not
really your type, but handsome guy,’ she nods her head as if absorbing this
information.

‘What’s my type?’ I enquire, intrigued.

‘You generally go for the all American
looking guys,’ she expresses.

‘Do I?  I actually never realized I had a
type.  You go for the pretty boys,’ I utter bemused.

‘You think?’

‘Have you seen Leon?’ I distract.

‘Noooooo!’ she throws the toast on the
plate, before sliding down the bed and pulling the duvet up to her chin.

 Leon, was Kate’s boyfriend prior to us
leaving for travelling, he intended to wait for her, for a year, whilst she got
the travel bug out of her system.  About four months into our trip, she found
out via a social media site that he was sleeping around.  He insisted that it
was just until she returned, but Kate dumped him on his backside, regardless. 
I knew for a fact that she was hurt by his behavior and wondered whether, when
we returned, she would rekindle their relationship and forgive him.

‘Are you going to contact him?’ I gentle.

‘Nope,’ she snaps and pulls the duvet up
higher over her head.

I sigh, ‘Ok grumpy, I am going to drive
over to my mum’s,’ I tap the duvet, ‘catch you later.’

********

I feel more relaxed on Saturday night. Kate
had surfaced by the time I returned from my mum’s and was sitting in the living
room in her pajamas, showered and refreshed.  Sam was once again out with
friends.

‘We are having a house roast tomorrow,’
Kate announces, yanking her blonde locks up on top of her head.

‘Ok,’ I murmur, ‘exactly what does that
entail?’

‘Well, we all cook a Sunday roast together,
then sit and watch chick-flicks,’ she grins.

‘Ok, does that include Sam?’ I test.

‘Yes, you two need to spend some time
together,’ she replies, sternly.

‘I have no problem with that,’ I plant a
smile on my face despite a feeling of dread appearing inside my chest.

Sunday lunchtime, the three of us are
busying ourselves around the kitchen with the music playing in the background. 

‘So, what did you think of Scot?’ Sam
probes.

‘Seems charming enough,’ I answer mildly.

‘Yes, I think so,’ she mumbles.

‘Do you like Scot?’ I enquire, regarding
her suddenly, shock apparent on my face.

‘Yes, Scot and I have a connection,’ she
states matter of fact. I glance at Kate, who appears confused.

‘Ok,’ I continue. ‘What about Cameron, I
thought you like him.’