Magic Within the Waves

Chapter Nine - Not so Awkward

Chapter Nine

Not so Awkward

***

Wednesday night, just like I had discussed with Thomas, he was expected to meet my dad for the first time. Throughout the entire week, my stomach churned and knotted anxiously, fretting about their meeting. Often, when I thought about it more, I had to run to the bathroom to splash cold water over my face. At school, Carmen and Ruth kept me company, holding my hair back whenever I felt the urge to vomit. But at home, I had to suffer my anxiety on my own. At least I knew I had anxiety now. It had never been a problem until now.

Thomas met my gaze anytime he was close by, which seemed like almost every time I looked up. At recess and lunch, he waved or winked at me from across the basketball court, where he gathered with the others from his group. Again, my nerves would get the better of me and cause my cheeks to flush bright red or send me ducking into the bathroom to catch my breath.

Tuesday during our shared classes, he winked at me whenever I looked up from the desk.

‘Did you get question eighteen?’ Carmen asked, chewing on the rubber end of her pen. ‘The one on crystals?’ When I didn’t answer, she turned to me. ‘Mel?’

‘Hmm?’ I replied as I stared back at Thomas dreamily, lost in his eyes.

‘Are you seriously looking at Thomas again?’ Ruth knocked my arm out from under my chin, nearly making me faceplant into the table. ‘Sorry,’ she chuckled when I turned to her.

I just shook my head and returned to staring at him.

No matter where I went for the rest of the day, he was almost always around. I was enjoying the attention and looked forward to seeing him again. But I longed to spend more than just a few seconds together.

I felt eyes on me as I was walking home from the bus stop when there was no one around. Maybe it was just my nerves, but the feeling was enjoyable – like he was protecting me, even when he was nowhere in sight.

Having had time to think about it, Dad was growing more impressed with Thomas, calling him an ‘Aussie gentleman’.

‘I am amazed such a young man still exists in this day and age,’ he added, nodding his head. ‘He did save my daughter, so I guess your Mum was right … and I should give him a chance.’

‘What do you mean, Dad?’ I asked, slinging my school bag over the coat rack by the laundry, ‘right about what?’

He closed the laundry door with a coffee in one hand and his work clothes draped over his forearm. ‘She said you were going to be the kind of girl who would find love in a similar way we did. You would be swept off your feet by a handsome hero. A Prince Charming. I thought maybe it would be the boy who saved you from drowning but maybe this Thomas is the one.’

‘Oh, do you think so?’

‘You never know Bright Eyes. If he is man enough to ask me for permission to date my daughter, then the least I can do is hear him out.’

By the time Wednesday night arrived, I had already cleaned the house, vacuumed the floor, served dinner, and changed from my school clothes, all before the hand on the clock had ticked towards six. Now that I was comfortable in my singlet top and blue jeans, I was ready for Thomas’s visit.

‘With a full belly, I could face any man and agree to them dating my daughter,’ Dad commented, patting his stomach after finishing his serving of beef casserole.

He could have said what he wanted but I could tell by the shadow of fear in his eyes, that no matter what he said, I was always going to be his precious little daughter – his Bright Eyes.

I had finished the last of the dishes and packed them away when there was a knock at the door. My breath caught in the back of my throat, teasing my heart into jumping along with it.

It was Dad who opened it. ‘Ah, you must be Thomas. Nice to finally meet you.’

‘Good evening, Mr Brown,’ Thomas answered. The relaxed tone in his voice settled my anxiousness, but my stomach still fluttered.

‘Come inside son, let’s chat.’

The front door closed and Dad breezed past the kitchen doorway with Thomas at his side. The familiar leather jacket that I had often seen him wear, was slung over his shoulder. Thomas stared at me with a self-assured sideways grin and a glint of determination in his green eyes. He stood there simply staring at me, soaking me in my entire being, until Dad’s hand landed on his shoulder. He broke his link with me and followed at Dad’s heels into the lounge room.

Just seeing his face instantly took my breath away and made me weak in the knees. As I paced a hole in the kitchen floor, I prayed for Mum’s guidance, hoping she would influence Dad’s decision – in the right direction.

Darkness was creeping in earlier and earlier and tonight was no different. I stood at the front window and watched the darkness fill the front garden, making it eerily uninviting. The sleek shape of Thomas’s bike, parked beside Dad’s car, was just visible through the smothering shadows.

‘Is it okay to see, Mel?’ Thomas asked, his voice still holding the fearless and charming tone. ‘I want to tell her the good news.’

‘Sure son, she’s straight through here,’ Dad stepped into the reassuring light of the kitchen and nodded at me. ‘I’ll just give you two a few minutes privacy, but ...’ he wiggled a finger at both of us, ‘no funny business.’ With a nod, he turned his back to us and headed into the lounge room.

Thomas’s eyes lit up again the second he caught sight of me standing in the kitchen. I was sure he could see the path I had worn into the floor ... I know I did.

‘Well, hello beautiful,’ he stepped towards me. Streaks of brown in his bleached-blonde hair glowed beneath the kitchen light. The very scent of him was alluring. ‘You know you are trouble, right?’

‘What?’ I stared at him awestruck. ‘I’m trouble? What did I do?’

Chuckling, with a smile that framed his face, he took my hand. ‘Yeah, you have got me in so much trouble back home. All I can think about is your smile and the way light dances through the green in your eyes. So, as I said ... you are trouble. My sister has invested in a pair of earmuffs, so she no longer has to deal with me bragging about you … And my brother, well he has threatened to block my calls in future.’

‘Oh, really ... are you serious?’ my body was beyond flushed now.

He kissed my hand. ‘That’s only half of it. My friends don’t know what’s got into me. They think you’re a witch, that you have bewitched my heart or something. In a way they are right, you have. It has been like that for a long time … You are in every thought and every dream ... I can’t drive you out of my mind. And I don’t want to.’

‘You know if you’re trying to charm me, you’ve won,’ I squeaked. ‘I didn’t realise you were so shameless.’

‘I’m shameless and you’re beautiful, we’re perfect together.’

My cheeks flushed to the point heat radiated off my skin. But it was instantly cooled by the sight of Dad looming in the doorway.

‘Yeah, my daughter is one of a kind,’ he agreed flatly.

‘Yes sir, Mr Brown…’ Thomas whipped around so fast that the air rushed between us. ‘I should get going, it’s getting late, and I promised my sister, Heather, I would be home before eight to help her move some stuff around. She has developed a severe case of spring cleaning…’ He turned back to me. We shared a gentle glance before and lent forward and kissed my cheek. ‘’Till we meet tomorrow, Mel, I will be counting every second.’

Outside, in the cool gentle ocean breeze flooding our beach house, Thomas stood there staring at me. Something I was starting to notice he did frequently, and I enjoyed it. In that brief moment, the sensation of déjà vu overtook me. It was like I had met him in another lifetime and we had somehow been through this before. Was such a thing possible? I had known of him and seen him around the school for over a year, and occasionally out in public… but that was all. I think. Or was it…?

‘It was nice to meet you, Mr Brown.’ Thomas shook Dad’s hand and then scooped up his helmet. ‘You have a lovely home, thank you for having me around.’

‘No worries, son.’ Dad replied. ‘Drive safe and we will see you soon.’

Winking at me, Thomas climbed on his lightning-gold and black motorbike and brought it to a roaring start. The motor vibrated through my chest.

Dad stood beside me with his hand hooked around my arm, beckoning me closer towards the house – being the protective person I knew he was. ‘Stand back Bright Eyes, I don’t want a rock to hit you … or dust to get in your eyes.’

‘It’s fine, Dad ... I’m fine.’ I brushed him off.

Thomas drove away, kicking up dust in his wake and leaving me in the lingering, unmistakable mixture of pine and leather. Just soaking in it left me fighting to stay upright. My eyes followed his distant shadow until he was down the road and out of sight.

‘Nice kid, but he better do the right thing, and treat my daughter like a princess … or he will see the ogre side of me.’ Dad slipped his hand from my shoulder. ‘And that side is not friendly.’

‘Yes, he is… and I hope he does too...’ I turned to him. ‘Your ogre side is something I never want to see.’

‘Exactly,” he kissed my head and then walked back into the house.

Following Dad into the kitchen, I found my head swimming. Thomas had blown in here like a soothing breeze, stolen my breath, charmed my Dad and when he left, he had taken my heart. The visit went better than I had expected. Was there anything he couldn’t do? It was like he was one of Mum’s mythical creatures and I had fallen into one of her books.