Half Of Rhea

The Man

This stranger made himself at home in her booth. She watched him as he ordered another drink for the both of them, with quiet, humble, perfect manners. There was nothing demanding or bold in his tone, which made her curious. She hadn't expected him to have a soft countenance because of his handsome ruggedness and tattoos. It surprised Rhea and it created an alluring physical presence. The alcohol had given her a boldness she never usually exuded and she stared straight at him, taking in all of his features, without looking away. He c****d his head to one side as he stared back at her.

"Like what you see?"

"You've definitely piqued my curiosity." she replied slowly, frowning slightly as she picked up her fresh glass of Pinot.

"As did you, when you were caught by Daniel checking me out." He smiled and sipped his drink.

She coughed and some of the wine in her mouth flew out. She was obviously surprised and taken aback by his boldness.

"I was not checking you out!" She managed to splutter out embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed and she lost that cool, aloof persona she was trying to maintain. Her tongue came out and swiped the drink off her top lip, as she bit her bottom lip feeling like a teenager, caught staring at her crush. She looked down, damn it where was Sage's sass when she needed it. A hand reached across the table and lightly grabbed her chin, softly and delicately, a thumb wiped the remaining wine off her top lip. His hand remained on her face and she could feel his eyes looking at her. His hand slightly lifted her chin upwards and her bright aquamarine eyes met his sparkling blue ones.

"You're incredibly beautiful and even more so when you are embarrassed. Trust me when I say, I was flattered you even looked in my direction. What's your name?"

She hesitated, it felt too intimate, "Rhea." It came out softer and quieter then what she had intended.

"Hi Rhea," he almost whispered it back to her, "I'm Slade." He retracted his hand slowly, but maintained the eye contact.

Rhea started looking around, trying to ignore the obvious attraction between the two of them. She started to feel guilty, even though Zane was an asshole, she was definitely no cheat. 

"I have a boyfriend." She randomly blurted out, feeling ridiculous. There was a silent pause and a flash of disappointment could be seen in Slade's eyes.

"Then he is a very lucky man." He said sitting back further in his seat, increasing the distance between them. It made Rhea feel funny. A mixture of confusion and sadness. She shouldn't be feeling this way towards this complete stranger but she just couldn't help it. It must be the alcohol, she thought to herself.

"Yeah she does have a boyfriend, but he's a f*****g prick!" A loud voice came from behind her and she turned to see Sage standing there. Arms crossed, taking in the current scene. Rhea felt a bit ashamed and looked down again.

"Looks like you didn't even miss me," she joked. Her left eyebrow arched as she looked at Rhea with suspicion and what looked like a little bit of admiration? 

"You took so long, I had to find some company." Rhea glanced at her friend, Sage smiled at her and nodded.

"I chucked a cheeky 60 in the machines my mate, on my way back from the ladies, they were calling out to me, and I won more!" she waved around a wad of cash and giggled as she looked at the two of them sitting down. 

"Thanks for keeping my girl company." Sage said more seriously, turning towards Slade.

"It's been my pleasure, why don't you sit and have a drink with us, next round must be on you lady luck?" 

"Yeah go on then ya charmer! order us another." Her lips smiled but her eyes stayed suspicious.

Rhea could tell Sage was trying to determine his motives and character. She was always protective of her. Sometimes too protective, she would warn any half-drunk man or egotistical fool, 'that her mate Rhea had been through enough s**t, and she didn't need anymore drama!'

The man who had been with Slade earlier, then strolled across the room, leaving behind the pool table, and sat down next to him, with a huge grin on his face.

"I see this bastard built up the courage to come and speak to you," he laughed and held out his hand to shake Rhea's. "I'm Daniel."

"Rhea.... And this is my mate Sage" she giggled and shook his hand then, gestured towards her friend, who stayed standing, leaning on the booth next to Rhea. 

"I wouldn't shake that hand Rhea, you don't know what this dodgy fucker has been touching."

"Hey hey hey.... You're the ex-crim, not me!" Daniel joked back with Slade, and he got a slap on the back of the head for it. He rubbed the back of his own head, with a shocked expression, making out he had just received a horrendous injury. Daniel seemed like a cheeky version of Slade. A slightly shorter, younger man, who still had too much enthusiasm for life.

"f*****g i***t" Slade laughed, and Rhea could clearly see the brotherly affection they had for one another.

With the extra people joining them, the atmosphere became less tense, but Rhea couldn't help her eyes being drawn back to Slade. Every time she chanced a glimpse at him, he was staring at her. It felt like no matter who was talking, his attention was on her face only. It was thrilling and she couldn't remember the last time she had been looked at with so much affection or was it lust? she had been out of the game for so long, the only thing she knew for certain, was that she was definitely confused.

She looked at her phone and realised it was after lunch, they had been there for a few hours already. 

"Well as great as this has been, unfortunately we have to go." She didn't want to leave but they still had s**t to do.

"She's right... it is unfortunate." Sage looked back at the gaming lounge, sighing.

"No more pokies my friend, today you walk away a winner!"

Rhea stood up to start gathering her stuff. Forcing Sage to stand and they headed towards the cash register to pay. A waitress behind the bar looked at them a little confused, when they said they were wanting the bill for their table.

"Um sorry the gentleman who was sitting at the table with you, has already taken care of the bill."

Rhea turned towards the booth and Slade got up, walking towards them. 

"Thank you, you didn't have to do that." Rhea felt even more guilty, as he came within an arms length of her.

"Thank you for keeping us company." He said standing so close to her, she could smell his cologne, she inhaled louder then she intended to. He looked down at her and took her phone out of her hand and started tapping away on it. She didn't know what he was doing but then his phone started ringing. 

"Now you have my number, you know, for if you ever want to catch up for another morning drink." He said with a boyish grin, that made her lips twitch upwards in response.

 He winked at her, and then leaned down slowly and kissed her on the cheek. She held her breath and her hand went to the side of his face, holding him in place. Her fingers brushed his beard and his hand went to the small of her back. He withdrew his lips from her cheek slowly, and they were barely centimetres apart, staring intently at each other. They had completely forgotten about Sage and Daniel, until a loud sound interrupted them.

"Ooooooooooooh you guys are soooo cute." Daniel pouted, batting his eyelashes towards them, sounding like a prepubescent girl.

He got another smack on the back of his head, this time from Sage. Slade laughed and the two men strolled off, out of the bar, giving each other s**t.

"Well that was interesting" Sage said staring at Rhea.

"Oh my god. I know. s**t s**t shit." Rhea started hyper ventilating and panic started invading her senses, as the realisation hit. 

"Zane's going to kill me."

Sage grabbed Rhea by her shoulders and pulled her into a tight embrace. "You did nothing wrong mate, you had a good time, a few drinks with me and had an innocent chat with a man. The rest doesn't f*****g matter and I'm not gunna say anything."

"Okay"..... Rhea felt hardly convinced of two things. The first, that she did nothing wrong, and the second, that it was an innocent interaction with Slade. The electricity she felt with him, was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. His gentleness combined with his huge size, had left an everlasting impression on her.

"I knew that dress was beautiful, I didn't realise we could use it to get free food and drinks from handsome men though!" Sage cracked up laughing.... "I should have made Ma give it to you ages ago." 

"You're a d**k".... Rhea laughed and they walked arm in arm, back to the car. The topic of conversation consisted of one thing and one thing only. The handsome man, who had stolen Rhea's attention and put a spark back in her life.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a haze, they picked up groceries, kids, went to the doctors and the pharmacy. Rhea floated through the day, like she was on a cloud. She kept saying it was the buzz from the alcohol, but Sage knew it was the interaction with the handsome Mr Slade, that kept the smile on Rhea's face.

They pulled up to her house and Rhea sobered up real quick. Her heart rate increased as she saw the dented Nissan Primera in the driveway. 

"Damn Sage, I should have got changed out of this dress before I got home."

"Don't be ridiculous you look beautiful. Come on lets get this boy and all your stuff inside."

"You're coming in too?" she asked hopefully.

"Course I am.... I know what this prick is like."

Rhea felt calmer at the thought of not having to go in there by herself. She grabbed the sleeping Laken, out of the van and his Kindy stuff, while Sage took the groceries. They went in through the back door, as Zane came storming through from the lounge.

"Where the f**k have you been!?"

"I told you we had a busy day, don't start on me when I've just walked in the door. I'm going to put this boy down in his room." She maintained a stoic and poised stance, walking past him with no hesitation.

Sage followed into the kitchen putting the groceries down. She glared at Zane, "Don't be a d**k man, I had to pick this woman up on the side of the road, where you left her."

"Her own fault and stay the f**k out of this Sage." 

Rhea walked back into the kitchen shutting the door behind her, so Laken wouldn't wake up. 

"What the f**k are you wearing?" There was enough anger in his voice, that it broke and trembled. He hadn't noticed the dress when she was carrying Laken, but now it was in full view. He glared at her and the dress, looking absolutely disgusted in her appearance. Rhea sighed and looked down, how differently she had been treated only a couple of hours ago.

"Chill the f**k out Zane, Ma got it for her, it was a hot f*****g day and she was dressed like it was the middle of f*****g winter."

"I told you to stay out of this Sage!" He yelled.

"f**k off, you might boss her around, but like hell you're gunna talk to me like that!"

He scowled and knew that with Sage there supporting Rhea, he wasn't going to get the answers he wanted from her.

"Fine!" he walked out of the kitchen. Rhea sat down on the kitchen stool, overcome with an emotion. It wasn't the despair and anguish she usually felt in these situations, there was only a quiet determination. She wasn't sure if she had extra courage from the day or if this dress was magical but she felt more sure of herself.

"You want me to stay to keep an eye on things mate?"

"I'll be fine Sagey... You get back to those beautiful babies of yours." She pulled Sage in for the tightest hug she had ever given her. "Thank you for the most amazing day my friend!"

"Anytime babe."

Rhea waved her off from the back door as she pulled out of the driveway. She knew that Zane hadn't finished his interrogation. She went and made herself a coffee and started unpacking the groceries. There was a noise behind her but she didn't turn around.

"So where did you go today looking like a slut?" So much venom was laced with his words. She could feel his anger rolling off him in waves. Her heart beat increased as did her boldness. She was not going to be made, to feel terrible for wearing a beautiful dress.

"I told you before I left, what we had to do. You can draw your own conclusions." She kept her head low not turning around and continued unpacking the food.

"I want to make sure they were the only places you went to."

"If you wanted to ensure the locations I visited, you shouldn't have driven like a maniac and kicked me out of the car."

He rushed behind her so quickly she had no time to react. He yanked her ponytail backwards, as the tomato sauce can she was holding, came flying out of her grasp. She landed hard and awkward on her back, the force pulled her to the ground so fast and unexpectedly that she couldn't even put her hands down to brace for the impact. She looked up at him in complete shock. There was pain in her neck and back from hitting the ground hard. She was so stunned, she couldn't move and just lay there, frozen and petrified.

"Don't use your fancy words on me, you fat b***h. You are out in town, looking like a cheap w***e, embarrassing not just yourself, but me too!"

Rhea lay there and said nothing, tears streaming down her face. He gripped her chin hard, with so much strength she could feel bruises forming under her skin, the pressure intensifying against her gums and teeth.

"I'm not finished with you yet." He looked down at her, his eyes filled with blackness, a sneer on his face. He released her, turned away and left the room, Rhea didn't move. She just lay there sobbing, completely heartbroken.