“Luca!” Mum chided, swishing the tea towel at me.
“Sorry, Mum.”
“You okay, son?” Dad asked.
Chapter Fourteen – Elise
Waking up to a good morning text from Luca was certainly unexpected, but it put a smile on my face. A smile I couldn’t remember ever having before coffee. When at the eleven o’clock recess break I was still smiling, Trish began the interrogation on me, while I stuffed hunks of my triple-chocolate muffin in my mouth.
“Someone got up on the right side of the bed this morning,” she commented, sipping her tea.
“Or got out of the right bed, huh, Elise?” Corey added, dulling the infectious happy feeling deep in my gut.
“It’s just a great day,” I dodged as I popped the last piece in my mouth and dusted my hands on my thighs.
“Sure.”
When my alarm sounded, five minutes before the bell was due to ring, I dashed to the bathroom before heading back down the corridor towards my classroom, stopping by the front office to collect a bundle of things and say hi to the ladies there. Kathryn, Marnie, and Margaret were formidable, but man did they get shit done. I was smart enough to stay on their good side, but I’d seen them unleash when someone didn’t. If a simple g’day and the occasional box of chocolates helped smooth the way, then it was an investment I was more than willing to make.
The rest of the day couldn’t come fast enough. Somehow, I’d managed to convince Jax to slightly modify Taco Tuesday to be Tight-Arse Tuesday. Instead of going out and spending more than we should on tacos and margaritas, we were doing scrambled eggs on toast, and Jax was bringing a bottle of wine someone had given him.
Hurrying home, I tidied up, changed into my yoga pants and sweatshirt, and got all my adulting done. I was still cranky at myself for wasting my Sunday, so I was on a mission to catch up. After folding the never-ending mountain of laundry piled on the couch, I unpacked the dishwasher and wiped down the counters. Blasting my favourite boy band playlist, I bounced around picking up and cleaning, even to the point I dusted the windowsills. Then my phone rang.
Without looking at the caller ID, I answered. “Bitch! Get your skanky arse over here. I’m so fucking bored I’m dusting.”
“Skanky arse?” A deep amused voice chuckled.
“Fuck! Shit! Oh my god!” I dropped my phone, sending it clattering to the floor. Bending over to pick it up, my suddenly very sweaty hands struggled to get a decent grip. By the time I lifted it to my ear, I was burning with embarrassment.
“Elise? Elise, are you there?”
“Shit!” Coughing down my humiliation, I tried to pretend I wasn’t the complete loser I felt like. “Hi!”
“Hi.”
“Luca?”
“Ah, yeah. Were you expecting someone else?”
Well duh! Did he really think I answered the phone calling everyone skanky? “I ah, I thought you might be Jax ringing to tell me he was running late. He’s on his way over.”
“Oh.”
I wanted to read deeper into his ‘oh’. It didn’t sound right. “We get together every Tuesday just to check in. Usually it’s tacos and margaritas, but I wasn’t really up to it tonight so we’re just staying in.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Usually it’s just Jax picking on me about wearing the wrong thing or reminding me that wearing my hair in a ponytail all the time isn’t sexy. Actually, I don’t even know why we’re friends.”
“You love it.”
“I guess I kinda do.”
“Well then, I better let you get back to your dusting...”
“Oh, okay.” Now it was my turn to sound disappointed. The thought crossed my mind to invite Luca to join us, but I really needed a night of girl talk before I saw him again. “Well, have a good night then.”
“You too, Elise. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
