Chapter 48
JADE
Jade could pinpoint the exact moment the touch paper caught light and the fireworks began to explode throughout her body.
She was making her way towards her rental car to head into town and pick up some groceries when, through the bedroom window, she spotted Kevin being helped to dress. Without warning, it was as if the floor had given way beneath her and she felt herself falling. She struggled to catch her breath and her body felt as light as a feather. She wasn’t sure when she landed. The only thing she could be certain of was that time had frozen and the only two people in the world who mattered were the two of them.
There had been times when they’d been around each other that she’d felt occasional jabs and twitches, but she hadn’t been certain what they meant. Now that she’d felt the full blast of it she knew exactly what they were, and thinking back she could see what was going on. It was as if as soon as she let down her guard and began living in the moment the sensations became more frequent. She also began to feel other unusual reactions around him. But this … well, this was something she had only ever read about.
As she watched them make their way out of Kevin’s room, through the house and into the courtyard, their eyes locked on to each other and she knew that she’d been hit by a lightning bolt. It had taken much longer than she had anticipated, but then again, they were in exceptional circumstances. But now a deeper connection had been made between them. It wasn’t just a crush, she wasn’t feeling sorry for him and it wasn’t because of Kevin’s illness. It was bigger than that, and wasn’t something that was going to burn out after he did. It was love in its purest form – and it scared her to death.
‘Are you OK?’ Kevin asked.
‘Of course,’ Jade replied. ‘Why?’
‘You’re looking a bit flushed.’
Jade smiled but found it hard to maintain eye contact. Because it was Kevin she was supposed to have fallen in love with, not the man who was escorting him: Mark.
Chapter 49
NICK
Everything Nick assumed he knew about love, from his first schoolboy crush on Britney Spears to Sally, the only woman he’d ever asked to marry him, was wrong. What he had felt for them, plus the numerous other girlfriends he’d dated over the years, was nothing compared to how he felt when he was in the presence of Alex.
Nick’s life might have been enviable to some. He lived with a woman he adored in an apartment with ever-growing equity, and had a job he loved, which was compatible with his creative ability. He had friends he enjoyed spending time with and parents and a brother who, although he didn’t see them too often, stayed in regular contact and were supportive of him. All in all, there was much to be grateful for.
It was only now, with Alex hovering in the periphery of his life – though arguably, also in the very centre of it – that he knew he’d simply been content. And with each moment spent in Alex’s company, Nick was aware that contentment was no longer enough to satisfy him.
In the days and weeks that followed their first meeting, their friendship escalated and they found each other’s company intoxicating. They grabbed every available opportunity to spend time together, from meeting forlunch to walking with each other to the tram station after work. They chatted like old friends about their schooldays, spent on opposite sides of the world, and the ambitions they had yet to fulfil. And at times, it was simply enough just to be with each other without needing to say a word.
Alex spoke candidly about his father’s battle with dementia and how his medication was keeping him on an even keel. However, his mother had warned it was a temporary measure and it wouldn’t be long before they’d lose him to the disease. And that was the very reason that their relationship was destined to remain temporary, because Alex and his girlfriend’s flights to New Zealand were booked for six weeks’ time.
Along with their girlfriends, Alex’s imminent departure was the second subject the two didn’t refer to often. Each time the elephant tried to barge its way back into the room, they’d fix another padlock to the door. And both of them could feel the hinges creaking under the elephant’s weight.
‘What the hell? How can you suddenly be a gay?’ Deepak exclaimed.
‘I’m not.’
‘Well, bisexual then.’
‘Again, I’m not and that’s the point and that’s why my head is screwed.’ Nick sighed and held his face in his hands as Deepak opened the top off yet another bottle of beer and handed it to him. ‘You can’t tell Sumaira any of this, by the way; you know what she’s like. She’ll be straight on to Sally and I’m not ready to have that conversation yet.’
‘Of course I won’t.’ Deepak reassured him. ‘I don’t tell her everything. But when you say “yet” do you mean you’re thinking of leaving Sal?’
‘What? No, of course not. We’re getting married in a few months, how can I?’
‘Mate, you can’t really marry her if your heart isn’t in it. You two won’t stand a cat in hell’s chance.’
‘But it is. I swear to God, I love that girl. It’s just that what Alex and I have is … different.’
‘Different how?’
‘You must know what I mean: you and Sumaira have been Matched, haven’t you?’
Deepak nodded, though there was something in his expression that didn’t reach his eyes.
‘It’s that feeling you don’t get when you’re around anyone else, like nobody in the world matters when you’re in their company. Like you and them are this one, solitary … thing … And no matter what crap the world throws at you, you can get through it because you have them on your side.’
