It's been a long wait between clumsy metaphors and terrible tropes - nearly two months - but here is the latest instalment of the only Bills and Moon romance novel set on the beautiful island...
Last time we left our heroine Larissa and our evil nasty brooding developer Nick, they weer having a private picnic on the sand at the West End. They're still there! They've been frozen in time, like a mosquito in amber before being discovered by Michael Crichton. The dab of mayonnaise on Nick's chin is still runny - not crusty - despite having been there for weeks...
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“And are you quite happy with your life at the moment?”
“Sure. This development in Parakeet Bay is a challenge, and will be the biggest thing I’ve done – although you would probably describe it differently,” he said, glancing at her.
“I probably would. Where are you going after Rottnest?” The mayonnaise was still there, and she wanted to reach across and wipe it off.
“There’s a project down in the south-west I’m half-interested in – I might put in a bid for it.” He smiled slightly. “Maybe by then you will have given up the ferry business and will be a full-time ecological demonstrator – we might meet again then.”
She didn’t respond. He suddenly levered himself up off the sand. “We should think about getting back.” He held out a hand to her. She took it, and he pulled her up in an easy motion.
“Or perhaps we might meet again – before then,” he continued in a calm voice.
She suddenly realised how close they were standing to each other. Their faces were only inches apart. The sun was shining in such a way that its beams picked out flecks of green in his dark eyes. She hadn’t noticed them before.
He was so close it suddenly seemed only natural for her to reach out and wipe the mayonnaise from his chin. She lifted her hand, but at the last instant changed her mind and pointed to the corresponding spot on her own face.
After a moment that seemed to last for an age he brushed his hand across his chin, and the mayonnaise was gone.
Then the moment was broken as he started collecting the remains of his meal. She did the same. As they walked back to the path that led up the rock he started talking about what he had seen earlier as he has ridden out here.
As she listened to his enthusiastic descriptions she felt vaguely disappointed. He had, she realised, wormed his way out of giving her much information about himself. That was hardly fair, considering he now knew so much about her.
They reached the top of the cliff. After their solitude on the beach, she was struck by the number of people poking around. The bike racks near the picnic buildings were full.
He walked with her to her bike – her stricken bike, she now remembered.
“How are you going to get back to Thomson Bay?” he asked, looking at her disabled pedals.
“I don’t fancy walking, that’s for sure,” she replied. “I suppose I’ll have to wait for the bus.”
He frowned. “When does that arrive?”
Not for a couple of hours, she knew, but she replied lightly, “It shouldn’t be too long – don’t worry about me.”
He strode to the bus stop to consult the timetable. “It doesn’t get here for two hours!”
His nosing around made her feel a bit peeved. “So I’ll wait. It’s not the end of the world. I can wander around, and…”
“ I have a better idea,” he said, walking back to her…
...Nick reached into his trouser pocket and after fumbling around pulled out something that made Larrisa gasp with astonishment. "Oh Nick, how wonderful. You've got a Mintie."
ReplyDelete"Yes darling, it's moments like these..." His voice faded as he popped his last Mintie into his mouth and blissfully began to chew."