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“So, you don’t want him to continue like this forever, you just want him to wait?”
“Yes.” She nodded, affirming her answer.
“That’s good to hear. When will he leave?”
“Changing jobs in the final term of the year also isn’t fair to King or his students. Leaving would upset him. He’s made such an incredible contribution to the community. I don’t even want him to have to walk away from it.”
“I get that, but if he doesn’t leave, you’ll remain a secret.” It wasn’t a question, but her mum raised her eyebrow, waiting for Adelaide’s response. She shrugged. The choice sucked. “No, don’t do that. You said that you’re both all in, but you want him to wait because it’s too soon. But given there’s the summer holidays coming up, wouldn’t he need to look for a job now?”
“Maybe,” she conceded, not wanting to admit both her mum and King were right. Maybe it was fear talking. Maybe it was itchy feet. That was her sticking point.
She didn’t want to change who she was for anyone, but at the same time she wanted more for herself. Keeping her relationship with King secret was only one part of it. Her restlessness wasn’t going away even as her relationship blossomed—she needed more. She wanted to change things up, and a possible career path was unfurling itself before her. Would it make things easier with King? Absolutely not, especially in the short term. But did that mean she shouldn’t pursue it at all? Or wait? She didn’t have the answers, and they were what was holding her back.
Adelaide snapped back to the conversation when her mum nudged her, refilling their glasses with iced water. “There’s something else bothering you. What is it?”
She looked at her mum and gratitude for their being so close swelled within. “Could I maybe get your advice on something else?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, well, um… I’m thinking about going back to school. The thing is, it could make things worse between King and me, and I don’t know whether that should stop me or not.”
Mum placed her glass on the coaster, aligning it perfectly with the timber grain on the table and waited for Adelaide to continue. “I’m getting comments on my videos saying that I’m helping people, and a little while ago I spoke with some clients who I was selling toys to. Sitting in their lounge room, I was looking at the photos on their wall and listening to the two of them talk. The man was struggling with his sexuality. He’d fallen in love with his best friend, and it was killing him to keep denying it to himself.”
“Oh no,” Mum replied, wincing.
“No, it wasn’t just him. The photos all around their house were of the three of them together—my two clients and their best friend—and the way his girlfriend looked at their best friend in the photos made it obvious she was in love with him too. I didn’t do much except encourage them to have the conversation. But I walked out of there riding a high knowing that I might have brought them together.”
“Or broken them all up,” Mum mumbled.
“Hush,” Adelaide scolded with a playful flick of her wrist.
“How did it turn out?”
“They’ve been together for a year or so now and they’re ridiculously in love and happy. I want to do more of that, you know?” Adelaide turned in her seat, tucking her foot under her leg.
“Play cupid? Like dating agency stuff?” her mum asked with a tilt to her head. “Or more along the lines of counselling?”
“More like counselling, but sexuality and sexual education focussed rather than emotional or trauma stuff. But I guess both would play a big part when it comes to sex for lots of people.” Mum nodded, agreeing with Adelaide’s conclusion, and she hurried to continue, wanting to lay it all out. “I’ve found a course to become a somatic sex educator. It’ll take me about a year to complete and what really attracted me to it was the supervised hands-on client work that’s included as part of the course. It’s not just classroom teaching.”
“Okay, somatic as in the body rather than the mind. I suppose that pushes you out of the counselling only sphere and into a more hands-on role.”
Her mum’s nursing experience was exactly why she’d needed to speak with her first. Knowing that she understood it would be focussed on the body rather than the mind—and there would be an element of touching—was important. Adelaide needed her opinion and her advice on whether it would be a bad or good idea.
“I think that if you’re moving into a role with that focus on touch, incorporating the client work into the course is essential. The sex education will allow you to take what you’re trying to do with your toy business and Patreon up a few steps too.” Mum nodded thoughtfully, and slowly smiled, her lips widening in a proud-as-punch grin. “I love the idea. I think it’s the perfect progression for you. It’s the most thoughtful and passionate I’ve seen you about a possible career move since you started up your Patreon too.”
They spoke about the course specifics, her mum looking more impressed as they went on. “You’ve always had such a curiosity about the human body. When Eli had his eyes glued to fantasy and mystery books, you were reading up on the body. The course will give you an accreditation to practice, and there aren’t any qualified practitioners here on the Coast, so there’s at least a geographical market for you. I say go for it.”
“But what about King?”
Her mum sighed, a mixture of sympathy and frustration in her tone. “My reaction as your mum is to say ‘what about King?’ You furthering your education and pursuing a possible career path shouldn’t be impacted by him, but I understand what you’re asking.” She paused, adjusting her necklace to make sure the pendant sat perfectly centred. It was her mum’s tell—she’d be a hopeless poker player—but Adelaide was stumped. She had no idea what her mum would say. “King said he’d find another job. Trust him to do it. You’re the one insisting he keep your relationship secret, not him. You’re the one telling him to wait. Let him look for a job. Once he’s out of there, there’s no problem.”
Adelaide swallowed, voicing her fear for the first time. “What if he can’t find another one?”
Her mum hummed and nodded slowly, as if by asking that one question she’d revealed her deepest darkest secret. Maybe Adelaide had. "The course could work in your favour. At the moment, you sell sex toys. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with having sex for enjoyment, the traditional churches preach otherwise.”
“The videos you produce give your brand a bit more depth than simply being toys sold for enjoyment, but King’s school would never see them. They would presume the worst. But say you do this course. You’ll be qualified. You’ll be recognized as a practitioner of an uncommon, but legitimate field. You’ll be teaching people.”
“Yeah, but teaching them what? They’d consider it to be immoral.”
