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The food was, in fact, well worth getting out of bed for, I mused as we finished our breakfast. A deal-breaker for me would’ve been hard eggs and soggy toast, but those eggs were perfectly cooked, and the toast was light, crispy, and had just enough butter, and the mushrooms were nicely sautéed with thyme and garlic.
As we went over to the register to pay, Sebastian beat me to it, pulling out his wallet first, but that didn’t stop me from pulling out mine too.
‘I’ve got this, baby. Put your purse back.’ He shooed my wallet away with his hand.
‘No, I’ll pay. It’s fine,’ I insisted.
‘Naomi, put your purse away, okay? I’m paying.’ He smiled at the lady and looked into his wallet stacked with fifty-dollar notes. He turned to me with a grin and said, ‘I had a huge pokie win with Billy last night. Don’t sweat it.’
He grinned at the lady again and watched as her eyes ogled the cash. Jesus, there would have been at least a few thousand in there.
‘How about I pay for myself and you pay for you?’ I raised my brows.
‘Naomi, I’ve got my money out right now, andI’mpaying. Okay?’ he snapped with squinted eyes. They were so squinted you could barely see the colour.
I allowed him to pay because I didn’t want to cause a scene, and it was becoming awkward; plus, we were holding up other people in the line.
We walked over to my car as my cheeks burned with embarrassment. My intention wasn’t to bicker over who paid. I just wanted to pay for myself. I didn’t see the harm in that.
‘Iampaying next time,’ I said as I jumped into the driver’s seat and slipped on my black, cat-eyed sunglasses.
‘No, Naomi. Iliketreating you. You’re money-better-spent than most of the other crap I blow my pay on,’ he asserted.
‘Uh … that’s nice and all, Seb, but I feel uncomfortable when you insist on paying for things.’ I looked at him over the top of my sunnies. ‘I have my own money, you know.’
He shifted in his seat and exhaled. ‘Naomi, I only see you every two weeks because of this job. I enjoy paying, and you earn nothing close to what I earn. Don’t worry about it. Once I’ve saved up enough, you won’t have to work at all.’
As he finished his sentence, it felt as though a missile pierced through my chest. Suddenly my head started to spin with thoughts about the instability of my job, but I didn’t want to focus on that. My job was the best I could do for now, and as long as I had some form of wage coming in, that was good enough.
‘Naomi, look at you. You’re fucking gorgeous and could be a curve model with your figure, with that mermaid hair and milky skin. Girls like you shouldn’t have to work. Leave that to the ugly women who can’t find a man to pay for them.’ His voice was filled with surprising passion.
I lost count of how many times I blinked at him, and then I stopped and stared, unable to speak.Does he realise how insulting his compliment was? Women working has nothing todo with looks. If anything, it is empowering to support yourself without the need for a man.
I thought hard about whether my inner feminist was going to strike at him, but I decided, no, being calm and understanding were the better options. In his mind, he was complimenting me, but he was degrading women who weren’t his idea of beauty in the process.
‘Seb, I can see our opinions differ on certain things, and that’s normal. No one agrees on absolutely everything, but if you want to compliment me, there’s no need to degrade other women. It doesn’t make your compliment any better.’ I gave him a half-smile.
Seb scoffed. ‘Sorry, baby.’
I knew if I were to go on further about how I felt, it wouldn’t register in his mind, so I decided a change of topic was my best choice.
‘Do you know the time?’ I pulled off my Doc Marten boots and chucked them on the back seat.
‘Half-past eight,’ he said while looking at his phone.
‘Alright. Would you like a lift home? Because I’m going straight to mine and most probably having a nap before work.’ I let out a laugh, and my heart warmed at the thought of diving back into my cosy bed.
‘No. I’ll get Billy to pick me up from yours because I want to go for another surf. I checked Coastal Watch and the waves were pumping earlier.’ His eyes were wide with thrill and adrenaline.
I nodded myokayand turned up the volume on my CD player. Def Leppard came pumping through the speakers. Seb played air guitar with his hands, and I sang along with the lyrics as I pulled out of the car park and flicked the right indicator. As I entered the roundabout, I glanced at the people in activewear who walked briskly along the footpaths with small pooches on leads in one hand and takeaway coffee in the other. The river glistenedand matched the colour of the blue sky. It was a picture-perfect Saturday morning, and judging by the amount of people posing on the river with selfie sticks in hand, Instagram fanatics felt the same.
The traffic was banked up, with everyone after their dose of weekend sun, so the trip home took around fifteen minutes.
Seb stayed until Billy picked him up at nine o’clock, and as he was leaving, he asked, ‘Can I see you again tonight, you gorgeous thing?’
‘Yes, I should be home by ten.’ I gave a small nod.
Work, without a doubt, always thieved my energy, but despite Seb’s random sleazy comments, a part of me wanted to give him a fair chance.
