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I frowned, unsure of how to respond, and cleared my throat. ‘You don’t have to answer this, but is that true? Did you seduce him?’
He wasn’t the first older man she’d slept with, so her seducing him wouldn’t have been a surprise, but I didn’t know for sure.
‘No! It was one hundred percent a mutual agreement. We both were attracted to each other, and he was lonely …’ She trailed off, smiling to herself. ‘And I loved the thrill of it.’
The thought of her sleeping with a married man didn’t sit well in my gut and made it churn, but I nodded and waited for her to say more.
‘His main concern was keeping us a secret. He didn’t want anyone to find out we ever slept together. When he was talking to me out the back, he was looking around a lot, with his voice lowered. He looked really paranoid. I think I made him lose the plot tonight. I probably shouldn’t have even come in.’
Her usual sass had come back into her voice.Thank God.
I wanted to offer her more words of comfort, but I was just as exhausted as she was. ‘Well, anyway, it’s over now. It’ll be okay. We all bugger up from time to time. Just learn from this experience.’
She nodded. ‘Thanks so much, Naomi. I’m so relieved I’ve told you everything now.’ She smiled weakly, her eyes crinkling with tiredness. ‘Anyway, I’m going to hit the hay. I can’t think, and I just want to cry some more in bed – let it all out.’
‘Okay, take care, Deb. Goodnight.’
‘Love you, chicka.’ She leant in and kissed me on the cheek, and I stood up to give her a big hug. Then she walked to the fridge, grabbed her bottle of wine, and cradled it all the way to her room.
With more than a little relief, I made my way into my own bed. I crawled under the doona, sank my head into the pillow, and checked my phone. One text from Sebastian, and another from … my heart started pounding as I saw the name‘Daniel (Boss)’on the screen. I opened Daniel’s text first.
Daniel (Boss):Naomi, I was just playing around, you know this, right? It was a tough night and I was angry. See you tomorrow at eleven. Sleep well, Dan.
I shuddered at the casualness of his text message and didn’t reply.Was this man on drugs? What an absolute weirdo.
I opened Seb’s text in hopes of something sweet and comforting but was presented with a picture of his erect penis under fluorescent lights and a toilet behind him. How flattering. Underneath the image were the words:Miss you, you make me so hard, baby. Can’t wait to nail that silky pussy again.
What the hell, Seb? We have sex, and now you’re acting like the ultimate sleazebag, and instead of asking me how my day was, you present me with a picture of your penis and sex talk? Cheers. That’s just what I need right now.My head tossed and turned on my pillow as I tried to get into a comfortable position but couldn’t. The pillow felt deflated and uncomfortable; it fell to the floor as I sat up in haste to sigh and stretch out my arms to the ceiling. I reached for the pillow and chucked it back into place while I let everything from tonight sink in.
What an awful, awful night. Was all of this my fault? Did I somehow just attract rubbish behaviour from people? I was punctual every shift and did everything that Daniel asked of me. Without fail, I did what he asked, and maybe that was my problem? I was being too nice, and my niceness was being used against me. The same could apply to Seb.
I had sex with him, and now he thinks it’s okay to send penis pictures and jump straight into sex talk. I guess that quote ‘Give an inch and they’ll take a mile’ is utterly true, and that’s what is happening to me right now.
Usually, Deb and I spilled all our secrets to each other, but I couldn’t tell her what Daniel said to me earlier that night because I didn’t want to believe it to be true. His words repeated in my head:You need a good fuck – that’s what you need.I felt the disgust rising again and sank my fingernails into my palms for the second time tonight. Why do men always think that’s the answer to everything? As much as I hated to admit it to myself, my fears about sleeping with Seb had come true, and I regretted it. I shouldn’t have given in like that. The boundaries I had set were just thrown away like they didn’t matter, when they did. I rolled over and pictured my life as a knotted ball of string I hadn’t the first clue how to untangle, then before I could stop it, a little voice inside my head whispered:Maybe Daniel’s right after all, and you’re just a jobless little fool. I gritted my teeth, angry with myself.No.I will not let that poisonous effwit inside my head.
As empowering as it was to walk out on Daniel, working for him did pay my bills, and now I was jobless, which meant I’d have to live off my inheritance with no wage to replace what I spent.Oh no.I was going to go backwards. I felt my stomach sink as my mind raced in a marathon of panic. It was so hard to find a job, and I sure didn’t want to be a dishy.
Once I had calmed myself enough to shut my eyes and attempt sleep, my phone dinged, and with weary eyes, I glimpsed at the screen. My heart started booming as I saw a Facebook message from Patrick Vitello.What else could possibly happen today?
Patrick Vitello:Hello, Naomi, how are you? This might be a bit unexpected, but would you like to get a coffee?
What? This has to be some kind of joke. Am I on Punk’d right now? Why would Patrick Vitello, of all people, want to have coffee with me?I shook my head at the thought.That’s Daniel, inside my head, after all. Patrick had seemed like a nice guy. Not like the others.
Before I could contemplate it more deeply, in my half-asleep state, I responded:Hi Patrick, I’m well, thanks. Nice to hear from you, coffee sounds good.
He opened the message almost instantly, and I watched as the replying dots jumped up and down as he typed his answer.
Patrick Vitello:Glad to hear things are going well, I might have to order one of those sublime pizzas again. Everyone has been raving about them and now I feel my pizzas are inadequate lol.
I smiled at his response. He’d even used a couple of winky faces in there. Cute.
Me:Well, since you mentioned it, I quit Mon Amour tonight, so I won’t be able to make you a pizza there. I guess I’ll have to let you know where I’m working next and you can come try my food then.
Patrick Vitello:Well, I’m curious to hear more about that, how about coffee tomorrow morning, say 8?
I thought about responding:Wow, bit of an early bird, are we?But instead, I wrote:Sounds good. Where?
Patrick Vitello:Gerardo’s on the beach in Hastings Street.
