Outside, the birds were twittering and the sky was metallic blue-grey, signalling another clear, sunny day. Toni seemed oblivious to the serenity. She sat stiffly in the passenger seat, fidgeting with her seatbelt as he drove the short distance to her parents’ house. He wanted to talk about last night but sensed it wasn’t the right time. He understood the need to keep their parents in the dark for now. Things between him and Toni were just starting to blossom, and they didn’t need the added complication of two sets of interfering and opinionated parents.
“Stop here.” Toni waved her hand at him as they turned the corner into her street.
He pulled over. “Why are you whispering?”
“I’m anxious. I’ve never done this before.”
No, Toni had never been the wild teenager sneaking back home at the crack of dawn. That was more his style. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I have experience.”
“Don’t I know it.” She gave him a wry smile.
They managed to creep across the street without bumping into any nosy neighbours. The Laus’ house was quiet, and everyone appeared to be still asleep. The dewy grass was damp underfoot as they tiptoed through the garden to Toni’s bedroom window.
She beckoned him closer, eyes wide with apprehension. “Quick, help me up.”
He wrapped his arms around her thighs and boosted her up. Grabbing hold of the window, she scrambled over the sill and landed back in her room with a dull thud. Her anxious face reappeared. “I hope they didn’t hear that.”
Too late he realised he should have kissed her one last time while they were still in the car. He’d missed his chance. This sneaking around would have to stop very soon or he was going to bust.
“Hey, thanks for bringing me home.” Smiling shyly, she reached her hand towards him, her cheeks growing warm. “And thank you for last night too. You were wonderful.”
His heart swelled. He pressed her fingers to his mouth, the smell of her skin invading his senses. There were so many thing he wanted to tell her, so little he could express right there. “I just remembered something,” he said. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks.” She grinned.
He held onto her hand, reluctant to let her go. “We’ll talk later,” he promised. He kissed her fingers a final time and watched as she withdrew her hand and closed the window.
As he trudged back to his SUV, the tiredness he’d held at bay came rolling back. On the journey home his eyelids began to droop, and he barely had enough energy to stumble into his bedroom and collapse onto his bed. The rumpled sheets smelled of Toni and roses and sugar. The evocative scent unravelled the last knots of pressure in his muscles. With a deep sigh he buried his head in the pillows. As he drifted off, a vague reminder nagged at the edges of his consciousness, but sleep was too irresistible, and without protest he slipped under.
Something was pounding on his brain. The noise hammered against his skull. Go away, he was too damn tired. The cacophony continued, bludgeoning away at his exhaustion until he had no choice but to open his eyes. Someone was at the door. Someone who was about to get a piece of his mind. Groaning, he hauled himself to his feet and shuffled half-blind to the front door.
Brilliant sunlight stabbed his face as he yanked the door open. “What?” he snarled. Through his bleariness he made out his father’s figure. “Dad? What’s up?”
Kai pushed past him. Dion blinked. His dad didn’t usually barge in like that. Then he saw his father’s livid expression, and his spine stiffened.
“You know what time it is?” Kai pushed up the sleeves of his thin nylon windcheater and waved his arms about.
“Uh, no.”
“Nine-thirty. Nine-thirty! All the good seafood gone now. Only lousy one left. What happened to you?”
Damn, damn, damn. He should have been at the fish co-op at seven to get his pick of the fish. The best seasonal produce, that’s what he’d promised his dad when he’d convinced him he could take over the restaurant, and that meant getting down to the co-op good and early.
“Dad, I’m really sorry. I must have overslept.” He’d meant to set his alarm clock, but last night he’d been too distracted with Toni to remember.
Kai’s face, already red to start with, slowly turned puce as he puffed out his cheeks. “You look like hobo, so messy.” His raking glare brought Dion’s attention to his crumpled clothes and mussed up hair. Could his dad tell what he’d been up to? Involuntarily he took a step back. Kai’s eyes narrowed. “Why you oversleep? What you do last night?” His teeth clicked together with the grinding of his jaw. “Drugs. You smoking your drugs again. Aiya, what am I going to do with you?” He clutched his grey hair, his eyes wild.
At his father’s anguished despair Dion’s heart plummeted. “No, I’m not smoking anything! Dad, you’ve got to believe me.”
Kai didn’t appear to have heard him. “Your mother find out you break her heart. How can you do this to me? Waah! You let me down again!”
Dion grabbed hold of his father’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Dad. For the last time I’m not doing drugs. I overslept, that’s all. Nothing more.”
“Nothing? It’s not nothing.” Kai shook him off, his grim expression returning. “You not responsible enough to run our restaurant.”
Dion curled his hand into a fist. “And you don’t trust me enough. What were you doing at the fish market, huh? Checking up on me, again! How can I succeed on my own if you’re always breathing down my neck?”
“You think I just let you ruin everything?” His father gestured furiously. “We work so hard building up business, now you throw it all away just because you too lazy to get up on time.”
Something in him snapped. “Christ, Dad, it’s just one bloody morning. Give me a fucking break.”
This time he thought his father really was going to explode. Veins bulged out of Shen’s neck as his face turned a thunderous black. “You dare speak to me like that, my own son. You think you all grown up, but I’m still your father. You owe me your full respect.”
He knew he’d gone too far. Swallowing his pride and anger, Dion lowered his head. “Sorry, Father. I didn’t mean to disrespect you,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry I overslept. I’ll run down to the fish market right away.”
His father’s cutting black eyes swept over him, filled with fury and disappointment. “No need,” he icily replied. “I already bought fish and left it at the restaurant. You can decide what to do with it.” He turned to leave, then added over his shoulder. “I hope you don’t let me down again.”
Only when his dad had left did Dion realise his locked jaw was aching and the muscles in his back were strained to breaking point. All the arguments he’d bitten back boiled to the fore. He slammed his fist against the wall. How typical of his dad to instantly think the worst of him just because of one slip-up. How little faith he had in him. All those years of slaving in the kitchen, following other people’s orders, just to prove to Kai he was up to the task, that he knew the business of running a restaurant inside out. Dion had thought he had won his dad’s confidence but in reality Kai was sure he’d mess up. Was waiting to catch him out in any way possible.
Fuming, he marched back to the bedroom. The reminders of last night seemed to mock him now. The rose petals were wilted, the candles a waxy mess, the bed linen grubby, the lollies sticky. He ripped off the sheets. He strode to the laundry and stuffed the sheets into the washing machine, then stripped off his T-shirt and boxers and threw them in. He tossed out laundry powder, set the program, and slammed the lid.
Would he ever get his life in order?
The last time Toni had visited a day spa was just before her ill-fated wedding, when she’d gone with her bridesmaids, all determined to look their best on the big day. This time she was with her mother. The visit to Newcastle’s finest day spa was a birthday present from her parents. The plan was for her mother and her to spend a few hours beautifying themselves while her dad looked at new golf clubs, after which they would all meet for lunch at the antiques centre by the waterfront. Pearl had never been to a spa before, but rather than savouring the novelty, she was more concerned about Toni having the best facial available.
“You have a job interview on Wednesday,” she said as she scanned the treatments on offer. “You need to look your best. How about the gingko treatment for your eyes? You have bags under your eyes.”
“Gee, thanks for pointing that out to me,” Toni replied, covering her mouth as another yawn threatened. Not surprising she had bags under her eyes after the night she’d enjoyed in Dion’s bed. After climbing back into her own bed, she’d barely snatched a couple of hours’ rest before her mother was shaking her awake, telling her to get up for their day out.
Pearl turned to the beautician attending them. “My daughter need the gingko treatment. And manicure too. Her nails look too bad.” She leaned towards Toni, nodding happily. “This is fun, no?”
It was fun to hang out with her mum, Toni mused as they changed into white robes and slippers. Perhaps she could confide in her about Dion. Not about last night – her mother disapproved of premarital sex – but perhaps she could hint that she and Dion were developing a … Well, what exactly were they developing? She didn’t know because they hadn’t talked much about it. They should have, she realised now, before they’d jumped into bed so precipitously. Hmm, no, it wasn’t a good idea to tell her mother, not before she’d spoken to Dion first.