The right things aren’t always the easiest.
“I’ll pick you both up tomorrow night at six.”
“Fine.”
It’s time Tane and I had a chat.
Chapter Six
Giselle
“I guess we aren’t going out tonight then,” he says quietly as I let him inside, wearing sweatpants and singlet top. I don’t miss the way his face drops.
“No we aren’t, but I did make us dinner. I thought we could stay in and talk,” I say. His expression lightens, and his shoulders relax slightly. I think that he thought I was going to tell him to leave. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
“Where’s Parker?” he asks me, his gaze darting around my living room.
“Parker is with Levi. Listen, we need to talk about something, okay?” I tell him, gesturing for him to take a seat. He sits, shifting on the seat as he waits for me to talk.
“Hold on I’ll pour some wine,” I say nervously, clearing my throat before I head to the kitchen, returning shortly with two glasses of red wine.
“I have beer too if you would prefer?” I ask him when he stares at the wine apprehensively.
“Water is fine, Giselle. I’ll get it,” he says, wandering into the kitchen.
I nod, and start to gulp down my glass, then his glass too.
“You’re making me nervous. What do you want to talk about?” he asks when he returns with a glass of water in his hand. He crosses his arms over his chest and studies me intently.
I need to just tell him. Get it over with. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.
I take a huge breath and then begin. “A few years ago you came to Perth to play at The Arena, do you remember?”
“Yes,” he says carefully, his eyebrows furrowing.
Here goes nothing.
“I was there that night.”
His eyes widen.
“What do you remember about that night?” I ask him.
He looks down and sinks his teeth into his bottom lip.
“It was pretty much like a usual gig,” he finally replies. “Sold out event. Afterwards I took a girl back to my hotel room. I remember thinking …”
“Thinking what?” I ask.
Suddenly he stands up. “Fuck, Giselle …”
The look in his eyes can only be described as haunted. “That was you that night.”
“What do you mean that was me? Do you remember, or are you pretending you don’t?” I ask, keeping my tone even.
He rubs the back of his neck nervously.
“We had sex. You bailed the next morning without so much as a word,” I say.
“Fuck,” he whispers, raw pain etched across his face. I watch as Tane turns his back to me, and buries both of his hands in his hair, pulling on the strands. He suddenly spins and stares at me with an intensity that makes me want to squirm.
*****
Tane
This has to be some sort of sick joke. That was her that night? I remember the night she’s talking about. I was fucked up on drugs and I took a girl back to my hotel room. The events are hazy, but we slept together. In the morning I remember looking at her and wondering … could it be her? She had changed, that’s for sure. But when she didn’t say anything and left without a word, I thought it sure as hell wasn’t her. Giselle wouldn’t have done that. She would have stayed, probably chewed me out and called me out on all my shit.
But it was her.
And I’m stupid for not realising it.
I can’t believe I did this to the one girl in my life that I love. The only one I’ve ever loved. Who I supposedly care for. What kind of fucked up person am I?
No. I’m not the person I was back then, but that doesn’t undo my actions, nor does it absolve my sins. The last time I was in Perth was about five years ago. The thought makes me stand still.
Parker.
I spin around and see the look on her face, on her beautiful face. She has features that would make an angel cry with jealousy. Pink, pouty lips with the deepest Cupid’s bow I have ever seen, wide, blue eyes framed in thick, feminine lashes and a button nose. Her chin has a slight dimple in it that I know she hates, but I can’t help but find adorable. I want to kiss it. But the look on her face is one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
It also answers the question that I know is lurking in my eyes right now.
Parker is my son.
I close my eyes as I picture her that night.
Ice-blue eyes.
What the fuck have I done?
“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” I ask, my voice a soft whisper. Why didn’t she stay? Talk to me? She didn’t say a single word. She just acted like all the other girls I’ve been with. I wince as the thought even crosses my mind.
Giselle is nothing like other girls.
“Well,” she says, staring at the floor, “I wanted to talk to you, but first you were on the phone, and then your mouth was on mine and I lost all coherent thought.”