Who Am I (A Jai Courtney Fanfic) Book 2

Chapter 39-Meg

Meg

Jai and I make breakfast together on Saturday morning. Then we clean up and make the two dishes I wanted to bring. He helps me and I coax him into trying cookie dough—something he says he's never had fresh before. We lounge around the kitchen while they bake and I can't help but tell him I read the article last night.
"I don't want to keep any secrets from you," I admit. "I don't know what his intentions are, but I honestly don't care. I'll forgive him for his past behavior and it really was nice that he wrote that article. I think it's probably the first time he's ever paid me a compliment. And for someone who was extremely private, it does mean something to me. But the truth is I don't love him—not in that way, anyway. I love all people because God calls me to. But that doesn't mean I'm in love with him. I would never go back to him. Because I'm in love with you. And I want what we have to last forever," I tell him.
He looks really touched and he reaches out and holds me. The oven beeps and I try to escape his grasp.
"Jai... the oven," I tell him when he won't let go.
"Just another minute," he insists.
"Crispy cookies it is," I grin and let him hold me a little bit longer while the oven continues to chime in the background. He does release me eventually and I take them out. They don't look overdone at all, actually. I put them on a cooling rack. We have warm cookies and milk and I think he does like them. Once everything is finished, we pack it all up for now and decide to head out for lunch along with a photo shoot downtown. We stop and get sangers and chips—regular ones, not hot chips. Then we tour downtown. I take several pictures and even show Jai how to. He does seem a bit interested so I teach him all about film speed, along with aperture and shutter speed—the manual camera settings and the meanings behind them. I explain depth of field and then show him the differences through the viewfinder—how the aperture relates to the focal range. He smiles at me and tells me he didn't know all of this.  I even show him how I set up the frames—the composition. I'm not the type to center the subject—that's more for snapshots and portraiture, not art. Generally everything is off-center but balanced. I use different cameras setting up color, black and white, and infrared... depending on where we are and the subject matter. I use my tripod sometimes, and others not. I have a varied range of pictures I'm taking. But I didn't bring any of my birthday film for two reasons. One, I didn't want it to be exposed at the airport. And two, I honestly need to get some books on how to shoot it, process it, and then I need to practice with trial and error. I figure that when things settle down, I'll work at it.
Jai and I stroll through parts of downtown together. As I'm taking a picture, I notice he steps away. He tells me he'll be right back and not to worry since it's safe and lots of people are around. I take my extended exposure in the shade of a building with several people streaking through the frame. I hope it turns out well. But a thought occurs to me—I may have to buy myself some equipment. I'll need an enlarger and a few other things. I think on where I could even set it up and I'm drawing a blank. It'll probably have to be at home for me.  Maybe I should rent a studio or an apartment, a small house even.
Jai returns back with his hands in his pockets a few moments later. "Where'd you go?" I ask.
"I just popped into a shop down there for a minute. I dropped something off and I'll come back another time to pick it up," he shrugs.
"Okay," I grin.
He smiles in return.
"We should probably head back soon if you want to make it," he suggests.
"Alright," I nod picking up my gear.
We drive back to his house. 
"What's the dress code?" I ask grinning. 
"Thongs," he tells me.  I laugh at that.
"Will there be a pool?" I inquire. 
"We could bring our bathers," he nods. 
"Is what I'm wearing okay?" I inquire.  "I'll have to upgrade my tennis shoes for thongs, though."
He chuckles at that and nods grinning. 
He kisses me when he parks in his garage and we climb out.  I pack a bag and take my shoes and socks off before I slip my flip flops on.  I grab my things and help him carry the food. 
"We didn't need to bring any meat or anything, did we?" I ask him. 
"I already had that sent over," he tells me.  I smile and kiss his cheek.  We load up our things and he opens my car door for me. 
We drive through to a different area of the city—a different section of suburbs, I suppose.  The house is nice—kind of in between his and his parents' size and style.  It's somewhat modern but not quite the taste of his—more of an upper middle class kind of feel, I guess.  We pull into a driveway and I don't know why I start to get nervous.  I guess I've always had trouble making new friends and this will be a lot of his at once. 
I hover around the car and he places a hand at my waist escorting me to the backyard.  I can already smell that someone is grilling meat on the barbecue.  There are several people currently here even though we're right on time.  Some people wave to Jai and he nods in acknowledgment as we walk to a side gate.  He opens it and steps in. 
"Jai!" someone shouts.  It's a man with shaggy blonde hair. He's rather built but not as much so as Jai. As he gets closer, his green eyes land on me and he stops short. "You brought her?" he says disbelievingly and I get a little self-conscious.
"Lucky me," Jai says beside me and I turn to him. He's got probably the biggest smile on his face that I've seen.
"It's good to see ya, mate. I didn't even know you'd gone until my mum came over and told me," he says rubbing the back of his head. He hugs Jai and they pat each other's back.
"Yeah. I went back to American for her. Anyway... Megan, this is Damo. Damo, Megan. We've been mates since primary school," Jai introduces us. I reach out my hand to shake his but he goes in for a hug. "Don't be forgetting she's mine," Jai adds.
"Yeah," Damo says backing off. He rubs his head again. "I figured. My mum won't let me forget."
Jai laughs in surprise. "What happened with your mum?" he asks.
"Johnno told his mum what I said, who told yer mum and then my mum. She slapped me," he explains still rubbing his head.
"Good. You deserved it," Jai chuckles.
"Yeah, I must've had too many," he admits. "Sorry about that."
"No worries," Jai tells him.
"So, how'd all this happen?" he questions.
"I have a feeling you won't be the only one asking," Jai responds.
He agrees so we step in and meet a few people. I'm already struggling with the names and accents. They all seem friendly, though, but really interested in Jai.
We walk straight up to a man at the barbecue. He's got a slim build but still strong with dark hair. He sees us coming and laughs stepping aside. I notice his dark brown eyes land on me and his smile widens.
"Hey, how are you?" he says to Jai hugging him.
"Good, how are you?" he replies.
"Good. So you brought her, I see," he says acknowledging me.
"I did," Jai smiles looking back at me. "Love, this is Johnno. Johnno, this is Megan."
"It's nice to meet you," he says shaking my hand and smiling.
"The same here," I reply grinning. There's just something about this one of his friends, as if he's more genuine—a close friend of Jai's. I recall him mentioning Johnno and Damo before and remember they're his best mates.
"Dar is inside in the kitchen. She's been looking forward to meeting you," Johnno tells me.
I look up to the house.
"You can go ahead, love. Trade me, will ya?" Jai says taking the plate of cookies out of my hands and giving me the potato salad. He kisses my cheek and whispers. "Darlene. She'll be up the stairs inside."
"Alright," I say with a confidence I don't have. He kisses me again and I turn around. I see a few people notice us together but I walk to the house and climb the staircase to the upper balcony. There's a lower patio where lots of people are seated and even more around the pool. I climb to the top of the staircase and notice there's even more people seated up here. My entrance has caught their attention.
"Hey, how are you?" one of the men says smiling at me. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes that look over me and make me feel apprehensive around him. 
"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" I respond.
"You're American?" he says in surprise.
"Yes," I nod.
"Welcome," he grins wider.
"Thank you," I try to force a smile but I feel a little uncomfortable without Jai. They seem friendly but... I'm more at ease with him. "I'm going to take this inside. It was very nice to meet you."
"Same here, love. Come back soon," he says.
I smile and turn around. I get the impression that he's attracted to me.
I open the sliding glass door and see someone in the modern-looking kitchen. She's checking on something in her oven. Her taste is very much like my mom's—her home could be featured in a magazine or home show. I notice she has bleached hair, although her roots are light and I can see her sparkling blue eyes.  I actually love the color of her hair. She's tall and thin and quite lovely.
"Are you Darlene?" I ask.
"I am," she smiles at me. "Everyone calls me Dar. You must be Megan."
"I am," I reply smiling. She comes over and hugs me and I feel a bit more welcome.
"What's this?" she asks.
"I made a potato salad," I tell her handing it to her.
"Thank you," she says happily taking it from me. "So, you're good in the kitchen?" she asks.
"I'm alright. My mom is incredibly skilled and I often assist her," I say.
"Would you mind terribly helping a bit? It would appear we're the only ones," she explains laughing.
"No, not at all," I tell her.
I step in and aid her in getting a few dishes ready including salads and cutting up fruit and vegetables. She tells me about her and John—Jai's bestie. Then she tells me about Damo and how they're all friends but he can be a little more crude and vulgar but just to ignore him. "He's never serious, always joking," she explains. "Jai's like that at times, too. The two of them together can be ridiculous but he's more mellow around Johnno."
I nod and smile. Dar is nice. I like her.