It was now 12 pm Sunday lunchtime, and Lee gave up. He'd driven around for the best part of an hour and still hadn't found anyone.
He'd tried phoning Bob, then Dave and Jimmy, then Steve and Paul before finally trying Claire – even she seemed to have vanished. Where could they all be?
Feeling slightly pissed off, he made his way back to the Britannia Bar, thinking at least one of them had to show up for a lunchtime drink.
He drove down to the Southern International where he found to his surprise, Del and Rat loading a couple of cases of beer and some ice into the boot of Rats car. He pulled up beside them, sounding the horn.
The pair of them looked around, squinting in the sun, and when they saw it was Lee, stopped what they were doing and leaned against the side of the car.
It had turned extremely hot.
'Is that you just back?' asked Del, wiping the sweat from his face with the end of his tee-shirt.
'Nah, I got back early this morning.'
'We tried ringing you earlier,' said Rat, indicating a party was happening, 'but the phone just rang out.'
'Yeah, I've been in and out all morning. What makes me think I've been gone for one night, and I've missed out on something?'
'You have, mate,' grinned Rat, revealing a gappy smile. 'You missed out big time!'
'There was a rave down at Wollongong last night – it was massive!' added Del, scrunching his whole face up as he said the word "massive".
Lee couldn't help but smile and could tell the pair of them were still flying from whatever they'd taken last night. 'So, where is everyone?'
'Around at Billy's.'
'What's that then,' he asked, with a smirk. 'The official recovery party?'
'You'd better believe it. That's where it's happening!'
' ... You coming?'
'Try stopping me!'
Lee helped Del and Rat with another couple of bags of ice, feeling odd that it was him who was straight for a change.
He got into his car and followed them back to Billy's, hoping - just hoping that Claire would be there.
There was a series of whoops and whistles when they walked through the door, and when Billy found Lee helping load beer and ice into the two big eskies in the kitchen, he hung a sweaty arm around his neck. 'Hot, isn't it?' he said, putting half a gram of speed into his hand. 'Here, take that.'
Lee looked surprised, 'Oh, cheers, mate.'
He cut himself a line on the sideboard and snorted it up, and then opening a beer, downed it in what looked like a desperate attempt at catching up.
' ... Must've been a long night for you,' Billy went on to say, 'Bob told us you had to drive to Lithgow and back - how come you got roped into that one?'
'I didn't know about Wollongong,' he told him.
Billy drained his bottle, letting out a loud belch as the bubbles came back at him. 'No, we never found out about it 'til last night. We just jumped on the train at the last minute. It was good. Only got back about an hour ago.'
Feeling the heat, Lee removed his tee-shirt and tucked a corner of it into his shorts when he felt a hand creep up between his legs and grab him by the nuts. 'Hey!' he shouted, swinging round.
'Alright?' grinned Bob.
'You bastard!' Then, the moment Billy wandered out of the kitchen, Bob looked at Lee more seriously.
'How did you end up yesterday,' he asked, 'alright?'
Lee nodded. 'Yeah, but I really need to talk to Claire. Is she here?'
'Yeah, she's through there,' he said, nodding towards the living room. He then frowned. 'So're you going to tell me what happened?'
'Stacey,' he replied in short.
'Don't tell me Claire found out.'
'Sort of ... but it's only guesswork on her behalf, she doesn't really know anything, though she's pretty damn close.'
He glanced round to the living room, finishing what was left in his bottle before grabbing himself another one. 'Wait here a sec. I want a quick word with her. I'll be back in a minute.
The moment Lee set foot in the living room, Claire shrank back behind Gayle, scared of what he might say to her in front of everyone after yesterday.
He crossed the room with his bottle pressed firmly to his lips. And, having already seen her, he went over and crouched down, to her surprise, in front of her, folding his arms over her knees. 'Alright?' he asked.
She forced a nervous smile, and before she could even reply, he grinned.
'Relax,' he told her. 'I'm not here to have a go at you. I just want to talk to you, that's all.'
'What about?' she found herself asking warily.
'What d'you think about?' he asked in return.
She swallowed, side glancing at Gayle, not wanting to say too much in front of her, and Lee feeling the same, gave her a knowing wink and changed the subject immediately. 'So did you go to the rave last night, too?'
Claire nodded.
'So much for waiting in for my call.'
She was quick to defend herself and looked at him with wide eyes. 'I did wait in ... for a while,' she admitted, 'but once it got to half nine, I didn't think you were going to call, so I went thinking that's where you'd be anyway.'
'I had to work.'
'Yeah, Bob told me.'
He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. 'Some trip that was! Did he tell you where I had to go?'
'Yeah, Lithgow, you must be tired.'
He shrugged, shaking his head and rubbed his fingers under his nose, indicating he'd taken some speed - then nudging Gayle in the thigh as she sat beside Claire pretending to read the back of a CD, said, 'hey, you wouldn't be ignoring me now, would you?'
Gayle threw him a smile, cautious of him since the night he had knocked her back, and said sarcastically, 'how could anyone ignore you, Lee?'
He returned her smile with a lingering grin, and getting up to his feet again, patted Claire on the knee. 'Just give me ten minutes. I'm talking to Bob in the kitchen.'
Lee started by telling Bob about what happened with Claire on Friday night when she had told him she was pregnant. He told him how he'd initially reacted – that he didn't believe it was his, and how he ended up telling her that, if she was going to go through with it, at the end of the day, if she still claimed it was his, he'd want every test going to prove that it was his. He then told him of how the next day she'd found his watch in Stacey's bag at work, and how she'd attacked her over it, and how she'd then gone round to his place to confront him.
He told him how they'd argued - and how he'd finally got around it, and then told him of his afternoon in the hotel room with Stacey, and of how they'd talked and worked things out – he then told him of their plans.
At first, Bob said nothing. What could he say? He couldn't believe so much had happened in just a matter of hours. He turned it over in his mind and eventually began to nod. 'Yeah, fair enough,' he said with a light shrug. 'So long as you know what you're doing.'
Bob then went on to tell Lee about the night he'd just had with Claire - comforting her at the rave when she'd found he wasn't there. She'd wanted to know why he wasn't there, where he was going, and who with. She wanted to know everything about any girls he might have been seeing – the married one in particular.
But Bob had told her nothing. He'd remained totally ignorant, telling her, as far as he knew, Lee hadn't been seeing anyone for a while now. And that the married bird had been just another in a long line of flings. It was at that point she'd chosen to break down and cry, telling him how she'd just found out she was pregnant and how Lee had told her he wanted nothing to do with it – that he didn't even believe it was his. He told him how she'd cried and cried and cried, telling him how much she loved him, missed him and wanted him still, and that even though he wanted nothing to do with either her or the baby, at least she'd always have a small part of him and that maybe, one day, he might even come round to accepting it – and they both just looked at each other, Bob rolling his eyes to the ceiling, indicating to Lee that he thought she was a complete nut-job, and Lee said nothing. He knew that the abandoned sob story was just her laying the ground, so once it all came out in the open, everyone would feel sorry for her, and he'd be the eternal bastard. So what's new? They all thought he was a bastard anyway - and those who didn't, already knew what a manipulating bitch she was. He shrugged it off. He knew there was no way it was his baby. As far as he was concerned, this was Pete's problem, not his.
Claire let ten, fifteen, twenty minutes slip by, and when there was no sign of Lee coming to find her, she made an excuse to go through to the kitchen.
The moment she walked in, the deep conversation Lee and Bob were having stopped dead, and the pair of them looked up, and if she wasn't mistaken, kind of smugly. She bristled.
'Don't let me interrupt you,' she muttered, not trusting either of them by the way they looked.
Bob opened his arms to her. 'You're not interrupting anything,' he told her, 'just boys talk.'
She turned her nose up, avoiding Lee's eyes, feeling suddenly quite intimidated by him and found herself a glass.
'You venturing into some alcohol?' asked Bob, with a tut and a shake of his head.
'I'm up to here in lemonade!' she said, tapping herself on the forehead.
Lee covered her hand with his as she went to lift the scotch bottle. 'What're you doing?'
'What's it look like?' she replied, defensively.
'Well, do you think you should? It's a bit early for it to be a pisshead, don't you think?'
She pulled her hand out from under his, keeping a good grip on the bottle. 'I'm allowed at least one,' she muttered stubbornly.
'Then make sure that's all you do have,' he told her in a way that made her stop and challenge him.
'I'll have as many as I want, if you don't mind!'
'I'm being serious, Claire.'
'Yeah?' she questioned, narrowing her eyes. 'Since when ...'
'Since spending ten or more hours on the road unable to think of anything else.'
His voice took on an unnaturally gentle tone, and she looked at him, seeing in his face a look of genuine concern she'd never seen before, and it threw her. Was he being serious, or was he taking the piss? Either way, it made her think, and she found herself backing down a little and poured herself a small one. 'Well, I'll just make it a little one, alright?'
He smiled at her with a nod.
Bob bit his lip, hiding his grin, seeing just what control he had over her. 'I bet you're happy now he's back,' he remarked, nodding towards Lee with a wink. 'She really missed you last night,' he then added, irrespective of the glare she then shot him. 'See, mascara all over my shoulder!'
Claire put the bottle down rather heavily on the sideboard flashing him another look.
'What?' he asked, playing ignorant.
Claire held his gaze, not wanting what she'd told him last night broadcasted – to Lee especially.
'What's up? I'm only telling him how upset you were, that's all?'
'You're talking crap!'
'Talking crap? Jesus Christ!' he then exclaimed. He turned to Lee with a mystified look. 'What is it with these birds, eh? They spend half the night blubbering on your shoulder telling you their problems, then the minute you think you're helping 'em out, like doing 'em a favour, they jump down your throat denying it!'
'Just shut it, Bob,' said Claire, almost daring him to say another word. She glanced at Lee turning her nose up. 'Don't listen to him, he's talking crap.'
Lee shrugged it off, not caring either way, and Bob went on to defend himself.
'Give us a break Claire. You were in my ear half the night. What's the big deal now that you're both ... '
Lee dug an elbow in Bob's side, shutting him up.
'Now that we're both what?' she wanted to know, pouncing on that unfinished comment.
'Hold on, Claire,' said Lee, giving Bob a look. 'I haven't told her yet - she doesn't know.'
'Oh,' he said, covering his mouth guiltily, 'I'm sorry, I thought she knew!'
Claire narrowed her eyes, refusing to stand there listening to what she considered more of their shite. 'Listen. I don't know where you two get off winding me up, but go and wind someone else up for a change - I'm sick of it.' She turned to march off, but Lee stopped her.
'Hey, calm down, no one's winding you up. I told you before I wanted to talk to you. Give us another few minutes. I haven't finished talking to Bob yet. Just go back through there, and I'll come and get you when I'm ready, alright?'
No, it wasn't alright, but as usual, Claire did as she was told and went back to the lounge room moodily to wait.
This, she told herself, had better be good. Because if it wasn't, she was going to drop Lee in it big time!
'Let's pick up the pace here!' shouted Dave, bored with the music Gayle had been putting on. 'I want to hear Carter!'
Billy threw half his CD collection across the floor and rummaged amongst them until he found the 1992 Love Album and handed it to Dave as he killed the dross playing.
'The funeral one!' shouted Billy, letting Dave know which one he wanted to hear.
Dave popped it into the slot, and in seconds they were off.
Billy and Dave sang at the tops of their voices, both acting out the song as they went, and when Jimmy joined in yanking his tee-shirt off, Dave pinched his nipples before trying to suck on them.
'For fucks sake!' frowned Paul, having been happily chilling out in the corner on his own.
'They're sick!' remarked Gayle.
'He loves it!' said Dave, wide-eyed – speeding.
'Fuck you!' replied Jimmy, protecting his nipples.
'I never thought you'd ask!' said Dave, holding Jimmy firmly by the side of his buttocks and grinding his manhood against his.
Billy joined in, coming from behind, and Gayle shook her head. 'I don't believe this. I don't know why we bother hanging around with this lot!'
'Me either,' scowled Claire, watching as Lee and Bob finally merged from the kitchen. 'Look at these two. They've done nothing but whisper sweet nothings in each other's ears since lover boy showed up!'
Debs laughed.
'Don't laugh, Debs,' said Gayle, adamantly. 'I've come to the conclusion that they're all a bunch of arse bandits!'
Debs frowned, pulling Rat close by her side as if protecting his reputation. 'This one's not ... though don't go suggesting it, he's easily lead, and I'd hate to lose him to some Oxford Street boy!'
'No chance!' chimed in Rat, slipping an arm around her waist. 'I love your body too much to trade it in for a big hairy man!' With that, he did an impressive Kung Fu move and threw her down on the floor to prove his point.
'Rat!' squealed Debs.
It all happened so fast, and the next thing she knew, her skirt was up in the air revealing to all, a scanty little g-string!
Billy's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Somehow Carter got lost as they now all took notice and began clapping to the scene on the lounge room floor.
Debs yelled, 'stop it!'
'No Rat, don't!' Shouted Billy. 'Let's see what you're made of!'
'Get off me!' warned Debs, half laughing.
But there was no way in the world he would back down now – not with the encouragement he was getting from the boys!
Lee caught Claire's eye across the room and nodded towards the kitchen.
She followed.
'I'm surprised you didn't want to stay and watch the action,' she remarked, rather cuttingly.
Ignoring her intended criticism, Lee sat himself up on the kitchen table, drawing her in between his legs and began kissing her, feeling absolutely nothing for her at all, and it took her by surprise.
She pulled away from him, flustered. 'What're you doing?' she asked, her nerves taking the form of aggression.
'I think it's about time you an' me sorted a few things out,' he told her, as if that was meant to explain why he'd kissed her like that.
He ran his fingers through his hair, holding it briefly in the nape of his neck before shaking it loose again. 'I've had enough of all the shit that's been going on between us lately, and last night I did a lot of thinking. But before I even contemplate talking to you about anything, there's just one thing I want you to tell me, and that's all that crap you went on about yesterday, about you thinking I've been shaggin' that bird is absolute shite, and it was just you being a total arsehole, cos if I know for one minute that you actually believe what you were accusing me of, then I don't want to know you – at all!'
It was a sound gamble. He watched her as she thought about it and pulled her towards him again, knowing she couldn't handle the closeness – it flustered her.
'You'd better not be messing me around, Lee,' she warned, wary of his motives.
He took her hands and placed them unashamedly in his lap, making her feel his semi-erection. 'Does this feel like someone who's messing you around?' he asked.
Claire swallowed, not knowing how to handle the situation and held his gaze as the hardness beneath her fingers began to grow.
' ... Well?'
She looked away in confusion, first nodding and then shaking her head, unsure suddenly, as to what she should be answering. 'Yes,' she then blurted out, thinking that was probably what he wanted to hear her say, 'Yes, I was an arsehole. I know that, but I just exploded when I found your watch in that bitches bag! I didn't know what to think.'
'Well, you're going to have to stop all that kind of shit if we're going to get back together, cos I'm not putting up with it. If we're going to make a serious effort at making this work, then you're going to have to learn to trust me and give me some space.' He kept his hands on hers, making her rub him gently through his clothing, and she let him, watching his face, wondering if she'd heard him right.
'Are you trying to say that you want to give it another go?' she hesitated in asking.
He nodded, and Claire couldn't believe it, and then as she went to speak, he closed his eyes, taking her hands off his lap and rolled his head back. 'I think you'd better stop that. It's too nice. It's been a long time.'
She bit her lip, not knowing how to react and just looked at him dumbly while he rearranged himself.
'What's made you suddenly change your mind,' she then asked, 'you said before that you'd never take me back?'
'Things have changed. You weren't pregnant then.'
For a moment, she just watched him, not daring to take her eyes off him just in case she happened to notice the faintest sign of amusement trickle through his ice-blue eyes.
He leaned to one side and dug out of his pocket a small pink velvet box. 'Here, I bought this for you. I was thinking about it all night, and once I got back to the flat, I just sat there thinking and thought, fuck it. Just do it - give it a go, so I drove up The Rocks to that shop you've always liked. I know it's the one you'd have wanted.'
The moment he said that she knew what it was, and her mouth fell open. 'My God!' she breathed. Inside the box was the beautiful antique heart-shaped diamond ring she'd admired for years. It had been in the window every time they'd passed.
'I want you to marry me.'
The words came hard, but they were out, and the only good thing he felt about it was by the way he had worded it – I want you to marry me, and not, I want to marry you!
Claire looked up in shock. Never in a million years had she ever expected to hear those words come out of his mouth! ' ... What on earth's made you decide on this?' she had to know.
He shrugged his shoulders. 'I dunno, maybe I realise what a good thing we had at one time. Maybe I feel it's time to settle down a bit and make some kind of commitment.'
' ... And the baby?'
Lee gazed down at his hands for a moment, clasping them together in his lap, looking very much like a little boy suddenly, and then he slowly nodded. 'Yeah, I was a bastard to you the other night when I tried to say it was Pete's. But to be honest with you, it scared the shit out of me. I've never thought about being a father before, and like you, I should have thought about it before going off at you like I did.'
'And you're quite happy about this decision you've made?'
'More than happy.'
Claire had to fight back the tears as she threw her arms around his neck.
'So, do you think we can make a better go of it this time?'
'Oh yes, Lee, yes, I know we can!'
Lee held onto her as she cuddled into him.
'You'll never know how bad it's been for me since we split up. It's been a nightmare!' She let go of him and looked at him squarely in the face. 'God, I love you. I'm going to make you so happy, you see!'
Lee smiled. 'Well, all we have to do now is set a date, and I think we should do it soon. I know you'll want a proper church thing, and the last thing I want you doing is walking down that aisle looking six months pregnant.'
Claire felt triumphant! She'd done it! And how she had done it! It had turned out far better than she'd ever expected! She, Claire Warner, was going to become Mrs Lee Stevens! All her dreams had come true! Whoever would have believed it!
'Can we tell everyone?' she then asked excitedly.
Lee felt sick in the pit of his stomach, visualising with ease the general reaction. 'Yeah, of course,' he managed to say, smiling. 'But there's just one thing. However much you want a church wedding, and however much I respect that, I'd prefer we made it mates only.'
Claire frowned questioningly. 'Mates only?'
'Yup. No relatives.'
'But why?'
'Well, you know none of mine will be able to come out for it – not at such short notice anyway, and you know what yours think of me. It's all I'm asking, Claire. The rest of the arrangements are yours.'
Claire wasn't certain she liked that idea. How would her parents feel about being left out of their only daughter's wedding plans? It was a big ask. ' ... I haven't actually had the guts to tell them I'm pregnant yet,' she then admitted, thinking very seriously about what he'd said. 'I've been kind of too scared to.'
She thought about how they'd react to that in itself, let alone a shotgun wedding. They might even try to stop it, knowing how they did, in fact, feel about Lee. The thought of getting that gold band on her finger fast and without any interference from her family, brought her round to his way of thinking pretty damn quickly, and she nodded. 'Yeah, you're right. They don't have to know about it straight away. It'd cause all sorts of trouble.
We could go to see them afterwards and tell them we got married on the spur of the moment – surprise them, and then tell them about the baby.'
Nothing was going to stand in her way now she'd got this far – especially her parents, and she found herself nodding more vigorously. 'Yes - we'll do it without them. We'll have way more fun with just our mates anyway.'
With that settled, she examined her ring again and slid it off her finger. 'Go on. Put it on for me - that's how they do it in the movies, isn't it!'
Lee took it from her and placed it on her ring finger, knowing that the appropriate words at this point should have been, I love you, but his mind was elsewhere. They were three little words she'd never hear him say!
Much to the delight of the rowdy onlookers, Rat had managed to get Deb's knickers off.
'Christ!' exclaimed Claire, as they walked back into the room.
Debs was sitting on the floor trying to get up, modestly hanging on to the hem of her short skirt, while Rat, with her knickers between his teeth, had started to remove his own shorts and undies.
'Come on,' Claire said to Lee, 'let's tell 'em now - at least it'll save Debs.'
'No, they're having a laugh!' he said, wondering if Rat would really throw one up Debs in front of everyone. 'Let's see what happens.'
But Claire didn't want to and frowned, taking him by the hand and began pulling him through the room to the CD player. 'Hey, guess what, everybody...' she announced, turning the music down a notch or two. But it fell on deaf ears - they were all too engrossed with what was going on before their very eyes.
Claire looked at Lee for support and, reluctantly, he pressed the pause button, killing the music stone dead.
'Hey!' protested Dave, swinging round to see who had annihilated his beloved Carter.
Debs was grateful, and in the split second their attention had been diverted, she ripped her knickers from between Rat's teeth and shot from the room, taking refuge in the bathroom until she'd got them back on again.
'What's the story?' asked Dave, looking decidedly pissed off.
'Tell 'em, Lee,' said Claire, all smiles.
His smile didn't come as naturally as hers, 'no, you tell 'em.'
Claire beamed as she held her hand up to show them her engagement ring. 'Guess what! We're getting married!'
At first, no one said a thing, and a few eyes darted in Lee's direction, showing clearly that an explanation was in order, when Bob tactfully broke the silence by throwing up a cheer. 'Yeah! Celebration!'
It wasn't long before a few others joined in, grabbing some bottles of beer and emptying them into a football trophy Billy had on top of the TV.
'Hey, that's great news!' squealed Debs, rushing from the bathroom to congratulate her.
Dave glanced around, spotting a couple of other questioning faces as Bob continued to help Lee out of something that looked like an awkward situation.
'Here, knock that back!' he said, handing Lee the trophy.
Another cheer went up as he began to gulp down the beer.
'Skull! Skull! Skull! Skull!' they chanted.
He managed to skull at least three-quarters of the beer before having to take a breather and let out an almighty loud burp.
Bob threw in a couple more beers, then passed it around the boys.
'Huh, no wonder you knocked me back the other week,' commented Gayle, under her breath as she nudged Lee aside to get past.
He grinned as he took charge of the brandy bottle. 'It's never too late, Gayle love. We're not married yet.'
'Get lost,' she replied sourly. 'Claire's my mate.'
'Didn't seem to worry you before.'
'You'd split up then.'
Lee shrugged his shoulders and wandered off to the bathroom swigging from the bottle, then closing the door behind him, he sat down on the side of the bath and had a good laugh.