Annoying Pinspiration Quote #14
"What's left unsaid, says it all."
Opening day was cranking; the concept of organic coffee and wholefoods had lured out every caffeine addict and the foodie in the Melbourne City area, and we'd been flat out since we opened the doors at seven. The chickens kept the kids entertained out the back as parents sat nearby, enjoying smoothies and the spring sun. People commented on the quaint décor, the quality of the produce, and again and again we heard the phrase, "We're so glad you guys have opened here!"
At about two o'clock, I paused and looked around, satisfaction glowing in my chest. Sure, a busy first day didn't mean smooth sailing forever, but it was a damn good start. Dad and I had been run off our feet serving and clearing, while Rupert was being an absolute angel in the kitchen.
Checking on him, I poked my head into the kitchen. He was singing happily, blending smoothies with his trade-mark hair tucked into a genuine chef's hat he'd found in a costume shop. It didn't matter what he wore; I knew what was underneath and he was gorgeous through and through. My heart flip-flopped and I said, "Hey, Rupert."
"How many times do I have to tell you people – call me Chef!" he raged dramatically, coming towards me and pulling me into a full-body embrace. "Or you can call me Any-time."
"Hey, Chef." I kissed his lively lips, melting into him and enjoying the moment. "We're a little quieter if you want to take a break for a few minutes."
"How about I finish up these and then steal you upstairs for an inappropriate make-out session?" He waggled his eyebrows at me.
"Inappropriate how?"
"We could snog on your dad's bed?"
"Um, no. Not sexy."
"Fine," he said, resigned. "I'll think of something."
"You always do." I squeezed his butt. "For the record, a regular make-out session is fine."
He shivered as I traced my fingers around the lines of his chest. "God, woman, you melt me. I can't wait to see you in a bikini on a white sand beach in a few weeks."
"I'm against bikinis."
"On religious grounds?"
"No, on the grounds that I don't like having to fish the bottoms out of my butt crack every two seconds and having the straps dig into my neck from holding up my boobs."
"Well, that's an easy fix – nude it is!"
"I'm not sure how the other guests will feel about that."
"I guess we'll just have to stay in bed then and save you from the horrors of bikini-dom."
We were about to kiss again when Dad yelled out, "Daughter? Here, please!" from the counter.
"Ugh. Coming! I'll see you in a few," I said, leaving Rupert to his smoothie duty.
He talked to the fruit as he filled the blenders. "Alright, everyone in! No, come on now strawberries, don't look at me like that. It's your fault for being delicious."
Giggling, I hurried out to Dad. "What's up?"
Solemnly, he pointed to the other side of the seating area. "We have visitors."
Cody and Savannah stood there admiring the wall art, arms around each other's waists, and immediately, my stomach churned with jealous acid. Stop it, I chided myself. You literally had your tongue in a guy's mouth sixty seconds ago. You don't get to be upset by this.
But I was. I hated that Savannah was in my Dad's store, becoming part of Cody's story. I didn't want to hate it, but I did. Putting on my best smile, I crossed to greet them. "Hey, guys! Welcome!"
My voice was too high and I sounded almost manic. Savannah's pitch rose to match mine as she lied smoothly. "Oh, hi! You must be Mia! Amazing to finally meet you - I've heard so much about you!"
"And you're Savannah." I'd agreed not to reveal anything to Cody, but I wouldn't lie to him by stating that I'd never met his girlfriend before. I found myself unable to look at Cody, not wanting to get lost in his gentle dark eyes. Neither did staring at Savannah seem like a safe choice, so instead I waved around the café wildly. "What do you think? It looks great, right? You should look outside – Dad's garden is super-cute. And we've been busy. So busy, I don't really have time to hang out right now."
Cody hadn't spoken a word yet, but I felt him staring at me with concern. Savannah's words I wasn't particularly interested, especially as she said, "Oh, are you sure you don't have time for a cuppa with us? It would be so nice to sit and have a chat!"
I spread my hands apologetically. "Sorry! No time for a break right now."
And with perfectly atrocious timing, Rupert appeared. "Mia love! I'm ready for that break now, if you know what I mean." With no shame, Rupert winked obviously at both Cody and Savannah. "I mean we're going to go upstairs and fool around. Don't worry, it'll be all strictly above the clothes stuff."
"Rupert, no," I hissed at him.
He deliberately chose to misunderstand me. "Fine, you insatiable vixen, I'll let you take my pants off. The things I do for my woman, hey?"
He was just being his normal, irreverent self, trying to get a rise out of strangers. He didn't know, of course. I'd told him nothing about Cody or Savannah, so I had only myself to blame with the train wreck unfurling before me. Blushing so red, I wondered if blood vessels had actually ruptured under my skin, I said, "Rupert, this is Cody and his girlfriend, Savannah. Guys, this is Rupert Marx."
"Oo!" said Rupert knowingly, turning to me at the mention of Cody's name. "Cody, is it? Good to meet you, brother!"
He stuck his hand out for a fist-bump, just as Cody reached for a formal handshake. The result was incredibly awkward. Cody still hadn't spoken, and he stared at Rupert with blatant dislike in his eyes.
Rupert either didn't notice, or chose not to. He grabbed Savannah's hand and blew a raspberry on the back of her knuckles. "Hello, Savannah. Isn't a savannah a sort of dessert plain? Like all barren and hot and inhospitable? It's a strange thing to name a person, init?"
Her face soured. "No. It's not."
"Oh well. I stand corrected in the face of your sound logic!"
Fortunately, Dad pottered over at that stage before things could get any more uncomfortable. "Hello, young people. Cody, good to see you, mate."
"Likewise," said Cody, finally breaking his silence and hugging Dad. "Albert, the place looks fantastic. You've done a brilliant job."
"I can't take the credit," said Dad, putting his arms around Rupert and me. "This one came up with the idea, and both of them have slogged their guts out to make this happen. It's their victory more than mine."
My heart expanded in my chest to hear Dad's appreciation, and more so because he was so open about Rupert's hard work. I never wanted anyone to make the mistake of thinking his goofy ways and the fact he was a celebrity to mean he didn't work his ass off.
Cody didn't acknowledge my dad's praise, looking over to the far wall. "I like the photos you've hung. They're really good."
"They're Mia's," Rupert rushed to say. "She's freaking brilliant, isn't she?"
I shrugged. "They look okay."
I was actually more than happy with the photo display. I'd chosen my favourite pictures and had them blown up, then hung them in frames of all different sizes and colours. Rupert dangled from a trapeze bar and Odin wept on a dark stage, but along with the celeb fail shots were some of my own. Clumps of my hair on the black and white salon floor, Dad trying to wrangle a disgruntled chicken into her pen, my powdered and bleeding hands.
There was even a shot of me I couldn't take any credit for; Rupert had snapped a pic while I was trying to paint the ceiling in the café. I'd loaded up too much paint on my roller and as I stood on the step ladder, droplets of pale blue rained down on me while I squealed. Rupert took the picture as I was looking at him for help, giggling and submitting to the silliness of the situation.
It went beautifully with the wall of fail pics I'd created, and for the first time in my life, I actually felt like a real photographer.
"M, these are yours? They're... they're exceptional." Cody sounded awed.
Savannah nodded tersely. "Yes, they're very nice." I wondered if she disliked my work, disliked Cody's pet name for me or just disliked the fact Cody liked me in general.
My dad spoke up loudly. "It's good to have you all here. We've missed you round this place lately, Cody."
"I've missed being here too," he said softly.
Savannah clapped her hands, excited for no apparent reason. "Oh! Well, that settles it! We should all catch up over dinner together next week. Take a night out and get to know each other. After all, we're all practically family now."
I'd heard the expression 'I threw up in my mouth a little,' before without realising it was an actual thing that could happen just from hearing someone talk. Swallowing back hot sick, I responded, "Well, we would love to, but with the shop being so new, we really won't have a lot of time to socialise."
"But you're not open in the evenings, are you?" said Savannah insistently. "We can make it a late dinner."
Stop it. I knew she was pushing for this friendship thing, but I realised I just couldn't do it. I couldn't sit through a meal and pretend I knew nothing about her and that it didn't make my heart weep pus to know she had managed to ensnare Cody.
Before I could find another flimsy excuse, Dad said, "That sounds delightful. What about Friday night?"
"We'll be there," simpered Savannah, her use of the plural pronoun so slappable, my hand twitched.
Rupert enveloped me in his arms. "Sounds like fun! Where are we going then? I know this African place where you eat everything off a giant pancake the size of your table! Om nom nom!" He mimed cramming food into his mouth, and I laughed through my tension.
Savannah said, "I'll book somewhere, don't worry about it."
"Alright, princess," said Rupert, with the word in no way sounding like a compliment towards her, "you do that. It was nice to meet you both but for now people, if you don't mind, this one and I have a ten minute break we need to spend upstairs doing naughty things. Come, lover!"
Tugging me by the hand, we escaped up the stairs, with Dad calling after us, "Not on my bed, you two!"
"Curses! How did he know?" said Rupert.
I looked back just before we disappeared, and finally met Cody's eyes. But rather than comforting chocolate depths, all I could see was darkness.
Upstairs, Rupert closed the door and pulled me in for a cuddle. "Oh, love. Are you okay?"
"Fine," I said, trying to blow it off.
"You're not though." He shook his head, empathy in his expression. "You've got it bad for him still, don't you?"
"I... I don't know what I feel anymore. I just don't like her."
"You didn't say you were close friends," said Rupert, no blame in his voice, only understanding. "The eighth circle of hell is a friend zone. The ninth is filled with boy bands who sing at you all day, but the eighth is worse. I'm sorry, love."
"I'm sorry. I should have told you." My fingers clutched in his shirt, as if I could anchor him to me. "We've been mates for ten years. He's never really had a girlfriend before, and now he's with a woman I can't stand."
"Why? She seems alright. A bit stiff, that's all."
I didn't want to drag Rupert into the rest of the mess, so I deflected. "Anyway, I'm glad you were there just then. And I'm doubly glad you'll be there next week with me. I don't think I could get through dinner otherwise."
"I'll be by your side, Mia love. I'll even bring my own giant pancake."
"Thanks." Words couldn't express how much his support meant to me. Any other guy would probably have thrown a fit because their girl had a strong reaction to her old flame's new girlfriend, but Rupert focused only on looking after my feelings. Grateful, I reached for the buckle on his jeans.
Rupert gasped coquettishly. "What are you doing?"
"We've got ten minutes," I said saucily. "Let's get these pants off, Chef."
***
The next day, I trudged through the soft sand at St Kilda beach. For the first time ever, heading to the beach huts didn't fill me with joy, but rather with a sense of foreboding. There was so much Cody and I hadn't talked about, and I wasn't sure either of us really wanted to. I dreaded the thought of awkward conversations with my best friend; I wanted back the closeness we used to have, but I felt as though those days might be gone for ever.
The stairs of the Australian hut were empty, but a figure in a black shirt further down the beach caught my eye. Cody leaned against the side of a shack painted in a stormy sea motif, with an artistic grey wave reared and ready to crash.
Sick to my sandy toes, I headed over. "Hey."
He turned his head, his eyes masked behind sunglasses. "Hey."
Normally when Cody and I were together, we never stood more than an arm's length apart. Now, we hovered uneasily at the two metre mark, both of us unwilling to step into the fray. How can I miss someone I'm standing right in front of?
I gestured feebly. "So... How's things?"
"Good." He shifted from one foot to the other, contributing nothing.
"Did you have a good night?"
"Yep."
"Do you have plans for the rest of today?"
"Don't know."
Frustrated, my patience cracked at the already crumbled edges. "Cody, if you're not going to talk to me, why are we even bothering to meet? I'm sure Savannah would rather have you at home on a Sunday morning."
He folded his arms over his bulky chest. "She would. Just like I'm sure Rupert wishes his girlfriend was with too."
"Actually, Rupert encouraged me to come," I said truthfully. When I'd let him know about my monthly beach walk with Cody, he'd sent me off with his blessing. Go and sort things out, love, were his exact words.
But I couldn't sort out diddly if Cody wouldn't play ball. "I don't even know why you're upset. Will you at least tell me what's going on?"
"A week."
"Excuse me?"
"A whole week. It took you seven days to return my call." He shook his head with deep sadness cascading off him. "There was a time we wouldn't take more than seven minutes to return each other's calls."
"I know. I'm sorry." I didn't try to throw out more flimsy excuses. The truth was I hadn't returned the call because I didn't want to, and that made me a bad friend.
"I understand that you don't want to talk about... things. But I don't want to lose our friendship and I don't know why it feels like we're falling apart. Is it Rupert? Does he hate me or something?"
"No. He barely knows anything about you."
"Well, that's somehow worse..."
"Cody-"
"Then, is it Savannah? Do you not like her?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Trying to find a balance between truth and omission, I said, "Maybe I just don't like seeing you with someone."
"Why?" he pressed, taking a step towards me.
"I... You're my best friend. I don't know if I'll ever think anyone is good enough for you." That much was true.
"Is that all?" He pushed his sunnies up onto his head and pinned me with anguished eyes.
It wasn't all, not by a long shot, but I had an answer ready. "Isn't that enough? Cody, you're incredible, and any woman would be lucky to have you."
"So. That's all." He shifted his gaze out to sea, and I saw the frustration in his jaw. "Don't you want me to be happy?"
"Are you?"
"I'm trying to be."
"So am I. Maybe our lives are just moving apart." Tears I couldn't control rolled down my face. I love you. And you'll never know. That was the worst part. I hadn't told him how I felt because I'd been afraid to ruin our friendship, and it was happening anyway. On the Grand-Mia-fail-scale, this one was off the charts.
"We're here now," he said, his tone soft. "Come for a walk. Let's just chat, okay? We can talk about boring stuff, and forget about the rest for a little while."
I could have left. Rupert was at his place, still sleeping when I left but he promised our plan for the day was a game he called Sexy Jenga, which would apparently involve setting up Jenga blocks on the bed and every time they fell, the loser had to perform a sexy act on the other. To be fair, neither of us would really lose out in that scenario.
So Sunday with my boyfriend in bed or more awkward small talk... Torn, I said, "Okay."
We wandered down to the firm sand. "It's warmer than last month," I noted.
"Yeah. Summer's nearly back," said Cody.
Jesus. We're actually talking about the weather. I would have laughed if I wasn't so heartbroken.
After five minutes, we turned back. We'd chatted about the shop, Cody's parent's anniversary, a young Indigenous Australian event he was booked to speak at, even Dad's chickens. The walk felt more like the painful conversation you'd have if you were stuck in an elevator with a workmate you knew only vaguely; so, got any hobbies?
As we approached the cars, my eyes locked on Dad's rusty station wagon as if it was the portal to freedom. If there was anything worse than not speaking to my best friend, it was talking to each other as if we were strangers.
"Well, I guess we'll catch up on Friday night," I said. Even dinner couldn't be this uncomfortable. At least Dad and Rupert would be there to flank me and distract from the weirdness. "See you then?"
I turned to go, but Cody caught my wrist gently. "I wanted to tell you... Your pictures. They're incredible."
"Thank you." Where his skin connected with mine, heat spread, tingles travelling up and down my arm.
"I saw you've put some business cards out too."
I nodded, barely breathing. "Rupert had them made up." I'd resisted the idea of putting myself out there, but unsurprisingly, Rupert had ignored me. He had a little frame made up that read Mia Pike Photography – Capturing the Real, then gifted me business cards to put on a little shelf next to the photo display. I smiled as I told Cody, "Rupert believes in my potential. It's good to have someone pushing me to get my talent out there."
"I always knew you were talented. I should have said something, pushed you to chase your career years ago." His fingers fell away and the spell broke between us. "But I've never told you because you didn't want to hear it. 'Bye, Mia."
He left me standing there, wondering if we were actually talking about my photography at all.
Look out for two updates in the next two days! If you're enjoying, please remember to click the star and vote, and all comments welcome below.
I'm really enjoying the way Rupert isn't jealous over Mia's feelings towards Cody. So many times when we date someone new, it's automatically assumed that we should just be over our history, but that's not always true.
Rupert has history as well, and I need your help with it, wonderful reader. I need a last name for Rupert's ex - her first name is Jade, and I want something sexy. Leave your suggestions in the comments, and if yours is chosen, I can offer you a chapter dedication if that's something you'd like :)
Much love, see you reeeeeeally soon - Kate