Buying Thyme (12 page)

“I’m only suggesting two adults share a table at a café for a coffee. You know I’m not asking for more. I didn’t want more when I
did
pay for you.” 

Ouch! Hearing his blunt recall of our initial encounter with each other stings like frozen ice on my tongue. It’s different when someone else gives me a dose of reality about my unfavourable profession. It never seems to sit comfortably within my conscience. I frown in frustration at him reminding me that I’m a whore, but I guess he is right. I didn’t go out of my way to meet up with him… and it’s not like he’s the usual client that the Agency has modelled the contract against. We haven’t even had sex within our working relationship together. Surely that counts for some kind of loophole in the contract wording?

“Okay. Why not.” Before I even register what I’m saying, the words spill out of my mouth like a rushing faucet. 

Tom’s face lights up like a Christmas tree at my answer. My heart instantly melts for this beautiful man and I feel my cheeks pinch as I smile back at him.

CHAPTER 10

Tom and I
stroll slowly together along the
promenade, on the northern end of Bondi Beach towards Speedo’s café. A concoction of emotions whirls around my head about actually being with Tom right now… outside of work. I can’t help but scan around the beachfront occasionally just to check who may be around… although I don’t really know who I’m looking for.

“You know I’ve never seen a client outside of work before. So this does feel a little unusual at the moment.” I daren’t look in his direction. I feel myself being drawn to his face until I’m involuntarily locked on his beautiful blue eyes. His sardonic smirk suggests he’s both amused and appreciative of my situation at the same time, but he doesn’t respond to my previous statement, “It was really the last thing I imagined when I came for my usual run down to Bondi this morning.” I continue.
 

Okay… now I sound like I’m trying to justify myself right now.
Get a hold of yourself girl! But why isn’t he saying anything back? What is with that smirk?
I can feel my legs shake again. Thank goodness the café is now in sight and we stand stationary on the roadside, waiting for the cars to pass, before crossing the road to the café. Tom grabs me ever so slightly on the back of my arm, just above my elbow, to guide me across the road as he walks. The butterfly in my stomach springs to life once again.
What is that?
I can’t help but wonder if it’s something he used to do for his wife. The butterfly’s flail lessens with that thought. There’s only one vacant table on the sloping seating area at the front of the café. We head in the direction of the available table. Again, Tom feels it’s necessary to place his hand across my back to guide me in to sit at the bench. I wish he wouldn’t do that. I feel my brow pull together. I glance back at him fleetingly as I sit down. Tom’s oblivious to my irritation however and smiles genuinely at me. Now I wish he wouldn’t do
that!

“Latte with one?” He half questions and half states before he smiles and disappears inside to order. I feel myself grinning automatically at Tom knowing how I take my coffee after just one booking together. The thought also makes me realise that he does seem to know an awful lot about me in a short period… I wish I hadn’t drunk so much Sangria! Despite this, I still feel really safe around him.

“I know you
said you lived nearby Miranda, but I honestly didn’t think I’d see you around town at all.” Tom raises his cup of steaming coffee to his mouth and takes a sip. 

I’m consumed by the sight of his soft upper lip curling around the rim of the coffee mug and my mouth opens faintly as my own eyes drink in his tender sips of coffee, “Not that it’s a bad thing at all. I’m just pleasantly surprised… is all I’m saying.” He appears to be over justifying running into me all of a sudden and I find his over-explanation completely endearing.

“Well I can assure you that it’s a first for me. But I am glad it’s you and… well… not some… someone else.” Stop and think before you speak girl!
…not some creepy client that I had to shag the night before…
is what I’m really saying inside.

“At the risk of sounding corny… do you train down here very often?” Tom stares me dead in the eye as he asks.

His staring eyes unnerve my inner censoring system and for some unknown reason, I feel compelled to answer honestly.

“Yes… well not as much as I would like recently, but yes on most of my days off.” Tom’s eye’s light up with an excitement and I can see he’s about to take advantage of my honesty.

“Me too. Maybe we could train together some time.” I knew it was coming in there somewhere… just like the rest of them Tom. I sigh inside.

“Maybe.” I take another sip from my coffee and gaze out over the ocean.

I tell Tom
that I must be getting back home to run my errands and catch up with Sally, but the truth is that I don’t know how to feel in his company right now. I thank him for the coffee and leave as soon as I can and attempt to avoid any further advances from him. I leave him finishing his coffee at the café and walk back along the beachfront. Bondi is aglow with a brilliant orange as the morning sun rises across the sand, warming the houses and apartment blocks on the southern end of the beach with a flaming glow of light. I really do love this time of the year. The farewell to summer and gradual slide into the winter months doesn’t seem so gloomy when autumn really brings out the best in the city’s landscape. Headphones in and music on again as Gotye now sings to me about
Somebody That I Used To Know
to help carry my legs back home again. My head is ablaze with thoughts of the men who seem to have taken over my attention in the recent days.

I shower and
dress with perfect time to head
straight down to The Five Ways, a few blocks away from me at Paddington. The Five Ways is a quaint little intersection of five adjoining streets clustered with wine bars, restaurants and cafés, and is home to my favourite place to catch up with Sally. I head out the door and make my way down to The Hideout Café and Wine Bar. Sally is already seated at a table outside the café, eagerly awaiting my arrival, and greets me with and excited smile and an all-encompassing hug.

“I am bursting to hear all about your last two bookings with Joe Tench and the new guy!” Sally says as she sits back down.

“Yes, it’s been interesting to say the least!” I roll my eyes, “I don’t know where to start really. My head is really spinning from it all.” I pause in an attempt to edit what I’m about to say in case I say the wrong thing.

“Why? What happened? Why have you taken time off? You know that Joe has been contacting the Agency almost every day to see when you’re coming back? He seems desperate to see you. I know Miss Stephanie has been trying to encourage him to book one of the other girls, but he just wants you. What happened? Did something go wrong? It’s really out of character for him isn’t it? To be ringing up the Agency so much?”

I sigh as the further confirmation of Tench’s intentions become realised, “That’s just the thing… his whole booking was out of character for him. I don’t know what has happened to him recently. He disappears to the U.S then he hardly leaves his house and has more security then ever when he gets back. To the point that we spent most of the booking at his place, except when we went to an island in the middle of the harbour that he hired for just the two of us…”

“He hired an island just for the two of you? That’s extravagant!” Sally seems excited by this.

“That’s not the least of it! He created the most beautiful candlelit dinner out on his terrace… and when I say candlelit, I mean there were candles
everywhere
. You know the scene in the movie with Romeo and Juliet where Juliet is laid to rest in the church, and all the candles are around her… Well picture that… on steroids! That’s what Tench did for me. He also gave me that stupidly expensive diamond necklace that he was in the news with recently…”

“The Shadow of Love Diamond? He gave you the Shadow of Love Diamond? Holy Fuck!” Sally eyes me with even more interest than she had before.

“Oh great, so you know about this diamond too? Why did
I
not see anything about this in the news? I’m obviously the only one in this country who missed that, because I thought he was doing all of this to say goodbye to me… but somehow I have the feeling that he wants more from me.”

“Ya think?” Sally says sarcastically.

“I know! I don’t know what to do. And then I go and meet this Tom Smythe guy and seriously Sally, he is everything you would want in a man… and then he doesn’t want to even
touch
me during the booking because his wife has just died. And I literally just bumped into him down at the outdoor gym
and
I went and had coffee with him…
and
… Christ my head feels like it is about to explode!”

“
You sound like you need a drink.” Sally looks at me sympathetically, “Tell me more about this Tom Smythe guy. He sounds interesting. Then we’ll nut through this Joe Tench drama.” 

She waves her hand at the inattentive waiter inside and winks at me. This gives me the exact reassurance that I need at the moment.

“Well I’ve never
seen you like this Miranda. I’ve never thought
you
of all people would be effected by clients.” Sally declares after I tell her everything about the last week, “Now I totally get what you had to take a month off for. Let me put it all into perspective for you… You are a prostitute. Men pay for you to have sex with them, so no matter what you think of Tom Smythe, forget it. He is from blue blood and you will always be someone who has had sex with strange men for money. You will never be able to be with someone like Tom… Joe Tench on the other hand, has done far worse than you. He is known for being linked to crime. What we do is not against the law in this city, but I believe that if it is a
relationship
that you want, then Joe is someone who is more likely to be accepting of your previous indiscretions. In the mean time, Tom sounds like a nice guy, and if he’s not after sex, then I really don’t see the harm in you hanging out with him as a
friend
. But don’t get hung up on the guy. He’s not right for you, or rather… you’re not right for him! Now… let’s get drunk!”

Alone again,
I walk home slowly with a head
full of alcohol. The three bottles of wine we drank and Sally’s words in my head, playing over and over on repeat! Nothing like a dose of Sally to smack me back into reality. As much as I never like to admit what Sally so bluntly says to me, quite often she’s right. The actuality of my profession is never easy to swallow. My secret life always feels like it’s one that I can hide forever and in time, I will just close the book on it when I’m ready. The certainty of it all is that it will always remain as something I’ve done in my life. I convince myself that if I don’t have shame in it, then no one else can hurt me with the harsh truth that men exchange money with me, and in return they get my body. I guess someone like Tench isn’t such a bad choice if I want a boyfriend. A crime boss and his working girl… albeit slightly clichéd, it is the fact of my situation. Do I want a boyfriend though? I still don’t know if I’m ready to commit my waking hours to someone else. I like my freedom. I’ve been content with having a variety of men that ensures any feelings of loneliness are well and truly non-existent. I decide I need to stop the running commentary in my head until I at least see Tench again. Whenever that might be. Until then, I like the company of Tom. Sweet Tom. I can’t help but want to see him again. I know exactly where I’m going tomorrow morning… what a perfect remedy for a hangover… exercise and eye candy.

Despite the constant
thumping going on in my
head from last nights dose of wine with a side of reality, I can’t help but feel a sense of elation build up inside as I prepare for my morning run. My mind is plagued with the hope of meeting up with Tom again. I fold a hundred-dollar note into the little pocket at the rear of my running shorts, so I can offer to pay for lunch… if I can persuade Tom. I make sure I look a little better than I did yesterday with a shower, moisturiser, a tighter singlet and tighter shorts… to show off my assets better. My all-time-favourite Kylie Minogue serenades me with my upbeat soundtrack for the morning’s run and the empowering
Aphrodite
drums to life in my ears. I can’t help but sing to myself as I pound the pavement
‘I'm fierce and I'm feeling mighty, I'm a golden girl, I'm an Aphrodite… Alright’.
The fresh early morning air further wakes me up and I am surprisingly feeling better than expected. As I run through the suburb of Woollahra, I decide to have a quick stop off at Flat White café for one of their famous ‘Hangover Smasher’ juices, to pep me up a bit before I see Tom. Murray, the flamboyantly friendly man of the café- who seems to know everyone- greets me with his usual king-sized smile. He’s still preparing the imposing coffee machine in anticipation for the morning’s torrent of coffees that flow in the daily trade.

“Hi lovely. It’s been a while. How are you?”

“I’m great thanks Muzza. I’ll just have a hangover juice this morning. I may be back for a coffee and a bite to eat during the week maybe.”

“Hmmm… big night doll?” He raises his suspecting eyebrow at me.

“Just a couple bottles of wine with a girlfriend. Nothing too massive.”

“Are you kidding me? Those nights are the worst! I know what you girls are like!”

We both laugh, his sweet voice is softer than you would expect for his larger than life exterior. I don’t hang around for further conversation. Not with the possibility of seeing Tom still looming around me like thick fog. I drink my juice and continue on my route down to the beach. As I approach the beachfront, my heart begins to heavily pulsate, not from the exertion of a run, but from the anticipation of Tom being down at the outdoor gym again. Although I know it’s wrong to feel like this, and what Sally said is right. I can’t help but feel a pull towards Tom, despite the fact that I’m the wrong type of girl for someone like him. As I approach the end of the beach, I scan around wildly to see if I can spot Tom anywhere. The outdoor gym is almost deserted, except for two men on both of the pull up bars. Neither of them remotely resembling Tom. My heart has dropped to the bottom of my stomach and my legs slow to a walking pace. I can no longer maintain even a slow jog, and I’m forced to simply walk towards the empty equipment area. My mind becomes vacant and I switch off whatever unremarkable song that was just playing on my iPod.
What?
Did I actually expect Tom to be down here again?
Really?
I guess I didn’t even think through the possibility of him not being here. I was so wrapped up in the thought of laying eyes on that beautiful man. My reality didn’t even fathom the idea that I might not even see him. I look at my watch. Maybe I’m earlier than yesterday? Or later? I decide to sit on the raised pathway above the beach and watch the waves for a while. Hopefully he might still come down, even though it is the same time as yesterday. I know that this is stalker-like behaviour, but he was the one who ran into
me
down here yesterday.