Page 36 of Blackout

Zach manoeuvred me through his bedroom and into the kitchen to sit at his round kitchen table. He placed in front of me a paper bag and takeaway coffee.

‘Earth to Harley. I bought breakfast,’ Zach said to me again.

I didn’t get to answer. I was too stunned as a flicker of a memory from five years ago clicked through my mind like an old school slide projector. Images quickly flashed one after the other. I didn’t know why all of a sudden that memory chose now to come to the surface to remind me.

‘I didn’t know,’ I blurted.

‘Babe.’ Zach lifted me up into his arms and carried me to his lounge where he sat me down on his lap. ‘It’s okay. You had blacked out and never got a good look at me.’

‘I didn’t know it was you at the bar that night at Jam.’ My eyes locked with Zach’s as I continued. ‘I’d wanted a break, to check out the new bar, relax and sing karaoke with my sister like old times, maybe even have a little fun. I’d wanted some normality in my life.’

‘Harley,’ my name meant Zach wanted my attention. ‘I didn’t know it was you that night either. The place was so dark that it was impossible to know who anyone was. My brother is such an arsehole, and so many shady exchanges happened there. I just knew the woman I had spoken to earlier at the bar had collapsed on stage and that I had to get her out of there.’

Zach’s thumb rubbed circles at the base of my neck. ‘That next morning, I’d gone downstairs to get breakfast, coffee and a muffin, just like today, but when I came back, the woman, you, was gone.’ Zach took a deep breath before he continued. ‘I didn’t know it was you, Harley, but I told myself that if I ever let a pretty woman out of my sight again, I would at least leave a note. So, when I left your hotel room and went up to the kitchen to get breakfast after you passed out in my bar, I left a note hoping you would stick around.’

I moved to straddle Zach. Taking my hands, I placed them on his face. My body absorbed what he had just told me, and I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his in a gentle kiss.

‘You are all I want, all I’ve ever wanted, from the moment you had me pinned against the side of your house.’ The words fell from my lips, but before Zach could speak or take things further, I put my finger to his lips. ‘But I’m still such a mess, as you know from what I told you in your truck last night. My life, my family, my job, I can’t do it anymore.’ These were the most honest words I had admitted, and not just to myself, in a very long time.

My phone buzzed from somewhere behind me, and I wanted to get up and read the message that was there, but didn’t. I already sensed it was my family. And that someone had called an intervention. There was no way anybody knew I was back in Melbourne. It was just a coincidence.

‘You want to get that?’ Zach asked as I shook my head. I didn’t, but if I knew Zach at all, he wouldn’t let this go.

Zach reached over the lounge for my handbag and pulled out my phone. He pushed the button that lit up the screen, the text message that was meant for me visible. However long the message was didn’t matter, the gist of what was sent would be readable on the screen of my phone.

Zach sat back down next to me and handed over my phone. I glanced at the message and knew it was an intervention. A group message for Mum, Addison and me from the patriarch of this family, Grandpa James, written by Grandma. She was only acting on behalf of Grandpa because we all knew how old-fashioned he was and how he had no use for modern technology like mobile phones.

GJ: Harley, darling, it’s not like you to take off and not let anyone know where you’re going or for how long. This family needs to meet. Tomorrow at your house. 12 pm. Don’t be late.

There were no responses. Responses weren’t needed as everyone knew to attend. It had been a long time since the James family had sat down to a family meeting.

Eighteen

Silence filled Zach’s apartment and surrounded me. But silence wasn’t all that filled the air, there was a little tension mixed in. Unease radiated off me as the reality of the situation I was in sank through my skin now that I was back in Melbourne. How was I meant to handle this? How did I tell my family that how things had been were not how things were going to be? How did I fight for what I wanted and still be left standing? What was it that I wanted? After spending time with Zach, I knew it was some time away from the working at the bakery.

Zach broke the silence. ‘So what’s tomorrow all about?’

I shouldn’t have been surprised that Zach wanted to know more.

‘The business,’ I told Zach, but that wasn’t the whole truth and we both knew it.

‘Harley?’

‘Me,’ I said quietly as I stood up from Zach’s lap. I didn’t want this to turn into an argument, so I told Zach in an even tone. ‘Tomorrow will be about me. How I let everyone down because I disappeared for four days.’

‘Huh? Even though you needed a break. It’s not the end of the world. I’m sure your family will make allowances.’

It didn’t matter that I had single-handedly managed James Family Bakery for the last five years without my family stepping in to help. It would only matter that I hadn’t been there for the last four days making sure everything ran smoothly. Although five years ago when I started managing the bakery, I knew I could do it all by myself, but now after the last four days, I knew there was more to life than just working. I wanted a future that looked more like the last four days.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll go with you, and it’s not up for negotiation.’ I felt his chest rest on my back and his arms wrap around me, then in my ear he whispered, ‘You can tell your family about your last four days, lay it all out for them how you want things to change. All I will be is in your corner the whole time, and I promise I’ll let you handle this. I won’t overstep this time.’

Zach kissed just below my ear, before he spun me around and picked me up. I guessed this conversation was over for now. Zach had something else on his mind.

He carried me into his bedroom and when he had lain me down, my robe fell open. He made short work of the jeans, boots and black tee-shirt he had dressed himself in this morning before going to get breakfast.

Zach stood over my nakedness in his boxers. I felt exposed, but I knew Zach liked what he saw. My body wasn’t like Zach’s, lean and full of tight, tanned skin. My body was my own, what you saw was what you got, and it was curvy from top to toe. Zach’s eyes flashed with desire, and he moved onto the bed to lie on top of me. His body covered most of mine, and I liked the feel of our skin on skin. I loved the feel of his cock pressed against my naked pussy.