A Beautiful Melody (2 page)

Present

“Happy birthday!” I sing out the moment the door opens, and I spot the birthday girl.

“Oh Nomes.
You know it’s not my birthday yet,” Gary jokes, as I reach out and remove my god daughter from his arms.

“Obviously
, I’m talking to Amanda, Gary. But, I promise to be just as enthusiastic at your next birthday so you don’t feel left out ok?” I tease, as I give his full cheek a childish pinch and walk past him into the living room, chatting to his daughter on my hip as I head toward the kitchen where I’m sure I’ll find Stephanie.

“Oh you’re here. Fantastic
,” Stephanie says, as she closes the oven door and unties the apron that is protecting her Grecian style summer dress, then drops it on the bench top. “I need to get Amanda ready for the party. Can you keep an eye on things in here while I take her upstairs?”

“Absolutely,” I smile, reluctantly handing Amanda over to her mother and standing aside as Steph rushes past
me and up the stairs.

I walk slowly around the kitchen and check on all the food that is already prepared and
laid out on trays. The oven timer is switched on to tell me when to check the finger food that’s in there. So I venture outside for a moment to where Gary is filling plastic party buckets with ice and shoving different drinks inside.

"Exactly how many people are you expecting today Gaz?
” I ask, out of curiosity. This appears to be a bit more than a simple BBQ to celebrate Amanda’s birthday. 

“Oh god, I think there’s a good fifty coming.”

My mouth drops open. It’s a first birthday party for a one year old – how could a baby possibly know that many people? “Fifty?”

“Yeah, well. It’s our first kid. First birthday party. We want to share it with everyone,” he explains over his shoulder and he huffs and puffs
with another bag of ice.

“Will there b
e many little kids?”

“Ah… yeah a few. Grace will be here – Elliot and Paige’s kid – and there’s a couple of kids coming from the mothers’ group Steph joined after she had Mandy. Plus there’s a few other people we know who have kids now. It should be fun. Noisy – but fun,” he smiles, as he stands up and surveys the decorated pa
tio and back lawn.

I follow his gaze. They really have gone all out, there’s balloons and streamers everywhere – all proclaiming a happy birthday for a one year old.

A beeping sounds from inside the house, so I leave Gary to it. I trot inside and switch the timer off, before opening the oven door, allowing the cheesy aroma of the pastries to burst full force into the air, filling my nose. My stomach growls and my mouth waters. I haven’t eaten all day. I basically woke up, got ready, and came here.

I sl
ide my hands into a pair of oven gloves and take hold of the tray of pastries. Unbeknownst to me, the gloves are slightly damp, heating rapidly around my hands, causing me to rush to lift the tray to the bench top.

In my rush, I smack my forearms up against the top of
the oven, a burning pain radiates up my arm as I flinch backward.

“Shit! Bloody
! Fuck! Bastards!” I hiss out, in an attempt to counteract the pain, as I drop the tray on top of the stove with a loud clank and race over to the sink to run cold water over my forearms.

“Are you alright?” I hear a deep baritone rumble out at me from the entrance to the kitchen. Glancing up briefly, I see Elliot, the
most recent man of my dreams who is now married to one of my best friends.

Every time I see him,
he looks amazing. He’s wearing a simple t-shirt and cargo shorts combo, but he makes it look like the most fashionable outfit on the planet. He’s tall, broad and used to have slightly long hair that he now keeps cropped close to his head – either way he takes your breath away. He has these amazing blue eyes that were the first thing I noticed about him when I met him back in the UK where we were all holidaying a couple of years ago.

As much as I tried to gain his affections, I was unsuccessful.
His head was turned by Paige, his now wife. She’s this exotic looking sex bomb who makes a young Sophia Loren look like an ugly cow. Compared to her, I had no chance. I’m just your typical Aussie girl – straight blonde hair, straight teeth, small frame and tan skin. It’s not that I’m unattractive, don’t get me wrong – I don’t think like that at all. I like how I look and I get plenty of attention from guys, I just don’t get attention from the guys I’m interested in.

I have plenty of time to find the right guy though. I’m only twenty-two.
Although, let’s be honest here - I’m twenty-two and I’ve never had a serious boyfriend… I really hate that fact, but I try to convince myself it doesn’t matter. I’m only interested in finding my ‘one’ and as they say ‘you have to kiss a lot of toads…’

“Naomi?”
Elliot says, his voice laced with concern. The sound of my name snaps me out of my thoughts. Creasing my brow, I look at my forearms, they’re red, but they don’t seem to be blistering.

“I think I’m ok. I just burnt myself on the oven.”

“Let me see,” he says, moving toward me. He places his hands gently on my arm and inspects the reddened area. Admittedly, I tilt my head toward him slightly and inhale. He smells so good, I think I am going straight to Myer to sample all of their aftershaves until I find what he’s wearing. “Hmmm, I think you got off lightly. Keep them under the water though. I’ll go get some burn cream and bandages off Stephanie.”

Ok, so this probably sounds like I’d like to steal Elliot a
way from Paige. That’s not true. I’d never do something like that. Elliot is just the current standard that I hold all other guys up against. When I first met him, he didn’t try to pick me up and have a holiday fling. He was a little distant, but still polite, and I really liked that about him.

Then Paige came to stay with us, and I could tell straight away that he was interested in her
. I wanted to dislike her, because at the time, I was interested in Elliot too. But I couldn’t dislike her. She had this lost puppy quality about her that I couldn’t help but come to like. We became great friends and I even encouraged her to give Elliot a shot.

What I want is a lov
e like theirs. I saw the way he pursued her earnestly. He was so patient and understanding of her, and he loves her fiercely. You can feel it in the air between them. I want that connection with someone. I want my own Elliot – not Paige’s one.

“What’s happened?” Paige asks as she enters the kitchen, followed closely by a two and a half year old Grace.

“She burned herself. I’m just going to get Steph to find out where her first aid stuff is,” Elliot informs her. As he walks past her, he runs his hand lightly over her shoulders. See? That’s what I mean, they are so in love with each other that they just gravitate towards each other when they’re near. It was a simple touch, but it was loving. I dream of a relationship like that. One where you just can’t resist that tingle in your fingertips.

“Jesus Nomes. How did you manage that?” Paige asks, as she moves over to have a look too.

“Just silliness. The oven mitts were wet, so they were getting hot. Then I rushed and stood up too fast, hitting my arms on the top part of the oven.”

“Ouch,” she winces.

“Anyway, enough about my mishap. Tell me about you – what’s new in the Robert’s household?”

A grin spreads across her face
and her gaze drops to the floor momentarily. It’s as if she’s trying to hide something. “Things are good. They’re really good.”

“What aren’t you telling me? You’ve got ‘secret’ written all over your face.”

“I do? Well, I’m not supposed to say anything yet. It’s still too early,” she informs me quietly.

I suck in my breath. “You’re expecting?!” I gush. “Were you trying? Or is this a su
rprise?” I am genuinely excited. I love Grace and Amanda – they’re the sweetest little girls in the world.

She tilts her head slightly, and lift
s her shoulder. “Not trying, but not standing in the way either.”

“Well congratulations.
I’d hug you, but my arms are all wet.”

“It’s fine. Thank you. We’re really happy about it.”

“I wonder if you’ll have a boy this time,” I speculate.

“Cat’s out of the bag already huh?” Elliot says
, as he returns to the kitchen with the first aid supplies.

“She saw right through me,” Paige explains, her mouth curved into a grin. “She always has.”

Handing the supplies to Paige, Elliot grabs a hand towel and passes it to me so I can dry off my arms. Before I know it, Stephanie and Gary are in the kitchen too, and I’m explaining what happened again while Paige sorts out my burns.

“It’s really not that bad. I promise, it’
ll all be fine tomorrow,” I assure them.  

“I jus
t feel bad,” Stephanie announces. “If I hadn’t been running behind time, it wouldn’t have happened.”

“Forget it,” I
insist, as a knock sounds at the door. “It’s party time. Besides, once you see what I bought for Mandy you’re going to wish I was hurt worse.”

“
Oh no. You didn’t?!”

“I did,” I confirm
, my eyes wide with delight. 

I enlist the help of Elliot and Gary to come to my car and carry in the rather large gift.

“Oh my god Naomi! Where the hell am I going to put a baby grand piano?” Stephanie moans.

“Wow, where did you get that?” asks Paige
, as she laughs at Stephanie’s reaction.

“
EBay,” I grin.

“It’s always
eBay,” Stephanie sighs.

Amanda and Grace immediately start banging on the keys, sending out a cacophony of jumbled notes and delighted squeals.

I simply smile and say, “Look. She’s a natural.”

As I stand and watch the girls happily playing, other people start arriving
and the house fills up rather fast. I don’t pay much attention though, I’m having too much fun with my little protégé. All my life, I dreamt of a music career. But somewhere along the way, I altered my path. Looking back now, I wonder why I gave up. I guess it just stopped being fun.

Now I work in a
Sydney night club behind a bar. It’s not a career option. For a long time, I’ve been ignoring the rest of my life and what I want to do with it. But it’s time to figure something out. Everyone around me is getting married and having kids. They’re having careers. I feel like I’m just floating through life, waiting for something to happen. But what? Now,
that’s
the million dollar question.

Eventually, the girls start playing with some other children, so I leave them under the watchful eyes of other responsible adults. I then make my way through the party towards Stephanie to see if there’s anything she needs me to do. My focus is so far ahead of me, that I don’t even notice when someone else is trying to get my attention until they’re standing right in front of me.

“Naomi! Oh my god. I haven’t seen you since
that massive party we crashed,” Erica says, wrapping her arms around me in an overly friendly gesture.

I’ve had zero contact with her since
the end of high school and that party. I shudder every time I think about it. It was the party that sparked the story about me getting trashed and sleeping with two different guys in the same night. Before I’d even woken the story was already in circulation. People who weren’t even at the party were texting me to see if it was true. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed off with my so-called friends. I knew it wasn’t Stephanie who told everyone - she would never do that to me. So, logic says, it had to be Erica or Amy - no one else at the party could have told all my class mates so quickly.

“Tell me what you’ve been doing with yourself?!” she asks
, touching my arm lightly as she tilts her ash blonde head, causing her loose curls to graze the top of her bare shoulder. I open my mouth to answer, but she is not interested. She simply opens her blue eyes wide and surges forward with her own news. “I can’t believe how much has happened since we last saw each other. Did you know, Jenny Tyler has already been married and divorced? Twenty-two years old and she already has a divorce under her belt. And I hear that she ran off to America! Rumour has it that she went to Vegas to be a showgirl and she’s met some old rich guy and is about to get married again. I just can’t understand why there are so many girls rushing into this wedding stuff.” She places her hand next to her mouth and leans in close. “No offence to Steph of course. Gary’s a great guy and their baby is just gorgeous. But I couldn’t think of anything worse than getting married and having kids. We’re so not ready yet. Are we Amy?”

I glance over at Amy.
She’s been standing beside Erica sipping on a bottle of beer while half listening and surveying the party. She shakes her brunette head from side to side as she swallows the drink in her mouth. “No way. I’m having too much fun right now.” Suddenly her dark eyes widen as they land upon the face of someone she sees in the crowd. “Oh my god. Who the hell is that?”

Turning m
y head to look over my shoulder to see who she’s looking at. “That’s David,” I inform her. He’s a friend of Elliot’s and now Gary’s. He’s tall lean, blond, and
very
taken. He’s married to Elliot’s ex-girlfriend, Katrina. They’re all linked through family or something. It sounds like a complicated story, but somehow they all get along.

“He’s hot. Reminds me
a bit of that guy from the Star Wars movies. The Darth Vader dude. What was his name?”

“
Hayden Christensen,” Erica offers, leaning in close to Amy as they both stare at David. “He is gorgeous. What’s his story?” they ask me.

“He’s married
, and from the looks of it, they’re expecting. That’s his wife there,” I tell them, nodding my head towards the space behind David where Katrina has appeared, a very obvious bump in her midsection protrudes through her form fitting dress.

“
Urgh, what a waste,” Amy moans as we watch them walk outside.

“Oh wow. What about him?” Erica asks
, as Elliot appears, following them out as he talks animatedly with David. “Forget it. I already see her,” she comments, her mouth turning downwards as she notices his hand reaching out for Paige, who follows along behind him, carrying Grace on her hip.

“Jesus. This party sucks. Every hot guy is taken,” Amy grumbles, ca
using a burst of laughter to escape from my chest.

“What did you expect? It’s a one-year-old’s birthday party,” I point out.

“Still, there’s got to be something for the single girls to do besides drink,” she replies.

“Speaking of fun and hot guys
, you should come out with us later. We’re going to see a band that we think you’ll find really interesting,” Erica tells me, her eyes wide with excitement.

“Will she?” says Amy
, her snub nose creasing in the middle as she thinks. “Why? Does she know… Oh my god. Yes! You have to come. You will die when you see who’s playing!”

“Why? Who is it?” I ask
, my interest now piqued.

“Just meet us at
The Metro at eight o’clock. We’ll wait out front for you,” Erica says.

“Naomi,
” Stephanie calls to me from across the patio. I turn my head toward my name and see her incline her head toward the house. She obviously needs my help.

“I need to go,” I tell them.

“That’s cool. We’re going to get out of here anyway,” Amy says, her voice sounding flat. I have no idea why she would have thought she’d be able to pick up here.

“Just promise us you’ll come,”
Erica presses as I turn to leave.

“
Sure. I’ll go.” I concede, not feeling at all certain that I’d actually go through with my word.

I make my way back into the house and spend the rest of the party being the dutiful godmother and best friend
, while avoiding the questions of older people who want to know which child is mine. Like I’ve said, I love Stephanie and Gary, I love their daughter Mandy. But I feel like I’m the only single person left in a group of married couples, and at times I feel really left out.

B
y the time the party is over, I’ve had enough of watching happy couples brag about their children. Going out to see a band with Amy and Erica seems like the perfect outing to make me feel like me again. I’ve been ignoring my life for ages. Time to go and have some fun again.