Blackbird (10 page)

Dave turned his body and walked with Claire,
leaving Nate behind them.

“I might not be worth it, but at least I don’t
cheat.” Nate called.

 Claire felt her heart drop. The thought
that she was had just kissed someone like Nate made her sick. She knew in that
instant that she hated Nate.
Hated who she had become around
him.
Hated that it had been Nate who saved her, not
Dave.
Hated the words that came from his mouth.
Hated the truth in his words and the pain it caused.

“I knew this was a mistake. I can’t believe I fell
for this shit again,” Nate hissed through his teeth.

Claire’s eyes stung with the tears she was
unwilling to let fall. “Me! I did nothing!”

“So kissing me is nothing?”

“You kissed me!”

“I may have started the kiss, but you kissed me
right back. Do you even care about me?”

Nate tried to walk closer to her, but his leg held
him back and she was grateful. Any closer and she didn’t know what she would
do.

“I’m so glad this is the last time we’ll see each
other because I never want to see you again!” Claire yelled, walking over to
the bedroom door. “And you’re right, there’s nothing between us. I could never
be with someone like you.”

She walked through the door, tears streaming down
her face.

“Of course you wouldn’t! I’m not good enough,
right?! I’ll never be good enough for you!” Nate called out behind her.

Claire couldn’t listen to him a moment longer. She
fled through the apartment door and down the stairs as quick as she could.

Claire cursed herself for falling for him again after
everything that happened. How could she let herself get like that around him?
She had a boyfriend! And she never let her emotions get the better of her.
Claire hated herself for what she’d done. She hated herself for who she’d
become. She had never in her life cheated on anyone before and now she had done
it twice. She wasn’t a cheater, she hated cheating.

This would never happen again, Claire promised
herself. She couldn’t lose herself like this and go against everything she
believed in for someone, even if it was Nate.

CHAPTER
SIX

One Month Later

Claire had always considered Sunday
to be her sleep in day, her do nothing kind of day. So when Claire’s phone rang
at seven in the morning she ignored it. Whoever it was could wait until she was
properly awake. Five more calls later however, it became evident the person
calling her wasn’t about to give up.

“Hello,” Claire
answered,
her voice croaky.

A deep male voice replied, “
Hey,
is this Claire?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

“It’s Nate.”

Claire froze. She hadn’t spoken to Nate in weeks.
After that night she had been too angry to talk to him. What had happened
between them was wrong on every level.

“Do you have a minute to talk?” he asked.

Claire glanced to her side. Dave was lying next to
her his naked body uncovered. He was still sleeping soundly. Grabbing the
sheet, Claire tugged it around her naked body and quietly stepped out of bed.

 “Yeah, just hold on a second,” she whispered.

She crept over to her bedroom door and opened it
as quietly as she could, doing her best not to wake Dave. Once outside she
hurried down the hallway and the stairs to the lounge room.

“Can you talk now?” Nate asked

Claire, curling up on the soft leather couch, took
one last look at the stairs behind her, making sure she was still alone.
“Yeah.”

“How have you been?”

“Okay,” she replied. She didn’t know how to
respond. The last month had been full on for her because of the move and what
had happened with Nate. “Look Claire, I’m going to cut to the chase. I don’t
like how we left things and I would really like a chance to talk to you about
it. I tried seeing you at your unit, but apparently you’ve moved.”

Claire remained silent

“So I tracked down your number…the one you gave at
the tattoo parlour.”

Nate’s confession should have made Claire upset,
but it wasn’t so long ago that she did the same thing to find him.

“The paparazzi were getting too crazy at the unit
so we’ve moved to a house now with better security.”

“Well, that’s good then, I’m glad you’re at least
safe. What are your plans this morning?”

“Well I was sleeping…”

“Can we catch up, maybe have some breakfast
together?”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea Nate…”

The last time they’d seen each other it had been a
total mess.

“Please Claire, just give me a chance.”

“I can’t…”

“Why, because of what happened?”

“Yes because of what happened, and everything else
that happened between us. What happened was wrong Nate, it shouldn’t have
happened. I’m not that girl, I don’t cheat.”

The problem was
,
she was
that girl. She had cheated.
Twice.
The worst part was
when she told Dave. She had watched his face turn to pain with heartbreak.
Claire had spared him the details of who she kissed, claiming it was just some
random man. And for some crazy, unknown reason Dave had forgiven her. She knew
in that moment that she would do everything in her power to never be put in a
situation like that again, to never let herself go so far as to kiss another
guy who wasn’t her boyfriend. Dave had forgiven her and she owed him the
respect and trust he deserved.

  “What happened was wrong, I know that. All
I’m asking is a chance to let me explain myself.”

Claire considered what Nate was asking. She didn’t
want to jeopardize her and Dave’s relationship, but in all honesty she missed
Nate. She missed his cheeky comments, his friendly smile, his sarcasm….She
missed talking about their travel dreams. Dave wasn’t that interested in
traveling or the kind of adventure Claire craved.  That was something she
shared with Nate.

“Okay,” she agreed. “But don’t make me regret
this, Nate.”

“I won’t, I promise.” Nate said cheerfully. “I’ll
text you the name of a café I like and we can meet there in half an hour if
that’s okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, great, I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Oh, and Claire?”
Nate
said quickly.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for picking up your phone,” he said before
hanging up.

The realization that she had just agreed to see Nate
in half an hour kicked in. Claire didn’t know what to think, what emotions to
feel.
Anxious?
Nervous?
Angry?

Nate had managed to push all her buttons and make
her question her life. She’d never met anyone like him before. He infuriated
her, yet excited her. She found a level of comfort with him that she’d yet to
find with anyone else, including Dave.
Dave.
Was this fair to Dave?
Seeing him again after everything? Was she going against everything she’d
promised by seeing Nate again? She didn’t know the answer, but she was hoping
in meeting Nate, she might find it.

***

Claire turned the corner of the
street and the tiny little café came into view. Her heart started to race as
she spotted Nate sitting at one of the outside tables by himself. She could easily
turn around now and make a run for it, forget he ever called. Life might be
easier for her if she did. But when did Claire ever like it easy?

The closer Claire got to Nate the more she
remembered just how good-looking he was. She found it amusing to see two nearby
girls, probably in their early twenties like her, staring at him and giggling
between
themselves
.

It wasn’t hard to understand their infatuation
with Nate. It wasn’t like he was not easy on the eyes, because let’s face it,
he was
very
easy on the eyes. His gorgeous looks weren’t the only thing
about him that lured you in. It was the way he carried himself- so powerful and
commanding. He was strong and confident.  A
man
who led, not followed. He was everything a girl wanted in a man…but he was not
for Claire, and never would be.

Nate’s dark brown eyes met Claire’s as she
approached his table and took a seat.

“You came,” he said.

“I did.”

She tried to avoid his eyes, pretending to look at
the menu. She had come here with one intention - of hearing him out - and she
was afraid that if she looked into those seductive eyes of Nate’s, she would
forget what that intention was. The waitress approached them and placed two
plates in front of her and Nate.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered for you.”

Claire looked down at the mouth-watering bacon and
eggs in front of her. “Thanks… I guess.”

“Can I get you anything else?” the waitress asked
Nate.

Claire looked up to find the brunette waitress
twirling her pen in her mouth, her eyes fixated on Nate.

Could she be any more obvious?

The waitress continued to stare at Nate, smiling
coyly. Nate’s eyes, however, were still fixed on Claire. He seemed unfazed by
the woman next to him, who continued her flirting techniques by bending down
far enough to show her cleavage while pouring water into Nate’s glass.

“No, we’re fine for now,” Nate said with little
acknowledgement towards the waitress.

She didn’t seem to take his cue. Instead she
scribbled something on her notebook, which Claire could only assume was her
number, and placed it inside Nate’s hand. Leaning down the waitress whispered
something in his ear.

At that point, Claire had had just about had
enough.
Not only was it extremely unprofessional, it was
extremely rude. What if Claire was his girlfriend and the waitress just acted
like that in front of her?

“Are you serious?” Claire said sharply. “You’re
seriously flirting with him when I’m sitting right here?”

The woman turned to Claire. “What are you, his
girlfriend?” she replied, smirking.

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“What the hell is that meant to mean?”

The woman eyed her up and down with a disgusted
look. “You know exactly what it means.”

Bitch!

“Who the hell do you think you are passing
judgment on me? I’m not the one making a fool of myself. You think acting that
way is okay? It’s unprofessional and impolite.”

Nate placed his hand on Claire’s to calm her down
before turning to the woman. “You may be a beautiful woman, but approaching someone
like that and whispering explicit things to a random stranger is just asking
for trouble. You should think better of yourself then to act like that. You
don’t even know who I am or what I’m capable of. Did you ever think for a
moment that Claire was my girlfriend and how what would make her feel? By any
standard she is beautiful. I happen to think she is the most beautiful,
stunning, and amazing person I have ever met.” Nate looked at Claire, smiling
before he continued to the waitress. “I think you’ve outstayed your welcome at
this table and should leave.”

Claire smiled. He’d just agreed with her and
called her beautiful at the same time. The look on the woman’s face was
priceless. The waitress picked up the empty bottle of water, her face red with anger.

 “Oh and here’s your number back,” Nate said
handing her back piece of paper she’d given him.  “I won’t
be needing
it.”

The waitress snatched the piece of paper from
Nate’s hand and stalked off in a huff.

When she was out of earshot Claire turned to Nate,
“Thank you for that. What you said…”

“Which part?” He winked.

Her smile faded. “Do girls do that to you all the
time?”

“Does it matter if they do?”

“Yes.” She shook her head and sighed. “I mean,
it’s not that I care if they do or not, I just think that there’s a better way
to get a guy’s attention. You shouldn’t have to lose all self-respect in the
process. A guy will only treat you with the amount of respect that you give
yourself.”

“I never thought about it like that.”

Claire wondered how many times it had happened to
him. It wasn’t hard to realize that Nate was a one night stand kind of guy.
He’d even mentioned it a couple of times to her before.

“How many woman have you slept with?”

Nate choked on his food. “You seriously want to
know?”

“Call me curious.”

Nate finished his mouthful of food, slowly chewing
it, studying her. She was curious to know just how big of a womanizer he was.

 “Is that the reason why you came here today,
to ask me how many woman I’ve slept with?”

“No!
Not at all.”

Nate chuckled. “It’s nowhere near as many as you
think.”

Nate tried to hide the smug look on his face when
Claire’s mind ticked over how many she thought he’d slept with. She decided it
might be best if she started eating her breakfast to keep herself from saying any
more stupid things.

 “I’m sorry, Claire. I’m sorry for what
happened, for how I reacted, for who I was.” Nate said solemnly.

Claire stayed silent, listening to him explain
himself.

“You’ve probably been able to figure out by now
I’m not very good at relationships with woman, friends or otherwise. I don’t
regret what happened between us. I don’t regret saving you from that guy that
night. And I sure as hell don’t regret kissing you.”

Claire stopped eating and focused on her
breathing. Thoughts of kissing Nate entered her mind, thoughts she shouldn’t be
having. But she was strong, she would stay strong.