Blackbird (23 page)

When she reached his apartment she spotted a
post-it note on his door telling her to go to the rooftop, so she followed his
direction and walked to the rooftop. She turned the doorknob, expecting it to
be locked, but it wasn’t. When she climbed the stairs and opened the door to
the terrace she spotted a surfboard lying on the daybed.

When she got closer she looked over it. There was
no wax on it, and it was white like it had come straight out of the factory.
There were red hibiscus flowers over the nose of the board and a tiny black
sparrow resting on one of the flowers.

She picked up the envelope on the board that had
her name on it. Inside was a congratulations card that read:

Dear Claire,

Congratulations! You are now officially a
physiotherapist!

I wish I could have been there today, but as you
can see I was busy getting the final details of your surfboard made. It’s my
gift to you.

I know how much you loved it and I wouldn’t want
to see you disappointed you couldn’t surf because you broke my surfboard (yeah,
I’m not forgetting that one anytime soon!).

I wish you all the happiness in the world
Claire. I meant every word I said.

It’s you Claire. It’s always been you.

Love Nate

p.s
Dress your best and meet me at Elements Club & Bar at
6.

Claire closed the enveloped up and smiled to
herself, but then quickly looked at the time on her phone to see that it was
already five o’clock, meaning she had only an hour to get home, get ready and
get to the club.

She
swooped
the surfboard
up in her arms and ran down the stairs. Tonight was the night.

***

Claire arrived at the club
surprisingly on time. It was amazing what a bit of adrenaline could do to
someone.

She spotted Nate outside the club doors the moment
she stepped out onto the street. He was dressed in long dark denim jeans, a
white shirt and converse, an outfit which looked amazing on him.

 She felt butterflies fill her tummy. For the
first time she didn’t have to feel guilty about looking at him, about feeling
like she did.

“Hi,” she said, walking up to him.

“Hi,” he replied, smiling down at her. “You look
stunning.”

Her nerves caught the better of her and all she
could do was smile nervously.

He reached out and held her hand in his. “There’s
something I want to show you.”

“We should talk first,” she quickly said.

“It can wait,” he said, grinning
that
grin.
The grin that told her he was up to no good.

Nate led her inside and up the narrow staircase.
When she reached the top stairs Nate said unusually loud, “I’m so glad you
came, Claire.”

They turned into the room and for a spilt second
she wondered why it was so dark and quiet until…

“Surprise!”

The lights switched on to reveal all her friends
and family smiling excitedly at her.

Nate organized a surprise party?

She heard Nate whisper in her ear before everyone
ran forward to hug and greet her. “I had them open up early. It will be open up
to the rest of the public in a couple of hours, but for now it’s ours.”

Nate had done all of this for her.

She greeted everyone and thanked them for coming.
Even her parents, sister and Tristan had come. They had apparently known about
it the whole time and managed to keep it a secret from her.

She then spent the next couple of hours moving
around the club, talking and drinking with everyone. Even Nate’s mates had
come. And although she loved seeing everyone and appreciated the party she
still hadn’t been able to get two minutes to be alone with Nate. She needed to
talk to him.

Finally, when she managed to get a free second she
found Nate talking to her parents. She moved into their circle.

“There you are,” Claire’s dad said, smiling at
her.

“Hey guys,” she said, grabbing onto Nate’s arm.

Her dad and mum glanced at each other, then back
at Claire’s arm wrapped around Nate’s.

She knew exactly what they must be thinking.

This is going to be a great story to explain to
them
, she thought.
Especially since Mum hates tattoos.

“Mind if I steal you for a second?” she said,
nudging Nate.

“Actually,” he replied, “I’ve got one last
surprise for you.”

“Oh?”

He moved her hand from around him, and kissed her
forehead. She watched him leave her and move through the crowd to the stage. He
climbed it and grabbed the microphone.

He coughed into the microphone testing it and
getting everyone’s attention.

“Hey, everyone.
I wanted
to thank you all for coming out tonight for Claire. She is officially a physiotherapist!”
The crowd erupted in cheers. Her mum wrapped her arm around Claire’s waist and
squeezed. She looked at her to see her smiling.

“I know firsthand how hard she worked on finishing
her degree. She helped me when I was at my lowest and learning to walk again.
Without her and her extremely annoying hassling and persistent phone calls”
-The crowd laughed-“I would never be where I am today. You saved me, Claire.
You made me walk again. But not only that, you made me see there was more to
life, and for that I owe you my life.”

She felt her chest tighten to his words, and her
eyes swelled with tears.

“To Claire!” he declared holding up his beer. The
crowd repeated him, all raising their drinks together.

“And now I have one last thing I’d like to do,” he
said, handing his beer to Liam who gave him a guitar.

He placed the microphone in the stand and pulled
the guitar strap around his shoulder.

“Now don’t hate me, Claire, but I’ve been getting
a few lessons from Tristan without you knowing.”

Oh My God.

“I might not be as good as Tristan, which I can
finally admit since I’ve heard him sing in person.”

She grinned at his confession.

“But here goes. This is my song to you, Claire.”

He strummed the guitar, moving his fingers between
the strings.

Claire was gob smacked.

He looked unreal up on stage. The spotlight shined
on him making it feel like he was the only one in the room. Then he sang,
“Blackbird…”

Claire shot her hand to her mouth. Not only was he
singing and playing the guitar but he was singing ‘Blackbird’ by The Beetles.

His eyes centred on her. Her hand fell back to her
side as she cried tears, tears of joy.

“…Fly….Blackbird…Arise”

He was amazing.

Claire hung onto every word,
every
breathe
. His voice soothed her, made her feel lost in the moment. There
was no doubt in that moment that choosing him had been the right thing to do.
She was head over heels for him and she could finally admit it to herself.

When he strummed the final note on his guitar the
crowd broke out into applause. Claire clapped and cheered for Nate. Her parents
even joined in.

He stood up and bowed to audience then grabbed the
microphone. When he caught his breath he spoke into the microphone in a deep
and serious voice, “It’s your time to shine, Claire. Be everything you’ve always
wanted to be.”

He smiled at her as he pulled the guitar off and
handed it to Liam.

Claire didn’t know what else to do as Nate jumped
off the stage and stood there staring at her, so she did the only thing that
came to her. The only thing that felt natural. She ran into his arms, hugging
him tightly.

“Thank you,” she said into his ear.

“You’re welcome.”

But just as she thought they would get a moment to
speak to each other, Nate’s mates were pulling him off her and praising him on
his great performance.

Layla
also pulled Claire
into her arms.

“Oh, Claire!
Isn’t he
amazing! You’re so lucky!”
Layla
squealed as she
jumped into Claire’s arms.

She glanced over to see Nate also looking back at
her smiling as more people, including Tristan, admired him on his performing
abilities.

Patience
, she told herself.
You will get
you chance soon.

She knew no matter what they did tonight they
weren’t going to get enough time to themselves for her to explain to him what
she was feeling, so she would wait until tonight was over, then everything
would hopefully fall into place.

***

“Are you okay, Claire?” Nate asked
her as they rode in the taxi on their way back to Nate’s apartment.

Claire didn’t want to admit that she was actually feeling
a little bit sick. All the alcohol and built up anxiety over when she could
finally talk to Nate had made her feel a little unwell.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” she lied, smiling at him to try
and reassure him.

He frowned at her.
“If you say
so.”

A couple of minutes later the taxi pulled up
outside Nate’s apartment building. She opened the door and jumped out in a
flash, wanting to get fresh air.

She breathed in the night sky, feeling the air
fill her lungs calm her, as her sickness subsided.

Nate hadn’t objected when Claire suggested she
stay at his place that night.  She’d spent the next few hours dancing into
the night with all her friends and family. When it hit midnight and the club
was closing
she
, decided to go back to Nate’s. She
told him she didn’t want the night to end so maybe they could go back to his
place and watch a movie. Truth was
,
she wanted to be
alone with him.

They walked in silence up the stairs, and when
they reached his apartment she watched him closely as he opened the door. She
fidgeted with her handbag as she stepped inside the doorway just enough for it
to close behind her.

Nate walked into his apartment putting his keys
and wallet on the kitchen bench. When Claire caught his eye, he turned to her.

“Why are you still standing there?”

She played with the zipper on her bag, feeling her
nerves get the better of her once again.

“What are you doing with that bag?”

Again, she didn’t reply. Instead she threw the bag
to the ground and held her hands in front of her.

“What’s going on?” he asked stepping closer to
her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Thank you,” she blurted out, her voice sounding
dry. She cleared her throat and continued. “What you did tonight was amazing,
Nate. You’re amazing. Thank you for tonight and for every other night and day
we’ve been together.”

He stepped closer to her. She reached her hand up
and touched his face. “I know the past few months have been crazy, and
everything that happened with us and Dave… But…”

She dropped her hand from his face and looked down
trying to find her courage deep within herself.

“Oh, I get it,” Nate snapped.

She looked up at him, puzzled by his outburst.

“No! You know what, Claire, no buts!” he said
breathing in a deep breath. “When are you going to see that we could be good
together? I know I can’t promise it will be easy or that I won’t completely
suck at this, but I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to
make this work! I love you Claire, and fuck me, love is enough!”

“Nate-”

“No, Claire,” he said grabbing her wrist with the
tattoo. “You talk about being free, making your own choices yet you’re not-”

Claire grabbed the sides of his face, closed her
eyes and pressed her mouth to his.

She parted her lips, kissing him slowly; tasting
his mouth as if it was the first time she’d ever kissed him. When he finally
realized what she was doing, he drew his mouth from hers just enough for him to
open his mouth to speak.

She pressed her finger to his mouth, wanting her
chance to say what she needed to say.

“I broke up with Dave,” she said watching his eyes
focus in on her. “I broke up with him because we weren’t working out, we both
had different ideas on where we wanted our lives to be, and we couldn’t give
each other what we wanted. Plus, he turned out to be a bit of a dick at the end,”
she smiled. “But the main reason was because of you. I tried to deny my
feelings I had for you, but no matter what I did there was and would always be
something between us. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get you out of my head.
This is real. What we have is real. I know that now. I love you Nate-”

This time it was Nate cutting Claire off as he
took her into a deep kiss.

Claire pressed herself into him as he roughly
claimed her mouth with his tongue. He pushed her back into the door.

She lifted her leg to wrap around his body. His
hands found her ass, gripping it as he thrust himself against her. His mouth
left hers as he kissed her jawline, then down her neck until he found her
breasts.

Claire’s breathing was ragged as he sent jolts of
electricity through her. She could feel her wetness soak her panties as he
cupped her breast. With one quick movement he grabbed the front of her dress
and tore it down the middle, letting it fall to the ground beside her. Her bare
breasts were left exposed. She was standing there in only her underwear and
heels.

He arched his body back, looking at her, taking
all of her in. Then he leant forward and breathed into her lips. “You don’t
know how long I’ve wanted this.” He kissed her again. Her lips followed his
rhythm. His taste was amazing.
Every part of her yearned for
more.