Blackbird (7 page)

Claire grabbed his plate and walked over to the
sink. She turned towards him a couple of times, like she was going to say
something, but decided against it and turned back to the sink.

He couldn’t quite make out what she was mumbling,
but the whole situation was pretty bloody funny. Her facial expressions were
so
cute as she considered what he was offering.

In all honestly, the moment she’d walked into his
apartment, he’d known he was going to go back to therapy. But watching her now,
her reaction was too funny for words. He thought he might just play along with
it for a while.

A date with Claire.
Nate
found it strange how badly he wanted to go on a date with her. He definitely
wasn’t the dating kind, but he knew then that he wanted a date with her, and he
would put everything he had into his therapy sessions make sure he was walking
by the end of her placement.

Nate wasn’t really a date kind of guy. He’d never even
been in a relationship. Nate was a pick up a hot chick at the bar, fuck her,
and forget about her the next day kind of guy. His mum wasn’t too impressed
with his ‘lifestyle choices,’ or so she called them, anyway. But Nick just
wasn’t into relationships. Sure there had been women in his life who had wanted
more, but he never did. He wasn’t against relationships; he’d just never meant
anyone worth being in a relationship with. That was until Claire.
No Claire
has a boyfriend, dipshit,
he told himself.
Right.
Boyfriend.
 

Oh well, he might as well have fun with the idea
anyway, even if it was just to piss her off.

“Okay,” Claire reluctantly agreed.

She turned and faced him, arms crossed. “I will go
on a date with you if you are walking by the end of my placement. But-”

Nate couldn’t hide his grin. “I’m listening.”

“There is to be no flirting, no unnecessary
touching,
no
sly comments from now on. And it will be
a date as friends, nothing more.
Deal?”
She eyed him
suspiciously.

“Deal.
I’ll be a
gentleman from now on.”

She coughed and rolled her eyes.

Yes this was going to be fun.

“Well I’d better go now,” she said, grabbing her
handbag off the couch and slinging it over her shoulder. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

“Hold up,” Nate called after her as she headed for
the door.

She held her hand on the doorknob, turning to him.

“Do you promise to keep your word? You’re not just
going to back out of it once your clinical placement finishes?”

“I’m a man of my word,” she said pulling the door
open and walking through.

“You mean woman!” Nate chuckled.

“Whatever,” he heard her say before the door
closed behind her.

This was going to be very fun
, he laughed
to himself. He liked a good challenge.

CHAPTER
FIVE

“You can do this, Nate. I know you can.
Believe it,” Claire said, pulling herself away from his grasp, leaving him to
stand there by
himself
, unaided.

It was the last day of her placement and the final
day for Nate to start walking and win the bet.

Despite the occasional comments from Nate on how
beautiful she looked or how great her outfit was, he had been a gentleman, in
every way, like he had promised to be. A handsome, well built, tattoo-covered
gentlemen, but a gentlemen nonetheless.

He had pushed himself in every session, determined
to walk by the end of her placement.

It was a side to Nate that Claire had never seen
before.
The determination, the kindness.
There was no
undertone or underlying meaning to his comments, even though she admitted she
missed that side to him.

“I can see the candlelight dinner already,” he
joked, steading himself on his feet.

“You can have all the candles you want if you walk
today.”

He looked at her shocked.
“Really?”

Claire laughed.
“No, not really.
It’s a date as friends, remember? No candles. No romantic setting. That is, of
course, if you walk today.”

“Oh, I’ll walk all right, and it will be the best
date of your life.”

Classic Nate, still trying to be
the charismatic confident guy even when he was faced with one of the hardest
physical tasks he’d ever had to do.
 

“You’re ready, Nate. It’s time,” she reassured
him.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward slowly,
cautiously.

Claire held her breath. This was the moment. He
placed his foot on the ground and stepped with his other leg. Her heart warmed
but she held her excitement in, watching him take more steps. His face was hard
and concentrated, his muscles held tight and firm.

A few steps later, and he was at the end of the
mat holding onto the bar.

Claire launched herself around him, hugging him tightly.
“You did it!” she squealed.

He held her tightly with his free arm, panting
into her shoulder.

He did it. He actually did it. She couldn’t
believe it. Five weeks ago, he’d come to her uninterested in wanting to walk
again, never showing any enthusiasm. Now he had taken his first steps since the
accident, independently, because of his perseverance and strength. Proud was
the best word to describe how she felt in that moment.

“I guess you owe me a date,” he breathed into her
neck. She could feel his smile against her.

“I guess I do,” she said happily, still caught up
in the moment.
Yes, proud was definitely the word
, she thought.

***

Nate knocked on Claire’s unit door.
He’d told her to be ready by five, leaving her an hour to get home from the
clinic to get dressed and ready. Nate had told Claire what she was already
wearing would be fine but Claire had insisted on changing.

He smiled as the door opened. There stood a man in
a suit staring at him strangely. Nate’s smile dropped.

“Who are you?” Nate asked sharply.

The man stared him up and down. “Who are
you?
And what are you doing here?”

“I’m here for Claire.” He didn’t take his eyes off
the man. It was almost like a showdown. Who was more of a man?

“Who is it, Sam?” a woman’s soft voice called from
inside.

“I’m trying to find that out.”

The man, whose name must be Sam, continued staring
at Nate, crossing his arms over his chest.

Pleassse
.
I could drop you in two seconds flat,
Nate
thought.
This stare off was getting old.

“Look, can you just let Claire know I’m here?”

A woman came into view and stepped beside the man.
“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Nate.”

She held her hand out to shake Nate’s. “I’m
Stella, Claire’s sister.”

Nate took her hand and shook it. It was all coming
together now. “Oh, so you’re Claire’s sister. Which means…” he pointed at the
man. “You’re Tristan.”

Claire had told him briefly how her sister had
fallen in love with a famous singer called Tristan. They’d met at the hotel
where Claire and Stella lived. The girls did the night audit shift in exchange
for free accommodations, which was a pretty decent arrangement for a
uni
student. While working one of these shifts Stella had
happened to run into Tristan and it was love at first sight…well, so he was
told.

Stella laughed, “No, this is Sam, his security
guard. I take it you’ve never heard of Tristan Woods before either?”

“Do I look like the kind of guy that has?”

“No, I guess not.” Stella smiled. “So does Claire
know you were coming to visit?”

“Yeah.
We’re going on a
date.”

“A date?”
Stella asked,
clearly shocked.

Nate nodded, and an awkward silence filled the
space between them.  Stella just stared at him in disbelief while Sam,
still holding his arms across his chest, looked slightly confused as well.

“You do know she has a boyfriend?” Stella said.

“Yep, sure do,” Nate replied, adjusting the
crutches beneath his arms. Standing in one place for too long made the pressure
of the crutches dig into his underarms.

“Nate is that you?” Claire asked, opening the door
up wider and pushing Sam aside.

“You’re expecting him?” Stella asked, her face
appearing more shocked than before.

Nate couldn’t help but smile.
Yeah take that.
He
knew what people thought of him when they first met him. He didn’t exactly give
off a welcoming vibe, especially with tattoos covering his arms. But he
couldn’t help but smile at the thought of what Claire’s sister must be
thinking.

“Hey Nate!”
Claire said
happily turning her attention to Nate.

“Hey, baby,” Nate said winking at her.
“Ready to go?”

“Sure am.”

“Can I have a quick word Claire?” Stella asked,
grabbing hold of her arm.

Claire pulled Stella’s hand off her arm. “Now’s
not the time, Stella,” Claire warned. “I’ve got a date to get to.”

“I’m sure Dave, you know, your
boyfriend
,
wouldn’t be happy about this.”

“Well it’s none of his business, and it’s not
yours either,” Claire said sternly. She pushed past them to Nate’s side. “Come
on, let’s go,” she said, tugging on his arm.

“It was great meeting you two,” Nate called to
Stella, a smug look on his face.

He was actually shocked by the turn of events.
Claire had just defended going on a date with him.
Defended
him against her sister.

“Nice garden by the way,” he said as they walked
out of the hotel.

“What?” Claire replied, looking at him confused.

“All
that gardening you do
.
I can see it pays off,” he said winking as Claire
blushed
beetroot red.

Claire hadn’t meant to speak to her
sister like that. She was so caught up in all the emotions she felt from the
day that she didn’t want Stella reading more into it than she should.

Claire had finished her very last practical
placement ever, Nate was walking again, and now they were going on a date as
friends. It was to celebrate, nothing more. She didn’t tell Dave about the date
because she didn’t feel like she had to. They were just going as friends and
she didn’t want to worry him. It wasn’t lying. It was just easier this way.

Nate had taken a taxi to her house because he
couldn’t drive and was still using crutches so Claire drove them to their
destination under Nate’s guidance.

When they arrived at the empty field, Claire
didn’t know what to think. Then, when she spotted what they were going to do,
she got so scared she farted a little.

“We’re going on a hot air balloon ride?
At sunset?”
Claire couldn’t hide the huge smile on her lips.
“Are you serious?”

“Sure am,” Nate replied smiling at her reaction.

“This is awesome! But what if I was scared of
heights?”

“Are you?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so, especially
since you jumped out of a plane a few weeks ago.”

Claire turned to him baffled. “But you would have
had to book this in advance?”

“I did. I booked it the day you came to my
apartment begging me to come back to therapy,” Nate said proudly.

Claire laughed, shaking her head.
“You cocky bastard.”

“You know it.” Nate tilted his head towards the
basket. “Now come on before it gets dark.”

“I swear you continue to amaze me every day.”

“I do my best.”

Nate manoeuvred himself onto the basket, careful
to not hurt is leg. Once safely inside he held out his hand to help Claire step
into the basket. She took it without hesitation and jumped inside.

They both watched in anticipation as the man
operating the hot air balloon worked his magic and before they knew it they
were flying high in the sky.

“It’s beautiful up here,” Claire said, watching
the sunset of the distant hills. The changing colours of the sky surrounded
them, the ambience warm and soft. It was picturesque.

“It sure is,” Nate agreed.

She looked over at him, expecting him to be
admiring the view, only to find Nate admiring her instead.

“Still a pervert I see?” Claire smiled. Some
things would never change. Even now, hundreds of metres in the air, he still
managed to check her ass out.

“Hey, I seem to recall our bet has finished.
Therefore I can go back to making snide remarks, checking you out, and flirting
with you.” He winked at her, flashing a lopsided grin.

She had to admit, she had missed this. She had
missed his cheeky comments and his ‘compliments.’

“Don’t you get tired of it? Tired of being so…”

“Ridiculously good looking?”
He pouted.

“Obviously not,” she giggled.

“I like that sound.”

Claire held Nate’s eyes. He could be so sweet when
he wanted to be, but he could also be such a pain in the ass at the same time.
Strangely, though, she liked that about him.

She’d almost forgotten were they were. She was too
transfixed on Nate and thoughts of their relationship when the man operating
the hot air balloon interrupted.

“Would you two like some champagne?” he asked.

Nate was the first to pull his eyes away. “That
would be perfect. I’ll get it,” he replied moving towards the basket on the
ground.

Claire turned back to the landscape around her and
leaned back against the side of the basket, thinking about how many times she’d
never even taken notice of the sunset before. It really was stunning.