Drowning in Her Eyes (13 page)

Jack was pleasantly surprised to find that his room, al
t
hough small, was well equipped and had a pleasant outlook. Further exploration took him to a large communal bathroom conveniently close to his room. There were few fellow st
u
dents around. Only first year students were required to be here for the first week before classes began. This week was called
O
W
eek
, short for
Orientation Week
.

Jack wandered around the college, finding and introdu
c
ing himself to other new students,
commonly known as freshmen
. He also found there were some senior students who had come in early to help run the orientation pr
o
grammes. From them he learned quite a lot about how things worked. During the next week, there would be plenty of di
f
ferent meetings and functions to introduce them to university life.

He spent an hour or two unpacking his clothes and a
r
ranging his room. Then he showered and headed back into town to Aunt Lil
's place. His uncle Bill
was home from work
and the two smaller children home from school. None of the guests had arrived. He sat with the family and drank a cold beer. They talked to him about the university. Bern
a
dette
had already completed a year
and was a font of useful information.

Soon, guests began arriving. The first to arrive was Pr
o
fessor Mackenzie with his wife and daughter, Ellie. The Pr
o
fessor was a pipe
-
smoking, tweed j
acket
with leather patc
h
es, caricature of an Oxford Don. However, he proved to be a down
-
to
-
earth type. He welcomed Jack and said he would be supervising Jack
's work in zoology. Upon learning that Jack had scored very well in school biology, he said,
“You shouldn
't have much to worry about, but don
't expect any favours.
” Ellie was friendly, but Jack had only a passing i
n
terest in her. She was a short dumpy and shy creature
—
not his type at all.

Then some of Bernadette
's friends drove up in a bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle. Jack was to learn that this type of car was a favourite of the university staffers and their friends and families.
They were cheap to buy and run
and were very reliable. Indeed, Aunt Lil had a neat green one in her garage. Here, they were universally
known as
V-
dubs
. Jack was right in his assumption that his cousins would have some attractive friends. The three girls who arrived were very pretty students about to begin their second year of stu
d
ies. Jack was in awe of them.

Life in a Catholic boarding school had mostly shielded him from girls, and his teachers went on and on about the sins of the flesh. Jack was a
Doubting Thomas
. Years spent with nuns and brothers had not convinced him about his faith. He could not understand that, if religion was such a desirable thing, why these same nuns and brothers had to beat children with such obvious enthusiasm in order to make them believe. For him, it had had the opposite effect. Mor
e
over, as for sex, their constant reminders that it was an ugly bodily function designed by God solely
for the purpose of procreation
—
and not to be enjoyed
—
well, he had proof po
s
itive
that
was wrong!

Jack had become a cynic and would remain so for the rest of his days. Later in life, as he added politicians, la
w
yers, clergymen, generals, and used car salesmen to his list, he would joke that he was a
‘fully paid up, card-
carrying member of the Skeptics and Cynics Association of Australia. However, for the moment, he was a novice in the ways of women and these three young beauties appeared to be out of his class, despite their friendly greetings.

Bernadette said to them,
“Where is Susan? I thought she was coming with you?
”

One replied.
“She was late getting home and wasn
't ready when we called around to pick her up. Her Mum is g
o
ing to drop her off s
hortly
…
w
ait
,
that sounds like them now.
” Bernadette went out to greet them.

* * * *

Susan had been looking forward to this evening
.
Bern
a
dette had teased her about meeting her cousin.
“My God, he
's handsome,
” she had said.
“You
'll love him.
” She was doubtful about that, but was glad to have the opportunity to meet a nice boy. Her mother had been very protective of her since they had left America, and had not been encouraging when the subject turned to boys. She had supervised Susan as she dressed to make sure she was not wearing wha
t she called
revealing clothes
. However, Susan had pinned her pretty, dark hair into an attractive chignon, revealing her el
e
gant neck. In any man
's language, she looked stunning.

“What time should I call back for her?
” asked Marci.

“Don
't worry about that, Mrs. Baker,
” replied Bern
a
dette.
“Someone will bring her home.
” Marci looked a little doubtful.
“Not too late now, Susan,
” she said to her daug
h
ter.
“Don
't wait up, Mom,
” Susan replied. The girls went i
n
side. Susan immediately became the centre of attention. She was something of a curiosity in this company
and
not just for her looks, but also for her soft American accent and the un
u
sual manner in which she had arrived in their city.

Bernadette drew her over to Jack for the introduction.
“Hello, Susan,
” he said, taking her proffered hand. Her skin was soft and warm. He felt a jolt of energy, like a small ele
c
tric charge. She released his hand, and it seemed to him that she had held on for a little longer than was necessary. She murmured a greeting. That was when h
e looked her fully in the face.

My God
, he thought,
she is so, so beautiful
! His gaze took in her soft latte skin, her full lips and generous mouth, and finally, her liquid eyes
—
dark brown, shining with some inner glow he could not define.
I could drown in those eyes
, he thought
.
I could just fall in and never come out.
He b
e
came aware that he was staring.
“I
'm sorry,
” he mumbled,
“I didn
't mean to stare, but you have the most beautiful eyes.
” She smiled broadly, a gorgeous smile.
“You
're not so bad yourself,
” s
he softly said.

He felt something give way inside him. He was tongue-
tied and blushing. Bernadette
sensed his discomfort
and led Susan on to the next
guest. Bernadette cast
a look back over her shoulder and delivered a self-
satisfied grin.
“See,
” she said,
“I told you there would be
some interesting people here!
”

During dinner, and for the rest of the evening, Jack tried not to keep looking at Susan. Fortunately, Susan sat away from him, on the same side of the table or he could not have avoided staring at her. After dinner, he managed a short co
n
versation, asking her about America and her voyage to Au
s
tralia. She had a lovely soft voice, nothing like the hard nasal intonations he had associated with Americans.

She thought Jack
's accent was
cute
.
“But,
” she said,
“
you all speak so fast
I have difficulty understanding you.
”

Jack made a mental note
—
slow down, you bloody fool
.

As the party began to break up, t
he other girls called to Susan to join them
—
they were leaving. She looked at him.
“I have to go. It was lovely to meet you.
”

Oh, God, he thought, please don
't go; stay here forever. Bernadette interrupted with a conspiratorial glance at him.
“It
's all right. Jack can drive her home.
He
'
s going out to Robb. It
's on his way.
” He glanced nervously at Susan.
“Is that all right with you?
” She smiled and he felt his heart skip a beat. It seemed she was smiling only for him.
“Sure,
” she said,
“let
's go.
”

The Bakers lived on the north side of the city. As they followed the steep street, Susan said,
“Have you been up to the lookout
yet
?
”

“N
o,
I only arrived today.
”

“
That
's my house there, the blue one,
” she said,
“Go on further and make a left hand turn. That is the way to the lookout. You get a really good view of the city, especially
at night with all the lights
.
”

They came out upon a broad paved parking area. Jack drove to the edge where they looked down on the city, awash with bright lights. He switched off and they sat in silence for a while. He was acutely aware of her presence, the scent of her perfume
—
subtle
but
with a hint of musk
—an
d the warmth of her body. She moved a little closer on the bench seat and began to point out the different sections of the city. Jack could not have identified any of these landmarks afte
r
wards. His whole being was concentrated on her nearness. When she reached out to touch his arm to get his attention, it was as though he had brushed against a live wire.
“I think we should go,
” he said,
“Your mother will be looking for you.
”
Did she look a bit disappointed?