90s Queen Bee #Wattys2016

Chapter 31 - Zig-a-zig-ah

2015

I'd been skinny dipping in Croatia, seen the Northern Lights and danced under the rain in Spain (pissed outside of a club in Ibiza, mind), but I was about to do something more heart racing than anything I'd ever experienced in my life. I was about to tell a man that I wanted to start a relationship with him.

The light Tuesday evening sky was clear and the air humid as I sat cross-legged on a picnic blanket in the Domain, watching him walk towards me.

'Can I interest you in a slice of brie?' I flung my arm over the array of cheeses, breads and dips I'd laid out on the blanket.

He sat down and gave me a kiss. 'What did I do to deserve all this?'

I rested an elbow on my leg, put my cheek against the palm of my hand and looked at him thoughtfully.

'What?' His mouth was full of cheese and cracker.

'Nothing.' I smiled. 'How did the rest of your weekend with Mia go?'

He nodded and swallowed. 'Good. She only snapped at me one more time when I'd told her to put sunscreen. And she thinks you're cool and also a little bit crazy.'

'She could be right.'

'I think her exact words were 'crazy in a good way dad.''

'I'll take that.' Relieved, I reached for a chunk of French bread. I was about to use it to scoop some hummus when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that an Ibis bird had wandered uncomfortably close, his long beak hovering above my hand.

'Aaargh!' I dropped the bread and scrambled sideways like a crab, one of my hands upturning the beetroot dip.

'Sammy, it's just a bird.' Colin sounded amused.

The Ibis paused for a moment as if plotting how it would get me before venturing further towards the centre of the blanket.

'Go away,' I urged it, panicked. This time, my legs kicked the cheddar away and several crackers went flying in the air as I clambered backwards into Colin. I pressed my forehead into his arm. 'I hate birds, especially those ones!'

He laughed and hoisted himself up. I put my hand over my eyes and watched through my splayed fingers as he calmly took a few long strides towards the bird. The bird retreated and went off to annoy a family of picnickers nearby.

'I wish I could say I feel silly, but I really do hate those birds.' I told him. 'As you can clearly see, I'm not as fearless as you think I am.'

He sat down and the creases in the corners of his eyes deepened as he laughed. 'I don't mind protecting you from Ibis birds. What else have you got to tell me?'

I cocked my head to the side in thought and started counting on my fingers. 'Let's see. I'm scared of spiders, snakes, cockroaches, open flames and lots of other things .... ' My voice trailed off as I reached my pinkie finger.

'You seem nervous,' Colin noted. 'Should I be nervous?'

'No.' I looked down at the blanket. 'It's just that I like you and you're going to find out all the stuff I'm scared of at some point and, as you can see from my encounter with that bird, some of it isn't pretty.'

Colin lowered his face beneath mine and smiled up at me. I giggled and wiped a crumb from the corner of his mouth. He quickly moved his head up to kiss my lips. I kissed him back then sat up straight, brushing my hair out of my face.

'Okay Colin, here goes. I was called Sammy-two-rounds-of-sandwiches in high school and I didn't have a date for the formal and I do get nervous before meetings.'