The Lunchtime Special

Chapter 21 - Surprises

On the night of Will's Buck's party, I learn a number of new things about Mia.

Firstly, she is a pretty good shot with a rifle. We join Will and nine of his mates at Action Paintball Games in Rouse Hill, where we're provided with camouflage overalls, a standard issue semi-automatic paintball gun that fires two to three shots per second with a thirty metre accuracy, a harness and mask. Our private party leader trains us briefly and lays out the rules then stands back to supervise as he lets us loose for three hours of play. Whether our team is attacking or defending, Mia is great at picking off the enemy and we eventually manage to win three of the five battlefields, making us overall winners.

"Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?" I ask her as we take off our camo gear at the end. She laughs and indicates Will, Sean and Patrick.

"We used to go to the Yarramundi paintball quite a lot in high school," she tells me.

"And Mia was always a good shot," Sean adds. He and his twin brother have been friends with Will almost as long as Mia has, it seems.

"The first time we played," Patrick tells me, "she absolutely crushed us."

"We thought it was beginner's luck, but she's just a tin-arse," Will moans, laughing when she thumps his arm.

"Well, I'm damn glad I was on your team then," I tell her before smacking a loud kiss on her mouth, making her laugh again and earning a bit of ribbing from the others.

Once we're all changed and cleaned up we drive to Emu Plains, where Sean and Patrick's parents own O'Donoghue's Irish pub. A table has been reserved for us in the crowded garden bar with a couple of gas outdoor heaters nearby. Drinks are brought out straight away and I see a stage only a few feet away where I'm told Karaoke will be starting shortly.

"Can you carry a tune?" Mia asks me, sipping on her glass of Guinness. "I haven't heard you singing in the shower."

Lowering my head so only she can hear, I murmur, "That's because when we're in the shower together I'm busy with other things." Her blush makes me grin. "I can try to serenade you as well if you like, but it will be difficult when you already take my breath away." She blushes again and I can't resist pressing my lips to hers.

"Hey, cut it out you two," Patrick interrupts us, "This is a bachelor night; none of that couples' stuff allowed."

We both laugh and I give Mia a wink and squeeze her hand in a kind of unspoken promise that we'll revisit this later when we're alone. The look she gives me in return steals the oxygen from my lungs and I drag in a deep breath in order to answer a question Bevan has just asked me.

Sometime later, when we've had our meal and another drink, Will, Bevan, Alan and Sean are the first of us to brave the karaoke stage. It had been announced at the start that it was an eighties theme, so for their performance they'd picked the Proclaimers hit, I'm Gonna Be (500 miles). They were loud, enthusiastic and reasonably tuneful and the rest of us gave them a rousing applause. Thirty minutes later, after a number of impassioned performances by other patrons and another couple of drinks at our table, I learn that Mia can ham it up with the best of them when she and Will go up to sing the Buggles' hit, Video Killed the Radio Star. They're tongue-in-cheek hilarious and, I'm starting to realise, a little tipsy. With their encouragement, everyone joins them in the chorus and the crowd give them thunderous applause afterwards while they both grin and bow before weaving their way back to our table.

"A little song-bird," I tease as she takes the chair next to me again.

"Wait till she sings on her own," Sean tells me, grinning. He looks at her. "What did you pick?"