Sweet Swell

Chapter 3

Hold up, he knows? The words sounded innocent enough at first, but my habit of over-complicating every little situation in life made it sound less like “I know, whatever” than, “I know who you are and I’m going to bring you down…with a cherry on top.”

All this hit me within a matter of minutes, and I was so busy playing out numerous gut-churning situations in my head that I hadn’t even noticed Liam sidling up to me at the bonfire. Oh God. Calm down Claire you’re being paranoid, Liam isn’t even from here, he knows nothing, nothing at all. I’d been trying to even out my breathing ever since the thought dawned upon me that Liam may know something about that damning incident two years ago. It was a simple case scenario of wrong place, wrong time. But that’s another story, I’ll get back to it later.

“So. Claire,” he started, his mouth curving into a half-smile, “A penny for your thoughts.” He looked at me expectantly as I tried to compose myself and wipe my sweaty palms on my jean shorts at the same time.

“I was just thinking…” I hesitantly started, “How no matter how much time passes, your past always has a way of staying with you, haunting you, taunting you.” I laughed at my words after a brief pause, embarrassed by how pretentious that sounded.

“Hmm… The firelight seems to bring out the philosopher within us all,” Liam said, taking a sip of his rum and coke concoction some locals had been handing out at the bonfire. “Or perhaps it’s just my friend klippies and Coke here,” he joked, grimacing as he took another sip.

The fire threw a comforting, warm light over everything. The atmosphere felt almost magical with the sounds of crackling wood in front of me, surrounded by murmurs and laughter of people all around, with the sound of rolling waves in the near distance. The soft melody of a guitar played at the edge of our company. This was Leeu’s Kuil at it’s finest. As I noticed the smiling faces around me, the tension in my body started to lift. Of course Liam was harmless. I was just being paranoid again.

 “Our past is what makes us who we are. Without it, my darling Claire, you’d be a shell of a woman. Instead of seeing it as your enemy, try embracing it. Every mark on your body, every freckle, every scar, every drop of ink,” he traced the outline of the lotus I had tattooed on my left rib, “Makes you whole.” I gulped. This guy had reached into my mind with four mere sentences. I had chills running down my spine. Whether this was from his speech or his touch, I have no clue. Probably both.

“Wow.” It was all I could say. It sounded so undignified. So ridiculous in contrast with what he’d just said. But it was all I had. “I’ve never thought of it that way, to be honest. I spend far too much time thinking about the future, and far too little appreciating what I have in the moment,” I confessed, staring Liam square in the face.

This was the first time I happened to see his eyes up close. With the firelight reflecting as if dancing around his irises, he looked like some sort of enchanting mythical creature, luring innocent girls to their terrific deaths with his beautiful face. The sea-green colour, encircled by a darker ring of leafy-green made me feel captivated. He needed only look me in the eyes once and I’d obey his every command.

“I’m glad to hand out a bit of perspective,” he smiled. “So anyway,” he started changing the subject, “Speaking of ink. Does your little artwork have a story behind it?” I tensed up slightly, feeling my face turn red. “Uh yeah. It’s uh, a lotus… obviously,” I shook my head at my own stupidity. He can see that you twit, “So, they represent new beginnings. Rising above the metaphorical ‘mud-from-the-pond’, you know?” He nodded his head, an encouraging smile wavering at the corners his mouth. “I went through some bad stuff a while back, and I just felt like this simple little flower encompassed what I felt at the time so perfectly, I wanted to have it on my skin as a reminder, I guess. A reminder to rise above the unimportant, insignificant things in life that can bring me down while staying true to who I am, you know?”

“Wow.” His reply came after almost a full minute of silence. He breathed out a puff of air. I sensed that we were matched one-to-one in the wow-me game. I could only smile at him. This guy was clever, could actually carry a conversation, had interesting things to say and was hot as hell. And he was talking to me! Me! Out of every other person at the bonfire, this sex God had chosen my company. Before my thoughts had had a chance to fully sink in I was whipped up into the air from behind by a mass which had sneaked up behind me. 

“Claire bear baby girl my angel!” A string of slurred words came pouring from the mouth of no other than Tristan Stone. Drunk as a skunk. He tilted his face towards mine and planted a wet kiss on my cheek before setting me down. “Tristan what the fuck!” I shrieked, straightening my bikini-top, staring him down in annoyance. “Oh I know you like it,” he mocked, blowing a kiss at me.

I could sense Liam’s surprised look out of the corner of my eye. “Tristan, hey!” He exclaimed partially gobsmacked, partially amused. The pair of us must have made a funny scene. “You have an interesting uh…friend here,” he motioned at me. Interesting? Liam must have been surprised, seeing Tristan being so comfortable around me after I’d laid out the facts that we weren’t close at all only a matter of hours before. He didn’t know the half of it.

“Oh you mean my sister? Claire’s a halfwit, but she’s got my back alright,” he slurred, swaying slightly. There it was. All cards on the table, I suppose. Except for the halfwit part, I mean really? That was rich coming from Tristan. Liam’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Sister!” He exclaimed. “Step-sister,” I corrected, gingerly wiping the back of my hand over my cheek to get rid of Tristan’s slobber. What a pig.

“I’ve got your back alright, I’ve got it targeted with a big shiny old dagger,” I hissed at him. Liam sniggered. “Who the fuck are you? Claire who the fuck is this guy here is he bothering you okay let me at him,” Tristan’s incomprehensible babble began. Both Liam and I laughed as Tristan swayed slightly sideways before hitting the soft sand beside where we’d been sitting. I could see Laurie bursting out in laughter across from the fire, clearly savouring Tristan’s embarrassment.

“I’m guessing he doesn’t remember me,” Liam laughed as I sat myself back down beside him after turning Tristan on his side so he wouldn’t choke on his tongue or anything equally horrid from his intoxication. He’d certainly taken some some drugs in addition to the strong liquor he enjoyed perhaps a bit too frequently than was healthy for his liver, knowing him.

“He called me ‘Chloe’ for the first eight months after he and his mom moved in with my dad and I. And he was convinced I had the hots for his sorry ass the whole time, probably still thinks that. It’s heartbreaking,” I sighed sarcastically. “Don’t bother to get to know him,” I ploughed on, “He’ll be on to the next girl within a matter of days, your sister shouldn’t get her hopes up.”

I regretted saying this immediately. I grimaced, annoyed at myself. When I looked up again, Liam didn’t seem to be phased by my harsh words at all. “I figured he was that type anyway,” he shrugged, “And besides, all the guys Vera dates are fuckwits, don’t sugar coat it for me, meisie.” He smiled that dazzling smile of his, and stood up to leave.

The blondes, one of them Vera, I knew now, and the other two guys Liam arrived with were calling him over. “I might see you around sometime,” he said casually. No! No no no my dream guy is leaving and I’ll probably never see him again what is this!! I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted when he bent down and hugged me against his chest. Don’t let go, I thought pathetically. “Yeah…see you around,” I greeted him awkwardly. And then he was gone.