Page 29 of Anxious Hearts
Kelly woke with her eyes closed and yet the light still seemed to burn them in their sockets.
She screwed them shut tighter but that didn’t work so she pulled her sheet over her head.
She let out a long groan. Drinking so much yesterday had been unwise, to say the least. She’d already lost a day of studying and there was no way she was going to be functional today.
Her precise scheduling was falling apart at the same rate as the rest of her life.
Only Eli had provided some hope. Eli. She tried to remember how it ended after they’d kissed against the fence.
It had seemed to go for a long time, and she knew he walked her back inside, past their dozing parents, past the den where Fergus was raining bullets on the terrorists.
Eli led her to her childhood bedroom, laid her down on the mattress.
Kissed her … But then what? She couldn’t remember, although she saw flashes of his naked back in her mind.
Then she was on top of him. He was on top of her.
It was all a blur. Like it could have happened or it could have been a dream.
Wait, they were both naked, yet when she reached down and felt her hips, she was wearing the same shorts as yesterday. Did she get dressed again? Her T-shirt was damp with sweat but still on her body. Even her bra. It was a dream, then.
Kelly emerged from the covers and checked her phone on the bedside table for any clues. Two messages received half an hour ago. Both from Eli.
Thanks for a great night. And OMG, the sex was amazing!
Her stomach dropped and she broke out in a cold sweat.
Wait, sorry, typo, I meant the conversation. Amazing conversation!
Now she was desperately confused. Was he messing with her? And if he was, which part was the messing?
She typed hurriedly. What happened last night?
He responded immediately as though he’d been waiting for her to make contact. I walked you back to your room and you basically passed out on your bed.
So we didn’t …
We did not.
Kelly exhaled with relief and relaxed her shoulders.
Her head was starting to ache and her throat was a desert.
Not that having sex with Eli would have been such a crime, she just didn’t want to have sex with him so drunk that she wasn’t sure if it was a dream or reality.
But that meant she definitely dreamed about it.
No doubt Freud would have something to say about that.
Her phone vibrated.
Wanna hang out today?
Kelly shuffled over to her bed’s backboard and crossed her legs. You mean study?
You’ve got a one-track mind. No, I mean hang out.
Kelly grinned. Okay.
I’ll be at your place in an hour.
She sent a thumbs-up emoji, which felt a bit stupid as soon as she saw it appear, but it was better than a heart. When she hauled herself out of bed, she got a strong whiff of what she smelled like after twelve hours of drinking in the sun and then sleeping in her clothes.
‘Oof. I’m going need every minute of that hour.’
***
Eli sipped noisily on his smoothie as they strolled through the shopping centre.
When he’d told Kelly they were going shopping, she’d almost told him to forget about it.
But, despite the public holiday crowds, she was actually enjoying herself.
They’d been wandering around for about half an hour, browsing the shops.
Kelly hadn’t known this was something men enjoyed.
‘You know, I’ve never met a man who liked shopping the way you do.’
‘Then you’ve never met a real man, Kelly, my dear.’
She liked the way he talked. A bit weird, but fun. She looked at him sidelong as he walked in loping strides, his mop of hair bouncing lightly, his glasses a fraction too far down the bridge of his nose.
‘And I’m Jewish. We can’t resist a bargain.’
‘Are you allowed to say that?’
‘Of course I am. It’s the Seinfeld principle. Or probably more Woody Allen, but I think he may have been cancelled.’
‘What principle?’
‘Jews get to make fun of themselves. But if you do it, young Gentile, you’re a racist.’
This sounded suspiciously like Toula’s line of reasoning. Kelly wasn’t sure if he was serious. ‘Okay, no Jewish jokes, then. But no blonde jokes from you either.’
‘Blondes aren’t a race.’
‘Doesn’t matter.’
‘What if I identify as a blond?’
‘You’ve got black hair!’
‘Doesn’t matter.’
Kelly laughed. ‘You’re probably right. Okay, you identify as a blond, I’ll identify as Jewish and then we can say whatever we like to each other.’
Eli raised his smoothie in a toast. ‘Another win for diversity and inclusion.’
Now he did remind her of Toula and she wondered how she had suddenly become surrounded by people who didn’t seem to care at all about the culture shifting around them. That attitude could get them in a lot of trouble in the wrong setting.
Like a hospital.
‘You know you need to be more woke than that at work, right?’
‘Oh, trust me. I’m so woke in the hospital, it’s like I’m on diversity and inclusion methamphetamines.’
Kelly shook her head. ‘Even that’s borderline offensive.’
‘Speaking of the hospital, I’ve been thinking about your predicament.’
Kelly stopped walking. Eli took two strides before he realised she was no longer beside him. He turned back.
‘What are you doing?’
Kelly hadn’t told Eli about the video. ‘How do you know about my predicament?’
For a moment, his eyebrows met in confusion. Then his face relaxed. ‘Oh, you don’t remember.’
Kelly felt a hot prickle on every part of her skin. ‘Remember what?’
‘You told me everything last night. Showed me the video. Scrolled through the comments. Mused on your Dr Omelette nickname. I’m actually surprised they let you in here, it being a shopping centre and all. I was expecting a wanted poster with your mugshot at the front entrance.’
‘It’s not a joke, Eli.’
‘I know. And that’s why I’m going to help you.’
‘Help me how?’
‘By writing you a reference.’
Kelly was genuinely confused. ‘But what’s that going to do? You’re just a Registrar like me.’
‘You haven’t seen what I’ve written.’
‘You’ve already done it?’
He scoffed in a feigned judgemental tone. ‘We weren’t all waking up hungover and regretting missing our chance to sleep with one of the world’s most devastatingly adept lovers.’
Kelly smiled. ‘I believe you’re right. Neither of us woke up that way at all.’