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Authors: Lindy Dale
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”
Shit.
Joel’s
interruption is so unexpected it makes me leap guiltily from my
seat, bashing my knee into the leg of the table as I do. This, in
turn, knocks over the remains of the margarita. I stare helplessly
at the broken glass and the margarita dripping over my knees while
Nicholas scrambles for napkins to wipe up the mess. His hands are
shaking. He’s flustered too, like we’ve done something wrong. It’s
so weird, as if we’ve cheated on Joel. I don’t know why I feel this
way. We’re not in a relationship and I did meet Nicholas
first. Yet, I still feel awful, like such a bitch.
“So, what’ve
you two been up to?” Joel asks, as he flops into his chair,
oblivious to the chaos around him. “We’ve reached the throwing
drinks stage, have we? I didn’t think we’d had that much.”
I open my
mouth to answer but the room has begun to spin. It’s hot; I can’t
focus on Joel’s face, I can’t make my lips say what they want to
say. My ears are ringing and I can feel myself losing
consciousness. Nicholas — or is it Joel — is calling my name. Then
the most embarrassing moment occurs. I fall to the floor in a
rather unladylike faint.
When I rouse,
some time later, I appear to have attracted the attention of a few
people. Okay. That’s not entirely true. The whole restaurant and
bar are crowded round me, including a person who looks like a chef,
a woman I don’t know who is taking my pulse and Nicholas and Joel
who are kneeling on my other side. My head is thumping and the
voices sound muffled and unintelligible.
“What
happened?” I ask.
“You
fainted.”
“Must have
been the heat and the alcohol. You went a bit weak at the knees,
that’s all.”
“Twice in one
day,” Joel says. “I always knew chicks found me irresistible but
this is ridiculous.”
I flash him an
unamused smile. “In your dreams.”
“So you’re
okay?”
“Yep. The
fainting thing happens a lot in my family. We have low blood
pressure. Guess I jumped up too quickly.” Which sounds sort of
blasé, judging by the ruckus I appear to have caused. I close my
eyes and cover them with my hand. This is soooo embarrassing. I wish they’d go away or be struck by a sudden bout
of amnesia at the least. I wish I could turn back time for a few
minutes and not fall on the floor. No, I wish the ground would
swallow me alive. I mean, who faints at nothing? Me, I guess. I am
such a girl.
Tentatively, I
pull myself to a sitting position. The room has stopped spinning
and I no longer feel like I’m on a merry-go-round so that’s
good.
“Take it
easy,” the woman says, as she gives me a matronly pat on the
shoulder. “You might be concussed.”
“Did I bump my
head?”
“No, but—”
“I’m fine.
It’s nothing to worry about. Honestly.”
“At least let
me listen to your heart. I’m a trained first aider.” She whips a
medical kit from out of her handbag — I’m not going there as to the
weirdness of that — and proceeds to pop a stethoscope onto my
chest. “Sounds like everything’s back to normal,” she informs
me.
“Thank you,” I
say.
“You be
careful getting home.”
“I will.”
“And you
should see your doctor about the blood pressure. They can give you
medication for that.”
“Yes. Of
course.”
By this time,
seeing that I am not dying and therefore not overly interesting,
the crowd have gone back to their evening entertainment. But
Nicholas and Joel, who have been at my side the whole time, are
watching me anxiously.
“Can we walk
you home, Sadie? I don’t like to think of you wobbling your way
along the beach alone,” Joel says, his eyes intently scrutinizing
my face. He puts a hand under my elbow and helps me to my feet. I’m
thankful for his help, yet the only thing I can think of is the
fact that I want to sleep with him. A lot. Right now. Obviously,
I’m fuzzier from the fainting episode than I realised. I mean, he’s
annoying. Really annoying. Even when he’s being
Shit.
Joel’s
interruption is so unexpected it makes me leap guiltily from my
seat, bashing my knee into the leg of the table as I do. This, in
turn, knocks over the remains of the margarita. I stare helplessly
at the broken glass and the margarita dripping over my knees while
Nicholas scrambles for napkins to wipe up the mess. His hands are
shaking. He’s flustered too, like we’ve done something wrong. It’s
so weird, as if we’ve cheated on Joel. I don’t know why I feel this
way. We’re not in a relationship and I did meet Nicholas
first. Yet, I still feel awful, like such a bitch.
“So, what’ve
you two been up to?” Joel asks, as he flops into his chair,
oblivious to the chaos around him. “We’ve reached the throwing
drinks stage, have we? I didn’t think we’d had that much.”
I open my
mouth to answer but the room has begun to spin. It’s hot; I can’t
focus on Joel’s face, I can’t make my lips say what they want to
say. My ears are ringing and I can feel myself losing
consciousness. Nicholas — or is it Joel — is calling my name. Then
the most embarrassing moment occurs. I fall to the floor in a
rather unladylike faint.
When I rouse,
some time later, I appear to have attracted the attention of a few
people. Okay. That’s not entirely true. The whole restaurant and
bar are crowded round me, including a person who looks like a chef,
a woman I don’t know who is taking my pulse and Nicholas and Joel
who are kneeling on my other side. My head is thumping and the
voices sound muffled and unintelligible.
“What
happened?” I ask.
“You
fainted.”
“Must have
been the heat and the alcohol. You went a bit weak at the knees,
that’s all.”
“Twice in one
day,” Joel says. “I always knew chicks found me irresistible but
this is ridiculous.”
I flash him an
unamused smile. “In your dreams.”
“So you’re
okay?”
“Yep. The
fainting thing happens a lot in my family. We have low blood
pressure. Guess I jumped up too quickly.” Which sounds sort of
blasé, judging by the ruckus I appear to have caused. I close my
eyes and cover them with my hand. This is soooo embarrassing. I wish they’d go away or be struck by a sudden bout
of amnesia at the least. I wish I could turn back time for a few
minutes and not fall on the floor. No, I wish the ground would
swallow me alive. I mean, who faints at nothing? Me, I guess. I am
such a girl.
Tentatively, I
pull myself to a sitting position. The room has stopped spinning
and I no longer feel like I’m on a merry-go-round so that’s
good.
“Take it
easy,” the woman says, as she gives me a matronly pat on the
shoulder. “You might be concussed.”
“Did I bump my
head?”
“No, but—”
“I’m fine.
It’s nothing to worry about. Honestly.”
“At least let
me listen to your heart. I’m a trained first aider.” She whips a
medical kit from out of her handbag — I’m not going there as to the
weirdness of that — and proceeds to pop a stethoscope onto my
chest. “Sounds like everything’s back to normal,” she informs
me.
“Thank you,” I
say.
“You be
careful getting home.”
“I will.”
“And you
should see your doctor about the blood pressure. They can give you
medication for that.”
“Yes. Of
course.”
By this time,
seeing that I am not dying and therefore not overly interesting,
the crowd have gone back to their evening entertainment. But
Nicholas and Joel, who have been at my side the whole time, are
watching me anxiously.
“Can we walk
you home, Sadie? I don’t like to think of you wobbling your way
along the beach alone,” Joel says, his eyes intently scrutinizing
my face. He puts a hand under my elbow and helps me to my feet. I’m
thankful for his help, yet the only thing I can think of is the
fact that I want to sleep with him. A lot. Right now. Obviously,
I’m fuzzier from the fainting episode than I realised. I mean, he’s
annoying. Really annoying. Even when he’s being
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