your cards close.”
Les
coughed again. “No. I, um.”
“Lots
of seagulls,” Audrey said, addressing the comment to Flip who said, “They’re
pests really.”
“I’m
a lawyer,” Les blurted.
And
the most socially awkward person Audrey had ever met. But there was nothing she
could do to save her without it being too obvious.
“Builder,”
said Polly. “Reece better watch himself, eh.”
“No,
no I’m not a lawyer today. I am on other days, work days, you know in the
office, that’s where I do my lawyering, it’s an office thing. I’m a Monday to
Friday lawyer really. I don’t do lawyering in the park, and it’s the weekend
and so I’m not a lawyer, I’m just a friend.”
Audrey
couldn’t look at Les in case her babbling was contagious.
Polly
hid a smile. “Good to know . As a friend, what’s your advice about
Reece?”
“Oh,
ah, I’m not. I’d need. It’s not.”
Oh
my God . Audrey glared at Les in shock. Mia was more
articulate and she was slow to talk.
Polly
pulled on Flip’s ponytail again. “Flipper, why don’t you take over from Reece
so he can talk to Audrey and I’ll intro Les to the girls.” He raised a hand in
the air in question. “That okay with you?”
“Oh,
I, ah—”
Audrey
cut Les off. “That’d be great.”
Polly
bent to speak to Flip and Audrey cut Les a look. She tried to make it say be
cool, but it probably said could you stop being such a complete moron. She’d
seen Les tear strips off people at work who fouled up, reducing them to heaving
lumps of snot, and she’d seen her tongue-tied before, but never so badly. And
yes, Polly was an incredible specimen up close. The hair, cropped skull close
on the sides and tufted on top, the ear plug, the tattoos. He normalised
Reece’s size by being almost as big, but he had a different intensity about
him. If Reece was a lion gentle with a cub, Polly was more your average croc
lurking hidden in shallow water ready to drown you, hide you under a rock shelf
and eat you later.
Flip
skipped off and Polly motioned to Les to follow him. Audrey gave her a none too
subtle shove, in a throwing a live chook to a penned prehistoric reptile
manner, to get her moving. Les gave her a very obviously nervous I’m dinner grimace.
And then Reece was there and it was just the two of them.
God
he had great eyes. The shape, the glossy jade colour, the heavy black lashes
that matched his thick hair. Not that his eyes had anything to do with his
qualification as a child care worker. Other than that he wasn’t a blind child
care worker, which made them an asset. Oh God . The other applicants all
had eyes in working order but not so pretty.
“Are
you okay?” he said.
Good
Lord, she’d been infected with Les’ wandering thought syndrome. “I’m fine.” She
met those jade eyes. “This is a great playground. We come here, but there are
usually so many bigger kids I don’t let Mia on the equipment.”
“It’s
better during the week. All the bigger kids are at school. Do you miss not
having weekdays with Mia? The weekends can be so frantic.”
“I
remember from maternity leave how they were different, a different pace, not so
loud and competitive.”
But
full of different kinds of frustration. The abject fear she was getting this
motherhood thing all wrong. The full realisation she was in this on her own and
the anxiety about returning to work and being able to be the same person with
the same performance standards after a 2am feed and a 4am crying jag.
“The
parks and cafes around here are all little kid friendly during the week. There’s
even a session at the movies for kids and carers. All the kids grizzle
together.”
“Would
you want to take Mia?” It was hard to imagine saying no to anything Reece
wanted to do. Oh, this was not good.
“Only
if you wanted that. The DVD and download versions of all the kids’ stuff come
out so close to the theatre releases now.”
“Yes,
she likes to watch things over and over
Les
coughed again. “No. I, um.”
“Lots
of seagulls,” Audrey said, addressing the comment to Flip who said, “They’re
pests really.”
“I’m
a lawyer,” Les blurted.
And
the most socially awkward person Audrey had ever met. But there was nothing she
could do to save her without it being too obvious.
“Builder,”
said Polly. “Reece better watch himself, eh.”
“No,
no I’m not a lawyer today. I am on other days, work days, you know in the
office, that’s where I do my lawyering, it’s an office thing. I’m a Monday to
Friday lawyer really. I don’t do lawyering in the park, and it’s the weekend
and so I’m not a lawyer, I’m just a friend.”
Audrey
couldn’t look at Les in case her babbling was contagious.
Polly
hid a smile. “Good to know . As a friend, what’s your advice about
Reece?”
“Oh,
ah, I’m not. I’d need. It’s not.”
Oh
my God . Audrey glared at Les in shock. Mia was more
articulate and she was slow to talk.
Polly
pulled on Flip’s ponytail again. “Flipper, why don’t you take over from Reece
so he can talk to Audrey and I’ll intro Les to the girls.” He raised a hand in
the air in question. “That okay with you?”
“Oh,
I, ah—”
Audrey
cut Les off. “That’d be great.”
Polly
bent to speak to Flip and Audrey cut Les a look. She tried to make it say be
cool, but it probably said could you stop being such a complete moron. She’d
seen Les tear strips off people at work who fouled up, reducing them to heaving
lumps of snot, and she’d seen her tongue-tied before, but never so badly. And
yes, Polly was an incredible specimen up close. The hair, cropped skull close
on the sides and tufted on top, the ear plug, the tattoos. He normalised
Reece’s size by being almost as big, but he had a different intensity about
him. If Reece was a lion gentle with a cub, Polly was more your average croc
lurking hidden in shallow water ready to drown you, hide you under a rock shelf
and eat you later.
Flip
skipped off and Polly motioned to Les to follow him. Audrey gave her a none too
subtle shove, in a throwing a live chook to a penned prehistoric reptile
manner, to get her moving. Les gave her a very obviously nervous I’m dinner grimace.
And then Reece was there and it was just the two of them.
God
he had great eyes. The shape, the glossy jade colour, the heavy black lashes
that matched his thick hair. Not that his eyes had anything to do with his
qualification as a child care worker. Other than that he wasn’t a blind child
care worker, which made them an asset. Oh God . The other applicants all
had eyes in working order but not so pretty.
“Are
you okay?” he said.
Good
Lord, she’d been infected with Les’ wandering thought syndrome. “I’m fine.” She
met those jade eyes. “This is a great playground. We come here, but there are
usually so many bigger kids I don’t let Mia on the equipment.”
“It’s
better during the week. All the bigger kids are at school. Do you miss not
having weekdays with Mia? The weekends can be so frantic.”
“I
remember from maternity leave how they were different, a different pace, not so
loud and competitive.”
But
full of different kinds of frustration. The abject fear she was getting this
motherhood thing all wrong. The full realisation she was in this on her own and
the anxiety about returning to work and being able to be the same person with
the same performance standards after a 2am feed and a 4am crying jag.
“The
parks and cafes around here are all little kid friendly during the week. There’s
even a session at the movies for kids and carers. All the kids grizzle
together.”
“Would
you want to take Mia?” It was hard to imagine saying no to anything Reece
wanted to do. Oh, this was not good.
“Only
if you wanted that. The DVD and download versions of all the kids’ stuff come
out so close to the theatre releases now.”
“Yes,
she likes to watch things over and over
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