Miss Spelled Page 2

  He has removed his tie and opened the top three buttons on his crisp, pale blue shirt, revealing a light smattering of brown chest hair. Even though his legs are covered in dark grey trousers, I can still see the muscles of his thighs as he walks towards me. He’s got yummy legs— runner’s legs. In fact, every part of him is yummy.

  I watch the flow of his tall, lean frame as he makes his way over to me, perfect white teeth visible through his smile as he approaches. With his glowing tanned skin, short hair, sparkly honey-coloured eyes and long legs, he could be a poster boy for the young, professional city-dwelling lifestyle. I am so, so, so, so lucky. I still can’t quite figure out what he sees in me because if there’s one person on the planet who is the complete opposite of all his ex-girlfriends—of which there seem to have been many—it’s me.

  Raised to be part of society’s elite, he has dated aspiring models, actual models and trust fund recipients who could be models if they could be bothered working. In fact, if all of his exes were corralled into a room, they would still have a lower combined body fat percentage than me.

  ‘Hey sweetie, how are you? Am I late?’ he asks, reaching down to kiss me.

  ‘No, you’re right on time,’ I say with a little giggle.

  It’s pretty embarrassing but for the first ten minutes of being with him, my adult maturity leaves me and I regress into a star-struck teenager incapable of doing anything other than giggle and gaze at her rock god.

  ‘Happy anniversary! How was your day?’ he asks, sitting next to me at the bar.

  ‘Happy anniversary to you too!’ I say, leaning in to give him another kiss. ‘It was great. Oscar and Xavier had a little punch-up over the iPad, Tilly and Georgia were upset because they both had the same new pencil case but made up by play lunch and Lachlan fell over and required a Band-Aid on his knee.’

  He laughs. ‘Sounds a bit like my day, only with children who are more mature than some of the adults I work with.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘Nothing that can’t wait. Did the kids like the flowers I sent you?’

  ‘They loved the flowers you sent me, thank you. When they were brought in the entire class gave an appreciative woo! They’re beautiful.’

  ‘Not as beautiful as you,’ he says, holding my hand.

  Tiny rainbows float inside me, happy rainbows. Maybe some unicorns too.

  ‘Mr St. James, your table is ready,’ says the maître d’.

  ‘Great, thanks,’ Aiden says as he helps me off the bar stool. ‘I’m not sure about you, but I’m starving. Lunch was a no-go today. I was too…’ He shakes his head.

  ‘Too what?’ I ask, because something is bothering him.

  He gets a small furrow between his eyebrows when he’s troubled, and it’s sitting there right now.

  ‘It’s…nothing. Tonight is our special night, let’s not spoil it by talking about my day,’ he says as he leads me over to our table by the window overlooking the Yarra and Southbank Promenade. It’s dusk and Melbourne is just starting to breathe its nightly luminescence, the lights bringing a whole new life to the busy city.

  Within minutes, the waiter has brought over a bottle of Verve Cliquot, popped the cork and poured two glasses. The tiny bubbles rise inside the glass, one after the other. My insides feel much the same way.

  ‘To us…to the happiest year of my life,’ he says. ‘I love you, Lou Mercer.’

  * * *

  After we share a decadent chocolate mud mousse dessert and sip on Cointreau over ice, we enjoy a slow walk up the Southbank Promenade which delivers us to the Eureka Tower. The city, which can look so grey and menacing during the daylight hours, glitters and glows in all its glory after dark. Some cities were made for night time, and Melbourne is one of them.

  ‘Here we are,’ Aiden says pointing to the top of the tower, the observation deck with a 360-degree view of Melbourne.

  ‘Isn’t it closed?’ I ask. ‘It’s past midnight.

  ‘Not for us it’s not,’ he says with a smile.

  A feeling of dread pulses around my body. Just what does he have planned?

  ‘We’re not skydiving or free-falling from the top or anything, are we? I’m not really dressed for it. And I’d bring up dinner and all that chocolate.’

  Aiden laughs. ‘No, close but not quite.’

  ‘Then what…’

  ‘Shush,’ he says, gently touching his forefinger to my lips. ‘Trust me.’

  He takes my hand and leads me through the automatic doors and into the lift. It zooms us up to the 88th floor where we are greeted by a security guard.

  ‘Aiden, how are you, mate?’ he says as they shake hands.

  ‘Great thanks, Davo. How about yourself?’ Aiden replies.

  ‘Never been better. It’s all ready for you. Come this way.’

  My brain snaps into action. Oh no!

  ‘The Edge?’ I ask. ‘The glass cube that sticks out the side of the building?’ My heart rate doubles because the cube has a glass floor that allows you to look past your feet to the ground — 300 metres below. It’s a long way, especially for anyone afraid of heights, like me.

  ‘That’s the one,’ says Aiden.

  I clasp my hand around Aiden’s and he lets out an ‘ouch’.

  ‘Sorry,’ I say and swallow hard.

  We walk across the deserted floor, over to the glass cube.

  ‘It is safe, isn’t it?’ I ask. ‘I mean, it’s not going to fall off the building or anything?’ The thought of falling all that way makes my stomach rise to my throat.

  ‘Safe as safe. It was tested by the developer himself. He came out and jumped up and down 20 times to test it.’

  ‘That’s it? That’s all the testing that was done?’ I ask, horrified.

  ‘As well as a bucket load of engineering and stress tests. I tell you, this is safer than most houses. It just looks scary, that’s all,’ Davo says.

  I look to Aiden. I don’t want to disappoint him but the terror rising in my gut has left me barely able to stand.

  Aiden steps towards me and takes me in his arms. ‘Sweetie, if you don’t want to go in it, we won’t. It’s okay.’

  ‘But you’ve put so much effort into making tonight perfect.’ How can I let him down now? This must be how he feels about letting his family down if he were ever to leave the finance industry. Such pressure!

  Aiden would never do anything to put me in danger or hurt me. Apart from my family, I trust him more than anyone. What if he’s going to propose? He can hardly do it here, in the doorway to the cube. It just wouldn’t have the same impact. There’s a tug of war happening in my body—to stay right where I am, borne out of a complete and utter irrational fear of heights, and the desire to see what happens inside that cube. He’s arranged for us to have after-hours access to it for a specific reason, right?

  ‘Let’s do it,’ I say, hoping my voice sounds more convincing than I feel.

  ‘That’s my girl. Davo, we’re ready mate,’ Aiden says.

  The lights are turned on as Aiden steps into the cube first and then holds his hand out to me. It is safe. Of course it’s safe. Just look at it. It’s cantilevered against the entire building, hundreds of people step into it each day. But, what if each of those hundreds of people have weakened the supports just a little bit, just a fraction? Multiply that by hundreds and…oh my God…it could fall off the side of the building at any moment and plummet to the ground below.

  The football-sized lump in my throat is making it hard to breathe.

  ‘Lou?’ Aiden asks.

  Would we pass out before we hit the ground? Apparently losing consciousness is common when falling from freaking great heights, and it provides a strange level of comfort. There couldn’t be much worse than seeing the concrete rise up to meet you in the fleeting seconds before death.

  ‘Lou?’

  Aiden is smiling, that sexy GQ cover boy smile that is impossible to refuse. Even with all of this fear consuming me, there’s nothing more I’
d like to do than kiss that smiling mouth.

  I shake myself and inhale a deep breath, probably my last, take Aiden’s hand and step out into the enclosed cube. His warmth slows my heart rate a little, and his smile reassures me that everything is going to be okay. If those honey-coloured eyes are to be the last thing I see before being splattered all over the concrete below, then at least there’s no complaining about the view.

  ‘Right, mate, I’m going to turn the lights off now. Just text me when you’re finished,’ says Davo as he closes the doors and walks away.

  The lights go out and I can’t see a thing. It’s pitch black. But despite the temporary blindness, there’s the sense that there is a great, cavernous void between my feet and solid ground, the thought of which makes my shoulders tighten and rise up towards my earlobes.

  ‘Close your eyes,’ Aiden says. ‘It will help them to adjust quicker.’

  I do as he says and can feel the sway of the building in the wind underneath my feet. My thigh muscles tighten in readiness to turn and run. As the fear starts to consume me again, Aiden stands behind me and wraps his arms around my shaking body. With his guidance, we walk the three metres to the far wall of the cube, where my fingers automatically clutch the railing in front of me. Eyes still closed, my grip is such that my knuckles feel like they are about to pop out of the skin.

  Aiden puts his hands over mine and intertwines our fingers. Even though it means I have less of a grip on the railing, their warmth and strength is welcome, and my heart rate slows a fraction.

  My body shudders slightly as he steps closer, his hips now pressing firmly against the small of my back, his thighs resting against the back of my legs. There is no gap between our bodies. He has become my blanket, my warmth.

  ‘Now, open your eyes,’ Aiden whispers. His warm breath wafts past my ear and I can feel the pressure of his chest against my back. The fine wool of his suit feels cool and soft against my bare skin, but does little to conceal the contours of Aiden’s lean, muscled chest beneath it.

  Not wanting to lose this moment of oneness, my eyes slowly open to be greeted by a magical land of lights that stretch out forever around me, on all sides. The usually mundane street, traffic and building lights take on the appearance of an enchanted wonderland, and the cloudless sky twinkles with a million stars as though Heaven is reaching down towards us. If it weren’t for the pane of glass between the us and the sky, I may be able to reach out and brush a star with my fingertips.

  A feeling of peace washes over me like a cleansing waterfall, as I allow myself to be lost in the beauty and magic of everything around me. Floating amongst the stars is beautiful with the feel of Aiden’s body against mine, his heart beating at my back, his breath against my skin. If this moment never ended, if it lasted for eternity, it wouldn’t be long enough.

  ‘Oh Aiden! It’s so…so…incredibly beautiful. Look at it. Who would think that a smelly old city could be transformed into this…magical kingdom.’

  ‘Over there,’ he points to the left, our fingers still intertwined, ‘is your house, and a bit further over is your parent’s house.’ My eyes followed his fingers. ‘Down there is my office, and just over there is your school.’

  As beautiful as the view is, I can only see Aiden’s long fingers wrapped around my own. My hands moisten in his as my heart rate speeds up, but not out of fear this time.

  His voice is low, barely above a whisper. I tilt my head to the side slightly so that his breath touches skin of my neck. It tickles in a very pleasurable way and even though our fingers are still intertwined, mine are tingling with the need to touch him, to feel the warmth of his body underneath them.

  A small groan escapes me as a delicious shiver works its way up my spine.

  ‘And down there is my apartment where I intend to take you after this, so I can feel every part of your naked body pressed against mine,’ he says as his lips touch my exposed neck and shoulders.

  I inhale deeply, taking in the mixture of Aiden’s woody aftershave and his own scent. It’s intoxicating and leaves me feeling lightheaded. He smells delicious, and my desire to have him now is too overpowering to deny any longer. I spin around to face him.

  ‘Why wait until we get home?’ I say, and then reach up to take his lips with mine. It’s as though I could devour him on the spot, not caring whether or not people can see us.

  He lifts me up onto the railing as my hands work quickly to release him from his trousers and wrap my thighs around his hips. The heat between us has risen to the point that the cube has now fogged up, leaving only the promise of the lit wonderland on the outside as a dull reminder that other humans exist.

  Lost in time and in the world of Aiden’s body, of the pleasure of having him inside me reaffirms, without a doubt, that he is the only man I ever want to make love to again. No one else will ever lay a hand on my body. No one but him, ever.

  We continue to fog up the glass to the point the moisture is running down the length of each pane. Eventually, I groan and Aiden follows as his movements slow to a gradual stop. A long kiss, fuelled with the remains of needy passion, ends with my giggling.

  ‘Well, that’s one way to overcome your fear of heights,’ Aiden says with a quiet laugh.

  ‘You don’t think anyone saw us, do you?’

  He cups my face in his hands. ‘Who cares if they did?’ he says.

  Aiden helps me off the railing, then fixes his trousers and belt, while I readjust my dress, so it doesn’t look as though we just shagged in a glass box suspended three hundred metres above the ground.

  ‘Thank you for all of this…the flowers, dinner, the Edge, the shag.’ I laugh. ‘Tonight was perfect. Happy anniversary, my gorgeous man.’

  Even though there was the self-inflicted anticipation of a proposal tonight, I am left in no doubt about Aiden’s feelings for me. A twinge of disappointment is offset by an overload of happiness and adoration for this amazing man who always treats me with such love and respect.

  ‘I am so lucky to have you, Aiden St. James.’

  Aiden straightens up to his full six foot two. His gentle smile shows in the light that struggles to get through the fogged glass. He approaches me and takes my hand is his again.

  ‘You know, I didn’t bring you up here for sex,’ he says.

  ‘Really? Because it worked. This cube would have to be the greatest aphrodisiac ever.’

  Holy crap, he’s getting down on one knee. Oh my God! I think he’s about to…

  ‘Lou Mercer, you fill my days with fun, my nights with warmth and my heart with a kind of love I’ve never felt before. You are different to anyone I’ve ever known, a beautiful breath of fresh air. This has been the best year of my life and I don’t want it to ever end. I want to be with you forever.’

  I gasp as my body again feels weightless amongst the stars. My heart is beating as though it has morphed into butterfly wings.

  ‘I want you to be my wife, mother of my children, the woman I grow old and grey with.’

  My butterfly heart takes flight.

  ‘My beautiful Lou, will you marry me?’

  Happy tears blur my vision of the man of my dreams and the ring he is holding in his fingers. Even though I had daydreamed about this moment for months, had practiced what my answer would be over and over again, there is shock and surprise at my own immediate lack of reaction. I am, for the first time in living memory, speechless.

  ‘Lou?’

  ‘Oh! Yes! Oh, Aiden! ‘ I stammer as my hands flap around in front of me. Happy tears run over my lashes and streak down my face as my butterfly heart multiplies into hundreds of tiny, fluttering wings.

  Aiden smiles, the most beautiful, happy smile I’ve ever seen on his gorgeous face. My Tinkerbelle-sized hand trembles inside his, as he lifts it up and slides the ring onto my finger. ‘Oh Aiden! It’s so beautiful, it’s…’

  My brain can’t access the right words.

  ‘You like it then?’ Aiden asks.

  The diamond c
atches a glimmer of light as I hold it out in front of my face. More happy tears blur my vision. It’s a small Princess Cut with two smaller diamonds nestled beside it on a white gold band.

  ‘It’s so beautiful, Aiden. I love it. I love you,’ I say, suctioning onto his lips again, tears rolling down my face. ‘I love you so much. I am going to make you the happiest husband in the world, every day, every night.’

  Aiden stands up, touches my face and kisses away my tears.

  ‘We’re going to have the best life together, Lou.’

  ‘I know,’ I say, as my voice raises an octave in the excitement. ‘I know.’

  Chapter 3

  The next morning, Aiden rings Dad to ask for my hand in marriage and all that can be heard is Mum squealing in the background. She takes the phone off Dad and squeals so loudly that Aiden has to hold his mobile an entire arm’s length away from his ear. Bravely, he puts it back to his ear and laughs and smiles at Mum’s raptures. Once she has calmed down a couple of decibels, he hands the phone over to me and she starts all over again.

  After that I ring Mel, my best friend and colleague. Her squeals are almost as loud as Mum’s, which really touches my heart because she has just suffered terrible heartbreak at the hands of yet another unsuitable but irresistible bad boy. She is currently residing at my house until she can clear her sexually transmitted debt and get back on her feet again.

  My twin brother, Ben, who is completing a two-year work exchange at Boston University in the astrophysics department, is not answering his phone at the moment. I leave a message on his mobile instead. He’s probably busy stargazing or whatever it is he does. It’s a bit beyond me, but clearly Dr Ben (PhD), the geeky, skinny, nerdy kid from school, who grew into a geeky, skinny, nerdy adult has a good grasp on the subject. We’re all very proud of his achievements, although I’m sure Mum and Dad can’t quite figure out how they created a genius between them.

  Aiden is yet to inform his parents, but we both know their reaction isn’t going to rival that of my family, so he puts it off until Sunday night, when we are due to go there for dinner. It’s the only glitch in an otherwise perfect weekend.