I looked down at my clothes and felt embarrassed. Sweat had soaked through my polo shirt and for a second I thought about stripping off just to prove her wrong.
‘Am I right?’ she prodded.
‘Possibly.’
She laughed. ‘Well, fair enough. Before we crap on any longer, I’m standing out the front. We agreed to meet at seven o’clock. It’s now seven. Should I come up or stay out here looking like a desperate woman?’
‘I like the sound of desperate.’
‘Not funny, Rubens. It’s bloody hot out here.’
‘Well, get up here then!’
Ideally I would’ve preferred time to prepare for her arrival, but the massage and the search of Boyd’s apartment had drained my afternoon. I stored the beer and groceries in the fridge, turned on the cooler and opened the blinds. In the bathroom, I wiped the toilet seat, washed my hands and sprayed on cologne.
Opening the front door, I saw Ella had dyed her hair a deep maroon since the last time we’d met, taking at least five years off her. I wanted to tell her she looked beautiful but decided against it.
‘I like the hair,’ I said instead. ‘Come in.’
She stepped over the threshold, leaning in to kiss my cheek. ‘Like the top,’ she said cheekily, noticing my soiled shirt. ‘Get that from the Salvo’s on Grey Street?’
‘Oh, lay off.’
She laughed, circled around the bench and put her handbag down on one of the stools. ‘So, what’s a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?’
I opened the fridge, snapped out two bottles from the sixpack and slid one over. One of the things I loved about Ella was her appreciation of beer. While she only drank it in the summer, there’d been a number of times when she’d matched me round for round.
We clinked bottles. ‘So where’s the little one?’ she said, looking around for Prince.
‘Outside killing birds, hunting native wildlife, searching for a mate.’
‘Stop it. You shouldn’t let him out. It’s dangerous.’
‘He’s a cat, El. He has needs.’
‘Sounds like a typical male,’ she said, dangling her arms and speaking like a caveman. ‘Man like animal. Must search for food, mate women and sleep often.’
We both laughed.
‘Look, here he is,’ I said, pointing at the door.
Prince breezed through the cat flap and rubbed against her leg. She picked him up and cooed at him while I opened a bottle of pinot to let it breathe while we finished our beers.
‘Still on for tomorrow night?’ she asked, nodding towards my nephew’s eighteenth-birthday invitation on the fridge.
‘Sure, but only if you want to. I know it’s going to be strange with all my family there. I mean, I spoke to Andy today, and it’s fine if you don’t want to go, but I kinda feel like I should. Haven’t seen my folks since Christmas and I think I –’
‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, they’re good kids. How are they, by the way?’
I didn’t want to tell her about Chloe and the drugs, or my brother’s request that I speak to her about it. I still wasn’t sure how to approach it.
‘Fine, I guess. Johnno’s started year twelve and Chloe’s back to uni next month. Everyone’s growing up.’
She shook her head and I wondered whether she’d read the lie or was simply picturing the kids becoming adults.
‘Time flies,’ I said. ‘Soon there’ll be weddings and babies.’
‘Oh, hold up, will you. Let them have fun for a while.’
I made a high-pitched wail like a baby crying and Ella shuddered. The thought of having children had never particularly appealed to her. Maybe if she had a steady partner. A committed husband.
‘So what’s on the menu?’ she asked, putting Prince down and sliding onto the sofa. ‘What’s the sultan of South Melbourne got on the cards tonight?’
‘Well, it’s Albert Park, actually.’
‘Whatever. You sound like a Snoburb.’
‘A what?’
‘You know, one of those wankers who gets all snobby about what suburb they live in.’ She put on a high voice and added, ‘It’s not South Melbourne, darling, it’s Albert Park.’
I took a swig on my beer and tried to think of a comeback but couldn’t.
‘Anyway, I was going to do a rogan josh but it kind of loses grunt without the meat. So tonight I’ll do a warm tuna and chilli salad. You still eat fish, don’t you?’
‘Yep.’
On a platter I arranged piles of mushrooms, ham and sundried tomatoes around a chunk of camembert, which I then carried to the lounge and set down on the coffee table. Ella helped herself