Truly, Madly, Like Me - Jo Watson Page 0,34
know I was being broken up with, can you believe that? Hundreds of thousands of people knew before me. And you want to know why he broke up with me?” It was a rhetorical question, I didn’t wait for an answer. “Because she was better for his personal brand than me.” That thought really, really stung. It made me feel so many things; mad and sad and not so glad and all the other emotions on my mood app. “Apparently, I’m now a nobody and she is a somebody, and now I have a strange dog living in my hotel room in the middle of the Karoo desert. And I’m going to have to internet date again and that is just such a minefield, and the creeps you come across are next level. I once went on a date with a guy and halfway through the meal, his fiancée came up to the table and poured his glass of wine over his head.”
“Uh . . .” He looked at me blankly.
“Sorry. Overshare. Sometimes I need to share. You know.”
He nodded.
“And I literally haven’t shared a thing in days which is making me feel a little crazy. So crazy that I have been talking to a dog.”
He nodded again and his face seemed to soften slightly.
“Sorry, again. I’m oversharing. I’ll stop. I’ll just stop talking.” I put my hands over my mouth.
He shook his head. “No worries. Sometimes you just need to talk, I guess.”
“Just ignore what I told you, I didn’t mean to blurt it all out like that.” I looked down at the DVDs in his hands and decided to change the subject. “So, what’s this?”
“Well, I was broken up with once too, and it also sucked and I remember that the last thing I wanted to do was watch anything romantic, so I brought you this.” He smiled and passed me the movie.
“Saw?” I asked, looking down at it.
“It’s bloody disgusting and terrifying and if there’s one thing that will make you forget a broken heart, it’s this. And this . . .” He passed me another one and I took it.
“The Grudge?”
“Also, will defo scare you shitless.”
“Defo?” I smiled. He was so Australian right now, it was kind of cute.
“So you reckon I should watch these instead?” I asked, turning the covers over in my hands.
“I reckon,” he said.
“Well, thanks for these, and for hooking up the machine and for listening to me rant, even though I didn’t mean it.” I sat back down on the bed; it felt awkward me sitting on the bed and him standing there, but there was nowhere else to sit. “I would offer you a seat but . . .” I tailed off.
“I should probably go,” he said, moving towards the door.
“Thanks again,” I called after him.
“You know, if you enjoy these, you should come to movie night tomorrow. We have it at the old barn at the bottom of Church Street.”
“Let me guess, that’s the street with the church in?”
“You can’t get lost around here,” he joked. “It’s very casual.”
I nodded. “Thanks, but I’m hoping not to be here tomorrow night.”
“Okay,” he said and then started walking out the door.
“I’m Frankie, by the way,” I called after him for some reason.
He turned. “Mark.”
“Cool, nice meeting you.” He walked out the door and I thought he was gone, but then he popped his head back in. “Um . . . so, I don’t mean to be rude, but . . .” He paused.
“But what?”
“The jackal.” He pointed at Cujo. “Kind of smells.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“You’ve probably gotten used to it,” he said. “Try walking outside, taking a few deep breaths and then walking back in.”
“Okay.” I walked outside and filled my lungs with air, while Mark watched me. I smiled at him, gave him a nod and then walked back inside and took a deep breath in through my nose.
“Oh God. Yes! Gross.” I looked over at Cujo. “Can’t believe I didn’t notice.”
“I have a sensitive nose,” he said with a smile.
I smiled back. “Well, then, I’ve learned two things about you today. Fast metabolism. Sensitive nose.”
He gave a small chuckle, those glasses of his slipped down his nose again and he pushed them up.
“Ever considered contact lenses?” I heard myself say without thinking.
“Yeah, but then I would have to touch my eyeball.”
“True!”
We looked at each other for a while, and that little feeling of familiarity niggled again. I was just about to open my mouth and say something, when he