Seven
Beth had been working at Daphne’s for six months when she met Mario.
When they were younger, the twins had talked a lot about love at first sight. There were piles of teenage magazines poking out from under Beth’s bed, and every issue was bursting with tales of love. By the time they were sixteen, Beth, Michelle and all their school friends were desperate to have a proper boyfriend.
Beth was sweeping the floor, as usual. The radio was playing, and she was singing along. She wouldn’t go as far as to say that she enjoyed her job, but she’d gotten used to the odd smells and some of the old ladies were nice to her. Plus, Lisa was so incredibly bored that she tended to leave her to get on with it alone, which made a nice change.
The door opened, allowing in a pleasant waft of fresh air, accompanied by a young man. He made his way to the desk and stood silently waiting for someone’s attention. Beth could not believe that this creature, this young male, had come to Daphne’s for a haircut. There were a couple of perfectly good barbers in town, it was beyond her that he’d choose to come here.
No one moved. The stylists continued to apply their rollers, and Kath was extremely pre-occupied filing her nails and chatting to one of her regulars.
Lisa seemed to spring back to life. ‘Quick, you moron. He’s the first person to set foot in here who isn’t hovering horribly close to death. Go and see what he wants?’
Leaning the broom against the wall, Beth stepped towards the reception desk. ‘Um … can I help you?’
The guy smiled. ‘Maybe?’
Beth wasn’t sure where to go from here, his confidence made her nervous. Unsure of her next move, she simply stood staring back at him.
After a second or two, he continued, ‘It’s OK. I’m not here about my hair. I’m here to see my step-mum.’ With this revelation, he called to Kath, who looked up and acknowledged him.
‘Ah, sorry, sweetie. I didn’t see you. Naughty Mrs Sterling was keeping me talking.’ This comment caused Mrs Sterling to beam, delighted to be considered so enthralling.
Kath approached the desk and introduced them. ‘Beth – this is Mario, he’s my husband’s son. Mario – this is Beth, she’s our apprentice.’
Beth’s heart hammered in her chest. Her palms began to sweat. Mario! What a fabulously exotic name.
He leant forward and kissed her on both cheeks. ‘Nice to meet you.’
‘Yep. You too.’ She blushed.
‘He’s not bad. If you squint a bit,’ Lisa mused.
‘So, what are you doing back? I thought you were going ahead with living at your mum’s?’ Kath asked.
Mario shook his head, causing a dark wavy fringe to flop romantically onto his face. ‘No. Let’s just say – it isn’t the right place for me just now. Dad said I could come back and live with you two. Is that going to be OK?’
Beth silently prayed. ‘Please make her say yes!’
She did. ‘Of course, there’s always a home for you with us. What went wrong at your mum’s?’
Mario considered, and then shrugged. ‘She’s just not one for family, I guess.’
Beth was grateful this woman, whom she’d never met, was not one for family. Although she had no idea what he meant. Who wouldn’t want to be with their own family? She loved hers dearly, even Lisa, in a funny kind of way.
Mario’s clothes were stylish and much cooler than anything the boys at school had worn. Not one of them seemed as sophisticated as him.
As the radio began playing a love song, Beth decided, Lisa’s right, he is quite good looking. This is it. I reckon any second now I’m going to start falling in love.
‘You keep saying you’re glad you’re my girlfriend, but you don’t show me!’
Beth gazed at Mario, his sad, brown eyes, his downturned mouth. ‘I’m sorry … it’s just …’
‘What? What’s your excuse today?’
‘Don’t be like that. It’s not about excuses … it’s …’
‘You do know I’ve got other girls offering to sleep with me, don’t you?’
Beth’s blood ran cold. ‘Mario, don’t!’
‘I’m not saying I want to. You know that, you know it’s you I want. But all this waiting is …’
‘All this waiting? We’ve been going out a couple of months. I …’
‘Exactly.’ Mario sighed.
She hated to hear him sigh, hated to be responsible for his misery. But what could she do? She wasn’t ready. She was nervous. Besides, they never went anywhere romantic. At this point, when this current discussion was taking place, they were in the park. It wasn’t how the magazines had described a first time.
‘I told you he wouldn’t keep waiting, didn’t I?’ Lisa’s usual smug inflection.
‘Sometimes I think you don’t care about me at all,’ Mario delivered his well-rehearsed line.
Beth leapt to her feet. ‘Of course I do. You’re amazing.’
Actually, he wasn’t amazing. He wasn’t the sexy, half-Italian man she saw. He was a pimply seventeen-year-old, who was seriously pushing it when he declared there were other girls waiting to sleep with him. But Beth was young, she wanted to feel all the romance that was being sung about, and Lisa was egging her on. Lisa could probably have stopped her, she could have been honest and put her sister straight, had she been that way inclined. But she was just so impatient for something vaguely exciting to happen. Each day spent locked up in her sister’s head was torture. She was sure a little dalliance with Mario would liven up her otherwise unbearable existence.
Later that evening, Lisa tried again to persuade Beth. ‘I think maybe you should sleep with him; you’re going to lose him for sure if you don’t.’
‘But … in a park?’
‘OK. So, don’t do it in a park.’
‘Even if I take the park out of it, and I move the location to somewhere slightly less sleazy, are you sure I should do it?’
‘Definitely. You love him, don’t you?’
‘I … I suppose so. I do really like him, and I’d hate him to sleep with another girl.’
‘There you go, then. Decision made!’
Beth wished she was as confident about it as her sister was.
Not long after the twins had that decisive conversation, Mario told Beth he’d managed to get the house to himself. ‘Kath and my dad are going out for dinner tomorrow. It’s their anniversary. They won’t be back until after ten o’clock. It’s perfect.’ He rubbed his hands together.
What could she say? He seemed delighted. She didn’t know how to say no. Like it or not, the time had come.
Beth arrived at Kath’s house, nervous but also a little excited. After much discussion with Lisa, she was convinced it was going to be a wonderful night.
‘You look beautiful.’
‘Thank you. What are we eating?’
‘Eating?’
‘Yes, I thought you mentioned something about dinner first.’
‘Um …’ Mario shook his head. ‘I might’ve said make sure you’ve had your dinner first.’
Beth couldn’t hide her disappointment. The magazines had promised her the man would treat her like a princess. She figured she’d at least get a bag of chips. But evidently, he had already eaten, even if she hadn’t.
With no dinner to pass the time, they moved straight to the sex.
Beth reminded Lisa she’d agreed to take a back seat. ‘You won’t watch? You promised.’
Of course, they’d kissed before, and had a few gropes in the park, Beth wasn’t a complete innocent. However, nothing could’ve prepared her for what was ahead.