CRYSTALLINE - 16. Full Moon

As they left the house, Dante asked “What do you fancy?”

“We’ll just walk up the main drag and see what’s on offer”

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They settled for Thai and after ordering, Dante suggested he go and get some beer and wine to take back to the house.

When their meal was ready, the waiter noticed one of the customers missing, so he asked Thomas if he should delay serving.

“Thank you, he shouldn’t be long”

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When Dante finally returned, Thomas demanded “What took so long just to get a couple of bottles?”

“I wasn’t long”

“Nearly half an hour at the bottle shop, what do you call that?”

“I was talking to some of the local bikers”

“Really, you thought that was appropriate while I waited here and the staff had to keep our food warm?”

“That’s their job”

“That’s not the point”

“So what is your point?”

“That you’d rather spend time chatting to strangers then me”

“I was just being friendly with the locals”

The meal continued in silence.

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That night as they got into bed, Thomas kissed Dante and said “Good night my love”

“Oh, is the night over already?” asked Dante.

“After all that driving and a few drinks, I’m buggered”

“Not yet you haven’t been”

“Oh very funny, but I need some sleep”

“What about me, I need some luvin”

“Do you think you can look after yourself tonight?”

“Aw it’s no fun without a playmate”

“Sorry”

“Well I’m not sleepy, think I’ll watch some telly”

“I doubt Virginia subscribes to the porn channel”

“A good whodunit or a Marvel adventure will do me”

“Ok, and shut the bedroom door will ya? And remember there are others in the house, including a child”

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Sometime during the night, Thomas rolled over and unconsciously put out his arm to cuddle Dante, but he was not there. That woke him and he listened for the TV, but the house was silent. He checked his phone for the time and thought to himself ‘what can he be doing at 2.34am?’, so he went looking for Dante, who was nowhere in the house.

Puzzled by this he went back to the bedroom, called Dante and heard his phone ringing in the lounge room.

By now there was no way he could get back to sleep so he made a cup of tea and settled into the lounge to wait for Dante. However, he did fall to sleep and was awakened by the closing of the front door. “Where the fuck have you been?” he demanded of Dante.

“Oh...what are you doing up?” he replied in surprise.

“Waiting for you, why did you go out?”

“Um...I couldn’t sleep and even the TV didn’t bore me to sleep, so I went for a walk”

“That’s a strange thing to do in the middle of the night”

“Not really, it’s beautiful down by the lake. With the full moon reflecting off the water, it’s quite magical”

“Magical? That I must see, but not till tomorrow night”

“It’s a date then, so off to bed now, hey? I’m ready for sleep”

***

The following morning they slept late, but Thomas was up first and walked to the nearest store for bread, eggs and bacon. Then as he stepped out of the store he smelled fresh bread baking and followed the aroma to the Village Bakery and bought, still warm, croissant to add to the breakfast menu.

By the time he returned the other residents had left, Dante was up and had a pot of tea ready to kick off the day. “Been shopping this early?” Dante asked “Why didn’t you wake me, to come with you?”

“You were sleeping so peacefully and after such a late night I thought you needed your rest”

“Thanks, but I would have enjoyed an early morning walk with you. Maybe see the sun rising over the lake”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but the sun was already up and I just went to the stores. Not much to see really, maybe tomorrow morning?”

“That’s another date we have”

Thomas looked questioningly at Dante, who replied “Moonlight over the lake tonight”

“Of course”

“Now let’s get a good breakfast into us, we’ll need all the energy to tackle that jungle outside”

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After breakfast, Dante went out into the garden while Thomas washed the dishes, but he was soon back. “There’s a problem with the gardening”

“I thought you were the gardening expert”

“Well of course, but even I need tools. There’s nothing in the little shed down the back or under the house”

“Have you checked the garage?”

“It’s locked”

“There must be a key somewhere on this lot Virginia sent over”

Thomas eventually got the garage opened but found only a clean workbench, some old paint cans on a shelf and an assortment of plastic planter pots.

“They don’t even have a spade or a garden fork” Dante lamented “If I’d known that, we could have brought some with us”

“I’ll check with Virginia and if she hasn’t got any hidden somewhere, well buy some stuff in town”

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“Do we have any garden tools at Mallacoota?” Virginia asked Desmond.

“Oh bugger, I forgot to mention that to the boys”

“I’ll just tell Thomas to buy whatever they need and put it on my account”

“What account?” Desmond asked.

“Don’t we have an account down there, wherever you buy garden tools?”

“No Virginia, you don’t just get an account like that”

“Oh, that’s a disappointment. No matter” Then returning to the phone “Are you still there Thomas”

“Yes, what did Desmond say?”

“Apparently we don’t have any tools or an account to buy them, so just buy what you need and I’ll reimburse you later”

“No problem, I’ll fix it and thanks for letting us use the house. It’s quite beautiful down here. You really should come back”

“Yes, we’ll do that soon. Oh while I’ve got you, I spoke to some of my younger clients at the meal centre and they are very interested in your offer”

“I haven’t made an offer yet”

“You know what I mean, a job and a home for them is just what they need”

“Virginia, I hope you haven’t promised too much and even though I will be able to take some, I can’t help all of them”

“I suppose not, but I’ll let you sort that. Now have a good time down there and don’t work too hard in that garden. Now buy some spades and such, whatever you need to make the work easier”

“We probably could use a tractor, the garden’s so overgrown” suggested Thomas

“Ok, buy one of those if you think it’s necessary”

“I was just joking Virginia”

“Are you sure you don’t need a tractor, I don’t mind paying for it?”

“I’m sure, but we do need a mower as well as some hand tools”

“Whatever you need, no problem”

When Thomas hung up, Dante asked “Didn’t you tell her about the squatters?”

“Not yet, I don’t want to worry her till we get to know these people better”

“You’re going soft, you’re going to let them stay, aren’t you?”

“Not necessarily, I haven’t made a decision yet”

“Is it your decision to make?”

“Not entirely, but when I decide I will make a recommendation to Virginia and she usually accepts my recommendations”

“Oh does she really?”

“I was her personal assistant for many years, so of course I know how she thinks and what she wants. It was my job to anticipate her needs”

“From what I’ve heard about her marriage, I don’t think I want to hear any more about her needs. If you take my meaning”

By the time they purchased all the gardening tools and loaded them into the car it was lunch time, so they bought take away fish and chips from the fish co-op, drove down to the lake and walked out onto the pier to eat and take in the view. While the vista presented to them today was calm waters and a clear blue sunny sky, they didn’t realise they were sitting in the exact location where Desmond and Virginia had boarded a naval tender in the first leg of their evacuation from the bushfires, one year earlier.

“Pretty good fish and chips” remarked Dante

“Fish fresh from the wharf and chips cooked to perfection, they do a great job. And sitting here with this wonderful view and my man, what more could one want?”

While they were eating, an old Holden Kingswood wagon pulled up at the edge of the lake. On the roof were two boards. As the occupants got out of the car, Thomas asked “How are they going to surf here, there’s no waves?”

“I think there’s more than boards on the roof of their car”

As they watched, the two young men kicked off their thongs and then started to remove their shirts. Almost as if they knew they were being watched they stripped off their shirts in what seemed like slow motion as they talked. One of them was standing with his back to the watchers. As he pulled up his shirt the muscles in his back flexed and eventually revealed a tall lean, but well muscled upper body that tapered down in a V shape to narrow hips supporting lime green and black striped board shorts.

The other man was a little shorter, but a broader build with wider shoulders. As he lifted the shirt from his waist he revealed tapered lower abdominals that dove into his shorts. As the shirt rose higher, a full six pack became evident then his pectorals. When the shirt was thrown into the car, he turned back, lowered his arms and his full rounded pecs stood out proudly.

As each man lifted the weight of his board off the roof racks, his biceps flexed fully, then relaxed as the board rested on the ground.

The next ten minutes was spent taking the boards and sails to the water’s edge and assembling the wind surfer boards.

“Have you ever surfed?” asked Dante

“Me? No never, I couldn’t stand up on a moving object, in the surf, with nothing to hold onto. But I must admit I have thought of trying wind surfing. It seems a little more controllable than toppling off the top of a wave”

In unison the surfers pushed their boards onto the lake and began the process of mounting the board and pulling the sail upright. They made it look a lot easier than it really was. While maintaining balance and using all their strength to pull the sail out of the water, it seemed every muscle in their bodies was called into action, each performing its assigned task perfectly and executing a flawless launch.

The wind filled the sails and propelled the boards and their riders skimming across the blue waters. The spray covered their bodies and the fine drops glistened in the sun, highlighting their bronzed bodies, as the other two men in this transaction watched in silence.

Finally Thomas snapped out of his trance-like state and brought Dante back to land by asking “Are we going to get this gardening started?”

“Um...yeah...I suppose we must”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic”

“Oh...it’s just that we came away for a rest. But don’t forget gardening is my job, so doing it on a holiday is not a break from work. Besides sitting here with you in this wonderful place is what I really enjoy”

“Ok, maybe we should have a day of rest first and start the gardening tomorrow” suggested Thomas, “And you can continue to watch the bronzed gods out there on the water”

“Me...bronzed gods?”

“It’s ok, I’m enjoying it also. No use pretending we don’t. As they say, just because you buy a painting doesn’t mean you never go to an art gallery now and then”

“Does that mean you’re referencing an open relationship?”

“Definitely not, they don’t allow you to touch the paintings in an art gallery, do they?”

“Mmm”

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After lunch they dropped the tools back at the house then went grocery shopping. Other than that, they spent the day relaxing around the house.

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