had to have a little more mystery about
her than that.
'I was just thinking about Wedding Cake Island and
hoping I'd have a wedding cake one day.'
Hell, had I said that out loud too? Clearly I had, and
he backed right off, taking his arm from around my
shoulders. All of a sudden the shy lava-lava lad became
Jack-the-lad, all calm and collected and looking like a
real player, with a sly grin on his face.
'Really, Alice? You don't strike me as the kind of girl
to get tied up with just one bloke.' What the hell did that
mean? Was he calling me a slut? Did he mean I wasn't
marriage material? Or was this really about him? Either
way, I didn't feel at all comfortable now sitting on his
crappy plastic chairs on his tiny little balcony anymore.
All I could do was throw the same back at him.
'You don't strike me as the kind of guy who would
commit himself either.'
'I'm not. I like my life the way it is. My independence.
Not having to be responsible to one person.'
'You mean accountable.'
'I like to have variety in my life.'
'So you like to play the field. No pun intended.'
'I like to meet lots of different people.'
'You mean you're a slut?'
'That's a bit rough, isn't it?'
I knew how irrational I was being. Just because
I wanted to meet my one and only, it didn't mean
everyone else wanted to. I left before I made any more
of a fool of myself.
thirteen
Mr I'm-Just-Not-
That-Into-You
'Alice, it's Mum, how are you?'
'What's up, Mum?' Mum never called me just to say
hello. There was suspicion in my voice.
'Nothing. I just wanted to see if you had any time
this weekend? The son of an old friend of mine from
the Aboriginal Medical Service is moving to Sydney
and needs someone to show him round. He's single.'
'Muuuuummm ...' I whined. I didn't want her in on
my strategy. She'd only ever offered Cliff in the past,
and I wasn't interested in another gay man to dodge.
'Don't be like that, Alice, he's a nice boy. Goodlooking,
too. His name is Malcolm, and he's a project
manager with a youth service. He doesn't know anyone
here. Can't you just meet him and introduce him to
some of the young mob? He doesn't want to hang out
with an old duck like me.'
She was right, he wouldn't. Anyway, I needed to be
open to each and every opportunity. Malcolm from
Melbourne might just prove a positive experience, so I
agreed to show him around, and before long I'd started
to regard our first meeting as another blind date. It
was always possible that he was doing the same thing.
Actually, it was highly likely that he was. Men didn't
think that differently, did they?
We agreed to meet at Redfern Park during a family
day, with Koori bands providing the entertainment. I
SMS'd him when I arrived and told him to meet me at
the Koori crafts stall. Not expecting him to be there
for a few minutes, I looked at all the wares and reached
out to pick up a beaded necklace. An incredibly
handsome young guy put his hand on the same set
of beads, accidentally brushing my fingers. A shot of
electricity went up my arm and somehow hit me right
in my loins.
'I'm sorry, you have them.' I looked up into his black
eyes and suddenly knew what love at first sight was. Or
lust at first sight, anyway.
'No please, you have them – they'd look good on
you,' he said. I thought I would orgasm there and then,
with the soulful sounds of Emma Donovan singing in
the background, kids with painted faces milling around,
johnnycakes being fried nearby and Caro from Koori
Radio calling it all live to air.
'I'm Alice.' I extended my hand. I couldn't believe
I was being so forward. It wasn't my style at all, but I
couldn't let him get away.
He took my hand and shook it. 'You're not Alice
Aigner, by chance?' He'd heard of me, but how? 'What
a coincidence meeting like this. I'm Malcolm.'
'That's not coincidence, that's destiny. Fate I'd say.'
He looked at me as if to say, 'What are you on?' and
then laughed. Didn't he know that there was no such
thing as coincidence?
We hung around
her than that.
'I was just thinking about Wedding Cake Island and
hoping I'd have a wedding cake one day.'
Hell, had I said that out loud too? Clearly I had, and
he backed right off, taking his arm from around my
shoulders. All of a sudden the shy lava-lava lad became
Jack-the-lad, all calm and collected and looking like a
real player, with a sly grin on his face.
'Really, Alice? You don't strike me as the kind of girl
to get tied up with just one bloke.' What the hell did that
mean? Was he calling me a slut? Did he mean I wasn't
marriage material? Or was this really about him? Either
way, I didn't feel at all comfortable now sitting on his
crappy plastic chairs on his tiny little balcony anymore.
All I could do was throw the same back at him.
'You don't strike me as the kind of guy who would
commit himself either.'
'I'm not. I like my life the way it is. My independence.
Not having to be responsible to one person.'
'You mean accountable.'
'I like to have variety in my life.'
'So you like to play the field. No pun intended.'
'I like to meet lots of different people.'
'You mean you're a slut?'
'That's a bit rough, isn't it?'
I knew how irrational I was being. Just because
I wanted to meet my one and only, it didn't mean
everyone else wanted to. I left before I made any more
of a fool of myself.
thirteen
Mr I'm-Just-Not-
That-Into-You
'Alice, it's Mum, how are you?'
'What's up, Mum?' Mum never called me just to say
hello. There was suspicion in my voice.
'Nothing. I just wanted to see if you had any time
this weekend? The son of an old friend of mine from
the Aboriginal Medical Service is moving to Sydney
and needs someone to show him round. He's single.'
'Muuuuummm ...' I whined. I didn't want her in on
my strategy. She'd only ever offered Cliff in the past,
and I wasn't interested in another gay man to dodge.
'Don't be like that, Alice, he's a nice boy. Goodlooking,
too. His name is Malcolm, and he's a project
manager with a youth service. He doesn't know anyone
here. Can't you just meet him and introduce him to
some of the young mob? He doesn't want to hang out
with an old duck like me.'
She was right, he wouldn't. Anyway, I needed to be
open to each and every opportunity. Malcolm from
Melbourne might just prove a positive experience, so I
agreed to show him around, and before long I'd started
to regard our first meeting as another blind date. It
was always possible that he was doing the same thing.
Actually, it was highly likely that he was. Men didn't
think that differently, did they?
We agreed to meet at Redfern Park during a family
day, with Koori bands providing the entertainment. I
SMS'd him when I arrived and told him to meet me at
the Koori crafts stall. Not expecting him to be there
for a few minutes, I looked at all the wares and reached
out to pick up a beaded necklace. An incredibly
handsome young guy put his hand on the same set
of beads, accidentally brushing my fingers. A shot of
electricity went up my arm and somehow hit me right
in my loins.
'I'm sorry, you have them.' I looked up into his black
eyes and suddenly knew what love at first sight was. Or
lust at first sight, anyway.
'No please, you have them – they'd look good on
you,' he said. I thought I would orgasm there and then,
with the soulful sounds of Emma Donovan singing in
the background, kids with painted faces milling around,
johnnycakes being fried nearby and Caro from Koori
Radio calling it all live to air.
'I'm Alice.' I extended my hand. I couldn't believe
I was being so forward. It wasn't my style at all, but I
couldn't let him get away.
He took my hand and shook it. 'You're not Alice
Aigner, by chance?' He'd heard of me, but how? 'What
a coincidence meeting like this. I'm Malcolm.'
'That's not coincidence, that's destiny. Fate I'd say.'
He looked at me as if to say, 'What are you on?' and
then laughed. Didn't he know that there was no such
thing as coincidence?
We hung around
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