A Girl Called Malice

‘Wow, you weren’t kidding,’ she whispered. Her grip tightened imperceptibly on his arm and triggered his protective streak.

‘C’mon on. Let’s blow this joint.’ Zac tugged on her arm and bustled her down the corridor as fast as her heels allowed. He didn’t slow down until they’d cleared the foyer and were out of the front doors.

‘No way.’ Alice yanked on his arm, back-tracking to take shelter under the entrance from the rain still pouring from the sky.

Zac scanned the car park, glad to see the pink monstrosity of a car parked nearby. ‘Come on, it’s not far.’

‘OK.’ Alice nodded and they set off again.

Zac slipped and slopped in his pool sandals across the car park, keeping pace with Alice’s fast trot until they reached the shelter of her car. He dived into the passenger seat and watched Alice lower her barely covered body backwards onto the driver’s seat before swinging her legs into the car.

Warmth seeped into his cheeks as the memory of those long and lithe limbs wrapped around Josh’s waist flashed into Zac’s mind. He closed his eyes and briskly shook the images away.

‘Hey, stop it,’ Alice protested. ‘If I wanted to get wetter, I’d have stayed outside.’

‘Huh?’ Zac froze. He opened his eyes and noticed the windows were now splattered with water inside as well as out. Along with Alice. ‘Shit, I’m sorry.’

Alice turned over the ignition and turned to heaters up to full. ‘You’re worse than a dog.’ Rain-soaked hair clung to her face as she rubbed her hands over her arms to brush away the newest drops, then turned her attention to the rivulets running down what had to be silky smooth legs.

Zac followed the trail of water all the way over her shins and down to her feet. Parched from the sudden heat coursing through him, he coughed to clear his throat and captured her attention.

‘What? Have I got mud on me or something?’

‘No, I was looking at your shoes,’ he said, lamely latching onto anything to deflect where his mind threatened to take him.

‘You—a guy—were looking at my shoes?’ she asked, shooting him the raised eyebrow.

‘Yes. Me. I was trying to work out how you can actually drive in those things?’ he said, nodding to her feet to divert her attention away from his glowing face.

‘It’s easy,’ she said, pouting as she pushed the offending wet tendrils of hair behind her ears. To prove her point, she popped the clutch despite her heels and slipped the car into first gear, then pulled away smoothly.

‘I take it back.’

‘I always wear heels,’ she explained, navigating her way out of the car park. ‘Well, nearly always,’ she corrected, darting him a shy glance. At least it wasn’t just his face steaming the windows up any more. ‘Where to then?’

His brain took a moment to catch up. ‘Richmond Road. Do you know it?’

‘Yep.’ Alice made her way onto the bypass and motored along with the wipers going full speed against the rain lashing the windscreen.

Some way in the distance, Zac spotted a lonely figure walking along the grass verge. Whoever it was had no coat and had to be soaked. The next swipe of the wipers revealed that the unfortunate sod was Josh. Unluckily for him, Alice had recognised who it was too. She put her foot down hard on the accelerator and veered towards him, timing her approach to perfection to spray a huge puddle all over him.

Partly out of concern but mostly for the comedy value, Zac peered over his shoulder. Laughter burst out of his chest as a bedraggled Josh stood stock still, his mouth gaping open in shock as he watched the Barbie car whizz away from the scene of the crime. ‘Alice, you’re pure evil,’ Zac said, still chuckling as he turned back to face the front.

‘Why? What have I done now?’ Alice asked, oh-so-innocently.

‘Just remind me never to get in your bad books, OK?’

‘Oh, come off it, Joshua’s a lowlife. You’re nothing like him, Zac.’ She tensed and darted a glance at him as she spoke, as if to gauge his reaction so he kept his eyes forward and his expression neutral. ‘No decent guy cheats on his girlfriend, especially with the likes of me,’ she continued, tightening her grip on the steering wheel so much her knuckles turned white.

‘Er…thanks,’ Zac deadpanned, spouting the first thing that came to mind. ‘I think.’ He couldn’t argue with the Josh-being-a-lowlife part, but as for the likes-of-me part Zac wasn’t so sure.

Alice instantly relaxed. ‘You’re welcome,’ she said, disarming him with a playful smirk that made the corners of her eyes crinkle before her gaze drifted back to the windscreen to give the road her full attention.

Relieved to have passed the test, Zac let his head flop back against the headrest and stared at the soft-top roof. How could sharing a ride home be so exhausting yet so unbelievably exhilarating at the same time? Christ, every time he thought he’d got a step closer to figuring Alice out, she’d do something unexpected and become even more of a puzzle. One that he desperately wanted to solve.

Chapter seven

Blues

Alice

Out of the corner of my eye, I risked a glance at Zac. His head lay tilted head back against the headrest, staring up and seemingly lost in thought. If it weren’t for his eyes being open, I could have been fooled into thinking he’d fallen asleep. Shame. It would at least have accounted for his lack of conversation; several minutes had passed and still he hadn’t spoken.

In the funereal hush of my car, it was a wonder I couldn’t hear his heartbeat let alone my own erratic beat above the constant drumming sound of rain. The way my pulse ticked in my fingertips, I could have joined the percussion just by hovering my hands over the drum skins. Like I needed any more distractions when simply having Zac in the car did the job so brilliantly.

Christ knows why, but I really wanted to impress him with my driving skills, especially after his comment about my shoes, yet the weather tried its best to thwart me. At last, I turned off the scary-as-fuck-in-the-sluicing-rain bypass onto a slower stretch of road and could reduce the angry swoosh of the wiper to a less-aggressive swish.

I relaxed my grip on the wheel and shot another look at the super-silent Zac. He must have sensed my movement because he turned his head and caught me in the act.

‘You OK?’ he asked.

‘Me?’ I squawked. ‘Yeah, I’m fine. You?’

‘Er…if you say so.’ Zac grinned but I was too busy cringing at the total garbage tripping out of my mouth. ‘What’s got you all in a tizz?’

‘Nothing,’ I snapped.

‘Right,’ he said, drawing out the word and coaxing a half-smile out of me. ‘Cos this isn’t awkward at all. Should I stick to talking about the weather?’

‘Oh no, must we?’ I said, finally accepting his attempt to break the ice.

‘Good. You see, I’ve been thinking—’

‘Steady now.’

‘Ha!’ He nudged me in the ribs with his elbow. ‘Since I don’t have to talk about this bloody awful weather, can I ask you about your plans for tonight instead?’

‘My plans?’ I asked, forcing myself to keep the wheel straight and my attention on the road.

‘Yeah, your plans.’

‘Um…’ Where was he going with this? ‘I don’t have any.’

‘Great.’

‘Thanks a lot, Zac.’

‘No, I mean great for me.’

‘And how is that exactly?’ I said coolly, which took a considerable amount of effort.

‘I know this is going to sound odd, you know, after everything that happened back there with Josh but…’ Zac’s voice trailed off.

‘But?’ I prompted, not wanting to give him the chance to talk himself out of whatever he’d intended to say. In my peripheral vision, I saw him turn his head to face me.

‘Right. Um… Please don’t take this the wrong way.’

‘OK,’ I said, trying to move things along.

‘How would you feel about coming out with me?’

‘Out? With you?’

‘Just as friends,’ he added, in an effort to clarify his motives.

‘What would your girlfriend say?’ I asked, shooting him a knowing look.

‘I don’t have one.’

‘What?’ My foot slipped off the accelerator and I stalled the car. ‘How come? Since when?’

Zac humoured me by not commenting—or pleading to be let out—so I gunned the engine to keep us moving and pretended it never happened. ‘She dumped me. Not long after I met you actually.’

‘No way?’ I almost stalled again and had to scramble to regain control over myself as much as the car. ‘What did you do?’

‘Hey!’ He crossed his arms over his chest. ‘I didn’t do anything, thank you very much.’

‘Then why?’

Zac sighed. ‘It just wasn’t to be, she was hung up on somebody else.’

‘Ouch, that’s a bummer.’

‘Yeah.’ His voice held sadness and resignation, matched by his frown, but then his tone brightened. ‘But it does leave me with a spare ticket for tonight if you fancy it?’

‘A ticket for what? I’m guessing you’re not talking football.’

‘No. It’s tickets for a jazz club.’

‘Nice.’ My eyebrows were at risk of whiplash the way they were up and down like yo-yos. ‘Why me though, Zac? You must have your pick of girls.’

‘Ha! If you say so,’ he said. ‘But even if I did, they might mistake it for a date.’

‘And that’s not what this is? A date, I mean.’

‘God, no,’ he blurted. ‘My head’s a mess so the last thing I want right now is another girlfriend. It’s just two friends, like I said, going out to celebrate.’

‘What am I supposed to be celebrating?’

‘Ah, of course, you wouldn’t know. Well…’ He paused for dramatic effect. ‘Today just so happens to be my birthday.’

‘Oh I see. Then I guess I should wish you a happy birthday?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Happy birthday, Zac.’

‘Thank you, Alice.’

‘And you’re sure you want to go with me tonight, even after what you saw today?’

‘Sure, why not? If nothing else, it’ll give us something to talk about,’ he said, matter-of-factly. ‘By the way, that’s my road coming up on the left so can you hurry up and make up your mind? It would be a shame to waste valuable time driving around the block when we could be getting ready.’

‘You’d really make me keep driving?’

‘Either that or stage a sit-in.’

‘Fine.’ I made the left turn. ‘Which house is yours?’

‘The one with the Land Rover in the driveway.’

‘I see it,’ I said, following the direction of his finger.

‘So what’s it to be?’ Zac asked, swivelling in his seat to face me. He certainly seemed keen. What was the worst that could happen? I’d already dipped my toe into the murky waters of friendship and I genuinely enjoyed his company.

‘I suppose it would be rude of me to turn you down on your birthday?’

‘You suppose correctly,’ he said, sounding serious.

‘OK, fine.’ I brought the car to a halt outside his house and turned to face him. ‘I’ll go out with you, Zac, but only because it’s a special occasion.’

‘Yes!’ he hissed, totally over-exaggerating it. ‘If we’re quick enough, we should be able to grab dinner first if you fancy it?’

‘Works for me.’

‘Excellent.’ Zac unclipped his seatbelt and reached for the door handle but then stopped. ‘How should we do this? Do you want to go on home and get ready and I’ll pick you up from there or—’

‘Go on home?’ I turned on the sad puppy eyes, desperately trying to keep a straight face. ‘You mean you don’t like what I’m wearing?’

Zac’s bright smile slipped, as I’d hoped, and I could practically see the cogs whirring as he tried to extract his foot from his mouth. ‘Well, er…it’s not to my particular taste,’ he said, recovering fast. ‘I could never pull it off despite my great legs and I really don’t have the cleavage for it.’

‘Is that so?’

‘More to the point, I don’t fancy getting into any fights tonight yet with you in that outfit I’d have no choice but to fend off a load of other men to protect your honour.’

‘My honour?’ I pressed my lips together but failed to hold back the harsh laugh. ‘I’m afraid you’re a couple of years too late to protect that,’ I spluttered. ‘You can relax though, I was only kidding about getting ready.’

‘Are you sure?’ he asked.

‘I’m sure.’

‘Honestly, you don’t have to change on my account.’

Now that I wasn’t so sure about.

‘No, really.’ I shifted in my seat. ‘This outfit has served its purpose.’

‘Ah.’ A hooded look fell over his eyes until he blinked it away. ‘So shall I come and pick you up?’

‘No, don’t be daft. I’m miles out of the way. Why don’t I come back here as soon as I’m ready since I can’t have a drink anyway?’

‘Sounds great. I’ll see you soon then?’ A hint of uncertainty crept into his voice, suggesting he had insecurities of his own to contend with.

‘I’ll be here,’ I said, locking eye contact with him. ‘After all, it’s your birthday.’

‘Yes it is.’ With that, he smiled and climbed out of the car. Light and agile on his feet, he dodged puddles with ease, almost dancing, as he dashed through the rain in his flip-flops to reach his front door. He turned back to wave just once before disappearing inside.

Already mentally planning what to wear, I pulled away from the kerb and headed home. My outfit needed to be something simple—I didn’t have time for anything else—but the rare opportunity to drop the act had presented itself. Zac had already seen me au naturel with Charlie and then all tramped-up with Joshua, so maybe the time had come to leave the mask at home and show Zac my more elegant, refined side?

Showered and stripped of my mask, I left my hair loose and opted for a natural, more demure look as I re-applied my make-up. Determined to let my outfit do the talking, I slipped into my gorgeous silver dress and gently tugged on the zip. The thigh-high split would be deemed ‘outrageously daring’ on anybody else and had been that way for me when I’d bought it. Intended for my end-of-year school prom, I’d got myself kicked out before I got the chance to wear it.

Finally getting its first outing, the dress bordered on positively conservative these days and showed a lot less skin than my usual choice of outfit. Ideally, I’d have teamed it with my matching sparkly heels but the rain put paid to strappy sandals so I went with my clear shoes that looked like glass slippers.

A final check in the mirror reflected a totally different girl to the one who’d stood in front of the glass earlier. Dressed to impress, I ignored the shiver of terror that begged me to go back and grab my lenses and pulled my bedroom door shut behind me.

For one night only, could the real Alice Taylor please step forward.

Less than an hour after dropping Zac off at home, I pulled up outside his house again. In hindsight we should have exchanged numbers so I could text to reassure him and let him know I was on my way. It still smarted that he thought I’d go back on my word. I may be many unpleasant things, but being a flake wasn’t one of them.

The lack of number and drawn curtains meant Zac had no way of knowing I was outside, but damned if I was going out into the rain to knock on his door. I gave two short blasts on my car horn instead. The downstairs curtain twitched before I’d taken my hand off the horn as though he’d been standing there just waiting for some kind of signal.

Zac’s head appeared in the window, bathed in light. He smiled when he saw my car then the curtain fell back across the window. Within seconds the room went dark and the front door opened. A large golf umbrella emerged first, blocking most of the doorway as it opened but then it lifted skyward to reveal Zac, suited and booted with his shirt open at the collar.

Omigod.

Water pooled in my mouth in competition with the deepest puddles of rain, forcing me to swallow twice to clear it. I could feel my eyes bugging out at the drop-dead gorgeous guy making his way to my car. Suits were most definitely my ‘thing’ so it wasn’t like I had any control over my reaction, plus it was the first time I’d ever seen Zac dressed in something other than sportswear.

Zac reached the car and flung the door open, triggering the cabin lights. ‘Hey, Alice.’

‘Hey yourself, Zac.’ In light of the facts, I immediately forgave myself for the sudden case of butterflies that fluttered in my stomach.

He slid into the seat with his back to me, keeping the umbrella over him until both highly polished shoes were in the car. ‘I thought this might come in handy,’ he said, shaking the brolly out before stowing it between his seat and the door.

‘Good plan,’ I murmured, distracted by the fragrance that wafted over me as Zac pulled the door closed to seal us in. As he reached for his seatbelt, I inhaled deeply, losing myself in the woodsy scent that reminded me of the forest near where I grew up after a heavy downpour.

How ironic considering our previous two meetings: trees and rain. Unfortunately, it did nothing to settle the now frantic flapping in my gut. Up close, his metallic grey suit complemented my silver evening dress as if we’d been planning the event for weeks. Between us, we made quite the impact and were sure to turn heads wherever we went.

A frisson of excitement raced from my head to my toe; the anticipation building as I waited for him to notice me. ‘You ready then?’ I asked, keeping my gaze to the front.

‘Yep, let’s g—’ His voice cut off abruptly and I knew it was because he’d seen me for the first time.

‘What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?’ I lifted my leg to pop the clutch and my skirt separated, revealing a flash of leg.

Zac gasped.

I turned my head to look at him, desperate to see his reaction. His eyes were wide and I caught him closing his mouth as if his jaw had dropped open. It got harder and harder to hold back my ginormous grin so I allowed myself a little smirk. ‘You’re looking good, Zac.’

‘You too, Alice.’ He lifted his gaze to meet mine, slowly as though taking in every detail, and a range of emotions played across his face: shock, awe, even desire—which got my blood racing—before settling on something resembling pride. ‘You too.’

‘Thank you,’ I said, my voice filled with enough warmth and sincerity to surprise both of us so I cleared my throat and reached for the gearstick.

We drove in silence for the first few minutes but then Zac broke the deadlock.

‘Do you fancy Chinese or Italian?’

‘Either works for me. Why don’t you choose, seeing as it’s your birthday?’

‘Italian it is, then.’ He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a phone. The glow reflected off the windscreen as he scrolled through the numbers before lifting his phone to ear. ‘Hi, I’d like to make a reservation for two please,’ he said, adopting a more formal voice to speak into the handset. A pause. ‘In about half an hour?’ Another pause. ‘Yes, it’s Isaac Newton.’ Say what? ‘Thanks, that’s great. Bye.’

I pounced the instant he ended the call. ‘Isaac Newton?’

‘Yep, that’s my name,’ he said, pocketing his phone.

‘Right. So what else don’t I know about you?’

Of all the dumb questions.

Zac bit back a grin. ‘Oh, let’s see now… I prefer to be called Zac for obvious reasons.’ Yeah, I could hardly blame him on that one. ‘I’m twenty-two, as of today of course, and I have one older brother called Thomas. I left home at eighteen to go to university and now have a degree in Sports Psychology. I am a fully qualified lifeguard, swimming coach and personal trainer, and one day I’d like to have my own gym,’ he said, pausing to draw breath. ‘Oh and my parents expect me home for Sunday dinner at least once a month. Your turn…’

Shit.

I wanted to kick myself, or maybe ram the car into the nearest tree. Anything to get out of the mess I’d gotten myself into. Barely minutes into the journey and I’d gone and walked right into a self-inflicted trap like a complete moron. How could I have been so stupid?

‘Problem?’ Zac asked, picking up on the hitch in my breath.

‘No, no,’ I blurted, when really I wanted to yell ‘yes!’ My palms grew clammy and stuck to the steering wheel. I didn’t want to lie to Zac, not yet at any rate, which meant I somehow had to find a way to talk about myself without giving too much away.

‘OK, here goes…my name is Alice, no nicknames, at least none that I’d care to share.’ Like ‘Malice’ for instance. ‘I’m seventeen and I dropped out of college this year. Long story but as you’ve probably gathered, my home life is complicated and my family even more so—’

Zac opened his mouth to interrupt.

I raised my hand off the wheel to stop him. ‘However I’d rather not talk about it because I really don’t want to lie to you.’

He closed his mouth hard enough for his teeth to clash together.

‘I’m a full-time waitress at a hotel,’ I continued. ‘It isn’t great and the money sucks, but the tips can be good and, seeing as I don’t have any better ideas, it’ll do for now.’ As an afterthought, I added, ‘And I’m a vegetarian.’

Zac said nothing: no reply or comment whatsoever but I could feel his gaze boring into the side of my head. ‘Well, I’m glad we got that all clear and out of the way,’ he said eventually, presumably when he failed to lift the missing answers directly out of brain. ‘Now answer me this…’ Oh God, what now? ‘What do you think of jazz?’

Chapter eight

Friend

The rest of the year flew by, especially with restaurant and function bookings on the increase thanks to work parties throughout December. Overtime was plentiful, along with generous tips, so I had the perfect excuse to be out of the house most days with the added bonus of boosting my Freedom Fund. I wasn’t missed, of course, except by Charlie.

Based on Zac’s recommendation, I’d downloaded a jazz compilation album and it fast became one of my favourites, taking me to my happy place. I couldn’t remember when I’d last been so relaxed as that night, simply enjoying the banter, the chit-chat, the gorgeous food and the amazing music. My memories from that night out helped to keep me going through the tougher days.

On the one day when families were supposed to come together, there was just me and the Norwegian spruce at home. Mum, Derek and Charlie had left a few days earlier to spend Mum’s birthday and the festive break with Derek’s sister. Naturally, I wasn’t invited. Not that I’d have gone. The stuck-up bitch always looked down her nose at me and made tutting sounds whenever she came to stay with us.

Overcome with the sudden urge to hit something, I made my way upstairs. After quickly changing into a vest and shorts, I planted one punch and kick combo after another into the poor beaten-up punchbag. My music blared out loud enough to disguise my yells and my foul-mouthed curses since there were no young ears to overhear me.

The deafening volume also covered up the sound of my crying, as tears and sweat ran in single file down my cheeks. Heart pounding and blood pumping, I stepped away from the bag and jumped on the treadmill, but my planned 5K got cut short by a buzz from the gate. Who the hell made deliveries on Christmas Day?

Hot and sweaty, I raced down the stairs, then hit the button for the gate, too out of breath to speak over the intercom to find out who was calling. Still glowing like a beetroot, I opened the front door and my pulse stilled momentarily. I shook my head and blinked hard, just in case the sweat stinging my eyes had affected my vision.

Nope, Zac indeed stood there, his arm still raised in mid-air where I’d caught him about to knock. He lowered his hand and smiled sheepishly. ‘Merry Christmas, Alice.’

‘What?’ I blurted. ‘I mean… Merry Christmas, Zac.’ I wiped my hands over my shorts then gripped onto the door handle as flames cooked me from the inside. At least I was already bright red from exertion. ‘This is…unexpected?’

‘Yeah.’ One corner of his mouth climbed higher than the other. ‘I was on my way to my folks and thought I’d come and say hi.’