CHAPTER 9:
The Second Meeting
After class that afternoon, Vanessa had arranged to meet up with Rex to walk home, but on reaching E Block to retrieve her bag, she found that his gear was already gone. It was unusual for him not to keep his word and immediately she began to worry. It wasn’t a jealous sort of worry; not the thought that came with images of him being with another girl, but the sort of worry that something might be wrong. It was the sort of worry she used to feel a few years earlier whenever Rex wasn’t around.
She scolded herself yet again for letting her imagination get carried away.
She thought about her mother’s words...
‘I would have thought you would have learnt your lesson by now’.
She had suffered the loss of Rex when he was forced to remove himself from her life the last time she had become needy and obsessive. They had all thought she had recovered from that, especially due to the professional help she had received. The first year without him had been sheer hell, but then she had started to come to terms with it and although she had missed him deeply, it was bearable and she had been deemed well again. It had all been fine, until she talked her mother into getting a job there in Te Arawa. Then all she could think about was seeing him again...
‘Some day he will disappoint you and when that day comes, I pray it won’t destroy your rose-coloured world.’
He had never disappointed her. Even though after she and her mother left Taukauri, he never phoned or e-mailed her, she had never felt bitter towards him. Not knowing the true reasons for it, she had blamed herself, believing that somehow, she had pushed him away or that the distance between them was just too great. But she had no idea that her mother had asked Rex to stay away, so that she could become well again. They had never told her that and she had only learnt that fact a month earlier, when Rex finally revealed the truth to her.
No, she could never blame him. In that case he was only doing what he thought best.
‘Must you look on things with rose-coloured glasses all the time?’
Well she had him back now, so all was fine with the world. She felt complete again and happy.
So why was anxiety creeping back in?
Why was she starting to become obsessed again?
‘Nessa?’
She jumped, but she recognised the voice right away and relief swept through her like a rush of warm water. ‘Rexy! There you are.’ She delivered him her most glorious smile. She wanted to jump all over him and plaster him with kisses, but held herself back, not wanting to look as if she had been pining for him.
‘Ready to go?’
‘Yeah, huh.’ Feeling complete again, she slid her arm under his and walked briskly alongside him. She wanted to hold him there and not let him go. ‘So, what do you think about Boot Camp so far, Dollbaby?’
‘I think Mr H is getting a little carried away. I hear he had all these people on rubbish duty at lunchtime and there was not enough rubbish to pick up.’
‘I guess he should get them peeling spuds or something instead, huh?’
‘Something like that.’ Rex smiled wryly.
‘I’m surprised he hasn’t assigned guards at the school gates yet to make sure people don’t go AWOL.’
‘I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.’
They continued to talk cheerfully as they walked along the main road, but then the topic of her father came up.
‘So, are you going to tell your mum about your dad tonight?’
‘I don’t know.’ She hadn’t thought a lot about it during the day even though she had shown off the necklace her father had bought her. She had actually begun to feel good about her father turning up and it was a bit of a downer to think she would have to tell her mother. ‘I have to find the guts.’
‘Do you really think she’ll freak?’
‘I guarantee it. But yeah, I know, she’ll freak even more if she finds out without me telling her.’
Rex slowed down his pace as a man climbed out of a car further down the road and waved to them. ‘Is that your Dad?’ He released her arm from his.
‘Oh, my God, yes.’ Vanessa stared, wondering why her father would be waiting for her down the road from the school.
‘Hi Vanessa,’ her dad greeted her cheerfully. He paused for a few seconds and his eyes narrowed very briefly. ‘Who’s this?’
It seemed funny to be introducing her guy to him on the side of the street, but what choice did she have? ‘This is Rex.’
‘A classmate?’
‘Oh, much more than that.’ To show him just how much, she looped her arm back through Rex’s and snuggled into him.
‘Oh... err... I see.’ He turned his eyes back to Rex and for a few seconds they remained on him, not smiling.
Rex extended his hand anyway. ‘Hi, Mr Dante.’
Vanessa’s father hesitated for a moment and then very quickly shook his hand. His head turned back to Vanessa. ‘Can we talk?’
‘Oh dad, I do want to talk to you, but I’m going back to Rex’s place first.’
Her father frowned, but then he sighed. ‘Well I guess he can hang around. I just needed a few minutes that’s all.’
‘Why don’t you come over to my place,’ Rex said. ‘You can have a drink and talk there.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ Vanessa said. ‘That way we won’t risk anyone seeing you talking to me.’
‘What, you haven’t told anyone?’
‘Only my friends.’
‘Not even Mum?’
‘Nuh uh, not yet.’
He sighed again. ‘I guess so. Hop in the car, we’ll drive there.’
Nobody said a word as they drove. Vanessa couldn’t help but feel that her father was not very happy about Rex being there, but then again it probably wasn’t all that surprising, after all he hadn’t seen her for so long and really wanted to talk to her alone. But Vanessa wasn’t about to give up her time with Rex for him, even if he was dying and had given her an expensive gift. He still had a lot to make up for and if he really wanted to spend time with her, he’d just have to put up with her loved ones too.
Neither of Rex’s parents were home as they both worked, so it was a simple matter of going to the dining room for a drink.
Vanessa’s dad glanced around the walls and furniture, his eyes widened. ‘Boy, this place is like a palace.’
Almost everything looked shiny and new, from the oak dining room suite to the glass cabinets, lined with silver and china. Rex got them all a drink from the bar at the back of the dining room and they sat down on at the luxurious lounge area next to the bar.
‘So, err...’ Her dad fidgeted a little with his glass of grape juice. ‘Did you like the necklace?’
‘It’s great dad. I love it.’
He smiled. ‘I’m glad to hear that. Look after it though, it cost a lot. I’d hate you to lose it. By the way, when did you start wearing a nose stud?’
‘Oh, when I was fourteen.’
‘Is that a diamond?’
‘Yeah huh.’
‘How did you afford a diamond nose stud?’
‘Rex bought it for me.’
‘My God, so I guess you’re used to expensive gifts then. My necklace was just another.’
‘The necklace was awesome, Dad. I loved it. Thanks so much for it.’
‘But I don’t get it,’ he turned and eyed Rex once more. ‘How did he buy that for you when you were living in Taukauri when you were fourteen?’
‘Rex also went to that school.’
Her father raised an eyebrow. ‘Wow, that’s some remarkable coincidence.’
‘Yeah...’ she laughed half-heartedly, not being willing to tell him that she had manipulated her mother to move to Te Arawa.
‘Ah, I guess you must have kept in contact and your mother decided to move down here, huh?’
‘Yeah, I guess you could say that.’
Her father studied her for a few seconds, before speaking again. ‘So, is it pretty seri
ous between you two then?’
‘Well kind of.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s complicated. We have a unique relationship.’
A frown appeared on her father’s face. ‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s too hard to explain.’ She didn’t really want to explain it to him at all. She had the feeling that he wouldn’t understand.
Her father’s eyes switched from her to Rex and then back again. ‘I hope your mother hasn’t messed with your head. You know, with her chosen lifestyle and all that.’
‘Chosen lifestyle?’ Vanessa had trouble hiding her annoyance. ‘What do you mean chosen? She can’t help who she is. You make it sound as though she’s some kind of freak.’
‘Well it’s not natural, is it? Women going for women.’
Oh, how Vanessa wanted to give him a lecture on the realities of nature, but held it back. ‘Oh, so I guess she should be undergoing some kind of psychiatric treatment or something like that, huh? Or maybe she should be exorcised of the gay demon or something? What if I turned out to be a lesbian? Would you think I was a freak too?’
He leaned back in his chair, his expression softening. ‘But you’re not, are you? You have a boyfriend. A rich one too. Athletic and good looking. What more could a guy want for his daughter?’
She glanced across at Rex, sitting there quietly, no expression on his face and it softened her heart. Whenever frustration welled up in her, just seeing his gorgeous face eased it. She didn’t want to be angry with her father, she had been angry enough with him when he left her and her mother, but it was going to be a difficult thing for him to handle, knowing that she too was like her mother. Right now, she didn’t want to share that with him. She just wanted to keep the peace. ‘What more could a girl want...?’ she finally said and smiled at Rex.
A smile crossed her father’s face too. ‘Well I’m just glad you’re happy, Vanessa. You are happy, aren’t you?’
Vanessa continued to smile at Rex. ‘Of course.’ She omitted to say “but only when he’s nearby”, because she would deal with that, she just needed to get her head straight.
‘So, err... I was wondering, Vanessa. Would you like to join me tomorrow on the town?’
‘But I have school, Dad. Why not Saturday?’
‘Because your mother will be wondering where you are, won’t she?’
‘Not if I tell her I’m going to town with Rex.’
‘But I can’t Saturday, anyway. I have to go to Auckland to see my doctor about you know what.’
‘Are you going to have chemotherapy, or something like that?’
‘No. I’m beyond all that. The doctors have told me that it will achieve nothing, that it will just cause a lot of unnecessary suffering.’
‘My God, is your cancer really that advanced?’
Her father lowered his eyes. ‘Yes.’
‘Oh no...’ Vanessa felt a heaviness in her heart again. It made her want to say yes to the invitation.
‘You see...’ her father continued, ‘If I pick you up before school tomorrow, we can have the whole day without your mother suspecting a thing.’
‘I’ll have to turn up to class first; otherwise I’ll have to have a note.’
‘Ok, well go to your first classes of the day. I’ll turn up around 10am. That will give us plenty of time.’
Vanessa paused and turned her eyes to Rex to see what his reaction was to the invitation. His expression had changed slightly and there was a look of concern in his eyes. She doubted it had anything to do with skipping school though, as they both did that from time to time. There was something else.
‘I don’t know...’ she said. She considered asking Rex his opinion to try to find out what was bothering him, but didn’t want to put him on the spot. The thought of going to town was certainly superior to the thought of sitting in school, but then there was also the issue of not getting to see Rex for the rest of the day. That didn’t appeal to her at all. ‘Rex, you can come with us.’
Rex’s eyes widened. ‘Oh no, I would just be like a third wheel. I’d just stop you from having father/daughter time. You don’t want me getting in the way, preventing you from talking. In fact, I shouldn’t even be sitting here right now.’
‘Don’t say that, Rex,’ Vanessa said. ‘You know you’re a vital part of my life and that’s the way it is.’ She cast her father a stern expression. It made sense to have Rex there as well, after all, it would mean her father could not ask her difficult questions that she didn’t want to answer just now. He would have to avoid anything too deep.
‘It’s ok,’ her father said. ‘He can come. It will give me a chance to get to know my daughter’s guy better too. A father should, right? I mean especially if he wants to be part of his daughter’s life again.’
‘Yeah huh,’ Vanessa said. ‘So how about it Rex? Will you come too?’
Rex shrugged his eyebrows. ‘Ok. Why not?’
‘Great!’ Vanessa beamed. ‘We’ll have a great day.’
CHAPTER 10:
Mr Harris tightens security