‘I was beginning to think you’d never get home,’ Hayden greeted me. ‘Though that entrance was worth the wait. I haven’t seen that many bikers all together in a long while.’
‘Hayden, what are you doing here?’ All I wanted was to have a bath.
‘Valentine’s Day, of course.’
Hayden drew three heart-shaped red helium balloons from behind his back. My jaw dropped. Hayden Paris, on my doorstep, bearing heart-shaped balloons? This day was getting even crazier.
Hayden stood there, a smile spreading over his face. ‘Well?’
‘Is this a joke, Paris?’
The words tumbled out before I could stop them. All my rational thoughts had been knocked flat by this turn of events.
Hayden straightened the ribbon on one of the balloons. ‘Well, as you said in English class this morning, everyone deserves a day of love, so I thought the balloons might cheer up Snookums’s and Bebe’s day. I checked with the pet store to ensure they’re made out of cat-friendly material.’
Any moment now, Ashton Kutcher was going to leap out of the bushes and tell me that I’d been ‘punk’d’.
‘The third balloon is for you,’ Hayden continued in a rush. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day.’
‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’ I repeated dumbly, looking into his hazel eyes. Their expression was both amused and oddly nervous. ‘I’m … I’m sure Snookums and Bebe will be ecstatic.’
All of a sudden I didn’t know what to say. I just kept staring from the balloons to Hayden’s sincere face to the balloons again.
‘So, should I hand these over to you?’ Hayden asked.
‘No,’ I said, finally finding my voice. ‘Do you want to come in? That way you can give them to Snookums and Bebe yourself.’
Hayden stepped away from the door. I struggled with the key, my fingers shaking. What was wrong with me? I finally got the door open and stumbled slightly as I stepped inside. Hayden took my arm to steady me.
‘That’s an impressive bouquet, Princess.’
‘Oh, I know.’
It was nice to see a boy appreciate flowers. Just like Wordsworth would have. What was I saying? Instead of writing about nature, Hayden wrote odes to himself.
‘It takes my breath away every time I look at it,’ I added.
‘So who’s it from?’ Hayden examined the rainbow rose.
‘Someone absolutely amazing,’ I replied. ‘That’s all I know. It was anonymous.’
Hayden lifted his gaze from the rose to me. His eyes were twinkling. Was he laughing at me? Or at my admirer? I’d kick his butt if he was laughing at my admirer.
‘I have a feeling Snookums and Bebe will be in here,’ I announced, leading Hayden through to the lounge. ‘The pet store brought them another Valentine’s gift this morning.’
Sure enough, Snookums and Bebe were clambering over the cat climbing frame I’d bought them. It was in the shape of a tree, with scratchy imitation-bark branches and sleeping platforms shaped like elephant-ear palms.
‘Hey, babies!’ I dropped to my knees to give them a scratch. ‘Someone’s brought you a new treat!’
‘Hi, guys.’ Hayden dropped down beside me and gave Snookums a rub under the chin.
‘Why don’t we hang the balloons from the branches?’ I suggested.
Hayden wound the string of the first balloon around the lowest branch of the climber. His jeans brushed my right leg and I could feel the warmth of his calf even through the thick material.
‘The red looks great against the deep brown of the branches,’ I commented distractedly, standing up again.
Hayden smiled. ‘I’d better tie them carefully. Imagine if Snookums grabbed hold of a balloon and floated away.’
I laughed. ‘Like the movie The Red Balloon. He’ll drift over Paris, finally landing on top of the Eiffel Tower.’
‘Ah, Paris. My namesake and ancestral home.’
‘Ancestral home? Your mum told me you come from good old-fashioned English stock!’
‘Don’t tell anyone else that,’ Hayden said. ‘My connection to the city of love is a fundamental part of my appeal. Along with my stellar intelligence, winning wit —’
‘Reciting your poem again?’ I broke in.
Hayden tried to keep a straight face, but failed. ‘I can’t help myself when I’m around you, Mistress Muse.’
He held out the last red helium heart. I reached out to take it from him. Our fingers grazed. I lost my grip on the balloon and it sailed towards the ceiling.
‘Oh no!’
‘Aurora!’ Hayden made a jump for the balloon, catching it in his left hand. ‘I spent twenty minutes choosing that balloon this morning, and you just let it go?’
‘You didn’t really spend twenty minutes selecting that balloon.’
Hayden and I were now standing close to each other.
‘I did.’ His eyes met mine. ‘You might have seen me at your front door holding an aesthetically unappealing balloon and tossed me in the mud.’
I wanted to protest, but something about his gaze, so intent on my face, stopped me from making a sound.
‘Though you look like you’ve been in the mud yourself.’
Hayden’s voice was just above a whisper as he reached forward and gently brushed my right cheek with his balloon-free hand. I suddenly remembered my dishevelled state and raised my hand to the same spot, where it met Hayden’s. He took a step forward.
‘Happy Valentine’s, sweetheart!’ the NAD’s voice boomed from the front door.
Both Hayden and I jumped in fright, and I stepped away from him.
The NAD strode into the lounge. He visibly staggered as he took in the cat climbing frame. ‘Aurora, what is this monstrosity?’
I didn’t answer. I was looking at Hayden, whose cheeks were as red as the balloon he still held in his left hand. My own face felt flushed and my cheek tingled. Would Hayden have kissed me if the NAD hadn’t interrupted? Well, tried to kiss me, as I would have had to stop him. I was still saving that first kiss for my Potential Prince. Despite this, I was suddenly besieged by thoughts of what the kiss would’ve been like. Were his lips soft —
‘It’s nearly as tall as I am!’ The NAD reached out to feel the imitation bark. ‘It’s verging on a redwood.’
‘Dad, it’s Snookums’s and Bebe’s Valentine’s present!’ I finally turned my attention to the cat climber. Dad couldn’t take it back! ‘It’s a savannah tree — the kind their ancestors would have lounged on.’
‘A savannah tree?’ the NAD repeated. ‘Couldn’t they be content with a potted palm or something?’
‘I’m trying to make them feel better about their domestic slavery.’
‘Those cats have their every need attended to!’ The NAD pointed at Bebe’s engraved silver water bowl. ‘If anything, we’re slaves to their every meow. They need a form of entertainment that doesn’t depend on material possessions.’
Did his new-found Buddhist philosophy have to dominate even the cats’ lives?
‘Aurora’s just got a big heart,’ Hayden said.
‘Hayden! Nice to see you!’ The NAD sounded thrilled. ‘You won’t mind excusing us for a moment, will you? Help yourself to anything from the fridge in the meantime.’
Dad gestured for me to follow him out the room. Oh no. He was going to make me call the pet store and get them to collect the climber.
‘Dad, I’m really sorry. But don’t make me return it, please.’
‘Return it?’
‘Isn’t that what you want to talk about?’
Dad was heading up the stairs towards his room. ‘No. That’s not necessary. Maybe it’ll stop Snookums being so destructive.’
It was unlikely, but I threw my arms around him anyway. ‘Thanks, Dad!’
‘You can show your thanks by helping me select a tie for my Valentine’s dinner with Dana.’ Dad threw open his closet and gestured at his tie rack.
I couldn’t believe I was being asked to help him win over a woman who could only make my life more miserable. Talk about salt in a wound. Unless …
I stared at Dad’s novelty Mickey Mouse bow tie.
‘Well?’ Dad looked at me. ‘Come on, fashionista.’
I pointed wordlessly at the bow tie.
‘Mickey?’ Dad looked surprised. ‘I guess Dana might like it.’
She would hate it. A Valentine’s date with a man who had a cartoon mouse at his neck? I could just see her scowl. Mickey would probably convince her that Dad was really a conglomerate-loving capitalist. I envisaged her making an excuse to go to the bathroom, then sneaking out to her Mazda and driving right out of his life.
I opened my mouth to say, ‘She’ll love it!’, then saw Dad’s trusting expression as he held the bow tie up to his neck. I couldn’t sabotage the NAD’s date. He was already scarred from my mother’s sudden escape to Spain. A second escape might send him over the edge.
‘No, Mickey was a joke. Wear the red tie.’
‘Perfect,’ Dad announced. ‘It’ll match the roses.’
Ms DeForest was getting roses? Why did Dad have to be a romantic?
I chastised myself. I had received a glorious bouquet today. Who was I to deny Ms DeForest flowers?
I plastered a smile on my face. ‘Get ready and I’ll check you over before you leave.’
I went downstairs, remembering that Hayden was presumably still in our lounge room. An image of his hand stroking my cheek burned into my brain. I reached the hallway and my throat went dry. What would I say to him?
I stopped at the lounge-room entrance. Snookums and Bebe were batting at the heart balloon tied to the lowest branch. I turned my eyes to Hayden, who was looking at a sheet of paper on the coffee table. The sheet of paper that held a rough draft of my poem, ‘The Prince’.
I let out a scream. Hayden leapt in the air like he’d been shot. Snookums and Bebe bolted under the sofa.
I snatched the poem up from the table. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Aurora, I can explain —’
‘There’s no worthy explanation!’ I grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him out of the lounge room.
‘I was just looking for a piece of paper to leave you a note to tell you I had to go —’
‘What? Go break into someone else’s house to read their private information?’ I pushed him down the hall.
‘You invited me in!’ Hayden’s mouth twitched in amusement.
‘Under false pretences.’ I threw open the front door. ‘Great tactic. Come bearing gifts, then go through my belongings!’
‘I’m so sorry, Aurora.’ Hayden held out a hand. ‘It was a complete accident I even read it. I feel awful, I —’
‘Sure!’ I yelled. ‘I’m sure you’re feeling awful. Awfully happy as you head out to tell everyone about my crappy poem —’
‘It was beautiful,’ Hayden interrupted.
I threw the poem at him. ‘Why don’t you just take it and make photocopies? Go on! I’m sure I couldn’t feel any more embarrassed than I do now.’
The NAD appeared on the staircase. He looked awkward.
‘I didn’t interrupt a romantic goodbye again, did I?’
I laughed in what I hoped was a scornful way. ‘There is no romance between us, and there will never be. Not even in your wildest James-Bondesque dreams, Hayden. Never!’
Hayden opened his mouth to reply but I slammed the door shut.
‘Aurora!’ Dad opened the door, revealing Hayden again. ‘That’s incredibly rude.’
‘Why don’t you talk to Hayden about rude?’ I yelled and ran upstairs.
‘Don’t worry, son,’ I heard the NAD say. ‘She’ll come around.’
I’d never come around. I sank to my bedroom floor, lines of the poem dancing in my head. Where is the Prince who is to win my heart? I wanted to cry. I could just picture Hayden’s smirk as he read those lines. Now he’d probably tell everyone about my unhealthy obsession with finding a Prince.
Why had I been so honest?
Because I’d never dreamt that anyone except my romance-loving English teacher would read the poem. I hadn’t planned on the bane of my life sneaking into my house!
‘Aurora?’ The NAD tapped at my door. ‘I have to leave for my date now, but cheer up. Love will reign supreme.’
‘Arggh!’ What had Hayden told Dad?
After Dad’s car had pulled out of the driveway, I started running a bath. I glanced at myself in the mirror and recoiled. I had long, angry scratches up and down my arms and legs, at least five twigs stuck in my hair and a huge smudge of dirt on my cheek.
I remembered how Hayden had stroked that very spot, and clenched my jaw. Obviously his plan had been to distract me in order to stay in the house long enough to find my poem. I must have been delusional to wonder if he was going to kiss me. Twenty minutes selecting a balloon. Yeah, right.
I sank into the bubble bath and started to relax. So Hayden had made fun of me again. Well, what else was new? Hayden’s whole existence was about tormenting me — I’d always known that.
It was time to focus on happier things. Out there, not so far away, was my Potential Prince. A guy who was pure of heart, and generous, if today’s bouquet was any indication. That was what I should be concentrating on, not base things like Hayden Paris.
