MAKE ME UP

EXHAUSTS AND EXCUSES

Finally, I have saved enough money to have the car fixed or potentially buy a new one depending on the verdict, without being down to my last pound. We are sitting in the mechanic’s lounge, while they quickly price up the labour to get my rust bucket working again. Luis towed us here, in his rarely seen car. In hushed whispers, I told him the full story about Tim. If I thought Lincoln was creative with words, Luis is producing profanity at a professional level.

“I can’t believe you had to lie in bed in the morning until he woke up too. That controlling c-"

“Yes, I know”. I interrupt him before the C bomb is dropped. “It was just terrible that a special moment between Lincoln and I was interrupted, and I hate that Tim managed to affect it. I didn’t even know what to say afterwards, because there’s no chick flick where the girl’s ex dive bombs on the bed where you and your new partner are snuggling”. I confess.

“What was it like in the morning?” Luis asked.

“Amazing. He made me breakfast in bed, and we showered together in his huge bathroom. It was like Tim’s text had never happened, but I couldn’t forget his face the night before. He looked angry because of Tim, I hope, and a little sad. I felt the same to be honest, but it was my fault, I should have kept my eye on the time”.

“Absolutely not!” Luis shouts, drawing some attention to us, before lowering his voice. “You can’t live your life watching the clock for the ten o’clock mark. What would you say? Sorry darling, we can’t have the most amazing love session yet, we have to get Tim’s message out of the way. Dearest, it’s like the most cost-effective contraception I’ve ever heard of”. Luis goes on a tangent, and I can’t help but laugh at the truth in his words.

The mechanic comes over with the quote, and it’s expensive enough to make my eyes water. Knowing I have no choice, I nod in agreement, only for him to tell me that he won’t be able to fit me in until December, but I can leave my car with them in the meantime.

Sliding into the passenger’s side of my best friend’s car, I hum the song playing on the radio to Luis, who soon joins in, before adamantly stating ‘No! We don’t want no scrub, a scrub is a guy you can’t get no love from me…’ We both laugh at our jubilation, and love of the lyrics.

“Why don’t you go to the police?” Luis asks as he pulls out of the car parking space.

“The humiliation would be dreadful. There is no doubt in my mind that he would show my parents those photos, and then share them all over social media, and if he ever finds out about Lincoln, he would send them to newspapers. I’d lose my jobs, my respect. I’m sweating just thinking about it, my heart feels like it is being squeezed”.

I look in the mirror and see that my face is pale. Every time I focus on the potential consequences, this is the reaction that I have. All for one stupid mistake made nearly eight years ago.

My phone rings, and I race for it like it is my lifeline to distract me from the painful anxiety that I feel. Lincoln asks if I’m free this afternoon for a date.

“I thought you were angry at me for looking at my phone last night”, I broach the topic.

“I’ll never be angry with you. I was angry on your behalf, while being conscious that you’re not Bonnie Tyler. I didn’t want to over step the mark”. He explains.

We agree to meet at his house for five. He says he has the perfect date planned, and the excitement cures my earlier worries. Is it possible for one person to be the cure for another? Or is this the aftereffect of the happiness that I feel when I’m with Lincoln?

When we get back to Luis’ flat, he makes us a cup of tea and brings out the gluten-free biscuits. He is totally judging me as I dip my biscuit into my cup, playing with nerves of steel to get the perfect balance between soft and soggy.

“You’re an animal,” he says, as I enjoy the new texture.

“My mum hates it too. They have invited me home for Christmas, but I’ve said no. I’m worried Tim will turn up. I just can’t face him. I’m struggling with the guilt of letting them down though”. I explain, but I’m stopped by the frown that forms on Luis’ forehead.

“I spend every Christmas alone, watching the best movies, and making my own Christmas dinner with turkey breast, because it is for one person. I’d give anything to be invited home, even though they have made it clear that I’m not welcome”. He admitted, sorrowfully. “Tim, keeping this close relationship with your parents is just another way for him to control you. You might not be able to block his number, but you should go home and claim back your parents. Remove that influence he has”. I hear the wisdom in Luis' words and nod.

I have a month to think it over.

Later that evening, Lincoln opens the door of the car he has sent when the driver and I pull up at his house. There’s no hesitation as he kisses me deeply and hugs me tightly. Enthusiastically, he guides me into his house, and down the stairs, to an underground area. To my utter surprise, but total jubilation, there is a bowling alley beneath his house.

“I had it fitted for my nephews, but I’d love to take you bowling, and to a movie”. He invites me in shyly, even after we spent the night in each other’s arms.

All I can do is nod as the smile beams on my face.

Ten minutes into our game, and it is no wonder I’ve not made a strike yet. It is incredible how sexy Lincoln’s bum looks every time he lunges forward. I’m sure I’m drooling at one point, but I blame it on the condensation from the glass. Deciding that I too, can play the game of distraction, I make sure to lean over the bowling balls, stretching out the time it takes me to find the right one. Jumping each time I knock any amount of pins over, feeling utterly satisfied when I can see his eyes are pinned on bouncing boobs.

Eventually, he can bear it no longer and throws me over his shoulder, placing me on the top of the bar. His mouth explores every inch of me, before he reaches over to the ice barrel and teases me with the cold, followed by the fire of his tongue. He spends so much time catering to my needs that it isn’t until we are in the thick of our pleasure that I realise I didn’t attend to him at all. When I mention it, he laughs and says he needed no encouragement to make love to me tonight. The pins are bored with waiting for us by the time we are fully expelled. We never found out what out score was, but we both felt like winners.