Free The Beat of Safiri Bay by Emmse Burger Page B

never been over protective, his reaction towards Alex makes me smile inwardly. He is worried about me, that’s so sweet of him. I tap the side of my tunebelt “Always on dad,” I say to him. He lifts his eyebrow and slowly pulls away.
     
    “That wasn’t so bad,” Alex says to me and I give him the ‘you think so?’ look.
    “My dad is one of the only two people who understand me completely,” I say as we start walking again.
    “Who is the other lucky person?” he asks curiously.
    “Matthew,” I say nonchalant and wonder why he would ask, didn’t he know this?  I try to think of an incident where I have been with him and Matt in the same room and it occurs to me that the morning of Matt’s drinking binge was the only time. Off course he we didn’t share much that morning so it is no wonder he didn’t know. 
    He clears his throat and looks straight ahead of him as we walk.
    “Matthew? He is one of the two only people you trust completely?” he asks and I look at him, confused by his coolness. “Matthew is like a brother to me,” I volunteer. “He has been a tremendous help to me and I love him very much.”
    “I envy him,” he says and I realise that I should maybe have kept quiet about caring deeply for Matt. I don’t know what to do or say to make it better and drop my head to look at the road in front of me. “Lane, I envy Matthew now, but soon he will be the envious one, I am sure of that.” I am relieved and curious; Matt will be the envious one hey? But I am also very confused because I don’t know if I am expressing myself correctly in front of him. I have never had to worry about hurting people’s feelings. I am polite to everyone and it is easy because I do not spend a lot of time with anyone. I didn’t think liking a guy could be this exhausting. Hmm, that sounds just so weird to me. We reach the beach and he stops. “I’ll see you tonight,” he bows his head as if I am royalty and I smile at him because I can’t wait to see him again. “I’ll be the red faced girl with the guitar in case you don’t recognise me.”
    “I cannot wait to hear you play.”
    “I’ll see you,” I turn around then and start a slow jog uphill towards the estate. I think I am falling for him.
     
    It is almost three o’clock and I have spent the day wandering around the house like a sleepwalker. My dad is late for lunch. I wonder suddenly if he would be able to make tonight’s party. Oh crap! I forgot to phone Jay to say happy birthday. I dial his number and have a quick chat with him. He is so excited about tonight he actually made me nervous, wonder what he is up to. I press D on my phone and it dials my dad’s number. Just then, I hear the Jeep pull into the yard. I walk to the kitchen to greet my dad and he smiles as he enters through the back door, “honey, I’m home,” he loves shouting that just as Fred of the Flintstone’s does when he gets home. That cartoon is my dad’s favourite.
    "Wow dad, you are in a good mood," I comment on his arrival. "Sure Rosie, I am done at the office for today, my girl is playing at a party tonight and I wouldn't miss it for the world.” I am really starting to get to know my dad much better. He has been treating me more like an adult this year and I appreciate that. "Is your equipment ready?" He asks and looks through the kitchen window toward David's house.   "Almost," I say and smile at him.
    "Well, I am going to put away my case and make a phone call, maybe you could use that time to double check it? I'd like to have a quick bite to eat and would love for you to join me."
    "Sure dad," My dad has such an authority about him, but inside he is just a cuddly teddy bear. He leaves then and I look out the same window to see what he was looking at. David has returned and he is off loading the girl's luggage. No doubt they will be at the party tonight. I wonder how Christina will feel about missing an opportunity to hang onto my dad in public view. I do