Pet Peeves...

The boss's Son was twenty one when I met him, and good-looking enough to warrant my attention- in a weird sort of way. He had wavy blonde hair and pale skin; two of my pet peeves- but I liked him more for his biting sarcasm than for his sex-appeal, anyway.

It was an unspoken agreement that we liked each other; even when we were constantly bickering and chasing each other around the shop with spray bottles full of cleaning fluid. For a little while I even hoped that he might have been the first guy I would get to kiss; but that honour didn't fall his way. He did take me out once, though; the first and Only time a guy ever took me to the movies on a sort of actual date. I can't even remember what we saw now (though Raising Arizona is disturbingly close to mind); I was too nervous to remember anything. But before I knew it the movie was over and he had driven me home and he hadn't even tried to hold my hand...

We never told any of the other girls at work about it of course; they would have only given us shit because we always made out like we hated each other.

Working at the Ice-Creamery was like being a part of a little family. We swapped shifts without bitching and bought each other birthday presents. When one girl graduated from her dress-making course at TAFE everyone from work went to her fashion parade at the Leagues Club. Most of the other girls were over eighteen but I wasn't yet; though that little fact didn't stop me from buying bourbons all night from the bar.

This was eighteen months or so After I had been to the movies with the boss's Son, and I had met my Hubby by this stage of the game. My Parent's still didn't know about him yet- I never told them anything in those days- or the fact that I regularly smoked even though I did it openly around everybody else except for them.

That night I stumbled into the kitchen only to be confronted by my Father; who- as always- was less than impressed with my under-age drunkenness. I don't remember anymore how the argument started or even what it was about; though it might have had something to do with the fact that I had only just recently dropped out of high school and wasn't considering doing any further education or finding full-time employment- instead preferring to drink most nights of the week and stalk my 'boyfriend' until he realised that I was a nice- even if not the prettiest of- girls...

But I remember at one point, jumping off the stool in the kitchen and storming into my room to fetch my handbag that contained my cigarettes and lighter. I dramatically re-entered the room; sparking up as I did so- informing my Father that he may as well know who I really was and see what I really did. His look of disgust remains with me to this day, but was still nothing in comparison to the one that followed as I told him that I was no longer a Virgin either, but Not To Worry Dad- because I always used a condom.

I laughed with a sneer when he told me how charming I was; mostly because I knew I was lying. Because we didn't need to use frangas; you can't have babies when you smoke as much pot as He does you know...

That's what I honestly believed- because that's what he told me. I didn't for a second doubt him when he said he was infertile. Why would you lie about something like that? I wouldn't.

So why would I have doubted anything he said to me; when even Then I knew very well that the Second thing that he Ever said to me was a lie?

A Deliberate one; meant to hurt and deceive me...