Super

"Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Darby," I said respectfully.

"Please, call me Shalia."

"Righto, come on, Jimmie, let's go and get a beer before I die of fucking thirst."

Shalia's arm shot out like a snake biting its prey, clipping Tony behind the ear.

"Tony! You are not at work now!"

"Sorry, sorry dear, slip of the tongue," he said, keeping out of range.

"I'm sorry about that, James, but he tries my patience," she said to me with a smile. She turned back to Tony. "Can you get the BBQ started too, please."

"Certainly can," Tony replied warily.

"Good boy!" Shalia said, stepping over to him and kissing his cheek. "One day, you will learn."

"Maybe you should use the carrot and not the stick," Tony said, grabbing her around the waist, pulling her closer and kissing her on the lips.

"That's enough, you naughty boy," she replied, slapping his hand that was now rising up toward her breast. "We have visitors, you infidel!" she laughed as he let go.

It was lovely to see that family byplay. They were obviously still very much in love. I missed seeing my own family, being four thousand kilometres away on the east coast.

I was broken out of my melancholy by Tony poking me in the ribs with a cold beer.

"Come on out onto the balcony, we've got some cooking to do."

The pile of meat next to the BBQ told me I wasn't the only guest. By the time we had it cooked, there was Tony's son and his young family, Tony's brother with his wife, and two of the brother's sons with their families. It was the first time I had met Tony's son, Michael. I wasn't sure how it would go, seeing I had replaced him. I liked him immediately, and I think it was mutual. We sat down and ate, drank wine, and laughed. I was contemplating leaving, when Tony's daughter arrived.

"Wow." I said softly, I thought to myself, until Michael whispered.

"Put your tongue back in your head, you're drooling."

She had her mother's coloring, olive complexion and dark hair, except longer, and her dad's height, which stretched out the curves. She was wearing just jeans and a white t-shirt, but she looked liked she had stepped out of a glamour shoot. Tony jumped up and went to his daughter, giving her a hug. Looked like she was daddy's little girl. While they walked back to the table together, she was saying hi to her younger cousins as they buzzed around her legs.

Other members of the family were getting up and greeting her. I stayed seated, a little uncomfortable. Shalia spied me shifting in my seat and admonished her husband.

"Darling, we have a guest, introduce him!"

"Oh shit, sorry." He quickly ducked out of range of any of his wife's limbs, so I don't know whether the sorry was to me or his wife. The rest of the family laughed.

"Anisa, this is James. He is the new engineer at the company now your worthless brother has taken to riding the white lines," he said for the amusement of the gathering.

I stood and shook her offered hand gently. "Pleasure to meet you," I said rather inadequately.

She smiled shyly, and dropped her head.

"Anisa is the smart one of the family. She is four years into a medical degree. She was at the airport this morning organizing the transport of medical supplies to Somalia. She is going to work in one of the refugee camps for Medecins Sans Frontieres in her holidays."

"Stop bragging, Dad. That's Doctors Without Borders," she said, explaining Tony's excursion into French.

"Wow, that's great!" I replied - what a goose!

She moved on, sitting down next to Michael's wife. I sat back down, a trifle flustered.

"I think she likes you," Michael said, poking me in the ribs and laughing.

"Yeah sure!" I said sarcastically. "I was just so smooth!"

"No really, mum is always trying to set her up and get Anisa married. At least she smiled at you, most she won't give the time of day."

His mother must have overheard our conversation and said something in another language that I assumed was Arabic. Michael laughed but Anisa didn't.

"Muummm!" she groaned in exasperation. "I'll get a boyfriend when I'm ready!"

The party started to break up as little people got tired and cranky and parents took them home to bed. I was about to leave myself when Tony pulled me aside and out onto the balcony.

"Let's have a quick beer before you go, I want to talk to you about something."

"We can have a talk but don't worry about the beer; I have to drive home."

"Bullshit." He looked around to make sure he wasn't heard by anyone else then continued, "I'll get you a cab."

He went to a bar fridge near the BBQ and grabbed a couple of James Squires out, and we sat in the cool sea breeze.

"I just want to say thanks for the last two months. I was worried, losing Michael, but we got lucky with you. There are lots of qualified engineers out there, but it's rare to find one with as much practical experience and common sense as you," he said earnestly.

"Thanks, Tony, that means a lot to me. I'm really enjoying working for you."

"Great.. Great... Um. Your contract had a three month trial period, but we are going to finish that effective as of yesterday. On Monday, you are a permanent employee with an extra fifty thousand a year in your salary."

"Fantastic!" I was shocked and grateful. The salary package had been okay, but no where near as generous as the mining companies. This still wouldn't match them but I wasn't in the heat.

"All I need is for you to sign up for three years."

So that's what today was about.

"No problem Tony, I like the company and your staff, and I love Perth!"

"Fucking great! Owww!" Tony hadn't seen Shalia walking up behind him.

"That's enough, gutter mouth!" she said, rubbing tenderly where she had just hit him.

"Will you stay for dinner, James?" Shalia smiled, and I desperately wanted to say yes but didn't want to wear out my welcome.

"He will have to, he's over the limit!" Tony replied for me.

I sensed a conspiracy.

"Ohhh, look I don't want to put you out," I said for myself.

"No trouble, there is still plenty of salad left from lunch. It will just be us and Anisa."

There was that smile again. I think Shalia was matchmaking again, but I certainly didn't complain.

"Tony, come and help me clean up," Shalia said, running her fingers through his hair.

Tony made a point of the beer in his hand.

"Drink, drink , drink. That's all you think of. Come!"

The fingers that had been running through his hair grabbed a fistfull and Tony rose from his seat and followed her. She wasn't finished yet.

"Anisa, go outside and keep James company."

"Yes mum," came a tired voice in reply.

Anisa walked out into the balcony, rolling her eyes.

"You don't have to." I said, "I'm fine out here."

"Heh, it will keep her off my back for a while."

A sharp rebuke came from inside in Arabic, to which Anisa replied in the same language and a similar tone.

"Sorry about this. Mothers!" she said, sitting the chair Tony had recently vacated.

God, but she was beautiful. Maybe I had spent to much time up north, I don't know. Everything I said for the rest of the afternoon seemed to be utter gibberish. Anisa was a gracious host, but I beat myself up on the way home as I replayed in my mind the previous few hours.

I didn't see Anisa for three months after that day, well not in the flesh. She was in my dreams a lot, that smile, the curves. Shalia was at work at least once a week doing errands for Tony, so when I saw her I thought of her daughter. I tried rationalizing things, you know, she's the boss's daughter, she's younger than me, best stay away. When I hadn't seen her for three months, I thought my chance was probably gone anyway.

The first Saturday of every month I had lunch with Tony and Shalia, just as I had the day I first met Anisa - once with the extended family again, once just the three of us. Today, I rang the buzzer, the gate opened, and I drove in. Shalia greeted me at the front door with a kiss on the cheek. If she was ten years younger and not the boss's wife...

Upstairs, the smaller table was set with four places, so it wasn't a big crowd today. A big, southerly change had swept up from the southern ocean bringing cold, stinging rain. The large, stacking sliding doors out onto the balcony were closed and a little wood fire flickered in the corner.

"Do you like Lebanese food, James? I'm doing a lamb kofta, an old family recipe," Shalia asked as she passed me a beer.

"I'm sure I will love it!" I replied. I hadn't had a dodgy meal there yet, and it sure beat spaghetti on toast which I had for lunch last Saturday.

"Tony will be up in a minute, he is just helping Anisa with her bags."

"Is she moving out?" I asked.

"No, back in. She started sharing a house with a girlfriend and her boyfriend, but it didn't work for her so she is back home."

Her answer told me Shalia was very happy to have her back under her roof.

She returned to her cooking, and I sat in an armchair and watched the rain as it tried to bash its way through the glass doors. Anisa was home, that was good. It explained the four place settings on the table. The butterflies started flapping in my stomach just as they had before the under-sixteen, one hundred metres final at the nationals all those years before.

Tony came upstairs, joining me drinking beer watching the rain. We talked shop and the whole Anisa thing disappeared from my thoughts. We were discussing a new contract we were going for. Tony wanted to use a cheaper grade of steel so we could drop the price of our tender. I was against this.

"Tony, we have a reputation. I've spoken to the guys up at the mine and they are really happy with what we provide now."

"But JB's are against us this time, and I know they supply Ranger at a lower price than what we can do it for!" Tony was worried.

"And Ranger have more shut downs for maintenance because it wears out too quick!" I argued.

"The bean counters in head office in London don't know that!" Tony raised his voice.

"I've included a comparative analysis between the two in the tender document. I'm also sure that we are going to get a big tick from the mine manager. He worked at Ranger before he started for BHP, so he knows the issue." I was confident.

"Boys, boys, boys! You are just like little children, you get angry when you're hungry. Come, lunch is ready," Shalia interrupted.

Tony ignored his wife. He was passionate about his company but also his workforce. "I'm just saying that if we don't get this tender, then I will have to let ten guys and the casuals go!"

Before I could continue, Shalia intervened. She was behind him now and she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Do I have to send you to your room, little man!" She scolded him as she would a child.

"Only if you come too!" he replied, reaching up and making a playful grab for her breast above his head.

She slapped at his hands and they both laughed.

"No more shop talk. Let's eat." Shalia was making her way back to the table.

Tony caught up with her and grabbed her around the waist, nuzzling into her neck.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to our room?"

Their hijinks were interrupted by a voice on the stairs.

"Knock it off, you two. I came home to get away from that stuff!" Anisa said sternly as she climbed the stairs. She was wearing baggy track pants and a football jumper. She was still gorgeous.

"You mean this?" Shalia asked, turning in Tony's arms and planting an exaggerated kiss on his lips.

"Err gross! Old people kiss! You do know you have a guest?"

"James is almost one of the family!" Shalia replied, extracting herself from Tony's grasp.

"I'm not sure he would want to be related to you two!"

"Where do I sign?" I asked, and everybody laughed.

It was a lovely meal made even better by Anisa's presence beside me. After we finished Shalia went downstairs then called up to get Tony to come down.

"The washing machine isn't working. Can you have a look?"

Tony left, leaving Anisa and I alone.

"Sorry, she isn't going to stop until I'm married with five children!"

"I'm not complaining!" I said with feeling, then quieter. "They obviously love you a lot. Your mum's very happy to have you back home."

"Yeah, I know."

"What happened at the share house?"

"My friend and her boyfriend made mum and dad look like puritans. They were all over each other all the time. Plus she was a screamer. I couldn't get any work done. And..." She stopped.

"And?"

"No, nothing else, it was just not going to work with my studies."

We talked for a while longer, well, she talked. I just got lost in her eyes, watching her mouth. The way she pushed the hair back off her face. She grabbed my hand.

"Have you been listening to a word I've said?" Anisa asked, a little annoyed.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?" I asked, back in my little dream world.

"What! Where the hell did that come from?" Her eyes were open wide, her face shocked.

I don't know why, but I thought honesty was the best policy.

"When you walked up those stairs three months ago, I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever seen."

"Are you serious?"

"Definitely. I don't know if you will like me, but women like you don't stroll into a man's life very often. After making a complete ass of myself last time I spoke to you, I vowed if I got another chance I wouldn't let it slip away." I laid it all on the table, I had to hope she didn't brush me off.

"And you think you're not making an ass of yourself now?" Anisa was keeping her cards close to her chest.

"I probably am, but I guess I'll know one way or the other and then I can go from there."

She considered me coolly for a moment.

"Where are you taking me?"

That sounded promising.

"Wherever you like, just a meal away from other distractions."

"Okay, I suppose that can't hurt."

I was soaring with the eagles.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Surprise me!"

Damn, my first test. "Should I speak to your dad?"

"Why? Do you want to take him out too?" She was laughing at me now.

"Well...you know he...he's my boss and you're his daughter."

"So? Mum has been throwing us together, so I don't think they will mind!" Anisa stood up. "I've got some work to catch up on, especially if you are taking me out tomorrow night. I'll be ready by seven. Don't be late!"

With that, she left me sitting at the table, ecstatic, anxious, and full. Shalia and Tony appeared a short time later looking sheepish.

"How was lunch, James? Did you have enough?" Shalia inquired as she moved the dessert plates away.

"Yes, it was delicious, thanks."

Tony asked if I wanted another beer but I declined.

"What did you and Anisa talk about? She seemed very pleased with herself as she made her way to her room," Shalia asked, watching me intently.

"Oh not much, just about her house and stuff." I could feel Shalia eye's boring into me. " I...well I... I asked her out tomorrow night." I eventually got it out.

"What did she say?" She was on tenterhooks.

"A qualified yes, I think."

Shalia let out a little squeal of delight. I don't think Tony was as keen.

"You are a nice boy, James. Some of her boyfriends, yikes! You will be good to her won't you?" Shalia was almost dancing a jig.

"He had bloody better be!" Tony interrupted, Shalia was so happy she missed the swearing.

I got up. "I guess I'd better be going. I've got find a restaurant for tomorrow night."

I gave Shalia a kiss on the cheek and I thanked her again. Tony shook my hand, much more firmly this time. I let myself out.

I got home and scoured the net for a restaurant. I didn't want to go too fancy or formal, but I wanted it to be nice. I settled for a pub that did up-market pub food. I was there at six fifty-five and only had to wait twenty minutes before Anisa was ready. She looked great and we had a good time.

I was a lot more relaxed away from her parents, and we got to know each other a lot better. When I dropped her off, I asked if I could take her out again the following Saturday and she said yes. I walked her to the door, which was opened just as we got to it by an excited Shalia and a pensive Tony.

They invited me in, well, Shalia invited me in. When I declined, Tony said he would see me bright and early the next morning. He did - I was bright and early every morning after the date. The following Saturday we went to a similar place only, being a Saturday, night they had a band on in another part of the pub. We went in after eating and hung out for a while.

I was taking her home and just as we got to Cottesloe Beach, she asked me to pull into the parking lot on the beach.I was unsure about this. I didn't know what she wanted. My thoughts went back to some girl's reactions to seeing, hell, even feeling my package. Luckily, she only wanted to talk. We got out and sat on the boardwalk listening to the waves.

"Do you remember last Saturday when you asked about my time at the shared house and I said and... but didn't finish?"

"Yes."

Anisa shivered.

"Do you want a jumper or jacket? I think there is one in the car." I offered.

"No, I'm fine. I just want to tell you about the "and" before we go any further."

She seemed to be summoning up the courage to tell me something. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear it.

"Okay," I said softly.

There was only the sound of the waves for a while. She huddled in under my arm, sheltering from the sea breeze. Then it came.

"James, I...I'm a virgin."

"So? I think that's great."

"I want to stay a virgin until I'm married," she said, pulling away a little.

"I don't know why it's important to me. I was bought up a Catholic, but I never really thought about it until the last few years. I went to an all girls school, and some of my friends were doing "it" on weekends when they were like fourteen and fifteen. You know my family so you know we are tight, and I guess I never got in a situation where I had to choose until University."

She pulled away further, I thought she really wanted to get this all out and I didn't want to interrupt, so I kept quiet.

"I've had a few boyfriends but none of them has understood. They think I'm a freak. I've got some friends who say they are still virgins but I know they give blow jobs, and even one girl let's guys, you know. Put it in her bottom, so her hymen stays intact!"

She stopped again but I didn't think she was finished.

"So, I'm just telling you before this goes any further. You have to know I'm not going to do any of that stuff before I'm married."

Her hands were in her lap and her head was bowed. Almost like she was praying, but she was crying. I got off the seat and knelt in front of her. Lifting her head so she was looking at me, I placed my hands on hers in her lap.

"I think it's wonderful that you believe in this and want to carry it through. I've got to tell you that I am not a virgin and I hope that doesn't matter to you... I hope it doesn't matter to you because I'm pretty sure I love you. I know we don't know each other and all that, but I think I knew when you walked up those stairs three months ago. I'm more than willing to wait for you, and if I prove myself to be worthy, I would gladly be your husband."

It was too dark to read her expression. She leaned forward so her head rested on mine.

"Was that a proposal?" she whispered.

"No, not really. I haven't got a ring, or an orchestra, and I haven't asked your Dad. How about we give it some time. See each other for a while and well, you know, we will work it out."

"That sounds like a plan." Anisa lifted up one of her hands and wiped her cheeks and eyes.

"Just one question. Can we kiss? Because I really want to kiss you now!"

"Can I trust you?" That was a double-edged question.