A Hole in the Pavement by Tahlia Newland

Author:Tahlia Newland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: heroic self, shyness, emotional habits, sweet, social skills, self development, good, love

“I hate it, but I can’t afford not to have it. I’d lose my house.” Tears threatened again.

“I’ll call a taxi then. Is twenty minutes enough time to change?”

Her eyes widened. “No.”

He raised his eyebrows. “How long do you need?”

“It’s not that. It’s enough time, it’s just, well, it’ll be out of your way.”

“No, your stop is before mine.” His heart sank a little when he realised that she hadn’t even noticed.

She paused, then blurted out. “I can’t really afford a taxi.”

“My shout then.”

She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want to be…”

“Indebted? You wouldn’t be. It’s my gift, no strings attached.”

“No, it’s all right, you go. I’ll take my chance on the bus.”

Norris frowned. “I wouldn’t want you to fall into another one of these holes and have no one around to get you out, and they do seem to be appearing with alarming regularity.”

Georgia blinked solemnly. Her huge eyes seemed to be assessing the truth of his statement. Finally, she nodded, apparently satisfied and turned towards her house.

Norris gave a silent thank you to the hole in the pavement, then called a cab and waited outside while she changed. He tried not to think of anything in case it ruined the glow of new adventure and the taste of this heroic person that was him but not him. She emerged when the taxi arrived, her hair wet and wild about her lovely face, and he ushered her into the car and slid in beside her.

The taxi drove off. Silence. Norris had no idea what to say and worse, his mind seemed to have turned somewhat soggy due to her close proximity. Back to reality number one. Goodbye shining knight. Hello bumbling clown.

Thankfully she broke the silence. “Where’s your bow tie today?”

“Oh. I thought you might… I mean, I decided to try something different today.” The fact that she even noticed he normally wore bow ties warmed his heart.

“I like the bow ties, they’re cute.”

“Really?” He hoped he didn’t seem excessively delighted, but her admission calmed his stomach and that was something to be grateful for.

She nodded, and almost smiled, but not quite.

“What do you…”They both started together then stopped. “You speak,” he said, filling the embarrassed silence that followed.

“I just wondered what you like to do in your spare time.”

“I collect model cars.”

“Really? My Dad used to do that. I love them.”

Norris raised his eyebrows. He would never have picked her for someone who liked model cars.

“Which is your favourite?” Her apparently genuine interest surprised him.

He smiled. “My maroon 1947 Ferarri 125S. Only one ever made it to the road and it was destroyed in a race. The real sized car, of course, not the model. A replica sits at the entrance to the Museo Ferrrari Galleria. It’s fully functional and…” He almost clapped his hand over his mouth to stop from boring her stupid. But she said it was fascinating and he believed her. He almost invited her to see his model, almost, but not quite.

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