Chapter 28: Gail

Sunday Week 10 Continued

Jill had yelled out to Dave when he turned and walked away while she and Peter were boarding the ferry to Dunk Island, "goodbye my love, goodbye."

Dave returned to his 4WD and drove back to the RV, got himself a beer and sat on his roof sun deck, sipping it slowly, trying not to feel too sad. He reflected on the wonderful experiences and pleasure he had unexpectedly had during the past two months.

When his beer was finished, he climbed back down and busied himself getting some dinner. He wasn't really hungry; it was more something to do to take his mind off the sadness.

After, as he lay in the big bed at the rear of the RV, he realised that this was the first time in over two months he had slept in this bed by himself. Sure, he'd spent a lot of nights in the bunk bed over the cabin by himself, but the only times he had been in this bed since the young couple arrived on the scene, Jill had been in it with him.

Dave thought back to what Jill had said about Gail. He couldn't believe that Gail had said she wouldn't mind spending some time with him to find out just how good a lover he was. On the other hand, he thought, if it was true, was he really in that big a hurry to continue the journey? He did, after all, have the rest of his life to travel, but how often would he have the chance to spend some time with a young girl as pretty as Gail? It wouldn't matter if he couldn't find her or she wasn't interested, it would only cost him a few nights and he did like being in Cairns.

On the other hand, did he really want to get involved with someone that young? What if she fell in love with him and wanted to join him on his travels? But if she did, she might be good company. Do I want someone else so soon after Jill? After all I know that I fell in love with Jill and I still love her.

Dave vacillated, back to Cairns or continue his round Australia odyssey? Eventually he came down on the side of continuing the journey: tomorrow would be the start of the next phase of his odyssey. Somehow he doubted that it would be as exciting or enjoyable as the first phase had been, he thought just before he fell asleep.

Monday Week 11

Dave woke up early, realising again that for the first time in over two months, he was by himself. He had only loved two women in his whole life, his wife, Chloe, and Jill and now both were gone from his life.

He set about packing up, stowing his 4WD on its trailer and preparing to leave Mission Beach to see the rest of Australia. This was the decision he had reached last night after considerable debating with himself. First though, he decided to have a cooked breakfast as he hadn't eaten much last night.

As he sat there, eating his sausage and eggs, he again thought back to what Jill had said about Gail. He couldn't believe what she said was true. On the other hand, he again thought, if it was true, was he really in that big a hurry to continue the journey? Because he had the rest of his life to travel, but was unlikely to get the chance to spend some time with a pretty, young girl, shouldn't he seek out Gail? He reminded himself that it wouldn't matter if it didn't work out as he would still enjoy a few more nights Cairns.

Dave vacillated while he drank his coffee, back to Cairns or continue the journey? Eventually he changed his mind and came down on the side of going back to Cairns for a few days before continuing his odyssey.

He cleared his breakfast things away and washed up, then set off back to Cairns. He didn't worry about the scenery on the two hour drive; after all, he had been up and down this road a few times already, recently. Instead he continued reflecting on how his life had changed during the past couple of months since he left Canberra.

When he had checked back into the caravan park and set up his RV, he unloaded the small 4WD off the trailer. He would use this 4WD for travelling around Cairns.

Once he had finished his lunch, Dave decided to go fishing. He enjoyed the solitude and relaxation of fishing and always enjoyed eating the fish he caught, when he was successful. There's something almost primitive about being able to catch one's own food, Dave always thought.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much success this time, but there's always next time he reminded himself. After all, half the fun was in the peaceful surroundings and the time for contemplation.

He had an early dinner, then drove down to the nightclub, but being a Monday night, there weren't many people at the hotel. He figured another early night would be good to continue recharging his batteries. The past week or so with Jill had left him rather drained, both emotionally and sexually.

Tuesday Week 11

While eating a late breakfast, having slept in quite late, Dave decided that he would definitely go back to the nightclub again tonight. In fact he would eat there too as he realised after the past two nights that cooking for one had become a little depressing. He knew that this wouldn't last long, seeing that he had been by himself for the previous 15 months before meeting Peter and Jill.

Shopping for groceries and wine was the first thing on Dave's agenda. Then, after a late lunch, he did a little more fishing in the afternoon, but again without any success, other than the relaxation that fishing gave him.

He was back at the RV in time for him to shower and change into long slacks, short sleeve shirt, shoes and socks, which was quite dressed up for him these days because while he was in the tropics, he tended to live in shorts, T-shirt and crocks. Glancing in the mirror, Dave saw the reflection of a fit, healthy and even reasonably good looking man, who certainly didn't appear to be in his mid fifties.

Dave caught a taxi down to the hotel, figuring that irrespective of whether Gail was there or not he would enjoy a few drinks and the atmosphere, so a car could end up being a liability.

When he walked into the hotel, he looked around the hotel and its nightclub, but there was no sign of Gail. Dave decided to have a drink at the bar first, he would eat later he thought.

He was halfway through his Scotch, which he had been sipping very slowly, when he saw her. She had come in with a group of girls, but there was no sign of her boyfriend, Sam, with her. Dave thought it best to wait for a while before approaching her; he didn't want to appear too eager.

Still, he kept looking at her, realising that she really was very beautiful. Her physical appearance was different from Jill. She had auburn hair and was about four or five centimetres taller, but still very slender with smallish breast, he guessed behind that loose, high-cut blouse. But Dave thought, Gail's breasts were probably about the same size as Jill's, until he remembered his brief glance and accidental fondle of one when he grabbed her as she was falling overboard on the boat. He said to himself, no, her breasts are just a little bit bigger than Jill's. Looking at her, he hoped he would get the opportunity to confirm his observations.

Suddenly she looked in his direction, smiled at him, looked around, spoke to her friends, and then came over to him. "Hello" she said as she gave him a small kiss on the lips as Dave stood up to greet her "I was hoping you'd be here tonight. Where's Jill, gone back to her boyfriend?"

"Would you like to sit down and join me and I'll tell you all about it, or are you waiting for Sam?"

"No, Sam isn't here this week, he's gone away with his job. He wasn't even here for my birthday yesterday, as he left on Sunday afternoon and won't be back until Friday night" she replied, sounding a little unhappy. Dave led her to a nearby table, where she sat down as Dave placed his drink on the table next to her.

"What would you like to drink?" he asked.

"A vodka cruiser would be nice, thanks."

"Don't go away, it's coming right up" Dave said going to the bar to get her a drink, but deciding he would sit on his; the last thing he wanted now was to drink too much. He wanted to make a good impression as well as keep his wits about him.

As he was being served he watched her from the bar. He saw a young man come up to her, then saw her shake her head and the young man walked away. Then he saw her talk to a girl who had come over to the table and they talked briefly then laughed and the other girl went back to the group that Gail had been with.

Dave got the drink and brought it back, asking "everything OK?"

"Yes, I've just told my girlfriends I've met up with someone I know and that I'll be spending some time with him. I hope that's OK?"

"More than OK, I was hoping you might join me for dinner so we can have a chat. Too noisy in here to talk much" Dave said.

"I'd love to. Where would you like to go?"

"Well we could eat in the dining room here if you preferred, but I saw what looked like a very nice restaurant about a block back that way" Dave said pointing outside and down the street.

"That's a very posh restaurant, quite expensive I believe. I'm happy to eat here if you like" Gail replied.

Dave got the distinct impression she was trying to be diplomatic, but he thought to himself, hang the expense, I've already eaten here once. Why not try something different?

"I think I'd rather take you to the good restaurant, if you don't mind going there. Why don't we finish these drinks and walk down to see if we can get a table. If we can't, we can always come back here. Is that OK?"

"Sounds lovely, thanks," then about ten minutes later as she saw Dave had finished his scotch said "I'm ready if you are."

Dave stood up; holding his hand out to help her up and she held it lightly as they walked out. They hadn't spoken much in those ten minutes as the music was loud and it was very noisy. Dave and Gail walked outside, along the footpath down to the restaurant. Being a Tuesday night, the restaurant was fairly quiet, unlike the nightclub, so soon they were seated at a table in the corner that was rather private.

"I should have asked how old you were yesterday."

"I turned 18, so now it's legal." She replied and Dave wasn't certain whether she meant drinking or sex, but obviously wasn't going to ask her. "So what happened with Jill, you said she went back to her boyfriend?" she continued.

"It wasn't like that. I was only looking after her for him for a week while he was at Dunk Island starting a new job. Jill couldn't start until Sunday night, so there was no accommodation for her until last night. On Saturday morning, Jill and I went down to Mission Beach and Peter, her boyfriend, joined us from Dunk Island. He took her back with him on the ferry on Sunday afternoon."

"But weren't you sleeping with Jill when her boyfriend was away?" Gail asked, her voice expressing her surprise.

"Yes, and I slept with her on Saturday night too, but only after Peter and I had both made love to her. I know it's hard to understand, but over the past two months, we became not a couple, not two couples, but a real genuine threesome. We probably still would be one, but they had this goal in mind of working on Dunk Island while I wanted to continue my round Australia odyssey.

"Please don't think it was sordid or anything like that, we all loved each other. I would never have done anything behind Peter's back."

"So how come you came back to Cairns?" Gail asked.

Just then the waiter came over to see if they were ready to order, so Dave decided to dodge that question for a moment, saying "what would you like to eat? I'm thinking of having the escargot for entrée and perhaps the venison for my main" trying to give her a guide to the fact she could order what she liked off the menu and not be put off by the price.

Gail thought for a moment, having read the menu while Dave had been telling her about his threesome, then said "if it's OK, I'd like to try the scallops for entrée and perhaps the salmon steak, would that be alright?"

"Of course it is. Would you prefer French Champagne or white wine? I'm going to order that Tasmanian Pinot Noir, which you're welcome to have too."

"Can I just get a glass of bubbly to start and perhaps have a glass of your Pinot with my salmon?" Gail asked.

The waiter informed them that Moet was served by the glass, so Dave ordered one glass and the Pinot Noir as well as their meal.

Persistently, Gail asked "you didn't answer my last question. Why are you here in Cairns tonight if you wanted to continue on your big trip?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, Jill told me I should come back and see if I could find you. She knew that I really liked you and told me that you had indicated an interest, and, um well, ah, so here I am" Dave replied almost embarrassedly.

"I'm glad you came back, hopefully for a while, because I'd like to spend some time with you, if that's not being too forward?" Gail said, blushing a little and putting her head down.

Dave reached out and took her hand, saying "I'm very glad you did say that, because I would really love to spend some time with you. What time do you have to be home?"

"I don't" Gail replied. "You see I am sharing with that girl you saw back in the nightclub. My family comes from Atherton, but I couldn't get work there. Luckily I managed to get an office job here in Cairns and as my girlfriend, who also comes from Atherton, got a job here at the same time, we agreed to share a small flat. But I do have to be at work by 9am tomorrow, unfortunately."