Down Under With Dad’s Best Friend by Flora Ferrari

Chapter Four

Candace

I feel like my brain is broken.

I must be hallucinating, or maybe I’ve just totally lost my mind and this is all happening in a dream. There must be some explanation other than reality.

There I was, dealing with this awful guy who spilled his drink all over me, a shock of ice to my overheated body. I couldn’t work out whether it was welcome, or a nightmare. And then this man strides over to rescue me, like something out of a movie.

This extremely handsome man in a black suit, jacket slung over one of his arms and an expensive-looking black briefcase in one hand, a black tie loosened around his neck. He has a shock of dark hair with a small touch of grey above a chiseled face, so much taller than me and well-built. I would probably think he looks like Batman if it wasn’t for the fact that I know exactly who he is.

Sean Fogarty.

And that’s where it all starts to fall apart. Because I know there’s no logical reason at all for me to run into Sean Fogarty, of all people, in Melbourne. And there’s definitely no reason for Sean Fogarty to look at me first like a stranger, and then put his arm around me and claim that I’m his girlfriend.

So, I’ve lost my mind. But I might as well go with it. I don’t know if I have any other choice. It feels like my brain isn’t working at all, and at least this man did just save me from being threatened by a stranger. Whoever he is.

I follow him when he commands me too, feeling exhausted by it all. I just want to sit down and rest, but I don’t complain. For some reason, I feel as though I can trust him. Maybe it’s because my brain keeps telling me, against all the odds, that this is Sean. My Dad’s best friend.

I haven’t even seen Sean since I was a little kid. He and my Dad both travel for work, and it was probably the last time they were both in New York that I saw them together. Since then, they’ve met up around the world, and I’ve seen my Dad post pictures of them together plenty of times. When I grew older, I started to realize that my Dad has probably the hottest best friend in the world. Almost unfairly hot. Like, man of my dreams kind of hot.

So that’s probably why I’m imagining that it’s him saving me now. Great, so we’ve established I’m not completely and totally crazy. Just a little bit crazy.

And it’s only as I realize he’s leading me away from the busy streets around the station, down quieter back roads that don’t seem to have as many people walking around, that I even start to think about panicking.

Because I probably shouldn’t just follow a strange guy in a strange city, without knowing where he’s taking me, should I?

But even so, I’m so tired and so out of it that by the time I figure out that I should probably try to run away, he’s holding open the door of a café for me, and there are other people sitting inside, and it’s probably safe, and I want to sit down so badly that I go inside and I do so.

And when he puts a glass of cold water in front of me, I drink it, and everything slowly starts to come back into focus.

“Are you feeling better now?” he asks.

I look up and realize that he’s still Sean Fogarty. Have I really lost my mind for good, or…?

“Sean?” I say, tentatively.

He blinks.

“I thought I recognized you,” he says, frowning. “But I thought it couldn’t be possible, because I would remember someone so beautiful. But, you know me?”

Oh, my god.

It is him.

Did he just call me beautiful?

“It’s Candace,” I say.

He blinks several times. “Bill’s Candace?”

“Yeah,” I say, nodding at the mention of my Dad’s name. The motion makes my head hurt. I wince and take another drink of water.

“What…” Sean starts, looking at me through what seem to be new eyes. He shakes his head. “You...grew up. You must have been a kid when I last saw you.”

“It’s been a while,” I agree.

He blinks again, and looks me up and down one more time, still shaking his head. Oh. I guess this is the moment where he stops thinking of me as beautiful. Well, it was nice while it lasted.

“What are you doing here in Melbourne?” he asks.

“I’m on vacation,” I say. “What about you? Business?”

He nods. “You guessed right.” He takes a deep breath, shaking his head again. “Wow. Candace. I can’t believe it’s really you.”

I smile at him. “The feeling’s mutual. Who would have thought we’d run into each other all the way out here?”

“It’s strange,” Sean says, in a way that makes a shiver run down my spine. “It’s almost like fate.”