“Rough and rugged” was the description Sonja told all the girls when they met up for coffee after she and Maddy had bumped into Callum.
The gang were pretty excited about this new guy and the fact that he seemed to like the look of Maddy was even better.
She was the only one out of the group who didn’t have a boyfriend and the others were interested in hooking her up.
Mainly so that they could all hang out together as a group without Maddy feeling left out but also because they were worried their own boyfriends might make a move on the available and stunning brunette.
Maddy pretended not to be interested in Callum – didn’t even know herself if she was interested or not!
But she had to admit that there was something about this guy that had caught her attention.
Back home that night she lay on her bed painting her toenails and found that her thoughts returned to Callum.
She kept going over and over the first moment she locked eyes with him and it sent shivers up and down her spine. He had been putting CDs away on the shelves in the store and he had bumped into her sending a stack of CDs flying.
She had been all set to yell at him for being such a clutz when she looked up from the pile of fallen CDs on the floor into his face and practically fell into his eyes.
Crystal clear, bottle green eyes, sparkling with mischief and good humour and … something else that made her legs shake and her tummy turn somersaults. Something she had never seen in anyone’s eyes before.
Tall and muscular, a perfect triangular shape with messy blond hair and a good tan, this guy was not classically good looking but had some kind of animal magnetism about him.
And when he smiled at Maddy to say sorry for bumping into her – well, what a smile! Dimples, straight white teeth and a slight scar under his full bottom lip made Maddy melt.
She smiled back and read his name badge. Callum. Nice! He bent down to pick up the fallen discs and his hand brushed hers as she helped him. Electricity shot through her body and she felt her breath start to get faster.
What was happening to her? She had never felt like this before!
Sonja came over and started to help as well and Maddy soon noticed that Sonja couldn’t keep her eyes off this guy, getting all giggly and girly with him.
He smiled again at them and said that he was always getting into trouble with his clumsiness. This was what got Maddy really interested.
Most of the guys she had dated or who had tried to date her were so up themselves and into the whole macho “I’m better than anyone” gig that this was a refreshing change – someone who didn’t take himself too seriously.
Maddy smiled back, said goodbye and left the store with Sonja running after her. Sonja was full of it, telling Maddy how Callum hadn’t been able to stop looking at her as she had walked away – and why had she walked away? She could have got his number at least!
Maddy played it cool. Never one to share her feelings with her friends she kept quiet on the matter.
But back at home she couldn’t get him out of her head.
The next day she made up some excuse as to why she needed to go to the Mall on her own and went back to the CD store.
She was nervous, what if he wasn’t there? She couldn’t see him at first but as she made her way round the shop she bumped into him – literally.
As the CDs fell to the floor Callum burst into laughter and said that he seemed to have met his match – someone else in the world was as clumsy as he was!
Maddy couldn’t help laughing too and soon they were chatting away as if they had known each other all their lives.
After a while Callum glanced up at the clock and told Maddy that he would finish work soon – would she like to go out for something to eat?
Maddy thought about it for all of one second and said that she’d love to.
She walked round the Mall in a daze while she wasted time waiting for Callum to finish his shift and found that she was full of excitement at being able to see him again.
He met her at the right place at the right time – something else that differentiated him from all the other guys she knew!
And taking her by the hand, he led her to a street café and sat next to her, gazing into her eyes as if she was the only person in the whole world that mattered to him.
And she had a feeling that she was looking at him the same way!
After a good couple of hours of solid talking and many milkshakes later, Maddy got a frantic call from her father. Where was she? What was she doing? She had missed her piano class and nobody had known where she was!
Maddy said that she would be home soon but Josh insisted that he would come and pick her up.
Callum waited with her and when Josh arrived they went over to the car together. Callum introduced himself and apologised for keeping Maddy out so late and worrying everyone.
Josh smiled but eyed Callum up and down and told Maddy to hurry up and get in the car. Callum waved goodbye and Maddy sunk into her seat, warm with the feelings she had for him. Josh looked over at his daughter and smiled to himself – she was growing up so quickly!
She was obviously smitten with this surfy guy. And he seemed nice enough. But when he tried to talk to Maddy about him and to find out a bit about the guy, Maddy got all sulky and said she didn’t need a third degree.
Josh sighed, Maddy had never spoken to him like that before. Something told him that there was a change in the air and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for it.