by Clare Lydon
Laura focused on getting herself back into the present. Her spirit fused back into her body and then the music was turned back up and blood flowed through her system, crashing into her ears. Colours that had been on 10% now slid up to full hue, edges sharpened, as objects whizzed back into their three-dimensional realm.
Voices and laughter flooded her reality – apparently it was only her world that had just stopped. She picked up her feet which turned out to be not as leaden as she believed and twisted back to her group, who’d already lost interest and were chatting among themselves.
Pulp’s Misfits was playing. Tash disliked Pulp – said that all 90s Britpop was overrated rubbish. It was an argument they’d had many times and had now agreed to disagree. But Tash wasn’t here right now. She’d run off into the night TV drama-style, so Laura could enjoy Pulp in this instant without any sly looks or justification. All around her the volume got louder with laughter piercing the air, glass banging against wood, lights burning.
Stevie was first to react, seeing her approach. She got up and gave her a hug. “You okay, sweetie?”
The table looked up at Laura expectantly.
Darren couldn’t quite hold Laura’s gaze.
Kat couldn’t either but that was because she was drunk already.
“Peachy,” Laura said.
“Has she left?” Stevie asked.
“Yep. Told me not to come after her. Well done, Darren, good work.” Laura spat the final few words Darren’s way.
In a game display of chivalry, Stu rode to his man’s rescue. “Leave it out,” he said. “I know he shouldn’t have said it, but he didn’t know it was being kept under wraps.”
Stu paused as Stevie put a consolatory arm around Laura’s shoulders. “Sit down, babe, have a drink and then we can all go and find Tash. Just give her a bit of time to cool off first. Agreed?”
Laura’s face ran through a gamut of emotions: punch, kick, slap, concede. She went with the last option seeing as it was the most pub- and friendship-friendly, letting Stevie guide her body to her seat and handing her a drink.
“Did she say where she was going?” Stu asked.
“She wasn’t really in the mood to chat,” Laura snapped. She still wanted to punch Darren but he’d slipped off somewhere, already departed the scene of the crime.
Stu was sitting with a smile on his face, jigging his knee up and down, drumming his fingers on the table top.
“Well, it’s either the house or the beach. If I was feeling particularly dramatic I’d choose the beach. Did she seem dramatic?” Stu asked.
Laura ignored him for now and took another swig of her beer.
Darren returned from the toilet and touched Kat’s hand.
She wobbled as she got up, drained her pint and headed to the toilet. When Kat returned, Abby chastised her for buying more cider.
However, Kat simply grinned loosely, as if the wires in her face had been cut and then restrung by a team of cowboy builders, lop-sided and off-kilter.
Kat was high and drunk, the exact combination she and Laura had managed ten years previously when they’d ended the night fucking each other at odd angles. It was the last time Laura had taken drugs. She was sure neither of them came, that they probably fell asleep before that happened. If the awkwardness of the morning after was anything to go by, Laura was sure the sex had been a disaster.
Right now, though, Kat was headed for the same outcome she always got, performing the same circus routine they’d all come to know. Ten years ago it still seemed funny because to some extent, they were all still at it. Now, it just seemed a bit tired, faded, sepia.
Now, it made Laura want to punch her.
***
Geri propped herself on a stool at the bar, her trainer slipping off the foot-rail as she steadied herself, catching the side of her ankle. A hot stab of pain shot up her body and she grasped the bar’s shiny golden handrail, wincing.
“Everything okay?” TJ was refilling glasses from the dishwasher.
Geri gave TJ her best Gallic shrug. “Yeah – just some lesbian dramas.”
Geri froze, her brain acknowledging too late she’d just come out to the barmaid. She raised one eyebrow at TJ and wondered if this would be the last she saw of her. However, when TJ’s face crinkled and her dimple shone brighter than ever, Geri realised she might just get a happy ending to this night. Her stomach flipped with the realisation and her blood hummed in her veins.
“I’ve seen a few of those dramas in this pub.” TJ’s face remained stoic and a small smile played on her lips.
“Really?” Geri intoned, leaning in conspiratorially. “Well, this is a good one tonight.” She paused wondering what the next topic of conversation should be. “So what does TJ stand for?”
“Whatever you want it to stand for,” TJ replied. “More to the point, why are you called Geri and Gimpy?”
Geri’s face dropped as she realised somebody must have uttered her nickname in TJ’s earshot. She was going to kill Laura when she got back from trying to find Tash.
“We’ll agree to skip the name game.” Geri leant over the bar. “Listen, you fancy coming back to our place? We have tons of red wine and a killer view. And crisps.” She paused. “And chocolate.”
Geri’s knee was jigging up and down beneath the bar, her stool rocking slightly. Luckily, from the waist up which was all TJ could see, she looked a picture of unflustered cool.
“Crisps and chocolate?” TJ replied. “How could a girl refuse?”
And with that their fate for the evening was sealed, which seemed to suit both parties.
TJ leant in so their faces were just a few inches apart. “You might even get a kiss out of it,” she said, before moving backwards as another customer came to stand next to Geri at the bar. The spell broken, Geri leant back, her eyes never leaving TJ.
“I hope so – I am providing crisps and chocolate.” With that, Geri peacocked back to their table, her shoulders swaggering with triumph.
“Fuck me, look, it’s the cat that got the cream!” Stu had seen this walk before.
Geri gave him the finger and sat down. She was still grinning until Darren asked where the drinks were. She’d forgotten to get them. She looked suitably abashed and got back up to rectify her mistake.
Abby pushed her back to her seat with a chuckle. “Honestly, I’ll go,” she said. “It’ll be quicker with zero flirting.”
Geri grinned and sat back down, although her eyes followed Abby to the bar, and to TJ who was serving her.
TJ obviously felt the heat of Geri’s stare, because after a few seconds she lifted her eyes Geri’s way, smiled and shot her a wink.
Geri blushed at being caught out and turned her focus back to her friends.
She was flustered and TJ knew it.
***
The pub shut at midnight, an hour and a half after Laura had left to find Tash. The group were still there as TJ and her two fellow bar staff were stacking chairs, spraying tables, emptying drip trays. The pub was moving from its usual smells of lager and hot bodies, onto its night-time smell of disinfectant and polish, neither of which went very well with drinks.
Darren choked as the disinfectant got trapped in his throat and declared he was off, gathering up his coat, his face crumpled like he’d just swallowed a bluebottle.
“We have to wait for Geri.” Vic put a restraining hand on his arm, which Darren immediately shook off.
“Why do we have to wait for Geri? The house is a five-minute walk and I think Geri knows the way, as, I suspect does TJ, seeing as she’s local. So I think we can go without her say-so.”
Vic nodded – he had a point. Besides, the smell was sticking in her throat too, even though her OCD side was glad to see the pub had a vigorous cleaning regime. She picked up her jacket from the leather bench and told the others to do the same.
Kat stood up and then promptly fell down just as quickly.
“Oh fucking h
ell, here’s the cabaret.” Darren sighed heavily.
Abby dropped to her knees, alarmed. Somehow, Kat had managed to avoid banging her head and was now attempting to stagger back upright, one hand grappling for her chair seat, head lolling. Abby’s mood had gone from concern to stoic anger.
“For fuck’s sake, get up,” she said. She stood and surveyed her girlfriend and looked up to see everyone else focusing on her. “I’ve never seen her this bad before.”
“We have, many times.” Stu shook his head and blew his nose. “What goes up must come down.”
Abby put her hands on her hips and stared around the group. “So why do you encourage it? Why give her loads of booze, drugs…”
“…keep your voice down,” Darren stage-whispered.
“…If you were her real friends, you’d see she was in trouble. The last thing she needs is to come to a place where the primary activity for the entire time is drinking. But no. We get here, everyone’s on my back for working, Geri smashes my phone and then you all buy Kat a ton of alcohol. Perfect. No wonder she couldn’t wait to come away…”
The group were stunned into silence at Abby’s outburst, with Geri at the bar still unaware. Everyone stared at each other, Abby daring someone to talk and not letting her gaze drop.
Stevie was the first to pipe up. “I know you’re upset and I don’t blame you, but I don’t think you can lay the blame with any of us,” she said. “Kat’s a big girl, we can’t tell her what she can and can’t do. Believe us, we’ve tried before.”
Kat made a grunting sound as she tried to lever herself upwards, but her grip slipped and she slumped onto the floor again.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
“I don’t think now’s the time for accusations – let’s just get her up and get her home shall we?” Stu glared at Abby. Before she could start up again, Stu grabbed Darren and together they got Kat upright, put her arms around each of their shoulders and headed towards the door. Behind them, Stevie and Vic shrugged on their coats while Abby walked ahead in stony silence.
Once outside, Stevie shivered and Vic put an arm around her, the April air not quite warm enough for enjoying the night-time yet. The stars were blaring in the ink-black sky, no light pollution to contend with on the coast. It was a clear night, the air was still and somewhere nearby they could hear a dog barking. The only other sounds were Stu and Darren’s laughter bouncing off one another, the drag of Kat’s flaccid shoes and the definite crunch of their own feet on the slight incline.
Vic wagered Kat would have scuff marks on the toes of her shoes tomorrow.
“She’ll be fine, you know, just needs to sleep it off,” Vic told Abby as they drew level with her.
Abby nodded in response and pulled her thin jacket tighter around her torso, her breath solidifying in the spring air.
After Hours
Geri sat upright at the bar and glanced at her reflection in the mirror as she watched TJ cash up – it was just the two of them now. Geri had never worked in hospitality before so this was a new experience for her. Sure, she’d taken part in her fair share of lock-ins, but she’d always left before the drip trays overflowed and the money needed counting.
Now here she was watching her date – could she call her that? – laying £10 notes in a neat pile on top of each other on the freshly cleaned bar. TJ stopped when she got to ten and started a new pile, a look of intense concentration on her face. Geri noted her muscular forearms, her strong hands, her short fingernails. She really should have noticed those before – lesbian 101.
Geri took a swig of her bottle of Peroni and thought about her friends. Had Laura found Tash and talked her out of her funk? Had Abby stopped blaming everyone else apart from Kat for Kat’s behaviour? Had Stu pushed Darren off the cliff for having a big gob? Geri let out a snort of laughter.
“What’s funny?” TJ looked up. She’d gathered up the small piles of notes into one big stack now and had wrapped them in flesh-coloured elastic bands.
Geri shook her head. “Nothing.” She paused. “Nearly done?”
“Yep.” TJ put the final clear plastic bags of coins back in their allotted slots in the till and shut it with a firm slam. “Let me put this in the safe and I’m all yours.” TJ disappeared into the back.
Geri kicked one foot against the bar to create a rhythmic thud. Empty and quiet, the space looked and felt very different to how it had done all evening. Without the noise of music, people and the creak of the toilet door it felt odd, even a little eerie. This pub could definitely tell some stories. Geri shivered. Had anybody ever died here? Were there ghosts circling right now, waiting to tap her on the shoulder…
“Ready?” TJ walked up behind her.
Geri screamed, toppling off her stool and clasping her chest. “Oh my God, you scared the shit out of me!” Doubled over and breathing heavily, she struggled to regain her poise.
TJ laughed. “I did say I was going to the safe…” She put out her arms to hold Geri on either side.
“I was just… I was…” Geri started, breathing deeply. Regaining her poise was not going well. She shook her hand in front of her as she stood upright. “Never mind. I was just thinking about something else.”
TJ closed the space between them. “Let me give you something else to think about altogether.” She brushed her lips against Geri’s and all bets were off.
Geri was caught off-guard and was helpless as she sank into the powerful warmth of TJ’s kiss. Her body buzzed in a way it hadn’t in years.
TJ took that as a clear sign of encouragement and moved her whole body closer so their hips locked and her arms circled Geri. Then she slid her tongue gently into Geri’s mouth.
Annoyingly, Geri gasped. Her arm hair stood on end, her blood rushed, her reality swam.
TJ was better than she could have ever imagined.
In Geri’s experience, one-night stands weren’t usually that great, hence they stayed one-night stands. But she had to admit that this kiss, this confidence was turning her on without her even thinking, no concentration required. Her body was coming alive under TJ’s touch and she kissed back with just as much passion, this time bringing a groan from TJ.
Stepping it up a level, Geri caressed TJ’s arse through her jeans and they both groaned again.
Then they both started to laugh at all their groaning.
Within a minute, the kissing had stopped, replaced by a sudden attack of the giggles. They were both leaning against the bar, doubled up, almost clashing heads amid their laughter.
TJ straightened up first and stroked Geri’s arm, pulling her close again. Geri wasn’t used to this swagger, she recognised it in herself. Geri had been dating so many younger women over the past few months, she’d forgotten what it felt like to have someone who knew herself and knew how to take the lead. Geri felt giddy, as if she was in some 1950s movie as the leading woman. She smiled at the thought.
“Okay, we have to stop groaning so much,” TJ said. She leant in again and brushed Geri’s lips lightly with her own. “Or we might spontaneously combust.”
“It’s just going to get worse now though, isn’t it?”
“Not if it gets better straight away.” TJ raised an eyebrow.
Geri sized her up. What was she suggesting?
“Unless you want to get back to your friends?”
Geri looked into TJ’s eyes and clearly saw what she was suggesting now. Her Devonshire barmaid appeared to want to use her as her plaything for the night and if Geri were watching this as a play, she would have stood up and applauded. This was improv at its best.
Geri shook her head and leant in so she could feel TJ’s breath on her face again.
“They can wait. What did you have in mind?” Geri’s voice was throaty as she locked eyes with her paramour.
TJ grinned and kissed Geri again with just as much intent, if not more. Geri’s lips clung to TJ, holding on to their skill and passion for dear life.
Geri felt her body pulse and respond. Holiday sex in a place without a banana boat and beach bars – it was a first. She was usually hustling on some gay-friendly Greek isle or the Costa Brava, but home soil – she felt a vague sense of national pride pushing at her psyche. Geri could also feel TJ pushing her backwards against the bar as her hands slid up and around her breasts, right thumb grazing her left nipple as the lace on her bra was pushed back with ease.
TJ’s breath was on her neck, her tongue brushing against her ear then sliding up the side of her neck, hot and wet. Geri fell backwards slightly – her neck had always been her weak spot.
TJ slid one arm around her waist to catch her. “So do you want me to fuck you on a bar stool where there’s a danger you might fall off, or would you prefer to retire to the couch?” she whispered hoarsely in Geri’s ear.
A zap of desire shot down Geri’s body: she was putty in this woman’s hands. She followed TJ’s eye line to the large brown leather couch in front of the massive fireplace at the back of the pub – the fire’s embers were struggling to retain their flicker in the late of night.
While Geri pondered TJ’s question, TJ kissed her again, sliding her tongue into Geri’s mouth and jamming her thigh between her legs. Geri fell backwards and conceded defeat.
“For health and safety reasons, perhaps the sofa wins.” Geri’s gravelly tone screamed “Take me!”
TJ didn’t need a second invitation. Her hand was warm as she took hold of Geri’s and led her over to the sofa, ordering her to put her hands up before she sat down. Was TJ about to undress her or shoot her? Geri needn’t have worried.
TJ delicately stripped off Geri’s T-shirt while kissing her neck.
Geri closed her eyes and her mind reclined.
TJ unclipped Geri’s bra to reveal full breasts, which were always a surprise unclothed, swaying pendulously.
“Good god,” TJ muttered as she eased Geri gently backwards, pressing herself into the sofa beside her. TJ’s mouth clamped down on Geri’s breasts, sucking, biting, teasing.
The sensation flowed to every crevice of Geri’s being.