Chapter 41
I looked down at the exam paper and sighed deeply.
Done. All of them. Done.
The last week had been intense, with several exams spread across it. I'd managed to do my best, put thought to paper as well as I could. Exams had never phased me in the past. In fact, I'd relished them. I was never one of these people to get stressed about them, to fall apart as soon as the paper was placed under my nose. No, I usually stood up to the task and performed under pressure. It was a trait I'd used well in my new line of work.
I quickly checked over the paper and a smile - one of my first genuine smiles in weeks - creased my face. I was happy with the work, happy with the effort. Despite all of the shit that was going on in my life, I'd managed to get it done. If only I could talk about it, someone might be proud of me.
There was talk among my classmates of going for some drinks to celebrate. Tess, as she often did, led the charge. She hadn't asked me about my dancing, my stripping, recently, keeping to her word. I dunno, right now it might be nice to vent.
I hadn't told her about the Michael Cooper murder. I hadn't told her about my run in with Mr Logan. I hadn't told her about the fact that I hadn't seen Kyle for over a month. Maybe I never would.
I had spoke to Lexi and she said she'd seen Kyle around the club, so at least that put my mind to rest that he hadn't been hurt, or worse. She told me he'd looked glum, his face a picture of f*cking depression, or so she said. It probably mirrored my own.
Tess was leading the discussions outside the exam hall about what to do to celebrate. I stood towards the back of the group, not giving my opinion. I didn't really have one anyway.
A drink, though, I could certainly use a f*cking drink. Or two, or three, or ten. However many it takes me to forget all this shit for a night.
“Alice.” I looked up to see Tess, and the entire group, looking at me. “What do you think? Painters?” Painters was a club in town, great for cheesy music and cheap drinks. Very popular among the local students.
“Sure,” I said, “sounds perfect.”
Tess smiled at my approval. It was sweet that she was actively trying to include me in the discussion. She wasn't to know that I didn't really care where we went.
“Great, Painters it is!” she exclaimed to a small cheer from the group. “Lets all meet at that cocktail bar across...”
“Sexy Martini!”
“Yes, thank you Brian. Let's all meet at Sexy Martini at 8 and go from there. All good?”
There was a general rumble of agreement before everyone began dispersing, disappearing off in their own little groups.
“You OK with that babe...Sexy Martini?”
“Yeah, cocktails sound very appealing tonight,” I said. The more alcohol in the drink, the better.
Her face lit up. “Great, let's go try outfits on!”
....
We'd spent a good couple of hours trying on clothes and listening to music before we jumped in a cab and headed out.
Tess had seemingly been on something of a shopping spree recently, the amount of new clothes she had stacked up in her room. “Retail therapy,” she said. “I was really upset when we weren't friends.”
She put on that puppydog expression with pouting lips that she used so well and gave me a hug. It was good to have her back.
“So what do you think the chances are of Tom being there?” She bit her lip suddenly as soon as she said his name. “Oh, sorry, I forgot about him and that night and...all that. Forget I said anything.”
“Tess, it's all right hun. That's long in the past. Anyway, I actually ran into him a while back and he was pretty cool about it. He actually acted like a grown up for once. It was kind of jarring actually.”
“Oh, cool. Yeah, so do you think he'll be there?” I got the impression that she'd volunteered Painters because it was where he'd most likely be on a Friday night.
“Could be, yeah. It's student night Friday so I wouldn't bet against it. Why don't you just text him and say we'll be there.”
“Cringe. No way. I've never asked a boy out in my life.”
“Tess,” I laughed, “you're not asking him out. You're just telling him we're all going out. It's a friendly group hang.”
She had this coy look on her face like she wanted to do it but couldn't. “No, I can't, you do it.”
“All right, fine, I will.”
She looked at me in some kind of wonder as I took out my phone and typed up the text.
“There you go, done,” I said, hitting send.
“My hero,” she said, jumping on me with open arms and laughing. I could tell her tone was mocking but there was a truth to her words.
In any case, I knew for a fact that Tom didn't like her in that way and probably never would. I'd just never had the heart to tell her.
After a short ride in the cab we stepped out onto the street to the bright lights of Sexy Martini. I'd forgotten it when I'd agreed on where to go but the Globe Hotel was only a couple of streets away. I hadn't been this close for weeks.
I could see a few of our classmates inside already, large jugs of cocktails on a table between them. Their faces were all as lit as the bright neon lights on the outside of the bar. It was nice to see everyone so happy and relieved to have finished the exams. I felt the same.
Over the next hour we sank cocktails together, everyone so relaxed and having a good time. The atmosphere was palpable, a river of relief rushing through our group. The rate at which everyone was drinking - even those not prone to fall victim to the lure of alcohol too often - was setting the foundations for a storied night.
By 10 PM everyone had enjoyed their fair share of half price cocktails and we relocated over the street to Painters. The queue was already beginning to form outside - typical for a Friday night - so we all gravitated towards the back.
Tess, being Tess, however, had other ideas. I saw her walk over the bouncers, flirt her ass off, and then wave her hand to usher us over and to the front of the queue.
“What was that?” I asked as we passed by the grumbling crowd of students still standing motionless outside the club.
“Oh, nothing. I just said we'd finished our exams today and are on for a big night, that's all. Alice, you of all people know how to use your tits to get what you want. Well, nowadays at least.”
It was a slightly crude way to make the point, but she certainly had one.
I'd been to the club a lot before, mainly back when I first started at college and life was a lot more simple. Back then uni work was easy and less time consuming, I was working several nights a week in a bar, with weekends at a clothes shop, and I was just living a standard college existence. Only less than two years later and my life had been turned on its head.
As with most clubs, the atmosphere and decor inside was hugely different to the cocktail bar we'd just been at. In Painters it was almost unnecessarily dark. I mean, I knew that clubs were always darker than bars, but this placetook it to another level. As I pushed through the dancefloor towards the bar I could hardly tell where I was. But for the flashing lights above me I'd be lost.
The place was big and pulsing with students, all looking to see themselves into the weekend as only they know how. As far as I knew, lots of different courses had had important exams today, something I could tell from the drunken, happy look in people's eyes.
It must have been about midnight when I bumped into Tom. He told me he'd been coming down anyway but my text message only spurred him on. He had a lustful look in his eye, his irises swimming in beer, as he sat me down in a booth over at one side of the club, away from my classmates and Tess.
When he spoke his words were slurring slightly. At any party or night out I don't think I'd ever seen him in complete control of his tongue by this point of the evening. His words, too, were far more loose and less reserved than last I'd seen him.
“Why are you always so stand-offish with me when we're out Alice?” he asked, his expression somewhat hurt.
“I'm not Tom,” I said, “I'm always friendly to you.”
He nodded his head excessively. “Yeah, friendly. Exactly, friendly.”
I was getting tipsy but this still confused me. “Friendly, yeah,” I laughed. “What, do you want me to be unfriendly?”
“I like you Alice, for f*ck safe. Why are you the only girl who doesn't want to go out with me?”
Tom had come onto me a few times before, so this was nothing new. Usually he was more aggressive though, more physical. This time he genuinely seemed aggrieved.
“I dunno, I just don't see you like that. You're a great guy Tom, just not my type.”
“Your type. So what is your type.”
I didn't have a answer. “I don't have a specific type really...”
“Aha! Then how do you know I'm not your type.”
“Because you're always such a dick!” I shouted over the music, a smile on my face. I didn't mean it seriously, but the look on his face told me he seemed to take it as such.
“A dick. You think I'm a dick?”
“Well, you know what I mean. You're a jock, a football guy. Until the other day I only saw you as that. Anyway, trust me, you wouldn't want to date me anyway. I'd only get in the way. A guy like you Tom, you're better off single.”
I patted his arm consolingly as his eyes dropped. Damn he was being sensitive. Maybe he really did like me.
“It gets old sometimes - being single. I've never had anything more really. I'd kinda like that.”
“Well that's great, that is. But I don't think I'm the girl.”
If he'd been this guy all along, the guy who offered me a lift home a few weeks ago, the guy sitting with me now, maybe I'd have liked him. In fact I probably would. There was no doubt be was gorgeous, and he had this kind of misunderstood vibe going on. I have to admit it was attractive.
He nodded. “I guess we're better as friends. We are friends, right Alice?”
“Of course,” I said, giving him a hug. As I pulled back he moved in to kiss me, his lips hitting mine before I had a chance to react. I hesitated for a moment, my lips lingering on his, before coming to my senses and pulling back.
“Sorry, I couldn't help it. You're just so stunning Alice, I've never met a girl like you.” He was talking fast, his words uncharacteristically apologetic.
I smiled at him and put my hand to his cheek, his skin soft and warm. “That's sweet Tom, but I'm not looking for anything like that.”
His eyes straightened on me and he nodded lightly. “I get it.”
He stood and turned, walking out of the booth gingerly. I'd never seen him looking so forlorn, so downcast. I doubt, though, that he'd remember much of this tomorrow, if any of it.
I sat alone in the booth as he stumbled back into the crowd, disappearing like a drop of water into the ocean. I could see Tess dancing with a couple of guys over to one side, each of them vying for her attention. She was lovingit, teasing them and taunting them. That was just her way. It wasn't for me, not unless under strict, paid, conditions!
I stood and meandered back towards the bar and tried to hail the bartender.
“Hey sweetheart, let me get that for you,” said a guy to my left. He had a roving eye, looking me up and down.
“It's all right, I'll get my own. Thanks for the offer.”
He winked at me with a smile on his face. “Can't blame a guy for trying.”
I heard another voice behind me as the guy trundled off towards the other end of the bar.
“Perhaps I could buy you a drink instead.”
For crying out loud, why can't a girl just buy her own f*cking drink.
“No, it's OK, I'm good thanks.”
“Perhaps a chat then. I really need to talk to you.”
God, what was the deal with this guy. Creepy much. I turned to my right to see who it was and my heart hit the floor.
“Kyle! What the hell are you doing here?!”
“Like I said Alice, I need to talk to you.”
He looked as stern as I'd ever seen him, his face cast from iron. A peppering of stubble shrouded his cheeks, making his complexion look even darker in the dim light of the bar. But his eyes, those bright blue eyes, nothing could keep them at bay. They shone out like stars on the black sky.
“This way,” he said, “we need to find somewhere quieter.”