Dalliance (on hold)

Colton

I lifted a large cardboard box from the back of Charles' car; it was his brother, Harry, who was opening the club tonight. Charles grabbed another box and we walked slowly towards the back entrance. The door was already open and there were a couple of people cleaning the floor and setting up the bar.

"Where's Harry?" I asked a tall, clean shaven man behind the DJ's platform.

"He went to buy more glasses." He said in a gruff voice. "A bunch of them smashed on transport."

"Oh okay. We have the liquor." I set my box down on the bar and started unloading it. There were two large bottles of Smirnoff vodka, Bacardi, Sambuca, Jack Daniels, Disaronno, and Gordon's gin. "Jeez. Lotta drink." I laughed, setting them up in the holders on the wall. A tall girl was filling a large container under the bar, attached to a pipe, with coke. Charles picked up the nozzle on the end and squirted some coke into his mouth.

"Hey." The girl said, annoyed. "I've gotta clean that again now."

"No ya don't." Charles laughed. "It didn't touch my mouth."

"It's company policy." She rolled her eyes. "Ever heard of hygiene?"

The room was large, mainly covered by a wooden dance floor. There were a couple of sofa chairs in the corner, and the bar filled the entire back wall. A DJ's platform was situated on the adjacent wall, with two large speakers and a music table. Speakers hung from each corner too, and the bathrooms were near to the bar.

"What kind of music are you playing?" I asked the man on the DJ platform.

"Mainly house." He said without looking up. "Some pop, but I'm remixing it. Got a couple of 80's songs too."

"Sounds good. What time do we open?"

"9." He said, and went back to work, fixing up the wires.

There were a few men outside finishing off the sign. "GreenApple." Which was written in red; quite ironic. Suddenly a loud bass boomed out of the speakers; I turned to see the DJ smiling at himself that he'd wired up the soundbox correctly. He started mixing a couple of songs together and looked to me for reassurance; putting my thumbs up seemed to satisfy him. Charles shimmied over in time with the music and started dancing in the centre of the dance floor, laughing to himself. He was a terrible dancer but his pure confidence seemed to carry him through. He held out his hand and gestured for me to join him. I fell to the floor and curved my body up to do the worm. Cheers echoed from the bar staff who had taken a break from setting up to watch us dance. I twirled him round and we started 'dad-dancing' to the mix that the DJ was playing. The bass was loud and heavy, vibrating right through my chest, making me feel like the sound waves were inside me; the music was a part of me. I waved my arms in the air in a series of uncoordinated moves, but I really didn't care, I was feeling the music and proud of the way I was thrusting my body around. Soon enough, the entire set-up team made their way onto the dance floor in some kind of weird rave consisting of seven people. I let my self go completely, closing my eyes and just feeling the music. It was weird how alive I felt in such a familiar environment. Just at that moment, Harry walked through the door carrying two boxes stacked on top of each other. He set the boxes down on the bar and walked over the the DJ, who hadn't yet noticed him. The room plunged into silence when the DJ spotted him.

"Looks like the setting up is going well." He laughed.

"Hazzaa!!" I shouted. I felt drunk without alcohol. He came over and gave me a hug.

"Long time no see." He said.

***

Nine O'Clock came around quickly. The place looked pretty great I have to say, and people filtered in quickly. Friends, cousins, and siblings of Harry and Charles, plus plenty of others on a night out. There was a buzz around the bar as the drinks were being sold at £1 for the opening night. A frenzy of hands were handing money over, keeping the staff running around, grabbing at bottles and filling up glasses, which then ended up on the floor once the liquid inside had been consumed. The bass was pumping and students were dancing. I walked behind the bar and asked the girl from earlier for a Jack Daniels and coke, which she made for me quickly. I sipped at it as I watched people on their night out. A group of lads in the corner were break dancing badly, kind of like how we were earlier.

The door opened and closed every few minutes with another group of friends looking for a good time. I watched as the door opened again, and I recognised the blonde girl from the other night, followed by smaller girl with dark hair in a high ponytail. They were both wearing short, tight dresses which shaped their slim figures, accentuated by high heeled shoes. Harry and Charles walked over and greeted the small girl with a hug, they must have expected her. As they stepped aside, they revealed a third girl. A girl I recognised well. A girl who told me earlier that she wasn't going to come.