"So, are you alright?", Nina asked Eilidh cautiously, who nodded vigorously in response without looking at her friend. She busied herself with arranging the plates of food and glasses of wine on the table between them.
"Yeah", Eilidh confirmed, her perfectly groomed eyebrows raising as if to emphasise her point.
They were in the Ox&Finch on Sauchiehall Street, on a particularly busy and bustling Saturday night. The city buzzed around them as they sat at a booth by the window, the painfully trendy new food spot seeming to bud and flower around them with activity. Several small plates in various states of completion sat between them as well as a half-consumed bottle of Rioja. Nina had tactfully waited until they had both had at least one glass of wine before she had broached the subject of Harry.
"But nothing happened between them?", Nina checked, trying to keep her facts straight.
Eilidh shook her head, sipping on her wine. "Nope", she replied, letting her lips pop on the word. "Just said that they talked...and she was upset...and he was worried how it looked to other people...so he wanted to tell me before anyone else did".
"What does that mean?", Nina demanded incredulously, her eyes sceptical.
Eilidh looked into the distance and shook her head slowly, a humourless smile tugging on her lips. "I dunno", she replied honestly. "He wanted to talk about it, sort it out", Eilidh dropped her eyes to her lap. "I just couldn't. I can't bear it".
"Did the papers get hold of it?", Nina asked, her eyes still wide.
Eilidh shrugged, looking Nina in the eye finally. "Not yet", she said darkly.
"And you haven't heard from him?"
Eilidh shook her head, lifting a slice of crab and avocado toast to her lips. "I told him not to", she said between mouthfuls. "I need a bit of time".
Nina studied her friend, her eyes shifting over her appearance appreciatively.
She looked even better than usual, although even thinner than she had seemed the previous week. However, her thickly lined eyes were clear, and her jaw was set. She seemed dressed to do battle too, Nina mused, sighing a little in envy at her best friends fearless approach to fashion. Tonight she wore a band tee as a dress and it was eye-wateringly short, skimming her upper thighs. She had pulled long black socks over her knees and jammed her feet into her old battered Doc Martins, and her old, studded vintage leather jacket was slung around her shoulders. Her hair was wild and her makeup flawless and dramatic.
"What now?", Nina asked simply, an Eilidh pressed her lips together and swished her hair, her eyes determined.
"I'm not getting upset", she stated firmly, and Nina nodded quickly. "I'm done being upset", she reiterated her point, slashing her hand through the air. "I feel like all I have done since I met the boy is feel conflicted... and scared...and anxious", she looked Nina straight in the eyes. "I'm done", she admitted, letting her breath exhale in a woosh. "All this drama has to end. Other wise...as much as I love him...this just wont work".
"Bit posh in here, eh?!", Rudy suddenly crashed into their booth, ruffling Nina's hair and making her groan as he sidled up beside Eilidh. He eyed her mischievously while she met his gaze without flinching, her dimples flashing. Her mind back tracked to their emotionally charged conversation the previous week and she eyed him curiously as he sat their in his sheepskin lined denim jacket, tapping his cigarette packet on the table as he grinned and signalled to a harassed looking waitress.
"Can I get a Staropramen please, my darlin?", Rudy turned the full effect of his charm on the waitress, who visibly fluttered. "If this fine establishment stocks the finest of Czech beer", he finished with a wink as the girl scuttled off to cater to his every whim.
"Hello, hello", Alex and Jamie made a far more understated entrance than Rudy, the former dropping a featherlight kiss on Nina's forehead. "Nice in here, innit?"
"Not bad at all", Rudy agreed, grinning openly at the blonde behind the bar, causing her to start and drop a glass. "And they stock bottled 'pramen. Bonus".
"So that's our sophisticated lady-date shot to shit then", Nina rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, and Eilidh laughed in response.
"Like you two were ever sophisticated", Rudy scoffed,causing Eilidh to readily knee him in the groin, causing him to yelp.p>
"Thought you were gonna lie low for a bit, Ruds?", Jamie asked distractedly, while tapping on his phone. "Didn't think we would see ya out for a bit".
Eilidh turned to Rudy pointedly with a gleam in her eye. "Yeah, Ruds", she mimicked Jamie in a sing-song voice. "Thought you were lying low?"
Rudy met her gaze with a grin, his eyes amused as they met hers. Their faces were inches from each others. "Yeah", he agreed, slowly., letting his eyes travel to her lips from her eyes, then back up again. "Thought I'd lie low", he paused to give the waitress a mega-watt smile as she handed him his drink. "Then I thought, that sounds boring", his eyes gleamed as he stared at Eilidh. "And I've never been boring".
Eilidh stared, her smile faltering a little at the edges as she took in the double meaning of his words.
"Well, I'm not being boring tonight", Alex announced, flicking through the money in his wallet before he slapped it down on the table. "I've been pulling double shifts in the studio all week-"
"We both have", Rudy interrupted, pointing his bottle in Al's direction.
"- and so I want to get fucked up royally tonight", Alex finished, signalling for more drinks.
Eilidh grinned at her brother, liking the sounds of this. There had been far too many early nights and long days for Alex lately, and she missed him as her drunken wing man. "Sounds good to me", she encouraged. "Might join you there".
"Fucking hell, both the McLeans going on one", Jamie raised his eyes to the ceiling.
"Don't worry, I'll look after them both", Rudy grinned, causing Nina to roll her eyes.
"If you're in charge Ruds, all bets are off", she grumbled.
*******************************************************************************************
Eilidh felt alive and free in the crush of bodies on the dancefloor as she flung herself around recklessly with Alex, Nina and Jamie, singing along with the dj. They were in Firewater, one of Eilidh's favourite places on earth, and as soon as she had sauntered down the stairs to the underground club and felt the thrum of the bass through her Docs, she felt her worries melt away.
