Demeanour | | Joseph Quinn

Chapter 11

"I need a date. A distraction." Annalise paced back and forth in Nicola's hotel suite.

Nicola turned away from the kitchenette where she'd just put a kettle on, "I'm sorry what? With who?"

"Anyone, literally anyone." Anna plopped down onto Nicola's bed, grabbed a pillow and screamed into it.

"What has gotten into you?" Nicola laughed.

"Joseph Quinn."

"I repeat again, I'm sorry WHAT!?" she raised her voice.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Nic," Annalise groaned as she sat up and stared at her friend with an annoyed expression. "It's just, with all of the steamy tension building between our characters on set, I'm finding myself a little..." she squirmed around on the bed.

"Ah, you need to get laid. It's about damn time."

"Nooooo, I didn't say that. Some harmless flirting would do me good though. I think."

"And you don't think said harmless flirting would be nice to have between you and Joe?' Nicola sat down next to her friend and handed her a cup of tea.

"No, no. That would just complicate things. Plus, I don't even like him like that." Annalise mumbled the last words in a not-so-convincing way.

Nicola raised her eyebrows and smirked, as if she knew a little secret, before sipping her tea and continuing, "What about Jamie? I mean, he's crude and not worthy of dating but sometimes they're the most fun to flirt with."

"Absolutely not, Nicola. You know how I feel–"

"Yeah, yeah yeah. A bit of flirting never hurt anyone, though." Nic's words got lost in her cup as she took a sip.

"Can we just go out tonight or something? Hit up a bar and shamelessly flirt with cute boys who aren't actors?"

"You don't have to ask me twice," Nicola beamed, causing Annalise to jump up and do a happy dance.

****

Early 2000s dance music pumped through the girls' veins as they pushed their way to the bar. They had finally managed to make it out after a long day of filming and couldn't wait to mingle with the crowd. Neither of them was one for a full-on club so they found a pub not too far from the hotel that was hosting a DJ & Throwback Dance night – definitely more up their ally.

"What will you have then, Anna?" Nicola looked back over her shoulder as they finally managed to get to the bar.

"Nothing too crazy, please. Just a G&T," she called back over the sound. Nicola rolled her eyes and turned back to the barman, ordering their drinks. Not 30 seconds later, she placed a shot of tequila with a lime balanced on top in Annalise's hand. "Nicola, no!"

"Oh come on, literally just one to break our walls down. We both have a call time midday, so just this one. I promise!" She held up a salt shaker, waiting for Annalise to give her free hand.

"I swear to god, Nicola, if you break this promise..." Nicole made a sign as if she was 'crossing her heart.' The girls tapped their shot glasses together, licked the salt off their hands, threw the drink back and bit into their limes.

"Atta girl," Nicola winked. The barman tapped her shoulder, giving them their G&Ts. "Okay, let's begin the hot boy scan." Both girls wove their way through the crowd towards the small dancing area in front of the DJ. They danced their hearts out having a laugh as their eyes discreetly scanned over the people around them.

"He's alright," Annalise leaned in close to Nicola, making sure she was heard. Nicola glanced over to wear Anna's eyeline was and snorted.

"Absolutely not, Anna. You are way too hot for a man wearing white skinny jeans." A few minutes passed before Nicola spoke again. "What about him?" she nudged her friend and nodded her head in the direction of a heavily tattooed person, hair slicked back with loads of gel.