Table For Two

5 - Ali

 Dee keeps trying to pester me but I really do not want to talk about hypothetical situations with hot customers who I spoke to for maybe a grand total of five minutes. And we are definitely not going to talk about the fact that I am 99% sure we had a 'lost in each others' eyes and can't stop staring at his lips' moment. The 1% is what I am gonna cling to because I don't need to overthink or overcomplicate things. Life is kindly doing that enough on her own.

We make it to The Cellars by half ten and just before the real rush of students looking for a cheap night out. It is freshers week and I already know there is very little chance of me and Dee both leaving the club at the same time or even sleeping in our own beds tonight. Dee is a few years older than me and she has basically been like my adoptive older sister since we started working together. Mainly because we both have the same sense of humour and we wingman for each other when we go out drinking. The moment we get past the bouncer, we make a beeline for the bar. I can already hear Lady Gaga coming from the dancefloor downstairs. I get Jagerbombs, a vodka, coke and lime for me and Dee a pint of Bee Sting.

We down the bombs and grimace at the taste. Fuck whoever thought these were a good idea, its so medicinal. We head down into the darkness of the old wine cellars turned nightclub and forget everything else about the rest of the day. Pretty soon, the club starts filling up. Summer heat is still persistent into the dead of night at the moment and the more people that pack into this club, the more humid it gets. Not that we care. We dance. Get more drinks. Dance some more. Rinse and repeat. Dee ends up leaving earlier than I thought but then I see the girl she has on her arm and uh... yeah fair enough you go get it, girl.

I keep drinking and flirting with people, seeing who takes the bait. One guy does. He's bland in a way - tall, rugby player sort. Redhead and green eyes. Definitely the sort of guy who will date a girl and then screw a guy on the side. Not that I care all that much. That's the easy way. No attachment, no expectations. We dance together and I can feel his body grinding against mine. He leans in and kisses my neck and I lean back into him and run a hand through his hair. It doesn't take long before we end up leaving the club and getting an Uber back to his which ends up being one of the student flat blocks. Okay, that's chill. And he then says we have to be quiet because no one knows he sleeps with guys. Great.

We head up to the 4th floor and he's already trying to get on me while we're in the elevator. By the time we get to his door, his shirt is already splayed open and his jeans are undone. Pretty much as soon as that door closed... well you get the picture. Not that he really lasted that long but uhh... I've had worse. He was okay, I guess. For a drunken, last of the summer hook-up at least. He falls asleep pretty soon after we finish and I clean up but I'm not intending on staying. Once he's out of it, I chuck my shirt back on and don my skinny jeans (somehow not falling over or sticking a foot through the cuts at the knee). I pick up my shoes on the way out.

It's not until I squeak the door closed and cringing the entire time it screams on its hinges and moving down the hall past the kitchen that someone comes out eating some sort of vanilla pudding out of a plastic cup. They're also shirtless. And cut a familiar silhouette - the brown hair, the easy gait...

The honey-coloured eyes.

It's Harvey.

Fuck.

"Uhh... hi"