A Risky Business #SYTYCW15 #CarinaPress

Chapter Nine

It's a chilly October night – the boys are out on the town ...

*Kate*

I must have dozed off in front of the telly, all warm and cosy in my pyjamas, when my phone burst into life. I reached over to retrieve it from where it was vibrating and dancing its way across the coffee table, opened one eye and peered at the screen.

'Phil calling ...' it told me. He was one of our team. I answered straight away.

"Hello?"

"Hi. How are ya?" His familiar, gravelly voice began to filter slowly through my sleepiness.

"I'm good ... I think," I replied. "And what," I yawned, " can I do for you?"

"Well, I'm glad you're awake ..."

I started to protest, but he ploughed, on oblivious to any objections.

" ... and now you come to mention it, there is a little something that you can do for me."

"Hhhmm," I murmured. I didn't like the sound of that very much. I liked it even less when the sounds of a noisy rabble started to come through in the background. "Where are you?" I asked warily.

"In town," he replied, and then over his shoulder he called out, "alright mate, won't be a minute. He'll be ok there. What's that? Oh. Hold on a sec Kate ..."

I waited on the end of the line listening to various exclamations, expletives and odd shuffling noises. Then Phil was back on.

"I have something of yours here and I think it's about time it was returned."

"Something of mine?" I asked, confused. "What are you talking about?" I really wasn't awake enough for all this.

"Your so-called lodger has had so much to drink he's getting all emotional, and me and the lads can't be doing with it. We're meant to be out on the lash, not babysitting. Can you come and pick him up?"

Damien!

"You are joking?" I said, knowing damn well that he wasn't. "What bloody time is it anyway?"

"Quarter to one," he replied. "Come on, Kate. He's cramping our style."

Honestly!

"Ok, Ok, where are you?"

"I can't reveal our location Kate," he said whispering dramatically as if he were out on operations in the field, "you should know better than to ask. This is a top secret, boys only mission. All I can say is that I'll meet you at the layby on the square opposite the Saracens Head. Shall we synchronise watches?"

I laughed at him, dragging myself up off the sofa to get more suitably dressed for outdoor manoeuvres.

"No, we shall not. I'll get there when I bloody well get there and you'll just have to deal with him until then." I suddenly had a thought.

"He hasn't got a random blonde with him, has he?" I asked.

There was a slight pause, and then Phil said,

"No, he's been unusually well behaved all night. Well, apart from downing Jack Daniels like it's going out of fashion, that is," he laughed a laugh that was even deeper than usual, presumably due to an excessive amount of smoking and drinking. "Actually," he continued, "I don't think I've seen him go anywhere near a woman, blonde or otherwise. So don't worry, he's all yours tonight."

Choosing to ignore that last comment, I told him I'd be with him soon and hung up. What was it with everybody lately? Damien and I were just friends. End of story. Even after that early morning heart to heart when Damien had declared we were soul mates and that we should be together for ever and ever, nothing more had happened. I had agreed that he could take me out for a drink, but since then, whether he had been too busy, had too many better offers from the boys, or whether he had simply changed his mind I didn't know, but either way there had been no date.