Night Out

Part 4

There was nothing about Dusk that could justify the price of the ticket, except maybe that its location made it a traditional last spot for all pub crawls, nights out and general nighttime extravaganza, so the patrons were inebriated enough not to think twice about the price at the door when they got there. When she got inside Dusk for the first time that night, Cath was hit full force by two things: a Rihanna song blasting in her ears, and the stomach-wrenching smell of musty carpet, sick, and old socks. In such a place, Cath felt she had to go for the bar first. She dragged her friend Izzy with her and made her way through the crowd towards the counter where she ordered another double vodka and Red Bull. Quickly, they left for the dance floor to avoid a couple of creepy office guys staring a bit too intensely from their bar stools. Izzy wanted to see the VIP area and they both went to look at it, trying as best as they could not to pay attention to the crushed glass on the floor. Whenever someone was finished with their drinks they just dropped the glass wherever they stood – or wobbled, more precisely. A couple of girls doing the same pub crawl stopped them to take pictures with them at some point, and the five of them ended up dancing in the middle of the crowd. The lights were flashing, blinks of bright green, red and blue made their way directly to Cath's retinas in the dark and sweaty place. Green lasers rotated all over the place, hitting the walls, the pillars around the dance floor, and that huge breathing and squirming beast that was the crowd. Strings of random groups of people made their way through the five-people circle of Cath and her friends. After a while, the other three girls went for a smoke, and Cath herself decided it was high time that she went to the ladies' room. She let Izzy behind, and, leaning on the walls, walked there while trying to look as sober as she could. The blinding white light in the restroom rendered all those efforts useless as she staggered into the room, nearly faceplanting onto the huge mirror on the wall. She could barely render the details of her face and of what she presently looked like, which was at the same time a good thing and a bad thing. Bad, because if she was in such a terrible state that she couldn't even see herself anymore, she probably looked like hell. Good, because what she couldn't actually see could not ruin her groove. It was only when she sat in her toilet cubicle that she realized how utterly drunk she was. In the corner of her eye she managed to catch the sight of her lipstick smeared all over her left forearm. She got out and went looking for Izzy. The redhead was nowhere to be found, so Cath went for the bar. As she was squeezing between sweaty guys and trying to actually make it to the barmaid, she felt a strong hand tap her on the shoulder and turned around. Chris! She barely recognized him from before, but still had a sense that he looked pretty hot. He smiled at her and waved, then leaned towards her to yell into her ear something she didn't understand. She suddenly felt slightly embarrassed to be here, alone with him, so she turned around, finally grabbed the barmaid's attention and ordered a couple of shots. They did them together, as fast as they could, as some kind of contest that neither of them won. The alcohol burnt her throat as it went down, making her cough a little. With her stomach on fire, she could feel the daze of intoxication wrapping up around her head. She giggled. Chris laughed and leaned against a pillar, pulling her close so she wouldn't lose him in the crowd. Cath felt her heartbeat speed up, and she couldn't tell if it was because of the three vodka and Red Bulls she had or because of him. Probably a little bit of both. She tried to wipe a trace of lipstick off the back of her hand, and Chris gently pulled her chin up with two fingers so she faced him. He looked at her from up close, smiled, and tried to rub off lipstick smudges around her lips. Cath stopped moving, appreciating as much as she could how close he was, taking in the sight of his gorgeous face so close to hers. As she was staring at his eyes, he suddenly stared right back at her. Intensely. Next thing she knew, their lips were touching and he had grabbed her waist to pull her even closer. She gripped his hair with one hand and fiercely kissed him back. He tasted like beer and vodka. His lips were soft. His hands, strong. She was melting in his arms, when suddenly someone grabbed her wrist and she had to turn around. Izzy was pulling her away, she staggered on her feet in order not to fall down, and suddenly the crowd had closed down over Chris, she was only a few meters away but she couldn't see him anymore. She turned to Izzy to yell at her, but her friend was having none of it and dragged her to a VIP booth. Apparently, some male model Izzy knew about was there, and let them both in. There were a few people in there, although Cath wasn't in any state to count. The white light made their teeth and collars glow, and one girl wore a huge white butterfly hairclip. There were a dozen of champagne bottles on the coffee table, some of them still unopened. The model guy grabbed one, shook it and sprayed its contents all over the people in the booth. Everyone laughed, Cath tried to shield her dress from the champagne rain while still dancing, which proved difficult. After a couple of glasses, she left Izzy on the spot and went looking for Chris. Time had a funny way to pass when you were drunk because all of a sudden, the music stopped and the lights came on. Cath blinked several times, dazzled. Everyone around her went for the coat room. She walked up and down the queue a few times, hoping to see Chris, his friends maybe, or even Izzy after she had abandoned her in the VIP booth. Suddenly, it was the end of her night out, and she was alone, drunk and confused, which was absolutely not how she had started her night a few hours ago.