Backseat Drivers

Blown Fuse

Roy was right. The hotel lounge was perfect. A dim pink neon light settled over the room, smoothly blanketing the leather sofas, soft jazz music vibed in the background, a lit-up fish-tank was the centre-piece  - and the best part? It was totally isolated. They sat in a circle, on the glossy wooden floor between the sofas, a couple metres away from the fish-tank and simultaneously, tipped their handfuls of hallucinogenics back, swallowing the griminess that they were quickly becoming accustomed to. To Roy, this was just another hyper-stoner session, a chance to connect with his inner-child and admire the illusions that passed his eyes. To Aika, this was the beginning of a delve into a new world - another thrill of the experiences yet to form before her. And to Sean? To Sean, this was a relief. He relished in the knowledge that reality was dissolving before his eyes, and that once more he could enter the lucid world he ached for when sober. He'd be damned if he had to spend any longer in the dull, slow world where people had jobs, and drank tea and filled out forms and took their kids to the park. He heard himself give out a low laugh, before willing the oncoming haze. 

-

A flash of red illuminated Cindy's face briefly, as she spun in the light, her hand twirling in Calum's before they came close again, grinning as the pulse of a club-beat sent vibrations through the floor, reverberating deep in their stomachs. That's how loud it was. Calum grinned, before his gaze truly settled on Cindy, and he met her eyes - something seductive lay within her look as they danced, especially that mischievous hint of a smile on her lips. As a club, naturally the place was packed with beautiful girls, but right now, Calum knew as well as any other man in that room that he was dancing with the most beautiful. It didn't take their stolen glances or their sizing up of him to realise that either. The beat began to intensify, and the bass ramped up as his mental snapshots of Cindy dancing became faster and faster in his mind - every time she was lit up by a quick wave of dizzying lights, her eyes beckoning him forwards. His own flirtatious smile formed as he moved closer, so that his forehead almost touched hers, before he took her hand and spun her round again - teasingly. Without saying a word, she lifted her free hand - the one holding her empty glass and brought it up to Calum's line of vision. A wry smile on his face, he took it in a mockingly chivalrous manner, and proceeded to move backwards through the crowd, keeping eye contact with her. She laughed as he wiggled his shoulders in time to the beat before turning on his heel and disappearing into the crowd.

Calum made his way to the bar, holding up a lazy hand to get the bartenders attention, and then ordered another screwdriver, nodding as his order was processed. As he waited for the drink, he leant against the bar, surveying the room - his eyes stopping cold as he caught sight of a group in the far corner. Clad in dark clothes, and smirking at something one of them had said - was it them? Scrutinising them as best he could through the neon flashing, he tried to scan their features, but they were almost facing away from him, their eyes on the dance-floor. Calum followed the direction, to where Cindy was still dancing, her hair tousled, and he straightened up a bit more to see what was happening. Someone - presumably from the group watching, had now approached her, and she was laughing, engaging in conversation with him. The bartender was now trying to get Calum's attention, but nothing could have moved his eyes at this point. Why was she fucking talking to the guy? Something inside him snapped a couple seconds later when the guy touched a hand to Cindy's waist, and he pushed up from the bar to shove forwards, an anger surging through him. He didn't break his drive until he was in close enough proximity to swing a fist and whack the guy's face - who was largely taken by surprise as he staggered backwards, his hand flying to his face defensively. 

"The fuck do you think you're playing at!" Calum demanded, daggers flying from his eyes as he stared down the bewildered guy. 

"Calum, what the fuck are you doing?!" Cindy cried, a look of pure disbelief in his eyes at the violent display.

"They fucking followed us from the hotel!"

"What the hell?!" 

Now sporting a bleeding lip, the victim of Calum's assault stared up at him in bemusement, a desperation to his confusion.

"He's not the same guy, you idiot - are you insane?" 

It took Calum a moment for Cindy's furious words to settle in his brain - at which point he looked up to see the buzz of the nightclub had died down, and those who weren't utterly fucked were onlooking in shock. Now he looked at the guy's face, Cindy was right. It wasn't them. Come to think of it, he wasn't even with the group he'd had originally seen. Easy mistake to make. Hostility clouding her face, Cindy grabbed Calum's arm, and he followed her, his eyes still on the guy as he tried to make sense of his disillusion, until she'd dragged him out of the club and onto the street outside. Faint club beats thumped, and the rainwater from a past light-shower pooled in the crevices of the concrete. Cindy spun around to glare at him. 

"What's your problem, Calum?"

"The fuck do you mean? I thought it was the guys from the services! Sorry, if I got it wrong, but we can just find another club. There's at least ten down this street."

Cindy stared at him, incredulous. 

"Why did you punch him?"

"Cindy - I just told you. I thought he'd followed us." 

"No - you saw me laughing with him. Those guys looked nothing like the other ones."

"What?"

"I just don't think it's fair that you're allowed to go sleep with random girls in bars and I can't even laugh at a guy without him getting punched."

Despite his previous certainty, Calum's drunken memory was now being tested as he failed to recall what order the events had happened in. Did he see Cindy laughing before he thought he recognised them, or after? Maybe a jealous drunk had emerged from within him, and had now retreated back into his shell after the damage had been done. Fuck - she might be right. 

"Is that why you're annoyed at me?"

"Oh, Calum." Cindy clasped her hands together and smiled, but there was a cynical touch to it. "You're so perceptive."

Calum rolled his head in irritation at her sarcasm. 

"Why? What, I get with you once in the Eurostar gents and that's it, I'm bound to you and only you?" 

Cindy just shook her head, staring at him. He regretted the way he'd worded it - but it was just truth. He'd thought she felt the same way he did.

"It was just a bit of fun, Cinds. We have a laugh, we get along - but you need to know I can't be that person. I can't just devote myself like that."

"Why not?" Cindy was growing frustrated, he could tell, but there was no other way to put it to her. Sure - he liked her, that was obvious, but he wasn't fucking married to the girl. He shrugged. 

"I dunno. I just need my freedom." 

Cindy looked out at the road, swallowing whatever she'd been internally holding back, before turning back to him with a simple smile. 

"Okay, well in that case so do I. Don't punch anyone else I talk to."

Sighing, Calum could only watch as she walked back into the club, a brief pool of lights and amplified bass as the door opened, before it was all sucked back in and he was left outside with its echo, stood under the blue glow. 

"Fuck sake," he muttered, pulling out a cigarette and the lighter he hadn't yet returned to Sean. This was supposed to be a fucking enjoyable road-trip, not a hippie convention or a teen soap drama. The usual recklessness re-surfacing within his mind, he puffed out a ring of smoke from his freshly lit cigarette, and shoved his other hand into his jacket pocket, before breaking into a saunter down the road. He'd go have a good fucking time.