Something Special

Chapter 12

Tara didn't know where she was. She didn't know how she got there or what she was doing but she was scared. Very scared. From what she could tell from her limited vision she was in a bed and naked. And she wasn't alone. Rubbing at her eyes with fists she sits up and winces. Her ribs were still sore and although the room was still dark they were still bruised. Sliding out of the bed she finds her underwear and her t-shirt. Then she sits on the bed and tries to remember.

It all comes back in a flash. The party. The vodka shots. The charming boy. Agreeing to go back to his house. Having sex. She groans at that last one. What a lovely way to end a party. Just the though of someone touching her that intimately freaked her out to end. And it wasn't that she'd never done it before. Just-

"Hey. Why are you awake?" says a voice to her side. Gazing down she see's the guy from last night. He had dreadlocks and caramel skin. Tara thinks his name's Reggie. She gives him a smile. "Sorry. Just trying to remember what happened last night." She confessed, rubbing her head. The pain behind her eyes wouldn't go away."You don't remember anything?" he says disappointedly. Glancing up she almost laughed at his expression. He looked thou roughly put out. "I remember that. I just can't remember why. I'm sure you are perfectly lovely but I mean. I don't usually do this sort of thing." She says, gesturing at him and the bed. He nods but doesn't say anything.

She reaches for her jeans and feels a strong arm around her waist. "Now where do you think you're going?" he whispers in her ear. His hot breath against her ear. Tara freezes but instead of grabbing her he tickles her. Squealing she picks up a pillow from the bed and hits him over the head with it. After a bit of scrapping they fall on the bed, knackered. That's when she realises. "Shit!" she says, wiggling her jeans on. "Double shit." She says when she sees the time.

Ignoring Reggie's protests she gets dressed again. He had only just got his pants on when Tara picks up her shoes from the end of the bed. "Bye." She calls out before running out of the room. He grabs her hand though and spins her towards him. Before Tara can protest, he kissed her softly on the lips. For a second she forgets how to breath. And when she does, she gently pushes him back onto the bed. "I have to go." She whispers huskily, before walking out again.

But she'd only been gonna a couple of seconds when she pops her head back into the room. "Where am I?" she asks disoriented. With a grin he answers."Camden. Don't you remember?" He walks over to the window and opens the curtain. The Camden streets were just getting ready for a busy day. The market sellers were getting there stalls up for a busy day. It was a little after 6 am so the air was still kind of misty but that would change soon. She hoped. "Do you live on top of a shop?" she asks skeptically. He rubs the nape of his neck. "Yeh. Actually it's a tattoo parlour. I work there. It's alright I guess. There's not really a lot to do with a degree in fine art after uni so..." he trails of his gaze flicking up to Tara. She gives him a wan smile as she pulls her woolly socks and boots on. They stand around awkwardly before Tara says "I really need to go." She turns to leave but stops at the door. "I'm Tara by the way. Tara Lincoln." And then she was gone.

The steep stairs led to an empty back alley that smelt like cow crap. Carefully Tara walks to the street on the other side of the alley when she catches her reflection. Her skin was pale and black makeup was smudged under her eyes. Most of her concealer had been rubbed off so the area around her eyes was a yellow mass of discolouration. Dr O'Grady had take out the stitches on her cheek so all that was there now was an angry pink welt. Her lips were still swollen from last night and her hair hung limply around her face. She looked-in her eyes- a right state.

It was a 5 minute walk to the tube station so Tara rummaged around in her bag and got out her purse. Taking a £20 note she headed to McDonalds and grabbed a cheeky egg mcmuffin and an expresso. She didn't really want to stop but she hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday and was famished. But she had barely taken a bite when she heard someone calling her name. Glancing round, her food halfway to her mouth, she saw Reggie running towards her with something in his hand. "Tara. You forgot this." He says and shoves her phone into her free hand. Relief floods through her, and she smiles at him. He looked a bit frazzled. "Coffee?" she asks, holding up the small cup. Be accepted gratefully and downs half of it. "I need to get going." He says before kissing her on the cheek and running off the way he came. 'That was odd.' she says, continuing towards the station. 'I'm sure I put it in my bag.' Shrugging she continued eating her delicious food and didn't think anymore about it.