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BEAU
The night passed fairly uneventfully. The club was busy, and thankfully, Bernie came nowhere near me. There was a lull towards the end of our shift, and Kenny and I managed to catch up.
“Hey, did you hear about that K-pop group that played here the other night?” He sipped on his drink, swirling the straw with his tongue.
I leaned against the bar, sipping from a bottle of water, trying to look as nonchalant as possible, like I wasn’t gagging to hear the news.
“No, why? What happened?”
“Their manager was found dead earlier. Suspicious circumstances. I heard Bernie talking to someone on the phone earlier. Apparently, the group has to stick around for a few days. The gig they should have done tonight was cancelled too.”
I shrugged. “Why would I be interested?” Why was I being so defensive?
Kenny turned to look at me, a hand on his hip.
“Honestly, Beau. You think I didn’t notice you were totally eye fucking the blue-haired guy that night they were here? I saw him hand you a slip of paper. What did you do with it? Was it his number?”
I pushed myself off the bar towards a waiting customer. “Maybe or maybe I got rid of it.”
I knew Kenny wouldn’t drop it and wasn’t disappointed when I walked back towards him after serving up a couple of gin and tonics.
“Well, did you call him at least? You deserve to have some fun, and he looked like he could have been fun, if you know what I mean.” He nudged my arm, and I had to smile. Yes, he looked like he could have been fun, but he’d ignored me and I couldn’t forget that.
“I might have texted him and gone to see him at Level with Ziggy, but the fucker ignored me. Looked me right in the eye and…nothing. Not a smile, wink, barely any acknowledgement.”
That reminded me that I did have a text from him. I should probably read it.
I pulled my phone from my pocket. It was an old smartphone; the screen was cracked, and I couldn’t afford to replace it, but I could just about manage with it. I wasn’t sure how much longer it would last.
“He texted me last night, though.”
“Ooh, what did he say?” Kenny was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. He was the bubbliest person I’d ever met, and now I knew he was with Ty, it sort of explained why nothing lately seemed to upset him. “Lemme see.”
He stood behind me, his chin perched on my shoulder, waiting for me to open the message.
“He thanked me for turning up, sorry I had to leave and sorry he ignored me. That’s it, nothing else.”
“Oh, is that it? Well, that doesn’t say much, does it?” He stood off to the side now, a pout on his face. His bright ginger hair was pulled up into a man bun, and freckles covered his nose and cheeks. There was no mistaking his Scottish heritage.
I shook my head. No, it really didn’t say much at all.
“Why did you leave? Why bother going if you weren’t going to hook up with him?” He twirled his straw in his mouth again, chewing on the end.
“I wasn’t just going to hook up with him. I don’t know why I went, really. I’d had a shitty day at home, and I fancied having a night out. Ziggy came with me.”
“And you say he ignored you?”
“Yeah, came on stage, started singing and dancing, looked right at me but no smile, no nothing.”
“Are you really that stupid, Beau? You were there with another guy, and not just any guy, but Ziggy. I’ve seen him when he’s out. He gets very clingy, and he’s always tactile, touching you and anyone else he’s out with. Perhaps—and this is just my opinion—perhaps he thought you were there with Ziggy. As in, Ziggy was your boyfriend.”
Shit. That thought hadn’t crossed my mind at all, and now I thought about it, Ziggy always stood too close. I turned to look at him, my mouth open.
“Well, I mean, it’s possible.”
“And he noticed you’d left. Someone that’s not interested doesn’t notice things like that, and they don’t apologise afterwards.”
He couldn’t be right, could he?
