AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It doesn’t look far on Google maps. Why don’t we walk?”
“In these?” asked Maddie, sticking a foot so high in the air Kate could see she wasn’t wearing any knickers.
“All right, book a cab.” Kate fancied a walk. Her head had been pounding since the wine at lunchtime and she’d hoped fresh air might work where ibuprofen so badly failed.
Maddie hadn’t stopped with the wine. She’d moved to G&Ts as they’d sat flicking through magazines, then on to the beers Kate had bought for the weekend. There were only two left now, so she’d need to make another Sainsburys trip in the morning. Maddie’s drinking worried Kate, but they’d spoken about it in the past and Maddie had assured her she only drank at weekends, so at least that was something.
A beeping horn signalled their taxi was waiting. Maddie tottered ahead of Kate and slurred instructions at the driver. She tried engaging him in conversation, but it was ten o’clock and he’d already had enough drunks bending his ear for one night. Unimpressed with the driver’s monosyllabic answers, Maddie turned her attention to Kate.
“You know I met Alex for a drink last week.”
“What?”
“Ooops, he told me not to say anything, silly me.”
“What are you doing meeting Alex behind my back?”
“It’s not like you have any claim over him anymore.”
Kate stared at her friend. She’d forgotten how Maddie could get after a skin-full.
“Anyway,” said Maddie in her annoying sulky voice, “he only wanted to talk about you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, seems things aren’t quite as rosy with the boobalicious Jess as we’d thought. He said he missed you.”
“Well, I don’t miss him.”
“You sure? From the looks of you, it’s not like you intend to go out on the pull any time soon.”
Kate stared out of the window. It would be a long night unless Maddie snapped out of the mood she’d got herself in. The only thing worse than being drunk, Kate decided, was being sober as a judge and out with people who weren’t.
The taxi arrived at the club all too soon. Kate resented paying the driver for what would have been a twenty-minute walk in sensible shoes, but handed over the cash and even left a tip, as she felt sorry for him. Maddie fell out of the taxi and Kate rushed round to her side to help her up.
“Look Maddie, are you sure you’re up for this? We can go back home for you to sleep it off if you’d prefer?”
“Don’t be stupid. Let’s go. Woohoo!”
Maddie had her arms in the air, dancing to the music barely dampened by the club’s stone walls. Kate prayed the bouncers would view Maddie as too inebriated to be let in, but one look at her skimpy outfit and they let her in without even taking the entrance fee. Kate had no such luck, shelling out again for a night out she really didn’t want to be on.
Kate stepped into the club and immediately wanted to run away. All five senses were assaulted in that first thirty seconds. She could barely breathe amongst the fug. Flashing neon lights tortured her head, the ache pounding in time with the too-loud bass. Her low-heeled boots stuck to the floor with every step, and the smell - oh the smell was the worst. She supported the smoking ban when it came in, despite being a smoker herself at the time. Now she wished she could smell stale cigarette smoke. It would be a vast improvement to the combination of beer, sweat and vomit that filled her nostrils.
Kate looked round for Maddie, eventually spotting her in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by sweaty men in shiny shirts. Was she twerking? Kate flushed on Maddie’s behalf. She wondered if she should intervene, as Maddie rubbed her bum against an acne ridden teenage boy, but she decided any intervention would be unwelcome. The club was heaving with bodies. Kate pushed her way through the throng and found herself a place to sit in the corner of the room. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER NINE
KATE PUT HERhead in her hands. She could have sobbed there and then, on the sticky red sofa that smelled of puke. She wondered if her head might actually explode. Each beat of the bass line stabbed at her brain like a knife. Things turned from bad to worse. The whole club had their arms in the air, jumping up and down, singing ‘Yellow Submarine’ at the top of their voices. All the incredible Beatles songs the DJ could’ve picked, and he’d chosen the only one Kate couldn’t stand. For a moment, Kate wondered if she’d died and gone to hell.
“Kate? Kate!”
Was someone calling her name? Kate lifted her head up and saw a swaying man in front of her. She saw the polished shoes first, then the tailored trousers, pressed shirt, and braces. “Bob? What are you doing here?”
“What?” he shouted. “Can’t hear you!”
“Let’s go outside.”
“What?”
