“That’s because we were both petty teens arguing over who used the last of the hairspray.” She smirks. “We’ve grown up now. I know what it feels like to lose the person you love, for however short a time. Remember when me and Lloyd broke up three years ago? I didn’t leave my bedroom for-”
“Six days, except to pee.” I nod. “I know. I had to bring you food and drinks while you curled up in bed, listening to sappy songs, exhausting the stock of tissues in the village.”
She waves a hand, smiling slightly. “Exaggeration!” I raise an eyebrow, and she looks down. “Okay,” she mumbles. “Maybe only a slight exaggeration. So tonight, we’ll get Daisy bathed and in bed. Then we’ll order a takeaway, I’ll buy copious amounts of wine and junk food at Tesco, and then we’ll sit and sob. Okay?”
My face breaks into a genuine, yet small, smile. “Okay.”
~
SAM
Saturday passes in a whirling blur of nothing to me, so before I know it, I’m in Red with Mitch. Saph is milling about as she normally does, dancing, laughing, and joking with everyone she sees that she knows. Which is most people.
“Cheer the f**k up.” Mitch elbows me.
I lean back against the bar. “What d’ya want me to do? Put a big cheesy grin on and grab the next bird I see?”
“That’s what Bing would have done.”
“I’m not Bing. I’ve told you that.” I sip my beer. “I won’t disrespect Jen by sleeping with someone else. The way I see it, she’s still mine and I’m still hers. Even if I didn’t see that way, I still wouldn’t go and f**k some other girl. I’m not giving up on this, mate. Fuck knows I waited long enough to get it.”
He doesn’t say another word. What can he say to it? Really?
Saph slips in between us, sipping her drink through a straw. I raise my eyebrows at her, and her eyes trawl across the club. Her foot taps in time with the beat, her head bobs side to side, and she keeps drinking until she has an empty glass. She turns slightly, setting it on the bar, and spins back round.
Mitch glances at me over the top of her head, and I shrug.
“Saph?” I question. She holds a hand up to me, her eyes narrowing slightly. She shakes her head and turns to me.
“Sam?” She smirks.
“You all right?”
“I’m fine. I just thought I saw some vermin, but I was mistaken.” She smiles sweetly.
“Hey, Mitch is right next to you. No need to be such a bitch.” I wink at her and she giggles. Mitch glares at me, and Saph turns her body towards him, laying her hand on his chest.
“Oh, poor Mitch, is the straightened out playboy being mean to you?” she coos. He swallows, visible even in the low light, and I grin.
“Why, you plannin’ on making it better if he is?” Mitch asks her.
“No.” She cackles and leans back against the bar. Mitch clenches his jaw, and one day they’re gonna explode. “You need to cheer the hell u p.” Saph jabs her finger into my chest.
“So everyone keeps saying.” I put my glass down. “Not happenin’ tonight, guys, so leave me here to wallow in my own shit for a while.”
“Hell no! What you need is a pretty little blonde thing with an ass worth a million bucks.” She looks at me.
“Only one pretty little blonde thing I want, Saph.” I look down. “And stuff her ass being worth a million dollars. Jennifer Mason in her entirety isn’t even worth a million dollars. She’s just priceless.”
Saph smiles softly, and her eyes harden as they flick away from mine. “At least your taste is better, because I gotta say, I’ve had fish and chips worth more than some of the girls in your past.” Saph’s eyes go from the warmth of a summer day to the ice of the Arctic faster than a Ferrari goes nought to sixty.
My stomach drops, all my muscles simultaneously tightening throughout my body. Only one person could make Saph go from nice Saph to bitch in seconds.
“I thought I heard something about a pretty little blonde thing,” Heidi says from behind me.
“And there’s the vermin,” Saph bites out.
“You did. And it certainly wasn’t referencing you,” I snap, spinning to see her. She smiles up at me innocently.
“I couldn’t help overhearing your little problem,” Heidi says softly.
“There’s only one f**king problem I have around here, and I’m looking right at her,” I say icily.
“Woah!” She holds her hands up and steps back a little. “No need to be, well, such an ass.”
“No need to be such an ass?” I almost shout at her. “Because of you and your ridiculous bitching, not to mention your f**king idiotic need to keep any girl away from me, I’m busting my ass fighting to get Jen back.”
“Really looks like you’re busting your ass,” Heidi replies. “Having a beer on a Saturday night with a friend. Yep. You’re trying to get her back.”
“I wouldn’t need to f**king try to get her back if you hadn’t of stuck your goddamn nose in, would I? Don’t stand here in front of me on your high horses bitchin’ at me, because I’m pretty sure all I have to do is let Saph at you and she’ll knock you the f**k down off of it.”
“No need,” Saph says from behind me. I turn, only just realising my hands are shaking, and notice Mick stood behind her.
“This her, Saph?” Mick gestures in Heidi’s direction.
“Yep, that’s her.” Saph winks at me.
Mick nods once and focuses on Heidi. “You’re barred. Out, or I’ll have you removed.”
Smart little red haired bimbo, is Saph.
Heidi sputters, her mouth falling open in shock. “I’m barred? What the hell for?”
“Disrupting my customers and causing problems,” Mick answers.
“Disrupting your customers? That’s the worst reason ever! And I am a customer!”
“Look, darlin’,” Mick waves his hand above his head. “This is my club and what I say, goes. You come in here, you buy a drink, dance a bit, and then head home in the small hours. You don’t bring your ass in and f**k my customers off, so ta-ra now, love.”
Two bouncers appear behind him, and Heidi shrieks before turning and storming away. The bouncers follow her, and I can’t help the upturn of my lips.
Mick sticks his hand out and I shake. “Thanks, Mick.”
“Not at all.” He drops my hand. “She looks like she forgot half her outfit anyway. Better not to let all the riff raff in here, eh?” He turns to Saph. “That all, darlin’? I gotta get back to work.”