Authors: Clare Lydon
Kate was just deciding on her next course of action when a lanky man with a lazy swagger approached her from across the room. He was wearing thick-rimmed glasses that were far too big for his face and when he got closer, Kate saw they were just for show — there were no actual lenses in them. His floppy hair was thick, the colour of treacle.
“Hi.” He held out his hand. “I’m Nathan, I live here.” He paused. “If you’re a gatecrasher, you look like a nice one.”
“Kate,” she said, shaking his hand. “Friend of Meg — she invited me. I’m just glad I’m at the right place as I couldn’t see her.”
Nathan’s eyebrows shot up. “Aha. The famous Kate!” He bowed and swept an arm through the air. “Welcome.” He stood upright. “And it’s hair, by the way.”
“Sorry?”
Nathan twiddled a finger above his head. “Meg. She’s having a hair malfunction.” He put an arm on Kate’s elbow and guided her through the centre of the room, ending their short journey at the kitchen. “Help yourself to a drink and I’ll go see if I can grab her.”
Nathan disappeared out of the lounge and Kate walked into the heaving kitchen. Music throbbed in her ears, glasses clinked and the counter-top in front of her was covered in a mysterious sticky liquid. So far, so house party.
Kate squeezed a couple of bottles of her beer into the fridge and located an opener. Then, beer in hand, she ventured back out into the main room where Kylie was now being pumped out at top volume, and a throng of gay men were bumping, grinding and dancing as one.
“Kylie fan?”
Kate turned to be greeted by a wonky smile attached to a stunningly attractive man, all twinkly blue eyes and a light sheen of sweat coating his brow.
“Who isn’t?” she replied.
It seemed to be the right answer as the man lifted his beer bottle and clinked it against hers. “Dean,” he smiled. “You’re a friend of Nathan’s, I presume?”
“Not really,” Kate replied. “Friend of Meg. Although I only met her recently, so not even sure friend is an appropriate term. Hopeful contender, maybe?”
Dean gave Kate a knowing grin. “I think you might stand a chance, delightful Kate. You’ve got my blessing, at least.”
Just at that moment, Dean grinned over Kate’s shoulder which made her turn — and there was Meg walking into the lounge, her face full of promise, her hair like polished sunshine. She was just as good as Kate recalled, if not better.
“You came.” Meg kissed Kate’s cheek — it glowed hot straight away. “It’s good to see you.”
“Of course I came.” Kate blushed as she said it and was glad of the low-lighting. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
“Lucky me.” Meg looked down. “You got a drink?”
Kate nodded. “And a new friend in Dean.”
Dean stepped between them and gave Meg a hug.
“Now don’t move, and don’t believe a word he says while I get a drink, okay?” Meg fixed Kate with her piercing gaze.
Kate swallowed hard. “Staying right here,” she said.
Meg squeezed Kate’s hand as she brushed past her and Kate’s nostrils filled with her musky perfume.
Just when had Meg turned into a femme fatale?
Out of her running gear and out of the florist, she could well have been mistaken for a film star — and tonight she was Kate’s date. This was going
very
well.
***
Two hours later, they’d had cake and sung happy birthday to the non-birthday boy. Kate had been by Meg’s side for most of it, her proximity making every one of Meg’s nerve endings stand to attention. She watched Kate now, approaching her from across the room, a secret smile playing on her lips. She was carrying a bottle of beer for herself and a white wine for Meg.
“Thanks.” Meg leaned in so her breath tickled Kate’s ear. “I was thinking, maybe we could stay a little longer, but then perhaps go somewhere a little less busy. Just you and me?”
Kate gulped. “I would love that.”
Meg clinked her glass to Kate’s bottle. “Good.” Meg’s gaze didn’t falter from Kate’s, her eyes drinking her in. She put her wine down as her heart clattered in her chest and their eyes locked. Meg readied herself for the impact of Kate’s lips, her warm kiss.
Only it never came. Instead, there was a shriek from nearby and before she knew it, Nathan was in between them, his arms around Meg, using her as a human shield.
“Make him stop, Meg!” he screamed.
Kate looked up and saw Kylie fan Dean dashing towards them with a can of squirty cream, quite a bit of it already adorning his head and shoulders.
“Get out here, Davis, you pussy!” Dean rounded Meg, who was staggering backwards and turning, as Nathan pulled and twisted her body to where he wanted it to be.
Kate stepped to the side, not a fan of squirty cream.
“Get off me, Nathan!” Meg was trying to break free, but Nathan wasn’t easy to shake.
Seeing an in, Dean dodged into the space that Kate had vacated, shook and squirted. It hit Meg on her side.
“Hey!” Meg tried to move out of the way but Nathan had her held firm.
“You little shit, Davis,” Dean shouted. He jigged some more and took aim.
Seeing what was coming, Meg’s eyes widened. “Don’t you dare…”
But Dean had already begun to squirt again, aiming at Nathan who had just stood up beside Meg. Nathan let go and made a dash for it, Meg unfortunately moved slightly to her left into the space Nathan had just vacated, and the cream hit Meg square in the face, also ending up in her open mouth.
Seeing Nathan escape, Dean gave chase, pausing briefly to shout, “Sorry Meg!”
Meg didn’t believe it for a second. She stood, tongue licking the cream from her face and scooping it off her shirt. “Can you believe this? I’m going to kill them both when I get my hands on them.” She looked around the room, touching her face and looking at her hand, now covered in cream too.
Kate checked the lounge doorway. “They’ve run out the front door — trying to cream each other.” She stepped forward, taking Meg’s hand and tugging her across the room. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” Kate led Meg down the hall and into the plush bathroom. She closed the door and handed Meg a spare toilet roll from the stack by the toilet.
Meg took them gratefully and began wiping the cream from her face, eyeing herself in the over-the-sink mirror as she did.
Kate stood behind her, grinning every time Meg caught her eye.
“You can stop laughing so much anytime you want,” Meg said, even though she was laughing too. “Honestly, do men ever grow up?” Meg shook her head. “I suppose I should be glad it’s squirty cream and not actual cream or anything worse. At least this kinda disintegrates.” She wiped the last evidence from her face and licked her lips again. “And it leaves me tasting sweet.”
Kate stepped forward so she was at Meg’s side and pointed at her cheek. “You missed a bit.”
“Did I?” Meg looked back in the mirror, frowned, then turned back to Kate. “I didn’t.”
Kate nodded. “You did.” And then she leaned forward and gave Meg a light peck on the cheek. “And you missed a bit here too.” Kate brushed Meg’s lips lightly with her own, then leaned back, assessing. “Nope, still some there.”
This time, her kiss lasted a couple of seconds, before Kate stood up straight, smiling.
“I don’t think you’re telling the whole truth.” Meg smiled and put a finger to Kate’s lips. “I think you used the cream as a trick to kiss me. Am I right?”
Kate took Meg’s finger gently into her mouth and circled it gently with her tongue. “You’ll never make it stick in court.”
Meg’s body vibrated, right down to the soles of her feet. Eventually, she withdrew her finger and pressed her lips lightly to Kate’s, before running her tongue along Kate’s bottom lip. She stood back to admire her work, as Kate opened her eyes slowly.
Neither of them drew a breath for a moment.
“Now unless you fancy getting down in the jacuzzi bath, I suggest we finish our drinks and make a run for it. I’ve done my duty for Nathan’s party — and it’s not even his bloody birthday. Now I think it’s time for us to get to know each other better, don’t you?”
Kate let a slow smile wend across her face. “A drink at a pub then?” She was talking to Meg’s back as she followed her into the bedroom to get her jacket.
“I was hoping not — yours is closer, isn’t it?”
Kate nodded, surprised. “Yep — we can have a drink there instead.”
Meg took Kate’s hand in response and gave it a squeeze. “Sounds perfect.”
And it was. For the first time in a very long time, Meg was telling the truth when she said she wanted to go back to a woman’s house — and that was something that, in her darkest hours, she had often questioned would ever happen again. Yet here she was.
Meg gathered her wits as they got in the lift to take them down to street level. Her last great love affair had dismantled her, stripped her bare and left her in pieces. She was still trying to piece herself back together fully and she knew it would never happen until she and Tanya sold the house and moved on.
Kate squeezed her hand. “You okay?”
Meg turned her head and nodded. “Yeah, I’m great.”
They were out of Nathan’s building now and had come to a main road where the traffic was hurtling by at speed. Meg zipped up her jacket and smiled at Kate as they walked towards the bus stop. She wasn’t about to tell her what she’d been thinking about — Tanya was not high on her list of priorities right now. Meg forced herself back into the present.
“Because if this isn’t what you want… You seem a bit preoccupied.” Kate frowned as she spoke.
Meg saw the doubt in her expression and squeezed her hand again. “I promise you, the only thing I’m preoccupied with is getting to yours and kissing you into oblivion.”
A slow grin appeared on Kate’s face. “Oblivion, you say?”
Meg nodded.
“In that case, let’s get a cab, it’s quicker.”
Before Meg could argue, Kate’s hand was up in the air and the yellow light on top of the cab coming towards them was extinguished. The driver lowered his window and looked at the pair expectantly.
Kate opened the back door, shouting “Old Street, quick as you can please!”
They slammed into the back seat at the same time, hands entwined, gazes fixed.
It was going to be a long journey, however he took it.
23
“When you said you lived central, you weren’t joking.” Meg sounded impressed as she climbed out of the cab and onto the cobbled street. The cab’s engine was still running, so a claggy diesel noise cluttered the night air. “You actually live a
stone’s throw
from the tube.” Meg frowned. “It makes me feel like I really do live in the burbs.”
Kate climbed out of the back of the cab and paid the driver.
“Which one do you live at?” Meg looked up and down the street as the cab drove off.
“This one right here.” Kate indicated the door right in front of them with the number 73 emblazoned on it in chrome fixtures.
Meg looked sideways at Kate, who was digging in her pocket for her key. “Are you really rich and you haven’t told me yet? I didn’t think publishing paid well enough to afford a flat here.”
Kate laughed nervously — she hated this conversation. “Nah — I had some inheritance and also a chunk of savings. Right place, right time.” Kate shrugged as she opened the door and walked around her bike, before stepping aside to let Meg up in front of her. “After you.”
Kate was pleased that Meg seemed satisfied with her answer and wasn’t pushing for more information. Sometimes in the past, she’d pretended she rented her flat just because it seemed easier and put her on a par with all the other 30-somethings in the city: struggling to get by, paying money to greedy landlords.
But the fact was, Kate had always been a good worker and an even better saver, and she’d already had the deposit for her first flat saved up when her dad died unexpectedly, and then that deposit got a bit larger. Kate had seen the flat and thought, why not? It needed a crazy amount of work doing to it when she’d bought it, but Kate knew her way around a toolbox and was happy to take it on.
With the help of family and friends, she’d ended up with a lovely, central London home which didn’t bankrupt her and was now worth a packet. However, it still pained Kate to tell the truth for numerous reasons. She didn’t want to appear to be a spoilt rich kid, even though she knew she’d worked damn hard.
Kate showed Meg through to the lounge. Meg sat down on the sofa, then instantly got up, biting her top lip. She put a hand on her hip and went to say something, then checked herself.
“You okay?” Kate asked.
Meg nodded. “Fine. It’s just — I’m still fairly sticky.” She patted her not-quite-so-shiny hair, before holding out her shirt. “Can I be cheeky and have a quick shower?”
Kate was leaning on the door frame of the lounge. “Sure — be my guest,” she said. “This way.” Kate walked down the hallway, with Meg following behind. “Towels are on the shelf.” Kate indicated the metal shelf on the wall stacked with towels. “And do you want another top to wear afterwards?”