“Less of the idiot, if you don’t mind,” replied Andy.
“You are an idiot,” said Craig, but then added, almost affectionately,“but you’re our idiot.”
He really was in a good mood. She couldn’t remember him eversaying anything nice about Andy before. But that was down to the generallyhappy atmosphere in the pub tonight. Andy seemed happy with Craig’s responseand turned back round to continue his conversation with Nobby.
“Yeah, I’ll give it a go,” said Kay to Craig.
“Go over and see Jason, the DJ, and put your name down ASAP,then,” said Craig. “There’s quite a waiting list by the looks of things.”
Kay took her drink and wandered over to the stage area bythe DJ booth where The Three Drunken Twats had just finished their song togreat acclaim from the crowd. She waited patiently while the DJ blathered on ina lame attempt at a stand-up comedy routine prior to calling up the nextsinger.
It was a young girl next whom she recognised as Lauren, ashort, dark-haired girl with a cheeky grin and jet black hair styled in a bob.She was wearing an extremely low-cut, black top that left very little to theimagination.
Kay observed the crowd’s reaction with amusement as thelively young girl began to sing. The assembled group of lads watching had eyeson stalks as Lauren launched into the old Katy Perry number, “I Kissed a Girl”.She played up very suggestively to the crowd, boobs practically spilling out ofher top, and even pulled over a girl friend at one point and gave her a kisssquarely on the lips, sending the boys into a frenzy.
She knows how to get male attention, thought Kay, wistfullyremembering how it had once been like that for her. She hoped Lauren would havemore luck with men in the long run than she had.
Kay managed to get the DJ’s attention and gave him her songchoice, then turned back to the bar where she was thrilled to see that Kent hadnow arrived and was standing with the others.
She rushed straight back over to the bar to see him, a movethat wasn’t unnoticed by Andy.
“Here comes your girlfriend,” remarked Andy to Kent. “Iwouldn’t like to be in your shoes when your missus finds out.”
“Shut up, Andy,” said Kent. “You don’t know what you’retalking about.” Taking his freshly poured pint of bitter, he said to Kay, “Comeon, let’s go somewhere we can talk.”
“Another cosy chat in the corner, is it?” called Andy afterthem. “This is getting to be a bit of a habit.”
They ignored him and moved to the table at the front of thepub where they had sat the previous evening, far enough away from the karaoketo be able to hear each other speak without shouting.
“I don’t want to be too long,” said Kent. “Debs wasn’t toohappy about me coming out tonight, but I had to find out how it went. Tell meall about it.”
Kay described in detail the events of the previous day. Kentlistened, smiling, chuckling and commenting at certain points.
“I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when youtold Glen where to get off,” he said. “Has he really only got a four-inch cock?That’s hilarious!”
“I’m afraid so,” she replied. “No wonder he used to show offso much: it was probably his way of compensating for his inadequacies downthere.”
“That’s made my day, that has,” said Kent.
“I thought it would,” said Kay, resisting the temptation tosay, “Yours was much bigger.” That might have been interpreted as flirtingwhich she was trying to cut out.
Later he exclaimed, “I loved Old Orleans!” as Kay describedtheir day out in Oxford. “I really miss that place. They used to do amazingcocktails.”
At the end of her story, she didn’t hold anything back. Asshe described what had happened when they had gone back to his room, she heldhis gaze, looking into his eyes just as she had with her younger self in hisbed.
But this was an older Kent, and a different Kent. He brokeher gaze, looking nervously down into his drink.
“What’s the matter?” she said. “Didn’t the same happen whenyou went back to relive that day?”
“Yes,” he admitted, almost furtively. “But it’s differentfor you. You’re single now. I’m married. It’s still sort of cheating, in away.”
“But that didn’t bother you when you went back before, didit?” she questioned.
“No, but it was different then. I was going back in my owntimeline, to my own youth. I never thought in a million years I’d be sittinghere having this conversation with you in the present day. Now that you’ve hadthe same experience, it somehow makes it more real.”
She could see that she needed to reassure him. “Look, it’sOK,” she said. “You know I fancy you like crazy, always have done, but Irespect the fact that you’re married. I’m not a threat to you.”
“You say that now,” replied Kent. “But what about later whenyou’ve had a few drinks? How many times have you drunkenly tried to lure meback to your flat?”
Kay couldn’t blame him for thinking that based on her pastbehaviour. What sort of woman had she turned into? She would not have dreamt ofmessing around with a married man in her youth. She must have acquired aterrible reputation around town.
She knew she had, because the woman who had knocked herteeth out had seen to that. She had named and shamed Kay all over Facebook onthe town chat page. Admin had swiftly deleted it, but the damage had been done.
She must stick to the vow she had made a couple of days ago.There must be no more married men, and that included Kent. Despite the way theflame inside her for him was burning as strongly as ever, she knew deep down itcould never be. She finally felt that she was able to accept that now. Perhapsthe trip to the past had got it out of her system.
They were friends now and that was the next-best thing in aworld which had by and large turned against her. She could not risk losing thatfriendship, especially now, when
