‘Three months,’ I said quietly under my breath.
They laughed even more, now they were in fits of laughter.
I got my iPhone and sent him two SMS’s:
What is your last name?
What do you do?
Within a minute: Grant
Complicated, when we meet will explain, title means nothing I declared, ‘His last name is Grant, and he is something complicated!’
Everyone was laughing at this point.
We had decided to check out this new club that had opened near Tottenham Court Road. Now, we were getting ourselves ready for the night ahead. Normally, this consisted of going to the Spa on Sloane Street where we pampered ourselves silly. After the Spa, we went and got our essentials sorted out. That could consist of anything from doing our nails, to a English wax. That was normally Tracey’s request; always thought she is going to end up with a man tonight!
Eventually followed by a drink in a bar, and hitting the nightclubs.
We were not as young as we used to be, but certainly not that old to turn up to a club before the doors open! That was just sad. We saw some fifty-yearolds — they looked good for their age — standing outside waiting for it to open, like they were going to Ikea. I went to tell them that they were too early. They asked, ‘What time does it open?’ I told them, ‘11pm.’ We watched them from the bar across the road. Five cocktails later, at 10.50pm, who do we see standing outside the club? Yep, they are back outside, waiting for it to be open.
We asked, ‘Why are you coming ten minutes early?’ They replied, ‘Because we want to be the first in line, and normally in a club the first hour is free!’
I thought — Maybe in the ‘60s, but not this day and age!
We laughed. They were sweet, and by 11.45pm, they were out of the club. I asked why they left so early. They all stated, ‘It is way past our bed time, but we had a good night out. It was worth it — travelling to the club for an hour — then back home, because we were too early – it was good, because we got back just in time to watch Eastenders — then coming back again. It has taken it out of us, going back and forth.’
For us, the night had just began.
Especially for Tracey: she had her eye on one poor victim, X-ray-nightclubeyes, we liked to call her. If you were a catch, Tracey will see you no matter where you were; you could not hide at all! She would find you, and guaranteed you would not be able to avoid her charm. She was in for the kill and they would be killed and slaughtered with her English Bikini wax!
Alex and Michelle looked at each other, because we knew it was the last time that we were going to see Tracey, she would be going off with her victim for the night. Then, the strangest thing happened: someone came behind their hands over my eyes. Turned me around and it was Justin. ‘Guess who?’ he asked. I had had those hands stroking me up and down my body for the last three months, I knew exactly who they belonged to. ‘Justin Grant,’ I said.
‘ Hey,’ he said as he gave me a kiss.
‘Hey,’ I said with pure excitement.
‘Fancy seeing you here,’ he said. ‘I could say the same to you.’ Michelle at this point poked me. I turned and introduced them to Justin. At this stage, Michelle gave me one of her winks, as if to say ‘nice’. I touched his rippled body and there was only one thing on my mind — him! We kissed again, and within 5
minutes we were out of the club, back at his flat — shagging!
What a night!
The next day, I woke up. I was due to meet Tracey and her family. It was her niece’s christening and already I was late. I looked at the time, and woke up in a frenzy of shock. Number one, I was expecting to wake up in my flat today.
Number two, I did not know I had so much energy after all that drinking last night in the bar, and shaking my booty like it had never been shaken before, in the club. The DJ was on form, it was a really good night for music; excellent DJs seem a rare breed these days. This time, we were not disappointed. He kept us on the dance floor all night long.
‘Where are you going?’ Justin asked.
‘My friend’s niece is getting christened today, I need to go home, get some clothes and then go to the christening.
Thinking maybe I should just get a taxi, as you live on the other side of town to me. By the time I get to Ealing, it will be late, very late.’
‘Do not be silly’ he said. ’I will take you.’
‘What do you do?’ I questioned. ‘Please tell me.’
‘The funny thing is, all this time, you have never asked and I never told you.
Now, it is like the most important thing in the world. Strange.’
‘No, my friends asked. And it is not like we do not talk. Just realised we talk about everything else, without revealing our lives, like the football scores, or today’s news. Never, how we actually feel or even what we do on a day to day basis it just dawned on me at that precise moment in time. We never talk about anything intimate. We are officially going out, yet it’s the basics that we are missing. I want us to go on a date, like we are complete strangers.’
‘What?’ he asked.
‘Yes, this is what we need: a proper date. This is why we miss out on the basic knowledge.’
‘So, does this help in terms of couples not splitting up? They do the “Normal”
thing and eventually their fates end up exactly
