He was trying to manipulate her by implying she was a snob. Laura gave him a playful slap on the arm as she got up. ‘No, that’s not it. I’ve got a boyfriend back home. And I’ve got a lot of work to do for my degree.’
‘Okay, but you don’t know what you’re missing,’ Curtis said with shrug.
‘That’s the problem, I think I do,’ Laura said.
Curtis tried to play it cool but he was gutted. He had already got her back to his dockside apartment in his head.
‘Shame,’ he said and then gestured to the VIP area. ‘Well, you know where to find me.’
Laura lent in, gave him a kiss on the cheek and disappeared across the dance floor with her friends.
Curtis watched her go again.
Bollocks. I really thought I was in there.
He wasn’t used to being turned down. But that made Laura even more attractive.
Waiting another fifteen minutes, Curtis decided to call it a day. The coke was wearing off and he was feeling flat and tired.
Getting into his black Cherokee Jeep, Curtis noticed that it was starting to rain. He felt the cold tap of raindrops on his back and shoulders as he closed the car door behind him. He turned on the ignition and started the windscreen wipers.
Curtis looked at himself for a moment in the rear view mirror. He took pride in the reflection that looked back at him. He had come a long way and he was still young.
A minute later, Curtis was driving back past The Sugar Cane Club. The rain was heavy now. The line of people waiting to get in was enormous. They were getting soaked. He didn’t care. The more punters, the more money the club was turning over. And therefore, the more drug money he and Shaun could launder.
Slowing down at a red traffic light, Curtis glanced across at people waiting for a night bus. A group of girls were eating chips and laughing. One of them turned – it was Laura.
Turning the steering wheel, Curtis spun the car in a hard U-turn and pulled up beside the bus stop. He buzzed down the window. For a moment, Laura didn’t register him. Then she saw him and laughed.
‘Oh, hi,’ Laura said giggling.
‘Want a lift?’ Curtis asked. ‘Where are you and your friends going?’
‘They’re getting a different bus to me, towards Penny Lane,’ Laura explained as she walked over and peered into the passenger window that was wound down.
‘You’re getting wet. Get in, come on, I’ll give you a lift home,’ Curtis said smiling at her.
Laura hesitated and looked back at her friends. They gestured for her to get in.
‘It’s all right. I’ll get the bus. Thanks though,’ Laura said, wiping a wet strand of hair from her face.
‘I know. Getting in a car with some cocky scally. Exactly what your mum and dad told you not to do when you got to Liverpool,’ Curtis said with a shrug. ‘Don’t worry. I get it. I’ll see you around.’
They locked eyes for a moment as Curtis revved the engine.
‘Wait ...’ Laura said as she looked back at her friends, waved, opened the passenger door and got in.
‘Where we going, miss?’ Curtis asked.
‘I don’t know. I could do with another drink though,’ Laura said.
‘I know just the place,’ Curtis said.
At that moment, he saw Laura’s mobile phone light up – caller ID Nick.
‘Not going to answer that?’ Curtis asked.
‘No,’ Laura said shaking her head as she declined the call.
‘Who’s Nick?’ Curtis asked. He has to be her boyfriend, doesn’t he?
‘He’s no one. It doesn’t matter,’ Laura said.
LLANCASTELL
December 2000
It was the week before Christmas and Nick was panic buying presents for all his relatives. He had managed to find a scarf for Auntie Pat but for the others he was lost. Maybe a voucher for his cousins. Or was that a bit lame?
As Nick came out of the department store, he looked up into the dark sky on Llancastell High Street. Christmas Carols were playing somewhere nearby and it was beginning to snow. A snowflake landed on his eyelash and he blinked it away. He loved the coloured lights that were strewn high above and stretched away around the corner. It reminded him of when he used to come shopping with his mum. They always ended their Christmas shopping trips in the fourth-floor café of the department store where she would treat him to a hot chocolate. He remembered one year they had got a cab home rather than the bus. Usually they couldn’t afford it, but she said she had won ten quid on the lottery.
Crossing the road, Nick looked up at the old clock tower. He had a couple of hours before he was meeting members of Dinas Padog Rugby Club in The Cross Foxes pub. It was their Christmas night out and would be a messy affair. Last year, Nick had no recollection of anything from nine o’clock onwards.
A figure in a knitted hat and long coat came out of a shoe shop holding bags further up street. Catching the profile of her face, he could see it was Laura. She had dumped him by text about ten weeks ago with little explanation. He had tried to call and even suggested they meet to talk, but Laura had effectively gone off the radar.
Jogging a little to catch her up, Nick wondered if she would even speak to him. They hadn’t fallen out or anything. If he was honest, Nick had been heart-broken and talking to her might not be the most sensible thing to do.
‘Laura?’ Nick called out as he got closer.
She spun around instinctively and looked at him. He hardly recognised her. She had lost a lot of weight and her face was gaunt. It didn’t suit her. She had a stud in her nose.
‘Hi Nick,’ Laura said, looking a little awkward but also slightly annoyed.
‘I though it was you. I recognised the hat, like,’ Nick said, aware that he was being strangely cheery, as if they
