Making Our Way Back

by Jennah Thornhill

  Donna comes waltzing in my bedroom, but soon stops in her tracks when she sees me.

  “Well… fuck me backwards, don’t you look like a sex siren in your red dress.”

  All of a sudden I feel like I need to go put some more clothes on, my earlier confidence waning.

  She must see my face drop because she comes rushing over to me.

  “Oh no you don’t lady, I can see it written all over your face. Don’t you dare start questioning your outfit or anything else for that matter. You look fucking gorgeous, now get back out here and get some more drinks down your neck.” Her voice leaves me no room to argue with her, so I plaster on a smile and yet again do as I’m told. That woman is a force to be reckoned with at times.

  For the next half an hour or so, we drink some more and dance around my living room like two deranged teenagers. By the time the taxi arrives to take us into Soho we’re slightly tipsy, but it feels good to let loose and enjoy myself, as I haven’t done this in since a long time.

  Fifteen minutes later, we pull up outside The Freedom Bar, this place is a two in one, which is good for me and Donna. Give it a few hours and we’ll both be complaining our feet are in agony, and that our legs are starting to burn from dancing to much. So this place is perfect, it’s a cocktail bar with a club downstairs in the basement, which means no extra walking in our skyscraper heels.

  On the outside of the building it doesn’t really look like much, as it sits on a busy road and only has a white banner on the front stating it’s Freedom. God knows how we found this place, but I’m glad we did as it’s now become our go to place. we come here that often the manager knows us by name and we always get our first round of drinks for free. It doesn’t get any better than that.

  “Cole said he would meet us inside.” I tell Donna over my shoulder as she get’s out of the taxi.

  “Ok Hun, let's get a drink before I die of dehydration.”

  “Seriously, you’ve just downed one before leaving my apartment?” I say laughing at her.

  “Yeah, that was like fifteen minutes ago, so let’s go.” She tells me as she grabs me and links her arm in mine, leading us both into the bar.

  We stop in front of the security guard that’s standing in the doorway, poker faced as always.

  “Hi Gavin, is it busy tonight?” I say.

  “As always, and it’s good to see you both out tonight, it’s been a while.” He’s so sweet. But don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of him. He’s built like a tank.

  “We have big boss man coming in tonight, so hurry and get your drinks before he arrives.” With that said he moves out the way of the door and let’s us in.

  “Mmm the big boss ay? We’ve never seen him have we?” Donna asks me, at the same she taps me on the shoulder to get my attention.

  “No, I don’t think we have. The last time we were here I remember Smith saying that this place was being taken over by someone new, and he was worried he might lose his job, but I saw him the other week in Covent Garden with his girlfriend and he said his job was safe.”

  “Well that’s good then. Hey maybe if we get in with him we can get every drink for free.” She says whilst laughing at her own idea. I don’t know how she comes up with these ideas of hers. I’ve known the woman for years, and even now some of the things that come out of her mouth surprise the shit out of me.

  I spot Cole standing at the bar talking to a man, no doubt straight. For someone who’s as gay as they come his gaydar is just non existent. I poke Donna in her side and nod towards the bar as I sign that, that’s where I’m heading. Putting the poor guy out of this misery, and to save Cole from himself. Making our way over I shout, ‘Hey’ at Cole. He spots me, then flings his arms up and pulls me into him for a massive bear hug.

  I introduce Donna to Cole and they seem to hit it off straight away. So whilst they natter on like two old women, I order the drinks. We all have a cocktail and decide that tonight we’re going to work our way down the cocktail menu.

  God help me, I’m going to be on my back before the nights through. But there’s no denying that the Porn star martini I’m slurping on is delicious.

  Thanking Smith for our round of freebies, I indicate to the other two that I’m heading for one of the booths. I need a good sit down and a few more cocktails before I head downstairs to strut my stuff on the dance floor.

  They both follow me and we all slide in taking our seats, once we’re comfortable we all start chatting away. Donna fills Cole in on her mishap with her towel earlier and our arse shaking antics. I’m really enjoying myself till Cole opens that hole on his face.

  “Oh my god Donna, did our Juicy Lucy tell you about the god that came into the office the other day? He was perfection, I mean he was straight but still... I’m willing to put in the leg work to convert him.” And just like that, I’m thinking of all the ways I can kill him and not get caught. I should’ve known he would open his trap and land me in it. Any mention of a hot man and Donna’s all over it like a dog on heat. She’s relentless when it comes to finding me a man. I mean I’m no virgin Mary, but I'm picky and I certainly won’t just let any man get too close to me. I know what it’s like when the one person you thought would always be there leaves you. I have no intentions of putting myself through that again, not anytime soon anyway.

  Donna looks over to me with a mixture of hurt and annoyance on her face, she can look at me like that all she bloody wants I’m saying nothing.

  She looks back to Cole and grinds out.

  “No… she forgot to mention that little bit of information.”

  “Oh darling… you should’ve seen him. He was built like a shit brick house, yet he wasn’t cocky about it. And don’t even get me started on his handsome face. Whatever woman he’s leaving in the dust has got to be in ruins, there is no way I’d let a man like that get away from me in a hurry.” I’m silently willing Cole to put a sock in it, when I’m saved by a waitress wanting to know if we would like more drinks. I take my martini, swallowing it down all in one go like a pro before ordering another one. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.

  Donna gives me a swift kick to the shin under the table, at the same time she’s got a ‘What the fuck look’ on her face. Cole has no idea of the silent conversation going on between the two of us, he’s just doing some sort of jig/dance thing in his seat, which breaks the awkwardness between me and Don because the next thing I know we both burst out laughing at his antics. The conversation is soon forgotten, but if I know my best friend she’ll be on me for details the minute we’re alone together.

  We sit and drink a few more cocktails whilst laughing and joking.

  “Right my bitches… I don’t know about you two but I need to get my groove on. Who’s coming?” Cole declares. Shaking my head at him and the way he talks, as if he hasn’t got a care in world. I grab Donna’s hand and follow him down the stairs from the cocktail bar to the nightclub, heading straight for the centre of the dance floor. Shits about to go down now.

  Just as we start dancing my tune comes on. ‘Crying in the club’ Don screams at the top of her lungs at me telling me what I already know… I’m not deaf, not yet anyway.

  I start strutting my stuff, not paying one ounce of attention to anyone or anything besides what my body is telling me to do. I’m dancing that hard I’ve now got sweat running down the back of neck… Speaking of my back, the hairs have all of sudden started to stand at attention….

  I feel like someone’s watching me, I start to look around but see nothing out of the ordinary. So I go back to my dancing and push the feeling away.

  We dance to a couple more songs, then decide to take a breather when Cole tells me he needs a drink. Nodding my head at him, I start to make my way towards the bar. Once I get there I start to tell the bartender my order when I get that feeling again, now I know I’m not just drunk, someone is definitely watching me. I can feel their eyes burning into me.

  The bartender places our dr
inks on the bar and as I’m about to pay him he stops me, he’s looking up towards the ceiling to where I assume the offices are. Just as I’m about to turn around to see who he’s looking at, he shouts at me over the music.

  “On the house love, courtesy of the Boss.” He winks and then starts to serve the people that were next.

  Oh! I’m so confused.

  Courtesy of the Boss. Why would he be buying my drinks?

  He’s never even met me.. Us?

  Curiosity gets the better of me, I’m to nosey for my own good sometimes. I go to spin around when some guy stops me, when he places his hand on my arse.

  Big mistake, mate.

  “Excuse me!” Who the fuck does he think he is? I’ve never seen him before in my life. What gives him the right to touch me like that? Doesn't help the fact that he’s dog ugly and has bad breathe. Oh god someone help. Where are Cole and Donna when I need them?

  Just as I’m about to tell him to fuck off, he pulls me closer into him, his hand now on the skin of my bare back.

  Why me? Why do I always attract the weirdos?

  Haven’t I had my run of bad luck to last me a lifetime?

  “You know, the way you were dancing up there, it was turning me on?” He whispers in my ear, trying to sound sexy when in fact it’s anything but.

  Who is this guy? He can fuck right off.

  I place my hands on his chest to try and push him away from me, but it doesn’t work he doesn’t move an inch.

  “Come on babe… I’ve been watching you dance for the last ten minutes. I know you were trying to get me all hot for you. Well it worked.”

  “Look… I don’t know who you are, but I’m just here to get drunk and have fun with my friends.” I say, trying my hardest to sound stern.

  This guy is seriously starting to piss me off.

  “Maybe so… but you can always have some extra fun… with me.”

  Now I know he’s having a laugh, I wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole let alone any part of my body.

  “What do you say, I take you around the back and we can start our own party? You know that tight pussy of yours is begging for a release.”

  What the fuck!

  Who talks to a woman like that? I’m seriously starting to lose it with him. I’m not my mother. I will not lie on my back, just because a male has showed me some attention.

  “How about you take your hands off of me right now before I break your fingers off, one by fucking one.” I look him dead in the eyes, making sure he gets the message loud and clear. If that doesn’t tell him I’m not interested in him I don’t know what will, then I’ll be totally fucked, I can say I’d hurt him, but I really can’t, It was all talk. Surely he wouldn’t try anything after I’ve just blatantly threatened him.

  “You're a fucking teasing little slut, you don’t come out dressed like that and not be looking for a hard fuck and…” He doesn't get to finish his sentence, because out of nowhere I hear a voice, a voice I was not expecting to hear at all boom at him.

  “Finish that comment and I’ll break your fucking legs.” I look to the right of me and that's when I see him. Standing right beside me looking devilishly handsome in his dark jeans and white dress shirt.

  Oh fuck me… he’s got the sleeves rolled to his elbows, his forearms are on display showing off a full sleeve of different tattoo’s, all connected up as one. All I can do is salivate on the spot. Forearms are not supposed to be sexy. But his are. I’m so screwed.

  Remember Lucy, you are supposed to hate him.

  When my eyes finally find his face, I find myself trying to fight for some air. He looks murderous. His usually sparkling grey eyes look like a two black holes leading me to this soul.

  “Fuck off mate, find yourself another pussy for tonight.” Before I even get the chance to throw my own punch at this dickhead, he’s pulled away from me leaving nothing but a cold draft.

  Kane has his hand wrapped around the guy’s throat, to the point the guy’s face is turning purple. For a split second I actually think Kane is going to choke him to death, just as I see Gavin come rushing over from nowhere…

  “You ok boss?” Kane doesn’t answer him. Then his words register in my drunken foggy brain. He called Kane boss, which means he brought me the drinks just now… Shit.. Kane is the new owner of Freedom.

  “I suggest you apologize to the lady, then fuck off and don’t come back here again.” With that said he releases his hold from the guy's neck and he falls to the floor. I hear the guy mumble a sorry ass apology from where he’s currently lying on the floor.

  “Get him out of my club now Gavin.” He orders.

  “Yes, boss.” Gavin grabs the bloke by his shirt and pulls him up from the floor, dragging him out of the club.

  I don’t move, my heels are literally superglued to the floor. My body's in shock, this can not be happening again. How does someone go from not seeing a person for thirteen years to seeing them twice in the same week. If this is karma then the bitch is dishing it out good to me right now.

  “You alright?”

  My body tingles all over, telling me he’s spoken to me and I’ve heard him, yet I still stay rooted to my spot and remain silent.

  “Lucy… answer me will you? Are you ok baby girl.”

  Those two words again, out of nowhere I go into a rage. I fling myself at him, slapping and punching at his chest.

  “You have no right Kane, no right whatsoever to call me that. You gave that right up years ago.” I’m screaming, and to all the people around us I more than likely look like I belong in some sort of mental institution. I don’t care, I have thirteen years of anger built up inside of me and it’s all because of him.

  So he’s going to get it from me… full force.

  Kane

  I spotted her the minute she walked through the door, I was just coming up the back staircase when I saw some guy throw his arm around her. I was about to go down there and rip him from limb to limb, but luckily when I took a closer look I realised it was the guy from her office the other day. And he is most definitely gay. I hid behind one of the long drapes so she wouldn’t see me and just watched her. She seemed so happy and carefree, but then again she had no idea she had just walked into my new business venture. I’ve only been the new owner of Freedom for just under a month, it’s not something that's ever interested me before but if I’d have known sooner that she came here I’d of signed on the dotted line a lot bloody quicker.

  Now I’m standing in my tower of glass that overlooks the club dance floor, Marcus is sitting on one of the sofas I have in here sipping his drink.

  “What crawled up your arse and died? You’ve been quiet since you got back from the cocktail bar upstairs. I thought we were supposed to be having some fun tonight?” I swear this fucker doesn’t miss a trick.

  He’s going to find out eventually so I just say one word that will tell him everything.

  “Lucy.”

  I hear him splutter and choke on his drink behind me.

  “Lucy? She’s here?”

  Ok… so maybe he isn’t that clever after all.

  “Yes… she’s here, I saw her earlier. I hid so she wouldn’t see me, then I came back in here.”

  “Holy Fuckeroo dude, what are you going do?” He asks me, and as per usual I have no bloody clue. Seeing her again has totally thrown me for a loop. I don’t give him a verbal answer, I just shrug my shoulders and hope he leaves it there.

  What I do know is, I’m itching go back upstairs to the cocktail bar and just watch her, I can tell myself that it’s just to make sure she is ok, but I would be lying to myself. I want to make sure that no random perv is trying to take what's mine.

  And as if the luck is on my side I see her enter the main floor from the stairs, she has her two friends with her and they all look slightly intoxicated but their having fun so I’m not worried.

  All three of them pile onto the dance floor, and I have the perfect view from up in my office, nothing but clear
glass to see her through. The dance floor right in my view, and it’s then I notice the back of her dress, it has a piece missing from the back and I don’t know if I’m angry or turned on. Judging by the tightness that’s going on in my jean’s, I’m going to go with the latter this time. Her hips are moving to the music, her hair is swaying along with her movements and her legs that go on forever are tormenting the ever living shit out of me. The tightness in my jeans is getting tighter and more uncomfortable by the minute. The more I look at her the more I can’t see the fifteen year old Lucy I left behind, now all I see a woman, who’s still my Lucy but she’s grown up into this stunning person on the inside and out. A woman who when I see her dancing the way she is, is making me wish she didn’t hate me and I could be between her legs right now.

  “You're watching her aren’t you?” Marcus pipes up. How the fuck he can read me so good is beyond me, I’m actually starting to worry about it.

  “Fuck off.” I grumble.

  The twat just laughs at me, but I don’t care because just then Lucy leaves the dance floor and heads to the bar, my eyes following her every move. My complete attention is on her and her alone. I see her order her drinks with Ashley one of my best bartenders who spots me watching through the glass window. When she goes to pay for them I shake my head at Ashley so he knows not to let her pay for them, when he tells her this she must be confused, as she shakes her head at him before noticing that something or someone has caught his attention, she starts to turn around. I then panic for a split second, not wanting her to see me, I don’t know how she’d react to seeing me just yet, I’m not ready, but thankfully Ash must see my reaction, because he stops her from looking my way, he says something to her, making her stop in her tracks and face him again. But then just as she’s about to leave the bar, I see some pissed up fart grab her arse and I see red. Yet I don’t move straight away, I want to see if she’s grown a backbone in the years I’ve been gone, and it seems she has. I watch her give him a mouthful to which I’m guessing is profanities. The guy gets even more hands on with her and she tries to push him away, but he doesn’t budge. I see red at that point, so I rush out through my office door and down the stairs. Pushing my way through the crowd, ignoring everyone wanting to talk to me as I go. Just as I get there I hear his words, words that make me want to break his fucking neck…