‘Right.’
‘And you—how was your day?’
‘Normal, I suppose,’ said Kate flippantly. There really wasn’t much to say. Her small talk skills were lacking. And, truthfully, were borderline nonexistent. ‘Nothing noteworthy, really. Just lots of computers, and typing, and code and staring at screens – that was my day in a nutshell.’
‘Sounds fun,’ said Emily with a laugh.
They continued their walk in silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but rather a companionable one, and for that Kate was grateful. If it had been she’d wouldn’t have a choice but to go back to the whole small talk business – she abhorred awkward silences. They drove her mad. She just didn’t have the nerves to deal with them.
The restaurant was packed, and with good reason, they served the best food in terms of budget, taste and over all quantity. It was crazy, really, just how popular the place had become. Kate remembered when it was just a little hole in the wall that she only knew existed because it was Iuan’s favorite restaurant, and quickly it had become Kate’s too.
‘So, burgers?’
‘Are they good?’ Emily took a sip of water and looked over Kate’s shoulder into the kitchen. It was busy – packed, even. Kate knew there were more than then people working in that small space, she’d see them making burgers when she walked passed in her way to the shops after the class, on her weekly Friday shop.
‘It depends,’ said Kate grudgingly, ‘on who you ask.’
‘That is vague and very, very, noncommittal.’ Emily frowned. ‘So which is it?’
‘In my opinion?’ asked Kate.
‘You’re who I’m here with.’ She looked around. ‘Unless I’m mistaken.’
‘Right,’ said Kate. ‘Well, in my honest opinion, they’re brilliant.’
‘And who thinks they aren’t?’
‘Jenny.’
‘Why?’
‘Apparently they’re not that good,’ Kate couldn’t contain her eye roll. ‘To quote Jenny, “I can buy the same one’s in the grocery store and make them for myself.”’
‘Is she right?’ asked Emily.
‘No,’ said Kate. ‘She’s not. At least I don’t think she is and Iuan hasn’t said anything.’
‘I’ll have to see and find out for myself.’
‘They have really good loaded fries,’ said Kate, her brain wandering to a happy place at the thought of the fires, ‘if you want my ten cents.’
‘Loaded fries sound good.’ Emily looked over the menu with furrowed brows. ‘Anything else?’
‘Whatever looks good to you,’ said Kate. ‘I’ve had it all before, so I really don’t mind.’
Emily was quiet for a minute.
Kate watched her peruse the menu, face scrunched up in serious contemplation. It was endearing, thought Kate, how seriously she was taking this. It was cute.
‘I think,’ said Emily as if contemplating the meaning of life, ‘that the chocolate milkshakes don’t sound too bad.’
‘Loaded fries and chocolate milkshakes coming right up.’ Kate had defiantly had worse. As full as she was she was still looking forward to what they were about to eat. ‘I’ll go order, if you want? My treat.’
Kate stood quickly before the other girl could see her blush. She’d want this to happen again. Even if they were only ever friends.
The line moved quickly and before she knew it, she was back in her seat, receipt in hand, waiting for their food.
‘How are you liking your classes?’ Kate cringed. So much for being interesting. But all was not lost yet. She still had a chance. Awkward small talk was bound to happen. She just couldn’t surpass her quota.
‘I’m taking a couple of interesting ones,’ said Emily. ‘Like there’s this one class I’m taking that’s on gender relations in the media age.’
‘That sounds heavy,’ said Kate. It did. At least she didn’t have to lie. ‘Interesting, without a doubt, but heavy.’
‘It’s probably my favorite,’ Emily tilted her head to the side and rested her elbows on the table either side of the menu she’d been perusing moments ago.
The food came after a fifteen minute wait. Kate, despite being full, made quick work of it. And she was glad to see Emily did too. They didn’t talk much after the food arrived. That didn’t bother Kate as much as she thought it might have. The silence that had descended over them was the comfortable sort.
When all was said and done Kate walked to her car and made her way back to her room. It wasn’t a long walk. Not even two minutes. But it was enough time for her to bask in the glow of her now uncontrollable crush. She was self-aware, so she could get away with a small moment’s indulgence, in her opinion. Before coming to terms with the reality of the matter. She was screwed.
Five
Drinks and a Show
Beautiful self-sabotage. That was the theme of the poetry slam. It was one of her guilty pleasures. Kate wouldn’t perform – couldn’t – but she loved to watch. It spoke to her. One of the few pastimes she had in common with her parents; the only one they’d dragged her to as a kid that she didn’t hate. Though, keep in mind, a town of four thousand didn’t exactly offer much variety when it came to poets. It was always the same four people in a fish and chips shop of all places.
Not this time. Bryan knew of her guilty pleasure and had found a slam near the college. It was at a bar a few miles away. Kate hadn’t ever known him to enjoy poetry. She was fairly sure he hated it but she wouldn’t comment. He’d offered to give her a lift and that meant she could drink.
Trying to park in his car was a hell of an ordeal. The parking lots in the city were not made for cars like his, they were made for tiny cars that were economically sound and didn’t guzzle petrol like Kate did her morning coffee.
‘You good there?’ Kate didn’t look up from her phone. She didn’t have to. She could smell the frustration off him as he tried to reverse park for the third time in as many minutes. ‘I’m pretty sure people are watching us now like we’re zoo animals or a circus attraction.’
‘This one is gonna be it.’ Bryan checked his side mirrors. The car reversed slowly into the spot. ‘I can feel it.’
He was right. It worked that time. Kate let out an excited whoop, slid her phone into the back pocket of her worn jeans and smiled brilliantly. ‘Let’s get this party started. Slam poetry here we come!’
‘Are you high?’
‘High on life, mate.’ Kate hopped out of the car, a spring in her step. ‘It’s a great day. The sun’s shining, there’s not a cloud in the sky—’
‘And we’re about to go listen to an angst riddled poetry session in a dark, musky smelling room, and pay for overpriced beer.’
‘Exactly!’ Kate smiled wide. ‘It’s a great day.’
‘You’re strange.’
‘Alright Debby Downer, why’d you suggest this, then?’ That did puzzle Kate. He’d never wanted to go with her before and all of the sudden he was suggesting they go? He’d even picked the slam they were going to watch. None of that made sense. ‘What are not telling me?’
‘I heard the beer was good.’ Bryan’s steps were hasty and his words mumbled.
Kate didn’t let up. ‘I thought you said they were overpriced?’
‘They can be both, can’t they?’
‘I suppose.’ Kate wasn’t convinced. She didn’t press then, as the doorman at the bar asked for their tickets, and Bryan showed him his phone and tickets. Their hands got stamped, like at a club, and Kate got distracted as soon as they entered.
It was a dark, dimly lit, back room, at the back of the bar, and it was filled. There were at least a hundred people in the room, some standing, but most sitting on little wooden stools around tables that were too low to be comfortably used. The stage a the front of the room was small, square and squat and black.
‘I’m going to get a drink.’ Bryan looked around warily. ‘Are you going to have anything?’
‘Not yet.’ Kate looked around. The room was f
illed with an eclectic interesting looking bunch of people. She felt at home, uninteresting and plain in her white shirt and jeans. ‘Later. Afterwards. I’m going to have to decompress somehow if it gets particularly intense tonight, and post-show lat night drinks are the best way to do that, in my experience.’
‘I still can’t believe you like this sort of thing.’ Bryan sat, finally. He hadn’t bought himself a drink and seemed to be taking his cues from Kate. ‘You are the last sort of person I’d expect to like this sort of stuff.’
A lady in a bold rainbow striped sweater with librarian glasses and blue dyed hair shot a disgruntled look Bryan’s way.
Kate smiled apologetically at the woman. She nudged Bryan. ‘If you’re going to say shit like that then whisper, please, for my sake if nothing else. I won’t stand for you besmearing my good name.’
‘You’ve been reading Jane Austen, again, haven’t you?’ He smirked. ‘You’re only this dramatic when you’ve been reading her stuff.’
Bryan stuck his tongue out at her. The sound of a throat clearing, amplified by he aid of a microphone and the speaker scattered round the room, stopped him from saying anything else. A man was stood on stage, tall and thin, but with pot belly, and a long thin ponytail. He was in charge of organizing the event. The audience snapped their fingers in welcome.
Kate could never get used to that, and so she joined them more than somewhat reluctant. The names of the poets were drawn from a hat. White boards and markers were passed to lucky – or unlucky depending on your disposition – members of the crowd. Neither Kate or Bryan received one. These few randomly selected members of the crowd would determine tonight’s winner, and who went home with the all the money collected as the entrance fee.
Kate watched every performance with bated breath. Some were just alright, some were technically perfect and some were just breathtakingly beautiful. She admired every single last one of them. They had more talent and ovaries then Kate ever would.
About halfway through Bryan turned to her, a curious look on his face, nervous and seemingly waiting for something. ‘Is it always this… intense?’
Kate shook her head. She was dazed, and tired. Emotionally exhausted, came to mind. ‘Yeah. It tends to depend on the topic but we got a bit of a killer this time.’
‘Right.’ Bryan smiled sheepishly, his eyes drifting to the bar. ‘So this is like the intermission, now, yeah?’
‘Something like that.’ Kate nodded. ‘Last month’s winner is going to be perform and then, I think, the points will all be tallied and the winners announced. So, you could, hypothetically speaking that is, go get a drink if you wanted.’
‘No—no, I can wait.’ And wait he did.
#
‘Bryan?’ Emily’s voice rose in surprise.
‘Emily!’ Bryan’s smile was wide. It was a full on self-satisfied grin. Kate smelt a rat. Bryan had a plan and she had only just cottoned on. Sneaky bastard, indeed. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
She should’ve known.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I performed.’
‘Yes—right, of course you did. Erm, we saw you. You were really good.’
Kate thought now the time to chime in. It was too painful to watch. ‘You really were, good. Great, even. I can see why you won last month. It was a very honest performance.’
‘Kate.’
Kate did a little half-wave. She smiled, thinking back to that very unexpected kiss the first night she’d met Emily. That had not been at all how she saw her night going. Kate had squashed whatever niggling doubts had persisted after that. The other girl couldn’t really have liked Kate all that much. Friends, maybe. Acquaintances, sure. Kate was certain it hadn’t meant anything to Emily. She’d seen her kiss some random guy with an awful bleach blond buzz cut not thirty minutes later. And besides, even if she had run into Emily afterwards, the other girl hadn’t mentioned it. Hadn’t hinted at being attracted to Kate since. She was reading into things.
She sipped her drink and focused on the bright side of things. Two shows in one night. What an utter treat.
‘What are you doing here?’ Emily turned Bryan’s question back on him. ‘I didn’t think you were into this sort of thing.’
‘I am.’ It wasn’t his most convincing lie. Kate had heard better. Bryan’s half-gelled curls were out of place and most definitely didn’t suit the middle part he was sporting.
‘Huh. I wouldn’t have guessed.’ Emily’s small silver pendant necklace dangled as she tilted her head in consideration. ‘And you Kate?’
‘I’ve got layers. I may not be artistic myself but I can appreciate the quality in others.’
Emily accepted that answer with a surprised grin of her own. ‘Like an onion?’
‘Hopefully not.’ Kate shrugged. She’d set her up for that one. Damn. ‘I like to think I smell way better than that.’
‘Maybe now you know why you’re still single,’ heckled Bryan. He spied Emily out of the corner of his to see if she laughed.
‘Trust me Bryan,’ Kate patted him on the shoulder, ‘that has never been a problem for me. I’ve never once had any complaints.’
Bryan muttered something under his breath. It was a quiet for an awkward second. No-one said a thing. Then, just as Kate began to fight the urge to fidget, Emily took the initiative to break the awkward silence.
‘Do you two want to join us?’ Emily gestured over to a table in a back corner. ‘It’s me and a couple of friends.’
‘Artsy friends?’
‘We’d loved to!’
‘Don’t sound so scared Kate, we don’t bite.’
Kate mumbled under her breathe that she very much disagreed with that. She’d gone on a couple of dates with an art major just before the start of the semeter and that girl had left her neck looking like a vampire had decided to snack on it. And, because she had a drink in her, and wasn’t particularly worried about offending anyone, she said just that.
Emily’s smiled dimmed.
Kate didn’t know what to make of that.
#
As the night went on Kate came to the conclusion that Emily’s friends weren’t half-bad. Sure, they were artsy and Kate couldn’t entirely keep up with the conversation, she was a a step or two behind. But she knew for a fact that she was better off than Bryan who seemed miles off whenever he tried to join in. And that was a win in her books.
Bryan’s eyes were glazed. His head rested on his hand and he stared blankly at the three people squished in on the bench across across from him. He seemed ready to nod-off any second.
Kate smiled into her drink. Her second drink of the night was ginger bear, and it burned as it traveled down her throat in the most delicious way. She loved ginger beer.
Emily’s friends, Rose and Sophie, were talking animatedly. Their hands waving. Kate eyed the glasses that lined the table. Emily seemed a world away, too.
Kate nudged Emily’s shin with her foot. She leaned over and whispered loudly, ‘Are they normally like this?’
Emily blinked. She shook her head slightly, blonde hair waving with the motion. ‘Yes. All the time.’
‘You were really good, by the way.’ Kate tapped her foot on the floor nervously. ‘I didn’t want you to think I was just saying it. That I didn’t mean it. You would’ve won again, if they allowed you to compete.’
‘You really think so?’
‘Without a doubt.’ Kate twirled her drink in her hand. Her foot still tapping away. Why did this girl make her so nervous? ‘I thought it was excellent. You’ve got a great talent. Bryan didn’t tell me you were that good.’
‘I didn’t think I was.’
‘Liar.’ Kate wouldn’t believe that for a second. ‘No one that talented doesn’t know how good they are. I won’t believe it.’
‘I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered.’ Emily seemed to think about it. Her features scrunched together in mock concentration.
Kate stared
at her lips. They were red. Berry red and stunning. Perfect. And very fucking kissable.
‘On one hand you just called me a liar and other hand—’
‘And on the other hand your inner narcissist is preening at the praise?’ Kate couldn’t stop herself.
‘Maybe.’ Emily’s smile was bright. Red lips revealed a row of perfect white teeth.
‘So are you two going to be flirting the entire evening?’ It was Sophie. Sophie with her cuffed jeans and denim jacket and freckles. Her voice was teasing.
Kate shrunk in on herself slightly. Had she been flirting? She knew the honest answer to that but didn’t want to admit it to herself. Bryan’s gaze on her was heavy and questioning and all of the sudden very much wide awake,.
Emily laughed it off. ‘And what were you two doing? Arguing over art like its a type of foreplay?’
That hurt more than Kate cared to admit. It wasn’t an entirely laughable, was it? The idea of them flirting wasn’t out of this world.
‘Are two dating?’ Bryan looked puzzled. He gave Sophie and Rose a once over, before turning questioningly to Kate.
Kate thought about it. Shrugged because it really wasn’t her business. But she was almost a hundred percent certain there was something going on between Emily’s two friends. She could smell the gay drama miles away. It was probably obvious to everyone but them.
‘We don’t kiss and tell. Unlike these two.’ Sophie pointed at Emily at then at Kate and seemed none the wiser of the dirty little secret she’d just let out.
Shit. Not good. Kate risked a look at Bryan. His smile hadn’t fallen from his face but his eyes were pinched. Emily didn’t hide her feelings nearly was well as he had. Her eyes were wide, her face had lost color, and she looked between Bryan and Kate with a frantic sort of urgency that meant only one thing: she hadn’t told him either.
Bryan didn’t mention it, though. Not for the rest of the night. And while Kate was optimistic that she was just imagining the tightness in his face she wasn’t delusional. Whatever conversation they were going to be having on the way home would not be a pleasant one.
More Than Friends Page 6
