it takes all sorts
“I haven’t seen you around here before.”
Dani winces at the words, at the gravelly touch the man’s voice has. Like metal scraping against concrete. It makes her shiver. “That’s a good one,” she tells him and he looks pleased with himself for exactly two more seconds before she adds, “Definitely never heard it before.”
He blinks, but then pushes on, undeterred by her response. “Let me buy you a drink.”
Not a question. Dani resists the urge to roll her eyes.
“Thanks,” she says, “but I’ve got one.” She shakes the straw of her daiquiri for emphasis.
“The next one then,” he offers.
He’s got a stupid, handsome face. Dani wonders how easily he’s been able to slide through life with a face like that—how many girls he’s been able to talk into his bed with those dimples. She’s not drunk—even if she desperately wants to be—but she kind of wants to ask him what his success rate with this kind of thing normally is.
The plan had been to just get in, get a drink, and get out. Another round of disappointing and humiliating job interviews has left her with a dull pounding in the back of her head, and she’d only wanted to add a nice numbness to it before going back to her room at the hostel to lick her wounds.
But then her new acquaintance had come over less than a minute after the pretty bartender gave Dani her drink and now he won’t leave.
Apparently, the man takes her silence as agreement and he looks over at the bartender and lifts his hand—almost like he’s talking to a dog or something, which—
More points added to his general douchery.
“Can I get one more for—” He trails off, throwing a look back at Dani.
“Priscilla,” she says, rattling off the first fake name that comes to mind.
Fortunately, he buys it.
“For Priscilla,” he finishes.
The woman at the bar—whose name tag reads JAMIE—quirks an eyebrow at him, then glances at Dani. She’s a slight thing; curly brown hair and pale skin. Pink lips that Dani sort of wants to tug at with her teeth.
But that’s the alcohol talking.
When she first sat down, Jamie had given her a once-over. Not quite like she was sizing Dani up, but more like she was...appreciating the view. It was...interesting, to say the least, and she’d been planning on striking up a conversation before they were interrupted.
“Priscilla, yeah?” Jamie asks, and she gives Dani an amused look.
Dani’s stomach twists a little in excitement. “That’s my name,” she says.
“Pretty. You sure you’d like another?” Her eyes dart over to the man and Dani has the distinct impression that she’s being asked something else entirely.
Whether or not she’s actually interested in this guy.
She shrugs. “Only if he’s paying.”
Jamie almost looks impressed at this. “Coming right up, then.”
As she flits around the bar, making Dani’s drink and slapping another beer in front of her companion, the man turns his interest back to Dani.
“What brings you to London, Priscilla?” he asks, voice oozing arrogance. He must think he’s already won her over.
Dani thinks for a moment. “I’m in a band,” she decides. “We’re doing a tour.”
The man flicks his eyebrows up in surprise. “Is that so?”
“Yep.”
She pops the ‘p’ a little too loud and takes a long pull from her drink, nearly giving herself a brain freeze.
“What kind of music do you play?”
“Polka.”
“Polka?”
“That’s what I said.”
He frowns. “Anything of yours I might know?”
Dani’s busy trying to come up with the most ridiculous thing yet when another voice chimes in.
“You’ve never heard of The Polka Dots?”
It’s Jamie, frowning like the man’s ignorance is an affront to God.
The man looks between the two of them in surprise. “The...The Polka Dots?” he asks.
Dani smiles. “That’s us,” she says.
Jamie nods. She finishes the final touches of Dani’s drink and sets it in front of her. “Her and about three beefy types.” She mimes some kind of “tough guy” attitude and Dani has to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
“All of whom I’m dating,” she adds.
It’s kind of surprising that the man hasn’t just high-tailed it out of the bar yet. The game they’re playing isn’t subtle, and Dani would like to think that—were she in the same unfortunate position he is—she would know when to take a hint.
“Is that so?” he asks, and it takes Dani a moment to realize the reason why he hasn’t left:
He actually believes her.
Which is just—
Wow.
“They’re actually supposed to be meeting me here soon,” she says, fingers crossed a little on her lap.
And, there it is. That’s the ticket.
In an awkward rush, the man tosses a few bills on the bar top and says something along the lines of, “There’s a...meeting I forgot I had,” before rushing out of the bar. Dani watches him go and then turns to Jamie triumphantly.
“I can’t believe he bought that,” she says.
Jamie whistles through her teeth. “Well, it takes all sorts.” She throws a smile at Dani and then starts cleaning up after the guy.
Dani watches her in silence, tracing the lines of her face with her eyes. “Thanks,” she says once Jamie is near enough again. “For your help.”
“Don’t mention it.” She waves Dani’s appreciation off. “Can’t say it wasn’t fun to watch him scurry out of here with his tail between his legs like that.”
Some of her hair has fallen into her face, a few brown curls bobbing in front of her eyes as she moves. Dani has the sudden urge to reach out and touch it, curl it around her finger as she leans in to—
There’s a buzz in her veins that’s making her chest feel less tight by the moment, and, later, she’ll blame what she says next on that feeling.
“Hey, are you…” Her broken sentence catches Jamie’s attention and then Dani feels trapped beneath the heat of her gaze. She flounders for a moment, but then manages to say, “Would you wanna get a drink sometime?”
She doesn’t realize how that sounds until Jamie is making a face.
“Not here,” she clarifies hurriedly. “Somewhere else.” Still no response, so she keeps going. “Not even a drink, if you don’t want. We could get...dinner...or something.”
In the quiet that follows, she sort of feels like an idiot, but then she notices that Jamie’s eyes are looking her up and down again. Checking her out, maybe. Dani flushes and forces herself to maintain eye contact.
“Priscilla,” Jamie says in this shocked tone and Dani laughs. “Are you asking me out?”
“Dani,” she corrects, thrusting out a hand for Jamie to shake. “And, yes.”
Her hand is really soft, her grip loose and easy as she squeezes Dani’s fingers before pulling away. “You flirt,” she admonishes, her tone nothing but flattered amusement.
“Is that a yes?”
Two men sitting at the far end of the bar call for her, and Jamie acknowledges them, holding up a finger for them to wait a moment. She turns back to Dani.
“I get off at six,” she says, and then she leans down close enough that Dani can see the flecks of light brown in her irises. Her hands tremble at the proximity and Jamie must know the effect she’s having because she looks all-too-pleased with herself. “Maybe we can have that drink at my flat.”
Jesus.
Dani blinks a few times, rapidly. “Do you often ask girls back to your apartment before the first date?” she asks, a little amazed at her luck.
Pulling back a little, Jamie shrugs. “Only the girls that are going to fall in love with me.”
“Are you always this confident?” Her heart sort of feels like it’s going to burst. It’s strange that the exact quality that annoyed her so much in the man from before is the exact thing that’s no making her feel like a teenager all over again.
Jamie laughs, a sound just as stunning as the rest of her. “Never,” she admits and Dani knows she’s telling the truth.
Just as she’s about to saunter off to help other customers, Dani reaches out and wraps her fingers loosely around Jamie’s wrist, holding her still. “Six o’clock?” she asks and Jamie grins.
“Looking forward to it,” she says and the wink she gives Dani is almost enough to have her falling already.
...