“I’ve just got in, mum, haven’t I done enough for today? It is supposed to be my day off after all! Do I not do enough during the week?”
“More hands make idle work. And spuds don’t peal themselves,” said Andrea as she pushed him towards the living room door — followed by Tammy who gave a sly wink, which didn’t go unnoticed, at Dan.
“What the fuck was that about?” asked Hayley as the living room door closed.
“You’ve either got it, or you haven’t…” teased Dan, “…And I clearly have it.”
“What the fuck is any of this about?” asked Joel. “Someone want to explain how we ended up having dinner with these guys?”
“They were very persistent,” said Charlotte.
“I thought we were going camping. Clearly I was mistaken!” Joel sat on one of the spare armchairs.
“What harm does it do?” said Michael. “We’re already late…”
“No thanks to you,” Joel butted in.
Michael ignored him, “I’m just saying we may as well make the best of a bad situation. If these people offered dinner… We should accept. Not only is it free but it saves having to stop off later on.”
“Later on? That’s if we even get there today. We need to get the van sorted and they’re out there cutting up potatoes. Clearly their idea of dinner isn’t a round of sandwiches.”
“Which makes it all the better. I, for one, am hungry… Besides, I tried to tell her not to worry about it,” Dan chipped in.
“I think we should just go,” said Hayley.
“Let’s just eat their food. Say thank you. Get a lift. We don’t have to stay for hours and hours!” said Charlotte. “It’ll be fine. It could even be quite nice.”
“I agree with Hayley, this just feels wrong!” Joel argued.
“You lot listen to yourselves? Yes they’re strangers but, at the end of the day, they’re just being kind and helping us out. What’s wrong with that?” said Charlotte.
“Let’s just see what they make, eat it… Stay long enough to be polite, and then get to the petrol station,” said Michael. “We can still get to the site in a few hours. We can make this part of the holiday. Besides… That girl looks nice… Right Dan?”
Dan grinned from ear to ear fully aware that she did look nice and that she had also been flirting with him.
Joel didn’t share his enthusiasm, “Is there anyone you wouldn’t fuck, Michael? Jesus Christ…”
“Me!” Lara pointed out. “But only because I said no, right?”
“I told you…” Michael went to defend himself but was cut off mid-sentence.
“Fine, we’ll stay for dinner… We’ll get a lift to the petrol station but after that we’re going home!” hissed Joel.
“What?” asked Dan. “Home? What about the weekend we had planned?”
“I think we should cut our losses… I mean, is anyone even still in the mood for it? I, for one, am not. I don’t want to spend any more time with him,” Joel pointed to Michael.
“For fuck sakes! I’m sorry!” said Michael — not keen on losing a friend nor his weekend away, especially as he had walked out of a job to make sure he could attend it.
“What for?” asked Joel. “Are you sorry for getting us in this position, in the first place, or are you sorry for trying to fuck Lara?”
“What? Whoa there… Have we missed something?” asked Dan.
“Wouldn’t be surprised,” said Hayley, “you’ve had your eyes fixed firmly on that slut’s breasts since she introduced herself and tried giving you a lap dance?”
“What? Oh, come on, don’t you start… I was being friendly… They were being friendly to us! What was I supposed to do?” asked Dan.
“I think we all need to just calm down a little,” said Charlotte, “let’s not forget where we are…”
They all fell silent.
“Look, I just want to eat the meal and go home. If you lot want to go on to the site, you can… I’m just not in the mood for any further little adventures this weekend,” said Joel eventually.
“Fine, if that’s what you want,” said Dan. “I think it’s a shame but I won’t twist your arm.” He addressed the rest of the group, “What about the rest of you? What do you want to do?”
“I think things have been said and done already which would make for an unpleasant weekend,” said Lara. “I agree with Joel.”
“You can answer that but you can’t answer whether you want to go out with him again though?” spat Michael seizing his opportunity to make her feel as uncomfortable as him.
Dan, Charlotte and Hayley all turned to Lara, surprised to learn Joel had asked her out again.
“Fuck you,” hissed Lara.
“Didn’t we establish that was never going to happen?” said Joel, backing up Lara — although part of him had hoped it would prompt her to give him an answer.
“Fine! We’ll all go home!” said Michael. “But I think you’re being retarded! This was all nothing more than a mere speed bump. The text was taken out of context and the fact I got us lost… Just a mistake… You want to punish everyone because of that… Fine. Be my guest. But that’s your choice so fuck you.”
The living room door opened and Andrea walked in with a tray of drinks, “See — it never takes long when there’s more than one of you in the kitchen. And they say too many chefs ruin the broth. Proof in the pudding that this isn’t the case.” She put the tray down on the table opposite the group, “Are you having fun? Sorry to be so anti-social… We just want to ensure dinner is ready in a timely fashion… No doubt you’re all keen to get going!”
“It’s fine,” said Joel, trying his best to keep a civil tone in his voice despite his blackened mood. “We have all the time in the world,” he finished.
“That’s lovely, dear,” Andrea replied. “Well enjoy your drinks, you must be parched, and I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.” She finished what she was saying but she didn’t leave. She simply stood there, in front of them, watching the glasses. Eventually the youths took the hint and took up a glass each.
“Thank you,” they all muttered before taking a sip each to keep her happy.
“My pleasure,” she said. She smiled and walked from the room, closing the living room door behind her.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Dan opened his eyes and sat bolt upright when he realised he was lying on a bed. Tammy was sitting on the end of it looking at him with a genuine look of concern on her face.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Where am I? What happened?” he asked. He looked around the decidedly pink bedroom; pink duvet, pink pillow cases, pink walls. Definitely her room. “Where the hell am I?”
“It’s okay,” said Tammy. “You’re in my bedroom.” She saw the look of panic on her face and went onto explain, “My dad put you in here after you fainted downstairs.”
“I fainted?”
“Banged your head pretty hard on the side too. We were worried.”
“I fainted?” he repeated. He rubbed his head as though it’d help with the banging headache he had pounding the inside of his skull. “Where’s Hayley?” he asked.
“She’s downstairs. They all are. They’re eating. I excused myself to go to the toilet. Wanted to make sure you were okay. They told me to leave you be but… I wanted to check. Is that bad?”
“What? No… No, it’s fine. Thank you. Fainted you say?”
She nodded, “You mentioned something about feeling funny one minute and the next, you dropped like a sack of spuds. How are you feeling now?”
He shook his head, “Okay I guess… I don’t remember anything. I best go and make my apologies.”
Tammy slid up the bed, closer to him, and pushed him back down so his head was on the pillow, “There’s no rush, is there?” she asked. “I’ve been wanting to get you to myself since I first saw you. Thought you looked tasty…”