‘Where the lady was murdered?!’ Sarah rendered Rachel’s whisper redundant with the volume of her reply. It would have been clearly audible from where he was perched at the bar. ‘What happened to Mr. Freaky? I was looking forward to the latest listing of his transgressions.’
‘He went away.’ Rachel forced her eyes away from Ben but when she turned to Sarah, she found her friend staring intently at him anyway.
‘Intense, isn’t he?’ she laughed, ‘He seems quite taken with you. Can’t take his eyes off of you.’
No, he can’t, Rachel thought and was relieved when Ana pushed back her chair, bellowing in what she could only interpret as an attempt at a pirate’s voice. ‘Argh, it be my round.’ Suddenly she really didn’t want to go anywhere near the bar.
‘He’s pretty cute. You should invite him over.’
‘No,’ Rachel hissed but Sarah was already waving at him. ‘What are you doing?’ Rachel tried to grab her arm but Sarah just laughed and batted her away. Rachel felt like she could have just slapped her.
She peeked up and breathed a sigh of relief as it looked like Ben hadn’t reacted to Sarah’s summons at all. She looked away, over at Mitch who had Bec rabbiting in his ear. He was nodding occasionally but looking from her to Ben. There was a flicker of something in his face – was it jealousy; oh, get over yourself – and Rachel’s heart fell as she looked back and saw Ben unfold himself from the bar stool. He retrieved his glass from the bar and moved slowly toward them.
Oh fucking great, Rachel thought a little bitterly as Sarah gave a mock, excited yelp.
‘Oooh, here he comes.’
* * * * *
Rachel was doing her best not to let his presence at the table spoil her evening but as she listened to Mitch explain about his job at the local TAFE – as it turned out he wasn’t really an old friend of Ana’s but rather a colleague who had only started working there a month ago – inside she was fuming.
Fucking hell, she’d come out tonight to get away from all this shit and then he had to go and fucking turn up… And then that fucking bitch Sarah.
Her motives for calling him over had become abundantly clear now. Rachel knew she was probably being rude not talking to him after a brief introduction to the group but she supposed it didn’t really matter anyway. Not when he had Sarah fawning over him, chattering away.
And every time she glanced at him it was there again. That flicker of movement as though he’d just swivelled his head away at the last second. Rachel just couldn’t relax with him there and she knew she was churning through her drinks too fast; that she would be absolutely shit-faced in the near future if she didn’t slow down, but it was the only thing keeping her irritation at bay.
At least Mitch was turning out good. Although Rachel was fairly certain he had close to the most boring job on the planet, he was nice: softly spoken, self-effacing, one of those guys who just struck you as inherently good.
Why don’t you marry him, she thought sarcastically, you barely know him, he could murder people in his spare time for all you know. It was hard not to see him in a pristine light though, when compared to the fucker staring at her from the other side of the table. Rachel had already decided she was going to sleep with the man. Now it was just a matter of letting things take their course.
But there were still those eyes boring into her. Rachel fought the urge to grind her teeth and instead smiled at Mitch who had apparently wrapped up his usual day at work even if Rachel had missed the end bit.
‘So, have you been up to anything exciting today?’ he asked, smiling that self-effacing grin. The one that told Rachel he was well and truly aware of how dull his job was. She couldn’t help liking him for that.
‘Well…’ she began, readying her usual stock answers: nothing really exciting, the usual, work and stuff, but stopped as a new thought occurred to her. ‘Well now that you mention it, I don’t know if it’s exciting but, well something definitely different happened today.’
She looked across at Ben to make certain he was watching. She wanted to see what his reaction would be.
‘I had a peeping tom.’ She said it at the just the right volume to cut through the hubbub of conversation from Ana who had embarked on some sort of stream of consciousness rant.
It worked perfectly. Ana’s jaw clicked shut and the group turned toward her in near perfect unison. Even Sarah momentarily halted the moon eyes she was making at Ben.
‘Okay, now that sounds far more interesting,’ Ana crowed, grinning, ‘Do tell.’
* * * * *
Rachel sculled the dregs of vodka and coke from her glass and broke into a coughing fit as a bit of ice lodged in her throat. God she was pissed. She’d lost track of the number of drinks she’d downed after ten. Whatever the number was, it was clearly the magic one. Even Ben’s presence at the table had stopped irritating her.
His reaction to her story hadn’t been what she’d hoped for. He’d remained completely stone-faced and unreadable throughout and she couldn’t help but wonder, once again, if he was medicated.
Not that his lack of response was bothering Sarah, she thought as she spluttered. She’d obviously set her sights on him for the evening and Rachel shuddered a little to think what that said about her: that she would be attracted to a man who basically ignored her.
‘Ya right? Got bones in it has it?’ Mitch’s face loomed into view.
He was a little rosy-cheeked and there was a slight slur to his voice that in her intoxicated state, Rachel viewed as decidedly cute. He had a fair few drinks under his belt now and once he’d settled into the evening and the alcohol had started to ease his awkwardness, he’d revealed himself as quite the silver-tongued charmer.
Rachel searched for a witty reply but the drink had made her brain an alarming blank. Mitch’s hand, that had started out patting her back, was now rubbing circles across it which Rachel was finding immensely enjoyable.
Better get out of here soon before I pass out, she thought as she spluttered one last time before straightening in her chair. It was enough to send hazy swirls shooting across her vision.
Definitely time.
She attempted her best come-hither smile for Mitch as she eased her hand onto his thigh. She had a clear image of what she was going for in her mind and only hoped her face was obeying her. Mitch stared at her evenly for a second, just long enough for the doubts to start up – oh God, what if he says no, says I’m not his type – then he leaned in close and began whispering. His line was abrupt and to the point and Rachel was very thankful for that. It led to a very simple and easy to think through reply.
‘Do you want to get out of here?’
‘Yes.’
Business done.
The catcalls from the group started the instant they stood up, as though it hadn’t only been Ben who’d been staring at her all night. They continued as they headed to the door and Rachel turned just before opening it to shoot them the finger. It only doubled the calls and despite herself, Rachel found herself blushing.
The only one not cheering was Ben and for a second the old doubts and irritation began to creep back in as she watched the smile spread across his face. But then Mitch grabbed her arm and dragged her out the door, spinning her into an awkward hug and as her lips met his, she decided there were far better things to occupy her thoughts.
DAY 4