Page 16 of Life Lessons

At this stage I am getting bored of just standing there waiting for this idiot to invite us into his car. Trix either picks up on my energy or she’s thinking the same and she leans over and pulls back the chair before climbing in. At this stage I already know I don’t want to do this but Trixie is in and has climbed across making room for me. So I can’t let her down.

As I get in the car, I cast a glance at my ‘date’, he’s sitting in the front and has barely cast me a second glance. I can tell just by how much less of the seat he takes up rather than his cousin that he is a smaller guy. In fact, I would go as far as to say he is a lot smaller. He’s wearing dark trousers and a black button down shirt that makes him look very smart, clearly they were expensive and tailored, but they couldn’t magic up muscles he obviously doesn’t have. He keeps running his hands through his awful looking black hair and I make a mental note not to touch his hand. I don’t know if it is grease or an insane amount of hair gel, but his hair practically shines with the stuff, and not in a good way.

It’s a fifteen minute drive into town and he doesn’t say a word, which means much to my relief that I don’t have to. Not that we can get a minute to talk since Trixie and Aaron never bloody shut up. She clearly met this guy in gossip club. Once we reach the car park of this little Italian restaurant, Aaron gets out and pushes his seat forward for me to get out, but he’s not quite gentleman enough to give me his hand to help. I am desperately trying to climb out of the car without flashing anyone, but also making sure the skirt doesn’t ride up enough that my scar is visible. As delicately as possible, I climb out of the car, followed swiftly by Trixie who bounds straight to Aaron’s side. His cousin makes his way around the car and for the first time he actually looks at me and I wish he hadn’t. The way his gaze lears over my body makes me feel dirty and the little glint he has in his eye is the epitome of sleaze.

“Well, well, well. You are a lot sexier than I was expecting for a blind date. I’m glad I bothered to come now. What’s your name, gorgeous?”

I wait for several minutes to answer him because that’s how long it takes for him to move his gaze away from my tits to look at my face. He had even spoken and asked the question to them. I mean, I’m not denying that my tits are good, they are a decent size and men never seem to complain, but he makes me feel naked and drooled on. I suddenly wish I had one of my big hoodies to throw on.

“It’s Abbie, and please don’t call me gorgeous. What is your name?” I ask politely, even though I already know it. What else can I say? This is so awkward.

“Listen, gorgeous, now that you are with me, you are going to have to learn to take a compliment. I like showing off what’s mine, and have no problems telling you that you look good, as long as you do.”

The more he spoke, the more I could feel food I hadn’t even eaten yet starting to come back up. This guy is something else. Out of the corner of my eye I notice that Aaron and Trixie have walked into the restaurant and not wanting to be left alone with him, I decide to follow. He quickly joins me, standing at my side and he tries to take my hand to hold it, but I flinch and pull away. I turn to him slowly with my most stern expression and hope that he is looking at my face for once.

“Okay, first of all, if you call me gorgeous again, I am leaving. Secondly, we are not together. I agreed to this date for Trixie and typically on first dates you get to know each other. You don’t just assume we are in a relationship because you think I’m hot. You haven’t even bothered to tell me your damn name,” I exclaim, exacerbation causing my voice to rise to squeaky levels towards the end.

“Look, sweet cheeks. You can call me whatever you want. My name is Neville, but for you I will answer to anything. I just figured that we might as well skip the formalities. You obviously aren’t going to turn down a Winston, and now that I have seen you are good looking enough to be at my side, I figured we may as well skip the pleasantries,” he affirms, once again talking to my chest while he tries to take hold of my hand again. Luckily, we have reached the door to the restaurant and I can use my hand to open the door and keep it out of his sleazy mitts.

“Stop calling me anything but Abbie. I do not give a shit what your last name is, it certainly doesn’t guarantee that you will be in my pants. I believe in dating and getting to know people, so we will not be skipping any steps. And if I’m being perfectly honest with you, Neville, so far it’s not looking good for you. I don’t date people who prefer to talk to my tits than to my face, and I also like men who call me by my name. Don’t even get me started on how many points you lost by saying our relationship was a given because of your family’s name. So, if you want to start again and behave like a normal person, then that’s fine we can talk. If not then we will eat and go our separate ways, it’s your choice.”

I don’t even give him a chance to reply as I step into the restaurant and let the door close behind me. He is clearly too stunned to move, or maybe he really is weighing up what he wants to do. Making my way into the restaurant, I nearly barrel straight into Trixie who had obviously come back to find us to show us to our table. She is looking at me with her annoyed face, but I simply raise my eyebrows in a ‘you don’t want to mess with me right now’ type of way and she understands. She lets out a sigh and gently shakes her head before taking hold of my hand to lead me to the table.

We all sit and luckily the waitress comes over to take our drinks order very quickly, so we don’t have to engage in idle chit chat for too long. I have a feeling I wouldn’t have much to talk about with either of these guys. Aaron and Trixie order their drinks and then the waitress turns to me, but Neville butts in.

“Mylovely lady will have a large glass of Chateau Le Pin, Pomerol 2001 vintage, and I will have a Glenmorangie Grand Vintage 1990 single malt whisky, on the rocks,” he says and I almost want to laugh at how rehearsed it sounds. I have been out for dinner with my father enough times to know that he just ordered one of the most expensive glasses of red wine for me, and an expensive single malt for himself. I can’t wait for him to try it because that shit will burn and I bet he will cough. But all that takes a back seat to the anger I feel, not only at him calling me his lady, but at him ordering for me.

“Actually, sorry, would it be okay if I just get a glass of Diet Coke for me, please, and maybe some water for the table,” I ask the waitress nicely and she nods and thanks me as she hands out the menus. As she walks away to get our drinks orders I look up at Neville, ready to have a go at him but his face is contorted with anger. I didn’t think it would be possible for him to get uglier, but he has.

“How dare you contradict me like that? You made me look stupid. I order you the best wine on the menu and you say no. All for some cheap fizzy drink made for kids,” he fumes and I can’t help but roll my eyes.

“Well, if you had asked me, or even just taken a bit of time to get to know me, you would know that I am fiercely independent which means I can order for myself, and I don’t drink alcohol,” I reply with equally as much venom as he used towards me.

Trixie, obviously able to tell that this date is going downhill rapidly, decides to intervene. “What’s everybody having? This menu looks amazing. Doesn’t it, Abbie?” she asks me directly with a big smile on her face, the one she used when she conned me into this shit show of a date. Clearly her way of reminding me to be nice and just see how things go.

“Yeah, it looks great. I am going to have a chicken supreme pizza, I think,” I reply and her smile turns more genuine as she is pleased I’m making an effort. “What about you?”

Before Trixie has time to answer, Neville interrupts. “You are going to order a full pizza? For yourself? That’s hardly lady like now is it, and it definitely explains where those hips come from. I’m surprised a place as posh as this even has pizza on it’s menu.” As he speaks it feels like the whole room becomes quiet and you can literally hear a pin drop. I don’t need to look at Trixie to know she’s sitting there just as flabbergasted as I am. Did he just call me fat? Surprisingly, it’s Aaron who is the first to reply.

“Dude, I know you haven’t been on many dates according to your mum, but surely you know that you can’t say shit about what women eat, and you definitely cannot imply that the girl is fat. Besides, look at Abbie, she is most definitely not fat, and I would go as far as to say she is well out of your league. You should be grateful she hasn’t fucking left yet. So listen to me very clearly, it’s not often I get a full day off training, like I have tomorrow, which means I can spend the night having fun with my girl and not worry about curfew. You will not ruin it for me. We only have one car and we will all go back to campus in it together. Do you understand?”

I’m a bit shocked to hear Aaron speak the way he does and I can’t deny that he has gone up in my estimations, and it’s impossible not to see the way he looks at Trixie, like he wants to devour her. It’s kinda sweet. Neville looks like he is going to argue but then Aaron pierces him with a fierce gaze and Neville yelps. Obviously Aaron does something to him under the table, I would guess a good punch to the leg, but it worked. We manage to order our food and eat it in relative peace. Mostly Aaron and Trixie were the ones talking, but they did occasionally try to pull us back into the conversation. I’m polite and reply each time, the same cannot be said for Neville, who is moping like a spoiled toddler who has been sent to time out.

“That meal was so beautiful, but I am very full now,” I say as I finish all but one slice of my very delicious pizza filled with chicken, mushrooms, onions, and lots of cheese. My kind of perfect. I see Aaron eyeing up my leftover piece and so I offer it to him. He demolishes it at a speed that can’t be healthy. Once he’s finished, and he wipes his mouth, he looks at his watch. I can’t believe it’s nearly ten thirty. We have been in the restaurant a lot longer than I expected, but it wasn’t too bad when I stopped having to deal with Neville. A smile grows on Aaron’s face like he knows something I don’t.

“Right, Neville and I are going to go settle the bill, while you lovely ladies freshen up. Then we are moving on to the best part of the night,” he says as he grabs Neville by the collar and starts dragging him towards our waitress to pay the bill. I hear him complain about having to pay for me, which is quite frankly laughable because we both know he is using his daddy’s credit card! It then registers what Aaron said and I turn straight to Trixie with accusing eyes.

“What’s he talking about? Please tell me bythe best part of the nighthe means going home?” I ask, hoping and praying to any deity that will listen, but I know by the sheepish expression on Trixie’s face that I’m shit out of luck.

“We are going to Vipers, the nightclub in town, just for a few drinks and some dancing. You know I love to dance,” says Trixie and I let out a massive huff so she will get my annoyance.

It doesn’t matter how much I protest, I soon find myself entering Vipers, the one and only club in town. It’s a small town so it doesn’t really need many more. The entrance way is decorated with what can only be described as the most pitiful Halloween display. Plastic pumpkins that look to be older than me are littered in the entrance, and a few stray fake spider webs adorn the doorway. I almost forgot tomorrow is Halloween.

From the second we arrive, Aaron goes straight to the bar and orders a round of shots and a Diet Coke for me. While they are doing their shots, I discreetly check my phone to make sure I have a number for the local cab company. There is no way I am getting in a car with any of these people now they are all on at least their third drink. We will be getting a taxi home, that is for sure. I sigh because I know that means I have to stay to the very end now to make sure Trixie isn’t stupid enough to get into his car. I will make sure she gets home safely.

I finish my drink and Trixie motions for us to go and dance, initially I refuse and she goes off with Aaron. They are dancing so close and so hot that they are one step away from straight up fucking in the middle of the dance floor. Neville stays attached to my hip, and I have to admit that since he has downed a bit of alcohol and Aaron bollocked him for his behaviour, he has been a lot more reserved. Asking the odd question and engaging in civilised conversation. It’s still obvious every time he opens his mouth that he’s a pompous, self-righteous asshole, but at least he’s trying.

The more I watch Trixie and listen to the music, the more I feel it filling my veins. The pounding of the bass seems to sync up with my heart rate and for the first time in a long time, I let the music consume me. I always loved to dance. It was something Tillie and I actually had in common. She loved to go to a club and just let loose and so did I. But instead of letting the memory of the times we shared together overwhelm me, I use it. I allow it to fuel me as I walk to the centre of the dance floor, near Trixie, and I follow the rhythm of the music. I shake my hips to the beat and the song has a sensuous element to it that makes me feel like I’m rolling my hips for foreplay. I close my eyes and just live in the moment.

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