Page 20 of The Dicktionary Club

‘And what about me?’ Zola pursed her lips.

‘You can arrange my dates?’ I suggested. ‘I’ll give you my Tinder password.’

Her face lit up in delight.

‘But no munters, please, Zo. I’m begging you!’

‘Would I ever?’ She let out an evil cackle, and I instantly regretted my proposal.

Chapter Seven

Katy

That evening, Katy headed to Bluedog in the city centre. It was a small, charming cocktail bar with live jazz. Her date, Harry, had suggested it, and she felt encouraged by its classy vibe. Katy wore her brown hair in a sleek ponytail, as she didn’t have time to wash it after work, and she’d picked out a short, pale pink chiffon dress with matching heels. The city was relatively quiet as it was a weekday, the weather was clammy but dry, and despite her earlier disastrous date, Katy felt optimistic about meeting Harry.

Katy favoured the fact her date was arranged so quickly, giving her lots of topics of conversation still ahead of them for the night. In fact, she hadn’t asked Harry much about himself at all. Still, from a casual stalk of his social media, combined with a snoop of his mother’s, gran’s and sister’s too, she knew Harry fiercely supported Celtic, and had travelled Australia for a year with his ex, Tammy, before coming home alone. Tammy had remained in Oz, married an Australian and had been granted citizenship last year.No worrying about bumping into the ex then, Katy thought. She also learned that in 2005, Harry had methis idolRod Stewart at Glasgow airport and liked to share the memory on his Facebook page every year.

Katy walked confidently into Bluedog and was greeted by thefriendly staff.

‘Hi, I’m just waiting on someone,’ she said, glancing at her watch. It was 8 p.m.; she was right on time.

‘There’s a guy up the back. Could it be him?’ one of the servers replied.

‘I’ll have a look, thanks,’ she said, walking up several stairs to the booths at the back of the bar. The deeper Katy stepped into the bar, the darker it became, and it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust.

A man was sitting studying the menu. He looked smart in a navy shirt and jeans.

‘Harry?’ Katy called out, walking towards the table.

The man glanced up from the menu, but she didn’t recognise his face from his pictures. If this was another catfish, he was a lot fucking better-looking in real life, she thought.

‘Sean.’ He tilted his head to the side curiously, his Irish accent catching her off guard.

Katy blushed, cringing for herself.

‘Shit. I’m sorry. I’m meeting someone and I thought you might be him,’ she said. She turned back, squeezing her eyes shut in pure mortification at her blunder, as she headed towards the front of the bar.

‘Ahhh, first date is it?’ the stranger called out.

Katy felt as if her face was twisting even more as she swivelled to face him and nodded in reply.

‘Well now.’ Sean’s gaze skimmed her up and down. ‘He’s a very fortunate man. Good luck!’

Her teeth glimmered at his approval, and she stared back for a few intense seconds.

‘Thank you,’ she replied eventually, then headed back to the front of the bar.

As she walked towards the front she spotted Harry hovering at the door. Katy waved briefly, and he walked straight up andhugged her.

‘Hey, how are you? I wasn’t sure if you were here already.’

Katy smiled, enjoying how warm he seemed. ‘I’m good, thanks. Yeah, I toddled up the back in case you were up there.’

‘Aghh, I see. Nope, just late as always!’ he admitted, seeming a little nervous now. ‘Will we take a seat? You look lovely, by the way.’

Katy glowed at the compliment. ‘Thank you, yeah, sure.’

‘There’s an empty booth just here,’ Harry suggested, ‘or there might be some further back.’

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