Shadow Play

14

“I think it wouldn’t hurt to try to make a list of our options, and if we’re going to make a list, I think we should put zombie on it. She didn’t sound much like a mindless zombie, but we’re in uncharted territory here, better safe than sorry,” she asserted. “Who else is magical or supernatural?” “Um, there’s Harry Potter and like, wizards—oh, my ex-boyfriend, Matt, used to play some kind of computer game and the wizard guys were called mages, I think.” “That’s good, there’s also Faeries and elves and we are in Ireland so that needs to be at the top of the list." “The little guy could be an elf but there was nothing Fearie-like about that creepy lady." “There's a world of myths out there about the Fae or 'Fearies' that are not at all like the pixies you might be imagining. Aside from the fact that fantasy is my favorite genre, I took that Sci-Fi and Fantasy Fiction Writing class my junior year and studied an ungodly amount of fantasy books. This is my wheelhouse and I'm leaving Fearies at the top of the list. There's also were-beings, like werewolves or werecats and also angels and gods, like the Greek gods.” We paused for a moment contemplating other options. “Ash, even if we figure out what these things are, what do we do about it?” “No idea, but they do say that admitting you have a problem is the first step to fixing it, so first we figure out our problem, then we figure out how to fix it.” I realized there was actually a lot of wisdom in that statement. “I’m pretty sure that’s for addicts, but I suppose it seems to fit our circumstances so I’ll go with it.” I paused for a moment before meeting her eyes. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell you because I know how it all sounds, but I’m glad I did, thank you again Ash.” “You know I love you and I’m always here for you. I’m going to throw together something for us to eat, you freshen up and come down when you’re ready.” I grabbed a hoodie from my closet and when I turned off the light, the glowing street lamp outside my window caught my attention. I went to close the blinds and saw a figure standing across the street leaning against the lamppost. It was the man who had questioned me on the street the day before whom Ashley had dubbed ‘Mr. Gorgeous.’ He was staring straight at my window. Part of my mind wanted to freak out, but my sense of selfpreservation kicked in and recognized that I could only take so much in one day. I shut the blinds and walked away without another thought to the man standing outside. OceanofPDF.com 7 The morning of our big night out at the Huntsman with Ronan, I had pulled Cat aside to ask her if she was familiar with the club. I had Googled it and knew its location but the few pictures online were primarily of liquor bottles and didn't give a feel for the live atmosphere so I was hoping to get a better idea of dress code and just how busy the place would get. “You’re going to the Huntsman, are you? How did that come about?” she asked with her eyes narrowed. I was a little surprised with her almost accusatory response but I forged ahead. “I met someone the other day and he said he was going tonight and suggested I bring Ashley and hang out with him and his friends.” During the week Cat and I had several opportunities to get to know each other better so she had heard all about Ash and her two-week stay with me. “It's not the best idea to get mixed up in that crew. Bunch of chancers they are.” She shook her head as she spoke giving me an idea what she had meant but I had to ask for a clarification. “What on earth is a chancer?” “No good, that’s what. You take a real chance hanging round them. There’s any number of pubs in the city, pick another.” Her tone broached no room for argument—it was a much more assertive side to Cat than I had seen. “Duly noted. I’m not sure I could convince Ash to change plans but I’ll definitely mention it.” What I didn’t admit aloud was that I wasn’t sure I wanted to change plans either. Ronan had seemed like a genuine guy and I wanted to see him again. Maybe if the pub was shady we could suggest moving to another one after we had hooked up with Ronan and his friends. “I just don’t want you getting hurt, Rebecca. That’s some seedy characters that hang out at that place.” “I totally understand and I’m so glad I’ve got someone here who cares what happens to me.” I gave her a hug and made my way back to the offices to finish out my work day. Back at home I was greeted with music blaring from the bedroom as I walked through the front door. Making my way upstairs, I found Ash sitting on my bed in her bra and panties, finishing up her makeup and wiggling to the music. “Getting dolled up already?” “Yes! You and I are going out to eat—we’ve been in this country an entire week and not gone out once for a proper dinner, so get changed.” She went back to applying mascara and singing along to Dua Lipa’s New Rules. There were two dresses laid out on the bed, which was her obvious attempt to get me in a dress instead of skinny jeans and a blouse, which was my clubbing outfit of choice. “Ash, it’s too cold to wear that dress, I’ll freeze to death.” “Beauty is pain Bec, put it on.” With a grunt of frustration, I took off my work outfit and held up the offending dress for a second look. At least it had long sleeves, but it was clingy and had a low scoop neck and even lower drop back, which meant no bra. “I can’t wear this, you know my girls are way too big to go braless. This isn’t even my dress, how many dresses did you bring?” “I don’t think one can truly ever have too many dresses. And don’t make this difficult, I know you have one of those sticky front boobie holders so slap that baby on and let’s get moving,” she said as she batted her eyes at me. I gave her an Oscar worthy eye-roll but it was undermined when the corners of my mouth lifted grudgingly. Ashley was similar in size to me, though we were not at all the same shape. She didn’t have nearly as much chest as me but she did have a small waist and way more junk in the trunk. It meant we could share some of our clothes, depending on the fit, and the stretchy dress worked well on either of us. She had selected for herself a royal blue dress that clung to her curves and accentuated her bright blue eyes. Her straight blond hair had been given some wave and all together she was smoking hot. Sticking the bra to one boob and then pulling the girls together before adhering the bra to the other, so as to give ample lift, I double checked that it was stuck in place sufficiently and then shimmied into the little black dress.