A Bitter Coincidence

Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

After doing a quick shop at the local store and gathering the essentials for our night out. I made my way back home to my 2 bedrooms flat in Canary Wharf. Our flat was perfect for George and me with a great view of London and a pool and gym that we shared with the other flat owners in the building. We had an open space kitchen/living room that was great for parties and movie nights. We also had access to the roof top since our flat was at the very top, which was a god send during the summer, to which I can’t wait to try out.

I made my way through to the kitchen, following the scent of pancakes and the sound of scissors sister’s ‘I don’t feel like dancing’ blaring through the speakers and George trying to sing along to it.

“ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE EVERYONE IN THIS BUILDING DEAF?!” I shouted over the music.

George turned around with a grin and turned down the music enough for us to talk. I handed him the wine and tequila so it could be placed aside and sat on the kitchen seats.

“Sky, when do you ever know me to give a shitty performance? I need someone, somewhere to hear my talent.” He replied smartly.

“You already have a talent; you decorate people’s homes. I don’t think you can juggle interior designing and a music career. You can’t have both.” I popped a grape into my mouth from the fruit platter on the island and smiled up at him.

“Do you always have to crush my dreams, precious?”

“I don’t. I’m just a realist.”

George placed a plate of pancakes in the middle of the table and took a seat in front of me. He went all out this morning, the table was covered in fruit and pancakes with honey, syrup and Nutella, as well as a range of drinks.

“Wow, what’s the occasion? Are you proposing?”

“Only to you my love. I thought I’d just do something nice for Easter. Speaking of which…” He bent down to collect something from under the table and presented to me a chocolate Egg set. Apart from art, my second love in the world was chocolate, I had the thighs and stomach to prove it, but I could never pass it up. I opened my bag from under the table and placed the same chocolate egg set for him. We both laughed, clearly, we had one mind.

“Happy Easter sexy!”

“I can’t wait to eat this tomorrow. Especially since I’m going to be spending the night away getting sweaty and dancing my shoes off.” He gave a little wiggle in his chair.

“I’m excited too, this night is definitely needed after the term I’ve had. What’s the plan of action anyway? What are you wearing? When are we going?”

Considering I’m 25, I am useless at planning nights out. I try to avoid clubbing and when I do decide to go out, I prefer pubs and restaurants. But since George wants to try this new gay club that opened, I figured I could do him the favour of going with him.

“I’m so excited to see this place, I’ve heard it has a lounge room in the roof top and really fancy booths! I think I’ll wear trousers and a shirt. Staying casual and smart is my go-to for tonight. We’ll leave here around 9pm? Does that sound alright?”

“Perfect. I have some work to do, so that leaves me enough time to finish things and get ready. I have no idea what to wear though, so I may need your assistance with that please.”

“Of course, but please don’t work too hard, I need you fresh and ready because we’re not going to be home until tomorrow morning.”

He eyed me over the cup of his mug and gave me a raising eyebrow. For a lean 6”2 man, George was very good looking. His Asian features were striking enough that it captured anyone’s attention. His black short hair and stubble weakened any senses of a man or woman even though George was gay he loved to rile women up just for fun.

“I promise you; I’ll stay out till I’m about to pass out. Does that satisfy you sir?”

“Absolutely. Are you still working on your sketches for the interview on Tuesday?”

I teach art in a college school in London and it’s the best job I could ever imagine me doing. Teaching something that I was proud of, inspired me to help kids who also wanted to pursue a career in art. But since the school year is almost over, I needed something that would keep me busy until September, so I applied for a position to decorate a new children’s ward in a hospital up town. I was so excited for this and I was proud of all the ideas that I came up with for this. I gave my own wiggle. “Yeah, I want to make sure everything is perfect for the interview. I’ve never done anything like this before and I really want to keep myself busy during the summer months. I just hope I don’t botch the interview up.”

“You won’t, precious. You’re so talented and damn if I would hire you to work at my place, I would. You’ll definitely get the job. It’s only for a couple of months, right?”

“uhm yeah, the ward should be opening to the patients around September time. It’s a new add on the hospital. Some family business who owns the building is helping with designs and construction.”

“OH… Just think you might run into a hot old guy that will fall in love with you and you’ll have his millions!” He exclaimed from his seat. I threw a raspberry at his head and chuckled.

“Is that all you think about? s*x and money? There’s more to life than that.”

“Yes, yes of course there is, like art, music, culture.” He mimicked my voice and rolled his eyes. “I love you, but you need to get laid babe. You’re 25 and I adore that you’re waiting for the “right guy” but come on! You’re missing out on so much and what if you never find him?”

“Who says I will? Besides there’s more to it than ‘waiting for the right man’ You know all my s**t George.”

I looked down at my plate and moved the remaining pancake around. Yes, I’m a 25-year-old virgin who has a f****d-up mind that has stopped me from experiencing any romantic connections. I’ve never had a relationship and I’m pretty confident that I’ll end up alone and old, which scares me to death. I’ve always disliked my figure and features which I’ve convinced myself that no one will find attractive. George tells me that my size 14 curves and “watermelon t**s” should be something I should flaunt and be confident in. However, I just couldn’t find anything attractive about me and I’ve convinced myself that no one else will. Besides my hair and eyes, I don’t see the appeal that George sees, I’m simply unlovable. It’s something that I’ve been working towards breaking and I continue to battle with it every day. Mental health is something that isn’t fun and I’m trying to move from that as much as I’m capable of.

I stood up and placed my dishes in the sink and gave George a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m going to my room to work and get ready for tonight, give me a shout if you need anything. Thank you, breakfast.” I shuffled to my room and closed the door behind me before he could say anything back. I was a Master of Dancing around the point and shutting people off. I’ve known George for a while now and he knows not to take it personally.

The whole day I managed to get two more drawings and designs completed for my interview and I felt confident about it. I showered, shaved and creamed my body, ready for our night out and I felt excited about letting my hair down. I looked into the mirror to check on everything, my dark brown hair wasn’t its usual messy curls but was in loose waves, tumbling down to the middle of my back. My blue eyes were popping out against the black mid length dress I was wearing with black heels. My curves would definitely be on show tonight, my stomach wasn’t flat, I had too much on my hips and the dress barely covered my chest but hopefully I would be too drunk to care soon. I had the most palest skin that even the sun couldn’t tan, but I refused to wear fake tan, so being pale was going to have to do. George knocked and popped his head through my bedroom door.

“Taxi will be here in 5 minutes, you all set?” His eyes racked the length of me and he nodded his approval.

I curtsied and said “will this do my lord?” in my most over the top posh accent. I laughed and sprayed my perfume one last time before I grabbed my clutch and waited for him by the kitchen. I was preparing the shots of tequila when George came strutting in wearing a white shirt with an open collar, navy slim trousers and brown brogues. He was s*x on legs and I knew that he wouldn’t last long in the night before he ended up going back home with a stranger. He raked a hand through his hair and tossed me a wink.

“You’re full of it.” I said whilst looking up and down at him.

“Don’t I know it sweet cheeks.” Whilst tapping my arse, “Come on, I need to down these shots and then show the world what these legs can do.” He threw back the tequila shot and was pouring himself one before I even had my first. His phone beeped, letting him know the taxi was outside so we grabbed our things and set off to the club.

The club was a new and improved building that was previously a warehouse so the place huge and loud. Crushed Velvet was supposedly the IT club around London. It had a waiting list that stretched for weeks so I had no idea how George could get us in.

“Remind me again how you got our names on the list?”

“A guy I decorated his new bathroom for is friends with the owner. He was kind enough to give me two tickets.” George walked straight up to the bouncer and gave our tickets and we walked straight in without a problem. At first the hall way was dark with only beams of lights dancing across but eventually we made it into the warehouse where a massive dancefloor was in the centre and the bars were off to the side. Corners and upper tiers had booths and tables that seemed perfect for talking and looking towards the dancefloor.

“What do you want to drink?!” George had to shout in my ear over the beat of the music that Sia was screaming out of, I definitely didn’t feel like titanium.

“Pink Gin and Lemonade please!”

He nodded and got our order whilst I used this time to look around. There was a so many people dancing and the booths were already filling up, so I could tell we got here just in time. There was a stage where the DJ was and the ceiling was completely glass. It was so high I didn’t want to think about it, it made me sick. George passed me my drink and a shot of green liquid. I gave him a side eye and he just nodded at me whilst taking his shot. It tasted like fire going down my throat and I instantly wanted to throw up but thankfully my Gin and Lemonade soothed it.

“Isn’t this place amazing?! It’s huge, modern and completely up my street!” He was looking around and I had to nod my agreement that the place was extraordinary. He grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor where for two drinks we danced our assess off. I couldn’t remember what my feet felt like so I took that as a good sign that we needed a rest. I flicked my head to a free booth and George followed me and we sat down.

“Can you feel your feet? I think mine died a while back.”

“You’re wearing heels, precious. Of course you can’t feel your feet, but don’t think you’re using that to sit down all night.” He glowed at me from his seat.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I tried to rub life back into my feet but it was no use if we were headed back to the floor. George stood up and turned to me.

“I’m just popping to the loo, stay here okay? Don’t go anywhere.”

Hopefully he’d be awhile so I could feel my feel again, I took this time to sit back and look around. I didn’t notice before but the walls were brick design that housed a range of black framed photographs of the city. Each photo was black and white and of different buildings and scenes. They were beautiful to stare at so much so that I didn’t notice the man coming towards me. Even from my view I could tell he looked slimy and he had a creepy smile about him that churned my stomach. He stopped just before me and give me a wink. I couldn’t wait to say no to whatever this guy said.

“Hey gorgeous, you all alone?” Who says that?! That alone is a major turn off and if it was any other girl they would be scared too. Luckily for me George was making his way over already. So I smiled sweetly and replied back.

“No, I’m here with my boyfriend actually.” I nodded in George’s direction where he gave creepy guy a look of death. The dude walked away but no before turning back and staring at George.

“I think you scared him, thank you for doing that.”

“You would have done it eventually, but he did have that creepy feel to him.” George knew 100% what to look for in men, which was a bonus for me when he could tell which were wrong and which were the right ones. He still had to find the right one though.

“Want to go up to the roof top? I heard they have another bar and DJ with different tunes.”

He said this while already giving me his hand to help me up. Anything with fresh air and a view was my place to go.

The roof top was half the size of downstairs and the music was a lot calmer that there wasn’t people dancing but talking and looking at the view. There was fake grass around with plotted plants around the edges and fairy lights that gave it a nice garden touch to it. I went to the bar and brought us another round of drinks and sat facing the city. I absolutely loved the view and wished I had my camera with me to capture it, so at the moment my phone was the next best thing.

“Are you ever able to not take a picture everywhere we go?” George chuckled as he checked out the city too.

“No but you love me anyway. Besides, it looks incredible who wouldn’t want to take a picture of it.” I put my phone back in my clutch and looked around at the people.

“I saw Paul downstairs, just before I went into the bathroom.” He gave me this look of disgust but I knew it was anything but.

“Did you talk to him? Please say you gave him a dirty look and walked away. I know he’s your ex but he’s a d**k and you deserve better.”

George and Paul went out for almost a year and it was the happiest George had been with someone. That was until George caught him with another guy and it turned out it wasn’t the first time he cheated. George hasn’t gotten over it but sleeping with London’s gay population has uplifted his spirits on the matter.

He sighed and looked out to the skyline, “No I didn’t and I know he is. But it doesn’t change the fact that I loved him once. I just wish I didn’t see him tonight. For f**k sakes, I wanted to have fun.” He looked so sad, I wanted to slap Paul for even looking at him.

“Hey, don’t do that, you can have fun tonight and you won’t remember him. You carry on doing your thing okay? And I’ll get us another shot so we can fuel ourselves for another round of slut dropping and grinding.” He smiled up at me and nodded.

I jumped up and walked to the bar, already deciding that I was his wing woman tonight and making sure he was happy and carefree. I was the last person to help someone with relationship problems but I wasn’t completely clueless.

“Can I have two shots of tequila and a fireball please?”

The bartender was getting my order ready when I felt someone staring at me from the side. Before I could turn, he said, “you not drawing anymore animals tonight?”

That voice completely halted my breathing and I couldn’t remember how to function. I turned myself to find him standing with his back the wall, a drink in one hand and the other in his trouser pocket. His hair was a framed messily around his beautiful face. He wore a black suit with a black shirt. This guy screamed sexy and trouble, I knew there was a bit of hope of talking to him now that I had a drink.

“I’m surprised you’re not knocking people over or are you on a break?” I smartly replied which had him laughing.

“I think you walked into me in the park, so you technically knocked yourself over.”

“Maybe, I have the bruise on my arse cheek to prove it.” I can’t believe I just said that in front of him and he seemed surprised too by the way this eyebrows shot up.

“What’s your name? Since I’m asking now.” Sam started to walk over to stand beside me. I could feel the energy between us, before we even touched. I had no idea how to handle it.

The bartender placed my drinks on the counter and I handed him the cash.

“Skylar, but people usually just call me Sky.” I smiled at him and he smiled back. Completely drowning out the room.

“Is it because your eyes are so blue?” His stare never left my face and it was dark right now so I’m only assuming he remembered them from this morning.

“Not sure, I think it was because I was conceived on an airplane.” I joked. He laughed and looked away towards the door where a guy seemed to be waving him to come inside. I took that as a sign to leave.

“It was nice bumping into you again, Sam. I’m happy it didn’t cause anymore bruises this time.” I said whilst I picked up my drinks to go back to George. When I sat down, George was looking at Sam then back at me and was doing that a few more seconds until I grabbed his chin.

“Who is that fine specimen of a angel?” His eyes clouded over when he was staring at him and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Some guy I bumped into at the park this morning. Don’t think too hard about it George, he was just being friendly. He could be gay.”

I shrugged and looked towards where he was walking through the back inside of the warehouse. I secretly hoped he wasn’t gay and it would be my luck if he was. Not that I was thinking I could have a chance with someone like that. Ever. He seemed smart and strong willed, yet caring. He looked like a model and someone who shouldn’t have spoken to me twice in one day. I was a wallflower, someone people rarely noticed.

“That my friend shouldn’t be walking around here without a warning label. What did he say to you?”

“Asked me my name, joked about this morning. Nothing major.”

“You’re playing it cool my precious. You like him.”

My eyes went wide and I shook my head so much it gave me a headache.

“Are you serious, I’ve said five words to him and you have our wedding planned already. Come on, George you know me better than that. Besides, he wouldn’t think of touching me with a pole. So case closed. Can we dance now?” I downed my drink and shot and stood up waiting for George.

“Sky, You need to seriously stop that. Men are always going up to you and you turn them down every. single. time. You’re beautiful and completely incredible. You need to let people in. Stop saying that s**t about yourself, what have I told you.” He growled and I could tell this conversation was a dead end.

I turned to him and grabbed his hand. Dragging him to the dance floor was a great way to distract him and to take his mind off me and Paul. I couldn’t wait to not feel my feet again and just let the music take my mind away.