Cherry Coloured - Alex Turner

4. Evil Twin

Twenty minutes seemed to last all of eternity and five seconds simultaneously. Before he'd managed to prepare himself, Alex was already closing up and making his way down the road on that trail of vanilla and cigarette smoke.

He kept nervously checking his watch and increasing and decreasing his walking speed. As if the moment he met up with her again was going to hold the weight of the world on toothpicks. As if it were going to be any more special than any other time to which of course, it was not.

The night air was cool and flushed through them as they walked beneath the yellow flares of streetlights in sync. Surprisingly to both of them, there was little to no conversation as they embarked on their uncharted journey. There was something peaceful about the silence they shared. Only ever to be broken by Cherry's hypnotic voice.

Everything felt so undeniably purposeless. "Where are we headed?" Cherry eventually said once the Squeaky Wheel Pub was long out of sight.

"Bar just up 'ere," Alex said shortly.

"What? You're not standing behind a hunk of wood and suddenly you're a bore for conversation?" Cherry teased.

"No, I were just lost in thought," Alex said, shaking his head, "sorry. I didn't even realise. You'll realise I do that a lot and I'll apologise in advance."

"Huh," Cherry hummed and looked at the passing businesses.

"It's nothing too special but the drinks are good," Alex shrugged. "Used to take me partner there when we first started dating."

"Same one that's the problem at the moment?" Cherry asked, intrigued by his sudden willingness to talk about his relationship.

Alex nodded. "She never much liked it though. More of a 'fine dining' and 'fancy hotels' type preference."

"She'd hate me then," Cherry teased. This managed to draw a chuckle out of the man walking beside her. "I'm guessing that's an admission."

"No," Alex said shaking his head, "she'd hate me for how we met. Not you at all. This one here." He pointed to an upcoming bar. There were few to little customers and blues playing from the outdoor speakers. "After you," Alex said, holding the door open as Cherry slipped passed him.

  Surrounding her were walls covered in local art and dim, honey coloured lamps that exuded a warm glow about the entire venue. A string of bulbs by the bar illuminated red light reflecting off every bottle displayed on the liquor shelf. The blues playing outside was countered with soul music playing softly inside from a jukebox by an empty stage. They were two of seven guests and two workers.

  "Find us a table and I'll grab us a couple drinks to start with," Alex offered.

  Cherry looked around at the empty tables, "Oof, I'm spoiled for choice," she said and sauntered off towards one of the tables by the jukebox as Alex made his way to the bar. Cherry kept her eye on Alex the entire time he ordered those drinks, and even more so as he picked them up and carried them over to the table. She could never be too careful.

  "Not cherry, I promise," Alex said as he placed a pink drink before her, one that mirrored the one in Alex's hand that he was having for himself. "I'm usually opposed to strawberry daiquiris as they're often too sweet, but the lass who makes the ones 'ere is remarkable."

He watched as Cherry took a tentative sip, her eyes trained on him all the while as he mirrored her moves. Perfectly in sync. As if they were tethered together by invisible strings as fine as hair or cobweb. Only did he look away when her tongue emerged to lick the pink liquor from her lips.