Battered

Chapter 8

"Come on girls" Sarah pleads as we walk down the high street, "Just one drink. We need it after the day we've had"

Nadine slows her pace a little, "But Sarah its Monday, you know I don't like drinking when I've got work the next day" she whines

"Don't be such an old woman Nadine" Sarah teases, "It's not as if we are going to be out until three in the morning. One or two won't hurt"

"Oh alright" Nadine relents, "let's go to a restaurant though because I'm starving. We can have a few glasses of wine with our meal"

"Ok." Sarah says, "Kimba, are you in?"

"Yeah why not" I shrug

I am kind of hungry and don't have any other plans; a meal and glass of wine with the girls seems like a good way to spend the evening.

It would certainly keep my wandering fingers away from calling Justin's number. It has been over two weeks since our last rendezvous and I'm starting to get antsy. I know that if I go home now I will more than likely end up ringing him and inviting him over. And I'm determined to stop doing that.

We carry on walking down the high street and I catch sight of an Italian restaurant. I think this might be the place where Cheryl works. I wonder if she's working now?

"Let's go in here" I suggest

"Mmmm, Italian!" Nadine smiles, "sounds good"

We go inside and wait to be seated. After a few minutes a waiter shows us to our table and we sit down. Nadine picks up her menu and begins reading through the main courses while Sarah browses the cocktail menu.

My eyes search out the bar and I scan the faces of the various members of staff until I catch sight of the familiar face I am looking for.

Cheryl

I smile when I spot her wearing the dress I helped her pick out on our shopping trip. She has accessorized her outfit with some cute dangly earrings and her hair is pinned back with a sparkly hair clip. Watching her chat away to the customers I notice how at ease she seems.

"Right, I'm going to get the drinks in" Sarah announces, riffling through her handbag to find her purse

But before she can find it, I'm on my feet, "No, I'll get the first round" I insist, grabbing my bag

Sarah stops looking for her purse, "Oh ok. In that case I'll have a Cosmopolitan, sweetie" she says, doing her best Carrie Bradshaw impression.

"Nadine?" I ask, rolling my eyes and ignoring Sarah's abysmal attempt at an American accent. That girl watches way too much Sex And The City

"A glass of white wine please babe" she says, looking up from her menu.

"Ok. If the waiter comes over before I get back just order me whatever you're having" I put my bag on my shoulder and make my way over to the bar.

Cheryl is serving another customer so she doesn't notice me at first. I wait patiently until she has finished serving him and smile when she finally notices me.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, coming to stand in front of me

"Just grabbing a bite to eat with Nadine and a colleague" I say, nodding in the direction of our table, "My friend Sarah over there was thirsty so we decided to check this place out."

"Oh, for a minute there I thought you were checking up on me" she teases

"I wouldn't call it checking up per se. We were passing by and I thought this might be the place you worked so I wanted to come in and see if I was right."