a journey of self-discovery, independence and learning that maybe, just maybe, being single isn't so bad after all
HOW TO BE SINGLE
SIDEMEN
(SIMON, CHRIS & LEWIS)
DEATHLIES 2017
(inspired by the movie how to be single)
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Allie was great.
At least Chris thought so anyway. Enough to invite her out to a last-minute lunch date that afternoon, two days before Christmas.
There weren't many reservation spaces left, but they were lucky. Someone cancelled last minute so they got in to the restaurant, even if it wasn't one of the fanciest in the city. Either way, it was food and Chris didn't have the money to pay for those expensive restaurants anyway. Not on his pay check.
The reservation was earlier than he would've liked it to be, but Allie didn't seem to mind. She was all smiles and giggles, just as easy-going and bubbly as he liked.
The afternoon had gone quickly. They'd discussed plans for Christmas (he was going home and she was staying in London with her mum and sister), their favourite foods, favourite sport (to watch and to play), and any other conversation topic the two of them could come up with.
The conversation flowed and he felt as ease with Allie. There was no worry that she was there for money, just for a free drink and a meal, or just for sex, although that's one part he wouldn't object to.
When she'd seen the time, she'd almost leapt out of her chair, claiming she was supposed to be meeting her mum do help her with the shopping fifteen minutes ago. She had to go, but Chris really wished she didn't.
They arranged to meet that night at the bar.
And that's where Chris sat. For the first time he was there without his laptop, just his phone on the bar and a drink in his hand.
Cora glanced over several times, bugged by something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Maybe it was the way he was dressed in something casual and yet not quite the tracksuit and football shirt he usually wore. Maybe it was that he kept checking his phone.
She definitely knew what bugged her when a girl walked into the bar and bee-lined for him. He turned in an instant, grinning at the sight of her and pulling her into a hug.
Cora swallowed and turned her back on the scene, wishing the feelings away with a swig of her drink and smiling at a customer a little too widely, the alcohol burning her throat.
Moments later, she could hear her name being called. She turned, expecting someone completely different to who she saw.
Simon Minter sat there, alone.
Before he even ordered, she began to pour him a drink, knowing that if he was here alone he must need something other than the drinks she provided.
"Cal not with you?" She asked, sliding the drink to him.
He swigged it, grimaced and then said, "No, he's with other mates tonight. I thought he might've been here so I just showed up." He rubbed a hand over his face.
"Long night, huh?" Cora leant on the bar, chin on her palm.
"Yeah, guess I know what it feels like to get dumped now," He said glumly. The pity he had for himself was outstanding. Part of Cora wanted to reach across the bar and smack it out of him, but that same self-pity was like a stone in her stomach, weighing her down to the spot.
"One of the shittiest feelings in the world," Cora agreed, topping her drink up. Without a word, she filled his drink back to the brim too.
The liquid sloshed over the side as he brought it to his mouth and cleaned off half of it in one.
"Nothing I can do about it now," He grumbled, scrapping his nail across a dent in the table where someone had slammed down their glass a little too hard in a night long gone by. "She doesn't want anything to do with me. Neither does Adela."
"How do you know that?" Cora questioned, swapping her chin onto her other palm. Simon's life problems seemed so irrelevant to her, but she didn't have anything better to do. Rosa was dealing with the customers just fine alone.
"I think Catherine made it very clear."
"I mean Adela," Cora clarified.
"Well." Simon's hand stopped moving as he began to actually rationally think about the situation. "I haven't really seen her properly in a long time, but I said we were going on a break and then got a new girlfriend. I doubt she wants to see me."
"You won't know unless you try. Even if she just wants to be your friend, that's better than nothing, right?"
"Right, yeah." Simon nodded his head vigorously. "Maybe I'll go see her."
"You should. Just tell her what's up because if you don't you might never get the chance to," Cora said, fingers tightening around her glass just a little tighter. "Just go for it, okay?"
"Okay, yeah. Thanks, Cora." He stood from the bar-stool, reached over the bar to give her a quick hug and left the bar, his half-empty drink where he left it.
Cora took the glass and emptied it into her own.
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Even with his arm wrapped around her, last night floated around her like a dream as she lay on cloud-nine.
The draft coming through the window sent a shiver of cold through her. She pulled the cover up to her neck and rolled over, burying her face in his neck.
The neck her mouth had laid upon last night. It'd been a while since she'd made someone make noises like that, but every inch of her enjoyed dragging them out of him, showing him just how much she meant it when she said she was all for him.
She hadn't gone into the date last night imagining herself having sex with him that night, but by the end of the night it had been the only thing she wanted to do.
As soon as he'd kissed her as if she was otherworldly, she'd known.
Known he wasn't playing the strings of her heart. She'd felt those fingers over every cut and crease of her skin that night, knew what pleasures they could divulge. Even the thought of it made her stomach twist and press a gentle peck of a kiss to his jaw, nothing in comparison to the masterpiece they'd painted that night.
"What's that for," Lewis mumbled, surprising her. His morning voice was another thing she wouldn't mind waking up to every morning.
"Just because," She replied, kissing him softly again before letting her head fall back against the pillow.
He chuckled quietly, opening his eyes. "Well," he said, "Merry Christmas Eve, Adela."
"Merry Christmas Eve, Lewis," She responded, but Christmas had already come early for her. She knew that in her gut.
