The interior of the social club was exactly what I had expected. It was a medium sized, dingy hall; most of it was supposed to be a dancefloor. Enclosed booths lined the walls and several mismatched stools had been placed against the bar, that could probably only have four people standing at it at most.
'There they are.' Esti said, indicating the biggest booth at the far side of the room. A dozen people were crowding around a table, all of them talking and laughing. I was usually fine in these situations, so I don't know why I felt a bubbling of nerves in my stomach.
'Do you want a drink? I'll get them.' I suggested.
We made our way to the bar and I studied the drinks menu, which was seven items long; white wine, red wine, two different beers, an ale, vodka and tonic and tequila.
'Whaddya want love?' A large, red-faced man behind the bar put his newspaper down and waddled towards us.
'Well, to tell you the truth I feel spoilt for choice!' I hollered. 'Any chance of a Strawberry Daiquiri?'
The man looked at me blankly. 'You'll have to speak up love.' He pointed at his ear, where I noticed he was wearing a hearing aid.
'Two white wines please. Large.' I sighed, Esti was holding her hand over her mouth, giggling.
We took our drinks and I paid; we walked towards the teachers table. There were several other punters in the club; a group of elderly women sat in a booth invested heavily in a card game and there were two men in the corner playing darts. There was a DJ set up next to the bar, but no one was in it. The music was flooding from an old jukebox near the card-playing women. I think there was a Johnny Cash album on.
'This is surreal.' I said, taking a large glug of wine. It was cold, refreshing and surprisingly not bad. I took another sip.
'You mean, this isn't like the clubs you frequented in New York?' Esti asked, feigning shock.
'It's exactly like clubs in New York, that's why it's so surreal. There's always a pensioner in the corner playing bingo, and the drinks are always written on a whiteboard. Ah sweet nostalgia.'
She laughed and swallowed some wine. 'Are you ready?' She asked. I nodded. 'Okay.' She turned towards the table, I trailed behind her.
'Hello everyone.' Esti said, and she was greeted by a mass of enthusiasm.
'There's the Pun King!' A man jested, grey-haired and smartly dressed, he must have been in his late-40s.
'When're the Oscars, Esti?' An older Indian woman with a friendly smile asked.
Esti batted away their compliments and eventually turned to me and said, 'Sorry, everyone, this is Ronit. Ronit, this is everyone.'
'Hello everyone.' I said, actively avoiding Beth's eyes; she was sat in the middle of the crowd of teachers.
They all looked at me, I think expecting a bit more information from Esti.
'Ronit is...' Esti paused. 'My partner.'
The group made an uplifting noise. There were plenty of 'lovely to meet you's and 'how long have you been together's and one joking 'you must give us some dirt on Esti, she's so private'. We dragged some chairs over and sat with them, breaking off into smaller groups. I think Esti was relieved, her shoulders had relaxed.
We spent several hours there, speaking with each other sometimes but mostly speaking to others. Beth, for some reason or another, didn't speak to either of us, which suited me, but I had been watching out for her; she'd been pounding shots at the bar the last time I saw her.
