3 Heads & a Tail (10 page)

“
Cool, does the guy play harmonica?
”
asked Josie.

“
Maybe.
”

“
Great,
'
cos I love the harmonica.
”

“
Well, if you ask him nicely,
”
suggested Kurt.

“
Here you go – many
poisoned beers!
”
announced Jerome, thumping the drinks on to the
table. Somehow, he didn
'
t spill a drop
.

Kur
t slid across the seat
next to Josie, leavi
ng a
lonely
-looking Jer
om
e to take the centre seat.
“
I know when I
'
m not wanted,
”
he
sighed
.
“
Cheers!
”
He lifted his beer in the air.

“
Cheers!
”
they all said, tapping glasses, some more heavily than others. Josie realised she was
pretty sober
in comparison
. The question was
did she want to catch up?
It was a school night after all and she didn
'
t fancy a hangover at work. She couldn
'
t handle those
any more
. That
'
s when she missed her twenties – she never got hangovers back
then
. Now it was
as
if a forklift truck ha
d run
over
her and then reversed
.

“
H
ow long have you guys been coming here?
”
asked Josie.

“
M
aybe ten
years
now
,
”
said Kurt.
“
Give or take. We grew up around here.
”

“
Hey, look who just walked in,
”
whispered
Kay, nudging Josie, who turned around. It was Ben with two guys they
'
d never seen before.

“
I didn
'
t know he drank here,
”
said Josie.

“
Well
, it
'
s the nearest pub
to your house, I guess.
”

“
That
'
s true
.
”

Kay got up.
“
Just going to say hello to a friend of ours,
”
she announced and squ
eezed out from the table. Feeling a little
emba
rrassed for some reason, Josie
took a
refreshing swig of her drink.

“
He a friend of yours too?
”
ask
ed Kurt, looking her in the eyes
. He had th
at familiar, hopeful look
. Big
puppy
brown
s –
a bit like Glen
'
s, only
lacking the fur.

“
Yeah, he
'
s my new housemate.
He
'
s
alright
.
”

“
Y
ou don
'
t wanna say hello?
”
asked Jerome
, squinting at her
.

“
I will
,
in time
!
”
said Josie.
“
You
'
re making me feel guilty now. Kay
'
s
up
there
speaking to him.
”
She turned to Kurt.
“
So when
'
s this band coming on?
”

Kay
strode
up to Ben and tapped him on the back.
“
H
ey,
stranger!
”

He
looked round
with a start
.
“
Oh, hi Kay,
I
'
ve
been tr
ying to catch the barman
'
s eye – unsuccessfully!
”

Kay
stuck
out
her cleavage
and flicked her hair.
“
That
'
s
to get his
attention!
”

“
Ha! Good move
,
honey!
”
laughed one of Ben
'
s friends. He looked at her with
'
that
'
look and nudged the other guy.
On cue, the barman sped over with a big smile and took their order.

“
Well thanks,
”
sm
iled Ben,
nervous
ly
. Kay made him qu
ake in his shoes. Luckily, she didn
'
t seem to notice
.
“
I didn
'
t expect to
see you here
– thought
you
'
d like something more upmarket than an old man
'
s pub.
”

“
I
'
m downgrading!
”
she grinned.
“
No,
seriously, we
decide
d to try out the local area. This was the first pub we hit.
”

“
Cheers honey!
”
interrupted one of Ben
'
s mates as they took their beers to a corner table by the window. One of them put some money into the pool table. It clanked.

“
Josie
'
s here too?
”
Ben
asked, looking over his shoulder. He spotte
d her, sitting with three guys, and his
eyes droo
ped slightly.

His reaction wasn
'
t lost on Kay.
“
So how come you
haven
'
t
ask
ed
her out?
”

“
You
'
re ver
y
direct!
”
Ben
went slightly red.

“
Yes!
I knew it!
”

“
Knew what?
”
asked Ben, clutching his pint as if it was a defensive shield
he was about to raise to reflect the Gorgon
'
s stare
.

“
That you like Josie,
”
smiled Kay.
“
Don
'
t worry, I
won
'
t say anything
.
”

“
Ok
ay, you got me, b
ut I
'
m not that fast an
d she might not be interested – probably
not
,
in fact
.
”

“
Y
ou should have more
confidence.
I think
you
'
d be a good match. You seem
similar and I thought there was a spark that first day!
”

Ben shook his head.
“
Nah, yo
u were imagining that.
I do
n
'
t think she
'
d be interested a
nd
I
'
m not that fast, as I said.
”

“
But your housemate is fast...
”

“
Yeah he is – very!
”
Ben frowned
, thinking
.
“
W
hat do you mean
by that
?
”

“
Nothin
g,
I j
ust think yo
u should go for what you want. I
'
m j
ust offering some friendly advice
– giving you a nudge in the right direction
.
”

“
Advice noted,
”
smiled Ben.
“
I
'
m just not very good at all that.
”

“
I hear you. S
orry if I sound
pushy,
”
said Kay
, smiling.
“
It c
omes from being with the wrong person for too long
and I like to see my friends happy
!
”

“
Aye, t
hat
'
s understandable
.
Thanks.
”

“
Right,
I
'
ll
head back
,
and let
you go and play. Y
our mates are
staring over, pining for you.
”

“
I think they
'
re actually
pining for you,
”
laughed Ben, taking
a drink
.

“
Ha! My powers are unstoppable tonight
!
”
laughed Kay, nudging his arm.
“
Have fu
n. I
'
ll tell Josie you said hello
and asked how she was.
”

“
You
'
re terrible.
”

“
I know,
”
she grinned,
winking
.

Kay
walked slowly back to the table, knowing that every man at the bar was now watching her perfect
legs
make a perfect stride across t
he room. She smiled inwardly
. There was no way she was ever
going back to being
boring, frumpy Kay
who put her boyfriend
'
s
selfish needs
before her own
every day of the week
.
She didn
'
t miss his c
onstant criticism
at all.
From now on
she was going to have fun.

“
Now boys
and girl,
”
she smiled
when she reached the table
,
“
what did I miss? Josie, Ben says hello and hop
es you are enjoying yourself
.
”

“
Aha,
”
mumbled Josi
e, swigging her ale, which was
disappearing a little too fast. Mr Puppy Dog Eyes smiled back at her.

“
And now,
”
announced the barman, who had bounded over to the mike.
“
The
band you
'
ve been waiting for – The
Horse Wrestlers!
”

“
Bizarre name for a band,
”
said Kay.
“
Do you think they do?
”

“
Only when they
'
ve just
'
ad a butcher
'
s of Brokeback Mountain!
”
laughed Jon.
“
Haw haw.
”