Painted Faces (32 page)

Linda is already on the phone to the police, and Sean is pulling some tissue paper from his bag to give to Phil for his bleeding nose.

“
That was fucking scary random,” I say to Phil, as Nicholas continues to hold me. “Has anything like that ever happened before?”

“
Not since I've been managing the place,” he answers in a shaky voice. “But we haven't been open very long.”

“
This is weird. It's like they were waiting for us, like they knew there were still people inside even though it's well past closing time,” says Sean.

“
Little bastards,” Linda hisses, just as she hangs up the phone and goes over to give Phil a hug. “Look what they did to that gorgeous face of yours. The Garda are on their way now.”

We all go to sit by the bar and wait for the police, which could take a while, since they're not exactly known for their speedy response times. Forty-five minutes later they mosey on into the club and ask what happened. We all give our statements and I describe what the three guys looked like in as much detail as I can. Thankfully they don't make us go to the station to be interviewed further.

Nicholas calls for a cab to bring us home. I don't think he's released me from his hold since the attack.

“
You were so brave, taking them on like that,” I whisper to him, as we sit in the back of the taxi wrapped around one another.

“
I've been working in gay clubs all my life Fred. This wasn't my first encounter of queer bashing, you know. One time over in London four guys jumped me, broke my arm and my nose. I gave as good as I got though.”

“
God, I forget how hard it must be. It's awful that you've had to go through that.”

“
I survive. I always do,” he says softly, just as the taxi pulls up to our block.

When we get inside we go to our separate apartments. I hop straight into the shower, needing to wash away the night's events. When I get out I really don't feel like going to bed alone, so I get into some PJs, take my key to Nicholas' place and sneak next door. I find him just getting out of his own shower, with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Our eyes lock.

“
I didn't want to sleep alone,” I tell him.

He nods to his bedroom. “Go on, make yourself comfortable. I'll be there in a minute.”

I crawl beneath his soft blankets and am immediately ten times more calm. A few minutes later Nicholas comes in, wearing boxer shorts and a t-shirt. He slips in behind me, switches off the lamp and pulls me into his arms. I fall asleep to the relaxing touch of his fingers trailing across my stomach.

When I wake up I'm alone in the bed. I glance at Nicholas' alarm clock on his dresser and the time reads 14.13. I've slept half the day. I stretch out under the duvet like a lazy cat. A few minutes later Nicholas comes through the door, carrying a tray with tea and toast.

“
This is about as far as my culinary skills go, I'm afraid,” he announces with an exaggerated grimace as he sets the tray down in front of me.

I sit up and the duvet pools around my waist. Nicholas' gaze immediately falls to my chest since I don't wear a bra to bed. “Hey, eyes on the prize Viv,” I tease as I pick up a piece of toast and take a bite.

A slow grin forms on his lips. “Sorry, but I'm only human Fred, and those are the prettiest breasts I have ever seen.”

“
Flattery will get you everywhere,” I tell him happily.

“
Will it really?” he asks. “I should try getting somewhere then, shouldn't I?”

“
Maybe you should,” I answer boldly.

He shakes his head at my over the top flirting. “I have a proposition for you,” he begins hesitantly and I nod my head for him to continue. “I had a phone call from a friend of mine in Edinburgh this morning. She runs a venue during the Fringe all this month and one of her acts pulled out at the last minute. She wanted to know if I'd fly over and fill in for a few nights.”

“
Cool, when does she want you to go?” I ask, though I'm kind of disappointed that he's going to be away for a while.

“
Tomorrow morning preferably,” he comes and sits down beside me at the head of the bed. “Come with me?” he asks suddenly.

“
To Scotland?”

“
Yes, we've had a shitty week, with Aaron and last night's attack. A couple of days away will do us both good I think.”

“
But I have to work,” I say to him. Disappointment fills my gut with the realisation. If I didn't have to bake every morning this week I'd be hopping right on a plane with him.

“
Have someone fill in for you. Come on Fred, we both need this. Besides, I'm not going if you don't come too. I need my assistant with me after all, I'd be lost without her.”

“
Oh, you're a sly one,” I grin, knowing he's trying to guilt me into this. “I'll make no promises, but I'll see what I can do. I might be able to get an old college friend to make my cupcakes while I'm away.”

Nicholas wraps his arm around my shoulders with a triumphant smile, and I finish eating the food he made for me.

Later on I call up Aoife, a girl who was in my class in college, to see if she's available to fill in for me this week. She had a baby and got married as soon as she finished her degree, so she's been a stay at home mother ever since. I had her do my cupcakes for me once before when I was sick with the flu. Over the phone she tells me she'd be happy to take on the work and I do a little dance of excitement as I'm reminding her of the recipes and what not.

She takes notes and we hang up about twenty minutes later. Then I call up the charity shop and see if anyone would be willing to take my shifts. With that all sorted I send Nicholas a quick text to let him know that all systems are go. He writes back saying that he's going to book the flights and hotel online.

I've never been to Edinburgh before, but I've heard the Fringe Festival is supposed to be
amazing
. Needless to say, I'm as excited as a ten year old on Christmas Eve.

Nora rolls her eyes at me as I hurry around the apartment, putting on a shit Scottish accent a la Mrs Doubtfire and trying to get my clothes packed for our flight in the morning. She tells me that she's invited Richard over for dinner tomorrow evening and quite casually asks if I could possibly leave her a foolproof recipe for something to cook.

After I've had a good laugh at her ineptness for food preparation, and she is at the end of her tether with my jibes, I write down the ingredients needed for lemon chicken with mushrooms, as well as instructions on how to make it. It's simple, so there's less of a chance of her screwing it up. For dessert I tell her to make Eton Mess, since it's one of the easiest desserts on the planet.

She gives me a long suffering look and tells me that
she'll
be the judge of how easy it is. I tell her to send me pictures so that I can have a laugh at the
mess
she makes of Eton
Mess
. See what I did there? I should quit baking cupcakes and take up writing jokes professionally.

I call up my mum and let her know that I'm going away for the week with Nicholas, because I am a good little daughter like that. I haven't told her much about him so far, other than the fact that he's my neighbour and a new friend of mine. I can tell that she wants me to elaborate, as she keeps asking me roundabout questions, such as:
So is he a friend like Harry is your friend, or is he another kind of a friend?
Oh mother, do you really think it's going to be that easy to get me to talk? I laugh cynically to myself.

I avoid her questions as best I can. It's difficult to classify my relationship with Nicholas for her when I can't even classify it for myself. I can hardly tell my mum that I work for him because he's a drag queen and that we say we're best friends, but really we want to get inside each other's pants. She'd probably have a heart attack by the time I got as far as the drag queen bit.

Speak of the devil and watch him appear. Just as I hang up with Mum I get a text from Nicholas informing me that our flight is at a quarter to eight the following morning, and that he's going to drive us to the airport at six. I set my alarm for five and send him a quick message back, which reads:

Noted. C u in the morning sugar tits <3

To which he responds:

Sugar tits? Really Fred? U r giving me naughty ideas.

To which I encourage:

Oh. Feel free 2 elaborate :-0

To which he answers:

I wouldn't want 2 scandalize u like I did b4 ;-)

To which I venture:

If I recall correctly, I quite enjoyed being scandalized :-D

To which he scolds:

U r killing me, Fred.

And then orders:

Come 2 my place. Now.

To which I decline:

I'm afraid that would b inappropriate.

To which he declares:

Being inappropriate with u is my favourite thing Fred. x

I sigh and throw my phone to the end of my bed. I really don't know what to say to that. And as usual, it's my own fault for starting it in the first place. A minute later my phone beeps with a new message. I scramble for it and open the text. It reads:

U r so fucking beautiful.

Oh wow. I bravely type back:

So r u.

He repeats his earlier request:

Come 2 my place. Plz. I have 2 kiss u.

His message makes me breathe heavier. I reply:

I can't. Need my beauty sleep. C u 2moro. x

I half expect him to ask me again, but he doesn't, he simply says:

OK darling. Sleep well. <3

My heart is going ninety. I'm never going to be able to get an early night now; his texts will just keep on repeating in my head. I go into Nora's room and ask her for one of the sleeping pills I know she keeps hidden at the back of her bedside dresser. She hands me the happy little pill and I grab a glass of water from the kitchen before swallowing it down. I make sure all of my stuff is ready for the morning and then I hit the hay once I feel the drowsiness of the pill kicking in.