Taking Off
Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Aurélie checked her reflection in the bus shelter. Her favourite pair of jeans, a tight black top and her new Fat Face bag formed a suitable attire for a lesbian club, at least she hoped.
She met Katie in Southopia and ordered the first round. Katie asked for a Coke but Aurélie preferred an alcoholic drink for herself. Fiona arrived as Aurélie carried back the glasses and she helped Aurélie navigate between the tables.
Fiona and Katie greeted a few women. In fact, Fiona seemed to know at least one woman in every group of people passing by. The music engulfed Aurélie and she struggled to raise her voice above it. The songs varied from pop ladies such as Sugarbabes to riot girls like the Gossip and Aurélie tapped along with her feet and lip-synched to a few tunes.
The barmaid who had served Aurélie sported the same haircut as Pink, as did her two colleagues. Women in red lipstick kissed women who looked like boys. In the middle of the room, four women played pool and about twenty watched.
“So, it’s not scarier than a regular club, is it?” Katie asked Aurélie.
“No, it’s cool. I like it.”
“Do you?”
“Yes, though I’m surprised at how cliché it is.” Aurélie pointed at a woman in a dress snuggling up to a woman with a tie.
“What do you mean?”
“The feminine against masculine thing. I thought they would all be, you know, feminist and cool. You know, I was expecting them to be like Angela Davis or Kathleen Hanna.”
“Some of them are but yeah, the butch femme dynamics is making a strong comeback.”
“Butch femme?”
“Butches are the more masculine ones.”
“I understand. So which one are you?”
“I don’t ID as anything but I lean towards femme I guess.”
A woman sat on the corner of their table, a cigarette in her right hand and a pool cue in the left. Katie coughed as the smoke reached her face.
“Excuse me,” Aurélie said.” Would you mind not smoking into our faces, please?”
“Am I? I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise. It’s so busy in here.” She moved her hand upwards and the smoke dissipated in a halo above her head.
“That was so cool,” Fiona said. “Very brave. Well done.”
“Yes, thanks,” Katie said. “I’m always too polite to say anything.”
Aurélie laughed. “Well, it has got advantages to be French.”
***
Aurélie woke up clenching her thigh. When she turned around, spreading out her legs, a faint pain stung her in the lower abdomen area. She got up, opened the door and stumbled on Katie who was lugging a huge rubbish bag along the corridor.
“Good morning,” Katie said. “How are you feeling?”
“Hangover. And I need to pee badly, where are your toilets?”
“You must have been hammered last night if you can’t remember where they are, I’m sure you went before going to bed.”
“So where are they?”
“Next door on your left.”
As she washed her hands, memories floated by. She had fallen down the stairs of a night bus and scratched herself on her left elbow. She had laughed and laughed with Fiona on the dance floor.
“Do you want breakfast?” Katie asked.
“I don’t think I could swallow anything, I feel sick.”
Katie sighed. “I know the feeling, been there many times. Have a cup of tea then.”
“I feel like someone has been shaking my head all night.” Aurélie closed her eyes and pressed her hand down her face in a slow motion from her forehead to her chin.
“This is something I don’t miss.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever drunk so much before. I don’t know how much I had but it must have been six or seven drinks.”
“Knowing Fiona, more likely to be in the region of ten.”
“I’m not going to drink anymore.”
Katie washed up in silence.
“Where is Fiona?“ Aurélie asked. “Has she gone home?”
“No, she’s sleeping in my bedroom, next to you. I slept in here, it was easier.”
“What? I slept with her?”
“I think you probably just kissed.”
“I meant sleeping as in sleeping, not shagging. We didn’t kiss.”
“I’m pretty sure you did.”
“How do you know?” Aurélie crossed her arms.
“I saw you.”
“Oh fuck. Is it true? I can’t believe I’ve done that.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve all done it. Welcome to Britain. You get drunk then you get laid.”
“That’s horrible.”
Katie dried a few plates and drank a glass of water.
“I feel ashamed,” Aurélie said.
“Poor you.” Katie hugged Aurélie. Her soft skin brushed against Aurélie’s arm and strands of her hair tickled Aurélie’s neck. “I didn’t think you’d feel so bad about it.”
“Well, it’s that, you know, I don’t want you to think I just kiss anyone.”
“No one is judging you.”
“Well, I am. I wouldn’t want you to think I’m kissing anyone when my heart is set on someone.”
Katie leant back and scrutinised Aurélie. “Who is your heart set on?”
“I can’t say.”
“You’re in love?”
“Yes, but it’s not working out.”
Katie tilted her head. “Who is it? Someone I know?”
“It’s… It’s…”
Katie’s face shone in the ray of sun coming through the side of the curtain and her hand was only half an inch away from Aurélie’s. A subtle shift could change it all, could bring back Katie’s warm arm around Aurélie. Aurélie turned away.
“It’s Luc.”
“Luc? Forget about him, he’s not worth it.”
“But I love him,” Aurélie whispered. Despite Katie’s hand tugging at her shoulder, Aurélie couldn’t face her.
“He’s a waste of space.”
Katie swerved and forced Aurélie to take notice. Katie’s eyes were colder than usually, their green blue tint had turned to silver.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
“I’m only watching out for you.”
“You don’t know the whole history.”
“I know what I see. He doesn’t make you happy, he never has.”
“We were happy.” Aurélie believed that much. “You can’t invalidate all of our relationship.”
“You don’t make a good couple, he’s not right for you.”
“You know nothing.”
Aurélie stormed out of Katie’s flat.
***
When Aurélie arrived home, she sat at the kitchen table and burst into tears. Her sobbing resonated in the silent house, interlaced with hiccups and moans.
“What’s up darling?” Gareth asked.
Aurélie tensed up. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I’ve just come in. What’s happening?”
“It’s personal.” Aurélie wiped her face with an old tissue.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No. Yes…”
Gareth raised an eyebrow.
“It’s Katie. We had a fight. I left.”
“What did you fight about?”
“Luc.”
Gareth gasped. “Luc?”
“Yes, Luc. But the worst isn’t the fight. The worst is I lied to her. I panicked and lied. How could I?”
“You‘re human, that‘s all.”
Gareth reached for Aurélie’s shoulders but she brushed him off. “But I never lie. I don‘t lie.”
“What did you lie about?”
“Luc.”
“So you had a fight because of a lie?”
“Yes.”
“Then fix it. No lie, no fight, right?”
“I can’t tell her the truth.”
Gareth scratched his chin for a few seconds. The neighbour’s cat came in through the garden door flap and Gareth fed him. Once he had washed his hands, he returned to his meditating pose.
“Did you stay at her place last night?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, oh. Did something happen? You made out and then freaked out and told her you loved Luc, didn’t you?”
“How?” Aurélie lifted her head. “Almost. Worse. I kissed her best friend. How could I?”
He smiled. “Cute?”
“Yes. That’s not the point! I’m a lying slapper.”
“Firstly, you’re not a slapper. You lied, yes. You said it yourself, you panicked. Undo it.”
“I can’t.”
Gareth raised his hands, his palms towards Aurélie, his fingers spread out, and he sighed.
