Our Stop(56)

The guys walked quickly under the arches of Hoxton station and rounded the corner to see four women standing in a tight circle, all on their phones. Daniel recognized the woman who’d tried to kiss him, as well as Becky, whose face lit up at Lorenzo’s. Daniel thought the other two women must have been at the party too, but he didn’t recognize them. They kind of all looked the same, with honey-coloured hair just below their shoulders, all of them in high-waisted jeans and leather sandals, with lots of gold jewellery layered around their necks and wrists.

‘Ladies,’ said Lorenzo, shouting as they approached. ‘What a sight for sore eyes!’

Becky said something Daniel couldn’t hear to the group as they all looked up, making everyone giggle. He felt self-conscious, but he didn’t know why. The girl who had hit on him at the party made eye contact and smiled sweetly.

‘We meet again,’ she said, as the two men made their way around the group, kissing the cheeks of each woman.

‘We do,’ said Daniel. ‘You look nice. I like your –’ he struggled to identify something that stood out from the rest of the group ‘– nail varnish.’

The girl laughed. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I just got a manicure this morning. Self-care Saturday and all that.’

Daniel smiled and nodded politely, not knowing what self-care Saturday was, but not feeling invested enough in polite conversation to follow up. At least he was out, breathing fresh air and wearing cologne. He’d moped enough last night, ordering in truffle Mac ’n’ Cheese from halfway across London, and throwing in a cheesecake to boot. When he’d woken up this morning he’d put a wash on and changed his sheets, gone for a run, had breakfast with Lorenzo and then headed out to the Wellcome Collection for a bit of culture. It was a slow, quiet day, but void of much human interaction, and so here he was, engaging with people.

‘Shall we go then?’ Lorenzo asked the group, rounding everyone up. ‘I saved us a table at Lilo and Brookes. No big deal, but yeah, I know a guy.’

Daniel turned to the nameless girl beside him.

‘What have you been up to today?’ he said, forcing himself to be friendly and sociable, and struggling to listen to her answer.

At the bar, the group assembled and in a fit of generosity Daniel said, ‘Right then – what’s everyone having? First round is on me.’

He handed over his credit card to pay, having realized at Wetherspoons the night before that he’d left his debit card at the bar when he was supposed to meet Nadia. He couldn’t face going back for it, so he’d cancelled it and ordered another to be delivered in the post. In the meantime, the ￡115 total for six drinks – six drinks! Over one hundred pounds! – went on his Amex. Daniel delivered the tray to the table and thought about what Romeo would say about the cost. They should have all gone to Wetherspoons.

A few hours into the evening, Daniel suddenly stepped out of himself to acknowledge that actually, it was almost as if he was having fun. The woman who’d hit on him at the party last time had made friends with a guy from another group, and so that guy’s friends had joined their table and they’d held court, telling stories and laughing with the other girls and him. It took the pressure off the ‘performance’ – he just got to chat and not worry about flirting or being flirted with. Daniel ended up talking about Arsenal with one of the guys, passionately defending their starting line-up in the Premier League final match – still a sore point for many a fan. The guy had said some clever and funny things, and then, out of nowhere, said, ‘I’m going to the bathroom, mate. Do you want any?’ He put a finger against one nostril and snorted up through the other. Daniel looked around the group. Ah. They were all high.

‘Nah mate, I’m all right for a minute,’ Daniel said, hating knowing he was the only one not disappearing to the loo for cocaine. It wouldn’t be long before everyone got shouty and self-obsessed and sweaty and horny too. Lorenzo and Becky had made out occasionally all night, but Daniel noticed now that the spaces between their kisses had lessened and lessened, and just like that Daniel stopped having fun and made his excuses to leave.

‘Daniel!’ he heard from behind, as he checked his phone to see that his Uber was only two minutes away. ‘Daniel!’

It was Lorenzo, with a very out-of-it Becky on his arm. She staggered and swayed, and had the fixed, airless smile of a woman who had no idea where she was. She didn’t look high – she looked very, very drunk.

‘Give us a ride, buddy,’ Lorenzo said cheerily.

‘Two minutes,’ said Daniel, glancing at his phone. ‘Oh. One.’

Becky could hardly support her own head. She mumbled something and pushed her hair from her face. ‘You okay, Becky?’ Daniel asked.

‘Nkdhrhf-drunk, isall,’ she said, which Daniel took to mean ‘I’m drunk’.

‘Can I get you something? Where are the others?’

Lorenzo looked annoyed at the question. ‘Chill out. She’s with me. She’s okay.’

Daniel stepped towards him and lowered his voice. ‘I don’t think she really knows where she is, mate,’ he said. ‘You shouldn’t take her home like this. Let’s get her back to the girls.’

Lorenzo looked up, meeting Daniel’s eye, puffing out his chest. ‘Mind your own business, mate.’ He said ‘mate’ as if it meant exactly the opposite, aggressive and mean.