3 Heads & a Tail (8 page)

They
were walking alongside the lake
. A few boats bobbed about in the middle, their amateur rowers struggling to go straight.

“
I could be predictable and say b
lue, but it
'
s actually purple, deep purple – as
dark as you can get it,
”
replied Josie.
“
What
'
s yours?
”

“
Black.
”

“
That
'
s not a colour!
”
sai
d Josie.
“
That
'
s a non-colour,
a
colour wit
hout
colour!
”

“
Actually,
”
protested David
,
“
it
'
s a combination of all
the colours. I know this because I had a friend who was studyin
g colour – yeah, yeah, really! A
nd black is all of the colours mixed up. White
is actually no colour at all. It reflects them all.
”

“
I didn
'
t know that.
”

“
Ah, so I
'
m teaching y
ou something!
”
He grinned.
“
What
'
s your f
avourite animal?
”

“
I don
'
t need
to think hard about that one – e
agle.
”

“
Why
?
”

“
Because
they
can
fly
and they
'
re so powerful
!
They
can just soar across the
skies, unbothered by anything – pure
freedom!
”
smiled Josie.
“
If only...
”

“
So
you
'
re an escapist?
”

Josie
laughed.
“
Sometimes, not
always; d
epends
on the situation. But yeah
,
there
have been
times
when I just wanted
to fly away
as high as possible
and then take
my
time coming back.
”

“
I
get it
.
”

“
Don
'
t get me wrong
though, I
'
m not a pessimist,
”
she said.
“
At
other times I might just wanna fly for the sheer hell of it. You know, you could fly off on holiday without having to pay some big plane ticket
, remember your passport
and pack your luggage
!
”

“
True.
”

“
What about you?
”

“
Me?
”
asked David, flicking his hair out of
his dark eyes.
“
I
'
d be a lion, the king of the jungle
!
”

“
Ha! I could
'
ve guessed that one!
”
Josie
giggled
.

“
Why?
”

“
Well, you know, the lion wants to be the king... rule everyon
e, stand out,
be the centre of attention,
”
she
teased.

“
So you
'
re saying I want everyo
ne to look at me?!
”

She laughed.
“
Y
es!
”

“
Well, that
'
s not very nice!
”
David
clutched his heart and pretended
to be hurt.
“
And there was me thinking we were getting
along
nicely.
”

“
I
'
m just
kidding, b
ut King of the Jungle? You
'
re asking for it
by
saying that!
”

“
You
'
d rather I said a penguin or something?
”

Josie nodded.

“
Ok
ay, I
'
m Pingu –
King
Ping
u of the Pengies.
Happy
now
?
”

She
couldn
'
t stop laughing. The idea of David as a flappy penguin, waddling down an ice-covered beach was too much.
A penguin in sprayed-on jeans, flicking his beak!
Trippy!

“
Look! Your favourite – a weeping w
illow,
”
said Dav
id, pointing to the tree yonder
and
quickening
his pace towards it.

Jos
ie looked up
and followed af
ter him.
Dav
id had already walked beneath t
he willow
'
s leaves
, which hung low to the ground. She
part
ed
them like a d
oorway
, letting
them drop behind
her
. It was like standing in a green room. The earthy smell of the tree filled her senses. All around the
m the
le
aves hung down like
fingers –
a green chandelier.

“
It
'
s
beautiful,
”
said David, looking straight at her.

“
It is,
”
she agreed, trying not to meet his gaze
, which seemed
ardent
.

“
L
ike you,
”
he said, and in a moment he was kissing her.

She hadn
'
t
even
noticed him move. One minute he was standing over there
,
and the next his lips were on hers. And what a kiss
! She
sank into it as if in a dream. It didn
'
t seem real.
If someone had told her yesterday that she
'
d be standing under a tree kissing Mr Tight Pa
nts, she
'
d have died laughing, but here she was
doing just that.
She
couldn
'
t fight the
attraction
. The guy was perfect looking
,
even if his personality wasn
'
t.
Minutes passed by and she wasn
'
t sure how many.

“
Josie
,
”
he said, after an endless time
,
“
I
'
m sorry,
but I couldn
'
t help myself!
”

“
Don
'
t apologise on my account,
”
she
said,
tidying her hair.
“
Did you see me fighting you off?
”

“
So you don
'
t mind if I do
it
again?
”
he asked, with a faint smirk on his fa
ce.

“
Nope, you
'
l
l get no complaints from me.
”

Josie
and Poser Face just came home. I c
an
'
t voofing bel
ieve it.
Is she mad? Has she no eyes? C
an
'
t she see that he
'
s an idiot?
They walk in
,
hugging
,
and he
'
s kissing her, and she
'
s hugging him back. What
'
s going on? Did the Earth tilt? It
'
s no
t fair. Ben
'
s going to be upset. I just know it. E
xcept he won
'
t show he
'
s upset because he
'
s
too nice. Not like Mr Big Ass – big
ass, big head, small brain. I
'
m surprised at Josie. Ah here he comes. If he thinks he
'
s touching me, he
'
s got another
thought
coming. Get away from me!

“
Voof, voof, voof.
”
Yep that
'
s it. Got th
e message? Back off! I like Ben,
I don
'
t like you.
“
Voof,
voof.
”

It
'
s not over yet
,
Mr Tight Pants
. May the best man win – and
the best do
g. ASSHOL
E.

“
So, let me ge
t this straight. Y
ou
kissed Mr Model?
”
gasped
Kay, her eyes wide
.

“
Yes,
”
replied Josie, putting down her pint.
“
An
d you know what? It was goo
d!
”

“
No!
”
screeched Kay.
“
I
thought you couldn
'
t stand him
!
”

“
Well, I couldn
'
t, but then he apologised for waking me up an
d asked me to go for a coffee.
”

“
And you went?
”

Josie pulled a face.
“
I didn
'
t mean to, but I said yes before I could think
straight
. I didn
'
t want to go, but then
it was nice.
I thought he
'
d be arrogant and
full of himself
, but
he was the opposite and funny.
”

“
Funny?
”

“
Yeah! Funny! Stop laughing! He
'
s a very good kisser. H
e just grabbed me like in a m
ovie. It was exciting.
He
'
s not
my type, but it just happened. No big deal
.
”

Kay giggled.
“
It
'
s like that song,
It
'
s in his kiss!
”

“
O
kay,
now
I
'
m
shutting up! It was just a crazy moment
!
It
'
s not going to happen again.
You
'
re just jealous!
”

Josie took
another
swig
of her pint
and looked around
. She liked this pub. It did really good ale. This one
tasted like
honey and stayed on the tongue.
Just like the memory of something else, she thought, grinning to herself.