Pistol (2 page)

Steph’s eyes rolled back in her head as she threw the bobby pins onto the bathroom counter. Anyone would think that the amount of times a woman had to do her hair in her lifetime would automatically qualify for some sort of skill by this stage. But no, not Steph. Countless times she had done this exact style, but every time her hands fumbled like a ten year old girl with her first training bra.

Pent up frustration bubbled dangerously close to the surface, so she decided against a gazzilionth attempt, and headed for the kitchen.
A cursory glance at the clock said she had twenty minutes until Cass arrived. She pulled a stemmed glass from the cupboard, and poured herself a cold wine from the fridge. What was she doing? Her heart lay in tatters somewhere next to the couch where she had argued with Dave the night before, and yet she was about to hit the clubs with her closest friend.
You’ve finally gone insane.

Steph sipped at the refreshing drink
, and quelled the doubt in her head.
It’s time I looked after number one, you know.
She placed the glass down on the bench-top and stared at it. Had she drunk all that already? A sure sign she was seriously distracted. With a chuckle, and a shake of her head, she wandered back through her one bedroom unit to the bathroom, ready for battle. A tired, and disinterested face stared back at her from the mirror as she sighed, and grabbed the tail comb once more.

By the time her lo
cks had been wrestled into some semblance of the style she tried to achieve, a knock at the door echoed through the sparsely furnished place.

“Coming,” she called out.

Cass’s voice carried back to where she stuck in the final bobby pin. “It’s okay, I let myself in.”

“Pervert.
You wanted to catch me in the nude.” She laughed, and then glanced to the reflection of Cass as she joined her in the room.

“Busted.
You know my perversion too well. I may have to silence you.”

“Try, wench.” Steph grinned. “I have a million pins in here
, and I only need one to take you out.”

Cass laughed
, and rested a hip on the shower door. “Seriously though, I love how you do your hair. I wish I could do victory curls.”

“Dedication, babe.
You’ve got to be happy to spend hours before the mirror, and end up with numb arms from them being over your head for so long.”

Cass smiled, and reached out to tuck
Steph’s tag in. “If only you were as good at dressing yourself.”

“Hey.”
She laughed. “I’ve gotta let you have something, right?”

“You
’re too kind,” Cass drolled.

“Where are we going tonight, anyway?” Steph flicked her gaze to Cass briefly, and caught the
sneaky grin.

“Nowhere Dave will be. I thought we could go over the south-side for a change.”

“And get ourselves mugged?” Steph’s eyes shot wide. “Are you serious?”

Cass dropped her shoulders, and shook her head. “We’ll be fine, hon. As long as we stick to the well-lit, public areas, what could go wrong?”

She raised an eyebrow at the phrase which could tempt fate.
Great, now we’re jinxed.

“Anyway,” Cass slapped her on the shoulder. “Have you got your shit together, or what? ‘Coz
I’ve got the taxi still outside for us.”

Steph took a last look at her reflection, and drew her
face into a mask of confidence. Her heart wanted to curl up on the couch with a snuggly blanket, and trashy late-night TV. But this would be good for her, right? Get back on the horse and all that?

She whipped
through the unit to collect her bank card, and ID, then stuffed them into the side of her bra. She took hold of the doorway for balance as she shoved her feet into her trusty pumps. If she was about to do a marathon effort on her feet, then damn it all if she wouldn’t do it in comfort. Besides, who the hell at a club paid that much attention to other people’s shoes?

Cass waited in the back seat of the taxi as
Steph shut the front door, and double-checked it. She shoved the key in her hidey-hole—behind a loose brick that literally came right out of the wall—and hustled down the stairs to slip in beside her buddy.

“Orchid
Ave, thanks.”

Steph looked across at Cass as the woman casually ordered the driver to take them to ‘the’ place to be.
By far, the two of them weren’t country pub-crawlers by any account, but this was way over what they normally got up to.

“Are you insane?” she hissed.

Cass shrugged and mouthed
‘What?’

“You know how much they charge for a drink along there?”

Cass pursed her lips to stifle her smile. “Over-compensated by the quality of male you get in such clubs.”

Steph rolled her eyes, and buckled her seat belt. “I think I had my fair share of Mr Handsome with Dave, thanks.”

“Girl, you’re a stunner. Why not use what you were born with to your advantage?”

“And what?”
Steph asked. “Nab another douche who spends more time at the beautician than I do?”

Cass frowned, and huffed out her nose. “Admit
it—he was a stallion in the sack.”

“There’s more to a relationship than sex.” She ducked her chin as the driver made eye contact in the rear-view. “Maybe I want somebody who I can talk to for hours at night. Somebody who wants to buy me flowers. A guy who thinks I’m the most beautiful girl in the world?”

“Sweetheart.” Cass dropped a hand on Steph’s arm. “Do you still believe that
Disney
crap?”

She laughed idly at her friends tease, but truthfully she did believe it. Looks weren’t the whole package. She wanted intellect as well.
A man who could match her curious mind blow for blow, and give her deep and insightful discussions about life.
You’re a nerd.
Maybe she was, but hey, looks didn’t help her when Dave sat across the table, and spent an entire dinner with a phone in hand, browsing social media sites. Granted, the guy had her lust-fuelled for him in the bedroom. But it wasn’t because Dave was Dave; it was purely because Dave was hot.

Steph needed more. She wanted to feel the buzz as she looked over her man, and admired him for who he was to her, not who he was to the world. She wanted a connection.
She wanted
Disney
.

Suburbs stretched on as they travelled in silence, the scenery
a blur of familiar imagery the two of them had seen a million times before. They reached the start of Orchid Ave, and Cass broke the tension. She elbowed Steph in the arm, and pointed at a group of guys who milled in a queue.

“See? I told you it was high-end stuff round here.”

Steph offered a wan smile, and looked back out her window at a couple of drunk girls who wobbled along, much to the amusement of such ‘high-class’ fellas. She died a little inside at the thought of what was to come: ogling, grabbing, leering, and lame come-ons.

The driver double-parked
alongside a flashy, black Range Rover, and turned to address them both. “Will this do you?”

“Perfect, thank you,” replied Cass,
and handed over a few twenties.

The driver sorted
Cass’s change as Steph reached for the handle, and opened the door. A rush of chatter, and thumping bass assaulted her ears. She swung her legs out and rose to full height, before she tugged the hem of her blouse down. Cass emerged from the far side of the taxi, and beckoned her with a grand sweep of her arm.

“Come on, hon.
It’s not far this way.”

Steph stepped onto the sidewalk,
and twisted to avoid a shoulder barge from a tall guy who didn’t watch where he stumbled. The girls wove through the packed pavement, then stopped outside a large, crimson door. The finely carved entrance looked to be at least eight foot high, and was guarded by a bouncer who looked the same from her vantage point several steps down.

Cass
ignored the queue and ascended the narrow flight, before she came to an abrupt halt in front of the huge man. He glanced down at her with a fiercely stoic face.

“Hey, Gary,” she chirruped, and pushed up on her toes to give the man a peck on the cheek.

His stone expression broke as it gave way to a huge, dimpled grin. Gary leant down and pulled her into a brief hug. “Cassie. It’s been too long girl.”

“Where the heck did you disappear to?”

“Oh, you know.” The bouncer shrugged. “Ran with the wrong crowd. Needed to lay low for a while.”

Cass patted his elbow. “Well, it’s good to see you back.”

Gary turned to the side, and reached over to push the giant door open. “Enjoy your night, Miss Cassie.”

Steph hurried up the steps to follow her friend into the dim corridor beyond the massive door. “Where do you know him from?” she asked, as Cass walked
down the tiled passage like she had been to the place before.

“Don’t ask
me, and you won’t have to wish you hadn’t.”

Steph paused to stare after the girl who transformed into a mystery, right before her eyes.
Granted, neither of them had ever shared a heart-to-heart about their pasts, but what else hadn’t Cass told her? The metal tips of Steph’s heels clicked as she hurried to catch up before she lost sight of Cass. The woman pushed through a glass-beaded curtain, and the beat that echoed in the entrance hall grew into a deafening roar as they crossed the threshold. Mainstream, on-trend people mingled with unique, eclectic types. Each of the various tables appeared to represent a different thread of society. Selective profiling seemed to not apply in this joint.

“Drink?”
Cass shouted over the music.

Steph nodded,
and pointed to herself to indicate it was her shout. She edged through a throng of people to get as close to the bar as possible, and then planted a hand firmly on the marble top to secure her spot for service. Cass pushed in behind, and stood with her chest pressed to the back of Steph’s shoulder to stop them from being separated.

The serving side of the bar appeared empty. A
man to Steph’s right moved away; frustrated at the wait by the look on his face. She took up his spot to lean over the counter and look either direction for a bartender. To her left, at the far end, a guy in a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, body-blocked a shorter woman who stood with her back to the crowd. Steph watched as the woman swiped at her eyes with the back of her hands, and the man continued to lean over top of her and jab a finger angrily toward the back of the bar. The woman bolted through a ‘staff only’ door and disappeared. The man dipped his head, and pinched his nose.

“What’s going on?” Cass called out from behind her.

Steph dropped back from the counter, and leant over to speak in her ear. “Looks like the bar staff had an argument. Who knows how long we’ll have to wait now that one of them has stormed off.”

A
rough hand touched her wrist, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention. Steph turned, and connected with the striking blue eyes of the sole bartender.

“What
ya after?” he asked.

She marvelled at the way he ma
naged to throw his voice to her over the bass-heavy music, without the need to shout. He had an accent, but the background chatter made it difficult to pick. “Two vodka martinis,” she shouted back.

He nodded, and tattoos peeked out from under his
crisp collar. Steph glanced over her shoulder at Cass as the guy prepared their drinks. Her friend blatantly wore the expression she hoped she didn’t – lust. As she suspected, people stood impatiently either side of her post. Some eyeballed her with contempt as the bartender added the final touches to their martinis.

She closed out the stares of the other patrons, and watched the sullen expression the bartender kept as he moved about the service area with an obvious ease. Steph was used to the staff at such popular bars being magazine-model material; all crisp style, and classic good-looks. Granted, t
his guy was seriously hot as well, but he was by far not what anyone would call ‘ordinary’. Small pictures adorned each of his fingers, between each joint, and extended over the backs of his hands. Steph perused him like a piece of fine art as she traced the line work up each arm, and admired the detail in the work. The murals moved closer, and she raised her eyes to see him regard her with casual disinterest as he pushed the drinks toward her. She reached into her bra for her card, and the bartender’s eyes followed. They lingered a moment too long to simply track her action. She presented the plastic to him, and he held up a hand, a seductive twist to his lips.