Skinny Dipping (20 page)

“Would you ever like a chance on camera?” Josh asked. “You’d be pretty good I think.”

Carol was so pretty and slim. She would look marvellous on camera Sophie thought. She hadn’t thought of asking her to audition for advertising campaigns, knowing
Clarks
held loads of auditions, for different advertising campaigns.

“I love the stage. I love to perform,” Carol sighed dramatically. “Anyway, if you’d like to, come and see me in Swan Lake, please do.”

“Sure,” Sophie agreed.

Carol eyed Josh and Matthew pointedly. “What about you two?”

“Um... Okay.” Matthew nodded.

Josh interjected. “I’d love to see more of you.”

Carol smiled. “Now you,” she said, a manicured nail landing softly on Josh’s chest. “Are welcome to see more of me.” Carol looked around the bar. “So where’s Mickey? She will definitely come to my show.”

“I just got a text from her – she can’t make it tonight,” Sophie admitted. “But she’ll see you perform. I’m positive.”

Carol turned to Matthew. “So you’re Mr. Swimming Coach.”

“Is that what she calls me?” Matthew enquired, curiously. “Nice to meet you Carol, I’m Matthew.” He turned to face Sophie and she suddenly felt embarrassed under his gaze.

“It’s true. You are my swimming coach. But secretly, at home, I call you the ‘taskmaster’.”

“I see.”

“Well Matthew, you must be truly amazing if you’ve got her out of work and finally having fun, I never get a chance to see her, on any night,” Carol said.

“She doesn’t go out?” Matthew shot Sophie a grin. “I bet she chains herself down to her laptop.”

“If she was an environmentalist, she’d be out there tree hugging and camped out in front of the bull dozers. That’s how passionate she is about her job,” Carol continued. “The way she goes on and on about her different campaigns at home.”

Josh was surly. “She needs to get a life. No one likes their job that much.”

“I do,” Sophie muttered.

There was a chorus of laugher. “My God she’s the teacher’s fucking pet,” Carol beamed. “I agree with you Josh, she needs to get a life.”

“Let’s all help with that.” Matthew winked pointedly at Sophie. “Let’s help Sophie get a life.”

“I’m here. Right in front of you all.” Sophie lifted her chin indignantly. “I wouldn’t say I’d do tree hugging.”

“If you were a vet, you’d be sleeping in cages, with the animals. You’d probably even have cats bum hair in your cardigans,” Carol teased. Although, she could hardly talk from the look of her long feline like fingernails.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking your job. You love dancing,” Sophie pointed out.

“I also live a bit. Matthew, let’s take bets. I bet she won’t stay long. Work you see… too important.” Carol lifted a knowing eyebrow and Sophie could have hit her.

“I’m still here,” Sophie exclaimed.

“She gets terribly cranky sometimes. All that work.” Carol shook her head knowingly.

“Let’s start these tequila shots,” Josh started, looking at Carol.

“Tequila? Up for the challenge, Soph? How long will you stay out and have fun?” Matthew raised a lemon slice to Sophie.

“I have fun, I do stay out. And I like a challenge.” She raised her shooter as a signal, she wouldn’t back down. This could get dangerous, two handsome men in the bar with tequila shots and a bottle of champagne on the way.

Matthew lifted a shot of tequila in acknowledgement. “You’re on.” He tipped the drink down and Sophie followed suit, pouring the shot into her mouth. The liquid tasted ghastly and instantly warmed her from the inside.

“I have a nickname for you too,” Matthew started. “If I’m Mr. Swimming Coach, well, you’re Miss Fun-Time.”

“Miss Fun-Time?” Sophie half smiled. “You make me sound like a Thai hooker.”

Matthew shrugged. “How would I know what Miss Fun-Time gets up to in her spare time?”

“She’s not having fun with you,” Josh joined in.

“Tequila time, Sophie? Repeat,” Matthew shouted, urging the tray of shots to them. She had no choice but to go along with it.

***

After the pub closed, the four decided the night was still young. They bought bottles of champagne and the girls invited them to their house. Even though it was November, they sat outside in the overgrown garden, wearing coats, mostly because Carol was smoking. The outdoor table was filled with champagne flutes and empty bottles of wine. Carol practically filled an entire ashtray with cigarette butts.

They played Spice Girls and Michael Bublé, and every now and then one of the neighbours yelled over the back fence, telling them to be quiet.

“I always wanted to be a Spice Girl when I was young,” Sophie whispered with joviality.

“What a great Spice Girl you would have been,” Carol insisted.

“Can we stop all this talk about the Spice Girls?” Josh laughed.

“Not manly enough? Let’s do something else. I know, we’ll have a piggy back race,” Matthew asserted. “Sophie you’re in my team.”

“You’ll probably drop me.”

“Now you’ll just have to trust that I won’t. Besides, I thought we already worked in synchronicity.”

He had a point, all their bobbing at the pool, where they looked like synchronised swimmers. Sophie leapt from her seat, springing onto Matthew’s back. Her legs wrapping round his slim waist. She ran her hands over his muscular back, appreciating his square shoulders.

Carol was suddenly clutching Josh, legs around his waist, grappling to find her balance.

“They’re going to win. She’s so light and thin,” Sophie whispered in his ear.

“I’ve got a plan.” His voice was low.

She leaned closer toward his neck. “What is it?”

“Let’s just have fun.”

“Fun and not winning?”

He nodded his head. “It’s not always about the winning, it’s the journey.”

Sophie laughed. “Okay. Let’s do this for fun then.”

On the count of three, they raced the length of the garden. Matthew steamed ahead for two strides. He carried Sophie as if she were light as a feather. Then the inevitable happened and he stumbled on the bricks, falling on the floor. Sophie laughed until her stomach hurt.

“You okay?” Matthew asked.

“Grand,” she said, touching her knee, feeling a bruise. “You?”

“Perfect,” he stood up, grabbing her hand.

Carol and Josh disappeared inside, looking for warmth and a heater.

Matthew still held onto her hand, and a sensation of desire swept over her. Sophie shook herself.

This was Matthew, her client. She couldn’t mix business and pleasure. Besides, he’d told her only moments earlier about his ex girlfriend. Did he make it all up, just to have a go at getting her into bed or something?

“So,” she started, feeling her body stiffen a little, all men were the same weren’t they? She extracted herself, her hands, from his by brushing down her coat. “It’s kind of cold isn’t it? Want to go inside?”

“Yeah.” He said turning away immediately, taking a few empty bottles from the garden table, neither of them looked each other in the eye.

In the kitchen, Sophie took the glass bottles, placing them under the sink. She noticed Carol and Josh, quite intense on the couch. The girlfriend code was to give them space, and she found herself suddenly looking up at Matthew.

“You see Matthew I just recently broke up with Derek.”

“That’s right, you said,” Matthew agreed.

“Half my stuff is still at his place.”

“Why don’t you get it?”

“He’s got a new girlfriend already, and after we’d been together for so long. I feel so silly for trusting him at all. I should have seen it.” She felt a raw stab of pain.

“That’s hard, but you still need to get your things, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Do you need some help? I mean, getting your stuff out. You can’t move on with your stuff still at his place.”

Sophie nodded. “I know. I’m going to ring him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.” She didn’t need many excuses. This was as good as any.

Matthew’s face suddenly looked stricken. “You don’t mean now. Sophie? It’s late. It’s not a good idea.”

She suddenly felt confident, the alcohol whirling through her body. “No, I’m going to ring him.”

“You’ve had quite a few drinks. Trust me. You’ll regret it.” He looked intensely at her.

“No, this is perfect. This is the time. Otherwise, I won’t do it.”

“You could always send a text if you feel like you must. A text is not so, in-your-face, as a 2 a.m. wake-up call.”

“I’m doing it.”

“I want you to ask Carol first; ask Josh, even ask Mickey, but it’s not a good idea to drink and dial.”

“Don’t you want to help me?” She looked up at him. “I trusted you to be on my side.”

“Trust me when I tell you this: It’s not a good idea. And you can trust me to help you, but I think you’ll feel much better in the morning, and so much better with yourself if you sleep on the phone call,” he urged.

“Okay, so we’re on, this Saturday, you and me, moving out of Derek’s?” She found her mobile phone, and started running down the numbers, searching for his name. A for Adam. B for Ben. C for Catherine, Claire, Clyde.

“Okay, we’re on, but don’t call now.” He grabbed the mobile phone from her hands.

“We’re not on if I can’t call, we’re only on for Saturday if you…if you…”

“If I what?” Matthew laughed. “If I what Sophie?” His eyes were twinkling.

“We’re only on for Saturday if you give me back that phone and you go to the ballet with me, to see Carol’s show.” She thrust her hand out. He would not go to the ballet. “See I knew you wouldn’t want to go, so give me the phone. I’ve got a call to make.”

“Actually, I won’t give you back the phone but I would love to go and see Carol in the ballet.” He pushed the mobile phone in his front jeans pocket. “As a friend, Sophie Smart, you will have to get into my jeans if you want to call him. You will thank me in the morning.”

“Do all girls thank you in the morning?”

He threw his head back, laughing. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” His voice was playful.

Her eyes darted from his face, to his jeans where the mobile phone bulged and then back to his dancing eyes. “Is that a challenge?”

A dimple formed on his cheek. “I dare you,” he said, nodding coyly.

Sophie lunged at him. He was on.

***

Matthew was sprawled on the timber floor when Sophie woke up. She jolted, lifting her body up into a position. Her head spun round like she’d been riding a carrousel for hours. Nausea rippled through her body. Her frenzied hands patted down her body like an airport security guard.

T-shirt, on. Jeans, on. She was fully clothed. Matthew’s shirt rode up showing his flat stomach, but despite the absence of his shoes and socks, he was also completely dressed.

She closed her eyes briefly, she’d been lucky, known in the past to make a drunken move. She rolled her eyes as images flashed through her mind. They’d flirted outrageously, she knew that.

Matthew was on the same floor, now, sleeping.

There was no one else in the room, just Matthew groaning. Sophie ran her hands through her hair, imagining the state it must be in and like a burglar she lifted herself up from the couch. Her stomach revolted at the movement.

She crept upstairs and past the bathroom, seeing Carol who was leaning over the sink, removing her makeup from the night before. Sunlight streamed into the bathroom, that was
not
a good sign. It was always dark in London in the morning. Sophie’s throat felt like she’d swallowed razor blades. She could see Carol’s wide grin, from ear to ear.

“Do you know what time it is? I’m going to be so late for work.”

“No idea. Seven I think?”

“Shit. Oh my God, my Dad’s coming round here. Remember I told you, he lost his job.”

“Sure, sure. No worries. I’ve got rehearsal all day anyway. I won’t be around.”

“What happened last night? I have the strangest of memories,” Sophie whispered. Carol’s face shone, radiating. She threw a dirty cotton ball into the sink and grabbed Sophie by the hands. She swung her around the bathroom in a ring. Wisps of hair floated around Carol’s forehead, her hair tumbled around her shoulders.

“I think I’m in love,” she said.

Sophie stopped, clutching her stomach. “What?” She was indeed hung over.

“Josh, he’s so amazing,” Carol said. “He left a few hours ago, Matthew was passed out by then, and we couldn’t wake him.”

“Oh, so what else happened?” She paused. “Did I do anything with Matthew? I can’t remember a thing.”

“Well,” Carol said, speaking slowly. “He saved you from yourself. You were insistent on drinking and dialling, but he stopped you.”

A slight memory flicked in her mind. “Oh yes, that’s right.”

“Why would he do that for me?”

“So you didn’t come across as a complete desperado, calling your ex in the middle of the night. So you could do it when you were sober.”

“Oh, that was nice of him, I suppose.”

“Yes, it was nice of him. But,” Carol continued. “You forced him to ring Mickey, and she’s arranging for you to get your things on Saturday.”

“No, no….” Sophie’s chest constricted. “If I do that, it’s really over. Really and truly over. Not temporary.”

Carol sighed. “Derek’s seeing someone else Soph. He cheated on you and he hasn’t even tried to apologise to you about it. Besides, Matthew’s agreed to help you. He insisted, offering his services to help you move from your old apartment. He’ll be a hunk of a mover and you’re both going to my show. I can’t figure out whether it’s a date or just as friends, how did that even get into the bargain?”

“I have no idea. What the hell am I going to do? I can’t move my stuff.”

“You need to. Even if Matthew’s just a friend, he’ll help you get your stuff. You need to move on.”

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

“Just run with it. Go with the flow. Matthew’s a nice guy. Harmless – and hot.”

Chapter 15

Sophie ran down the stairs, to where Matthew still lay on the floor, looking comatose. She needed to get him up, firstly off the floor. Using a manicured finger she prodded him.

“Morning Matt,” she said.