Page 29 of Swim To Me

“You wouldn’t mind waiting, would you?” I ask the driver, one heeled foot already out on the pavement below Aurelia’s flat. Getting another taxi at this time in the night on a Saturday would be practically impossible.

“No’ a bother, lass,” comes the reply in his thick Scottish brogue.

As quick as my dress will allow, I make my way up to my sister’s flat on the second floor of her building, knocking loudly to make sure she can hear me over the thumping music coming from behind her door.

“Aurelia! Aurelia, the taxi is waiting outside! Hurry—”

A blonde girl, who is definitely not my sister, opens the door, standing in front of me with two mascara tear tracks upon her cheeks.

“Are you—”

“Delilah!” Aurelia opens her front door further, dressed in a beautiful skin-tight red dress. It’s pretty similar to one I used to own myself, actually.

“The taxi is waiting outside,” I repeat, repositioning my grip on my clutch. “Are you ready so we can get going—”

“Yep. Just give me a second to lock up.”

I watch as Aurelia locks up, tucks the keys into her own handbag and then takes my hand. “Let’s go!”

The blonde trails behind us.

“Um… Aurelia?” I cut my eyes to my sister and then back to her friend, who’s swiping at her under eyes with the pad of her thumb.

“Come on, Soph,” Aurelia croons, whipping out a tissue. “He’s not worth it!”

She lowers her tone, so I’m the only one who can hear, as we cross her lobby, the loudclick clackof our heels echoing behind us. “Sophie caught her boyfriend cheating on her this morning. Dickhead move. Anyway, I thought she needed cheering up and since we’re out looking for distractions ourselves… You don’t mind, do you?”

Once outside, I hold the car door to the taxi open, allowing Sophie to scoot in first. She’s still teary, bless her, and looks like she wants to be anywhere but here. But she returns my smile, even if it is a little watery, before staring back down at the hem of the short, cocktail dress I’m sure my sister persuaded her to wear.

“Of course, it’s fine, Aura, I don’t mind.”

Aurelia squeezes my upper arm in silent thanks, taking a hold of the door so I can slide inside the taxi.

“You look gorgeous,” Sophie whispers thickly, once we’re all safely strapped in and heading towards one of my favourite upscale bars.

I give the rogue tear escaping out of the corner of her eye a wipe. “So do you. Don’t cry over him, okay?”

Sophie nods jerkily, bowing her head to hide the run of her nose.

“You look beautiful too, Aura.”

My sister sends me a cheeky grin, all pearly white teeth. “Thanks! Don’t you love my dress?! I stole it from your wardrobe a couple weeks back.”

My shoulders drop as soon as we step out of the taxi, queuing in line for the bouncers at the door to check Aurelia’s ID. It doesn’t matter that she’s twenty-three, she still doesn’t look a day over eighteen, which means she’ll probably be ID’d no less than three times tonight.

I inhale the balmy summer air, not realising how wound up and tight I’ve been this past week. My mind has felt jumbled with thoughts, stuffed full, until I’ve simply been going through the motions of my daily routine on autopilot.

But now I feel like I can breathe again.

Whatever happens tonight, whether it be something or nothing, I’m determined to have a good time with my girls, plus a few cocktails.

With Aurelia’s ID checked and vetted, we ascend the steps leading into the nineteen twenties inspired speakeasy bar. It’s a Saturday night so I’m not surprised to find it pretty packed, bodies crammed into every available space – bar, stool and booth – until the mahogany decor of the bar is difficult to even notice.

“There’s a couple leaving their booth at the back,” Sophie says, looking above the crowd, taller than both Aurelia and I in our heels.

“Go grab it and I’ll get the first round,” I instruct, splitting away to catch the attention of one of the bartenders and order our drinks.

One of the male bartenders quirks his eyebrow upon seeing me, already twirling the stem of a cocktail glass around his fingers, while his eyes bounce from my face to my chest. “What can I get you tonight, darlin’?

---