Page 27 of Once Bitten, Twice Fried
“Fair enough. I was proud of you.”
Julie looked at Zoe with surprise. “You were?”
“Of course I was. Eating for free is like every student’s dream. You were living the life.”
“It’s true. I think it’s still my dream as an actual working person.”
“You should become a celebrity chef.”
“No way. You eat for free?”
“There’s so much snacking on the set of my TV show.”
Julie nodded pensively. “I never thought of that. I should absolutely become a celebrity chef. How hard could it be?”
“It’s not harder than building IKEA stuff. You can do it,” Zoe smiled. Julie was back and it was everything she wanted it to be. Her heart was caught in a pinch when she thought about all these years they could’ve spent together but never did. She still needed to get to the bottom of that. But not right now. For the moment, she was just happy to be sitting next to Julie, talking about everything and nothing all at once.
Chapter 12
This was why Julie always hated clubbing. An awful remix of a Beyoncé song was blaring at a volume that was too loud to be healthy and the stroboscopic purple lights were hideous and headache-inducing. It was impossible to have a nice conversation with someone, let alone just enjoy a drink. She looked and saw that the rest of the hens didn’t seem to feel the same way. The town of Knokke was a seaside playground for the wealthy, and this was supposedly the hottest club in town. She could see the girls talking to men and pointing at Yasmine. Whatever straight nonsense was happening there, she was not interested in being a part of it.
Julie’s mood was dropping with every reverberating beat of the terrible song. She needed a break, or she’d never make it through the whole weekend. She headed towards the back door, pushing through the throngs of drunken Flemish party-goers in search of a bit of fresh air. She reached the door covered by a black curtain, emerged onto the private terrace, and groaned. The area was packed with people, chatting as they smoked at a volume to rival the dance floor inside. Why were the Flemish so loud? She looked around in search of some respite. The club backed directly onto the rolling dunes that characterised the Belgian coast, and the club’s fenced-in area encompassed the nearest one. Julie walked towards the dune, hoping to get away from the crowd.
“Julie!” A voice behind her shouted. She turned around. Zoe was walking towards her. “I also need some fresh air. Mind if I join you?”
Julie shook her head, and the two women made their way through the crowd. A few heads turned in Zoe’s direction as they walked through, but nobody stopped them. As they climbed up the sandy slope, the clamour of the crowd started to fade. When they reached the top, Julie sat down in the sand. The night air was warm, full of the salty spray from the ocean. If not for the club’s subwoofer still thudding behind them, they probably would have been able to hear the sound of the waves. Zoe settled next to her and Julie could feel her heart beat faster. She’d been nice to Zoe all day today - although it was more accurate to say that she’d acted normal with Zoe all day today - and it wasn’t going well. When Zoe had fallen asleep on her shoulder in the train, Julie’d thought she was going to die. The weight of Zoe’s head, her shifting to get comfortable, her light snores as she fell asleep had driven her crazy. At the same time, Julie had had no idea how much she’d missed Zoe’s casual touch. It was like a hunger she didn’t know she had. Conversations with Zoe were exactly as she remembered them: easy and fun. Julie had the confirmation that there was no one else like Zoe in her life. She just wished there was.
“I feel much too old to be clubbing.” Zoe sighed.
“Same.”
“You never even liked clubbing in the first place.”
“I was always too mature for my age, Zoe.”
“Clearly.” Zoe bumped her shoulder against Julie’s and her heart skipped a beat.
Julie looked out into the distance. She tried in vain to see if she could see the ocean, but there was nothing but inky blackness stretched in front of them.
“It was a fun day today. Yasmine seems to be having a great time.”
“She does, doesn’t she?” Julie looked at Zoe. “Though I’m not sure what’s going on right now? Are they getting her to kiss other guys or something?”
Zoe sighed. “You know how hen dos are.”
“You don’t want to do this at yours?” Saying the words felt like torture, but Julie was trying to remind herself that Zoe was an engaged woman soon to be married.
“Not really.” Zoe shook her head. “I don’t even know if I’ll have a hen do.”
“Why’s that?”
A silence. Zoe sighed again. She looked straight into Julie’s eyes and Julie tried to take her face in as much as possible so she could remember it forever.
“Can I tell you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“I don’t even have a date for my wedding.” Zoe was drawing with her finger in the sand. “And the worst of it is that I don’t really care.”
