Chapter 23: Surprise Performance

Between the exam period and all the time I’d spent with Carly, I hadn’t been out for a night of drinking and dancing with my friends since the night Chloë invited us all to the VIP area at Central Pier. It wasn’t unusual to avoid going out during the end-of-semester exam period—the same thing happened this time last year. Though, the circumstances were very different then, obviously.

That also meant that, apart from the odd lunch in The Union after a morning exam, I hadn’t seen most of my third-year friends, including Emily, in nearly three weeks. I’d seen Jem and Phil at the badminton club, but that was about it. I hadn’t seen Amanda at all since she returned from the Christmas break, nor Hannah and her housemates.

So, I was really looking forward to meeting up with everyone and having a good time with them. The plan was to meet in The Cap & Gown in the Student Village for a quick pint, then make our way to The Union via the bar in the Admin Block next to my old Hall of Residence, Wintersmith, and the bar close to Emily and Amanda’s old flat. However, those plans were thrown out when Emily called me while Mark and I were in the kitchen waiting for the girls to add the finishing touches to their outfits. The old crew from Wintersmith’s ground floor—Vanessa’s boyfriend Mickey, Jon, and Maz—had arrived just a few minutes earlier, and we all had a freshly chilled can of lager in hand, discussing Mark’s idea of a Lads’ weekend.

“Emily, what’s up?” I said into my phone.

“Have you left yet?”

“No. Still waiting for the girls.”

“You mean the girls you took to Micester Village? Without inviting me?”

“Yeah, well, I mean—”

“Next weekend. You’re taking me next weekend.”

“And me!” Amanda said in the background.

“And me!” came a chorus of other female voices.

“Anyway, it’s good you haven’t left, because it’s packed here. We can’t even get in.”

“What do you want to do then? Meet at Wintersmith?”

“Nah, that’ll be the same. Let’s just meet in the Plaza and go straight to The Union.”

“Okay. When?”

There was muffled muttering on the line. Then Emily said, “Twenty minutes? Half an hour? Something like that?”

“Okay. But if you get there first, go straight in and grab a table in the bar. If you can. We’ll do the same if we get there first.”

“Okay. Hey, have you heard the rumours there’s supposed to be a surprise live performance tonight?”

“No. Who?”

“No idea. No one seems to know. Don’t even know if it’s true or just a stupid rumour.”

“Guess we’ll find out later.”

“Yeah. Guess so. See you there.”

The girls came downstairs together, each wearing one of the dresses I’d bought for them earlier in the day. All three were variations on the ‘little black dress’ theme, although only Vanessa’s was black. Imogen’s was dark blue, which was interesting with her red hair, and Carly’s was vibrant red. All three also wore strappy heels that matched their dress.

It didn’t feel right to see Carly without her boots.

“Mate? You bought her this dress?” Mark said, staring at his girlfriend.

“Yeah,” I said, staring at my girlfriend.

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“You appreciate it?” Imogen said with a smirk.

Mark nodded. “Yeah. Reckon I’m the main beneficiary, ain’t I?”

She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, but he still had to bend his head for her to reach. “Play your cards right, and you definitely will be. You might even see what Paul bought me to wear under it—and even he hasn’t seen it. Not even on the hanger.”

“Wait, what?” I said, looking over at her. She smirked back at me.

Carly came over to me and said, “You think I only bought something for myself in that posh lingerie shop. That wouldn’t have been very fair.”

I shook my head. “Fair enough.”

She kissed my cheek. Then she smiled and wiped my cheek with her thumb. “Sorry. Lipstick is still wet,” she said. “Left a mark.”

I nodded. “I hope you brought those coats I bought you down too. It’s cold out. You’ll need them.”

She grinned and said light-heartedly, almost mockingly, “Yes, Daddy. They are hanging up in the hallway.”

I arched an eyebrow and said, “Daddy?”

She giggled and shrugged her shoulders.

I rolled my eyes. “Come on, we should go.”

We filled the girls in on the new plan on the way to campus, and as it turned out, we arrived at the Grand Plaza just as the third years were about to head inside The Union. I called out to Emily, and she turned to wave but went in with her friends anyway. I didn’t blame her—it was freezing. It hadn’t snowed again since Wednesday, and all that remained on the ground were random clumps of ice and slush, but the temperature was still near zero.

We hurried across the plaza, into The Union, and headed straight to the bar to find the third years after dropping off our coats in the cloakroom. They had managed to secure what I thought of as our “regular” tables by the glass wall overlooking Campus Green. I didn’t need to go to the bar to buy drinks because Emily sent me a message to say she’d get the first round in, and the drinks were waiting for us when we arrived. Both my drink and the one I asked her to buy for Carly were in front of two empty chairs next to Emily.

With Carly’s next to Emily, and mine next to that.

“Emily, right?” Carly said as she sat down. “You were Clarissa’s best friend.”

“Yeah. Er, how did you know that?”

“Oh, when we were back in Nashville, Pauly told me all about you and Clarissa. Took me a while to get it out of him, but once you get him to open up, he has trouble shutting up. And he always spoke really highly of you. He thinks a lot of you. You’re special to him.”

I blushed as Emily looked directly at me. But she didn’t say anything.

“So,” she said, turning her attention back to my girlfriend. “Do I call Carly? Or should I be calling you Kayla?”

“Carly, if it’s just us,” she replied. “That’s who I am with friends.”

“But Kayla, if there are other people about?”

Carly shrugged. “It’s a pain, but you get used to it.” She turned to look at me. “Don’t you, Pauly?”

I nodded. “Eventually.”

“Pauly?” Emily said, looking amused. “When did you get cast in a gangster movie?”

“That’s what I said!” I said, pointing at Emily.

Carly clutched my arm and leaned into me. “He’s not a gangster. He’s a cowboy. My rugged, handsome cowboy, taking care of his cowgirl.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “So, how have you been? Don’t think I’ve seen either of you since that night in Central Pier. Although Chloë and Imogen have been keeping me up to date, obviously.”

And so began a very gentle, very pleasant interrogation. Emily asked questions that seemed innocuous, but which I could tell had hidden depths. Ordinarily, I’d have tuned it out and turned to chat with Mark, but he and Imogen were sitting at the next table with Vanessa, Mickey and the other two former Wintersmith ground floor residents, so I paid attention and got involved.

The two of them seemed to get on well, which was confirmed when Carly went to visit the restroom, as she called it, and Emily scooted over into her seat so she could talk to me.

“I like her,” she said without preamble. “She’s nice. Actually, she’s more than nice, she’s lovely.”

“Yeah,” I said, “she is.”

“And she clearly adores you. You can tell that without even talking to her.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

Emily rolled her eyes. Turns out she was annoyed I hadn’t answered her unasked question. “And how do you feel about her?”