Excerpt of Tempting Faye from Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A Friday Night - Eight Years Later

Here she was. The Duke, Gidea Park, Essex; except it was simply called Dukes these days. Faye hadn’t even stepped inside the pub yet and already she wanted to go home. She’d never liked this place and had never really been into the pub and club scene, so Faye didn’t hold out much hope of enjoying herself tonight. The name might have changed, it was probably completely different inside to how she remembered, but the place still seemingly attracted the same crowd; a rowdy one. From the raucous noise that was emanating from inside every time someone passed through the doors, Faye knew it would be heaving and hot inside. As Faye walked towards the main entrance, a lad hurriedly exited and brusquely knocked past her. He merely put up his hand by way of a measly apology whilst chatting on his mobile – and it sounded like he was trying to score some drugs. That was something else Faye had never been into. “Idiot,” she cursed under her breath whilst rubbing her sore shoulder; anticipating a whole lot of pushing and shoving inside. However, it was her friend’s twenty-fifth birthday and Faye felt obliged to partake in whatever celebrations were going on; so she made for the entrance, keeping her head down and ignoring the, “All right, darlin',” from one of the doormen.

Thankfully, inside, the pub was completely different to how it was years ago – and air conditioned. Faye savoured the cool blast above her head and took it all in. Gone were the dingy brown seats, the burgundy fag-burnt carpet and peeling wallpaper, discoloured from nicotine. The place now had a much ‘trendier’ look with wooden floors and new seating arranged around low tables around the now, centrally located bar. It was a circular bar and had a team of young, good-looking people manning it in uniform T-shirts. It was pretty packed and the up-tempo music playing, made the place feel more alive. It was loud enough that people could dance – if they wanted to, but not so loud that it drowned out conversations; and there was a lot of spirited banter going on; a lot of laughter. Not such a bad vibe, just not like anything Faye was used to.

As Faye moved around the bar, she tried to locate Lindsey amongst the boisterous crowd, but it was disorientating with the continuum of mirrored wall that gave the illusion of a bigger space. Through the haze of cigarette smoke, Faye scanned the bar, listening out for her friend’s trademark dirty laugh and wondering if Lindsey’s appearance might have changed a lot since they’d last seen one another just over two years ago.

Faye felt nervous as she fought the crowd; someone blew smoke in her eyes - making them water, and she had to dodge slops of beer from pint glasses being passed around her. She wanted to turn around and go home; feeling over-exposed yet invisible. Reaching for her mobile, she was distracted by a piercing whistle.

“Faye! Over ’ere, mate!”

Faye turned around and sure enough she could see Lindsey standing on a table in the furthest corner, frantically waving her arms. She was quite obviously drunk already. No, Lindsey, you haven’t changed a bit, thought Faye, as a small smile upturned her mouth finally.