Authors: S Michaels
Girl-Code
by
S Michaels
©
2014
S Michaels
All Rights Reserved
I have the hangover from hell.
The girls had invited some friends over last night, despite it being a, ‘school
night,’ where we ended up consuming several bottles of wine. This resulted in
me experiencing approximately three hours sleep.
As I walk through the shiny glass doors
of Walworth’s, I am yearning for the end of the work day where I can flop
directly into my bed and sleep until morning.
As I push the call button to the elevator,
I glance at the blurred reflection through the brushed metal doors. Eh! I look
dreadful, my normal olive skin is pasty, my green eyes sunken into the dark
circles surrounding them. My hand locates the bun that I have enticed my chocolate
brown hair into, patting it gently as if this action alone will tidy up the
tendrils that are escaping wildly.
‘Lucy!’ a squeaky voice calls, ‘hold the
elevator!’
My arm flies out and holds the door as
Michelle, trots in smiling broadly.
‘Thanks,’ she grins, ‘wow, you look……hot!’
I groan as I punch the seventh floor,
‘Kate invited a few friends around for a glass of wine to welcome me to the
area.’
‘Oh dear, heavy one?’
‘You could say that!’ I exhale an
exhausted breath.
‘Well, you do crave adventure,’ she grins,
‘ready for the presentation?’
I merely groan as my mind computes that
it is Monday and in fact the day that I present the best and worse sellers
lists.
Michelle is my boss. I am an assistant
buyer at Walworth’s, within the Menswear department, a job which I have been fantasizing
about since the age of seven.
‘Onwards and upwards,’ Michelle sings, as
we exit the elevator.
I somehow manage to make it through to lunchtime,
with the aid of caffeine, and a croissant.
‘So, tell us about the new house?’ Susie
demands gently.
I am seated in the canteen with a couple
of the girls, picking at a sandwich and a bottle of water. I am relatively new
to the company, only being employed four months previous, the girls all appear
friendly and we have spent numerous Friday evening’s guzzling glasses of wine
as we familiarize ourselves with each other.
‘It’s lovely, a townhouse. It is different
living with a houseful of giggly girls. I am used to a tranquil household, only
ever living with my mum.’ I inform her. I had moved from South London to North
London with Kate, and her friend Sam, over the weekend. The last two days have
been chaos!
‘So, you met Kate while you were
travelling through Asia,’ Susie recaps.
‘Yes, we met on the second day in
Thailand and two weeks later, when our first tour ended, we decided that as we
were both travelling alone we would join forces.’ I shrug.
‘But you aren’t gay?’ Susie’s blue eyes
request innocently.
‘No,’ I smile, ‘everyone on the tour
thought the same, we are kindred spirits. We spent a year in each other’s
company twenty four seven, we are like sisters. When we returned, we both
intended to rent in London so it made sense really.’
‘What are her friends like, and the other
housemate?’ Maddie pipes up chewing on a crisp.
‘Sam….seems pleasant enough.’ I mutter
slowly the truth being Sam was a mystery. In my humble opinion, she wasn’t as
nice as she first appeared. I had caught her regarding me, oddly, on several
occasions during the weekend. I had met Sam for the first time when we viewed
the property six weeks ago so it was always going to be a gamble on our
personalities matching.
‘Which is code for, you don’t like her?’
Maddie enquires, ‘I take it she is the other housemate?’
‘No, oh I don’t dislike her,’ I add hastily,
‘she is just quite guarded, which I guess is natural I am a relative stranger.
The group as a whole have a great combination of personalities.’
‘So, the only person you know there is
Kate?’ Susie adds.
‘Yes.’ It made sense really, Kate had
lived in North London her whole life, mum and I had moved regularly so Kate had
more emotional attachments. ‘They are a lively bunch though,’ I smile, my mind rewinding
to the drinking games we participated in last night.
As I enter through the front door, that
evening, all I require is a bath and bed, ‘hey,’ I call out wearily to no one
in particular.
‘Up here!’ Kate replies.
My bedroom is on the ground floor. I dump
my bag and coat and kick off my shoes before climbing the stairs to the living
area and kitchen.
Kate is stirring something on the stove,
‘you made it through the day then?’ she grimaces.
‘Just about. Please tell me that will not
be an every night occurrence.’ I lean against the kitchen cupboard.
‘No!’ she rolls her eyes, ‘I barely got
through the day myself.’
‘Where’s Sam?’ I enquire, mildly.
‘On a date with a new love interest,’ she
raises her eyebrows before sobering, ‘you do like Sam Luce, don’t you?’
‘Of course,’ I assure her, although I
avert my gaze from her intense stare.
‘You do also know that I recognize every
emotion on your face don’t you?’ she warns, unconvinced by my over eager
confirmation.
‘I am just not familiar with Sam’s
personality yet,’ I shrug honestly, ‘I find her quite emotionless.’ I risk a
glance at Kate who nods in understanding.
‘I went to school with Sam, she wasn’t a
best friend or anything, but is a great going-out companion, she informs me.
‘Horses for courses.’ I mumble,
diplomatically.
‘I guess. Pasta?’ she enquires, and I nod
thankful.
After a soak in the bath, I decide to
have an early night, only waking when I hear Sam stumbling in giggling at
around two in the morning. My bedroom being adjacent to the front door, I
expect I will have to become accustomed to the traffic. I turn over falling
back into a deep slumber.
The house has four floors, in total. My
floor; which has my bedroom only, the first floor; where there is a kitchen, living
room and a small cloakroom. The second floor; where there is a main bathroom
and Kate’s room, and the top floor; where Sam resides.
The monthly rents were calculated according
to which room we chose, Sam pays the most rent as she has the biggest room,
dressing room and en-suite, then Kate. I pay the lowest rent due to the fact I
have a small bedroom and no bathroom, for two floors. Seeing as I earn the
least amount of money, the situation suits me just fine.
The next morning, however, as I exit the
bathroom after my shower wrapped in nothing but a small towel, my hair dripping
around me, I realize that being on the bottom floor may in fact have its disadvantages.
I hit something hard, the breath knocking
out of me. I bring my hand up to push against it.
‘Oh, I am sorry,’ a deep voice
apologizes.
‘Eh!’ my towel drops to the floor. All I
recall is a rush of hands to relocate it, and wrap it hurriedly around my naked
body.
‘Shit!’ I cry out, my face burning with
embarrassment. I glance up into a pair of eyes the color of the ocean in a
tropical climate. They appear to be amused, I frown as I move my view to his
full mouth, which is twitching.
‘Do you mind?’ I scold angrily, my hands
hanging onto the towel for dear life.
‘Not at all,’ he mutters, completely unaffected
by neither my nakedness nor my anger.
‘Excuse me.’ I mumble, pushing past him
and rushing down the stairs to my room, locking the door behind me.
Shit, shit, shit! I take it that was
Sam’s new love interest! Well, she is going to be impressed that her new
boyfriend has seen me in all my glory! I hear the outside door close and
exhale a breath of air.
I text Kate,
Maybe we should be informed of
overnight visitors? I just bumped into Sam’s new b/f naked!
Kate text back immediately,
Ha! Well, was he fit?
I reply, grinning at myself now the
moment has passed,
Er, I was the naked one!
I picture Kate’s grinning face up above
and continue my morning routine.
********
During the week, the three of us are
likened to passing ships in the night, Kate had a work function one night,
Pilates the next. Sam, who was a total party girl, was usually out by the time
I arrived home, I was busy at work and arrived home late before flopping into
bed. I was attempting to make my mark at work, eager to climb the tall ladder
of success.
Friday night, I join my work friends for
a bottle of wine in the local bar as usual.
‘So, any plans this weekend?’ Susie
enquires.
‘Not sure, I should probably go and visit
my mum. Not sure what Kate has planned, as yet.’ I shrug, ‘what about you?’
‘Simon and I are out tomorrow night.
That reminds me, do you fancy a blind date?’ she grins.
‘Oh no!’ I shake my head, ‘since I split
with Charles everyone I know has the uncontrollable urge to set me up. I am
happy being single.’ I have had but one relationship in my life, between the
age of eighteen and twenty two, with a guy who I met at work whilst studying at
university.
I parted ways with the guy in question, Charles,
in order to go travelling around Asia and Australia before I settled down.
Charles never felt the need, or urge, to travel he was content in his nine to
five job saving every penny for a mortgage, whereas I had itchy feet and decided
I would worry about a mortgage a bit later on in life.
Funnily enough, I received a call from
Charles six months into my travelling with Kate to inform me that he was no
longer saving for a mortgage but was indeed himself going to South America to
find himself. To say I felt resentful was an understatement, throughout my
four years with him, he rarely took me out on the pretense of him saving for a
home of his own. I saw him but twice a week, Tuesdays he stayed over at mine
and we got a take away, and Saturdays we stayed at his parents and did the
same.
Birthdays and special occasions we would
venture out but our relationship was boring and stagnant, my mum mentioning on
several occasions that it was unhealthy, despite the fact that she actually adored
Charles. It suited me. I guess he was a safe option, calm and reliable. Putting
things into perspective, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to go travelling
for as long as I did if I hadn’t have saved my money so he probably did me a favor,
in the long run.
‘You would be great for him,’ she squints
her eyes towards me, ‘It’s Simon’s best friend, owns his own company, extremely
good looking….’
‘Then why is he desperate for a hook up?’
I interrupt, rolling my eyes.
‘No, he doesn’t want to hook up, its Simon,
he seems to think that he requires a good woman to settle him down. He goes
from woman to woman…’
‘Great! So you want to introduce me to a
male whore,’ I smile, to lighten my words.
‘Yeah, I guess,’ she sighs, ‘how about another
cocktail?’
‘Sure,’ I grin, ‘Maddie?’
‘No, I have to get home to the kids,’ she
yawns, ‘make the most of your single year’s, girls.’
‘See,’ I express to Susie, ‘the best time
of your life.’
Later that evening, I receive a text from
Kate,
Hey, in wine bar if you want to join
us!
People are dwindling so I decide to
leave, ‘ok, that’s me done. I am off,’ I call to Susie, we have consumed a
considerable amount of alcohol and things have the potential to become messy.
‘Ok, have a good weekend!’ she hugs me,
‘Simon is coming to pick me up.’
‘Ok, see you Monday.’
I enter into the local wine bar, near
home, in my beige pencil dress and black heels, I have brushed my long dark hair
down and touched up my makeup, in the cab from the tube station. I was intending
to go home and change beforehand but am certain if I do, I won’t resurface.