“Oh, so you’re Jake’s girlfriend,” Emma smirked, as she smoothed down her skirt. “Listen: I don’t know what you’ve heard, but let me tell you – I wouldn’t touch ‘your’ Jake with someone else’s fanny, let alone my own.”

There were a few shocked giggles and a now-confident Emma took that to mean that she had the upper hand. She also had centre stage, which was just how she liked it. If this girl wanted a ruck, Emma wasn’t going down quietly.

              “Jake isn’t picky, love, let’s face it, I mean: look at the state of you! He’d probably shag his own nan if the room was dark enough,” Emma continued.

              “You nasty bitch,” shrieked the girl, as she once more lunged for Emma, dragging her down on the floor again. The girl began raining blows on Emma with her fists. Kate tried desperately to pull the girl off of Emma, but the girl was too heavy and too angry, she was still walloping Emma.

Kate jumped on the girl’s back, trying to do anything to make her leave Emma alone. She had the girl’s greasy hair in clumps in her hands and got a slap herself in the process. Luckily at that moment two bouncers came in and dragged the girl off Emma, who now looked awful, her face red and puffy where the girl had repeatedly hit her. Her top was ripped and a whopper of a fat lip was just beginning to show. She managed to get off the floor, shouting to the girl who was being led away: “He was a crap shag anyway, love, don’t know why you’re so bothered.”

The girls who had been standing around watching were now going off to do their own thing, the entertainment was over. Emma looked in horror at her battered face in the mirror. Then she grinned.

              “Fuck it!” Emma grinned as she turned to Kate, as she wiped the dripping blood from her nose, “she’s only gone and smudged my bloody makeup.”

              “You’re not funny, Emma.” Kate was fuming. “She was going to bloody batter you, you’re lucky that those guys pulled her off you. I think we should leave, too; you look like shit and I’ve got a thumping head from that slap she gave me.”

              They got their coats. Kate was glad the night was over. Sometimes you just have crap ones, she thought, what a waste of a new dress.

As they walked to the door, to leave, Kate noticed one of the bouncers that had come to her friend’s aide earlier; he was definitely giving Kate the eye. She smiled at him, wishing that she wasn’t so shy when it came to blokes. It was her brother’s fault that she never had any confidence with men. No man wanted to know her once they found out who she was related to, and if anyone did let on they were interested, they were soon warned off when Billy found out about it.

She didn’t really have any experience with men; not unless one sloppy kiss with a boy at a school disco four years ago counted. Back then, at sixteen, she was the only girl she knew that hadn’t even slept with a boy, let alone had any sort of relationship with one. Oh well, she had thought then, I’m going to save myself for somebody special, and so she had. She wasn’t short of offers, but they were all the same, little clones of her brother, wannabe thugs. She could see them coming a mile off and had no interest in that kind of life: she wanted more.

              “You off then?” the bouncer asked. He was looking at Kate close up now and liking what he saw, appreciating the beauty before him.

              “Yeah, I’m really sorry about all that trouble, thanks a million for helping us out,” she said, feeling herself blush; this guy was gorgeous, and Kate couldn’t help but notice how his eyes roamed her body as he spoke to her.

              “You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he smiled. “I’m Jay.”

              “Hi… I’m Kate….” Her cheeks were burning, she felt like an embarrassed little kid.

              “See you again Kate, I hope.” Jay gave her a wink, as he turned back to the long queue of people waiting to get in.

              “Oh… my… God!” exclaimed Emma, linking arms with her mate, as they tottered down the road towards the taxi rank. “You’ve only just gone and bloody pulled, Kate.”

              “Really, do you think so?” Kate asked.

              “Duh: he was practically dribbling over you; he was well fit too, you jammy cow.”

              Maybe tonight hadn’t been such a waste, after all, Kate thought, as she lent her head back onto the seat in the warmth of the taxi, daydreaming about the man that had made her heart beat louder than a drum.

3

Tanya couldn’t sleep; she had been lying in bed for over an hour tossing and turning, unable to switch off. She was used to being on her own; she was an only child who had been left alone by her parents all the time when she was growing up. It was a pattern in her life, and she had grown to enjoy her own space.

She could stay in her house for days and see no-one and it wouldn’t bother her. Although she had been feeling a bit lonely lately, she admitted to herself. She had wondered a lot over the last few weeks what it might be like to be part of a proper family. She wasn’t particularly maternal, but she guessed that that would be something that would come to her naturally if and when she ever did get pregnant. She wondered what it would be like to have someone call her mummy, to wake up in the morning and have someone to tend to, other than herself, for once.

She could not imagine what it would feel like to be needed. She herself had stopped needing people a long time ago, her parents had seen to that. During her childhood she had been left with nanny after nanny. People who had been paid to spend time with her, as her parents had been far too busy. She had spent many a birthday and even a few Christmases feeling disappointed and unloved. It had become the norm for her, and she knew it was the reason why she often distanced herself from people.

              Her thoughts were interrupted by a noise at the front door, and she worried for a second that somebody was trying to break in; she listened harder and she could definitely hear the sound of metal scraping against her front door, was it a screwdriver perhaps? She quickly reached for her mobile so that she could call someone if she needed to, when she heard the door slam and Billy’s familiar footsteps stomping through the hallway. He must have been trying to use his keys, she thought, breathing a sigh of relief. She looked over at the clock, two thirty, and she smiled to herself. As he was unexpectedly turning up at this hour of the morning, he must have been missing her.

              Billy had bought the house for Tanya. It was small, but she had done it up well and it was now very classy-looking. She knew that he had bought it as another of his investments; he owned properties all across London. He had invested well and even if the purchase of the flat was primarily to make a bit of money in the future, she wouldn’t be complaining anytime soon, as it felt like it was hers.

When she had first moved in, she had put flowers in every room. Billy had said that it was hers to do as she pleased with, so she had been able to decorate it herself, which she had thrown herself into. Every room was different, all neutral colours and gorgeous textures. It was of course filled with designer furniture and accessorised with lots of funky lamps and vases. It was just like the pages of any good home interiors magazine, and she adored it. Her very own place all bought and paid for, who’d have thought?