“To drink is a good start. Beer, please, and whatever you want yourself.”
I got his drink and took a small tip and carried on with my work but couldn’t help but keep the occasional glance on the man who appeared to have been joined by a group of friends.
The busy night continued and time flew by until it was closing time. When all of the customers had finally left, I helped to tidy up and grabbed my coat and bag. One of the other staff members and I usually shared a taxi on a Saturday but tonight she wasn’t working so I decided to walk. It wasn’t far and the route was busy enough that I felt pretty safe.
I was about halfway home when I heard a group of men calling and shouting from a bar on the opposite side of the road. Unsure if their words were for me or not, I continued to walk on, ignoring them. Yet one voice seemed much louder, closer. As I deliberated crossing the road towards a club with bouncers on the door, the voice spoke again and relief washed over me.
“Hey.”
Spinning, my attractive customer from the bar came into the light of the streetlamp overhead.
“Shit! Sorry, did I scare you?”
Clearly my earlier nervousness was still evident on my face.
“A little,” I conceded.
He held out a hand. “Mike.”
I accepted his hand and shook it with a coy smile in response to his megawatt one. “Danni.”
“You shouldn’t be walking alone this late, there are all kinds of weirdos out and about.”
“Are you one of them?”
He laughed and stepped closer. “Maybe, but not one of the dangerous ones. Look, I know you don’t know me, but can I walk you home or get you a taxi, it really isn’t that safe.”
I nodded. I hated that I couldn’t walk home alone and not have to consider my safety, but he was right. The neighbourhood wasn’t a bad one in the grand scheme of things, but it also had its fair share of muggings.
“I only need to go round the corner, so I should be fine and your friends will be waiting.”
“They won’t, I told them I was going to do my good deed for the day.”
“And I’m your good deed?”
He stepped even closer, forcing me to move back until we were concealed in a dark alley, a wall somewhere behind me as he almost caged me in. “Depends, am I going to do you?”
I was flustered, partly because as much as I’d known what I was doing with my suggestive question, I hadn’t expected him to respond in quite this way, but also because I liked that he was close enough to touch, smell, feel, kiss.
“Mike.” I had no clue what my simple use of his name was, a plea, a question or a rebuttal.
“Danni, do you want me to walk you home or get a taxi?”
“I don’t know.” What was the matter with me? He was a stranger, I mean attractive, friendly, amusing, and judging by how much he was focused on me getting home safely, he was also a genuinely nice guy, but I was ready to allow him to walk me home and I knew if he did that then I would definitely be his good deed for the day. He would indeed be doing me. I was no prude and after losing my virginity to a tutor in uni who was a little older, I had experienced a couple of one night stands that had been okay at the time but the following day they always felt a little lacklustre and unfulfilling.
“Or perhaps you’d rather I kissed you, right here, right now.”
“Yes.”
The sensation of my back colliding with the wall, being pressed between the rough bricks and the hard edges of his body, startled me briefly, but the feel of Mike’s lips, moulding my own before accepting the invitation of my open mouth when our lips began to dual, combined with the sensation of his hands skimming over my clothed body, made everything other than him and me disappear.
Working in the bar I tended to wear trousers or jeans rather than skirts and dresses and tonight was no different, except as Mike grabbed at my arse and his fingers began to explore, for the first time, I regretted my inaccessible clothing.
All too quickly, our kiss was broken and we both stood, staring breathlessly at each other.
“Come on, let me walk you home.” Mike’s hand stretched out as a broad smile spread across his face.
Willingly, I accepted his offer and his hand, hoping that once I got home, he’d kiss me again.
