As I was doing the late shift, the other girls were already there, so once Jackson had locked up, I headed to the local pub, the Seaview Arms.
‘There she is!’ Jess waved at me as I stepped inside.
The decor was typical of a traditional British pub. It had dark wooden tables and chairs and deep burgundy patterned carpet. The walls were decorated with photos of fishermen and important town figures, sea-related memorabilia and old Sunshine Bay postcards.
The bar itself had the same dark polished wood as the furniture and a large selection of spirits behind it.
‘Hi!’ I called out, then walked over to one of the few tables which also had burgundy leather banquette seating along the back wall.
After saying hello to my co-workers, I went over to Maddie and Kara and gave them hugs. I’d met them briefly before when visiting Jess, but this was the first time I’d been out-out with them.
‘What you drinking?’ Celeste asked when I sat on the seat they’d saved for me.
‘G&T, please.’
‘Starting strong with the hard spirits!’ Maddie said. ‘Tough week?’
‘No, it’s been great!’ I smiled at Jess. ‘Just feels like a good drink for a Saturday night. What you all drinking?’
‘We started with wine,’ Jane said. ‘Celeste tried to get Bob to give us a round of tequila shots, but thankfully he said it’d be better if we paced ourselves.’
‘Phew! Good thinking!’ I said.
Bob was Celeste’s dad, and he owned and ran the pub with her mum, Barbara, or Babs as the locals called her. They were both lovely.
‘Don’t worry, you ladies aren’t off the hook,’ Celeste added. ‘We’ll deffo be doing shots later!’
‘Maybe we should eat something first?’ Jane said. ‘To line our stomachs?’
Jane was the more reserved and sensible one in the group and I agreed with her. Drinking shots on an empty stomach was a recipe for disaster.
‘I’ve already sorted some food with Barbara,’ Jess said. ‘My treat. Call it a littlewelcome to Sunshine Bay and working at the librarycelebration!’
‘Awww, thanks, bestie!’ I smiled at Jess.
‘So come on, then,’ Celeste said. ‘Give us all the goss on the latest hottie to work at the library.’
‘Sorry, what?’ I frowned.
‘Don’t play innocent.’ Celeste rolled her eyes. ‘I’m talking about Ben, of course! First there was Theo, then there was Jackson and now there’s a new Eaves brother. I’m telling you, this library has more gods than heaven itself. Not that I’ll ever get to find out what heaven’s really like with the filthy things I’ve done in my life. You know the saying:good girls go to heaven, bad girls like me go everywhere!’ She cackled and we all burst into a fit of giggles.
‘Heisvery good-looking,’ Kara said. ‘And Celeste’s right. Is there some kind of criteria in your job descriptions that states that every man who works at the library has to look like a male supermodel? Jess and Jane, you are twoverylucky women!’
‘We are.’ Jess smiled.
‘And I’m gutted I never got to sample the goods with any of them before they settled down,’ Celeste huffed. ‘I don’t get it. No offence, Jane, but I offered to suck Jackson’s cock long before you two hooked up. I didn’t even know you were into each other and obvs I’m happy for you now, but what’s the deal with Ben? I offered myself on a silver platter and he turned me down. Wanker! Why isn’t he putting out?’
‘You asked him out and he said no?’ Kara tilted her head with curiosity.
‘Yep!’ Celeste took a glug of her wine. ‘I said if he wanted to have some fun, I’d be up for it. That’s what guys like him want, right? Sex with no strings. But it’s been over a week and nothing. Let’s face it, it’s not like Sunshine Bay is overrun with hot single gals like me. And I heard he shagged anything that moved, so I’m pissed!’
Thatwasweird.
I also thought Ben would’ve jumped at the chance to shag Celeste. She was in her early twenties and took pride in her appearance. Every time I saw her she always had a different hair colour (this week it was red), nice clothes and immaculate make-up. She was pretty and willing, which I would’ve thought was exactly his type.
Ben had spoken to me for all of two minutes during our first proper meeting before he’d suggested that I might like to have ‘angry sex’ with him, so it was strange that he hadn’t taken Celeste up on her offer.
Then again, he probably hadn’t meant it. He was just flirting with me because he was bored and I was there, which suited me just fine.
