ponder. Perhaps if people knew that skipping ropes were meant to be taken internally, the diet world would seem a bit different. More challenging, mostly.
Chapter 25: Under The Influence
Elaine rings while we're eating Chinese, and is in a very happy mood.
"I never knew a biker could be so nice!" she confides. "Especially one who's a doorman! I always thought he was a bit scary, with all the tattoos on, and piercings, and that long chain thing he keeps his wallet on, which always made me think of dungeons and stuff jangling and clanking everywhere. When he was polite to me at work I thought he was just being cheeky charming, and I bet he was just as dirty as the rest of them any other time."
"We are still talking about Ben Trovato, yes?" I confirm, aware that with Elaine I could easily have missed some other scoop since.
"Yes, Ben. Sorry. Oh. I'm still in shock, I think! I'd had these guest tickets for NME on the back of the desk at work for ages, and he asked me a few times was I going, and I never decided. Two nights ago when he asked I just said no, I hadn't thought about it really, and needed to stop by The Zone and say hello to Manager Stacie anyway, and he asked if he could have them for a friend. So I said, of course. Then he turned up last night, with his sister's leathers for me to wear, told me to get changed - he was taking me to the gig as I deserved a break, and we could say hello to Stacie on the way. Which is when you saw me."
"Yeah, I thought you looked really cool," I encourage her, chasing a noodle around my plate with chopsticks, while Junior spears chicken in batter on her fork and whispers 'Deep-fried brains!' into her DS console, probably to tease poor dieting Zombie Norman.
"Well, the gig was brilliant, we met SO many nice people, and I've rounded up a few more acts to do guest appearances for us as well. Ben was teasing the band that they'll have to do our wedding, and I'm afraid I got a little bit tipsy and was playing along with him as well. Is that very naughty?"
"Not if it was just for fun," I reassure her. By the sound of it, she's keeping herself in check. If it had been a date with any of the Fire Service, she'd have had their pants down before the end of the first song, never mind bothering to meet people and think about future gigs for work. But that's only because she's allowed herself to get so worked up about the Fire Service already - from a distance, at least.
"Then he took me for dinner afterwards to this place called The Grand Hotel, and I thought, he's joking, we'll never get in here wearing leathers. But he'd actually booked a table and they were expecting him, knew his first name, shook hands, even! We had a special table to ourselves, in a nice corner by the grand piano with this Liberace impersonator playing some special anniversary dinner concert - it turned out Ben had renovated all their original cornicing, and restored the ceiling paintings, which were amazing, like Michaelangelo. He's so talented, and such a dark horse. I was so impressed and shocked I forgot to ask him in for a cup of tea when he dropped me home, but he's already called to say he had fun and would I like to go out again. I said yes. Is that too keen? Do you think I'm sending out mixed messages not asking him in?"
"No, I think you're being sensible," I grin to myself. At least on the one real date Connor and I have been on so far, he didn't expect anything more than a goodnight kiss either. "What was it that made you so easily persuaded, once he turned up with gig tickets saying 'Right, get your kit off, we're going out'?"
"I was talking to Martha about when she met Aaron the Artist, and she said, one day she just decided to have a day off from the man she'd pictured in her head for years, and not to look for him or use her telepathy to try and find him, or do any spells or anything. She just wanted a break, to go to the beach, and be friendly to the first random person she met after that, with no
Chapter 25: Under The Influence
Elaine rings while we're eating Chinese, and is in a very happy mood.
"I never knew a biker could be so nice!" she confides. "Especially one who's a doorman! I always thought he was a bit scary, with all the tattoos on, and piercings, and that long chain thing he keeps his wallet on, which always made me think of dungeons and stuff jangling and clanking everywhere. When he was polite to me at work I thought he was just being cheeky charming, and I bet he was just as dirty as the rest of them any other time."
"We are still talking about Ben Trovato, yes?" I confirm, aware that with Elaine I could easily have missed some other scoop since.
"Yes, Ben. Sorry. Oh. I'm still in shock, I think! I'd had these guest tickets for NME on the back of the desk at work for ages, and he asked me a few times was I going, and I never decided. Two nights ago when he asked I just said no, I hadn't thought about it really, and needed to stop by The Zone and say hello to Manager Stacie anyway, and he asked if he could have them for a friend. So I said, of course. Then he turned up last night, with his sister's leathers for me to wear, told me to get changed - he was taking me to the gig as I deserved a break, and we could say hello to Stacie on the way. Which is when you saw me."
"Yeah, I thought you looked really cool," I encourage her, chasing a noodle around my plate with chopsticks, while Junior spears chicken in batter on her fork and whispers 'Deep-fried brains!' into her DS console, probably to tease poor dieting Zombie Norman.
"Well, the gig was brilliant, we met SO many nice people, and I've rounded up a few more acts to do guest appearances for us as well. Ben was teasing the band that they'll have to do our wedding, and I'm afraid I got a little bit tipsy and was playing along with him as well. Is that very naughty?"
"Not if it was just for fun," I reassure her. By the sound of it, she's keeping herself in check. If it had been a date with any of the Fire Service, she'd have had their pants down before the end of the first song, never mind bothering to meet people and think about future gigs for work. But that's only because she's allowed herself to get so worked up about the Fire Service already - from a distance, at least.
"Then he took me for dinner afterwards to this place called The Grand Hotel, and I thought, he's joking, we'll never get in here wearing leathers. But he'd actually booked a table and they were expecting him, knew his first name, shook hands, even! We had a special table to ourselves, in a nice corner by the grand piano with this Liberace impersonator playing some special anniversary dinner concert - it turned out Ben had renovated all their original cornicing, and restored the ceiling paintings, which were amazing, like Michaelangelo. He's so talented, and such a dark horse. I was so impressed and shocked I forgot to ask him in for a cup of tea when he dropped me home, but he's already called to say he had fun and would I like to go out again. I said yes. Is that too keen? Do you think I'm sending out mixed messages not asking him in?"
"No, I think you're being sensible," I grin to myself. At least on the one real date Connor and I have been on so far, he didn't expect anything more than a goodnight kiss either. "What was it that made you so easily persuaded, once he turned up with gig tickets saying 'Right, get your kit off, we're going out'?"
"I was talking to Martha about when she met Aaron the Artist, and she said, one day she just decided to have a day off from the man she'd pictured in her head for years, and not to look for him or use her telepathy to try and find him, or do any spells or anything. She just wanted a break, to go to the beach, and be friendly to the first random person she met after that, with no
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