new life | depeche mode

Chapter 25 - Rum Runner, Again

After the conference ends, I decide to phone Andy before Cathy drags me all over Birmingham shopping.

"Hullo?" I hear him say.

"Andy!!" I exclaim.

"Eve! I miss you! So you finally remembered I exist!" He jokes.

"I'm so sorry! I got in pretty late last night. And I'll be out again late tonight. I met the sweetest girls, Winnie and Mallory. We're going out tonight with Cathy and her new fling."

"I was only kidding! That sounds nice. I'm glad you met some nice girls. I don't think your girlfriends here are always the nicest to you, apart from Cathy. Did you hear about Dave and Gemma? Poor lad."

"You're right. And yes I heard, he left me a message at the hotel." I say, omitting the fact that I called Dave last night and not him.

"I'll let you go now, I'm sure you're very busy. Come by anytime tomorrow, I don't have any plans." Andy says.

"Alright. Cathy wants to take me shopping."

"Sounds fun. I love you."

"I love you too."

And with that, I hang up and let Cathy take me shopping. The trip was actually successful, I bought a sleeveless red dress with this straps that tied in the front.

Cathy has a blue dress that she brought with her, so she just wears that.

Lee meets us in front of the hotel, and we walk to Rum Runner together.

Being the third wheel isn't too bad, especially because I knew once we got there I'd be with Mallory and Winnie and I'd be able to talk to them.

Since it was only 8pm on a Saturday, the club wasn't too lively yet. Dance Away by Roxy Music played through the speakers, and I instantly saw Mallory and Winnie at the bar.

I drag Cathy over, since Lee had ran into one of his friends from primary school.

Mallory and Winnie squeal when they see me.

"So, did you hit it off with Johnny last night?" Winnie jokes.

"No, I have a boyfriend." I say.

"You should have said something! We wouldn't have pushed you if we knew!" Mallory says.

"I want to see what this John guy looks like, see if he's better looking than her fella." Cathy jokes.

"Haha Cath. Funny. Winnie, Mallory, this is Cathy. She's my friend and co-worker." I say, introducing the girls.

"And this is Lee." Cathy adds, as he joins us, snaking her arms around his waist.

We talk and drink for awhile. More people start to come in as it gets closer to 9 pm.

I get another drink from the bar as Cars by Gary Numan blasts through the speakers. Mallory accompanies me.

"I have bad news." She starts.

"Bad news? How could you have bad news? I've only known you 24 hours!" I joke.

She laugh. "Duran Duran is performing again tonight. I'm sorry!" She says.

Oh no. I don't really want to see John again. Back in 2017, he was one of my celebrity crushes. If I was honest with my 2017 self, I didn't really have a crush on Fletch. I thought he was cute, but I actually preferred Alan. Alan! When was Alan supposed to show up? Vince was supposed to leave the band eventually, right?

"Eve? Hello?"

"Sorry! I must have zoned out. That's okay! I actually really enjoyed their performance last night. Hopefully John won't see me! It's a bigger crowd already, and it's not even 9." I say, hopefully. I really couldn't tell who I was trying to convince - her or me.