Hugh & Kate

Chapter Two: The Girls

"Did you book the taxi?" Molly asked as she swiped the makeup brush against her face.

"Yeah I did it," Ruby said, clicking off her phone and slipping it into her bag, "they said they'd be here in 10 minutes."

"Did you hear that Kate?!" Molly sounded, "10 minutes!"

Kate sat on the edge of the bath tub and sighed, "yep."
She didn't really feel like going out tonight.
In fact it was the last thing that she needed.
She was tired, and swore her hormones were running rampant, the last thing she wanted was to be bar hopping in the freezing night air.

"C'mon Kate, we've got a world of possibilities just waiting for us tonight!" Lara chuckled, pushing into the bathroom.

"You're not dressed? Why aren't you dressed?" She asked, gently.

"I'm tired alright, I'm getting there, just waiting for the sleeves on my shirt to dry. There's only a couple of minutes left on the drier anyway." Kate explained.

"Did you sleep last night?" Lara questioned.

"Yes I slept, not my best sleep but good enough." Kate rose from the bath tub, she reached into the drier and pulled out a white halter neck top.

"Well better than nothing I suppose," Lara replied, "we won't have an overly late one tonight then. I just thought you might enjoy it, first day of holidays, you know, let loose a bit."

"I appreciate it Larz, I really do. I dunno why I'm so flat at the moment." Kate furrowed her eyebrows as she clasped her necklace around her neck.

"Probably because you just had a huge semester of uni, you've been having trouble sleeping, you've been living off two minute noodles and not much else. I'd say that's why." Lara said, matter of factly.

"Fair enough," Kate shrugged as she tugged on her left R M boot. "Next semester we should start cooking nicer meals, you know, with nutrients."

The girls chuckled, "Yes maybe," Lara said, "for now, a pizza would go down an absolute treat!"

"A pizza? My word!" Kate smiled, pushing her hair from her face. "Your shout then?"

"Sure I don't even care - I'm just starving!" Lara walked swiftly from the bathroom, her hands in the air and a smile on her face.

"Don't forget your masks girls!" Ruby announced.

"I thought they said we don't need them anymore?" Lara clarified, gnawing on some raspberry liquorice she'd found on the kitchen bench.

"I don't even know. What I do know thought is that I do not want covid." Ruby stated, scooping up her bag.

"Right, LETS GO!" Molly bellowed.

Kate sighed, pushed in her pearl earring and mustered up just the right amount of energy and courage to enter the cold night.

-

The Adelaide city streets were damp, and like most cities, the closer the girls got to the CBD the taller the buildings got.
For Kate and Lara, the blocks of flats and high rise office buildings were nothing compared to the rolling hills of home. As much as they'd hate to admit it, they still got a little overwhelmed when walking through the city.

Adelaide nightlife isn't that much different to any other city's night life. If anything it wasn't as chaotic as somewhere like Sydney or Melbourne perhaps, but there was still enough commotion for the atmosphere to appeal to young people.

For people like Lara and Kate, a quaint bar, tucked down a side street with cold beer, fragrant gin and an up and coming musician strumming a guitar was all they needed to enjoy themselves.
Lara often made a big deal about letting loose and seeing how crazy they could get, but Kate knew she was all talk. Sitting in the booth, with good music and your friends - compared to grinding against some random guy in a club that gave you a headache the next morning, she knew what she'd rather do.

"Right, so I'll buy the first round." Molly offered as the girls marched down the side street, their boots pounding against the footpath.

"Shall we sit in that booth closest to the corner stage?" Ruby asked.

"Obviously!" Kate replied, "that's where the fire is. You'll find me sitting by it all night!"

"Kate it really isn't that cold!" Lara chuckled, pushing open the door of Harrison's.

Walking into Harrison's was like stepping into another world. A smoky haze hovered over the room as the open fire crackled away. A man in a hat strummed his guitar and sang softly. The bar tender rattled off some order of something dangerously alcoholic to this colleague before the two of them burst into a fit of laughter.

"I'm so glad COVID has finally started to slow down a bit," Molly stated, slipping into the booth. "Those isolations were awful."

Those isolations had changed Kate. She didn't know whether it was for better or worse, she just knew she wasn't the person she was when it all started.

"Me too, it's good to be back out and about. Especially back on campus at uni, the online stuff was getting boring." Ruby said, placing her bag on the table.

"Right what does everyone want?" Molly asked.

Kate glanced over at the bar, analysing the cocktail board, she glanced at the price of one gin and tonic before screwing her face up. One drink did not need to be 12 dollars.

"Think a beer will suffice." Kate said, "I'll help ya carry them over."

The bar was sticky, but so very welcomed. The girls leant against it with such excitement, taking the cold beer and pressing it to their lips.

Then Dylan appeared.

A face Kate hadn't seen for a while and a face that almost knocked her off her feet.

"Dylan!" She was almost astonished, "Dylan Peters?!"

"Kate Cook!" A grin spread across his face; "it's amazing to see you!"

"Yes, my, it's so good to see you too!" She drew him into a welcome hug, as if just a touch was a welcome essence of home.

"You have to come over to our table! Patrick Reynolds and Hugh Weimann are there too. I think they'd be pretty keen to see you!" Dylan informed.

"Hugh and Pat? Wow, you three haven't strayed too far." Lara chuckled.

"G'day Larz!" Dylan's face lit up like a match when Lara appeared.
A smile that Kate hadn't seen on Lara's face for a while appeared, and it was like something shifted in the room.
An easy feeling that was so delightful neither of them could quite believe it.

"It's been way too long!" Lara grinned, hugging Dylan for an extra second.

"Sure has, hey why don't you guys come sit over with us. It's right by the juke box so later it's all ours right?" Dylan suggested.

"Righto, lets do it!" Lara replied.