Midnight Dancer

9

Lying in bed staring up at the ceiling I wonder what to do with my day off, I've already had a shower and a nice strong coffee. A brief chat with Rox led me to believe there's more going on with her and Max than she's even willing to admit herself! They have dinner plans!

"Ooo you'll be meeting the parents next!" I said when she informed me of this.

"Don't be ridiculous Al! It's just two friends going out to eat, and maybe desert back at his" she says with a smile.

"Ok, whatever you say! Oh, one more thing before I crawl back into bed and wait for this headache to go"

I need to start piecing this thing together.

"What did Max tell you about Sammy? Not that I really give a crap, he's probably tucked up somewhere getting it on with that blond chick!"

"Al! Sammy and max walked us home last night, well I say walked, Sammy carried you the whole way and put you to bed!
Page was crying with laughter as she tried to tell us how Sammy reacted when he saw you were gone and this blond bimbo turned tail and went back to her friends after he shooed her away and left the dance floor to go and find you!"

"Oh God, was I really that drunk! It was the Sambuca's, please don't let me drink them again!"

"Anyway, Max was saying Sammy's father owns a string of fancy wine bars, rumour has it that he wants to branch out and is looking at buying a night club and bringing in dancers, apparently the guy is ruthless and doesn't care who he steps on to get what he wants!"

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, Max has known Sammy for a while, says girls have always thrown themselves at him but he always hated it cos he thought they were just after his money! He also said he hardly ever goes out!

But he saw you dancing one night when he came to see Max and since then he comes to the club a lot! Max thinks he comes just to see you! Although he seems to know Stan quite well, but when Sammy told him what his father was planning, Max thought he might be trying to head hunt you, so who knows what's going on, just be on your guard Al"

"I will don't worry! I'm going back to bed, my head hurts! have a good day Rox"

My head isn't pounding anymore it's more like a dull ache in the background, but then again that could just be all this figuring out I'm trying to do. What Roxy told me might explain what the heated discussion between Stan and Sammy was about last night though. If Stan thinks Sammy is there to steal his dancers away he's gonna be pretty pissed about that!

My phone dings wrenching me away from my thoughts.

'Dinner? My treat. Si x'

'That might be just what the doctor ordered, when and where? X'

'Usual place in an hour x'

Dinner with uncle Si sounds good, when was the last time I even ate a proper meal I wondered, but I won't drink tonight, I will NOT drink tonight!

An hour later and we're in my favourite pub, the food is to die for, proper home cooked English food in a proper old English pub, we go to place our order at the bar (not that we need to!)

"Hey Alex, hey Si... usual?"

I smile and nod as Rose taps away at the till.

"So that's one house burger with chunky chips and a pint of bitter of my choosing, for Si and the cottage pie with a side of chips and an extra jug of gravy for Alex with a double vodka and orange, no ice, go take a seat my lovelies, I'll bring it over for you"

I love it here! We find a table in the corner and no sooner had we sat down when rose appeared with our drinks, oh crap! OK maybe one drink tonight then!

"So, how's things kido?"

"Not too bad! How about you, did you find a piercer for the shop yet?"

"No, still kinda hoping you'd come on board!"

Si has been on at me for months to join him in his shop, he says it's not healthy for me in my current job!

"Not gonna happen uncle Si! I can't stick holes in people for a living! Besides, I make way more money doing this and I absolutely love my job! How many people can say that!

And no before you start, it's not degrading, how can it be when Stan still insists I keep my clothes on!"

"Okay I get the picture! Speaking of Stan, I bumped into him earlier, we went and had a couple of pints and got chatting! You should make some time to go see him, you're always going on about how he worries about you, wouldn't do you any harm to go reassure him that you're ok!"

"He's my boss uncle Si, not my bloody husband, what did he say to you? You never normally give a toss what he thinks!"

"Nothing much really, he just worries about you, he worries about all you girls, you know that! The safety of you all is his number one priority, make some time for Stan that's all I'm saying, can't hurt any can it!"

I agree and thankfully at that moment our food arrives.

Si laughs as I tip my side order of chips onto my cottage pie and pour the whole jug of gravy onto my plate.

Wanting to steer the conversation away from me I say

"You never told me how dinner went with Sandra went last week!"

"That woman is a psychopath! Don't even get me started! I'm so done with her, and I mean it this time!"

I laugh, Sandra has been Si's 'on again off again' girlfriend for the last few years, it's comical! She is most definitely a bit odd and Si has me in stitches talking about her latest antics.

It's lovely spending time with uncle Si but we both have things to do. He pays the bill and we say our goodbyes with promises to meet up soon.