Shared Spaces. phan

5.

Wednesday evening was pretty mundane, as per usual. Everyone was counting down to Friday, whilst still recovering from the horrible Monday they had. It was the laziest day of the week - besides Sunday.

Especially in December: the month of seasonal depression and nasty viruses. A week ago Garrett arrived home with a red nose and a scratchy voice. He works at a gym, which is a germ-utopia.Nowonder he caught a cold.
Then it was Florence's turn, as well, probably because they  were spending too much time together,   sneezing on each other.

I had a little surprise prepared for them all but now I was wondering if it was going to work out. At least Sophia, Beth and Phil were still in good shape. They didn't't have time to  get  sick, they'd all found the Christmas spirit a bit early. Especially Phil and Sophia who went overboard with the decorations.  I was getting pretty sick myself from all the tinsel, fairy lights and other plastic crap from Poundland scattered everywhere.

So I  hesitated to ask them  until  Friday. Garrett's sickness seemed to be fading away as Florence's was going strong. She took  that day off from work so she looked a bit more fresh. Her long brown hair was still greasy though and the grey bags under her eyes were very prominent.

After dinner Beth took out Jenga and we were all focused on the game, apart from a frustrated Florence. Every time she tried to concentrate on taking  a little block from the tower, she had to sneeze, but she kept going. She was a competitive kind of person after all.

"Guys, by the way, do you have any plans for  tomorrow?" I asked in the middle of the game, receiving an eye-roll from Flo.

"I wanted to go sky-diving this weekend actually," she answered sarcastically in a groggy voice.

"Don't be so grumpy Flo-flo, it's your turn." Sophia patted the head of the other brunette who glared at her in response.

"Alright, but if you'd want to change your plans I have five tickets to Nebula, free drinks till midnight."

Florence gasped, which resulted in the tower tumbling over. Garret, Beth and Sophia looked the most excited. Nebula was the nightclub I work at on Saturdays. My boss gifted us five free tickets for Christmas.  He must have felt guilty that we had to work so close to the holidays. My flatmates loved the club. Actually, they loved any occasion to get drunk and hook up with strangers, as they were all single.

Personally, I wasn't into all that. My club experiences started and ended at uni. That's why my job ended up being a pretty convenient excuse to skip every social Saturday. Plus, I was a bartender's assistant, or a 'barback' which didn't demand a lot of interaction with others. Cleaning the glasses and handing out little straws wasn't that hard either. It was a fun job, and better than my day job.

Everyone was behind the plan of course. Florence raided the entire cough, cold and flu section at Boots and decided she was healthy enough to go.

The club was located in the SoHo area. It attracted a rather large amount of people every Saturday. The group was not only big but surprisingly diverse. Everyone had different backgrounds,  ethnicities and cultures. One thing that they all had in common was a full bank account. Nebula was pretty expensive. Thirty dollars a ticket - and that didnt include the overpriced drinks - wasn't nothing.

It was a little bit sad, I  had to admit. My friends were in the same building, having the time of their lives as I was cutting lemons into wedges. That was the downside of being an extroverted introvert. I liked being social, but in moderation. But  I was also happy they were happy, especially if it was for free.

Half an hour after midnight I succeeded to meet Phil. I had just returned with clean gin and tonic glasses when I caught him sitting at the bar stool with a tenner in his hands. He was waiting for his drink with an unreadable expression on his face. I wondered what he ordered. He looked like a beer kind of guy.