Page 22 of Plot Twist

It didn’t take long for Drew to kiss me for the first time.

A group of us from work went to the pub one evening. There was a football match on, so Rae invited Mickey, the chef she couldn’t stop talking about, to come along. They were getting serious pretty quickly and Rae was besotted with him. Meanwhile, he completely ignored her in favour of the screen for the full first half of the game. He was either shouting at the screen or texting on his phone.

Rae and I sipped our ciders and giggled with each other instead. I’d left an empty seat beside me. Drew arrived after finishing his shift to claim it.

Mickey glared at Rae when she snorted at something I’d said. She sighed and went to the toilet.

‘That guy is a tool,’ Drew said. ‘Why did he even bother coming if he was just going to ignore her or roll his eyes at her?’

My insides tightened. Drew seemed so concerned about Rae. He glared at Mickey as he downed the last of his pint.

‘Don’t say anything,’ I warned. ‘Rae will flip if you do. Just leave them to it.’

‘It’s her life, I’m not going to say anything. But the guy is just fucking rude.’

‘Who’s rude?’

Mickey looked up, narrowing his dark eyes at Drew. He’d clearly caught on to the fact Drew had been talking about him. And he was not happy.

‘Who’s rude?’ Drew said. ‘You’re fucking rude, mate. She’s made the effort to invite you along and all you can do is sit there and ignore her. Why didn’t you go somewhere else to watch the game?’

‘Who the fuck do you think you are?’

Mickey stood up, narrowing his eyes further, and pushed towards Drew, who got up to face him.

I leapt up to calm them both down. Mickey put his arm up to push me away.

Drew flipped.

‘Don’t you touch her. Don’t you dare touch her.’

They squared up to each other, growling like pitbulls in the park.

‘Oi! You lot, calm down or get the hell out of the bar.’

The bar manager rushed over to break it up, just as Rae arrived back at the table.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked.

‘Your “mate” here,’ Mickey said. ‘Clearly fancies himself as more than your mate.’

‘Mr Whippy? I don’t think so, Mickey. He’s into Becca,’ Rae said.

Mickey snorted. ‘Oh aye, sure,’ he said, sarcastically. ‘No offence, Becca.’

My face burned.

‘That’s enough. Out, all of you!’ the bar manager shouted, pointing at the door.

Drew swore under his breath and Mickey downed the last of his pint. Rae sighed and picked up her jacket. I trailed behind them all.

‘Can’t fucking believe I’m missing the second half because of your so-called mate,’ Mickey complained.

‘Go to hell,’ Drew said.

Mickey went one way while Drew turned to go the other. Rae and I looked at each other.

‘Text me later,’ she called over to me, an uneasy look on her face as she tried to put an arm around Mickey. He shrugged her off.