Fairest

Chapter 3

Niamh

As we dance, I notice three guys watching us from the bar. They’re smartly dressed and about our age. Rose smiles at them.

‘Come on!’ she yells over the music, dragging me closer to them before the music changes and one of my favourite songs comes on. I love to dance. Rose smiles at someone over my shoulder and I jump when hands land on my hips and I twist around to see the tallest of the three behind me.

‘Sorry,’ he says, immediately removing his hands and holding them up, palms towards me. ‘I thought you’d realised I was there?’

Aye, right. ‘With my back to you? Hardly.’ But okay, he let me go and is apologising. It’s worth giving him the benefit of the doubt. Plus, he’s cute. He’s not darkly handsome like Cillian Hunter, but at least this guy seems to want me. And he can smile.

‘Your friend smiled at us,’ the guy says, still trying to apologise, ‘and she seems to want to dance. I thought you would, too.’

I look over at Rose, who has her arms wrapped around the neck of one of his friends already, while the other is grinding against her back, keeping her body trapped between them.

‘Rose is way too drunk to know what she’s doing tonight.

’ I don’t know why I’m saying that to this guy – hoping he’ll tell his friends so they don’t get their expectations too high, maybe?

Rose is a lot less uptight about sex and the number of sexual partners she has than I am, but she’s too drunk to consent right now and she’s not leaving my sight with any guy who I’m not sure understands that fully.

‘She likes dancing,’ the guy says, shrugging and tilting my chin with his finger so I’m facing him again. ‘And that’s all they’re doing right now.’

‘It is,’ I agree. And then deciding that maybe Rose is right, and I am just way too uptight, I decide to take a risk and smile. ‘I like to dance, too.’

‘Rob,’ he says, smiling down at me as he places his hands back on my hips and we move together to the music.

‘Niamh.’

‘The Irish spelling?’ he asks.

‘Yeah, still pronounced Neev.’

‘Nice.’

I smile back at him and move to the music, conscious of how close our bodies are. He’s not pushing it any further, though. Just dancing with me. Close but not I’m-imagining-you-naked close.

Am I up for this? I’m not sure, but Rose is now happily grinding herself up and down the bodies of both of his friends simultaneously so why not?

I step in closer and wrap my arms around him.

We dance, talking occasionally before he leans in slowly.

His gaze never leaves mine and I could say no or turn away at any time.

But I don’t. I close my eyes when I feel his breath whisper across my lips and … push him away.

‘Unlucky!’ His friend mocks from beside us, where he’s still grinding against Rose, only now he’s the one in front of her and his other friend is behind.

‘That’s Ed,’ he says, jerking his head towards the guy in front of Rose.

‘Sorry,’ I mutter as Ed smirks at him, then pulls Rose in closer to his body and covers her mouth with his, snogging her right there on the dancefloor.

The third man moves her hair from her neck and trails his lips from the back of her ear down to her shoulder.

She shudders between them. Ed’s hands are…

I don’t even want to guess where his hands are.

I can only assume that if Cillian were here, that guy would not be smiling for long.

Then he spins her around by the shoulders and she kisses his friend just as deeply. I sigh.

‘Want to sit down for a while?’ Rob asks.

‘Sure,’ I say. ‘All of us?’

‘I’ll speak to them,’ he assures me. He pulls Ed briefly away from Rose and I look away swiftly at the sight of his obvious erection tenting the front of his trousers.

I move beside them and jerk my head at Rose. ‘She’s had too much to drink to—’

But Ed holds his hands up in surrender. ‘Just dancing here. Nothing else.’

I bite back a sharp retort to keep it that way but end up rolling my eyes at Rose’s giggles. I turn to see the third guy’s hand slide slowly down over her hips as he kisses her neck. Or is that her ear?

‘We’re going to sit down for a bit,’ Rob tells him, and he nods, turning back to the other two and leaning in. I follow Rob across the dancefloor. He must have the luck of the Irish because just as we reach the first booth, the group sitting there start to push themselves out one by one.

‘Yous leaving?’ Rob asks.

‘Aye, yous can have it,’ a big guy with shaggy brown hair says, slapping him on the back after eyeing me up and down. He nudges Rob and gives him a thumbs-up, making me roll my eyes.

Rob slides in on the opposite side, but moves round beside me while Ed drags Rose into the same side of the booth as me, fixing his mouth to hers as soon as he’s dragged her far enough up over his body.

He slides his hand over her hip to cup her butt, touching my thigh in the process, and I squirm away closer to Rob.

If it weren’t for the table, I’m sure she’d be straddling his lap by now.

Rob and I look at each other before he puts him arm around me awkwardly.

‘This okay?’ he asks, pulling me against him, but when he doesn’t do anything more, I nod.

It’s not really okay. I definitely don’t feel what I should if I truly wanted Rob.

But given that the one man – the only man – I’ve ever felt anything differently for is currently sitting in a posh restaurant on the other side of the river, celebrating his engagement to one of the most awful women I’ve ever met, then maybe I should put my childish notions aside and simply have some fun.

Rose does. She’s told me before that Matt was the one for her, and with him gone …

well, let’s just say she’s not waiting for the one anymore.

‘Here we go.’ The third guy returns from the bar with five bottles of Stox and sets them down in the middle of the table.

‘Oh, but we can’t—’

He holds a bottle opener out for me to take. All the bottles are still sealed, shutting down my argument against drinking them. Rose takes it instead and opens her own bottle, chugging it before grinning at me across the table.

‘Come on, Niamh. Live a little.’ She holds the bottle out and after a pause, I clink mine against hers, then take the bottle opener and open it.

‘Frank,’ the third guy introduces himself, once he’s sat in the booth with us.

‘Niamh.’

‘Cute, yeah?’ Rose grins at me.

‘Hey!’ Ed complains, pulling her mouth back to his.

I watch Rose kiss Ed then Frank, before they get up and lead her back onto the crowded dancefloor. Rob shuffles closer to me and I turn my head, meeting his lips, which are warm and soft, and eager but— An image of Cillian fills my thoughts and I pull back.

‘I’m sorry, I…’ I get up quickly, stand and face him, my heart racing. ‘Drink?’

He shakes his head. ‘No, thank you. Why are you running away from me?’ He sounds … kind.

‘I’m not. I just … I can’t do that. Not tonight. Sorry.’ I push away from the table and don’t look back as I seek out Rose.

I find her, still hemmed in by Ed and Frank, a vacant, dreamy look on her face as she catches sight of me.

‘Hey,’ she says. ‘Get me a double vodka and orange?’

‘Rose…’ I shake my head.

‘Don’t be judgey, Niamh, just get me the drink.’

‘Yeah, Niamh, just get her the drink,’ Ed says, nuzzling her neck, his hands sliding up her body, until they come to rest, cupping her breasts.

‘Fine,’ I snap, rolling my eyes. She’s a grown-up. She can tell them to fuck off herself if she wants.

I head to the bar, where the barman glances over at me and holds up a finger telling me to wait.

I nod back, sighing, and turn to check on my friend, now shimmying between those two creeps, and take a few breaths to calm myself down.

Sometimes, I could kill her. Rob is still over at the booth, watching me, although he’s got his phone in his hand.

‘Here you are.’ The barman hands me a vodka-orange and a glass of tap water. ‘Is that all?’

‘Yes, thanks.’

The barman is hesitant as I pay, his gaze sliding over my shoulder, and I turn to see that he’s looking at Rose.

‘This for her?’ he asks, nodding at the vodka-orange, and for some reason, he looks nervous.

‘Yeah, against my better advice,’ I say, ‘but apparently that makes me boring.’

I pull a face, expecting him to laugh. Instead, he swallows and leans forward.

‘Maybe it’s time to call it a night?’ he whispers.

‘Oh, it definitely is,’ I agree. He stares back at me blankly for a moment, then someone calls him over and he goes to serve them, glancing back, before focusing on the next customer.

There’s a man in a suit standing at the end of the bar watching me, frowning.

Jagged white scars reach from the corners of his mouth towards his ears.

I’ve never actually seen anyone with a Glasgow smile, allegedly a rather old-fashioned punishment amongst gangs of an earlier era, but this guy is probably old enough and looks dodgy enough.

Sick of men being weird, I lift the two drinks up in a toast and smile at him facetiously.

He stares back, then abruptly turns towards the till, pulling a cash envelope out of his inner jacket pocket and starting to push the larger notes into it.

I pick up our drinks and walk around the edge of the dancefloor.

‘Rose!’ My tone is sharper than it needs to be. ‘I think we should finish these then leave. Sit down for a minute.’

She pouts but follows me back to the booth where I put the drinks down.

‘But I’m having fun.’

‘I can see that.’

‘Oh, don’t be like that,’ she slurs. I’m sure Rob wants to have fun with you.’

He lifts an eyebrow.

‘But Niamh never wants to have any fun,’ Rose slurs. ‘She’s too uptight. Hell, she barely even drinks. I bet that’s just water.’

‘So what?’ I put the glass to my lips and drain it.

‘Chug, chug, chug,’ Rose chants and then tips her own glass to her mouth and downs it in one. ‘Woo-hoo!’

The lights flicker in the club signalling that this will be the final song. Ed and Frank reappear, moving towards Rose like a couple of cockroaches, their hands outstretched.

‘Come on,’ Rose urges me. ‘Last dance?’

I shake my head, as she levers herself up and stumbles. Ed catches her, and she giggles, leaning into him. The smirk on his face makes my blood run cold.

I rise to push myself out of the booth, but my legs feel weightless and I wobble.

I grab hold of the table to steady myself, but I can’t seem to stand up, and sink back onto the seat.

I see Rob’s mouth moving but can’t work out what he’s saying.

My ears are buzzing and I’m hot all over.

Too hot, burning up from the inside. And as I look around, everything’s getting fuzzier.

I’m thirsty again. How can I be thirsty again, even after all that water?

The music is pounding, the lights flashing, and yet it feels like it’s all at a distance.

I glance at Rob, but his back is to me and he’s waving to the others. Ed seems to be fully supporting Rose’s weight now. Oh god… The drinks. The barman’s apologetic look.

I need to do something. And soon.

I check that Rob’s still not looking at me then slide my hand into the bag on my hip until my fingers close around my phone. I’m not sure if the three guys we’re with are in on this or not, but I’m not going to take any chances.

I pray that it looks like I’m unconscious as I keep my phone under the table while I type in my password and find my messaging app.

There’s only one contact in my phone that can help me, or at least, help Rose.

Cillian. He put his number in my phone the night my parents died, in case I ever needed him.

Well, I need him now.

With Rose at Sussurri. Drugged. Help.