Chapter 3 #2
‘Oh, Ivan wants me!’ Yvonne exclaimed. He was beckoning to her from across the bar. ‘Mind if I leave you two on your own for a bit?’ she asked, jumping up.
‘No,’ Claire said, though she really didn’t want to be alone with Luca. She found his raw sexuality intimidating.
‘Knock him dead,’ Luca said, lying against the arm of the sofa, pulling one leg up on the cushions and stretching the other out in front of him so that he was sprawled across Yvonne’s space. Claire clutched her drink with both hands, leaning forward on her knees, horribly aware of Luca’s scrutiny.
He had man-whore written all over him, she thought crossly.
He was obviously the type of guy who couldn’t meet a female without contemplating sex.
Even though the bar was full of glamorous, sexy girls, he still couldn’t resist giving her the once-over.
Self-conscious, she racked her brain for something to say to distract him.
‘Yvonne tells me you’re an artist.’
‘Yeah.’
‘What kind of art do you do?’
‘Painting,’ he said, in a bored voice.
‘Oh. What kind of paintings?’ God, listen to yourself, Claire thought. You sound like the Queen trying to chat to one of her subjects. Next you’ll be asking him if he had far to come.
‘Big ones,’ he said.
‘Oh, that’s…’ She tailed off, nodding miserably.
‘Yeah, really big. Oil paintings mostly. The kind no one wants to buy.’
‘Right,’ she said, feeling rebuked. Okay, so she wasn’t good at small talk, but he didn’t have to be so rude.
Did he have to make it so obvious that he couldn’t be arsed even talking to her for a few minutes?
She didn’t imagine that blonde’s conversation had been scintillating either, but she’d seen the indulgent way he’d been gazing at her.
‘And, no, I’m not the next Damien Hirst, or whatever other living artist you happen to have heard of. I don’t own a gallery, and I’m not really a graphic designer or advertising creative who paints in his spare time.’
‘Well, at least you’ve cleared that up,’ she said stiffly, brushing imaginary crumbs from her dress. ‘Because they were definitely going to be my next three questions.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, if they weren’t, it’d be a first for this evening. I’m not minted either, by the way.’
‘I can tell,’ she said, casting a scathing glance at him. Don’t sink to his level of rudeness.
‘Hey,’ he said, with a laugh. ‘How do you know I’m not just an eccentric millionaire who dresses like a bum for shits and giggles?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think Yvonne would have gone out with you if you were a millionaire. You’re not her type.’
‘No, Yvonne likes the pretty boys,’ he said, looking across the room at Yvonne and Ivan. ‘Not that I’m saying I’m not pretty.’
‘Of course not.’
‘So you think Yvonne was with me for my lack of money? She was using me to get at Daddy?’
Claire got the impression the idea wasn’t new to him. ‘Sorry.’
He shrugged. ‘No biggie. We both got what we wanted out of it.’
Claire raised an eyebrow. He was implying that he had got sex, and she knew for a fact that wasn’t true. ‘Yvonne’s not a bad person,’ she said. ‘She just has Daddy issues.’
‘Yeah, I got that. Yvonne’s all right. She’s the best of this bunch, that’s for sure,’ he said, looking around.
Claire struggled to come up with something else to say, but drew a blank. She was relieved when she saw the leggy blonde returning from the bar with a couple of drinks. ‘Oh, your, um… friend is coming back,’ she said, getting up.
‘Hey, you don’t have to go.’ Luca shifted so he only took up one corner of the sofa and there was room for three again.
‘I’m in her seat.’
‘Hardly. She was sitting on me.’
‘Well, three’s a crowd so…’ Claire picked up her empty glass. ‘I need another drink anyway,’ she said, wiggling it around. ‘It was nice to meet you.’
She turned on her heel, relieved to get away from him.
Forcing what she hoped was a natural-looking smile onto her face, she marched up to the bar and asked for another glass of mineral water, trying to appear confident and nonchalant.
She shouldn’t have been so quick to ditch Luca, she thought, her eyes straying back to the sofa, where the blonde was making strenuous efforts to get back onto his lap.
Just then, his eyes met Claire’s. He gave her a little smile that was almost sympathetic.
Claire looked away again quickly. She stood at the bar for a while, sipping her water.
God, this was her idea of hell. How much longer before she could reasonably call it a night?
Maybe she could fill in some time in the loo…
‘Claire!’ Yvonne rushed up to her, Philip and Fionn in tow. ‘We’re all going on to a club after this. Will you come?’
‘Oh, not tonight. I really have to go soon,’ Claire said, glancing at her watch. ‘I’ve got work in the morning, remember?’
‘Oh, pooh.’ Yvonne pouted. She looked over Claire’s shoulder. ‘Luca. You’re not leaving already?’
Claire turned to see Luca behind her. He was on his own.
‘We’re going to a club later. Come with us,’ Yvonne pleaded.
‘No, I’m off home.’
‘Alone?’ Yvonne raised her eyebrows.
‘Yeah, I’m beat. And broke.’
‘How are you going to get home?’ Yvonne glanced towards the large windows. Rain was still thundering down outside.
Luca shrugged. ‘I’ll walk.’
‘You can’t! You’ll drown. And public transport has pretty much broken down. Get a cab.’
‘Fine, I’ll get a cab.’
Yvonne leant closer to him and whispered, ‘Do you need some money?’ Not quietly enough, though, because everyone heard.
‘For fuck’s sake!’ Philip huffed, staring disdainfully at Luca. ‘See what I mean?’ he mumbled to Fionn. ‘Fucking beggar, like the rest of them.’
Luca gave him a hard look. ‘What did you say?’
‘Nothing,’ Philip mumbled sullenly.
‘I’m fine, thanks,’ Luca said to Yvonne. ‘I can manage cab fare.’ He leant in and kissed Yvonne, nodded to Claire, and left.
‘Why do you have to be such an arsehole, Philip?’ Yvonne fumed.
‘Everything okay?’ Ivan asked, coming over and frowning at Yvonne in concern.
‘Philip’s being a complete dick,’ Yvonne said.
‘What’s he doing?’ Ivan looked sternly at Philip.
‘He was being racist and saying horrible things about Luca.’
‘That’s not cool, bro,’ Ivan told him.
‘I know.’
‘Come on, man. I know you’re upset about Aisling, but don’t be a prick and take it out on everyone else. You should apologise to Yvonne and Claire.’
Philip sighed heavily. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I was out of order.’ He seemed genuinely contrite and ashamed.
‘That’s okay,’ Yvonne said.
He looked at Claire hopefully. She wasn’t entirely convinced. That stuff hadn’t come out of nowhere. But she never had to see Philip again, so she nodded acceptance.
‘We’re going on to a club later, if you want to come?’ Fionn said to Ivan.
‘Really?’ Ivan turned to Yvonne. ‘Are you going too?’
She nodded.
‘Will you wait until I’m finished up here and I’ll go with you? I have to stay to the end.’
‘Of course.’ Yvonne’s face lit up.
‘I’ll see you guys later, then,’ Ivan said, as Philip and Fionn drifted off.
‘I should go,’ Claire said. ‘Traffic’s going to be a nightmare, and God knows how long it’ll take me to get home.’
‘Okay,’ Yvonne said, pulling Claire into a hug. ‘See you on Monday.’
‘Ivan’s lovely. You should go for it,’ Claire murmured in Yvonne’s ear, then made for the exit.
Well, at least it was over, she thought, as she got into her car. She glanced at the clock on the dash. It was only ten. If the traffic wasn’t too bad, she would have still have time to eat and watch some TV before bed.