After Hours

The Friend From the Market

"How do you know these people again?" Jane's friend, Denise, asked. Denise was one of her only friends she felt the most comfortable around, Jane didn't even feel the need to hide her old books before Denise arrived.

"The singer and drummer have a stall in Kensington Market. They're nice lads and the drummer is really cute, he's more your type than mine." Jane was standing in her bathroom, leaning over the sink to apply her makeup. Mainly focusing on her eyeliner which would be the focal point of her look tonight, a la Twiggy. She decided to wear what Freddie had given her earlier that day, a denim halter top jumpsuit that zipped up in the front, intentionally leaving it unzipped a bit to expose the illusion of cleavage the tight denim gave her. It was a bit peculiar but she liked it and liked the way it fit on her. The denim hugged her in the waist and thighs, the important areas.

"Now you've piqued my interest," Denise smirked, she was looking in Jane's closet for something else to wear now.

Denise came from money, her grandfather was a successful businessman but she rejected some of that lifestyle for the most part. She liked the easygoing and what you would call a "hippie" lifestyle,  she wouldn't have to work for the rest of her life but she bartended at an upscale club on the weekends and lived in a flat not far down the street from her in Chelsea. Denise enjoyed the hole-in-wall pubs and she was the one Jane called when she wanted to get drunk and play billiards all night.

"He's pretty and blonde, I've noticed a pattern in the men you usually go home with. From the interactions I've had with him, I think he's pretty easy." She leaned back to smile at Denise from the small bathroom.

"On an unrelated note, do you have anything in your closet that would get me a guaranteed shag for the night?" Denise had already pulled out several items to lay out on Jane's bed.
Jane laughed, she was finished with her makeup and joined Denise back in the bedroom. She looked intently at the articles of clothing on the bed. Humming softly while she thought.

"This one for sure." Jane picked a long-sleeved satin blouse that was sheer enough to give you a tease but opaque in a way to leave some to your imagination.

"I wish I had a closet like yours, damn you for getting lucky and finding all of this great stuff." Denise took the blouse off the hanger and made her way to the bathroom to change.

Jane checked the clock on her nightstand, she didn't want to be late as Freddie's '8 pm sharp' echoed in her head and caused her to smile.

"Denise, c'mon, we gotta go!" Jane shouted as she took her dainty gold hoops to put in her ears. The bathroom door opened and Denise exited with a grin on her face.

"Aren't you being set up with someone tonight?"

Jane had to admit she wasn't excited about this, but she figured she'd do a favor for Freddie's friend. If he was friends with Roger and Freddie, this mystery man couldn't be too bad.

"Yeah, I was told I'd like him so we'll see how that goes." She grabbed her handbag and waited for Denise to put on her shoes.

"You never know, maybe this is the one." Denise widened her grin at Jane, who couldn't help but laugh.

"Trust me, the perfect man for me is not out there." They checked to make sure they had everything before walking out of the flat together, Jane locked the door behind her and the two were off for what they didn't know at the time would be an eventful night.

The tube wasn't as busy as anticipated so they were able to arrive at the Marquee Room with time to spare, the combined stench of stale beer and cigarette smoke hit them as they walked in the door, along with the roar of many conversations. Now they understood why the tube had been so deserted, you could hardly see the floor, that's how packed it was.

She had never been to the Marquee Club before, she regretted not seeing Faces play here last year. She always thought Rod Stewart was kind of hot. It was one large room, she glanced at the stage area against the back wall which had the band's equipment already set up and it was surprisingly small considering how much room there was for people to stand around the stage. Speaking of the stage, it had odd decor around it. Above the stage, red and white striped of what looked like pieces of flimsy plastic hung down and the wall behind the stage had a similar appearance, red and white striped wallpaper. She imagined it felt like performing inside of a giant candy cane up there.

She was surprised that this many people decided to come out to see Freddie and Roger's band, maybe they were going to be good. To avoid having to navigate through the crowd again, they decided to get their drinks first. Denise and Jane didn't talk much once they got to the bar, it was easier than trying to yell over the noise. The bartender hurriedly took their drink orders as he was in the middle of mixing a drink for someone else. Jane was uncharacteristically nervous about this guy that Freddie wanted her to meet, Denise's teasing 'the one' comment bounced around her mind.

The bartender placed two napkins in front of them and set their drinks upon them, as Jane took her first sip, she heard that familiar voice call out to her again. This time it cut through the noise of the patrons and echoed off the concrete walls of the building.

"Janie, you made it! I'm so glad you're here." Freddie approached them and hugged Jane.

"Hi, Freddie! I'm excited to see you guys play. Oh! This is my friend, Denise. Denise, this is Freddie. He's the lead singer of the group."

The two exchanged their introductions, Freddie introduced himself in a grandeur way, per usual.

"Oh Janie, dear, you've got to meet this guy. He's excited to meet you." Freddie almost demanded before taking hold of her hand and pulling her through the crowd of people that had gathered around the stage.

"You'll like him, he's soft-spoken and an absolute sweetheart." Freddie quietly told her as they were approaching the group.

"Is he cute?" She asked. She hadn't been interested in guys that much over the last few years since her friends tried to set her up with one self-absorbed pretty boy after the other, she learned her lesson the hard way to not be in a relationship with one of them. They were only good in one aspect under the shadow of night and even that was a gamble most of the time. She wasn't excited about this, it would just be another disappointment.

"He's adorable, but I'll let you form your opinion for yourself." He nudged her before leading the girls over to the table where the band was. She saw Roger, they waved and smiled at one other before whispering to Denise, "That's the one I was telling you about."

Three guys were sitting at the table, one with his back turned towards her. Freddie tapped the mystery man on his shoulder, his hair was quite.. large, almost forming a helmet of dark, course curls so even when he turned his head to look at Freddie she couldn't get a good look at his face, the dim lighting cast a shadow over the top of his hair which covered his face even more.

"My friend is here, the girl I told you about from the market. Get up and introduce yourself." Freddie smiled, quite pleased with himself as he played matchmaker.

The mystery man rose from his chair and turned to face Jane, his head was down so she still couldn't see his face until he was standing right in front of her. He was tall, quite tall. She noticed his smile, how warm and oddly familiar it seemed, for that reason she smiled back. It seemed to all happen in slow motion, he extended his hand out to her and almost at the same time, their smiles faded. Her eyes went to his hand and slowly moved up his arm and eventually, she had finally gotten a good look at his face and by the looks of it, he had gotten a good look at hers too. Jane became a little nauseous and her hands turned clammy very quickly. Not-so-mystery-man-anymore thought he was imagining things and had to blink a few times, shaking his head because he couldn't believe who he had been set up with for the night. His look of confusion turned into a different emotion, his eyebrows furrowed, his jaw clenched, and he brought his hand back to his side, balled into a fist. As she read his face, there was bitterness, deepening her feeling of nausea. Freddie's smile disappeared also when he saw their reactions to one another, how was he supposed to know they had already known each other?

"Jane?" The curly-headed man said with a partially surprised tone.

"Brian.. " Jane smiled awkwardly and cleared her throat, "long time, no see."

*

Our favorite guitar player has finally made an appearance, how do think they'll move forward from this? Let me know!