A series of text messages had pinged back and forth between Lucy and Alex all weekend and well into the following week. Alex had suggested going to watch some comedy at the famous 99 club in Leicester Square the following Wednesday night. He had booked tickets and suggested that they meet before the show started to have dinner. Lucy was thrilled at the prospect of a second date and was buzzing all week on a tremendous high. Lettie and Simon stared at her enviously, shaking their heads from time to time and quipping that they wanted the old grumpy Lucy back, she was far less nauseating. Lucy told them both to shut up and continued humming happily to herself, suddenly finding her job much less painful, walking from meeting to meeting with a spring in her step.
‘So, how was it?’ Jack asked, sidling over to her at the coffee machine. Lucy felt the usual rush of excitement in his presence.
‘It was great, thank you,’ smiled Lucy. ‘Not that it’s got anything to do with you!’
‘Who is the lucky man?’
‘His name is Alex.’
‘Alex?’
‘Yes.’
‘And what does he do? This Alex?’ asked Jack in a slightly mocking tone.
‘He’s a lawyer,’ said Lucy.
‘A lawyer indeed? Very nice! And… will you be seeing him again?’
‘I certainly hope so. He’s lovely,’ she said, adding ‘and, what’s more, he’s single!’ Lucy looked at him pointedly, determined not to show him how much she wished that he was single too.
‘Yes, yes. That certainly helps,’ he acknowledged with a rueful smile. She noticed that he had dark bags underneath his eyes. Her heart went out to him as she allowed herself to imagine once more that he truly was unhappy in his relationship. So what if he was unhappy, a voice popped into her head. It was absolutely not her concern.
As Wednesday evening approached, her excitement levels almost reached bursting point. She found herself daydreaming about Alex’s handsome face, his curly eyelashes, that angular jaw, his strong, big hands touching her here, there and… she had to constantly wrench her attention back to the task in hand. Sometimes her daydreams morphed from Alex into Jack, and back again. She marvelled at the powers of physical attraction, at how she could be so drawn to such different men at the same time. But there was no doubting she couldn’t wait to see Alex again and was slightly worried that she might pounce on him uncontrollably and rip his clothes off the minute she did. It had been a long time since she had been physically intimate with a man, and she had missed it. She would have to exercise some serious self-restraint.
At five thirty on Wednesday she met Claudia for a pre-date drink outside her office. Claudia was an even darker shade of olive with her Maldivian tan and looked radiant despite the come-down she was apparently experiencing: a combination of post-wedding anticlimax and post-honeymoon blues. She grilled Lucy for every detail of their date, read every single text message between Alex and Lucy and then declared that she was satisfied, this was definitely love, saying how exciting it was that her best friend was going to marry Dan’s friend and live happily ever after and have lots of babies. Lucy told her to stop getting carried away with herself, allowing a very secret, deep part of herself to scream ‘I know!’ silently whilst the rest of her tried its best to remain calm, with realistic second date expectations.
‘How is the forbidden work crush?’ asked Claudia. She was the only person that Lucy had dared tell about Jack. ‘Hopefully meeting Alex has put paid to that?’
‘If only… I know it’s ridiculous and I am disgusted with myself, really I am, but I still can’t help it. There’s just something about Jack. He’s so confident and so good at what he does and he flirts with me all the time which doesn’t help.’
‘Do you flirt back?’
‘I am trying really hard not to. I keep bringing up his wife and I’ve even told him about Alex.’
‘Good. I’m glad to hear it. He shouldn’t be flirting with you at all. It’s so unfair. His poor wife!’ said Claudia.
‘Don’t!’ said Lucy. ‘I feel guilty enough already. I should never have encouraged him,’ she said.
‘Why did you then?’ she asked with a slightly accusatory undertone. Lucy supposed she was sticking up for married women now that she had joined their ranks.
‘It started as harmless banter, or so I thought. And he’s way more senior than me, so I hardly thought he meant it…’
‘How has his seniority got anything to do with it?!’ asked Claudia. ‘He’d hardly be the first man to have an affair with a junior at work… it’s the old cliché of a man and his secretary!’
‘Look, Clauds, nothing’s going to happen, I promise. Hopefully if things work out with Alex, then he’ll get the message loud and clear that I’m taken and give up!’
‘Yes, thank god for Alex,’ agreed Claudia. ‘The whole thing sounds like an absolute recipe for disaster.’
Feeling slightly exhausted by this mini-interrogation, Lucy expertly deflected the attention away from herself and back onto the honeymoon, listening with envy about the five-star treatment that newly-weds receive in the Maldives. Rose petals scattered on the bed and in the bathtub, your own private sunbeds overlooking the sea, sun downers on little glass-bottom boats to look at the tropical fish swimming below. All in all, it sounded like paradise.
They chatted happily over their white wine spritzers until, before she knew it, it was time for her to go. She checked her make-up in her hand-held mirror, applied some bright pink lipstick to ‘make her eyes look naughty’, as Granny Annie always said, and set off for Leicester Square, kissing Claudia goodbye.
Lucy loved that feeling of London as the summer began. Now they were in the month of July, the weather was starting to get warmer. She walked through the streets watching the tourists admire the beautiful majesty of the buildings and parks and feeling extremely fond of her city. At Leicester Square she wove her way through the masses towards the comedy club and saw Alex leaning against the wall, holding two tickets in his hand. He looked up as she approached him, smiling warmly at her, and enveloped her in a massive hug. The peppery smell of his aftershave combined with the touch of his skin made her stomach lurch like a car being jumpstarted; he briefly kissed her on the lips and said, ‘Good to see you, Luce.’
‘Hi Alex. Good to see you too. I’ve just been having a drink with Claudia,’ said Lucy. ‘She sends her love.’
‘Ah, Clauds, how is she? Sickeningly loved up and on a honeymoon high?’ asked Alex.
‘Actually feeling a bit sorry for herself now that it’s all over. You know, not being the centre of attention anymore – it’s hard for a woman!’ said Lucy, shrugging her shoulders with a grin.
Alex chuckled and they fell into an easy rapport, catching up on the last few days as the guy on the door checked their tickets and they made their way downstairs to the underground comedy club. They sat down at a little round table a few rows back from the stage, not wanting to be in the comedians’ direct line of vision in case they became the target for some improvisation. There was nothing more cringeworthy than being used as cannon fodder when on a date. Lucy was sure that comedians could spot a couple in the early stages of a new relationship from a mile away; perhaps like a bloodhound they could smell their fear.
Happy with their choice of seat, they perused the menu, deciding on different variations of burgers and fries: cheddar cheese for Lucy and blue cheese and bacon for Alex. Lucy ordered their food and a couple of bottles of Budweiser at the bar and returned to the table, where she filled Alex in on the rest of Claudia and Dan’s news as they sipped their beers.
When their burgers had arrived, Lucy suddenly had an idea, a way of tempting Alex to agree to a third date. Everyone knew what could happen on the third date, after all, and that tantalizing thought was never very far from Lucy’s mind. ‘Have you tried the burgers in Borough Market?’ asked Lucy. ‘They have this burger shack which has all sorts of different toppings like blue cheese or caramelized onions… you can choose whatever you like and the meat is so tender it is unbelievable. I have never eaten anything so delicious!’
‘Sounds amazing!’ said Alex, enjoying Lucy’s enthusiasm for food.
‘I should take you there,’ suggested Lucy. ‘Are you free this weekend?’
‘I’m free on Saturday. It’s a date!’ said Alex, chinking his beer bottle against hers. ‘I shall leave myself entirely in your hands.’ The way he looked at her when he said that made Lucy flush a deep red, she knew he wasn’t talking entirely figuratively, and the prospect of what might happen on Saturday night was too much for her to handle. Distracting herself by dunking her last remaining chips into the little pot of mayonnaise, Lucy was relieved when Alex went to buy them another round of beers. Just as he was sitting back down, the lights began to dim and a spotlight shone brightly onto the small stage. A sweaty, northern MC came on to warm up the crowd and announce the first act, Dermot O’Donnell, and Lucy and Alex settled in to be entertained.
At the end of the evening, on their way out of the club, they agreed that they had been given a particularly amazing line-up. Apart from the one act who had absolutely failed to get a laugh, a standard feature of any comedy night it seemed, they had all been hilariously funny. Lucy and Alex had cried with laughter at an ancient old New Yorker’s sardonic take on London. They had collapsed with mirth at some wry social observational comedy in the vein of Michael McIntyre, and finally, they had been treated to a preview from a well-known Iranian female comic who was testing her set on the 99 Club before taking it to Live at the Apollo the following week. Lucy and Alex both felt in perfect sync with each other in the way that only shared laughter can achieve, it was a relief to find out that they shared the same sense of humour. They had noticed a couple next to them who were also clearly on a first or second date. The girl was having a fantastic time, hooting with laughter at every joke, while the guy sat there looking disparagingly at her, shaking his head in despair, clearly wishing he was elsewhere.
The evening air felt warm as they walked to the tube side by side. Lucy was desperate to reach out and grab his hand in hers, the distance between them felt torturous. Just as she thought she couldn’t wait another second, Alex stopped and turned to face her, indulging in another set of lingering, stomach-churning kisses.
As soon as Lucy left him she started to count down the days, minutes and seconds until she would see him again. Her body tingled with the possibility of what was to come. She wanted to make sure that their third date, the date she was in charge of organizing, was amazing. And she also wanted to ensure that she could have her wicked way with him at the end of it. She texted Tor and Claudia on the way home.
Just had second date, he took me to the comedy. Such fun. He is SO amazing. I’m taking him to Borough Market on Sat! Call me tomorrow for full debrief! L xx