It was a week and five days since the incident at the Rover's. Sophie made sure she stayed out of the people's consciousness for at least a week as people were sure to talk and talk more about the incident. You know, the one where the person Sophie considered the love of her life made a scene in front of all of Weatherfield. Well, with Rosie's help of course.
Sophie blamed it on her work schedule and actually picked up a bunch of shifts at Dev's but kept hidden the fact that she was.. well.. hiding. Hiding from the general public mostly but also, and she hated to admit it, her best mates Ryan and Ches. Sure they texted back and forth and Ches even came over one afternoon to see if Sophie was alright, but other than that, no social gatherings. Even though she had lads as friends, they always seemed to understand her and left her alone when she needed. She would forever be grateful to them for that.
That Tuesday afternoon, Sophie was walking from her house back to work for the rest of her shift when she saw Sian walking into the Rover's, presumably to start her shift. Sophie kept her head down but her eyes on the front door of the bar. Sophie had been trying to think of a good way to talk to Sian again. To apologize or to explain even. Sophie spent the rest of her shift at Dev's in a bit of a quandary, trying to figure out a way to broach the subject. She decided to just march on up to her and explain, but she was nervous. Sian was attractive and quite easy-going and the one person she hadn't seen since the incident. Maybe it wasn't a big deal to her after all, but Sophie didn't want to just show up without something to say. And maybe if she kind of shrugged it off to Sian and say something like, "Women!" Maybe that can get Sian to smile the way she does. It sure was a beautiful sight.
Of course the rest of the evening dragged out for Sophie, and she was getting slightly antsy with the thought of having to show up in the Rover's again, but hey who knows? Maybe people will have moved on from this story onto the next one. There's always something going on in Weatherfield. It was like clockwork.
Sophie stood outside the Rover's for a good 20 seconds gathering her will and her breath. How bad can it be? "Only one way to find out, " thought Sophie with another deep breath. She opened the door and walked past the tables and booths toward the bar. She could hear a few people's conversations stop and sort of hushed tones but nothing too major. I mean the song kept playing on the jukebox and the world didn't end. Sophie couldn't help but feel flushed but sat at the bar and waited for service. Becky smiled at her and asked what she wanted to drink.
"A pint of lager please," Sophie replied shyly.
"You alright then love?" Becky asked. Sophie nodded with a smile. She knew Becky meant after the kerfuffle almost two weeks ago, and Sophie appreciated the concern but didn't want to make it a bigger deal than it was. Even though it was a big deal. Erinn came to find her after all. Her inner voice started in again, "I mean what does it mean? Why did she come here, what was she thinking?" Sophie's head started to swim again with thoughts of Erinn, but all that was quickly interrupted when Sian Powers walked out of the loo and back into the bar.
"Alright Sophie?" asked a smiling Sian. "You look a bit...out of it."
"Yeah, hi Sian, sorry." Sophie always seemed to be lost in thought before Sian would bring her back to earth.
"Well don't be sorry you cheeky mare. How have you been? I haven't seen you for a bit."
"Uh yeah about that, I um, uh… " Sophie stuttered at a loss for words. Everything she had practiced and recited to herself as her big speech as to why and what and how was gone. Just like that.
Sophie was about to get up and dash out in frustration and embarrassment when Sian reached out to Sophie's slowly clenching fist and said with a giggle, "It's okay, we've all been there believe me!" Sophie wasn't sure if she meant in a relationship sense, or in a bar dust up, or as a nervous wreck stuttering out nonsense, or a bisexual, or as a Scorpio or what! Sophie didn't care however, and instantly felt comforted in the physical contact with Sian.
"Aren't you working?" asked Sophie as she noticed Sian was sitting on a bar stool on the customer's side.
"I was, Becky and Steve didn't need me and then I remembered I locked my keys in my house. So here I sit waiting for me dad to get off of work to pick me up," said Sian taking a sip of her cocktail. "I have to admit, if he doesn't get here soon, I might be a bit drunk."
Sophie took this bit of information and plugged it into her memory bank. She never knew too much about Sian and maybe this would be a good time to get to know this friendly stranger from Southport with beautiful eyes and a killer smile. She also knew a good ice breaker was to talk about herself and her crazy family drama. She wasn't sure she could trust Sian yet with the details of her crazy ex, so she kept it light with stories of Rosie, Kevin and Sally. She also knew how to make people laugh and it was working with Sian somewhat.
Sophie learned some facts about her but mostly in bursts and always with Sian kind of shutting herself up like she had gone too far or shared too much. Nothing to Soph seemed too crazy or too out of the ordinary and she guessed that Sian didn't quite trust her yet with her stuff, and that was okay since this was the first time they actually were together in a hang out, one-on-one situation. Sophie wasn't going to press her, but she felt intrigued to learn more, and ordered round after round of drinks. The more tipsy Sian got though, the more "handsy" she got towards Sophie. Sian's legs resting on Sophie's, her hands all over Sophie's back and thighs sort of stuff. And while Soph wasn't complaining, she was sort of torn about it all. She wanted Sian she decided after the fourth pint, but wasn't going to pursue, as she still had a mess with Erinn and what if it was just Sian getting drinky and not really knowing what she was doing to Soph.
After what felt like minutes, but in reality was hours later, Sian apologized and stood up to go outside to answer her ringing phone. Sophie felt a drop in her stomach and a sense of dread watching Sian walk out. "What if she had other plans? What if that was someone she was seeing or someone more important on the phone?" Sophie sighed. "Why is this always happening to me?" Sophie steeled her courage and thought, "This is it, I'm single Sophie from now on." She wanted to come first to someone, not just be there to kill time until someone else gets the girl. She laughed to herself. "Kind of sad really," she thought.
Sian returned to her bar stool alongside Sophie and smiled that smile. Sophie blushed instantly. "There goes that plan," said the voice in her head. She watched Sian put her phone away. "Anyone important?," Sophie bravely inquired.
"Ah, just me dad. He was coming to get me and I told him to just leave the spare key out for me."
"Oh... Oh! So that means…"
"Yes Sophie, another round. Waah heyy!" cheered Sian.
Sophie's heart nearly leapt out of her chest. "Don't ruin this now eh Soph," she thought. "Go slow." And with that she smiled and waved Becky over for another round.