Chapter Three

Saturday nights in Fuel were always frantic, and tonight was by no means any exception. If anything the balmy summer night had enticed even more punters through the door and the air was rife with the smell of alcohol mixed with perspiration. Joey had been working her arse off since she had started her shift some five hours ago and by the looks of it she was going to be working her arse off until she clocked off. But that wouldn't be for another three hours and she was dying for a toilet break, not to mention the need to breathe some much need fresh air into her lungs.

Glancing around the bar, Joey nodded towards one of her co-workers; a tall, slim blonde-haired girl about her age was fixing a round of drinks for a group of girls. "Hey Bec, mind if I take a break before I pass out from a lack of oxygen?" Joey shouted over at her, a cheeky smile lighting up her face.

"Sure thing Jo, I know what you mean," the blonde replied. "In fact, give me a minute to sort out these guys and I'll join you. I'm literally dying for a smoke!"

Joey nodded: "Cool. I'll meet you outside."

Ten minutes later and Joey and Bec found themselves leaning up against a wall at the front of the club. Outside was a constant hub of activity and the dull pulsating sounds of music filtered outside as he two friends watched people continually exiting and entering the building.

"So, what do you think of the talent in tonight? Anyone take your fancy?" Bec looked over at Joey as she took a couple of desperate drags of her cigarette.

Always straight to the point, thought Joey. "Haven't you given up that filthy habit already?" Joey said, looking over at her friend in mock disgust; she was determined to try and avoid the question.

Bec made a face and stuck out her tongue. Joey was forever nagging her about giving up the smokes. They shared a flat and Joey was notoriously anti-smoking. She had tried to quit once, when Joey had first moved in. But the best she'd managed was three months and it had been three months of sheer and utter hell. It soon transpired, as Joey quickly learnt, that Bec without nicotine was even worse than Bec with PMT! And neither were especially pleasant.

"Nope, you know I haven't and I won't be going there again in a hurry, thank you very much… and stop trying to change the subject, missy!"

Joey shifted slightly uncomfortably and looked down at her feet. She knew Bec could be relentless when it came to these sorts of things. "I can't really say I've been looking," Joey replied, hoping she could fob Becca off somehow. "Anyway, I've been far too rushed off my poor old feet to notice!"

"Yeah right," Bec snorted. "Come on Jo! Unless my imagination is playing tricks on me, I definitely saw you checking out that hot chick at the bar earlier!"

"And which hot chick would that be exactly?" Joey enquired, although she already knew exactly whom her friend was referring to. Still, it was worth a shot.

"You know, the sexy brunette? The one with the piercing blue eyes? Talk about a hottie! She was well fit!"

Joey chuckled, running a hand through her long hair. "Nothing gets past you does it, eagle eyes!?"

"Well?"

"Ok, ok, granted she was hot… very hot," Joey blushed as she recalled a mental image of the woman from earlier in her head. "But I was just being friendly and besides, she's probably very straight or very taken… or probably both."

"Maybe… maybe not. But I got a definite gay vibe from her friend. And anyway, even if she's not, I'm sure you could, shall we say, encourage her. It's not like you haven't before!"

Joey rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall. She'd certainly had more than her fair share of flings with so-called straight women, but it wasn't something she was particularly proud of. It usually always ended in disaster and heartbreak for her.

Joey sighed. "I don't think so Becca. But thanks for making me sound like I'm on a mission to turn all straight women gay!"

Bec laughed and continued to puff away on her cigarette. This was practically a ritual for them. Almost every shift they worked together, they'd spend their breaks mulling over the talent populating the club of an evening. Their conversations always came round to who was gay, who wasn't and who could possibly be open to a little gentle persuasion. Not that either women were looking to get lucky. Bec had been in a relationship with her partner for eighteen months so it was strictly a case of looking but no touching for her. Joey on the other hand was most definitely single, but was perfectly happy that way, despite many attempts from friends and work colleagues – and Becca in particular - to set her up with the "woman of her dreams".

Not that Joey didn't have her fair share of takers. Slender and toned, with curves in all the right places and a luscious mane of long dark hair - which complimented the dark chocolate pools of her eyes to perfection - Joey was quite a hit with the ladies. And working in a club like Fuel was perfect territory for picking up women. Although no one would ever describe Joey as a player - or a womanizer for that matter - she was however young, free and single and enjoyed keeping it that way. No ties, that was how she liked to play it and at twenty-three, she certainly wasn't in any hurry to settle down. Not that she hadn't come close. There had been one occasion, with her last girlfriend, Jenna. It had been almost a year since Joey had last done the "dating thing" as she liked to call it. She'd been seeing Jenna for almost ten months, which had been the longest relationship of her life. Joey sighed at the thought of her ex; specifically the day she had chosen to end their relationship with that tired and worn out oldie-but-goodie: "I love you but I'm not in love with you" followed by the "It's not you it's me" speech.

Ok, so Joey had used just about every cliché under the sun, but in her heart of hearts she knew it had been the right thing to do. They had cried, hugged and talked that night, both mourning the loss of their relationship. On reflection, although she loved Jenna deeply, she knew deep down that she wasn't "the one". But the last thing Joey wanted to do was to hurt someone she cared considerably for. Whilst they had enjoyed each other's company and had an attraction - an undeniable attraction in fact - looking back, their relationship had been based largely on physical desire, and no relationship can survive indefinitely if it's based on sex alone. Add to the mix infidelity and it was a disaster waiting to happen. Not that Joey had known that at the time. If she had, she'd have ended things with Jenna a whole lot sooner. Even now she found it hard to believe that she hadn't seen the signs. Learning that her girlfriend had been two-timing her with her ex for almost three months was enough to put Joey off entering into another relationship for life.

"Earth to Jo, come in Jo. "

"So… sorry."

"You alright? You seemed miles away there mate." Bec enquired, casting Joey a concerned glance.

"Yeah, fine… I'm fine, really. Bizarrely, I was just thinking about Jenna."

"Jenna?! That waste of space! You were far too good for her babe!" Bec said firmly, as she took one last long drag of her cigarette. She slowly exhaled, watching as a cloud of smoke lingered into the darkness in front of her before gradually evaporating into thin air.

"Actually, I didn't tell you, but I bumped into her in town a couple of weeks ago when I was doing some grocery shopping at the supermarket."

"Oh, really?" Joey looked at her, quizzical. "How was she?" she asked tentatively, biting her bottom lip. There was a slightly more serious tone to her voice.

Becca sighed: "If you really want to know, same old Jenna; loud, annoying and obnoxious! And surprise, surprise, she had her tongue down some random girl's throat. Talk about putting me off my food shopping!"

"You never did like her, did you?" Joey asked, chuckling.

"No I'm afraid I didn't. But I tolerated her because you cared about her and I care about you. Anyway, you're best off out of it hun. I hear she has a different chick on her arm practically every other week."

"Really? Oh you've got to love the gay grapevine!" she laughed.

"Yes really. Anyhow, come on Romeo, we'd best get our arses into gear," Bec said with a goofy grin, before reluctantly stubbing her cigarette out onto the ground with her foot.

Joey smiled but remained silently subdued. She hadn't thought about her ex for quite some time and even though she didn't harbour any feelings for her ex, or regrets about the break up, she still cared about her. Still, it didn't stop Joey from silently berating herself every now and again for getting involved in such a wrong relationship.

As the two friends linked arms, they wandered back into the belly of the noisy club, ready and able - if not quite so willing after being run off their feet all night - to resume what remained of their shift together.