It was exhausting. Howard was exhausted.
Vince was relentless, handing him garment after garment, leaving him to change while he left to get more. When they finally staggered out of the changing room, Howard felt completely ready for a long sit down and possibly a nap.
It wasn't to be. As they walked through the emptying streets, arms laden with shopping bags, Vince suddenly grabbed hold of Howard's wrist and pulled him sideways. Howard was caught off balance and staggered, almost falling on top of Vince, who somehow managed to hold him upright. "Sorry,"
"What are you doing?"
Vince pointed a little further down the road at a group of people walking in their direction, "My mates,"
Oh. Right. Howard looked frantically from side to side for an escape route, not wanting a repeat performance of his awkward conversation with whatshisname in Topshop.
"This way," Vince set off at speed the way they had come, and then ducked down a narrow side street. Howard followed as Vince turned off down an alleyway, then ducked through the door of a very well hidden pub.
Howard looked around as he stepped through the door and felt instantly at ease. This was one of those places that had always been there, hidden away known only to a select few. The floor was made of stone slabs warn smooth by hundreds of years of footsteps. To one side of the door, a fire was burning, to the other the bar sold ale on tap. The room was small and badly lit, and the aromatic smell of burning wood and candles filled the air. This was an old man's pub. Four hundred years of stories and life were soaked into the walls, yet the clientèle were predominantly young and good looking.
He glanced at Vince, "What's this place?"
Vince smiled, "Somewhere not just everyone gets to visit, far too cool for those guys," a dismissive wave of his hand indicated his friends, probably still wondering up the road not far away.
This was not, thought Howard, the kind of place people should think was cool. Clearly just the fact that not many people knew about it had made it that way. The kids had pushed out the original patrons, and before anyone had time to protest, the real ale would be replaced by alcopops and the roaring fire by a plasma screen TV showing music videos.
For now, though, it was a safe haven of sorts. Howard sat down heavily at a table near the door and watched as Vince went to the bar, gave his order, then turned to chat to two girls standing next to him. As Howard watched, the closest girl frowned at him, shook her head as she answered, then whispered something to her friend. The two giggled, picked up their drinks and moved to a table at the other side of the room.
As Vince watched them leave, his expression changed from charm to confusion to hurt, then re-arranged itself into something resembling neutrality before he thrust a €10 note at the bartender, picked up his two drinks and carried them back to the table.
Howard eyed the two worryingly colourful cocktails adorned with umbrellas warily. Okay, so maybe the trendy-take-over had already begun. He took a sip through the curly straw, it actually wasn't that bad. In deference to good taste he winced a little and shot Vince a look that signified his disapproval.
Vince smiled and shook his head, "You like it,"
Howard didn't answer, just kept his head down and drank some more. His eyes scanned the room for anyone looking at them, ready to escape before one of Vince's friends turned up, but no one was paying them the slightest bit of attention. He took another sip, wondering vaguely if he really liked whatever the hell this was, or whether Vince's taste buds were just acclimatised to it.
At the side of his vision, the two girls from the bar stood up, leaving their empty glasses on their table and walked out the door. Vince's eyes followed them as they went. As they walked past Howard, both turned to look at him, slowing down to get a better view. The girl Vince had spoken to smiled shyly, and they they rushed out of the door.
Howard felt himself blushing under the scrutiny and nervously tapped out a rhythm on the table with his fingertips while spinning his glass around with the other hand. "Friends of yours?" he whispered after the door closed behind them.
Vince shook his head, "No, definitely not."
"Then why were they staring at me?"
Vince's eyes rolled, "They fancy you. Haven't you looked in the mirror recently?"
"Oh," Howard's finger tapping grew louder.
"Feels good to be gorgeous, don't it?" Vince smiled, "Wear those clothes I got you, maybe let me sort out you hair and it'll keep happening even when you're you again. Unlike at the moment." His expression darkened and Howard re-played the encounter at the bar in his mind. Vince had been trying to chat the girls up, they hadn't been interested. Not a huge deal to most people, but for Vince it may have been a completely new experience.
Vince took a sip of his drink and inspected the tabletop, drawing a pattern in the condensation that had dripped down the side of his glass creating a ring around the bottom. Howard watched for a while,wondering whether he should say something. After all, he had years of rejection experience, maybe he would be able to help. He took a deep breath, "You okay, Vince?"
Vince looked up, "Yeah, 'course. Who wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know, you just seemed a little... down? It's not like you,"
A spin of his straw around the bottom of his glass moved all the ice around, releasing yet more colour that had settled around it. Vince picked up the large glass, brought it to his lips and finished off the drink with a large gulp. "More like you, right?" He smiled, "I'm getting the full Howard Moon experience." He glanced at the door as though the two girls might still be lurking on the other side, "They weren't that great anyway."
Howard was sure he'd just been insulted, but he didn't feel like retaliating. Vince's uncanny luck with women and men alike was a source of constant irritation and jealousy to Howard, and in one way he was almost happy to see him get a taste of how the other half lived. But in another he almost felt guilty. Vince wasn't designed to deal with rejection, just look how he had reacted at Howard's birthday party when the girl Howard had been waiting for arrived. He didn't know how to deal with it, and Howard had once again, unintentionally this time, inflicted it upon him. Besides, what did it say about Howard's chances of eventually losing his virginity if even inhabited by Vince and all his charm, his body was incapable of attracting anyone. It was too depressing for words.
"You ready?" Vince got to his feet and pulled his jacket back on, "The coast should be clear by now."
Howard nodded, drained his own drink and picked up various shopping bags, mostly containing Vince's clothes. He swayed as he stood, whatever was in those drinks, they were pretty strong.
They walked home quickly, the streets blissfully empty of Vince's friends. Shaking fingers managed on the third attempt to insert a key into the lock and as soon as they were in, Howard closed the door on the outside world with a sense of relief. His muscles relaxed, tension that had set in the instant they left the flat evaporated. Home. Safety.