Friday Night

The phone rang and Kate tried to ignore it but it filled the silence so fully with its shrill demands that she was forced to pick it up.

"It's Friday night lass," Lou's warm voice drifted down the line as she put the receiver to her ear.

"I know."

There was a long pause and Kate used the time to pick a bottle of red wine from the rack and sit it on her kitchen counter.

"When I was your age I'd be out on a Friday night."

"You were married with two children when you were my age."

"Before I was married then…"

There was another long pause. Kate searched the kitchen drawers in her rental house to find the corkscrew.

"Karaoke might not be your cup of tea, but it's better than sitting alone with a glass of wine."

She looked at the empty wine glass in her hand and then over her shoulder. How did he know? She hated that he knew. She hated that this was what she had become. A lonely widow that could hardly stand the idea of socialising. "I might still go," she said but she knew it probably wasn't true.

"It's up to you lass… I called to ask a favour… tomorrow I would like to go bird watching. It's some place out in the woods that was recommended… I have the directions… I wondered if you could give me a lift."

Birdwatching, of all things that she wouldn't want to do. "Of course."

Lou asked her to pick him up at ten, then reiterated the reasons she should go out, before he finally said goodnight. Kate placed the bottle of wine back on the rack and sat down on an armchair in the living room. The rental was fully furnished and modern, it had clean lines with a grey and white colour scheme. Like an insane asylum, she had thought more than once.

The lamp next to the chair was the only light that was on and she stared at all the furniture and pieces of art that decorated the room. Already she knew every line of this living room by heart. She'd had almost two full weeks of evenings and weekends staring at the four walls.

A pile of best sellers sat on the glass coffee table. Crisp and unopened because despite the quiet and the loneliness she couldn't bring herself to read.

/

Daryl pulled his truck into the carpark of the karaoke bar and stared at the building while he considered whether he was actually going to go in or not. What the hell was he even doing here? He didn't want to admit it was to see Miss Uppity but there was little other reason. There was something about admitting that he wanted to see her outside of work that made him feel weird.

He climbed out of his truck and lit a cigarette as he headed for the entrance. Hailee was stood outside in a tiny denim mini skirt, a purple halter neck top and some cow boy boots. She stubbed out her cigarette and waved him over. "You came!"

"Yeah," Daryl threw his smoke to the ground with the sudden feeling that he didn't want to stand outside and finish it. He opened the door of the bar and what had been the faint sound of music blared into an ear splitting blast. Hailee walked through the door he was holding then pulled him along too.

Daryl pried his hand from the blonde as he spotted Shane, Tyreese and couple of the other members of staff standing around a table with their beers. It didn't escape his notice that Kate wasn't there and he groaned. He made his way to the bar to get a drink. He was driving so he could only have one beer but it would have to be enough to help him stand a night of amateur singing, and Shane. Goddammit, as if he didn't get enough of the bald headed lothario when they were at work, now he was subjecting himself to an entire evening of the man and his eye watering layer of cologne.

Hailee sidled up next to him with a 'butter wouldn't melt' smile and twirled her blonde hair around her finger. He tried to ignore her but she only inched closer. She was so fucking close that he felt her breasts pressing against his arm. "Ain't you gonna offer to buy me a drink?"

"Don't ya have a boyfriend for that?" He'd been the other guy once before. He'd fucked another man's girl in his truck outside of a bar when he was in his twenties and had got the ass whooping of a lifetime from her man and two of his friends. He hadn't known he was the third wheel that time and to hell with being the third wheel this time. That was exactly the kind of shit that Merle liked to do. His brother would have been all over Hailee and her tiny skirt like a fly on shit.

"He's kind of an asshole," she said with a strained laugh to take the edge off the miserable look on her face.

Daryl ordered a beer then thought about his Mama and changed it to two. He couldn't help but compare Hailee to his Mama who had once been the pretty girl with an asshole boyfriend that she wouldn't, or couldn't, leave. He paid for the beers and passed one to Hailee. He felt like he should say something, depart some words of wisdom, but the moment passed.

"You sing Dixon?" Shane grinned as Daryl and Hailee joined the group at the table.

Daryl took a swig of beer, "no." that was final. It would take more than one beer to get him to sing. A gun to his head might do it. But that was it. He wasn't even sure a gun would work.

/

Kate brushed her fingers along the clothes in her wardrobe to choose what she would wear if she did go out. Black skinny jeans, an olive green chiffon shirt and some black Chelsea boots. She tried the outfit on the looked in the mirror. She tucked the shirt into the jeans and undid the top two buttons. This was stupid. The last time she had been to a karaoke bar was at university and it had involved tequila, a hell of a lot of tequila. She hated singing in public.

Kate grabbed her phone and headed downstairs while she scrolled through the music to find 'The Killers'. That band, and Indie music in general, reminded her of her time at university and her drunken karaoke night. She played Mr Brightside and placed her iPhone on the dock to let the music fill the room. Her eyes fell on the bottle of wine. Fuck it, she was a grown woman. She could do whatever she wanted to do and if that involved being a lonely wine drinking loser then that was what she would do.

Kate poured the wine and sang along with the song. Then her eyes landed on the silver frames that were sitting on her sideboard. The smiling faces in the pictures were judging her. Ryan was judging her, even now. God sometimes she thought he had hated her but he was too fucking polite to say it in words. He said it in frowns, eye rolls and a plethora of 'must you do that?' She poured the wine down the sink, grabbed her bag and marched out of her house to hail a taxi.

The whole cab ride she had folded and unfolded her hands and tapped her foot like the beating of a humming birds heart. What the hell was she doing right now? The car pulled up and Kate could see the bright neon sign of the Karaoke bar. It was a dive, the likes of which she hadn't stepped foot in since she was a teenager. She imagined sticky carpets, peeling wallpaper and toilets that were only used for vomiting in. This was a fucking stupid idea.

/

Daryl had drunk his beer, followed by two cokes. It was 10pm. Kate wasn't coming. He didn't know whether to be glad about that or disappointed. On the one hand he was happy that she had stood up Shane's request, but on the other hand she wasn't here and the longer the night had dragged on the more he had wanted to see her. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He barely knew Kate and they had nothing in common but sharing a workplace.

What was it about the uppity ass brunette that was luring him like a fish to bait? Maybe it was because she felt forbidden, she was too fancy and smart for him which made her a challenge. Or maybe it was because she was sexy in an understated sort of way. Hailee was all push up bra's and bleach blonde hair, shoving her ass in his face every time he looked her way. Kate was well-tailored, like a lady. She was always so ridiculously put together that he couldn't help but think about rolling her in some mud and doing something naughty.

Shane was giving him a hard time about not singing so he decided to call it a night. This had been a huge fucking waste of his time. He stepped outside to find Hailee with a face full of tears. She'd left the bar twenty minutes ago declaring that she was meeting her boyfriend and they were going to go for dinner

"Ya alright?" Daryl asked.

Hailee shoved her phone in her bag before she pulled out a packet of cigarettes. "My lift can't come and get me…"

Daryl sighed heavily. She meant her asshole boyfriend wasn't getting her. Daryl looked Hailee up and down before he nodded to his truck, "I'll drop ya off…" The last thing he wanted was for her to be walking around the streets at this time and getting herself into trouble. He couldn't understand why her man would want to leave her stranded and he couldn't understand why she would want to be with someone who would do that. But then Daryl knew practically fuck all about relationships.

/

Kate stood across the street from the bar when she spotted Daryl with the gift shop girl. He lit her cigarette before he lit his own. She wondered if he sung on the karaoke but she had the distinct impression that he didn't. Then she wondered if she should go and speak to them but before she moved a muscle she watched them walking to Daryl's truck. He opened the door for the blonde and she got inside.

Kate looked at her watch, it was already quarter past ten. She questioned again what she was doing here before she allowed herself to consider that Mr Dixon was taking the gift shop girl home with him. Did it bother her? It bothered her a bit, which was a bit more than she was happy with.

Kate pictured Shane waiting inside with his lewd remarks and an endless supply of alcohol. This was stupid. She didn't belong here or anywhere really. But especially in this karaoke bar. She wasn't going to sing. She didn't want to encourage Shane. This was a mistake. Before Daryl's blue truck left the carpark she was gone. She began to walk home. The night was warm and it was actually nice to be out. She walked past bars and restaurants which were filled with all kinds of people. Normal, happy people.

Kate took a seat on a bench outside of a pizzeria and pulled out her phone to look at her photo's. What was she even doing? Not just now but every day. She felt listless, like she was just existing. There was nothing to look forward to, she drifted from one day to the next and in the end there was nothing. She considered going back to the karaoke bar and pretending to be a normal person but she didn't. She stood up and kept walking.

/

Hailee dabbed her cheeks with the back of her hand and gave him directions to her house.

When they were waiting at a set of traffic lights she moved to sit right next to him. Her long leg pressing against his as she smiled. The tears were gone and she was back to her hair curling and pouting, "we can go back to yours if ya wanna…" she leaned forward and placed a small kiss on his jaw as her hand swept along his thigh.

Daryl's cock twitched at the feel of her hand teasing so close to where it sat safely in his jeans. He was only human and he hadn't been with a woman in so long. He almost gave in, until he remembered that this girl had been crying her eyes out only minutes ago. He might have been horny as hell but he wasn't an asshole and if he faced facts there was really only one woman that had been invading his most intimate thoughts. One brown haired woman that had got him into this pent up state.

Daryl picked Hailee's hand from his thigh and placed it on her lap. "Left or right?" he nodded to the crossroads up ahead. Jesus, he was almost regretting his decision.

Hailee sank back into the seat and clutched her handbag to her chest, "left." She remained in the same position for the rest of the journey until they were outside her house and she was letting herself out of his truck with the hard slamming on the door. Shit, he maybe should have said something. In fact, if he was smart, he should have probably taken her up on her offer but he was never very good at doing the smart thing. He liked to do the pig headed, pain in the ass, challenging thing. Besides, he didn't have a place to take a woman back to and tomorrow he was getting up early to prepare for his shooting trip with Lou.

/

Kate had walked for over an hour. The cab ride had seemed so short. She stood in front of a derelict old house. It had chain-link fences all around it. Attached to the fences were 'danger, do not cross' notices. It looked so sad, grey and empty. A house without people. She crouched down, picked up a rock and squeezed it until the hard ridges left little red dents in her soft palms. Then she drew her arm back and with all her might let the rock fly from her hand and rocket towards the house. It hit the upper left hand window with a loud smash.

The noise awoke a chorus of dogs and she felt a thrill of fright pulse through her veins before she picked up a second rock and did the same again. This time it bounced of the siding and fell limp to the floor.

Kate felt a beam of light illuminating her like a spotlight before she looked over her shoulder to see curtains twitching in the house across the road. The fact that she was acting like a lunatic wasn't escaping her as she wrapped her arms around herself and carried on down the street where she spotted a park. She let the restless feelings that were filling her from head to toe guide her to the gates.

The heavy metal entrance was locked for the night which only added to the appeal. Kate ran her hand along the twists and curves of the metalwork that was layered in a thousand coats of shiny black paint. Her handbag slipped from her shoulder, into her hand where she threw it over the gate just like she had thrown the rocks. She had no choice but to climb over now.

When her feet touched the grass of the park she was submerged in darkness. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and danger pricked at her senses. She knew better than to go wandering in a park at almost midnight. This was a very silly thing to do yet she found herself pulling the long strap of her handbag over her head and joining the darkness and whatever lurked behind the trees.

Kate walked past a swing set, where the four swings glided back and forth in anticipation of the sunshine and the happy little children that would be jumping in their seats and flying to the moon. She watched the hypnotic swinging for a moment until the hushed murmur of voices seemed to fill the air. The breeze picked up and caught her hair in its whistling as she spun around. She could see a flicker of light through the tall bushes and rounded the corner to follow it. She spotted the people that belonged to the voices. It was a small group standing around a steel drum filled with fire.

"Ya wanna party?" one of them said and she paused for a moment. What exactly was she doing right now? Had she completely lost her mind somewhere along the walk home? She could hear Ryan right now, "must you do this Kate?"

The man said something else but she didn't hear him instead she ran. She ran and ran and ran until the blood was filling the back of her throat and she was back in her perfect clean lined rental asylum, slamming the door shut.

The bottle of wine sat on the counter, leaving a red ring on the wood. She poured herself a glass as she kicked off her shoes, letting them fly to the hall with a clatter against the wall. Then Kate looked at the framed photograph's and raised her drink, "Ryan… sometimes I forget… but you could be such an insufferable prick."

Tomorrow she would do better at being normal. She'd be with Lou, even if it was birdwatching.