It was still early (8.30ish) on Friday night and my friend Julia and I were about to leave the Centurian Bar near the railway station in Newcastle when a male voice called to me; "Nice jeans, what make are they?"
Stunned; I stopped in my tracks and fingered the spangly logo on the back pocket. "Victoria Beckham," I replied as I looked up to see the voice belonged to a chubby thuggish looking bloke wearing a peach coloured CP Company polo shirt, "Why?"
"They make your arse look bloody sexy!" He shouted and his boisterous friends all laughed out loud as I blushed and stuck my tongue out.
He smiled and raised his glass as I left the bar with a little spring in my step.
"The cheeky bugger!" Julia giggled as she curled her arm inside mine and we crossed the road towards the Union Rooms. "I know; but I can't remember the last time somebody gave me a compliment and meant it." I sighed as we queued to get into the next pub.
It was true; I'm 37 and divorced with two young daughters; who had just gone on holiday to Spain with their father this morning. I've had a couple of boyfriends and one night stands since my marriage broke up four years ago, but each one had been as big an idiot as my ex-husband. As we eventually made our way into the left hand side bar I struggled to remember the last time I'd had sex; then struggled even harder to remember the last time I'd enjoyed it! Thank God for Anne Summers sex toys!
My biggest problem was living in a small village where everyone knows your business and I can't even go into Darlington anymore in case I bump into one of my ex-brother in laws or their cousins; which is why Julia and I had jumped on a train to Newcastle tonight.
"What's the matter?" Jools asked after she'd ordered our drinks.
"Nothing," I thinly smiled.
"They'll be back before you'll realise that they've gone." Julia told me; thinking that I was missing my kids.
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, before we made our way to the corner near the giant TV screen.
I soon cheered up by 'people watching', gossiping and gazing at the TV which was showing the final instalment of Big Brother with the sound turned off.
There was a bit of a commotion at the entrance which made me look up. It was the bloke in the peach polo shirt and his friends arguing over whose round of drinks it was.
He immediately caught my eye and cheekily winked. Seconds later he was standing next to us.
"Are you following us?" Julia asked as she sipped her Vodka and Red Bull.
"Did you want me to follow you?" He grinned as his friend passed him a pint of Guinness.
"Not really." Julia pouted then gave me a little smile and a nudge.
"Jesus!" he gasped as he looked at the TV screen, "can't you lot go out for a drink without having to watch this load of shit?"
"It's not shit," Julia told him, "and it's the final tonight. They're the last three."
As they bantered about the merits of Big Brother I looked him up and down.
He had close cropped hair, just like his friends, only his was flecked with grey making him look the oldest. He was a bit overweight but his arms and chest looked like he worked out in a gym. He must have been in his late forties or even fifty and had gorgeous brown eyes that twinkled like a naughty schoolboy and he had a fading suntan. We both towered above him in our heels as he sat back on the edge of a table drinking his Guinness and laughing with my friend.
"Fucking wanker!" I suddenly blurted out, "You're all fucking wankers!"
It took him a few seconds to realise that one of the finalists had Tourettes Syndrome and I couldn't stop repeating the lads' catchphrase which was, "Fucking wankers!"
When I've had a drink I love swearing; I find it very liberating and the effect it has on people always tickles me.
"I get it," he snorted, "that's what the blonde kid says; isn't it?" Julia and I looked at each other and giggled. He held his hand out and stroked my arm; sending a shiver through my body, "For a second I thought that you were calling me a wanker."
"Are you a wanker?" I asked; the Vodka numbing my senses.
He narrowed his eyes then he suddenly chuckled, "Only on Tuesdays and Thursdays!"
As we carried on joking and laughing Julia asked him if his group where a Stag Party.
"Not really," he laughed as one of his friends brought him another pint; "we all go to the match together and this is a sort of pre-season party."
"Scott," a fellow skinhead said as he handed him the glass, "Mark and Tony want to go to the Sports Café, are you coming?"
We all turned to look at the dozen or so men who were all dressed alike in variants of Lacoste and Stone Island, blue or black short sleeved shirts and polo shirts. Only Scott looked different in his peach polo shirt.
He grinned at his mates then at us; "Give me a knock when you're going and I'll decide then."
Scott was the most self-assured guy I'd ever met. He absolutely oozed charm and confidence but also gave the impression that he had a dark and menacing side too...exactly what turned me on in a man.
When the blonde girl was voted out Scott shook his head.
"Shit...I like her."
"What's special about her?" I slurred. "I like curly blondes and she looks dirty with it." He grinned at me.
"Is that what you look for in a woman?" Julia asked him.
"Not always." He nonchalantly replied.
"So; what do you look for?" She persisted.
"A pulse!" He howled with laughter.
We both laughed out loud at his joke then Jools tittered, "I've got blonde curly hair too."