Annabel King checked herself out in the badly lit, cracked mirror in the ladies' toilets of the bar her friends had brought her to. She hastily reapplied her dark red lipstick, feeling the effects of four Mojitos, she plumped up her breasts in her red vest. Brushing her black hair out of her face, she observed her figure and felt inadequate, she wished her hips were more rounded and that her breasts were bigger. She blinked her green eyes as she pouted at herself, wondering if she should try and take a flattering selfie.
"All I'm saying is, you should give it a try... People aren't meeting in bars anymore, it's all done on apps," her friend shouted to her from a toilet cubicle.
"Sienna, you know I'm not comfortable with it," Annabel argued back. A flush came from the cubicle and her friend appeared in the doorway.
"Look at me Anna," Sienna said as she lifted Annabel's chin, "Honey you need to get some action."
"I'm happy with my life the way it is, thank you very much."
"Oh yeah? Because I saw you looking at Jason's Facebook profile while you sat moping at the table."
"I was not moping, my feet hurt."
"Yeah whatever... Come on, I wanna dance." Sienna dragged her out of the toilets and onto the dancefloor.
Annabel didn't really dance, she just watched Sienna whirling around the dancefloor. Her friend attracted the attention of almost every single male in the bar, Annabel could see why. Sienna had zero inhibitions when she was drunk, she would flit about clubs and bars, charming everyone around her. Annabel on the other hand, she was usually sat down somewhere waiting for Sienna to do her thing. A few men had approached her, always with the same lines.
"Hey gorgeous, you here alone?"
"Can I buy you a drink?"
"Pretty girls shouldn't be by themselves."
Annabel always brushed them off with some excuse, she found men approaching women in bars creepy. She'd go back to sipping her cocktail and waiting for Sienna to get tired, before she would head home with a pizza. She looked out to Sienna on the dancefloor again, it took her a few minutes, but she spotted her friends head of brown curls, attached to the bald head of a man. Rolling her eyes at her friend's display she turned back to her drink,
"Holy shit," Annabel jumped, "you scared me."
While she'd been staring at Sienna a man had seated himself in her booth, he was incredibly good looking, his short blonde hair carefully coifed. He was staring at her with Hazel eyes, a smile dancing on his full lips, set on a wonderfully square jaw that was covered in close cut facial hair. She wondered if he had got the wrong table and she prepared her rejection response, I'm sorry you seem nice but I'm here with someone.
"I'm sorry... you seem nice but- "
"I hate these places, don't you?" he cut her off. Annabel shrugged, she didn't hate bars and clubs, but she could think of better places to be, places that didn't smell of stale alcohol and too much perfume.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude... it's just all the other booths are," he jerked a thumb to the rest of the seating area, "you know... occupied."
The rest of the booths were taken up by amorous couples, seemingly unaware of their surroundings anymore, lost in each other. Annabel felt a pang of loneliness, she hadn't been with anyone in five years and yet she always rejected any attention she got.
"I'm Marcus by the way."
"It's nice to meet you Marcus, I'm Anna."
"Can I buy you a drink Anna?"
"Okay yeah... a drink would be great."
"I'll be right back," Marcus winked at her as he walked to the bar.
That didn't go quite how she was expecting, this was the first man she hadn't rejected since Jason. She hadn't handled the break-up very well at all and if it wasn't for Sienna, she'd still be sat on her sofa wearing stained pyjamas, eating too much ice cream and scrolling through endless pictures of Jason enjoying his new Annabel free life. At the thought of her ex, she unlocked her phone to see his dumb face staring back at her. In the picture he had his arm around a woman, Annabel wondered if they were dating.
"Your ex?" Marcus said as he placed a drink down in front of her. Annabel quickly locked her phone, no point in lying.
"Sometimes I hope that I'll look, and he'll be miserable, I'm not hung up on him or anything... it would just be nice if he weren't so damn happy in every photo he posts."
"Bad break-up? Yeeeaahhh I've been there, they seem to move on so fast while we get left behind huh?"
Marcus surprised her with his response. His eyes were soulful as he looked at her and she knew that he understood exactly how she felt, Annabel was completely disarmed, it had been so easy to dismiss the advances of other men in the past, but Marcus had her hooked.
Marcus raised up his glass, "To our exes, may they forever stub their toes."
Annabel snorted a laugh and raised her glass to meet his, the glasses clinked together and some of her cocktail spilled onto the table, "Oops," Annabel laughed.
She was suddenly having a great time, her phone was away in her bag, just herself and Marcus oblivious to the world moving around them, like all the other couples in the booths. She was so engrossed in conversation that she didn't notice that Sienna had made her way back over, her friend stood at the table with a knowing look on her face.
"Sienna, this is Marcus, he's been keeping me company," Annabel said.
"Yes, I can see that Anna," she turned to face Marcus, "Hi Marcus, lovely to meet you. I'm afraid I'm going to have to whisk Anna away now."
Annabel made an exaggerated sad face at her friend, "I think I'll stay for a bit."
"You sure?" Sienna asked, with a look that conveyed her concern, "It's 2am."
"I'm sure, I'll be fine," Annabel convinced her friend.
"Ok, well you make sure you text me when you get home ok? Behave you two," Sienna gave them both a wink and left the bar.
Annabel and Marcus spent another hour drinking and chatting before calling it a night. She learned that he was a dentist, that explained the perfect smile, and he played guitar in his spare time, she told him about her crappy office job and that she wished she could play an instrument. He'd told her that he'd teach her, she'd told him that maybe she'd let him. As they were leaving, he placed a hand on the small of her back as he let her through the door before him and her skin tingled at the contact. She was filled with a giddiness that made her stomach flip, they strolled towards the taxi rank, and he slipped his hand in hers, they were slightly rough. Electricity flowed between them, and Annabel's heart raced, the air was cool, but she could feel the heat from his body. Marcus bowed his head, so his lips were at her ear.
"I want to make you scream," he whispered before planting a kiss on her neck.
Annabel felt something she hadn't in a while, like tiny explosions beneath her skin where his lips had been. Her whole body responded to it, she felt her nipples stiffen and her core ached. She had never slept with someone the same night as meeting them before and she had a feeling that was about to change. She tightened her grip on his hand to let him know she enjoyed what he was doing, and he responded by kissing her on the neck again, the heat of his breath and the smell of his aftershave were all she could focus on, her head was spinning with pleasure. They were alone on the street while they waited for a taxi to arrive and Marcus took full advantage of this as he slipped a hand up her body until he reached her breast, he gave a low growl in her ear as he traced a finger over her nipple.
Annabel couldn't take any more and she spun around in his arms until she was facing him, his gaze was intense. She stood on her tip-toes and pressed her lips against his, at the same time she ran a hand over his arousal in his jeans. He drew in breath sharply against her mouth and took her lips in his own, his kiss was hard and greedy, and his tongue rolled around her mouth with ease. Annabel tasted alcohol as he explored deeper in her mouth, she matched his rhythm and continued caressing his erection.
"Do you two need a taxi or what?" came an amused voice from behind them.
Annabel and Marcus chuckled against each other, "Erm, yes... sorry one moment," Marcus told the driver.
"Are you coming back to mine?" Marcus asked her.
