Part of Bea had wondered if she had imagined the encounter with the beautiful red haired woman. Of course she knew it had happened but with so little evidence and with it being so out of the realms of reality she wondered if it had been a fever dream, a particularly vivid masturbatory fantasy or perhaps some kind of psychosis due to dehydration after a long day at work. She knew it had happened of course, Josh had apologised profusely for the late appointment the very next day, Lucy brought up the woman regularly asking if she had been in again and so Bea had to accept that it had happened but was unlikely to happen again. Over a month had passed since she and June had last seen each other and while Bea had spent many a night scouring facebook trying to find June North she had come up empty. She had asked Josh if he had her mobile number or email in order to 'send her a loyalty offer' but as she had been a walk in she had simply filled in her name and her medical information which left Bea with very little to go on. It didn't really matter though, when they had met face to face June hadn't seemed interested, hadn't offered her number so it was probably for the best.
Meeting women, or anyone really, in London was never an easy feat. Owning her own business meant that Bea literally spoke to three people day in day out and then occasionally a few of the workers at some of the small businesses nearby. All of them were coupled up and she knew that while she was young, only just nearing twenty four, there was the constant fear that if she didn't find someone she would end up alone. This message was mostly drilled into her by her Mum who asked weekly if she'd been on a date. After a lot of time spent on Bumble, Bea had eventually met someone on Hinge and agreed to go out on a date. Leaving work on time she applied a little pink lipstick to her full lips and added some mascara and black eyeliner, wanting to look good but not put on a different face entirely. Staying East she walked across to Shoreditch to Shoreditch House, giving her name at the door only to be told to go upstairs to the bar.
Bea knew it was a members only club and part of her thought it was douchey for the other woman to suggest it for a first date but Bea reasoned that it was better than a super busy bar where they wouldn't be able to hear one another. Standing in the lift with what could only be described as a model - even could have been! - Bea felt thick and frumpy in comparison. Usually she tried not to let other people impact her own self worth but feeling anxious about the date meant her usual steady resolve was beginning to fray a little at the edges. She became very aware of the weight she was carrying around her stomach, how thick her thighs were and how her leather jacket was five years old. Stepping out of the lift she smiled at the model-esque woman before walking into the bar, glancing around curiously. Telling herself she was being ridiculous she let those negative thoughts drift away. She absolutely was not too poor to be here. She definitely was as attractive as the more than attractive clientele. Bea was about to text her date when she heard her name, following the sound she smiled when she recognised the face from her photos.
"Bea! Hi! I have a table over here," Penny smiled. Without any hint of awkwardness she took Bea's hand and led her over to a quiet table away from the main bar, the pair sinking into a deep velvet sofa, forced to sit with their knees resting against one anothers.
"Hello," Bea smiled and shrugged off her leather jacket. "It's great to meet you in person finally..."
Penny smiled warmly at that, crossing one leg over the other as she eyed Bea over slowly, thinking that for once someone actually looked like their profile pictures. "Yeah exactly - I was starting to run out of banter so we timed this pretty well."
Bea nodded in agreement and laughed softly. "Yeah, my gif game is pretty strong but I was starting to run a little dry."
"Well. Let me get you a drink? What will you have?" Penny asked and waved over to the waitress to come and take their order.
Mindful that this was a members bar Bea knew she was going to be spending a lot that night and tried to think of something that wouldn't break the bank. "A gin and tonic would be great, please."
The waitress nodded and smiled. "We have fifty gins in the bar and a selection of infused tonics... or we have a number of gin cocktails you might enjoy."
Penny nodded with a bright smile, "...they do an amazing French 75... you must try it. You said you love gin."
Bea felt both their eyes on her and she found herself nodding. "Sounds great to me." Waiting as the waitress took Penny's order she turned to face her again. "So do you spend a lot of time here?"
Penny made a face at that and shrugged her shoulders. "Sort of? I'm not actually a member. My work do a lot of events here so we kind of have an office membership? I come for work mostly or when they have interesting events on. I could never afford the membership," Penny admitted with a quiet laugh, tucking a strand of silver hair behind her heavily pierced ear. There were two little silver hoops in the lobes and then a little star and moon stud piercing the shell of her ear. "I am way too broke for that."
Bea felt a wave of relief with those words, glad that they were at least on the same page and she wasn't going to run up a bill and then expect to go halves. "Yeah. I've got to be honest when you suggested this place I was a little worried..."
"Oh you should have said," Penny said with a frown, resting her hand on Bea's knee and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. We just had an event here earlier today and I knew I'd be on time if it was here."
"It's okay," Bea assured her, glancing down at the hand on her knee, admiring the selection of silver midi and gemstone rings that adorned her fingers. "It's really nice here. Very comfy."
"Yeah it is... until one of the celebs that think they're cool because they were on Eastenders kicks off and makes a scene," Penny laughed and rolled her eyes, taking her hand back and resting them back in her lap. "How was your day? You're a masseuse right?"
Bea nodded and was about to speak when the waitress returned with their drinks. Giving the waitress a smile she glanced at the tiny glass and told herself she needed to take it slow. Clinking her glass to Penny's she took a little sip, appreciating the sweet flavour but could tell it was strong. "Yeah, I am. I actually own my own little spa."
"You do?" Penny said, raising an eyebrow. "That's pretty cool. How is that going? What's it called?"
"It's going well," Bea nodded. "We've been open a year which is a big milestone. It's been tough but I love it. We're called Float On."
"Float On?" Penny asked, sipping her drink. "Unusual name."