This is another story about the women who meet in the back room of the pub. They're a diverse bunch and each has their own tale to tell. Please enjoy!
*****
"For fuck's sake, Helen, it's just a bunch of women! What are you getting so jittery about?"
"It just doesn't feel right, sorry."
Helen was one of my best friends. I've worked with her for years in the same office. It wasn't like we'd not been to the pub before although, on previous occasions, it had been an after-work drink or two with a load of others from the office. This time was different, at least in her eyes. It was the first time I'd managed to get her out on her own. Her husband, worthless moron that he was, her words not mine, was off working for about a month and no doubt getting up to who knew what. She'd started off hesitant when I first mooted the idea but then slowly changed to mild acceptance. My mistake had been to tell her where we were going before we set off. I should have kept it as a surprise.
I'll lay my cards on the table for you from the start. I'm a lesbian and I don't give a fuck who knows it, those days are gone. Anyone reading my Facebook profile would take about five seconds to find it out. To her credit Helen had known that almost from the moment we'd started to work together, and it was never something that had been an issue between us. It wasn't even a subject up for discussion. She wasn't shocked or even wary about being seen in my company. She was married and that was fine by me although admittedly he was a total jerk. She'd even met a couple of my girlfriends, now sadly ex-girlfriends, and was totally cool with them.
Our town, unlike most of the big cities, was too small to have a dedicated lesbian bar but somehow we'd managed to form a fairly strong group that met once a week in the back room of a pub. They were a jolly and diverse crowd and it was the one place where we felt we could be ourselves and relax. And that was the reason for Helen's panic. I'd foolishly let slip that that was our destination. She knew about it as I'd mentioned it in conversation a few times and it hadn't been a big issue. But now ... she was faced with the prospect of actually going there.
"It's just you and me going out for a drink," I told her.
"But why do we have to go there?"
"It's not some sleazy club, it's just the back room of a pub. And it's a load of my friends," I explained, trying to make it sound less scary.
"But ..."
"But nothing. It's just a group of women having a good time together. What's the worst thing that could happen?"
Ok in retrospect that maybe wasn't the best thing to say as I could tell immediately that far too many worst-case scenarios were churning about inside her head.
"But I'm not a lesbian."
"Neither are most of the others. There's me and maybe four others. The rest of them aren't so what's the problem?"
That seemed to calm her a little, so I didn't add that several more were happily bi and at least two were on the cusp of god knows what. The stupid thing was I'd knew she'd be safe unless she made the decision to say "yes". I won't lie to you, I was hoping she would say it and I was praying that I'd be the one she'd say it to but if it didn't happen then I was fine with that. In the end I think I'd assuaged her fear enough as she finished getting ready and came and sat down and took her first glass of wine. We talked for a while, mostly about work-related things, about the new supervisor who was turning into a real dragon. We decided, amidst a frantic giggling session, that she was a dragon cross-bred with a bitch. We laughed enough that she was totally chilled out by the time it came for us to go to the pub. Maybe the wine helped but I didn't give a damn, I was just pleased to have my happy friend back again.
It only took two or three minutes to walk to the pub. When we entered we were confronted by the usual group of men propping up the bar and a mixed group sat round a table in the corner. The landlady, busy as usual behind the bar paused long enough to raise a hand and wave to me as we walked through. She had no real idea, but we all saw her as some sort of hero. She'd been the one who'd saved us by welcoming us with open arms, and a nice private back room, on that first night. A group of us had been out, or tried to go out, for a nice jolly evening together and been met with sullen coldness or outright rudeness in every pub and bar we went to in town. We were just walking back towards the area where we all lived and decided to give it one last try. Why we hadn't tried this place first as it was really our local I have no idea, but it turned out to be one of the best ideas we'd ever had. She was as welcoming and warm as you could ever wish for despite the resentful frowns of some of her regulars. It was she who suggested the now infamous back room. When we turned up a week later she was just as lovely and by week three there was a 'reserved' notice on the door to the back every Thursday evening.
When I poked my head round the door to see who was there, I was greeted by the now familiar raucous and ribald greetings. There were six women already seated round the large table and I went over and said hello to them before retreating to the bar where the landlady was already waiting. Helen had lingered just inside the door and now followed me like a frightened puppy to the bar. I bought myself a glass of wine and a G&T for her and then headed back to the table.
"This is Helen," I said as I sat down, "she's a mate from work."
All heads turned in the direction of Helen who turned pink but managed a half-smile as they all greeted her. I was relieved for her that they quickly went back to their previous subject of gossip, the apparent blooming of a romance between one of the regulars, a girl called Suzi and a new girl called Linni. A few weeks back they'd gone off together and then Suzi had disappeared for a few weeks before coming back on a night when Linni happened to be there as well. We'd all felt the tension between the two of them and we all pretended to be absorbed with other matters but quickly noticed when whatever rift there had been between them seemed suddenly to heal. That had been a fortnight ago and there had been no sign of them last week, so speculation was rife.
After a couple of G&Ts Helen was looking more relaxed although she said virtually nothing. I kept trying to bring her into the general chatter but with no success. It was almost a relief when the door opened again, and a couple more joined our group. What was especially pleasing was that it was Suzi and Linni which produced a spontaneous round of applause closely followed by a rude gesture from Suzi. They were unashamedly holding hands as they walked to the bar but managed to let go of each other when they came and sat with us. The group was suddenly full of questions which were fielded mostly by Suzi with a few quiet interjections by Linni. It was lovely to see that the romance was still on-going. The chat soon returned to more general topics; the goings-on on the latest TV soap, some celebrity scandal that I'd somehow missed, all the usual trivia that's used to waste a very pleasant evening.
We all spilled out of the front door into the pleasant coolness of the late evening air and started to head off in different directions. Helen and I walked for a while with another couple of girls that lived in the same direction. We said our farewells when we got to my house and after a round of "mwah's" they left us. As I opened the door I wondered how Helen had found her night out. We'd agreed that she could stay at mine as she probably wouldn't be in any state to drive across town. But how should I play this? I was tempted to just forget about any ideas of seduction and just have a night-cap and then to separate beds. I let Helen past me into the house and turned and closed the door behind me. What happened next took me completely by surprise. As I turned away from the door I was suddenly pushed back against it and Helen's lips came onto mine in a frantic, almost desperate kiss. It took me a few seconds before I could work out what was happening before I automatically responded. We stayed in the hall for several minutes locked together, kissing like sex-maniacs. When we finally broke off for a much-needed gasp of air I held her head in my hands and looked into her eyes.
