Some time had passed, and Lucy and Karl did not speak of their close encounter. Karl had the impression that Lucy had been driven too far, and now regretted their tryst. She kept more of a distance and then one day announced she was moving out to Nottingham in the East Midlands, 100 miles away, as she had found work there. Karl accepted that this was likely to be the end, and this was probably a natural conclusion to their exploration.
After her move, Lucy kept in touch with everyone, and not a word about the encounter was mentioned. Karl then found, a few weeks later, he had a reason to go to the Midlands for a work trip and that meant going there for a few days. He called Lucy to see if he could stay with her, as he would be just a short journey away.
"So what do you think?"
"Well... it's possible."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, no worries." She paused. "But don't expect anything, eh?"
"No, I promise."
"No, really, Karl."
"I understand."
He did, and so he packed his overnight stuff the following week and caught a fast train to the East Midlands. That evening he headed back to Lucy's new flat. Lucy was in to greet him and gave him a friendly peck on the cheek.
"Hello, little brother! Gosh! how's you've changed - not!"
"Ha, what do you expect?"
"- You - to behave," she shot back.
"I will."
And so, during the first evening, Lucy and Karl acted as a friendly siblings, and even went out for a dinner in an Indian restaurant.
Over the meal, Lucy ventured, "Look, it's Friday tomorrow. I will want to go out, you know, to do my thing." She waved her head meaningfully to emphasise the point.
"Sure. Where to?"
"Oh, some nightclubs."
"Ah."
"What are you going to do?"
"Er..." Karl considered going out too for a moment. He couldn't really ask to join Lucy. "Maybe stay in," he said weakly. "I don't know."
"Well, look, if I come back really late with someone..."
"Yeah, it's fine, Lucy!"
"Ok. Glad we have that understanding."
The next evening, Lucy came back from work, and after the evening meal, went upstairs to get changed. Karl hovered around before he decided to sit down in the lounge. He was undecided about going out. Then Lucy appeared, in a black tight fitting dress, a gold necklace, black stockings and heels. Her hair was down and she had a dark red lipstick on.
Karl tried not to gasp but felt a surge of lust towards his sister again.
"Wow, Luce, dressed to kill, eh?"
"Well, not quite that, but I am going to have a good time, and I suggest you do to, because I don't want any... things happening again."
"Ok, so where do you suggest?"
"Go up Talbot Street, there's loads of places with your sort of music."
"Right. Is that where you are headed?"
"Yes, but you don't have to go to the same club for God's sake!"
"No, no!"
And with that, Lucy gathered her bag and left, letting Karl know where the key was.
"If you bring someone back, that's fine by me, just be quiet ok?"
"Ok."
Karl left shortly later, found a bus into the city centre, and wandered over to the area with bars and clubs. After short walk, he found himself in a bar and settled himself with some drinks before heading towards Talbot Street. The night was cold, and so he decided he did not want to spend too long finding somewhere suitable. Eventually, he went to place belting out hits from the 90s and wandered in. It was dark inside, quite busy with a lot of thirty-somethings, dressed as though most were into the alternative scene. He felt a little intimated, being younger than many of the people there. Down on the dance floor it was busy, and amongst the general crowd were lots of young women in dark make up, dressed in gothy looking outfits, dancing. He sidled his way down and joined in. The music was great, and Karl gyrated around with various lovelies, but though he made a little eye contact, there were no sparks.
After several songs, he went to the bar and drank a little more, sitting on a bar stool surveying the scene. Many people seemed to know each other, it seemed friendly enough, and so he sank the last of his drink before heading down again. After a while, he knew it was getting late, and he knew his luck was not in. Various couples were forming and he felt left out, and then, in the corner of his eye, he could make out a familiar figure. He looked across to see Lucy sat on a stool. He knew she would not be pleased to see him there, possibly thinking he was stalking her. But as he was beginning to think about heading back to the flat, he might as well mention that he was going back. He walked across to Lucy, who had an empty glass in front of her.
"Hi Lucy."
"Oh, hi."
"You ok?"
"All right," she seemed a little slow in her reply.
"Ah.. I just was going to head back now, so I'll see you back there at your flat, eh?"
"Yeah... Hey, look, are you getting a taxi?"
"'Can do!"
"Ok, I'm coming too!"
"Really?... But I thought -"