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Below is an extract from the upcoming book The Many Mistakes of Amy Love.
The signal in the bar was terrible. Laura knew she had at least one message but it wouldn’t load. After saying hi to the people she knew with a flurry of hugs and quick introductions to the people she didn’t, she made her excuses and headed to the roof where hopefully she would get enough signal to read whatever messages had made her pocket vibrate non-stop. Stepping out onto the rooftop of the city stretching out in front of her, she couldn’t deny the view was amazing from up here. From this spot she had a perfect view of downtown and all the older parts of the city, the new high rises jutting out in the distance, highlighting everything she loved about her home city. There was always something magical about the skyline. They had been blessed with a few days’ respite from the snow leaving the clear sky behind an impenetrable inky black. The temperature was resolutely hovering around freezing and her breath blew out great plums of vapor, as the cold air bit against her cheeks, it made her long for warm summer nights.
Laura had been to this bar a few times with Emily, but this was the first time she had come to this, rather legendary holiday party. She had met Jamie and Rachel a few times before, this was one of the largest friendship groups on the queer scene in the city, and everyone knew someone who knew someone. In fact she had met almost everyone before, but she couldn’t ever remember meeting the beautiful redhead that had awkwardly waved at her inside though, maybe she was new to the city. Laura made a mental note to try and talk to her at least once tonight, maybe even get her number.
Taking her phone out of her pocket she saw that it was the apartment group chat that had been pinging away all night. Zoey was heading off first thing in the morning for an early flight so was making her goodbyes now. She had also used this as an excuse to not come out tonight – Zoey was good at coming up with reasons not to go out, but after a brutal first term on her MBA and with a stressful family Christmas looming – Laura could cut her some slack.
This was the first year Laura was going to be alone over Christmas; she had been home the first few years she had lived in the city but recently she had taken a more lowkey holiday season with her housemates. Ali worked retail so rarely got the time off, and Munaza didn’t celebrate so rarely went anywhere, however this year both of them had plans to be out of the city. She wasn’t thrilled about being alone over the holidays, but she wasn’t going to let it get in her way, she had things planned to keep her entertained, Laura was determined not to put herself in a bad mood. As she typed a quick goodbye to Zoey, a man she didn’t recognise slid up next to her.
“Hey sexy!” He said with a little too much confidence as he leant over her, one hand against the wall near her head. While not an overtly threatening move, it boxed Laura into a conversation she had not agreed to have. His smile was cocky and far too big across his face, something Laura suspected came from the alcohol he stank of.
“Hi,” She replied curtly. He was standing closer than she wanted. She had no idea who he was, and she didn’t want to find out.
“You don’t have a drink” he stated, licking his lips and looking down at her hands, he took his time looking her up and down his eyes raking over her body, a deliberate move he wanted her to see, before tilting his head back up to look at her face. The feeling of his eyes on Laura’s body made her skin crawl, violated by just his look. “Maybe we should head inside and I can get you one?” He continued, leaning in closer to her as if he was telling her a secret, the hot stickiness of his breath on her skin was vile.
“No thank you, my friends are waiting for me an-” Laura started trying to move away from him, she had to slide further along the wall to try and move around him, but as she did his other hand came firmly up to her arm, squeezing just a little too hard. She bit back a sound, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was hurting her, the only place to look was his face, she closed her eyes turning her head as far away as she could, hoping it would hide some of the panic she was feeling.
“Awww come on, they won’t mind you having one drink with me.” He lent a little closer, his words were firm and authoritative, and he was expecting Laura to come with him. “Who knows we might really hit it off” He lent in even closer, his face almost touching hers. She kept her eyes closed tight so she didn’t have to look at him any longer, the panic set in deep, coiling in the pit of her stomach. Ice shards felt like they were puncturing her insides, spreading through her veins, twisting as they went. His grip on her arm tightened, the smell of the stale beer on his breath made her feel sick.
At that moment Laura felt someone else by her side, now it was impossible for her to get away, the fear began to rise into her chest, the ice shards pricking the bottom of her lungs making it almost impossible to breathe. It had been a long long time since she had felt threatened in public, she was always careful to go out with friends and tell people where she was, but at that moment she realized no one knew she was up here, no one was going to come and look for her.
“Oh My God! Laura!” A loud unexpected voice came from the new person standing to her side, making Laura jump, it sounded feminine and smooth. Laura searched her mind trying to place the voice but she didn’t recognise this person at all, it sounded friendly and playful, a stark contrast to the man gripping her tight. “The lads and I have been looking everywhere for you!” Laura was so confused, struggling to keep up – what lads was this female voice referring to? The only guys she knew in their party were Jamie and a few others she couldn’t remember the names of, and she doubted they would have come looking for her so quickly she could only have been gone for, what, 15 minutes? Laura’s inquisitiveness got the better of her, she slowly opened her eyes hoping it might give some clarity to the situation, but it only raised more questions. Stood to her side was the auburn-haired woman who waved at her downstairs, she couldn’t even remember her name, she wasn’t even sure she had been given it. A wave of relief washed over Laura as this woman looked at her with a massive painted smile that did not stretch all the way to her eyes. Those eyes, Laura was captivated by them even in a moment of panic. The earthy green color was enthralling and comforting like they might hold the world’s greatest secrets.
The man shifted slightly, moving back, pulling Laura out her thoughts. He clearly did not want to meet these ‘lads’ that had been mentioned. “Come on” an arm came up to her side and gently started to pull her away, the warmth from the woman’s hand was soft and reassuring. “We can’t celebrate graduating from the Police Academy unless we are all together!” The woman practically sang at Laura, who continued to look baffled, but the radiating warmth for the hand on her arm was helping, the ice was retreating from her lungs.
“You’re cops!?” The man moved back even further, his eyes going wide. Suddenly it was as if he couldn’t get far enough away from Laura.
“Yep!” Replied the redhead, still light and airy “Would you like to join us?” She flashed him a wicked smile, one that this time did go all the way up to her eyes, a clear look of warning flashed across them as she uttered “Or are you going to fuck off and leave my friend here alone?” Her voice dipped lower with a threatening edge. She took a step closer to the man, putting herself between him and Laura. She was a good foot and a half shorter than him, and unless she was hiding some sort of super strength or mastery of martial art prowess – there was no way she could take him on in a fight.
“No, no, officer I-” he backed away even more, his arms up in the air as if he had been caught red-handed. “I think I am going to go home”
“What an excellent idea” the woman sang back, all hints of malice now gone from her voice as she sent the same smile at him. “Have a great night” he was almost off the roof completely now, she sent a small wave in his direction as he disappeared around the corner and out of sight.
Laura’s brain was struggling to process what had just happened, everything had gone from 0 to 100 and then back to 0 even faster. She was full of emotions and adrenalin and all she could do was look at the back of the woman’s head standing in front of her, the faintest smell of cherries clung to the cold air around her. This total stranger had stepped in to protect her, she didn’t even know who Laura was and yet she had come over to help.
Amy waited until the man was long out of sight before she turned around to look at Laura. She looked a little pale and shaken, her eyes were wide and it looked like she had forgotten how to breathe, her beautiful lips parted as she let out fast shallow breaths.
“Are you ok?” Amy said slowly and calmly “Take some slow deep breaths ok, you’re safe. He’s gone.” Instinctively Amy put a hand on each shoulder applying a little pressure, and looked straight into Laura’s eyes, now was not the time to notice they were as blue as the deep sea and strikingly beautiful. Nor was this the time to notice the small smattering of freckles across her skin, the dark lashes framing her eyes were the same deep chocolate as her long hair.
“I uh, I..” Laura trailed off, she didn’t know where to start, she had so many things she wanted to say but her brain refused to make the connection to her mouth. Amy kept looking at her, a furrow of concern across her brow. “Your accent?” was still all she managed. She hadn’t noticed before, but there was a definite clipped edge that was starkly different from the local Canadian drawl. Laura closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to focus her thoughts. A few moments later she opened them feeling a little more composed, cursing herself for making such a stupid comment.
“Oh, yeah, erm, I’m English actually, been here over a decade but still sound like a minor royal.” Amy chuckled sheepishly and her eyes flickered to the floor, a warm wash of embarrassment crept up her chest and across her neck “I am also not a cop just to clarify.” She let go of Laura’s shoulders and took a small step back giving the woman some room now that it looked like she wasn’t going to have a panic attack. Amy buried her hands in her pockets, struggling to know what to do with them now she was no longer holding Laura. “I didn’t introduce myself downstairs, it was so loud. My name’s Amy.” She forced herself to stop staring at the floor as her hand came up to rub the back of her head – a nervous habit she often tried to hide.
A silence fell over them both for a moment as Amy gave a weak sheepish smile at Laura, Laura didn’t have the space to admit she found it kinda adorable, so much had happened so fast her brain was finally starting to catch up. This woman, Amy, a total stranger had just saved her – Laura didn’t want to think what from. All she knew was that in that moment she was beyond grateful.
“Well in that case, thank you, Amy. Can I get you a drink to say thank you?” No sooner had the words left her mouth than she saw Amy already had half a drink in her hand and she instantly felt slightly stupid for everything that had just happened.
“You can later if that’s ok?” Amy said, casting a quick glance to her partially full glass, tipping it up slightly to add emphasis to her words. “Are you ok? Do you want me to get you a taxi home, or get someone from downstairs to be with you?” she paused but then added “Or we could stay up here and chat for a bit of you like?”
Laura realized at that moment that she wasn’t ready to be alone, or to go back downstairs, the thought of all the people and the noise was more than she could currently cope with. She sent a small smile to the redhead and nodded “Yeah, are you ok to stay here with me for a few minutes?”
“Of course” Amy beamed back this time the smile was genuine, as she gestured to a bench with a view of the city skyline “Shall we go sit?” She started to walk backwards and held out her hand for Laura to take, which she did instinctively still in a bit of a daze. Amy’s hand was soft and warm, her fingers wrapping around Laura’s palm instantly made her feel better. She also couldn’t ignore the bolt of electricity that emanated from the skin contact, glad that Amy was facing the other way and couldn’t see her blush. As they sat on the bench a silence fell over them as they both took in the cool night air and the view of the city sprawling out in front of them, their shoulders resting against each other.
Laura took the time to study Amy, now she wasn’t full of icy panic, she could see that this woman was stunning. Her boots made her an inch taller than Laura, her casual black jeans hugged in all the right places and the tight white t-shirt left exactly the right amount to the imagination. The look was finished off with a casual leather jacket, giving Amy this effortlessly sexy and a little mysterious vibe that Laura was instantly drawn to. Her red hair sat in beautiful deep waves that fell effortlessly and artfully in long layers around her stopping just below her shoulder, highlighting the undercut at the base of her neck. Amy’s whole look was either well crafted or Laura suspected Amy had no idea what it did to people. Laura guessed the woman probably broke hearts that she didn’t even know existed, Amy was completely Laura’s type. As if reading her thoughts Amy turned her head to look at Laura, throwing a half smile and giving Laura another flash of those expressive sage eyes.
“Are you doing ok?” She looked at Laura, a hint of concern laced her smile; this woman was sweet as anything as well as sexy, Laura noted quickly helping her forget about what just happened, and it made her want to get to know Amy a lot more.
“Yes, thank you. You didn’t have to come save me back there, you only met me like 5 minutes ago” Laura tried to keep it casual adding a forced laugh.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Amy asked, looking slightly puzzled, her eyebrows pulled into a small furrow. She genuinely would have done the same thing for anyone that looked like they were in that sort of situation whether she knew them or not. It hadn’t even occurred to her to not step in.
“I sometimes forget to think before I act, and I kinda put my foot in it sometimes” Amy started, surprised with herself for this uncharacteristically honest confession “I would rather interrupt a cute date and make a fool of myself than think of the alternative that could happen.” She felt very self-conscious and exposed. She didn’t talk to many women she found attractive, truth be told she didn’t talk to many new people at all – her conversation skills felt rusty. Fortunately, Laura seemed to be as easy to talk to as she was attractive.
“That sounds like the voice of experience” Laura said playfully, she was on the verge of having a good time with Amy.
“I am going to choose not to comment to save my own embarrassment” Amy half laughed, feeling the heat rise in her neck again. She was rusty yes, but she still wasn’t going to admit to anything embarrassing. “So, who do you know downstairs?”
Laura noticed the change of subject, and desperately wanted to go back and find out more. She felt there was a cute but potentially embarrassing story hidden there, but she was very much enjoying being in Amy’s company and didn’t want to push.
“I’m here with Emily and Ali, they dragged me out before they all headed out for the holidays. Emily’s my best friend and I live with Ali, I think she helped Jamie find this place” Laura looked up at the sky not wanting to think too much about the empty flat for the next week. “What about you?”
“Jamie is my best friend, he has been trying to get me to come for years, I think he feels guilty that I am going to be working over the break without him here.”
“First solo Christmas in the city?” Laura asked, knowing someone else was here alone made her feel a little better, especially if they were this cute.
“Yeah, but I am a lot less bothered about it than he is. I normally head to his family for the holidays.” Amy chuckled and shrugged it off. “I am a lot more ok in my own company than he is, he thinks it’s on par to torture – I am almost looking forward to it.”
“I wouldn’t say I am looking forward to it, but I am glad I am staying in the city.” Laura replied, also tipping her head to look at the sky, the stars were faint against the city’s light pollution, and only a few were visible. “I guess England is a little far to travel for like a week?”
Laura felt Amy stiffen slightly next to her, unsure if it was the cold or something she had said, she had been trying to find out if Amy was likely to be around long.
“You can have my number if you like?” Amy said without even thinking, then silently cursed herself for sounding like a child in a schoolyard. She had been so quick to want to change the topic away from her homeland that she just said the first thing that came into her head. “You know, in case you want company or anything.” oh god, Amy thought, that sounded a lot like the offer of a hook up, and given the way Laura had just raised an eyebrow, she clearly felt the same. She was at the risk of babbling again, she used all her strength to just smile and keep her mouth shut, willing the blush that was creeping up her neck to fade.
Laura was surprised at how forward Amy was, given they didn’t even exchange a hug in the bar this was unexpected, but a very welcome development. She slipped her phone out of her pocket, unlocked it and handed it to Amy. Who took it gingerly, carefully putting her number in and handed it back. She was sort of expecting Amy to present her phone to full exchange numbers – but she had never even reached for it, Laura decided not to read too much into it.
“I think I could do with a drink. ” Laura announced after a brief silence, “But if it’s ok with you, can we keep this to ourselves? I don’t want to cause drama or ruin anyone’s night” She got up from the bench and looked over at Amy, whose expression was unreadable.
“Yeah, if that’s what you want” Amy smiled as she stood up. Both women made their way back downstairs where their friends were indeed waiting, Jamie shot Amy a very excited look that made her roll her eyes. The man was way too excited to see them together, and he was going to be very disappointed when he found out that nothing happened.
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