Spare Parts by Stuart Young

Author:Stuart Young [Young, Stuart]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stumar Press
Published: 2012-09-24T22:00:00+00:00

Spare Parts

By her fourth brandy and coke Louise felt her guilt begin to fade. She had been afraid the alcohol might make her maudlin, opening her up to all kinds of emotions she didn’t want to have to face right now but instead it loosened her up, giving her a mild attack of the giggles.

Of course the company helped. Jenny and Lorraine were pals, guaranteed to lift her spirits with a joke or juicy piece of gossip. And they were journalists like her so they would help her stamp on any tiny remnants of conscience that her profession hadn’t yet crushed out of her.

Whoops — a bit of self-recrimination slipping through there. If she wasn’t careful she’d be blubbing into her glass before the night was through.

Weaving her way through the other clientele in the smoke-filled bar she resolved not to waste any more of her time on pointless guilt. Rejoining the others at their table she handed out their drinks. Jenny and Lorraine stopped talking, a quick shifty glance passing between them, and then they launched back into full-blown party mode.

“You took your time, I was about to die of thirst.”

“Chatting up the Aussie barman, eh? The tall one with the nice bum.”

They had obviously been talking about her. She wasn’t quite sure if she should be annoyed about that or grateful they had changed the subject to spare her feelings.

Sitting, she lit a cigarette. Smoke scraped across her throat and down into her lungs. The bloody things would kill her one day but not for a while yet and besides they helped keep her weight down. Hell of a lot easier than dieting.

She sipped her drink. All of a sudden it tasted too sweet, not enough alcohol for what she wanted. “Who’s up for Tequila slammers after this?”

Jenny leaned across the table. “If you want, I’ve got some blow back at my flat.”

Louise shook her head in mock disapproval. “That’s what comes of dating a musician. You’ll be chucking televisions out of windows next.”

“Only if there’s a Jamie Oliver programme on.”

Louise chuckled. “Booze first, wacky baccy after. Yes?”

Lorraine raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that.”

Giggling, the three friends clinked their glasses. “Cheers!”

The evening drew on. They chatted about all the latest office gossip, the stories they had been working on recently (Louise’s was an obvious exception), the latest details in the ongoing battle between their editor and his hated rival over at the Herald.

“The boss has given Susan Aubrey the go-ahead to write some juicy gossip about Evans in her column. Apparently Evans had custard poured down his trousers by a strippergram at his birthday bash.”

“So his friends hired him a strippergram for his birthday. That’s not too bad.”

“No? He’s supposed to have hired the strippergram himself.”

They all burst out laughing. “That is so sad!”

Louise wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. This is just what she had needed. Her body shook, the laughter refusing to release its grip on her. It was a good five minutes before she managed to get herself under control again.

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