5

Thirty miles per hour…

Forty miles per hour…

Fifty miles per hour…

It wasn’t long before I arrived. I pulled the car up to the curb and made my way inside, ready to get hammered.

Needing to forget about all of my problems…

Even if it was just for tonight.

8

ROSE

I sat in bed watching Peaky Blinders on the television. I was on the third season. It was a show about a man called Tommy Shelby and his gangster family, following the life they led in Birmingham, a city in the United Kingdom.

It was a Friday night. I glanced at the clock, and saw that the time had just passed eight P.M.

As much as I was enjoying watching Peaky Blinders, I really couldn’t bear the thought of being alone in my apartment on a Friday night munching on cookies, when everyone else in the world was probably out clubbing or getting laid.

I laughed to myself, before taking my phone from my bedside table, ready to call my friend Mezoria from work.

“Hey Mezoria?” I said down the line. “Do you have any plans tonight?”

“No, my boyfriend cancelled on me to go out with his boys,” Mezoria retorted huffily. “What are you doing tonight?”

“I’m just watching Peaky Blinders,” I replied.

“I love that show. Do you want me to come round and we can watch it together?”

“Why don’t we go out?” I asked. “We haven’t been out for a while. We could go bowling, or to the arcade or something.”

‘Sure hun, I’d love to. But not bowling. Something else.”

“What do you have in mind?” I asked.

“I want to go to the bar,” she declared.

“Are you sure that’s the best idea, with your terrible tolerance to alcohol?” I giggled.

“I want to wear something sexy and take snaps for my boyfriend, so he wishes that he stayed inside with me,” she giggled in response. “It’ll be fun watching him get worked up while he’s with his boys but I’m in the bar.”

I couldn’t help but to break out into a fit of laughter.

“You’re so evil.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Alright, let’s go to the bar. Get ready and I’ll meet you in town. We can take a cab from there.”

“You got it, girl. I’ll be ready in about half an hour.”

“I’ll see you then!” I exclaimed, and hung up the phone.

And then I began walking over to my wardrobe, ready to scorch through all of my outfits.

If Mezoria was going to dress sexy tonight…

Then it was only right that I did, too.

9

ROSE

I settled on wearing a tight red minidress which emphasised my large double G cup bust, my small waist and my thick thighs. I was a plus size woman, so I didn’t have a flat belly, but I loved the way that I was shaped.

I knew that being thick wasn’t every man’s type, but I didn’t care. Over time, I’d learnt to love myself the way I was, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t look like viral I*******m models or somebody from a Fashion Nova magazine, who had perky tits, huge asses, slim thighs, tiny waists and the flattest stomachs. Everybody was pretty in their own way.

I left my apartment and made my way down to town, ready to meet Mezoria, switching off the television and slamming the door shut behind me.

When I arrived at town, Mezoria was already there, looking pretty with her defined, pale face, her bright red lips, wearing a tight navy midi dress which enunciated her pear-shaped body.

“Hey Mezoria, you look so pretty!” I exclaimed.

“So do you, girl!”

“Looking like that… Let’s just say your boyfriend will be getting rattled for sure seeing the pictures you send him.”

She giggled in response.

 “Let’s go, babe. It’s getting cold standing outside.”

“Yeah. Let me call a cab.”

We waited patiently for the cab, and soon later, we set off for the bar.

The Casa Lucio.

10

ACE

“Vodka tonic please,” I sighed to the barman, as I slumped down into my seat.

“Rough day, huh?”

“Something like that,” I muttered.

“Coming right up.”