The Importance of Being a Bachelor Read Online Free
Author: Mike Gayle
Tags: Hewer Text UK Ltd http://www.hewertext.com
laughed Cassie. ‘I see what you’re doing! I want the detail, mister. I want to know everything that you remember. And I mean everything!’
It had been an ordinary Friday night eighteen months earlier and Luke had been drinking in a town bar with some workmates. The bar was throbbing with pent-up ‘it’s-the-weekend’ energy and seating was at a premium. People began to peel off to go home or get some food and soon Luke soon found himself on one side of a table on his own. Just as he had been planning to call it a day he’d received a text from Russell, asking whether he could borrow his car for a couple of hours to run some errands. Luke had replied that was fine as long as Russell remembered to put in petrol this time otherwise he would be forced to give him a severe beating and he had just been about to press send when he sensed that he was no longer alone and had looked up to see Cassie standing over him asking if the seats opposite were taken.
Luke had been so thrown by the sight of this amazing woman that he forgot to answer her question and just stared. He managed to regain his composure long enough to invite her to sit down. As Luke realised he no longer wanted to go home, he typed a new text message to his brother: ‘£100 and car for a week if get down to the Ha Ha Bar Room in 30.’ Luke pressed send and looked up at Cassie: ‘I’m just waiting for a friend,’ he said. ‘Looks like he’s running late.’
‘And do you remember how all we did that night was talk?’ laughed Cassie as she joined in with the story. ‘We just talked and talked and talked and talked. I’d never met anyone like you in my entire life.’
‘My favourite moment was when Russ turned up.’ Luke grinned. ‘He looked a right mess. There he was in a bar full of suits like some kind of overgrown student.’
‘He didn’t!’ protested Cassie.’He looked really cool.’
‘No, he looked like an idiot. The kind of daft fashion victim that populates record shops – which was in fact where he was working at the time – and who could have ruined my chances of getting the phone number of the young thing I was giving the full-on Bachelor treatment to!’
‘But making out you didn’t even know him was a bit cruel!’
‘It would’ve been more cruel to have spoken to him because if he had ruined things between you and me I would’ve had no choice but to take him outside and pummel him. Anyway, he got his hundred quid and my car and he still managed to return it without any bloody petrol!’
They both smiled as they recalled the events of that night. This is what happiness feels like, thought Luke. The feeling that some people spend their whole lives looking for and never find.
He sneaked an unsteady hand across the table, nearly knocking over Cassie’s wine in the process, and lifted up her fingers until they were intertwined with his own.
‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I’ve had something on my mind ever since we sat down tonight and I’ve been trying to find a way to express it but I keep hitting a brick wall. I wish you could just climb into my head and know what I feel without me having to say. How great would that be? Not having to put stuff into words?’
‘I do know,’ said Cassie. ‘I really do.’
‘Well do you know that right now if I had a ring I would ask you to marry me?’
Cassie nodded. ‘And did you know that ring or no ring were you to ask me the answer would be yes?’
‘In that case I’m asking you to marry me,’ said Luke.
‘And in that case I’m saying yes.’
‘Filed away on my SIM card.’
It was the morning of the following day, a Sunday, and a barefoot Adam was standing on his front doorstep waving to the minicab driver currently pulled up over his front drive.
‘She’ll be with you in a minute, mate!’ he called as the driver wound down his window. ‘She’s just getting her things together.’
The minicab driver nodded and Adam returned indoors, picked up the mug of
It had been an ordinary Friday night eighteen months earlier and Luke had been drinking in a town bar with some workmates. The bar was throbbing with pent-up ‘it’s-the-weekend’ energy and seating was at a premium. People began to peel off to go home or get some food and soon Luke soon found himself on one side of a table on his own. Just as he had been planning to call it a day he’d received a text from Russell, asking whether he could borrow his car for a couple of hours to run some errands. Luke had replied that was fine as long as Russell remembered to put in petrol this time otherwise he would be forced to give him a severe beating and he had just been about to press send when he sensed that he was no longer alone and had looked up to see Cassie standing over him asking if the seats opposite were taken.
Luke had been so thrown by the sight of this amazing woman that he forgot to answer her question and just stared. He managed to regain his composure long enough to invite her to sit down. As Luke realised he no longer wanted to go home, he typed a new text message to his brother: ‘£100 and car for a week if get down to the Ha Ha Bar Room in 30.’ Luke pressed send and looked up at Cassie: ‘I’m just waiting for a friend,’ he said. ‘Looks like he’s running late.’
‘And do you remember how all we did that night was talk?’ laughed Cassie as she joined in with the story. ‘We just talked and talked and talked and talked. I’d never met anyone like you in my entire life.’
‘My favourite moment was when Russ turned up.’ Luke grinned. ‘He looked a right mess. There he was in a bar full of suits like some kind of overgrown student.’
‘He didn’t!’ protested Cassie.’He looked really cool.’
‘No, he looked like an idiot. The kind of daft fashion victim that populates record shops – which was in fact where he was working at the time – and who could have ruined my chances of getting the phone number of the young thing I was giving the full-on Bachelor treatment to!’
‘But making out you didn’t even know him was a bit cruel!’
‘It would’ve been more cruel to have spoken to him because if he had ruined things between you and me I would’ve had no choice but to take him outside and pummel him. Anyway, he got his hundred quid and my car and he still managed to return it without any bloody petrol!’
They both smiled as they recalled the events of that night. This is what happiness feels like, thought Luke. The feeling that some people spend their whole lives looking for and never find.
He sneaked an unsteady hand across the table, nearly knocking over Cassie’s wine in the process, and lifted up her fingers until they were intertwined with his own.
‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I’ve had something on my mind ever since we sat down tonight and I’ve been trying to find a way to express it but I keep hitting a brick wall. I wish you could just climb into my head and know what I feel without me having to say. How great would that be? Not having to put stuff into words?’
‘I do know,’ said Cassie. ‘I really do.’
‘Well do you know that right now if I had a ring I would ask you to marry me?’
Cassie nodded. ‘And did you know that ring or no ring were you to ask me the answer would be yes?’
‘In that case I’m asking you to marry me,’ said Luke.
‘And in that case I’m saying yes.’
‘Filed away on my SIM card.’
It was the morning of the following day, a Sunday, and a barefoot Adam was standing on his front doorstep waving to the minicab driver currently pulled up over his front drive.
‘She’ll be with you in a minute, mate!’ he called as the driver wound down his window. ‘She’s just getting her things together.’
The minicab driver nodded and Adam returned indoors, picked up the mug of
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