Essex Girls. Laura Ziepe
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Shots.’ She walked off to some men calling her.
‘Oh please one of you get a job as a shot girl with me,’ Kelly pleaded, smiling. ‘It looks so much fun and I could do with the extra money so badly. Come on Jade, you need a job?’
‘Why not?’ Jade replied, thinking it would be great to get a fun part-time job while she was searching for a career. ‘So long as I don’t have to drink them. It has to be better than serving miserable customers in Café Rouge.’
‘Count me out,’ Lisa answered. ‘Jake would go mad if I was dressed like that and walking round bars chatting to men. I am a tad jealous though; my friend’s mate does it and on good nights makes over two hundred pounds.’
‘You’re kidding! In one night? Me and you will definitely look tomorrow then,’ Kelly said to Jade.
After a couple of hours, Lisa, who had been texting on her phone for the last thirty minutes, decided to call it a night.
‘I’m off, girls. Jake is picking me up and I’m staying at his.’
‘I’m so jealous, you cow. You’re getting your lovely boyfriend to come get you and leaving us surrounded by these creeps,’ Kelly sulked, looking around at the unappealing men left in the bar.
Jade agreed, silently. She’d had an excellent night with the girls, but seeing the men she had to choose from now she was single was depressing. No one here was as good looking as Tom, not even close. She kept looking at her mobile, wishing he’d text again, but knowing it was best if he didn’t. She just needed to be reassured he felt as miserable as she did, wherever he was at that precise moment. She was drunk, but not drunk enough to make the mistake of contacting him though, so she pushed the thought from her mind.
‘Go on. Go have sex with your gorgeous boyfriend and leave us moping about our pathetic love lives in here.’
Lisa smiled, cheekily. ‘I may just do that. He’s just texted saying he’s outside, so I’m off. Bye girls.’ She kissed them both on the cheek. ‘See you soon.’
Jade watched as Lisa walked off and saw some of the men eyeing her up on the way out. She was naturally very pretty. She was half Spanish and had beautiful long dark hair, which was glossy and shiny because it had never been touched with hair dye; it was the envy of every woman. She never went over the top with make-up, because with her dark, olive complexion and coffee-coloured eyes, she didn’t have to. Personally, Jade thought she looked prettier without any make-up on anyway.
They decided it was time to go home, so waited for a taxi outside. Kelly seemed a bit bored.
‘Honestly, I just feel fed up with it here. As much as I love doing beauty, I’m always skint. I had to save for like, two months to get my new Marc Jacobs bag and I’m sorry, but that’s just not on. I know everyone wherever I go and can never find a man I’m interested in. I feel like I just need to get away somewhere,’ Kelly explained in the queue.
‘We could always go away somewhere new for the weekend. What about Brighton? Or Newcastle, somewhere up north?’
‘Nah, never understand their accents, babe.’
‘What about Brighton then? People in Brighton don’t have accents,’ Jade said.
Kelly thought for a moment. ‘You sure?’ she asked, doubtfully.
Jade shook her head and laughed. Most people would think Kelly was joking, but Jade knew her well enough to know she was being serious. Kelly paused and thought for a second, then a smile slowly crept up on her face.
‘Oh my God, babe, I’ve got the best idea ever,’ she said, excitedly.
‘What? Where are we going?’
‘Marbella! I went last year on holiday and loved it. But I only went for a long weekend and it wasn’t long enough.’
Jade looked at the floor sadly. ‘I remember. I couldn’t go because I went to France with Tom.’
‘You’ll love it, it’s brilliant. But I was thinking, instead of just going for a week, why don’t we work there? I saw so many girls last year working in clubs and that and they looked like they were having the time of their lives. It’ll be so much fun – imagine our tans! We could stay for a few months. It shouldn’t be too hard to get a job in a bar or something and we can save up some money for flights by doing shot work. What do you think?’
Jade thought about what Kelly was asking her. It was perfect timing to do something like this. She didn’t have a full-time job yet and when she did, she would never be able to work away for the summer. Was this her last chance to do something spontaneous and fun? She wasn’t happy thinking about Tom all the time, so surely working in Marbella would take her mind off things? It would be great. She could see herself now, sunbathing all day and getting a gorgeous tan, chilling out over sangria and then off to her fun bar job in the evenings. It sounded perfect. Jade started to get excited.
‘I think it’s a great idea! Let’s do it!’
*
Lisa snuggled up to Jake in his huge warm bed and thought about how lucky she was to have him. It was so nice to go out with her friends, without the worry of looking for a boyfriend; knowing that she already had the perfect one. Jake was different to most men they knew. For one, he was mature and wanted to settle down, even though he was only twenty-two. She thought about poor Jade and how Tom had cheated on her. She couldn’t imagine how painful that must have been. If Jake ever did that to her she would fall apart. She trusted him one hundred per cent, and genuinely didn’t feel like there was a chance of that ever happening.
It was so nice to have Jade back home, to have the three of them back together again. If she was honest, it took the pressure off her always having to go out with Kelly. Lisa loved going out, but not every single weekend, and she felt guilty when she had to let Kelly down. Sometimes she just wanted to spend her free time with Jake. Jake worked around the clock as a carpenter and she worked long hours for a TV company so any free time they had was precious. Plus, as she wasn’t looking for a man, she usually preferred just going to the cinema or for a meal, but Kelly always insisted they went to a bar or club.
‘You okay babe? Can you not sleep?’ Jake asked, when she cuddled up close to him.
‘I’m fine,’ she said, finding his lips in the dark and kissing him.
‘Good,’ he said, drawing her closer. ‘I forgot to mention something to you actually, so I’m glad you’re awake. You know the other day when you were talking about getting a new car? Well I was thinking, instead of us both getting cars, why don’t we just buy one between us? I’m sure we’ll be moving in together soon and let’s face it, seeing as you’ll only be needing the car at weekends, it works out perfectly. It’s silly us both getting cars, especially when I already have my work van too. That would mean we’d have three vehicles between us.’
Lisa thought for a moment, considering what he was saying. He was right; three vehicles between two people didn’t make any sense. Jake had a work van already, but wanted to buy a nice car to drive round in when he wasn’t working. Her heart was set on getting a Range Rover though, and she knew he hated them as he was often saying how common they were in Essex and how bad they were for the environment. She’d also been looking forward to having her own freedom and being able to go and see her friends as and when she liked. If they shared a car, she’d always have to ask permission and vice versa. She yawned. ‘I’m not so sure, Jake. You know how much I’ve been looking forward to getting a Range Rover.’
‘Yes, but it makes so much more sense for us to share a car. I’m sure there’s one we can both agree on. What about a Golf? We won’t need a big car and it’ll save us money. When we move in together, we’re going to need to watch what we spend. We’ll have bills to pay, council tax, food shopping; the list is endless.’
Lisa wrinkled her nose at the thought. She didn’t want a Golf. She wanted a Range Rover, and had done for ages. The thought of saving money and being careful with every