“I can beg,” Dean dropped down on one knee, “loudly.” Others in the room began to look around.
Sam walked back over, embarrassed. “Get up, you daft fool.”
Dean stood up. He turned to Andy. “Did she just call me a fool?”
Andy wasn’t sure what was going on, but at least the girl was still with them. He nodded. “I think so.”
“And us about to risk life and limb to defend our country. All we ask is a little respect.”
Sam looked uneasy. She glanced from one to the other. “Are you soldiers?”
“Corporal Dean Fletcher at your service, Ma’am.” Andy watched as Dean turned on his most charming smile.
A light went on behind Sam’s eyes. “Dean Fletcher? I didn’t recognise you.” She looked back at her group and then back to the lads. “We went to school together. You’re Kate’s next door neighbour, aren’t you? Your parents, I mean.”
“Katy? Yeah, you know her?” Now it was Dean who seemed a little unsure.
“Of course. She’s my best friend. I’m sorry. You just look so different… in a good way.”
Dean beamed and Andy’s heart raged. He had lost her. One moment of recognition and he had simply faded into the shadows.
“Well you should be sorry, especially for treating a guy as coldly as that.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Well, I’ll forgive you, perhaps… for a kiss.” He held out a cheek.
Smooth. Very smooth, Andy thought, resenting every syllable Dean spoke. He realised he had been out-classed. He, on the other hand, was rusty. But she wouldn’t actually fall for it, would she?
Sam hesitated for a moment. “I don’t think so. I know about you lot. A girl in every port, isn’t it?”
Dean clutched his chest. “I’m hurt.” He turned to Andy. “She’s vicious, this one.”
A blonde girl approached Sam from behind. “Hello, Dean. Are you harassing my friend? And that’s sailors, Sam, not… well… actually-”
“-Katy. A pleasure, as always.” An uncomfortable tension prickled between the pair of them.
“Come on,” Kate said, urging Sam back to her friends.
“A date then?” Dean called. “Dinner? A drink, just a drink?” Sam stopped and turned back toward Dean. “Give me your number. Come on, you know you’re tempted. Come on… for me?”
Sam sighed and, smiling, she walked back up to him. Dean whipped out a pen and rummaged for a piece of paper. Sam took the pen and wrote her number down on his hand.
“I’ll call you,” he said.
“No you won’t” Sam told him.
“I will. You’ll see.” Sam walked away with her friend, deep in conversation. “Goodbye, Gorgeous,” he called and then slapped Andy on the back and walked back into the corridor. “Come on, Prof, the guys are waiting.”
Sam retook her seat to a round of applause.
“Well?” Chloe said. “What was he like?”
“Gorgeous,” Kate said, “But Doofus here was too busy being chatted-up by Dean Fletcher, my pillock of a next door neighbour.”
Sam blushed. “But he’s lovely.”
“He’s an arsehole, Sam. You’ve just never seen past his twinkling blue eyes, that’s all.”
“I didn’t recognise him. He’s… fitter. And taller, and he’s got a bit of a tan.” Sam sighed.
Kate stuck two fingers down her throat. “Yes, well maybe he has got better looking with time, but it’s still… him.”
Andy followed Dean back up the corridor and the door to the back room shut behind him. They took some stick from the rest of the lads about how long they’d been. Dean took out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and scribbled down the number next to the word ‘brunette’, and then he licked the back of his hand and rubbed hard to erase all sign of the phone number Sam had written there. The lads sighed in groans of understanding and he popped it away back in his pocket and grinned. The last of their pints were emptied and they filed outside in happy union, in search of the next drink of the night.
Outside it was dark. Plumes of mist sprang from their mouths as they walked down the back road to the King’s Head. In the streets not far away, Andy could hear people laughing and calling, their voices punctuated only by the echo of their footsteps from the quiet, cobbled lane.
Andy thought about how casually Dean had treated Sam. As soon as he had her number he seemed to lose all interest. He quickened his step to walk alongside him. “So are you going to ring that girl?” he asked, trying to sound as indifferent as possible.
“Yeah, I might.”
“But I thought you were seeing Sophia?”
“Soph? Right, yeah… and Jules.”
“Jules?”
“Yeah. Nice girl. Met her a few weeks ago at Hacker’s bird’s do.” He opened the pub door and gesticulated. “Great tits.”
Andy shook his head. “I don’t know how you keep up with them all,” he said.
“It’s a gift. You’ve either got it, or you haven’t.” Dean looked around and beamed. He searched among his friends for the one he was looking for. “Right, Smithy, it’s your round, I believe. Get ’em in, boy.” He turned around to look for a place to sit. “Shit.” He tried to hide his face.
A girl walked across, dressed up to the nines and not looking at all pleased. “Soph. I didn’t know you were going to be out tonight?”
The group around them quietened, waiting to see how Dean was going to handle the situation.
The girl raised her eyebrows. “Well you wouldn’t, would you?”
“Ah, you know how it is. We haven’t had much time off recently, have we lads?”
A general murmur of agreement went round.
“You could have rung. You didn’t even answer any of my texts. I was beginning to think you’d gone out already.”
“And miss seeing you again? Never.” He pulled her toward him and kissed her full on the lips. The girl struggled for a moment, pushing him away with the palms of her hands and then all was forgiven. The odd cheer went up, but mostly it was a resigned sigh.
He’d done it again, thought Andy and his mind went back to Sam. What a stark contrast there was between her and the girl currently being won over by Dean. That delicate songbird had been far more sensual, naturally beautiful, without all the glitz and war paint that this girl was wearing. He cursed his timing and lack of faith. She had seemed just the same as the last time they’d met, but what could he do about that now? If only she had seen him a few minutes earlier, or Dean had found them a few minutes later and given them the chance to actually speak before Romeo had got his claws into her, then maybe he could have been the one with her phone number in his pocket right now. Some guys just didn’t appreciate what they had. But that’s how it was with Dean. No matter how badly he treated them, he was always lucky with women. Still, all was not lost. He would find a way. He had to. Andy knew how she could be traced and Dean had her phone number. All he had to do now was be patient. He had no doubt Dean would mess it up soon enough and then he would make his move. But what if he didn’t? What if Dean actually realised how wonderful she was? And did he have the time to wait? But first things first. Sam hadn’t recognised him.
Andy thought about Sam more and more over the following weeks. She possessed him,