Charlotte was standing at the sink washing the dinner dishes when her mum opened the kitchen door and told her that her friend was there to see her. Charlotte picked up the tea towel to dry her hands and smiled at Fiona as her mum shut the door and went back to watching tv in the living room. 

“Do you want a cup of tea?”

Charlotte filled the kettle without waiting for a reply and motioned for Fiona to take a seat while she busied herself getting mugs and the sugar bowl out of the press. 

“So… how’s Miss Paula?” Charlotte asked when the two of them were sitting facing each other across the kitchen table. 

“She’s amazing.” Fiona’s face broke into a huge grin. “I’m in love.”

Charlotte nodded. 

“How’d you meet her?”

“She’s my lecturer,” Fiona blushed. 

“Is that allowed?”

“Probably not, but I don’t care. She’s amazing. I’d do anything for her.”

Charlotte nodded again.

“When do you need to go back to London?”

“Not till the end of the week.”

“Can I see you before you go? Properly, I mean. Just us two?”

Charlotte reached over to take Fiona’s hand but Fiona moved it to hold her mug. 

“I’m sorry but Miss Paula said I wasn’t to. I’m not allowed to do anything without her permission. “

Charlotte’s head whirled. 

“What? Permission?”

Fiona nodded and smiled. 

“She said if I am to be one of her pets, I have to show obedience and restraint. She is going to control my orgasms from now on.”

Charlotte shook her head in disbelief. 

“For fuck’s sake,Fiona. That’s taking the piss.”

Fiona shrugged. 

“It’s not. She expects her pets to please her and pleasing her makes me so happy.”

“But how can it make you happy?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“You’re right. I don’t. You used to be so strong and dominant. I’d have done anything for you.”

“Well now you know how I feel. I will do anything Miss Paula asks me to do.”

Charlotte sighed in frustration. Fiona stood up. 

“Thanks for the tea. I need to go. I just came round to tell you.”

Charlotte walked her to the front door. 

“Just be careful, yeah? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Fiona reached up and stroked Charlotte’s cheek. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Charlotte stood watching Fiona go until she disappeared into the darkness before finally closing the door. 

Charlotte felt the buzz of excitement building as she approached the rehearsal room. She pushed open the door and was surprised to see Deirdre sitting on the drum stool while Jenny stood behind her, guiding Deirdre’s hands to play the drums as she called out the rhythm.

“Do we have another new drummer then?” Charlotte laughed and Jenny grinned and told her that Deirdre had really good rhythm and could be the next Phil Collins. This made all three of them burst out laughing. Emma arrived just in time to ask what the joke was? Jenny told Deirdre to get out of her seat and plonked herself down.

“Right, bitches, let’s get this song of Deirdre’s Perfect this time.”

She tapped her drum sticks together four times then everyone started playing. As Deirdre swayed in front of the mike stand, Charlotte ran her eyes over the group. They really did sound good. She watched Deirdre turn and grin at Jenny as she sang the chorus, 

“So don’t you tell me I’m looking for attention when I’m throwing my arms in the air, I’m not waving, I’m drowning.”

Charlotte picked out the solo while Emma plucked the bass track and Jenny used the snare and the high hat to keep time but they let Deirdre’s vocals soar above everything.

As the last notes faded away, all four of them grinned at each other. Jenny did a drum solo bashing out a celebratory salvo in celebration.

“Now that’s more like it. Let’s pick up the pace now.”

She looked at Deirdre who nodded and turned to Charlotte. 

“Let’s do ‘A Strange Day.’ Loud pounding drums please.”

Jenny grinned and bashed on the tom tom to beat out the refrain. Emma strummed the bass. Charlotte stood on the flanger and reverb pedals and let the chords distort through her amp. Charlotte was delighted. Jenny’s drumming seemed to tie them all together in a way that Fergal could never seem to manage.

Two hours later, Jenny put her sticks down and suggested they call it a night.

“You know, I was talking to Dave last night and he said he had a support slot free if we fancy..”

She let the end of the sentence hang in the air. Deirdre and Charlotte exchanged glances but Emma jumped in. “Hell, yes. Let’s do it.”

Charlotte shrugged. She wasn’t sure they were ready to perform on stage but when she looked at Deirdre and Emma’s hopeful faces, she laughed and agreed. 

“What the hell. Why not? I mean, what's the worst that can happen?”

“Cool, so Friday week, the Whirling Dervishes make their stage debut.”

“What, next Fiiday?” Deirdre looked panic stricken. “I thought you meant like in a couple of months.”

Jenny just laughed and gave her a hug. 

“It’ll be ok. You just need to look absolutely fabulous and gorgeous to distract from the other two.

Emma laughed sardonically but Charlotte couldn’t help staring at Deirdre. She and Jenny seemed to be getting very friendly all of a sudden. 

They all agreed that they’d need a few more rehearsals so Emma booked the room there and then.

The next couple of weeks went by in a flash. Charlotte hadn’t really thought about it. It had been an abstract thought, performing on stage but at eight o’clock the following Friday night, it was suddenly very real. She stood turning up her guitar on the stage of the Alleyman’s. They were due to go on at nine o’clock but Dave wanted everything set up well in advance so they wouldn’t be rushing and tripping over all his gear at the last minute. She leant her guitar against the amp and went over to join the rest of the band. 

Everyone looked amazing. Deirdre had found her Mum’s wedding dress and made herself look like the Bride of Dracula. Charlotte had been shocked to see her wear it but as Deirdre pointed out, it wasn’t like her Mum was going to need it again. Jenny’s hair was styled into a perfect flat-top and she was wearing a ‘Fuck politics, let’s riot’ tee shirt with an unbuttoned red lumberjack shirt and ripped jeans and boots. Emma had backcombed her hair to within an inch of its life and her face was a deathly white, contrasting with the heavy kohl eye makeup and the purple lipstick. Her mini skirt was so short that the hem of her black shirt almost hid it and the ripped laddered tights showed off her legs so well.

Charlotte had channelled her inner Siouxsie Sioux and wore a black lace dress with matching long sleeved fingerless gloves, fishnet tights and her doc martens.

“Alright girls. May I just say how fabulous you look tonight. Even if you sound crap, you’ll look good on stage.”

“Oh fuck off, Dave.” 

Jenny threw a packet of peanuts at him while his dirty laugh echoed around their corner of the bar.

“Seriously, girls. Good luck. I’ve heard you practise enough to know you sound no worse than most bands that have graced this stage so just go out and enjoy yourselves.”

Charlotte took another swig of her cider. She was trying not to drink too much before going on but the nerves were starting to take hold. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or not but the place seemed more crowded than usual. She just prayed she wasn’t going to make a tit of herself and swiftly downed the rest of her pint when Jenny announced it was time. 

Charlotte stood on stage. It hadn’t been so much strutting on to stage as clambering out of their seats and taking a couple of steps. She stood with her head down, not looking out, not looking at the crowd. She just watched and waited for Jenny’s drumsticks to click together four times and then they were off.

Time flew. She knew the set lasted twenty minutes as they had rehearsed it over and over. They’d argued, discussed, changed and rearranged the set order so many times. They started with ‘Strange day’ as that was a nice easy one to settle the nerves and after much wrangling decided to have ‘Not waving but drowning’ as the second last and finish with a version of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Down on me’. 

As the last chord died away, Charlotte forced herself to look at the crowd. She saw people clapping and smiling and when she turned back to the band, felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her as the adrenaline rush died away. They’d done it. They’d performed on stage and not totally bombed. 

They headed back to their table and began the post mortem immediately. Charlotte was buzzing now it was over. She went to the bar and as she ran her eyes along the shelves of bottles she got a rush of blood to the head and ordered a bottle of Carlsberg Special Brew instead of her usual cider. 

Within half an hour she was wasted. She had been too nervous to eat any dinner before she came out, and now, with the super strength lager swirling around her system, she was pissed. She remembered Deirdre telling Emma to get some crisps from the bar and the next thing she knew, the bar was closed and Jenny and Deirdre were trying to lift her to her feet. 

When she woke up the next morning, Charlotte knew she was a mess. She’d been sleeping face down on top of the sheets and when she rolled over, found that she’d got as far as taking one boot off before passing out. It was going to take too much effort to remove the other one so she limped her way to the bathroom where she was violently sick.

By the evening she’d recovered enough to think about getting her portfolio together for the Art College interviews. She’d applied to both Belfast and London. Belfast had only ever been her backup plan in case London didn’t work out but ever since Fiona had brought Miss Paula over for Christmas, Charlotte wasn’t quite so sure that London and Fiona would be the adventure she’d thought it would be. 

She had an interview in London the following week, but first, she would be getting the bus to Belfast for an interview at the art college in York street on Friday. The interview was at twelve o'clock so she could get the bus up that morning and still be back that evening in time to meet everyone in the bar.

She’d worn her best going out clothes to make the right impression at the interview and as she walked into the York street building, she really liked the vibe the place was giving out. Once the security guard had checked her name against the list, he directed her to the second floor where a line of chairs spanned the length of the corridor. There were already five or six people sitting there, all looking as nervous as she was. 

Things didn’t go so well once the interview started. There were two tutors, both looked to be quite old and close to retirement, and as they lifted each page Charlotte felt they weren’t even looking at them properly. As she saw a drawing that had taken her three days to finish getting picked up, glanced at and discarded in less than three seconds, she made a move to say something. The male tutor must have sensed what she was thinking because he explained that it might look like they are hardly glancing at her work but they know exactly what they are looking for.

Then the woman took her glasses off and looked at Charlotte. 

“Do they teach you how to draw at your school?”

Charlotte felt her stomach lurch. She swallowed.

Well, yes.”

“Hmph, it doesn’t look like it.”

Charlotte could feel her world starting to fall apart. Her whole future, her whole life depended on getting into art college. That was her plan to get out of Strabane. She saw the women looking at her over the top of her glasses.

“I thought that would be what you would do… at art college… teach me.”

Charlotte bit her lip. She’d regretted the words as soon as they’d left her mouth. The woman looked slightly stunned then smiled as the other tutor laughed.

“Thank you, Charlotte. We’ll be in touch in the next few weeks with the results. We have rather a lot of portfolios to look at. Good luck.”

The woman leant over and shook her hand. Charlotte gazed into the woman's eyes. They sparkled green like a cat. Charlotte nodded her thanks, zipped up her portfolio case and carried it out the door.

Once outside the building, she leant against the wall of the art college and cursed. Fuck, why didn’t she keep her mouth shut. She tried to stop the tears but a couple were forcing themselves out the corners of her eyes.

“Hiya. Are you ok?”

Charlotte turned to look, wiping the tears from her eyes as she did so. She blushed as she saw Chloe, the girl from the bar standing in front of her.

“It’s Charlotte, isn’t it?”

Charlotte nodded and managed to mumble a hello back. Chloe looked around, looked at her watch then brushed a strand of hair back from her face. 

“Look, do you fancy a cup of coffee? There’s a nice cafe just around the corner.”

Charlotte nodded her acceptance and picked up her portfolio case. She remembered how nice Chloe had been the couple of times they’d met before. 

Once inside the cafe, Chloe shrugged off her coat and flicked her hair again. Chloe had on a tight yellow jumper and Charlotte was sure she could see the outlines of her nipples showing through. Charlotte couldn’t help sneaking a glance as she pretended to study the laminated sheet the waitress had handed her. Chloe was surprisingly easy to talk to and soon Charlotte had told her all about Fiona and the dramas with Miss Paula and the band and settling into her new life.

“I did try to warn you to be careful around Fiona, remember?”

Charlotte nodded. She had tried to find out from Fiona what had gone on between her and Chloe but Fiona had just clammed up whenever she mentioned her.

“Well, London’s a big place. I’m sure you can avoid Fiona and her dramas if you do go to art college there” Chloe paused and smiled. “Though it’d be a shame. I think you’d enjoy Belfast.”

“I doubt I’ll have a choice after that disaster of an interview.”

“Oh, have faith. Look, I’ll show you some of the Belfast nightlife to help convince you.”

“I can’t. I really should head home.”

“Really?”  Chloe pulled a pouty face. “Look, you never came up for the Mission gig, even though I offered you my bed. So the least you can do is come out tonight. I’ve got a spare ticket to see Carter playing at the Conor Hall. Which, incidentally, is where you’ll be spending your time when you're at art college here so look at it as a dry run.”

Charlotte sat, open-mouthed, stunned into silence by Chloe’s forcefulness.

“Well, I don’t suppose I can say “No” then,” she eventually conceded.

Chloe smiled and clapped her hands together excitedly, but then Charlotte frowned.

“Won’t your girlfriend mind me tagging along and staying the night?”

“Girlfriend?” Chloe looked confused and Charlotte started to panic.

“Um, the girl you met for lunch, who worked in Fresh Garbage. I thought she was your.. Oh shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you were a lesbian.”

Charlotte could feel her face flush beetroot but Chloe smiled and reached out her hand.

“It’s OK. I am a lesbian actually. I’m just a single lesbian. That was my sister I was meeting for lunch that day.”

She squeezed Charlotte’s hand again.

“Well now we’ve got that cleared up, shall we go and dump your portfolio case in my flat and then we can go get a proper drink?”

Charlotte made a quick phone call home to tell her parents she wouldn’t be home until tomorrow as she’d met some friends and then they were ready to hit the town. 

Chloe had changed out of her yellow jumper and jeans into a tee shirt, black skirt and striped orange and black tights. She was just lacing up her DMs when Charlotte came out of the loo. She was relieved she’d dressed up a bit for the interview and was already wearing her going-out clothes. They both shrugged on their leather jackets and headed to Laverys.

The bar was jammed. Chloe shouted their order over the heads of the customers in front of her then smiled at Charlotte and told her it never hurt to snog the barmen every now and again. 

“You’re incorrigible,” Charlotte laughed. 

“Why thank you,” Chloe giggled whilst doing a mock curtsey. 

Chloe introduced Charlotte to her friends, several of whom Charlotte recognised from when Fiona had introduced them last summer. She made a mental note to ask Chloe about her and Fiona sometime when it was quieter. Suddenly, everyone started necking their drinks.

“Come on, we got to go. Our lift is here.”

Everyone piled outside and climbed into the battered Ford Transit van parked outside. Charlotte thought it didn’t look like a normal minibus and once she got in the back doors, she realised why. The back of the van was lined with plywood and everyone just sat on the floor. 

“Find something, or someone to hold onto,” Chloe giggled as the van started off. Charlotte linked her arm through Chloe’s and together they swayed their way to the Conor Hall. 

The atmosphere inside the hall was buzzing. Charlotte could taste the anticipation of the crowd and when a fat, shirtless man walked onto the stage with ‘Fat Bastard’ scrawled in lipstick across his sizeable moobs, the whole place erupted. 

“You fat bastard, you fat bastard.”

The chant rang around the hall with the man on stage egging them on. Charlotte looked at Chloe who was yelling “You fat bastard” at the top of her voice and decided to join in. 

Then the guitars started and Charlotte felt the surge of the crowd. She was swept along, into the middle of the sea of writhing bodies. The two men with guitars on stage were only partially visible through the fog of dry ice but Charlotte was more fascinated by the crowd. She’d missed this. The live gigs. Friday nights in the Alleymans were no substitute for a full venue of screaming adoring fans. 

When, after two encores, it was finally over, Charlotte scanned the crowd for any sign of Chloe. She’d seen Chloe stage-diving several times but felt too scared to try it herself. She’d watched with more than a little bit of envy as Chloe leapt from the stage and was carried across the crowd, hands moving her along until she was safely deposited on the ground at the edge of the mosh pit. Charlotte was sure she’d seen a few hands groping her boobs and arse as she surged over them but Chloe didn’t seem to mind.

“Wasn’t that the best gig ever?” Chloe demanded as she bounded over to Charlotte. Charlotte grinned, nodded a mmhmmm then took Chloe’s face in her hands and kissed her hard and passionately on the mouth. 

She felt Chloe respond and she closed her eyes and savoured the kiss as their mouths moved in sync, tongues flickering, tasting each other. She felt Chloe’s hands stroke the sodden material of her tee shirt. She was soaked in sweat but didn’t care. She knew her hair was stuck to her face but this was the perfect end to one of the best nights of her life. 

“Come on girls. I could watch you all night but some of us might want to go home.”

They broke apart, giggling as they saw the security guard standing, leering at them. They picked up their leather jackets and headed out. 

They relived the gig as they sat in the backseat of the taxi. Chloe’s eyes sparkled as she giggled about how it was her mission to corrupt Cure heads and show them there was more to life than Robert Smith and sitting in their bedrooms. 

“Do you think I need corrupting?”

Chloe slowly nodded her head.

"You so need to be corrupted,” she whispered. Her voice almost breathless as she whispered in Charlotte’s ear just what she wanted to do. 

Once in Chloe’s bedroom, the two girls kissed as their clothes dissolved. No words were spoken. None were needed. They snuggled under the covers as they pressed their naked bodies together. Chloe’s touch was soft and gentle. She wasn’t in any rush and kissed Charlotte’s lips for ages, her tongue swirling over and around and in Charlotte’s mouth. Chloe’s fingers caressed Charlotte’s left breast. She pressed and traced every dimple surrounding the areola.

When Chloe kissed her way along Charlotte’s jaw, Charlotte arched her head back, offering her neck. Chloe’s approach was so different from Fiona’s. Chloe took her time. Letting the need build. There was no need to seduce, Charlotte was soaked enough already but it was almost as if Chloe was worshipping Charlotte’s body. She could hear little whimpers escape her own mouth as Chloe kissed, stroked, licked and caressed her way down Charlotte’s body. 

As Chloe slid two fingers into Charlotte, she raised her head and gazed into Charlotte’s eyes. 

“I want to make you cum.”

Charlotte nodded, “Please.” 

Chloe was so gentle, there was none of the name calling or making her beg. Charlotte could almost feel the love even though they’d only really just met. Chloe had on hand between Charlotte’s legs, two fingers deep inside, curling, uncurling, caressing and stroking her spot. Her knee was pressed against her hand, holding it in place, putting more pressure on Charlotte’s clit as she writhed beneath her on the bed.

Chloe gazed into Charlotte’s eyes, watching as Charlotte got closer and closer.

“Fuck,” Charlotte gasped. “I’m going to cum.”

“Do it then,” Chloe encouraged, fingers moving faster inside her. Chloe felt Charlotte’s insides ripple, sucking her fingers in deeper as they tapped a refrain on her spot. With a strangled cry, Charlotte exploded, juices splattering Chloe’s hand and thigh. She shook and whimpered and begged as Chloe continued to move her fingers in and out of her until she had to beg her to stop.

Chloe sat back on her heels and slowly sucked her fingers clean, slurping the glistening juices into her mouth as she watched Charlotte slowly recover.

“You are so delicious,” she giggled and she leant forward and kissed Charlotte, letting her taste her flavour on Chloe’s lips.

“I bet you taste as good,” Charlotte giggled and rolled Chloe onto her back.

The next morning, Charlotte woke up to see Chloe standing by the side of the bed holding a mug of tea. She ran her eyes up from Chloe’s legs and admired the two pokies pressing through the tee shirt which seemed to be the only thing Chloe was wearing.

“I thought you might like a cup of tea,” Chloe shrugged, suddenly looking embarrassed.

“Thanks,” Charlotte replied, sitting up in bed. She saw Chloe glance at her breasts and as Chloe leant down to put the mug on the bedside table, Charlotte whispered, “are you coming back to bed?”

Eventually, Charlotte lifted her face from between Chloe’s legs. Her face was smeared with Chloe’s juices.

“I’m really sorry. I wish I could stay here forever but I really need to go home.”

Chloe half rolled, half-lifted herself into a sitting position and stroked Charlotte’s hair.

“I know you do. You do know you’re welcome any time.”

Charlotte nodded. The thought that she might not get into the art college in Belfast was like a whisper in the darkness. She was so confused. It had been her plan for so long to follow Fiona to London and now Chloe had put a major spanner in the works.

They stood at the bus station. Charlotte suddenly felt very awkward. Chloe seemed to sense it and leant in and gave her a hug. 

I suppose I should say ‘Good luck in the interview in London” but I won’t mean it. I want you to come to Belfast.”

She took a step back and looked at Charlotte from under her fringe. 

“Well, you’ve got my number. You should use it sometime.”

And with that, she did a little wave with her fingers, turned and walked out of the bus station. Charlotte watched her go, thinking Chloe had probably the nicest arse she’d ever seen.