We went on to Sound House, because that is what the vodka told me to do. And I was easily led when it came to spirits. The club was set in the basement of the Multimedia Centre on the Quays. By day it functioned as a gallery space for up-and-coming artists. There was a faint smell of sewage in the place. I didn’t care, the music was good. The room was painted a deep red and there was a mottled effect on the walls. I placed my hand against one to steady myself and I felt moisture. It was almost as if the wall itself was sweating. I looked around and I saw swaying bodies and tight dresses and I was delirious. I moved without effort on the dance floor and then the vodka started to wear off a bit, so I got a couple of beers for myself and Jenny and she seemed pretty content. I sucked the beer from the neck of the bottle and it felt cool and sweet on my lips. Jenny started to dance and she was all legs, then she moved away from me. She latched on to a group of guys and she began to ignore me. I danced, lost in my own world for a bit, and I kept my bottle of beer held low in my hands. I stopped dancing then, and I stood at the side wall and watched Jenny sway. She laughed and I enjoyed watching her being happy in that moment. She caught my eye and I beckoned her to join me.

She came over to me and pressed herself against my chest and she lifted her head up to kiss me. She was a little shaky on her feet and I had to put my hand on a giant-sized ashtray to balance myself.

I kissed her and it was almost as if we had forgotten where we were for an instant. The beat of the music was heavy and I felt a sort of hammering in my chest and I wanted more of her. Her eyes were closed when she was kissing me and there was a look about her of earnestness and she felt very warm to me. But something was bothering me and I broke out of the embrace momentarily.

Jenny wanted to know what was wrong with me and I said there was nothing wrong. But she pressed me and I didn’t like to be pressed so I admitted that I was pissed off with her for taking so long to extricate herself from the guys on the dance floor. It was embarrassing, I said.

I said, there’s dancing and there’s dancing, Jenny.

She told me to relax and said she was going to get a beer and she asked me if I wanted another one.

I held my bottle of beer up to the light. I was almost finished it so I said, sure.