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Back Violet Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. VIOLET
  3. VIOLET
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Prologue
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. Epilogue
  48. Acknowledgements
  49. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  50. Copyright

I don’t want to get into this right now. ‘Something like that,’ I say.

She sits back in her chair and I realise then that she’s quite drunk – her eyes glazed, swimming in and out of focus. It’s good that she’s relaxed, because the more relaxed she is, the better chance I have of convincing her to let me have her spare ticket for the train. I like what I’ve seen so far. I want to get to know her better.

4

We’re giggling as we fall into a taxi outside the hotel, and the beginnings of drunkenness start to fade, turning instead into a state of blissed-out happiness that I haven’t felt since I arrived here.

The driver is infected with our laughter and blurts out random names of rock stars as he drives us through the endless streets, horns honking around us. Bicycles weave by us, as our driver calls out ‘Jon Bon Jovi’ and ‘Bruce Springsteen guitar’, and starts to sing the chorus of ‘Born to Run’ in heavily accented English, and Carrie waving a hand in front of her face, mouthing, ‘I can’t breathe,’ which only makes us laugh more.

Carrie’s laughter has turned into hiccups by the time we reach the entrance. A huge, concrete block of a place, with the usual Hard Rock Cafe logo and various memorabilia adorning the walls as we head up the steps.

A grinning waitress leads us to a table, and before I can even look at the menu, Carrie says, ‘Two Long Island Iced Teas.’

The waitress does a little bow then scurries off, still grinning.

‘Oh, God,’ I say, fanning myself with the menu. ‘I think I might need a Coke or something—’

‘Shut. Up. You’re not going soft on me already are you, V?’ She laughs again. ‘See what I did there? Soft?’

I roll my eyes, but she doesn’t see because she’s picked up the menu and is studying it intently as if she’s reading the instructions for the most difficult exam she’s ever taken, and is determined not to fail. Her face is scrunched in a cute approximation of drunken concentration, and it makes me happy. And she called me ‘V’, which makes me happier still. We’ve only known each other for a few hours and she already has a pet name for me. After my earlier despair, it seems like the planets may have collided at just the right time after all.

The waitress returns with the drinks and places them on the table on top of two small black napkins. ‘Are you ready to order? Do you need help with menu? The Local Legendary burger is really good—’