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jazz, the soundtrack to the evening

the night was young
we looked good
better than usual
we took the short
walk to our favourite
bar

inside filthy jazz
was being played
on the small stage
at the back of
the premises

mike ordered
the drinks
and I checked out
the band

they were good
a five piece
consisting of
keys, sax, electric guitar,
bass guitar and drums
they were experimental
not your standard jazz band
miles davies would've be proud

they finished the number
they had been playing
to a ripple of applause

mike handed me
a bottle of bud
I took a swig
and he took a mouthful
of his pint

'quiet in here,' mike rightly pointed out
'yeah, it's still early, the band are
good'
'they've got the groove,' replied mike

the band kicked into another
number
we lit up some cigarettes
leaned against the
bar and acted as if we were
movie stars

the place was filling up
the band playing
some good tunes
we drank a few
more beers and smoked a
few more cigarettes and watched
the band
the guitarist was working
a solo
when two hot looking women
walked through the door
one had flowing ginger hair
the other blonde
i've always had a thing
about ginger haired girls
(it must be the freckles
and fiery temper)

they approached the
bar and stood next to us
and ordered two pints
of beer
mike looked at me
i looked at mike

mike turned and smiled
at the blonde
she smiled back
they started to move
to the music
whilst smiling at us
'music's good tonight' mike told
the girls
they nodded
the ginger paid for
their drinks and they stood
next to us at the bar
the blonde asked mike
who they were
'I don't know, hang on'
he lent over to me
'who are they' he asked
pointing at the stage
i lent over to the girls
and told them it was
a band called The Shambles
'they're good, have you got a cigarette?'
asked the blonde
'sure' I replied
i passed a smoke to the blonde
and offered one to the ginger
she took one as did Mike
i did also and lit everyone up

soon we were talking
as a group we got them
some more drinks
they reciprocated
the blonde Jenny was
28 an English teacher
the ginger Kate
was also 28 and also
an English teacher
both married
Kate thought I looked like
Lorca

the place was now packed
the band were on fire
people were dancing,
laughing, smiling, everyone
lost in the moment

as the band worked
their instruments
me and mike worked the
girls, we had our patois
down we were writers we
told them, down from London
we asked them if they'd heard
of us, they of course said no
we told that they would do
they was no end to our bullshit
it was a constant river, flowing

the girls were enthralled
we had no preconceptions
they were married after all
i felt sorry for their
respective husbands I felt sorry
for all the husbands
alone at home
'just going out with
a friend' they would have
been told
the husband foolishly trusting them
unaware that they will properly
be sucking some guy off come midnight
they would slip into
bed next him at two or three
in the morning having just brushed
their teeth and had swig of mouthwash
to get rid of the taste of another man's
semen on their breath
another man's semen that they
had swallowed that had gone
down into their bellies
'my sandra
would never do that'
they would think
but in the world of the pub and club
the rules were different the outside
world cease to exist for one night
anything could happen
it was the same with the guys
of course, cheating on their girls
not everyone was like that
but at least 90%

at closing time we left
with the girls
outside the bar they
told
us that they had to go home
we said that we were going
to a club
'how are you getting home?'
I asked Kate
'we'll get a taxi'
'let us walk you' I suggested
the girls looked at each other and
agreed
i walked with Kate
mike with Jenny

behind us Mike and Jenny
were fooling around
i took Kate's hand
and she told me about her
marriage and her kid
he worked long hours
blah blah blah
i'd heard it all before

when we reached the taxi
rank, they went in to order their taxi
me and mike waited outside
we looked at each and
laughed, we both felt
disappointed in their lack of
respect for their relationships
but what the hell

the girls came back
out
saying that there taxi would be
a few minutes
mike started kissing Jenny
he was never one to
miss an opportunity
even if he felt that he shouldn't

Kate leaned into kiss me
i told her she'd regret it
she kissed me
pushing
herself up against me
i put my arms around her
she began rubbing herself
against my crotch
'i wish I'd met you.'
'don't..' I replied

i kissed her again
and placed my hand on her
pubic bone and
rubbed it
and through
the polyester of her black
trousers and the cotton
of her panties
i could feel the
hairs on her pussy

their name was called
their taxi was waiting
Kate kissed me goodbye
telling me where she
worked before she got
in the cab
Jenny broke away from mike

the cab door closed
they waved through the back
window as the
cab pulled away into the night

mike and I began to walk
to the club
we talked about the evening
once again amazed at the
girl's lack
of monogamy

mike showed me a piece of paper
that Jenny had written
her number on, I told
mike that Kate had told
me were she worked
'are you going to go and see her?' he asked
'no' I replied
'are you going to phone her?' I asked
'am I fuck' mike replied
screwing up the piece of paper
and throwing to the pavement

it had begun to rain
we stepped up our pace
there were more drinks to
be drunk, more women
to meet, married or otherwise

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