Darling I'm a Hurricane

3am. The doors of the club were still wedged open by burly looking bouncers. People were still queuing to get in. These were the most intoxicated. The one’s who argued when turned away. The aggressive and emotional, the girls turned on the water works and the guys pulled out their fists, or worst case scenario, a knife.

3am was the time when most clubs were closing their doors, kicking out persistent punters and clearing up after a messy Friday night. But that wasn’t the case for Heaven and Hell.

It was the ultimate themed nightclub. One of the few themed clubs that was still considered ‘cool’ by those of all ages. Bar tenders worked behind bars decorated as both heaven and hell, splitting the room into the two. They were unfortunate enough to have to dress up in fluffy halos and wings, or sparkly horns, whilst being yelled at by the drunks still going strong till five in the morning.

That was the thing about the Heaven and Hell club. What started off as a heavenly night for both staff and clubbers, soon turned hellish when 3am rolled around. As other clubs began kicking people out, they descended upon the club that was still open for another two hours. Two long hours of torture for the staff.

Krystal Jenkins was a member of Heaven and Hell’s harassed staff. The feathery halo bobbed on her head as she squeezed her way towards the bar. Her usually pale cheeks were flushed, her blue eyes raging as she dropped her serving tray on top of the bar. “Right, that birthday party over there,” she pointed to a group of barely legal teens clustered in the corner of the seating area, “want a pitcher of Jaeger, three cheeky Vimto’s, two sea breezes and five bottles of Bud.”

Adele Tate, on the receiving end of this demand, simply nodded. She looked up at her cousin. The pair of them were exhausted, having been screeched at, yelled at, deafened by rowdy men, had their bums pinched and boobs groped. They were sick of pulling pints and mixing lethal cocktails. Unblocking toilets and phoning ambulances for the drunken casualties hiding in there. The pair of them wanted nothing more than to go home and fall into bed, forgetting the drama that had happened during the night.

“We don’t do pitchers of Jaeger,” Dean Smyth cut in. He grinned at the two girls. A smile that melted many women’s heart, despite him being only twenty years old. Dean had the ability to wrap any girl around his little finger. He handed a young girl in a blue dress a bottle of WKD and smiled brightly at her, taking her money and depositing it in the till.

Krystal shrugged. “Well you can go and tell them that, Deano. I’m sick of kids tonight.” She shifted behind the bar and began expertly opening the give bottles of Budweiser the table of teens had requested.

Adele sighed. “Surely it’s close to kicking out time already.”

Dean scoffed, “It’s barely three, babe. No where near closing.” His halo shook on his head as he moved. He’d removed his wings a good couple of hours ago, shoving them in the anorexic space between the two fridges behind the bar.

A sinking feeling grew in the pit of Adele’s stomach. She looked around the club. The drunken bodies all writhing on the dance floor, as it pulsated beneath them. Couples were dotted around the room, pressed up against the wall, curled up in the seating area and wrapped around each other on the dance floor. Business men were seated around small tables, empty pint glasses filling the little space, each one chattering, complaining about the credit crunch or their wives, whilst others checked out girls young enough to be their daughters. Teenagers staggered around, drinking more than they could handle, demanding celebratory shots and pointing at the girl wearing the pink sash with the number eighteen splashed across it. Adele sighed heavily and shook her head of all her thoughts. Thinking only distracted her, so she focused on the twenty something man standing before her, ordering himself a Jaeger Bomb.

She handed his drink over and took his money, dropping it in the till, before looking around for the next drunk to serve.
“Del!”

She spun around to see her older sister standing on the other side of the bar. Her elbows resting on the sticky wooden surface. She wore a mega watt smile, her long blonde hair styled into neat waves. Her make up was perfectly applied and she clapped her freshly manicured hands together at the sight of her baby sister. Adele walked over and smiled at her. “Hey Flick.”

“Hi, hi, hi!” Her sister jumped up and down. The sequin drowned dress she was wearing caught the light, reflecting a rainbow of colours. Her heels clicked against the clammy floor and her smile grew ten miles wider.

“Flick, are you drunk?” Adele asked, picking up a couple of empty martini glasses and placing them underneath the bar.

Felicity sighed heavily, her cheesy grin transforming into a dreamy one. She fluttered her false eyelashes and shook her head. “No, I’ve been on lemonade all night, promise.”

Adele raised one eyebrow. “Alright, why are you so happy then?”

Felicity’s bright grin returned and she held up her left hand, her palm facing herself. The big diamond adorning her middle finger faced Adele. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the sparkly gem sitting pretty on her sister’s finger. Her jaw dropped open slightly.

“Oh my god, where the hell did that come from? Tell me you didn’t steal it!” Adele cried over the music.

Felicity shook her head. “Del, that’s harsh. You know I wouldn’t do that. Besides why would I need to when I have a rich and generous fiance?”

“Fiance? Since when?”

“You think Stephen buys me diamond rings for the hell of it?”

Adele opened her mouth to answer, but Dean pushed her out of the way. He batted his eyelashes at Felicity. “And hello to you too, Flicker.”

Felicity dropped the subject of her boyfriend turned fiance, choosing to flirt with Dean. She let out a high pitched giggle and pushed his shoulder gently. “Hi Deano.”

Adele swallowed her words. Choosing to keep her scalding speech to herself for now. The words swirled like acid in her stomach, burning and aching, dying to be set free. She hated her sister’s boyfriend. He wasn’t a nice guy. Not the sort you could ever imagine settling down with anyone. But Stephen had the money to please anyone, including Felicity. She shook her head, ignoring her acidic thoughts and headed back to the other end of the bar where Krystal was mixing up a cocktail.

“When did Flick get here?” She asked, pouring the mixture into a glass, throwing in a couple of ice cubes and a straw. She pushed it across the bar and took a five pound note from the middle aged woman.

Adele shrugged. “I don’t know. I just spotted her. Stephen proposed to her apparently.”

Krystal raised her eyebrows, handing the woman her change. She turned, leaning her back against the bar, folding her arms across her chest. “Yeah, so she loves Stephen that much she’s hanging around Dean?”

“And Stephen loves her that much he’ll go and get off with anything with a size eight waist and a pretty face?”

Krystal shrugged. “A cheating couple. And they say romance is dead.”

The music playing overhead came to an abrupt stop and the DJ’s gruff voice came over the microphone he had set up in the safety of his booth. “Last song ladies and gents, after this make your way to the doors. Thanks for a good one. Remember Heaven and Hell’s Halloween night is on in two weeks. Get home safely and I’ll see you next time.” A nineties dance anthem came screeching over the speakers. Almost everyone packed into the club descended onto the dance floor, each with a drink clasped in their sweaty palm.

Adele frowned and glanced at Krystal’s watch. “It’s only half past three. I thought we were open till five?”

Krystal grinned. “So? Let’s not question it, Del, we’re being set free early!”

As the excited words left her lips, her father appeared from the other end of the bar. He swatted Dean around the head before heading towards them. “Girls, do you two want to go now? There’s been a bit of trouble on Goldsmiths Street, some kid’s been in a fight or something, so avoid that area at all costs, yeah?”

Krystal nodded. “’Kay, dad, we’ll be fine. We’ll just get food and go back to Del’s.”

Tony nodded at his only daughter. “Alright, darling, stay safe. And I’ll be seeing you on Wednesday, Del.”

Adele nodded, gritting her teeth. “Yeah, if I’m needed that much.”

“It’s gig night, you are,” Tony grinned, before ruffling his daughter’s hair and disappearing off into the office.

“Well, lets get going then!” Krystal lead the way to the end of the bar, handing Dean the key for the till. The two girls leaving swiftly, escaping the deafening dance music and irritating drunks.

The autumn air outside was refreshing, cooling clammy skin and tangling hair. The ground was soaked from the earlier downpour. Orange street lamps lit the way to the Cheesy Grill and the taxi rank next door. The pair of them walked along the street in a comfortable silence. Adele allowed her thoughts of Felicity to plague her mind. This sudden proposal and the big diamond sitting on the wrong finger. She knew her sister would want to hide this from her parents for as long as possible. Knowing Flick she’d disappear on holiday and come back married.

“So gig night on Wednesday,” Krystal grinned. “I’m excited. Gig night is always good.”

“True. It means for once we get deafened by out of tune instruments instead of awful dance tracks,” Adele wrinkled her nose in distaste. Truth be told, she wasn’t fond on gig nights. Ever since Casbah’s was closed, four months ago, all their upcoming gigs had been moved to Heaven and Hell. Which meant over time for both Adele and Krystal.

“Don’t be such a misery!” Krystal swatted Adele’s arm. “Besides gig night means cute musician boys. And it means you get to do all the instrument tuning, so you’re not stuck behind the bar serving a bunch of bearded old rockers.”

“I tune the guitars, for dick band guys to go and mess with them, because I’ve done it ‘wrong’. I mean, come on, at least I can actually play a guitar and a piano. Unlike half the bands we’ve now got to endure.”

Krystal rolled her eyes as they came to stop outside the bright lights of the Cheesy Grill. She scoffed, before linking her arm through Adele’s. “Come on, stop moaning. Let’s get some cheese and chips.”

Adele nodded, following her cousin into the takeaway. The sinking feeling in her stomach still weighing her down.