Pucker Up

“Pucker up for heaven’s sake,” I whispered into her ear, leaning back away with that brilliant smirk forming across my face as she did exactly that, despite there being no-contact rules. Well, until we got to the hotel room, at least. I’d pick up tonight. I knew I would, and we hadn’t even started yet.

“Okay so at the sound of the bell I’d like you to move to your next seat as labelled on the card you were given. Please be hasty with this process and you’ll have plenty of time to meet Mr or Mrs Right!” The lady organising the speed dating event was far too cheery for a cold Saturday night at some empty, dingy bar, but whatever. As conversation started up, I forgot she was even there.

“So your name is Brian?” the girl in front of me asked, leaning forward more as each moment passed. I didn’t consider my handwriting to be that messy on the cardboard nameplate placed in front of me, but perhaps she was just trying to start a conversation.

“Molly, you’re a star. You know that?” She looked away, but I’d still caught the blush heating up her cheeks. “You’re the brightest one in the room. Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?” She turned back to face me with a modest smile adorning her face. She wasn’t really all that beautiful, but she’d like hearing it all the same I figured.

“Thank you, Brian. Umm, so what do you do?”

“Ohh, a bit of this and a bit of that. I sing. I play guitar. My band just finished their tour of America last week.” I knew how cool that sounded.

“Really!?” She was beaming now. “What band are you in?”

“You’d not have heard of them.” If she had, she’d have recalled my face. No one forgot my face, be that a good or a bad thing. “What do you do?”

“I work at a shelter for the homeless.” Well this wouldn’t work, I thought to myself just quietly. Clearly she was an angel, and I wasn’t after one of those tonight.

The conversations went on as the night progressed. I’d met a vet, a teacher, and the unemployed single mothers that always seemed to show, yet still no one stood out. No one was grabbing at me beneath the table, or running their tongue along their teeth. I loved when they did that. As the younger girl in front of me droned on about her pet dog I took the time to look about the room at what was coming up for me, and I saw no hope in it at all. I almost felt like getting up right then and there and heading to the bar, but I figured I’d better be polite and finish the evening as expected. Finally, that bell rang and released me from the young girl’s tedious canine worries. I stood and looked at the paper in my hand, now creased as I’d made it into a paper airplane and unfolded it again several times, reading that I was to be seated in seat C-4. I stood there a little longer. There was a man in the seat across from it. Eventually everyone else had sat down and it was the only seat left, and so I figured the cheery lady must have screwed up whilst organising the event.

“Hello?” the man said, giving me a questionable look.

“Hi.” I didn’t really know what to say, for once. I didn’t know what he thought. Perhaps he was one of those homophobic retards, so I figured it’d be best to play it cool. After all, this situation hadn’t been my fault. “I guess–”

“I’m Ger–” We both smiled and paused for a short moment. “You go first, love,” he said. I almost giggled as I realised he’d mistaken me for a girl. I still wasn’t sure what to say, and so I sat there smiling like an idiot. He coughed and smiled a little, too. “… Or not. I’m Gerard. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Brianna,” I replied. I’d long since lost my nameplate, though people never bothered to read it anyway. I could pull this off, I thought. Did he seriously think I was a girl?

“Lovely name. So what do you do?”

“Ohh you know, just the usual things,” I replied, suddenly feeling quite shy around this handsome stranger. “Yourself?”

“I’m in a band. We’ve recently played a few shows in England, you see. I thought I’d stay for a while and enjoy the city a little longer.” I nodded. Gosh, that did sound rather cool. He flipped his bright red hair from his eyes, which I could now identify to have a little green in them. I sat there smiling, still. I just couldn’t stop smiling. I figured that’s what most of the girls I’d met did, anyway. “You have amazing eyes, Brianna,” he said quietly; not soft enough to be a whisper but only just loud enough to be heard.

“Thank you, Gerard. So do you.” I wasn’t lying. In fact, that was the first truthful compliment I’d handed out all evening.

“What do you say to ditching this here and having a few drinks with me up at the bar?” he suggested, but had already started getting up before I’d answered. His hand found my shoulder; that part that makes you shiver and when pressed on just right, supress a sigh of contentment.

Of course I followed him, watching his ass in those tight black jeans all the way there. He had a wiggle in his walk, which I found pretty sexy. I found myself really, truly wishing that I were a girl at that moment, though I was still willing to deceive to get what I wanted if I had to. He’d already ordered for me and slid a glass my way as I sat beside him, our legs touching just slightly as we sat on the wooden stools.

“So, Brianna,” he started, taking a sip of what I could only make out to be orange Fanta. I, myself, had been given lemonade. I couldn’t do this sober, I worried, and started thinking of ways to subtly hint that I was an alcoholic and I needed my goddamn hard liquor. Of course I wasn’t really an alcoholic though what the lady wanted the lady would get, I figured. “How long have you been living in London?”

“Since I was 17? 18? I really can’t remember. Listen, you don’t mind if I drink, do you? I mean, if I have some alcohol with this…” He smiled and looked away, swirling the ice about in his glass with the straw.

“Not at all, love.” Ohh, thank god. I ordered, though he still insisted on paying. It was a nice gesture I wasn’t used to. It was flattering, I guess. He took another sip, I noticed, as my eyes peeked at him from the side. His face would glow orange in colour each time he brought the glass to his lips, sometimes not even drinking from it at all. It was as if he knew I was watching him; as if he knew what it was doing to me to observe him with his lips parted like that and placed so softly against that glass.

It wasn’t long before those same lips were placed so softly against other things, my neck being their location at current as my nimble fingers failed to find the key to my apartment. I blushed as his hand made its way into the back pocket of my jeans and squeezed just slightly, a jingling sound ringing out through the cold night air as he brought the same hand out in front of my face. So I wasn’t the only one that had been checking out another’s ass all night, I realised.

“Could you hurry with the door? It’s freezing out here and I wish to find someplace to warm up,” he said, winking across at me. I did as I was told and unlocked the door, surprised the hinges didn’t break as he pushed me hard against it on the other side once closed again. His lips were all over mine as his tongue found my own and we stood there kissing, my knees unable to hold me up any longer. He seemed to notice as I began sliding downwards and picked me back up again, pulling his body away from me just slightly. I could breathe again, and I didn’t like it. “Give me a tour of the apartment, Brianna,” he said. “Please.” I took his hand and lead him along.

“The kitchen, lounge, dining, bathroom, bedroom–” I said as I led him throughout my small home, though found myself stopped as we got to that last destination.

“Ooh, I’ll bet your bedroom is amazing,” he purred into my ear, licking the lobe purely to have me squirm in his firm hold. The door was pushed open and slammed shut again, by who I wasn’t sure, and then we were against one another once more. His hands roamed about my body, stopping on my hips and pulling me harder into himself. His fingers were sure to leave bruises, holding me that tight, but I wouldn’t complain. My mind spoke up as his teeth bit into my collarbone and demanded a hefty moan from my lips, telling me that I should probably own up to my lies, now. He’d be finding out all too soon, and it was probably best in him finding out before I was to become that vulnerable.

“Ger– Gera– ,” I started, but was silenced by his lips on mine once more. I pushed him back, just slightly, but he still got the message.

“Brianna?”

“Uhh, it’s Brian. I’m… well, I’m…” Gerard placed his finger to my lips and shook his head, a kind-hearted smile across his face.

“Hun, I already knew that. Now get the light, will you?”