Dimples

Three

We had taken a taxi there, and had an uber lined up for later. Ana seemed to think that the both of us were going to get smashed that night.

I did end up doing my makeup, but really all I did was fix the eyeliner and mascara I had been wearing all day. Ana had shaken her head and applied a dark colour almost expertly to my lips for me. It looked alright, so I didn't complain.

We had ended up going to a club, that did karaoke on Fridays and Sundays, instead of a regular pub. Her group from work had changed the destination last minute, though Ana didn't seem to care.

"I love this place," Ana shouted as we approached. The music booming within was loud even outside the building. I simply nodded to shower her I had heard.

We were met with the bouncer. He scanned our ID's, and stamped our hands before allowing us to step in. There were several people seated on bar stools around tables, at the bar, and in the few booths the place had. There was an empty space toward the back that served as a dance floor, but nobody was dancing. They were all waiting for the hour to change and karaoke to start.

I looked over to Ana, her hand firmly grasping mine, our fingers linked. She grinned and led the way through the small crowd, over to one of the booths. Several pretty faces beamed up at her when we arrived.

"Ana!" a brunette greeted. "Is this your friend? The one you've been telling about?"

"Yes," Ana shouted over the music. "Louis, this is Rita. Rita, Louis. And there's Harry, then Ami, Beth, Liam, and Sam."

"Sam has had a bit much to drink so, if you'll excuse her, she's off to the loo," Sam said. She pushed Liam and Louis out of the booth so she could make her way to the toilets. She greeted me with a smile before she left.

"So, Rita," Louis said. "Ana says you've been through a rough breakup. That's never any fun."

I tensed and shot Ana a glance. She didn't know much about what had happened, but it still bothered me that she would tell others about it.

"You don't have to talk about it." I looked over to Harry. He offered a kind smile, which I half returned.

"Right, right, of course," Louis said, rubbing his hands together.

Louis pulled Harry out of his side of the booth and then shoved him into the freshly unoccupied side, and then shoved me in too. He followed shortly after, with Liam squeezing in as well. Ana smiled and sat with the girls opposite us. I suddenly became acutely aware that I was on the male side.

Harry gave me another kind, dimpled smile. This one reached his eyes, and I felt the anxiety fade a bit. I nodded at him, smiled, and focused on my breathing.

"Forget about breakups," Louis continued. The table cheered to that. "We're out here tonight to have fun!"

The music had started to die down then, and a man went to stand in the middle of the dance floor with a microphone in hand. Most of the attention of the patrons turned to him as he asked the crowd if they were ready to start karaoke night. Everyone who was paying attention cheered. He mentioned a few names that were already lined up to sing songs, and then walked back off to the side.

All of the televisions in the place were suddenly lit up with a purple backdrop. I hadn't even noticed there were any televisions before that.

"Okay, while Liam and I are waiting on our turn, let's play a little game," Louis said. The attention of our booth turned back to him. He pulled a stack of blank note cards out of his jacket pocket, and Liam pulled out a box of pens.

"You been planning this?" Ana asked, brow quirked. Ami and Beth looked on with curiosity.

"A while, actually!" Louis nodded, grinning widely. "Let's play a new game I invented called 'get to know us'. Drinks are required."

As if on cue Sam had returned to the table. Louis turned to her and she rolled her eyes.

"Of course you're expecting me to go and get the drinks?" she said. Louis nodded enthusiastically. She rolled her eyes again and asked the table what we all preferred for drinks. I stuck with something easy I knew I liked; long islands.