\ 20:04 Meredith Intro

20:04 Meredith Intro

“Oh pleeeeeeeeease, please, please! Pretty please with sugar on top!”

Meredith folded her arms across her chest. She felt dumb for letting Gail talk her into getting dressed up and coming out tonight. They both had to work later, so they’d dropped by the Grindhouse and ‘borrowed’ a couple of their less revealing outfits. They were supposed to be going to a hot new club that had just opened, but Gail had wanted to drop into The Graveyard for a couple of drinks first.

It wasn’t Meredith’s scene or Gail‘s either for that matter. Too pretentiously gothic, all heavy drapes and chandeliers. Like walking into Grandma’s house… if Grandma had been into S&M… and if she’d had a Grandma. Plus it attracted all the Emo crowd, not to mention the vampire fantatics - they were the real weirdos. Absinthe drinking, corset wearing, piercing obsessive weirdos. Some of them even glued fake fang veneers onto their regular teeth.

So it came as no surprise that Gail ‘suddenly remembered’ the hot coat check girl who worked there, and how she’d been meaning to get her number.

“You’re ditching me so you can cop off with some girl!”

“Like I said, it’s important. Pleeeease Meredith!” Gail clasped her hands together in fake prayer. “I haven’t had any in like a week! Okay I’ll admit it, I’m a horny dyke and I don’t care who knows!”

“We were supposed to be going dancing.”

“You still can!” Gail held up an envelope, a wide grin on her face. “Julie, did I mention her name is Julie? Well, she said there’s a private party going on upstairs. A book launch, for Lucinda Graves! She‘s that reporter right? The one you idolised for the best part of last year?” She thrust the envelope into Meredith’s hands. “She scored you an invite, how cool is that? Plus there’s free food…”

Meredith snatched the envelope. “What sort of food?”

“Ha! Like you care!” Gail laughed, slapping her on the ass. “The way to a girl’s heart… I promise, I’ll make it up to you. Pizza and a movie, anything you want, my treat.” She grinned wickedly and added, “I’ll even go down on you if you like, convince you to switch sides.”

“Pizza and a movie is fine,” grumbled Meredith, resisting the urge to grin and let Gail off the hook. “And beer. You can save the rest for coat check girl.”

“Oh I have plenty to go around,” Gail stuck out her tongue and waggled it suggestively. “We’ll meet up here later?” She took a step back and gave Meredith’s outfit a full once over. “You look terrific, Freckles! Totally hot! Maybe you’ll get lucky yourself.”

“Yeah,” Meredith was less than convinced, in fact she felt completely exposed. She tugged self-consciously at the hem of her dress which barely covered her backside and made her legs look about a mile long. It was one thing being all on show when she was at work, but it was different out here, in the ‘real world’. It was like being stuck between identities. Like if Clark Kent had turned up to work dressed as Superman. Besides, she wasn’t the flirtatious type, not really. She hated talking to strangers and dressed like this there would only be one reason anyone would want to talk to her.

“Come on, you need to get laid girl. Hump out your frustration, it works for me.”

“You do enough of that for both of us, in fact, you should be the least frustrated girl in Manhattan, perhaps even the entire state.”

Gail grinned, but she wasn’t done. “I mean it, Meri, you haven’t been on a date since that fuckwit, Jason. You’ve been off the horse long enough, it’s time to saddle up and smack that pony girl!”

Meredith planted her hand on her hips. “I’m not interested in getting on a horse or pony or any other equine mammal. Or man for that matter. I’m done, sick of the whole damn species. Which,” she held up a hand to hold Gail back, “doesn’t mean I’m switching sides either. In fact if the journalism thing doesn’t work out I may just decide to become a nun.”

“No, no, no,” Gail pulled her into a sisterly embrace. “That would be a criminal waste of the best piece of ass in Manhattan.” Meredith tried to punch her playfully but Gail didn’t loosen her hold. “Look, have fun, have some drinks and eat some canapés. And if you see that Lucinda chick, get me her number. I’ve seen the book cover and she is hot!”

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