The Plague Doctor

A Vanstone Novel

C P Sennett

All characters and events here and in this book are fictitious and any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Published by Ex-L-Ence Publishing

ISBN 978-1-909133-05-1

Chapter 4

A Good Night And The Perils Of The Taxi Rank

It was 8.30 p.m. on Friday night and Laurie was standing outside The Boardwalk bar. It was one he hadn’t been to before. From the outside it looked fairly quiet and it was away from the main part of the city centre, the building was older but it had good character to it and looked welcoming.

Laurie knew that the guys at work often joked it was a good ‘first date’ spot. Inside it was bright unlike many of the more frequented bars around the city centre, big open windows, plush leather sofas and soft ambient lighting made for a more calming experience.

Gerek was standing on the far side of the bar with his arm around Macy, who looked her usual stylish self. She was in a little dark dress with her hair tussled about her shoulders. Around them was a small group of people, two girls and one guy who he recognised. It was Paul from sales.

Laurie did not like Paul much; he was your typical salesman, loud, brash and a little too full of himself. He was of average build, just under six feet tall and he had the look of a football lout. Aside from Paul’s cocky attitude, most of all he hated the crooked nose he had. It bent to the left looking as if in the past someone had given him an almighty smack or at least this is what he hoped it was.

Laurie walked in and Gerek quickly made a bee line for him.

“Hey Laurie, glad you made it, you scrub up well eh?” said Gerek approvingly at Laurie’s choice of wardrobe.

“Thanks, you want a drink?” asked Laurie trying to relax.

“I think we’re going to be here for a while so you may as well get one, we just got some in so come join us when you’re served.”

Laurie nodded turning to the guy behind the bar. “Can I have a bud please?”

“Sorry we don’t have bud here, I can do you a Peroni if you want?” replied the barman with a fake smile.

“Yeah sure,” said Laurie, paying for the drink and taking a very disappointing mouthful. He did his best to calm his nerves, making sure his shirt was un-tucked as he took a deep breath and made his way over to the group.

“Hi Laurie” said Macy smiling with the warm smile she always had.

Laurie smiled back. “Hi, you look nice.” he said trying to sound as natural as he could.

Gerek motioned for him to sit down next to the pretty pale skinned girl with big brown eyes and dirty blond hair. She looked up at Laurie and he smiled warmly at her taking in her unusual looking cardigan and short black dress combo.

Paul was sitting next to a red haired girl who also had an eastern European look. Her hair was clearly not naturally mahogany coloured but it was a good look for her and she was a pretty girl.

Laurie sat down as Gerek introduced him.

“For everyone other than Paul, this is Laurie, my mate from work. Be nice ladies,” he added at the end sounding like some dodgy eastern European game show host.

“Hi all,” was about all Laurie could manage along with raising his bottle and nodding to Paul.

Paul said something which Laurie didn’t catch.

“Sorry?”asked Laurie.

Paul looked over from his seat. “I was just saying to Anka here,” as he turned to the red head asking, “Have I pronounced your name right?” She nodded gleefully. “I was just telling Anka what you do at work; you’re good at unloading the lorries.”

“Hi” said the girl next to him, offering him her hand.

“Hi,” replied Laurie picking his drink up quickly, using it almost as a shield.

“You look just as Macy described,” she said smiling.

Laurie laughed nervously. “Is that a good thing?” he said wondering if she missed a word off from her earlier sentence.

“Yes, I like your blue shirt, matches your eyes,” she said, before sipping some of whatever drink she had, it looked like a shot with a coke mixer.

“Thanks, normally I would have got something new but I didn’t think I was coming out tonight, what was your name as Gerek didn’t say?”

“Oh sorry, I’m Kasia,” she said smiling.

The group had a few drinks at the Boardwalk and Laurie had bought a few for Kasia. They all seemed to be relaxing and getting on. Laurie was pleased he and Kasia got along as they laughed at her English which was good but not perfect and she teased him claiming his slightly longer hair made him look like a rock star.

We hope you like what you have read so far – to find out how everything else unfold in the rest of chapter 4 onwards you will need to purchase:

Published by Ex-L-Ence Publishing

The Plague Doctor – Chapter 4