Destiny
By
Jan
‘Destiny sees a tall dark stranger’
What a load of rubbish!
Lauren Webb thought wryly as she read her horoscope. From her seat in a café
situated inside a crowded shopping centre she could see plenty of tall dark
strangers but none of them made her heart skip a beat. Since the break-up of
her last relationship only one talk dark stranger had been able to do that and
that had been the previous week in a nightclub. She had gone with Claire, an
old university friend, and her girlfriend and this vision had suddenly appeared
before her. Her eyes had locked with the brownest eyes she had ever seen then
the vision was gone.
She took a sip of her
cappuccino and grimaced. It had gone cold whilst she had been scanning the
situations vacant section of the daily newspaper. After being made redundant
from her job in the local council offices she had left her native Yorkshire on
a whim and driven down…or should that be up…to London. That had been a month
ago and she still hadn’t found suitable employment. Although it hadn’t been so
much of a whim that she hadn’t arranged accommodation first. Claire had kept
inviting her to come and stay so she had taken her up on her offer and was now
firmly ensconced in her spare bedroom.
A heading she hadn’t seen before caught her eye and she craned
forward. ‘Bar Manager required for Stars nightclub.” ‘Stars’, that was the
nightclub Claire had taken her to. She read on, ‘Experience preferred.’ Well,
she’d worked the bar for two weeks at the Students’ Union so she was
experienced!
After checking she had
change in her purse, she found a payphone and dialled the number given in the
advert then tucked the receiver against her shoulder whilst she scrabbled in
her bag for a pen in case she had to take down any details.
“Hello, Stars. May I help
you?” a female voice asked politely
Lauren grabbed hold of the
receiver, trying to compose herself before speaking. “The Bar Manager’s job…I’d
like to apply for it, please.”
“Do you have any
experience?”
“Loads,” she replied confidently,
crossing the fingers on her other hand.
“We’re interviewing today if
you can manage to get here before three,” the voice informed her. “Do you know
where we are?”
“Yes, I’ve been there
before. My name’s Lauren Webb.”
“OK, Lauren. See you later.”
She replaced the receiver
with a satisfied smile. She had an interview so it was a start.
She had plenty of time to
get there so she went back to the café and ordered another cappuccino. As she
waited for it to be brought to her table, she opened her newspaper and turned
back to the horoscopes. What else did ‘Destiny’ have in store for Pisces?
Stars nightclub was situated
off the High Street that much she remembered from her last visit and she found
it without too much trouble. She went into the dimly lit foyer and her heart
sank when she saw the number of people already waiting, all probably more
qualified for the job than she was. There was a vacant seat at the end so she
sat down…no point in giving up at the first hurdle.
A blonde woman, carrying a
clipboard, came up to her and made a note of her name then took the first of
the applicants through a door marked ‘Private’.
Two hours later, Lauren was
sitting alone. The last applicant had come out of her interview and left some
five minutes earlier and she was beginning to think she had been forgotten when
the door opened and the blonde woman emerged.
“Would you like to come in?”
she invited.
Lauren smiled nervously and
followed her into the room where a dark haired woman, looking just as gorgeous as
the first time she had seen her, was sitting behind a desk.
“I’m Liz and that’s Maggie,”
the blonde informed her. “Take a seat,” she indicated a chair in front of the
desk then sat down beside the dark woman.
“Would you tell us a bit
about yourself?” Maggie asked in the sexiest voice Lauren had ever heard.
As Lauren opened her mouth
to speak there was a crash from just outside the door and the sound of breaking
glass.
“Some more of our profits
down the pan,” Maggie muttered, smiling at Lauren as their eyes met.
Lauren sucked in her breath;
they really were the brownest eyes she had ever seen. Maggie stood up – the
woman was a good head and shoulders taller than she was – and the words of her
horoscope came into her mind…‘Destiny sees a tall dark stranger who will have a
profound effect on your life. When brown eyes gaze into yours, things will go
with a bang.’ Well, maybe she wouldn’t get the Bar Manager’s job but things
were certainly looking up and who said horoscopes were a load of rubbish?