Last Legs

I'm so tired it's not funny, all the nights out for the last three weeks, being as thick as thieves with Marie before she leaves for France , is taking it's toll on me. She's so good at giving me the big blinking eyes, 'but I'm leaving on saturday...', ok ok, I'll come out I tell her, all my good resolutions out the window. Luckily I had a small respite for a couple of days this week, it was also partly enforced by me as I had a photo shoot for a mag and I didn't want to look like road kill on the day. I was having a quiet chuckle to myself at the tag line of the article that I was to appear in, it's *where are they now*.. a bit like the one hit wonders from the Brit pop 80's innit?

However the small respite didn't last long, a quiet night in was not to be as another crisis call from Gina had to be answered and I found myself at our club on Friday night. I walked in past the rigid backs of a whole load of men who were standing there, mute as statues, mouths slightly open, drinks in hand, you could literally see the formation of some drool... and this was not because of me, (yeah yeah, great build up eh) but the all female band that was performing that night. Five nubile chicks on stage, with more energy than your average aerobic instructor, and pants slung so low, the probability of a Brazilian was a sure bet! They were belting out a mixture of retro, r&b tunes and the more recent pop hits.

I slowly made my way to the bar, moving bodies aside like mannequins, knowing full well that the testosterone levels were way to high for any cohesive response if I had asked them to move aside... I looked around and see Gina's beautiful face smiling at me, "over here!' she shouts over the noise. A group of guys are surrounding her and they turn around, 'hey D! ', it's the golfing buddies and our lawyer James. Drinks are shoved into my hands, glasses are clinked, the bartenders are mouthing their greetings to me, ahhh it's all good.

Gina leans close,  I look at her, and ask ' what happened? you ok?' She puts on a brave face ' yeah I'm ok, I've just got a lot going on now and I really don't need all the hassle' she says. I give her a squeeze, I'm not going to diss her man, she just needs positive affirmation that she's going to be ok. Which she will be. One thing I know about my best friends, is that they are all larger than life, they have all been through the fire, and they are all here standing just like me, with their heads up and facing their destinies without fear.

Someone grabs my bum and I turn around, it's Bella, a regular at the club and she's in full form, she 's got her catwoman thigh high boots on, her black shorts and a top cut down to there. 'Hey, long time no see baby! Where ya been?!' she says to me. 'Whoo hoo girlfriend, you got it goin on tonight! I say to her as she leans over to air kiss me. Her husband spots me and comes over, he gives me a big bear hug. Gina's back on the dance floor, dancing . It gives me some time to look around and see all that is going on, and I think to myself, wow, I so have not missed this! Same old crowd , some people who's mother could only love them and eeewww some who definitely need to learn about the art of wearing deodorant! Feeling Jaded? you bet. A thought about getting on flashes through my head, before I bat it out the park with amusement... I'm as young as I feel, or as my ex said to me, 'you're as young as the man you feel up!' operative word.. EX.

Periodically through the night, Gina leans into me and feeds me snippet of why she's upset and trying to rationalise it all. I nod my head, say a few words, and drink with her. As the night wears on, we do more shots, and eye up the same guy at the bar, laughing we both shake off our troubles and start to enjoy ourselves. The girls are out tonight! Dx