Emboldened by the warming effects of the whisky, the throb of the music and the dream-like quality of the frosty air, April climbed off the bench and made her way carefully over to the other woman, digging her heels into the gravel and trying not to lose her balance.
"Hi," she smiled, "could I sit here?"
"Sure," the woman responded, gesturing to the bench.
April seated herself opposite, suddenly feeling self-conscious. This was London, not a small village where people could walk up to anybody and start a conversation. She was probably coming across as strange.
"I'm Niamh."
"April."
Niamh spoke softly, with a very slight Irish accent. Up close, April could see that her eyes were a deep chestnut, flecked with darker speckles of brown. She was dressed more sensibly than April, in a soft suede jacket and a thick woolen scarf.
Niamh silently offered April a cigarette from the packet, and when April accepted she glanced quickly up at her with a shy smile.
The dark-haired woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a lighter that she flicked into life and held out to April. April leant forwards and lit her cigarette, and her fingers brushed against Niamh's as she steadied her hand.
There was an awkward silence, as April racked her brains for something to say that would be interesting or intelligent, but nothing came to mind. To her relief, Niamh began to speak but before she could say anything the 2 moustachioed men appeared on either side of her, loudly chatting away. Before long, the rest of the group joined the table, seeming not to notice Niamh and April.
"Would you like to get a drink?" April asked, and to her relief Niamh nodded, and the two women stood up and headed inside, pushing through the groups of smokers thronging around the back door.
Side-by-side at the bar, April noticed that Niamh was 5 or so inches shorter than her, maybe about 5 foot tall, and slightly built. Her black jeans tightly hugged her legs and bum, and April couldn't help but glance down as they waited to be served.
By this time of night the bar was packed out, elbows jostling into ribs as people shoved their way to the front. April found herself pressed against Niamh's left shoulder, her upper thigh brushing against the back of her legs. A flush of adrenaline surged through her veins, and she felt herself blush slightly. The pressure from the crowd eased, and April leant away slightly, embarrassed that what should have been an innocent encounter had left her feeling so excited - but Niamh also moved fractionally away from the bar, pressing herself back against April's body, maintaining the same level of pressure.
April held her breath, feeling her heart pounding against her chest. The drinks arrived, and the tension was broken as they turned from the bar and headed into the middle of the crowd of dancing people.
The music throbbed through the air, and April and Niamh found themselves pressed against each other once more as they danced, sipping at their drinks and laughing. The whole pub seemed to be dancing now, a swirling mass of colours and faces and lights. Niamh's friends arrived; bearing more drinks, and came and went, drifting in and out of the two women's conversation. Eventually, just before 2 o'clock, the bell rang for last orders. April leaned down to speak into Niamh's ear:
"I live just down the street, fancy a nightcap?" Niamh smiled and nodded in response, taking April's hand to pull her through the crowds to the front door of the pub.
On the street outside, revellers were sat on the edge of the kerb, and taxi's swung past along the high street. A police van and several police officers were parked up on the pavement, and the flashing blue lights reflected off the windows of the houses as the two women headed away from the main road.
In the porch outside the doorway, April fumbled for her keys - dropping them on the tiles. Niamh laughed and bent down to pick them up, her shoulder-length, wavy hair falling over her face as she did so. Finally inside, the house was dark and quiet.
"Sorry, there's no light in the hallway or the stairs, nobody has got around to fixing it" April apologised. "I've got a selection up in my room, stashed safely out of the way."