Call Me Maybe

He clocked her at about midnight. She knew all the words to a rare Pulp b-side he often dropped into his set to sort out the proper cool kids at his club night.

It was always a challenge to get people to dance in this place. He noticed only a handful of tracks would ever do the trick - Song 2 by Blur and She Bangs The Drums by The Stone Roses among them - so he would use these sparingly. People were far more interested in taking advantage of the cheap liquor to pay attention to the tunes he was spinning.

Although he loved DJing, the thrill of seeing people enjoying his music was starting to dim. But there were other perks. Free vodka was plentiful and he met plenty of girls.

She'd given him a couple of uncool thumbs-ups at some of the tracks he'd played earlier and he'd feigned indifference. Stand-offishness was his move, he preferred to wait until all parties were suitably lubricated before showing his hand.

It didn't often work, but his awkwardness around the fairer sex left him light on options.

This time, however, it seemed to be doing the trick. She intercepted him on his way back from the gents and introduced herself. She was Lauren. She was taller than she seemed on the dancefloor and in her heels was towering over him, but he liked that. Her dark hair was cut so it fell in sharp waves across her face and he liked that too. Her Midlands accent was distinctive and he even liked that.

They chatted about The Cure for a while. The Cure were always a safe choice for a first conversation: everyone likes The Cure.

Eventually her friends beckoned her back to the bar and she reluctantly left him, he promised to play In-Between Days for her and he assumed that would be that.

But as he was packing up his stuff at the end of the night, she appeared again at his elbow.

"I suppose you get this all the time," she started, nervously. He didn't. "But can I give you my number? I'd love to see you some time."

And with that, she pressed a piece of paper into his hand, pecked a quick kiss on his cheek and swished out into the night.

He grinned.

This story was inspired by the song 'Call Me Maybe' by Carly Rae Jepsen. And a little bit by High Fidelity.