Uptown Downtown

She is from Chelsea and he is from Speke, two very different parts of the UK. Emily meets Daniel on a night out in Liverpool, they like the look of each other, but will their personalities clash? Uptown, Downtown asks the old age question; do opposites really attract? In this tale full of romance and glamour, we go on a journey through Liverpool's night life and explore the youthful bliss of lust & desire. This is a fictional tale, in a realistic setting. Based off the author's own personal experiences with nightclub romance, it is a story that comes straight from the heart. It also includes a lot of the drama and excitement that comes from a night out in Liverpool One.

Part 1

Emily Burton arrives in Liverpool, she looks out of the train's window and sees that the train is about to stop. She is visiting an old friend from University named Cheryl Lee, it has been almost two years since they both graduated and they couldn't wait to see each other again, as it had been too long. They were best friends in the same dorm together and they had plenty of nights out back then, when they were just 19 years of age. Emily brushes her strawberry blonde hair to one side with her hand as she gets ready to exit the train arriving at Lime Street Station. She easily squeezes past a couple of the passengers, who are getting off with her (as she has a very slim and tall figure). She waits for the train doors to open and is greeted with the sounds of the busy train station as it is a Saturday and everyone is rushing around this mad city, trying to get from one place to the next. She smiles at a friendly old woman who is walking past, as she she gets off the train and begins walking towards the exit. Emily is meeting her friend outside the local Wetherspoons. Once outside; she sees her friend standing by the busy streets near the restaurant, waving at her as hectic traffic rushes past. Emily smiles with delight, then carefully walks over towards Cheryl, while avoiding the busy cars and motorcycles that are racing down the street. She nearly gets run over by some young man on a moped, who promptly yells at her in his strong Scouse accent, she is frustrated by this, but won't let it ruin her night out. She laughs it off as her friend shakes her head at the rude motorcyclist, who just ignores her and keeps on driving.

'I like what you done with your hair!' Emily smiles at Cheryl, who has recently dyed her hair a red chestnut colour, that shines nicely on this sunny day.

'Thanks Emily, you haven't changed a bit!' Cheryl laughs.

'I don't know if that's a good thing... or a bad thing.' Emily chuckles.

'It's a good thing!' Cheryl winks then taps Emily on on the shoulder, they both enter the restaurant shortly after.

Daniel and his mate, Keith, see the two girls enter the Wetherspoons. One stands rather tall, with a slim figure, strawberry blonde hair and pretty green eyes. The other girl stands just as tall as the other, except she is a little bit chubby, but still very attractive and cute in her own way, she has chestnut red hair and her eyes are a clear blue. Both girls are dressed very glamorous with classy make up and attire, their clothes look very expensive and the two lads can tell these girls are very sophisticated. Keith nudges Daniel's elbow, spilling the pint that was in his hand. The pint tips over and spills everywhere, Daniel stands up quick and is about to yell at his friend, but stops himself when he sees the blonde girl blush and giggle at him, Daniel smiles back and she looks away, shyly, yet still smiling. As soon as the two girls walk out of sight, Daniel snarls at his friend, who laughs in return.

'Was just going to say...'

'I know!' Daniel snaps.

'Hey mate, you're the one who spilt your pint, lad. Not me!' Keith chuckles, again.

Daniel sighs while shaking his head, he grabs some napkins from the table and cleans up the mess.

'Say, why don't you get us another pint, aye lad?' Daniel winks.

'Alright lad...' Keith sighs.

'I'll chat up them birds while am at it!' He laughs, before walking over to the bar.

Cheryl and Emily were just about to collect their drinks when they see a tall handsome man, dressed in a navy blue Harrington jacket, skinny jeans and short blonde hair, walk up by the bar beside them. Cheryl looks at the man while tilting her head to one side with a seductive smirk. The man winks at her and stands beside them as the bartender hands the girls their drinks. They are about to pay, but Keith interrupts.

'I'll get this round lass.' He rises his eyes at Cheryl, then hands the staff member a £20 note, he's about to give him his change, but Keith holds up his hand in protest.

'Keep the change.' he smiles, rather smugly, acting like £20 isn't a lot of money for him. Cheryl is blushing, but Keith can see that Emily is forcing a smile, silently hoping he would go away. Keith understands this, from the amount of times his friends were “getting lucky” while he became the third wheel. Suddenly he remembers that Daniel was with him and he realises, that he could turn this into a double date.

'Say, it's quite busy in here in it? Me and my mate are chilling by the front, want to sit with us?' Keith asks and Emily's eyes light up.

'Oh yes, I remember you two. Your friend spilt his beer, didn't he?' Emily giggles and takes a small swig of her vodka cola. Keith bites his bottom lip in amusement, he was taken back by the blonde's posher Chelsea accent, it was nice to say the least. He pauses for a while, thinking about what to say next and suddenly there is an awkward silence. The two girls smile uncomfortably, while Keith just keeps smiling.

'Oh, uh... let's go then!' He chuckles, finally breaking the silence, before leading them to his and Daniel's table.

Emily smiles at the young man named Daniel, who is sat on his own drinking his pint. His hair is brown and cut short & neat, he has blue eyes and a charming smile. Emily can see the young man's eyes light up, once he sees her approaching. She smiles, shyly, before sitting down, opposite to the handsome suitor. Keith saw this and nods at his friend with a warming smile. He and Cheryl soon sit down on the same table with them.

'Hi my name is Emily...' The blonde rises her hand to shake his, he takes her hand with a smile and shakes it.

'Daniel.' He winks, in response; she licks her lips while smirking.

'You not from round here, then?' Daniel asks, after noticing how different her accent is.

'No, I am from Chelsea!' She giggles, shyly.

'Isn't that in London?' Daniel asks.

'Yes it is, I've come up here to meet an old friend named Cheryl here.'

'Who you calling old, love?' Cheryl teases. Both girls laugh, loudly.

'You know what I mean...' Emily chuckles.

'So, I take it you two live around here then?' Emily asks, and Keith & Daniel nod at each other.

'Yes love, well, not exactly... we're from Speke.' Keith announces.

'Speke, aye?' Cheryl winks.

'Don't live too far from there myself...'

'Aye, maybe we could hang out sometime then?' Keith replies, smugly.

'Maybe... if you're lucky...' Cheryl muses.

'You like your spirits then, or you not drinking tonight?' Daniel asks Emily, while pointing at her glass of cola.

'Oh I am drinking, this a double vodka in cola!' Emily winks, before taking another swig of her glass. Daniel nods his head to the song playing in the background, while smiling at the gorgeous blonde, who begins dancing in her seat to the song as well.

'Oh I love this one!' Emily sings while moving her head & shoulders from side to side.

'Oh... maybe we could have a dance later?' Daniel muses, with a small smile.

'Perhaps...' Emily winks again, this time seductively. After a couple more rounds at the Wetherspoons, Keith decided it would be cool to go to a nearby nightclub, now that it was getting late. Luckily for Daniel and Keith; the girls agreed and now a little bit drunk the four of them went to Matthews street.

The sun was setting, so it was around 5-6 o'clock when Keith leads them all to The Cavern.

'Isn't this where the famous Beatles played?!' Emily exclaims.

'Yeah it is, I'm a musician you know?' Daniel chuckles (he is over exaggerating, he has made a few songs on Social Media, but his full time job is as a Bin Man.)

'As if... get out of here!' Emily laughs, mockingly.

'Oh no, I'm serious... Right, Keith?' Daniel asks his friend, who was now putting his arms around Cheryl, perhaps coming on too strong.

'Uh... yeah, well you're trying aren't you?' Keith says, being honest.

'Well... I am trying to become a Rapper or DJ, made a couple of mixes on Social Media and that.' Daniel admits, scratching the back of his head, hoping Emily was still interested in him. Luckily, Emily didn't find this white lie offensive, in fact she thought it was kind of cute.

'Aw... well we all got to start somewhere, honey.' She chuckles.

'Let's have a look?' She asks. Daniel smiles, he is relieved that she is still interested in him. He gets his phone out.

'Yeah, here it is...' Daniel blushes then gets the video up on his phone. Emily holds his hands and walks over to a nearby shelter, so she can see the video better. All four of them gather around the phone watching. Truth is; Daniel isn't exactly an amazing Rapper. With this said; Daniel is obviously anxious. But Emily finds it amusing, the video is clearly made on a cheap cam corder, with poor effects, but she is still impressed with his skills, and what he has managed to pull off. She laughs as the video goes on saying; “wow” “that's impressive”, ect. After the video ends, she smiles at him, looking him right in the eyes. There is a short silence before she reaches up to kiss him on the cheek.

'You're pretty good at that, aren't you?' The polite London girl smiles.

'Thanks!' Daniel blushes, then he holds her hand and enters The Cavern Club with Keith and Cheryl in front of them.

Once inside; the four of them find a table. They sit down and get comfortable, then Daniel walks up to the bar and orders the drinks. A band is playing on the stage at the back of this club. They are a cover band, playing rock songs. At the bar, Daniel turns to look at Emily, who is dancing and chatting with Cheryl and Keith. He smiles at her and she waves back.

'Here you are mate!' the bar staff rudely interrupt. Daniel turns to look, a little surprised by how quick the drinks have come.

'Cheers!' Daniel thanks the bartender, he nods without much enthusiasm and continues his duties. Daniel shrugs and carries the drinks over to the table. The girls are cheering when he arrives.

'Here you are girls!' he winks at Emily, who licks her lips flirtatiously. He lays the drinks down onto the table and makes a bold move, by sitting right next to her. She grins and holds onto his forearm, tightly. The club is busy and full of cool & trendy people dancing around and talking with each other. The furniture is modern and the walls are covered with interesting artwork that suited the mood.

'So, what do you really do for a living?' Emily asks, and Daniel gulps.

'Go on lad...' Keith smirks, smugly. Daniel furrows his brow.

'Oh dear, it's nothing embarrassing is it?' Emily chuckles.

'Well... it is only temporary, just until I sort out my music career. I've done really well lately, made a bit of money on the side-'

'I promise you, I won't laugh...' She smirks, while bumping her arm into his.

'Alright... I'm a Bin Man, I take out the rubbish, put in it the truck and all that.' Daniel says while shaking his head at Keith, who is laughing. Emily pauses and looks at Cheryl. Both girls are beginning to lose interest and Daniel can see this.

'Ah well... are you the driver?' Emily asks.

'Well, I... no, no just the one putting it in the back of the truck. Pays well though.' Daniel smiles, tightly, cringing.

'I tell you what; I'll get the drinks in this time!' Keith smiles and stands up.

'Yeah alright!' Cheryl smiles, again. Keith asks the group what they want, like a waiter and walks up to the bar, leaving Daniel alone with the two girls. He smiles awkwardly.

'Aye, don't worry about that, lad... we all start somewhere, right?' Cheryl smiles and Daniel feels relief, Emily shrugs and forces a smile.

'Yeah, she's right, it's just a title. You look decent enough...' Emily admits.

'Ah good... not so bad yourself, girl!' He winks and she smiles, weakly. Keith returns shortly after; with twice as many drinks as before. Suddenly, the girls are thrilled and Cheryl actually gives him a small hug, Keith grins at Daniel. He chuckles.

'So... how much have you made Rapping, and as a DJ?' Emily asks. Daniel thought about lying again, but he figured it would be best to be truthful.

'I've only made about £400 so far... well, just under that.' He admits and Emily smiles, nodding her head.

'Actually... that's not bad for an indie artist.' She admits, with a wink.

'Ah, cheers love!' Daniel exclaims, while swigging his pint.

It looks like things are finally getting back on track, despite a couple of awkward moments, the three of them, are now having an overall decent time. Now that the group was getting quite drunk, and the time was getting late; they decided it was now time to go clubbing.

Keith leads the group to Concert Square, the streets are havoc with laughter of the Liverpool youths, dancing around, joking and talking with each other. There are young women in expensive night out clothes, full of make up and hair extensions. The men dress sharp, yet casual; with smart shoes and slim fitting jackets and pants, with their stylish haircuts. The four of them fit right in. The group sit in the middle of the square on a table that is full of half empty beer glasses. Several bars and nightclubs surround them and there are huge queues to get into the better places.

'Alright then, I'm ordering the shots in! How many? Four? Eight? Sixteen?!' Keith stands up and exclaims, getting money out of his wallet and flashing it around, trying to impress the girls. They both giggle and Daniel cheers.

'Go head, mate! We getting Jager bombs or Spirits?' Daniel asks the group. Emily nods with a cute smile.

'Oh, I think I'm going to be quite adventurous! Get us Jagers...' She nods and winks at Daniel. Cheryl isn't so sure, but she bites her lip and exclaims; “go on then!”

'Coming right up, love!' Keith winks and she blushes. The young man walks up to the nearest bar and leaves Daniel alone with the two girls, yet again.

'You know... I'm thinking of going into the music industry.' Cheryl smiles.

'Oh yeah? What's your jam?!' Daniel laughs. Cheryl giggles, and Emily looks a little jealous.

'Well, I fancy myself a bit of a singer, actually.' Cheryl blushes and Daniel winks.

'I bet you got one hell of a voice, haven't you love?' He rises his eye brows.

'Give us a sing then!' Daniel exclaims and Cheryl blushes hard, hiding her face, giggling.

'Come on...' Daniel winks and she strokes her right cheek.

'Ok...' Cheryl smiles, before singing. She is drunk, so she sounds awfully funny. Stretching out her words, slurring and being a bit loud & Scouse. But, Daniel acts like she has the voice of a goddess. Emily sits in silence, looking at her phone, scrolling through it quickly, as if frustrated.

'Yeah, I reckon you got a good singing voice there girl, maybe I could get you singing on one of my tracks!' He winks, and she strokes her hair, flirtatiously.

'Oh yeah, I'd love that!' She smiles and puts her hand onto his. Emily sees this.

'Well, I play guitar you know?!' Emily exclaims, rather loudly.

'Oh... really?' Daniel asks.

'Uh, yeah! I used to... maybe we could all work together and put a track together?' She suggests, and Daniel smiles, thinking this idea sounded cool. Cheryl groans and gives her friend an angered glare, she knows what Emily is doing. Keith returns just in time to break the tension. Daniel sighs with relief at the sight of the Jager Bombs, as trying to impress these two girls equally was turning sour.

'Here we go lads!' Keith cheers and lays the shots out onto the table, four each.

'Lads?' Emily repeats, as she rolls her eyes, snobbishly.

'Oh, sh- sorry love... me and Daniel here aren't used to being in the presence of such... Uh...' Keith fumbles his words then sits down and rises his shot glass to the air.

'Let's have a good night, aye!' He exclaims, the two girls quickly forgive him and rise their glasses to the air, along with Daniel and then they chug their shots right back. Daniel clenches his fists and resists the gag reflex, while the two girls nearly spit theirs out. Keith however, didn't react to the shot at all, as he is a heavy drinker.

'How do you not gag after drinking that!' Cheryl laughs and puts her arms around him.

'I'm a heavy drinker, I can go all night!' Keith smiles, smugly, then chugs his next shot.

'Oh, I beg to differ!' Cheryl laughs, then she downs hers.

'I can drink you under the table!' Keith roars with laughter and chugs down his third shot, this time he did gag, but only a little bit. Cheryl however, is getting used to the Jagers and is downing them like lemonade. Before Emily and Daniel know it; Keith and Cheryl have already drank all of their shots.

'Bottoms up!' Daniel winks at Emily as he and she rise their second shot glasses to the air and chug. Once Daniel and Emily have drank all of their shots, the four of them stand up and start dancing with each other around the table. Daniel and Keith knew to keep it cool, and not to come onto the girls too strong, they realise this, even in their drunken state. Later, Emily and Cheryl walk into the ladies toilets together, Keith and Daniel discuss their next move.

'Alright lad, what you reckon we should do next?' Daniel asks Keith.

'I tell you what; we go the clubs next, bro. Get jiggy with them, aye!' He laughs and chugs his current pint. Emily and Cheryl are fixing their make up in the toilets and talking about the two men.

'So what, you like Keith or Daniel!?' Emily moans.

'I like them both...' Cheryl winks, mockingly at her friend. Emily groans.

'Well, what about me?' Emily asks, rudely.

'What about you?' Cheryl shrugs.

'Maybe, I like Daniel. Keith is into you!' Emily snarls.

Cheryl laughs.

'Yeah, but Keith isn't a musician is he?' she snickers.

'Keith is a classy bloke. Seems to have a lot of money on him...' Emily rises her right eyebrow, trying to convince her friend to pursue him.

'Yeah, but he's a bit of a show off, flashing his wallet around like he owns the place. Seems a little full of himself if you ask me... but, I do like being treated like a Queen.' Once the four of them re-unite, they decide to all go the biggest nightclub in Liverpool as it is now 11pm.

They queue up outside the club, there is a bit of a line with around twenty people waiting to get inside. Keith is wise to get here somewhat early at 11pm, rather than wait until 12am, where most bars will close, so only the big places would be open. He knows it would be a bit dead inside at the moment, but it is better than waiting outside in the rain for half an hour at 12 O'clock. Besides, he and Daniel have already met the ladies. So, it is ideal really, they will almost have the place to themselves, so to speak. They could claim a good table (or VIP Table, knowing Keith) and get there drinks served to them sooner than later, as the queues to the bar will be shorter too.

'Aye, you got a lighter, mate?' A big man, with a skin head and black beard asks Daniel, this man stands a good foot or two taller than the youngster from Speke. Cheryl seems to like the look of this brute, and his equally tall and intimidating friend, that stands beside him, in the queue in front of Daniel & Keith.

'No mate, don't smoke us lot.' Daniel replies.

'Here are lads, I got one!' Cheryl buts in and hands the tall bloke a pink and white lighter, he laughs, but thanks the girl with a wink. Cheryl seems to like this, and all Keith can do is just stand there in a daze, as the two brutes began introducing themselves to the girls, however Emily seems very un-impressed and almost frightened by the two body builders.

'We're Rugby players!' The other one says, with a smug expression, he has short ginger hair and a goatee, his shoulders are wide and his belly sticks out under his shirt. But, what he is wearing looks very expensive and there is a certain cockiness to the two of them, that most girls (like Cheryl) found somewhat endearing.

'What's your name, love?' The ginger one asks.

'...Emily...' She replies, shyly.

'Ah cool, cool. Been playing Rugby all my life I have, made thousands doing it. Me and Andrew here are professionals, ain't we lad?'

'Damn straight we are!' Andrew winks at Emily and Cheryl, ignoring Daniel and Keith.

'You seeing anyone?' The ginger dares to ask. Daniel is furious, but holds his breath as he knew this beast could bury him.

'Well, actually...' Emily wraps her arms around Daniel and kisses his cheek.

'This is my fella.'

'Oh right...' He sighs.

'Yeah, and he's a famous Rapper, aren't you babe?' She asks Daniel, with a kiss on the lips.

'DJ Sound Kid.' Daniel winks, mockingly at the Rugby player.

'Calm down, Barry lad...' Andrew gasps, as his friend is now snarling at Daniel. Barry shoved Andrew out of the way.

'This cheeky little rat!' Barry begins roaring, walking closer, pointing his fingers in Daniel's face. Emily holds Daniel tighter and walks backwards with him, to protect herself, she can see the anger rise in Daniel's face and whispers in his ear to “calm down, don't sink to his level...” Before things really go south, three doormen march into the scene yelling, fiercely.

'Aye, aye, oh for... seriously? not you two again!' The tallest doorman shouts, as the other two grab and escort Barry from the line and out of the way, while he is fighting them back and resisting their efforts.

'Do you have any idea who I am?! I'm a Rugby player! I make more money a week than you lot do, in a whole year!' Barry screams as people laugh at the big man making a complete show of himself. His friend Andrew squeezes his forehead with his right palm, out of embarrassment.

'I'm sorry about my mate...' Andrew says to the tallest doorman.

'Aye, Andrew, you're alright mate, but that friend of yours... he's a bit of a twit.' The doorman admits, he is being humorous, but everyone can see that he is still in shock from the whole ordeal, panting and sweating, after taking out such a huge ogre like that.

'I... better keep an eye on him, make sure he's alright.' Andrew said to himself out loud, then jumped out of the queue and disappeared down Liverpool's streets chanting “Barry where are?!” Daniel, Emily and Cheryl smiled as two new spaces closer to the nightclub now lay in front of them, however, Keith was annoyed by how flirty Cheryl was being with that so called “Rugby player” named Andrew. Keith doesn't want to reject her out right, as he still feels like he has a good chance, but he isn't his normal cheerily self. Daniel can see this and offers to buy the next round in.

'I'd appreciate that, bro...' Keith smiles, weakly. Cheryl feels awful, maybe she should've listened more to Emily and stop flirting with every guy she sees, as it was clearly making everyone upset. She rubs Keith's back and he forces an uncomfortable smile. Now she is getting worried, that he will reject her.

Once inside the nightclub: the four of them walk to the bar, strobe lights and fog machines aid in creating the ultimate clubbing atmosphere. The music is booming and the alcohol in their systems hits hard, as people dance around madly, and couples make out like there is no tomorrow, in the darker corners of this two story nightclub. The bottom is a dance floor, on the second floor there is a balcony with tables, that overlooks the whole club. The four of them look giddy and are dancing subtly to the music as they wait in the queue for the bar. Soon enough, a Bartender serves them. Keith begins counting on his hand, while the young man behind the bar waits, impatiently.

'Alright... I'll order four shots of Absinth and 16 Jager Bombs.' The rest of the group gasp as Keith smiles, smugly. The bartender forces a smile, he is an arrogant young lad, who appears to be sick of his job. He comes back shortly later, with a sexy barmaid that Daniel has a hard time keeping his eyes off of. She catches him looking and she gives him a cheeky wink, Emily sees this and the woman instantly looks away in embarrassment. The bartender chuckles at the whole situation.

'Here you go lads!' He smiles at Daniel and Keith, as he lays the drinks out onto the bar counter. The four of them gather around the table, Cheryl & Emily look anxious, while the two lads are ecstatic. They down each shot quickly and almost gag them up a few times, but they all manage to hold their drink and soon enough, they are grooving. They don't bother ordering any more drinks after that, they are wasted at this point, but not enough to get sick. Emily has never had so much fun in her life. The men in London are always trying so hard to look sophisticated and educated, that they will never allow themselves to get this drunk. Sometimes all girls want; is to just have a little bit of fun, and Daniel & Keith are a lot of fun indeed, and Emily loves it. She dances carelessly, but to the rhythm of the song and Daniel is nodding his head back and forth in sync with her moves, he approaches her, and she approaches him. They embrace each other and she grinds her body against his and he begins whispering into her ear:

'I really like you, you're not like the other girls...' He says, seductively. She grins and reaches up, to whisper into his ear.

'You're not so bad yourself. I've had a really good time tonight...' Emily breathes, while stroking his cheek. Daniel's heart races as she begins rubbing her body against his, in motion with the rave music that plays within the club. They look over and giggle at the sight of Keith and Cheryl kissing.

'Come here, you!' Emily laughs, before pulling Daniel in close and kissing him on the lips, passionately. Daniel loses himself in the moment and falls into her embrace, as the two of them begin snogging, touching each other and moaning at the taste of pure lust that races through them like a fire, that has just been ignited, as if by the gods themselves. They have fallen in love.

To be continued.

Thank you for reading part 1 of this love story, I am seeing how well this part does, before writing part 2. Please let me know what you thought by contacting me on social media

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