Adora.

An empty glass and a full one, a half empty, and a half full glass.

That’s what was on our table. The empty one belonged to my old friend, Stacey who was having trouble with her boyfriend of two years, she didn’t know if she should accept his demand. He had asked her to move in with him.

The half empty belong to our friend, Pierre. He was currently checking out the girls in the bar, desperately hoping he would get laid tonight.

The half full was Thomas’. He was texting on his sidekick, probably to his new conquest that we had yet to meet.
And then, there was the full glass, untouched. That glass, it was mine. Needless to say I didn’t feel like drinking tonight, my mind was elsewhere, lost in the deep, dark hole that is my mind.

I still had yet to figure out why I came when everyone knew I wasn’t a heavy partier like my friends. It was Stacey’s 6th glass, Pierre’s 3rd and Thomas’ 2nd. It was my first glass, and I hadn’t touched it during the 2 hours we had spent here, in that Irish bar. Why an Irish bar you might ask, because I like the ambiance, and the owner is Irish, and he speaks English.
What’s the big deal, you might ask?

Well, we’re in France at the moment. Sitting in an Irish bar, that is located on the deck in a city called Caen, in Normandy. It’s Thursday tonight, so it’s bar hoping for all the students in town. In other words, every single bar (and let me tell you that there are quite a few) are stocked with students, on their way to being so smashed they won’t remember their names when they will pass out in their own vomit.
And no, I’m not always this bitter, I just had a bad day.

I sighed and got up from my sit, running a hand through my hair.

“I’ll be right back.” I said to my friends. “I need some fresh air.” I added as Pierre got ready to ask me where I was going.

We were sitting in the back of the bar. I took a deep breath and tried to make my way towards the counter. I gave a friendly smile to the owner, who returned it and then I proceed to push my way to the doors, trying to avoid spilling any beer on me. I pushed the door opened in a huff, and then crossed the street.

It was a nice night, the stars could be seen and for once, there was no cloud in the sky. I avoid the drunken group of guys that were fighting over a bottle of vodka and walked further close to the water.

I spot an empty bench, away from all the drunk, and sat down. I rested my elbows on my knees and starred at the water, watching the reflections of the lights on the surface.

I liked this town, but sometimes I couldn’t help but think it was too small for me. I was suffocating in there.
I bit my lip, looking up from the water and to my surroundings. I ignored the drunken students, and focused on the beauty of the city at night, with the lights enlightening the churches and others historical buildings.

I was enjoying the feeling of being alone right now. I always needed time of my own every now and then. And now was one of those times. I reached into my pocket, hoping to find my MP3 but realized it was empty. I sighed but made no move to get up.

“Can I sit here?” asked a male voice. I froze, but still managed to mumble a quiet, “Sure”.

I turned to look at the guy, only to realize that he looked slightly older than the usual students here. From what I could see and that was very little, he was quite tall, and was a smoker. No, I’m not genius; he simply had a cigarette in his hand.

He sat down next to me, in the same position as I was, his gaze getting lost in the water. I turned my gaze away from the stranger and kept looking at the dancing lights on the water.

“Are you from here?”

I looked up and turned to look at the guy sitting next to me.

“Yes, I mean… I don’t live here, but yeah…” I said, frowning, not knowing how to answer to that question without giving away too much. I mean he could be some creep and next thing I know I’ll find him at my doorstep.

“And you?” I asked, trying to make conversation.

He took a drag from his cigarette and blew out the smoke before replying.

“I’m not from here, but I like this city.” He said. I rolled my eyes, expecting him to say some cliché pick-up lines next.

“How come you sitting here alone, surrendered by drunk, horny guys?” he asked, not looking at me.

“I left the bar because I needed to be by myself for a moment, it was too crowded in there.” I replied.

“Not a fan of overly crowded place I assume…” he commented, flickering his cigarette.

“Not really, except maybe for gigs, because then it’s a different ambiance and everything…” I said, looking away from him, and focusing on the water once again.

“I know what you mean, I’m not really fan of crowded places myself, except for gigs…” he said, “What kind of music to you listen to?” he asked.

“Rock… Mostly American bands.” I said.

“Like?”
My face broke into a smile as I started listing my favorites bands.
“Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold, Good Charlotte, My Chemical Romance, Papa Roach, Hollywood Undead, Blink 182 and many more. But to me, the best is Green Day” I said. “Do you know any of them?” I asked.

“Just by name, I’m not into that kind of music.” He explained, “I do like rock, but I like older groups like: Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Patti Smith, David Bowie (before 83), Morrissey, Arcade Fire, the Dandy Wharrols, the subways, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and more…” he said.

“I only know the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.” I said.

Silence fell between us before I decided to speak again.
“And you, why are you here by yourself?” I asked.

“I needed a smoke, and we can’t smoke inside the bar anymore, and plus Irish bars are always crowded. And I had too much on my mind, I was spoiling my friends’ fun…” he said. I turned my head to look at him and saw that he was looking at me too.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Adeline. Yours?”

“Nicola.” He said, keeping his eyes on me and he slide a hand in his jeans’ pocket.

“Will it sound weird if I asked you for your number?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’d sound weird. But I’ll give it to you…” I replied, taking my cell phone out of my pocket and looking through my contacts in search of my number. Because yeah, I don’t remember my number.

“I’m listening…” he said, looking at his phone.

“06 78 97 83 45” I said slowly, my eyes glued on the small screen.

“Okay thanks.” He whispered.

I looked at my phone, and got ready to put it back in my pocket when I saw an incoming call with an unknown number.

“Thanks…” I said, registering the number.

“No problem.”
I slide my phone back in its place.
“Well, I should probably go back, my friends might be drunk already and someone needs to make sure they can go back home.” I said, getting up and stretching my arms over my head. I blushed when my T-shirt rose a little and quickly dropped my arms and pulled at the T-shirt.

“I should probably go back too…” said Nicola. I smiled and started walking back towards the bar. I was about to pull the door open but Nicola was faster.

“After you…” he said. I smiled and mumbled a quiet thank you, without even glancing at him.

“My friends are over here…” he said from behind me.
“And I’m at the back.” I said.

“Well…” he trailed off. I turned around, about to say him good bye but my breath got stuck in my throat as I take in his features.

He had dark spiky hair, dark eyes, pale skin, freshly shaved. He was wearing a long black coat, dark blue skinny jeans, a tight black T-shirt and Creepers as his shoes. I tried to quickly gather myself together.

“I… huh. It was nice meeting you!” I said, my eyes nearly bulging out of my skull. It was clear that guy wasn’t from around here, guys like him don’t live in Caen.

“You too Adeline. Bye…” he said, with a smile before he turned around and headed back to his friends’ table.

“Oh my God…” I whispered as I headed back to my friends’ table. “I need a drink…”