Taking Chances

Ian was waiting outside my last class just like he said he would. To be honest, I was actually surprised he had stuck around and not wandered off after the nearly two hour art history lecture. It was nearing dinner time and if he hadn’t been hungry before then he probably was by now. He was leaning up against the side of the building as I walked out, calling out my name to get my attention. He was smoking a cigarette but as I got closer he snuffed it out and pushed himself away from the wall. He must’ve seen the wrinkle of my nose as soon as I saw him smoking. I wasn’t going to tell him to put it out but I was glad he did.

“Hey,” I greeted once I was close enough to him for him to hear me. “You didn’t have to wait around here, you know. You could’ve gone home or something.”

Ian shrugged and looked around us quickly. I did the same just to see what he was looking at and saw nothing. Making a not amused face, I couldn’t help but let the yawn I had been holding back for the last half of the lecture escape. That class was seriously a snore fest and I couldn’t wait for it to be over and done with. Few more weeks, I had to remind myself. At the same time, I stretched my arms up over my head and sighed at how good it felt. The hem of my shirt rose as well, exposing the bottom letters of the tattoo that sat under my stomach. I saw Ian looking at it and quickly I dropped my arms, my shirt going back to cover it and I adjusted my bag over my shoulder more so it actually sat how it was supposed to.

“So where is this place you want to go?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest as I stared over at Ian. I could feel my weight shifting over onto one leg, my hip jutting out as it did. Gavin called the stance my annoyed and impatient look, a way to get anyone to do what I wanted them to. Right now it was definitely more so impatient.

Ian looked me over, confusion spreading over his face at my little pose. He then slowly shrugged again and started to walk. I had no choice but to follow him when he did, staying a few paces behind him as he led me to wherever he wanted to take us. He was acting a little sketchy and I wasn’t quite sure how this was going to turn out. At least I know how to run fast if shit went bad. I hated looking on the bad side but he was seriously putting the thought in my head right now.

“Are you going to stay quiet the whole time or?” I ended up asking him as we headed off campus. I couldn’t be quiet for the life of me- only when I was drawing or absolutely had to be was the exception. I looked around some, seeing a few people that I knew and waved to them. My brief pause caused him to get further ahead than he already was and I had to book it to catch up to his long legs. Huffing, I looked up to Ian through my fringe that had fallen into my face and licked over my lips. “Guess so.”

That caused him to look down at me, a sort of half smile playing along his lips. Okay seriously bro, what is your deal? We kept staring at one another as we walked until he was the first one to look away. Ian took me by the elbow, pulling me with him to the right as we got closer to our destination step by step. He kept his hold on my elbow for a good minute or so, dropping his hand suddenly when he realized it was still there.

“Sorry,” he said after a moment. “I’m not good at conversation either, you see.” Obviously, I wanted to say. “But I’ll try.” Well, that was at least something. “You… were drawing earlier?” he asked, looking back at me as he walked in stride now.

“Yeah, I’m an art major. That’s for one of my finals, actually,” I told him. “Really big deal and I’m kind of stressed over it. We’ve got another week and a half till we turn it in and I’m nowhere close to being done.”

“Isn’t that a lot of time?”

“Actually, no,” I chuckled. It may have seemed like a lot of time in order to complete some silly drawing but with other schoolwork on top, plus two more drawing assignments, it was too short of a time limit. “I’ve got loads of other assignments and plus taking time off to appease my family and friends, it’s not that much at all.” I opted for going for the shorter version of my thought, sucking in my bottom lip for a few seconds after I was done speaking. “What about you? Are you in uni?”

“I graduated a few years ago. Graphic design,” he answered. Oh, so he was an artist in some sense of terms too. It was a little different but essentially the same, though I was shit at doing anything on the computer. Maybe with a tablet but I haven’t had the funds in order to buy one to test that theory. “I’ve got a job with a music magazine. I edit everything and put it all together so it can be looked over and then printed if it’s right.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Wow, that’s pretty awesome.” At that, I was truly amazed. I had no idea what I was going to do after graduating and here he was working at some magazine company within a few years of doing so. I had a lot of serious job searching to do soon. Ian took me by the elbow again which got me from my thoughts and once more we turned to the right. By now I could recognize where we were going. “The bay?” I asked curiously. Living in Cardiff, if you’ve been to the bay, you’ve been to it a hundred times. I was just wondering why Ian would take me to a place that everyone and their mothers went to.

“That’s right,” he told me. “But nowhere you’ve been before, trust me.” Once again, the sketchy red flag went up but I ignored it just because the man interested me though I had just met him. He was quiet, reserved, an artist, dressed in black and leather, and was all around different than me and who I hung out with. I shrugged and didn’t say anything else. Blind trust, I had it. It may or not have been a dumb move on my part later on.

We started to near the bit of the plaza that overlooked the water and instead of going onto the main part, Ian veered off to the left suddenly. He climbed up onto the ledge and I stopped in my tracks. “Ian, uhm, what are you doing?” I asked cautiously. He just smiled devilishly at me and jumped. “Ian!”

I ran over to the ledge, my heart going about a million miles per hour. Why would he just do that?! Clinging onto the concrete, I peered over, expecting to see him in the water but was met by those stunning green eyes staring back up at me instead. I jumped back out of fright and after regaining my composure I inched my way back to the ledge and looked over again. Ian was still looking up at me; a very amused look on his face like he knew that little move of his would freak me out. He was perfectly fine from the jump and was standing on a block of shore that I had never noticed there before. Looking to the side, I saw that it extended out and went under the plaza into a secluded beach under the dock type of location.

“C’mon Sean, it’s this way,” he said, motioning for me to come down with him. Yeah, easier said than done, Mr. Lithe On Your Feet. You weren’t the one who would trip down a perfectly clear hallway and end up with a black eye, were you?

Sighing, I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and climbed up onto the ledge. I looked around quickly to see if anyone was staring at me and then looked back down. Ian had crossed his arms, his look now becoming smug. I could tell he and Gavin would get along greatly. The jump wasn’t any more than five feet but it seemed like a long ways from where I was standing. Wanting to wipe that smug look from his face, I braced myself and jumped down. I landed on my two feet and then my balance went against me and I fell forward, catching myself though by planting my hands in the sand so that my arse was sticking up.

“I’m good,” I mentioned, pushing myself up and wiping my hands free of the sand. I adjusted my bag, swept my fringe from my face and straightened to my full height. “I’m good.”

“If you say so,” he smirked. “C’mon,” he repeated.

He started to walk and I followed yet again, my trainers digging into the sand in order to walk properly. Ian moved gracefully through the sand until we were under the plaza dock. He led me back a little further, taking me to a small bay that looked out into the water, away from the construction and the working area. It was completely deserted and I had absolutely no idea this place even existed. I was stunned actually. Because it was already so late once I got out of class plus the walk to get here, the sun was starting to set and it was casting all sorts of different colours around. The water reflected them and it seemed like it was glittering whenever the waves foamed up onto the beach. I pulled my bag from around my shoulders and dropped it to the sand, gazing out into the view.

“Nice, isn’t it?”I heard Ian ask from beside me. He had crossed his arms yet again and was turned slightly away from the water so he could watch me. “Kind of my own little hideout place. Only a few people know about it or that I even come here. If I just want to get away, have a little time and peace to myself, I come here.” He turned from me after that, head tilting to the side as he left to go into his own thoughts.

I nodded even though I doubted he saw me. “It’s… amazing,” was all I could say.

We stood there in comfortable silence for a couple of moments before I felt Ian take my wrist gently. I looked up at him a little wide-eyed and he gave a soft smile before pulling me forward. I grabbed my bag at the last moment, almost forgetting about it, as he started to walk. He showed me to a large rock that was nearby, plopping himself down on it as soon as we got there. I perched myself beside him and drew my legs up, placing my arms around my knees and setting my chin on one kneecap. We continued to just sit there without saying much of anything to one another. It was nice in that weird sense. I didn’t know much about the guy but here we were, watching the sunset and I already felt comfortable around him. Like I didn’t have to say anything in order for him to know the way I felt.

Soon enough after about an hour of sitting and random small talk, the sun did set and we were left in the soft glow of the moon on the water, throwing yellow, purple, and blue everywhere around us. Also in true Wales fashion, it got colder with the setting sun and since I hadn’t expected to be out at night that morning when I left my flat, I hadn’t grabbed a jacket so I was left in a thin, cotton t-shirt. I shivered and rubbed my hands along my upper arms to warm myself up. Ian moved beside me almost instantly, his arm snaking around my shoulders, his hand rubbing against my upper arm as well. It was such a simple gesture and I found myself leaning into him to keep warm.

It was all too soon though before we were interrupted from that moment. I didn’t hear anyone come up behind us, over the sound of the water, the shock absorb of the sand and just generally not paying any attention. I was too into what had been just the two of us to notice.

“Watkins!” A low, rough voice brought me to my senses and I jerked away from Ian to look at the newcomer. The dark haired man did the same, looking behind him in surprise. Guess he wasn’t expecting anyone either. “Watkins!” The man repeated, coming closer to where we were sitting on the rock. “Do you have my money?”

Did he have his money? What was he going on about? Ian slipped from beside me and the cool breeze was merciless now that I had no one to shield me. He went over to the man, meeting him before he could come any closer. At that moment, I slipped from the rock, standing awkwardly as I watched what went down in front of me.

“Do you have my fucking money?” the larger man asked again, this time in a more annoyed and impatient tone.

Ian looked back briefly over his shoulder to me, then back to the man in front of him. “No, I don’t,” he answered after some deliberation. “I’ll have it, though. Tomorrow.”

“Damn right it better be fucking tomorrow. It’s been two weeks, I expect you to keep up on your end or you know what’ll happen. You have twenty-four hours, Watkins. Twenty-four hours.” The man shot me a look and then smirked at Ian, turning on his heel and walking away from us.

Ian just stood there until he was out of sight. As soon as he was, he came back over to me, looking a bit worried. He grabbed me by the arm and started to drag me with him away from the bay.

“What did he mean, do you have his money?” I asked, somewhat panicked. Don’t know why I was, I wasn’t anywhere close to being involved with him but I still was. “Ian, what did he mean?”

The older man ignored me and kept on walking. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”