Finding Out the Only Thing Left to Lose Is Time

‘Austin!’ I jolted awake as Alan began to prod me repeatedly ‘Dude, we’ve landed.’ I glanced out the window, he was right, we had landed.
The band and I had come to England to record our new record, to try and find some inspiration from the British since we weren’t getting much of that back home.
With a soft sigh, I stood up and grabbed my bag from the hold above then followed Alan off the plane. I assumed that the others had gone to collect their cases already.

Once we had passed through everything and went to get our belongings we all met up outside the airport and got into a cab, heading off to the hotel.

‘Ugh, man I am so frickin’ jet lagged’ Tino groaned, we all murmured and nodded in agreement. I was used to being jet lagged, but I wasn’t going to sleep when we got to the hotel. I quite fancied a stroll around, to see if I could start getting some inspiration, y’know?

So once we got to the hotel and were checked into our rooms, I went to take a nice hot shower to freshen myself up. I always loved travelling, seeing the world was one of the perks of my job and meeting incredible people, knowing that I help them in some way or another.

‘You off out?’ Phil grinned as he emerged from his room just as I was leaving mine. I nodded and smiled ‘Yeah, man. Gotta start work straight away. I’m just itchin’ to get started!’

‘Have fun, dude.’ He laughed and walked off, to get food presumably. In a couple of strides, I was at the elevator and I got in. There were so many buttons that I had the urge to press them all but I resisted and pressed the ‘G’ button instead.

There was no elevator music in this one, which was a little dull but I got over it and walked out when the doors opened with a ‘ping’.

I wasn’t sure where I was going but I figured if I got lost, I could just ask someone how to get back here or maybe even get a cab so I let my feet carry me to a nice park - Hyde Park to be exact. It was beautiful so I perched myself on a bench and looked around at the surroundings. People were jogging, some were sat on the grass with their kids, some were even playing around the fountain.

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath letting the sounds fill my ears. Someone sat down on the bench beside me, causing me to open my eyes. It was a girl, she was quite short and had long brown hair that curled slightly at the ends, stopping just before her chest. She was pale but rather cute in her blue, red and white striped dress, light blue cardigan and turquoise toms. She had a red ribbon in her hair, too.
The girl was too busy texting to notice me, which I was glad of because I just couldn’t stop staring for some reason. I wonder what her name is?

Her fingers glided smoothly across the screen of her iPhone and her lips curved into a little smile. How adorable was that! She turned her head a little when I grinned at her smile. Her eyebrows raised and she blinked. ‘Er...can I help you?’

She was so British, it was great. ‘I’m sorry, I was just...um. Nevermind.’

The silence was awkward as she nodded and turned back to her phone, I so desperately wanted to say something else, her accent was beautiful and so fascinating. ‘I’m Austin Carlile.’ was all I could blurt out. I couldn’t ask her if she was having a nice day, no I just went ahead and introduced myself.

‘Maybelle Dean,’ She responded, much to my surprise. ‘Do you live out here or are you just visiting from America?’

‘Just visiting.’ I chuckled slightly. I loved the fact she was the one making conversation. I learnt a little bit about her and we sat talking for hours. She had never heard of me before, clearly because she got really confused when a young boy came up to me and asked for my picture which I was more than happy to take with him.

‘Do you know him personally? Why did he want your picture?’

I laughed and glanced at her ‘You ask a lot of questions, Miss Dean.’

‘I’m a very curious person, Mr. Carlile.’

‘Well, that’s a good enough excuse.’ Then she stood up and smoothed out her dress ‘Are you going?’ A frown took over my smile. I was enjoying her company a little too much.

‘I have to head home, feed my dog.’ She giggled. ‘How long are you out in England for?’

I let a shrug roll off my shoulders ‘Not sure, once we finished recording, I guess that’s when we go home.’

I pulled my phone out to check the time, forgetting it was still on American time. It should be 9AM now. She took my phone off me and began to type on it ‘What are you doing?’ I leant over to see what she was doing, then she took a selfie of herself, sticking her tongue out a little.

‘iMessage me.’ She winked and gave me my phone back then walked off.

She left me breathless as I watched her leave then I looked down at my phone, instantly smiling when I noticed she’d saved her number with her picture to it. Maybelle Dean with the little peace emoji next to it and a winking emoji, too.