Chapter 2 - "Can I buy you a drink?"

I was standing in front of my mirror, delicately applying mascara, when my phone buzzed. I looked down and saw Matt's name flashing on the screen. Immediately my heart sank. Nevertheless, I put down my mascara brush and opened it, trying to remain positive. Unfortunately, my instincts were correct.

-Hey I'm really sorry but can't do this afternoon anymore. Sorry xxx

I felt like throwing my phone across the room in a mixture of frustration, disappointment and sadness. Why did he always cancel at the last minute? Part of me felt like I should ignore the text and leave him waiting for a reply. I waited around for him enough. He deserved to do some waiting of his own. But I couldn't; I needed to know when I could next see him. So I typed out a reply.

-Well when can you do then?

It took a while for him to reply, which annoyed me even more, and I should have guessed what he was going to say anyway really.

-Tomorrow? Xxx

Tomorrow. Tomorrow was when I was supposed to be playing tennis against Sam. I actually had no intention of playing tennis tomorrow, but Matt obviously believed that by suggesting that I come over, I'd cancel on Sam. If he wanted to believe that then fine. At least he'd be less likely to cancel on me again.

I sent him a text saying that I could do tomorrow, and then I rang Kat. She answered almost immediately.

"Hey, I know I'm the world's worst friend," I began. "But are you still free tonight?"

"Of course. What happened with Matt?"

"What do you think?" I asked bitterly. "He cancelled on me. Can I rant at you tonight? Over drinks?"

"I'm not old enough, Izzy. That's just cruel."

"I'll buy you one."

"Criminal..." she sang playfully down the phone.

Being underage had never deterred Kat from drinking in the past, but she knew better than to expect to get served in a bar, especially when staff were so strict on IDs these days.

"Please, Kat? Or you could come round here? I'll get a bottle of vodka..."

"Are you that upset?"

"I'm not upset. I'm just fed up. And you always cheer me up. Besides, I feel like getting drunk. Matt's always out getting drunk, so why can't I do it once in a while?"

"Maybe because he once told you that you shouldn't do it in case someone takes advantage of you? And then you felt bad. And then you stopped drinking. And then you stopped going out in general. And then—"

"Okay," I snapped, to cut her off. "I get your point. So are you coming out or what?"

"Do you actually want my company? Or are you just trying to defy Matt?"

"Yes, I'm trying to defy Matt. But I want your company to do it. Doesn't that count for something?"

"Why don't you invite Sam?" Kat asked in a teasing tone.

I sighed. "Please, don't. Not you as well. Matt has already given me the third degree on him."

"God, Izzy, he is such a dick. I don't know why you put up with him. And don't start with the whole because I love him story, because we both know you don't—"

"Can we discuss this tonight?" I interrupted. "Eight o'clock? The bar?"

"Sure. I plan to actually talk some sense into you this time."

"Okay," I replied, knowing she meant it. Kat never wasted an opportunity to express her disapproval of my relationship. "I'll see you at eight."

I disconnected and sauntered downstairs. 

"Are you off?" Dad asked me as I tried to sneak past.

"Yeah. I'll be back late."

"Not too late. Take care."

I didn't want to admit that Matt had cancelled again. Even though I knew what he was doing was wrong, I always felt the need to defend him in front of my dad. It was no secret that my parents disapproved of Matt, and I completely understood why, but that's because they didn't see what he was like when it was just the two of us. They didn't see what a good boyfriend he could be; they only heard about the times he treated me not so well.

-

Kat was very rarely on time and so I sat down at the bar and ordered a drink to occupy myself until she arrived.

"Got ID?" the barmen asked in a bored tone. 

Apparently he was used to underage girls trying to buy themselves drinks. Trying not to appear smug, because he quite obviously believed I was underage, I handed over my ID. He studied it and then handed it back as he began to make up my drink.

As I waited patiently, I became aware of a group of lads, sitting at the far end of the bar, who kept looking over at me. Feeling vulnerable, I twisted my chair so my back was to them. Hopefully they wouldn't assume I was playing hard to get. The last thing I wanted was hassle. I checked my phone for the time. It was eight o'clock now. Hurry up, Kat.

In an attempt to keep myself busy, I ended up drinking the whole of my drink in under ten minutes. Kat still hadn't appeared. She truly was unbelievable.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

The voice startled me and I dropped my phone, which I'd been using to check the time once again. It clattered against the hard floor, sliding out of sight. I found myself face to face, or rather face to chest, with a guy who was watching me with an amused expression. 

Frowning, I glanced over my shoulder at the lads. Surely I'd have noticed if one of them had got up to come over? They were all still there, though, so I could only assume this other man was here alone. When I turned back to him, he was bending down to collect my phone.

"Thanks," I mumbled, taking it from him and quickly shoving it into my bag.

"So," he said, leaning against the bar as his blue eyes skimmed over me. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"I, uh, I'm actually meeting someone. Sorry."

He ran a hand through his blonde hair. "I've been watching you constantly check the time for the last half an hour. Sorry to break it to you, but I think you've been stood up."

I considered myself a relatively shy person who wasn't very good in social situations with people I didn't know, but something about that comment got to me. Maybe it was because I actually had been stood up at one point today. Or maybe it was the patronising insinuation.

"I haven't been stood up," I said. "I'm waiting for my friend."

He smiled knowingly. "Ah. Is your friend always so late?"

"Yes, she is, actually." I tried to hide my defensiveness, but it seeped through in my clipped tone. "Time-keeping isn't one of her strengths, but she's reliable, so..."

I angled my body away from him, but he didn't take the hint.

"Can't help thinking she'd be more reliable if she turned up on time." He sounded amused. 

Obviously he didn't believe a word I was saying, and I didn't blame him; I wouldn't believe me, either. After Matt's rejection, though, I wasn't in the mood for taunting, so I ignored him. 

"Look, I'm trying to do you a favour here," he said. "Let me keep you company. I'm not asking you to come home with me. It's just one drink."

"I'm fine by myself." I tried to stay polite, but a breath of disbelief spilled past my lips when he took a seat beside me. 

"You're sitting at a bar alone. There are a group of boys over there who are quite obviously biding their time before making a move. Do you wanna be by yourself when that happens?"

"My friend will be here soon."

He chuckled. "Of course she will."

My phone vibrated from within my bag and I reached in to pull it out, fumbling to quickly open the message. 

Kat: Almost there. Grab me a drink?

"Is that your date cancelling?" the guy asked casually.

"No. It's my friend, telling me she's on her way." I waved to the bartender. "Could I have another drink, please?"

Blonde-hair-and-blue-eyes plucked his wallet from his back pocket. "I'll pay for it," he told the bartender.

The bartender looked him up and down but didn't request ID. Trying to be subtle about it, I let my eyes roam over his body as I tried to guess his age. He couldn't be that much older than me, but his broad shoulders and muscular forearms suggested he spent more time in the gym than school. Or maybe he was an athlete. That would explain the tan. 

"Hey! So sorry I'm late! You haven't been waiting long, have you?"

A breathless Kat rushed up to me, throwing down her bag and removing her coat. Her eyes fell onto the man by the bar, whose name I still didn't know, and they lit up with interest.

"She's been waiting far too long," he told Kat, with a smooth smile. "But luckily she had great company." He shot me a wink and I simply frowned in return.

"Look, my friend is here now. You can go. And I'll pay for the drinks."

"No, he can stay. I don't mind." Kat titled her head to the side and smiled.

I rolled my eyes. I didn't know whether this was Kat being flirty or friendly, but either way it was pretty obvious I didn't want him to stay.

"Kat, I don't even know his name."

"True," he said. "She wasn't interested in getting to know me."

"She has a boyfriend," Kat said as an explanation. "And she's far too loyal."

"Too loyal?" I repeated. "How can you be too loyal?"

"Too loyal compared to what he deserves."

"Sounds interesting," the guy said, propping his elbow on the bar. "Why are you too loyal?"

"It doesn't concern you. I just really want to have a proper discussion with my friend, if you don't mind."

"Oh, I don't mind at all," he said casually, leaning back in his seat, clearly displaying that he wasn't going to leave any time soon. "Discuss away."

I opened my mouth to object but Kat beat me to it. "So, are you here with friends, or...?"

Typical Kat, seizing any opportunity to interact with a guy... It looked like our girly evening was slowly crumbling to pieces.

"No I'm here alone. I just moved back to town."

"I didn't think I recognised you." Kat beamed, as if not only was this great news, but she also knew every person who lived here. "So are you gonna be working here?"

"Studying. At the local school."

"School? You look way older." 

Oh, Kat... Dial it down a notch.

"I'm nineteen."

"Were you kept back a year? Or retaking the year?" she asked.

"I spent a year abroad," he explained, waving his arm in dismissal as though this point was insignificant. "Something to do with my father's work... So I'm finishing this year instead of last."

"Where abroad?"

"Italy."

Kat nudged me, much harder than necessary. "Hear that, Izzy? Italy! Is that why you've got such a nice tan? Honestly, I thought you were, like, a surfer or something when I first saw you. Tall, handsome, blonde hair... We don't have many of them here."

Give me strength...

"Many what? Surfers, or handsome guys who are tall with blonde hair?"

A flirty chuckle allowed a brief pause in the interrogation, so I latched onto the opening. 

"Though I hate to break up the conversation, I thought we were gonna talk, Kat?"

"Oh, yeah! But he's a guy... Maybe he'll back me up?"

"I'll be happy to back you up," he said. I rolled my eyes. "Back you up with what?"

"That she's dating a loser and needs to drop him fast."

I scowled at that, not appreciating her direct, inaccurate approach to describing Matt. 

"He's not a loser, Kat. That isn't why we were gonna have this conversation."

"I'm just saying you can do much better. He doesn't treat you well enough."

"He treats me fine."

"He keeps cancelling on you! That isn't fine, Izzy. You shouldn't put up with it."

I glanced across at our male companion. Surprisingly, he didn't look smug at the revelation that I had actually been stood up. He was frowning slightly, almost in concentration.

It seemed that Kat wasn't willing to accept that I didn't want to discuss my personal life with a stranger, and so my defense mechanisms kicked in as I attempted to justify the relationship that my friend was so hell-bent on insulting.

"Well, what about the good things?" 

"Like what? Like how he treats you like a queen when you're alone? It doesn't take a genius to work out why, Izzy."

That was the final straw. My anger bubbled over and suddenly I didn't feel like talking to Kat. Most of the time I appreciated her straight-talking and her honesty. Today I just wasn't in the mood for it. Maybe I was already wound up, but suddenly I just wanted to go home, aware that Kat was using my situation as a way to show-off in front of the guy beside me. I slid off my stool and reached for my coat and bag.

"Hey," she said, standing up and grabbing my wrist. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"I'm going home. Maybe you two can hook up, huh? He tends to prey on girls alone at bars."

I'd barely gotten fifty metres down the street when I was pulled back, causing me to stumble into a solid wall of muscle.

"Oops, my bad. Sorry."

"Leave me alone." I yanked my wrist free from Bar Guy's gentle grasp.

"You're upset. I'm not gonna let you walk down dark streets at night when you're upset. What kind of gentleman would do that?"

"You're not a gentleman so don't feel obliged," I snapped.

"Isobel, I'm hurt." He folded his arms, but his eyes were still playful.

"How do you know my name?"

"Because your friend just called you Izzy. Unless you're called... Isabella? Maybe I'll just call you Bella. Does anyone call you that?"

"No."

"Great, so I'll be the only one." His cheeks dimpled as his lips tipped up into a pleased grin.

"You're talking like we're going to be seeing each other again."

"We will. At school."

In my haste, I'd forgotten that small fact. I sighed to myself. "Right."

"And besides, Bella means beautiful in Italian, so it's very relevant."

Despite my best intentions, a smile escaped me. It hadn't been a smarmy comment, and he hadn't said it flirtatiously. It was sweet and softly spoken, like he'd wanted to separate the genuine compliment from the playful banter.

"I didn't catch your name," I said as a peace offering. 

"That's 'cause I didn't throw it." He winked.

"Original," I said dryly. I should have known the seriousness wouldn't last long.

"I'm Nathan."

I tried to think of a quick-witted reply but nothing came to mind. "Well, see you at school maybe, Nathan."

"Do I get to meet the boyfriend? You know, check out the competition..."

"There's no competition."

He winked again. "Why, thank you."

"That's not what I meant. Anyway, bye."

"Hey!" He jogged to catch up with me. "I meant what I said about not letting you walk home alone."

"I've done it a thousand times before. I'll be fine. It's not dangerous around here."

But he proceeded to walk beside me anyway, falling into step to match my pace. 

"We don't have to talk," he said. "I'm just trying to do something nice for a girl who's had a rough day."

I sighed and decided not to talk, just to see whether he meant it. Apparently he did because he didn't open his mouth again until we reached my street. 

"This is me," I said. 

I could tell he was going to say something inappropriate because his mouth twisted into a small smirk.

"And to think that earlier on I said we wouldn't be going home together."

"Goodnight, Nathan."

"Buonanotte, Bella."

--

Thank you for reading :)xx