Chapter One (Niall)
1388 Words
« Come on, man ! You can tell me ! »
I sighed. Angus was still going on about this but he wouldn’t believe what I kept repeating for the past hour.
« I am supposed to believe that you slept from Saturday night until this morning ? »
I understood him. I could barely believe that I actually slept this long without even waking up. But I wasn’t able to remember a thing. The end of Saturday evening was nothing more than a blur memory. I didn’t even remember how I got to bed.
« I am telling you the truth, Angus. I am sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear. »
« You must have been really exhausted », pleaded Esmée
She was holding a cup of tea, using it to warm her hands as the weather was starting to get a bit chilly these days. Her long pale blond hair was braided and she seemed a bit more pale than usual. Her deep blue eyes were clearly worried. She was always like that, paying tremendous attention to others but never returning the favour to herself. I didn’t want her to worry for me though so I offered her a big smile.
« Probably yeah but now I’m not anymore so there’s nothing to worry about, really. »
« You would tell me if you were with a woman all weekend, wouldn’t you ? », insisted Angus, squinting. « ‘Cause you know I would never judge, right ? »
Esmée’s cheeks were bright red as a brief glipse of memory crossed my mind. Long light brown hair, well-rounded pink lips.. I was caught off guard and didn’t react immediately. Big mistake.
« See ? You’re not denying ! »
He was rejoicing in, shaking his finger at me. I pushed back his hand, quite pissed with his attitude. Angus was my best friend for a long time now. I didn’t have a memory where his curly hair wasn’t involved. But something I was really sick of his attitude.
« I am not like you », I objected
My friend was sadly known for his good looks, his bad humour and his poor taste in relationships. I understand why he is so popular at uni. He is tall and charming, and there is this charisma around him that drives girls crazy. I’ve seen it so many times. The thing is Angus is not the type to like to settle down. He likes to say that he is too much of a « free spirit ». A polite way to say that he enjoys flirting around way to much to give up on that.
Most of the time, people struggle to understand why we are friends but I think it’s because we balance each other. I keep him grounded enough and he gives me occasions to be a little bit more carefree.
« Okey, I am giving up », sighed Angus. « But Niall, if I discover that you lied to me.. »
I turned my back at him, finishing cleaning the food truck. I needed to be perfectly neat before I head up to school. This was my routine: waking up to prepare the truck, working from 11 to 16 and then going to school until night, working all day on weekends. That wasn’t perfect but that paid the bills. It was exhausted though, so Esmée was probably right: I literally passed out out of exhaustion.
I was done cleaning and my friends were done eating when I felt the urge to rise my head. A young woman was looking at me from across the street. When she noticed that I saw her, she came into our direction. Or maybe she was coming here from the start and I was being paranoid. I knew her, I was sure of it now.
« Hi Tommie ! », said Esmée with a big smile. « What are you doing here ? »
Was it me or she seemed a bit embarrassed ? It’s not an expression I’ve seen on a face before. We crossed path several times in the past. We’ve being going at the same university though our timetable were completely different. However, everybody knew who Tommie Sinclair was. She was a bit little like a mysterious rock star. There always has been something truly appealing about her, no one could miss that. Still, I’ve never seen her with any friends. She always wandering around alone, surrounding herself with mystery. Obviously, people didn’t need much to start talking. Why was someone so cool and so beautiful without any friend or boyfriend ? Many tried but she always told them to get lost.
It was the first time that I saw her so close and she was even more attractive than I thought: she was beautiful. She had a babydoll face with heart lips and vivid sharp blue eyes. She managed to look fierce and delicate at the same time. How was that even possible ? Long light brown hair was surrounding her face. She caught me staring and I awkwardly pretended to be cleaning an invisible spot.
« I.. was angry suddenly and felt like grabbing something to eat ? But it’s late though, I understand. I better get going. » « It’s okey, I said as she was already leaving. I always have leftovers. »
« No, really. Don’t bother. »
« I can’t let someone starve, please. It’s just in the fridge. »
Before she would protest more, I opened it and grabbed a chicken mango chutney wrap that I handed to her. She looked at me a few seconds before taking it, thanking me. When we accidentally touched, I felt electricity spark. Litterally. What the.. she quickly pulled back her hand and asked:
« How much do I owe you ? »
« Oh you’ll pay next time. »
« This is too much », she protested « Well, I don’t feel like pulling the till out one more time so.. »
I was pretending but who cares ? I saw her hesitate for a few seconds. Clearly she wanted to refuse, I could tell by the way she was crossing her arms, but she didn’t know how.
« Ok. I’ll come back then. Thanks again. See you, Esmée. »
Esmée smiled and waved her hand at her but something was off about her too. Not that I paid much attention, I must admit. I was entirely focused on the woman that was leaving. I felt like.. I could literally sense her leave. What was wrong with me ?
« Can you believe that ?! »
I put my attention back on Angus who was checking his head in disbelief.
« She just paid zero attention to me ! Like, not a look, not a word.. Nothing ! »
I looked at him like he had two heads. Could you actually believe that guy ? Sometimes I wonder how he can be school smart and so stupid at the same time.
« She was here for food », said Esmée. « It’s nothing personal. She only talked to me because we’ve known each other for a long time. »
« Nah, she was all eyes for him », he accused, pointing his finger at me again. « s****l tension was up the ceiling. Was she the one you spend the weekend with ? Is it the real reason she was here ? To see you ? Well done giving her a second rendez-vous later. »
« You’re delusionnal », I said while locking the food truck. « Esmée, do you want me to walk you home ? »
It was an habit we had. Esmée was living close to the campus and she enjoyed walk home. Unfortunately, she often crossed path with pretty insisting men who could not take no for an answer. From the moment I heard about it, I made it my personal duty to make sure that she would go home safely.
« It’s really sweet of you but I’ve got to meet friends to study. »
« Okey, I’ll see tou later then. »
« You don’t ask me ? » whined Angus
« No, I’m fed up with you. Go to hell. »
And I just left.
- Writer
