the next generation

The run

As he walked away I looked at him. He sat down at a table in the corner of the bar with one other guy. The other one looks slightly smaller but he has the same dark hair and strong jawline. He is probably the other brother Mary already told me about. As I serve other costumers I try to keep my head in the game. That was not a big succes. Why did he help me? Maybe he is the type of guy who always protects everybody. Maybe I should not think to much of it. Time went by as I had the feeling of being watched. I scan the room with my eyes and notice that the stranger is still looking at me. When our eyes meet he turns his head to his brother and I can see him say a view words. The brother turns his head to my direction as well, he looks at me, looks back at his brother and nods. What are they talking about? Are they judging me? I deside to join their conversation and with all my confidence I walk towards their table. "So gentlemen, I saw you look at the menu on the bar, can I get you anything?". I tried to look as convident as I could and forced myself to smile a little more seductive as I normally would. It is not clear to me why but I want to be near that one guy I met earlier this evening. "If your name is on the menu, then yes!" I hear the, probably yougher brother say to me with a big smile and a obvious wink. He must be the funny one of the two. His behaviour made me laugh and suddently I felt much more relaxed. "It's Elisabeth, but everybody calls me liz around here.". "Nice to meet the denzel in distress in person, my name is Joshua or Josh.". Joshua is looking at his brother who is looking at him with a dark stare. "Hi Josh! And who may my knight in shining armour be then?". Usually I'm not that bold but somehow I feel like it is okay to be upfront with him. "Happy." is the only reply I get from him. I look at him with a huge questionmark above my head. "Your eyes. Green means happy.". I can feel his gaze as he is trying to read my thoughts and feelings. It is true, when I'm excited or happy my eyes turn a green more clearly. I find it one of the better eyecolours in combination with my chestnut brown hair. "Correct, now you already know so much about me, but I do not know anything about you?". He leans back in his chair, looking relaxed and confident. "Nate". His short answer makes me feel unwanted and insecure again, I fiddle with the side of my T-shirt while becoming awkward under his pulling gaze. I want to stare deep in his eyes while I'm still to afraid to do that for more then two seconds. "You should not wear that again. It's like your boss is giving them permission to treat you that way" Nate tells me with annoyance in his voice. "I don't like to intervene on my boss's choices, there is not a lot of work in town for me". My answer seems to suprise him a bit. He did not respond to my answer at all, he just let it sink in. After standing at his table in silence for a minute I turn around and I start walking to another table to talk to other people. 

"Finally. Home.." I tell myself as I enter my house. I snuggle on the couch when my phone  starts ringing. Mary's name appears on the screen. I put her on speaker phone while still laying as a sack of potatoes. "What's up Mary.". 

"Aaah! Tell me  everything".

"Tell you what?" I did not understand what her excitement was about. 

"Don't play dumb with me honey, the new strangers in town! I saw you!"

"Do we have to do this now? I want to go to bed". 

"I will spam you untill you spill, so yes it has to be now.".

I love Mary but she can be a hand full. I start telling her the events of the night, trying to sound unbothered by it. I really wish I was unbothered but somehow my mind decided that this was the right moment to go crazy. I keep replaying parts of my conversation with Nate in my head as I think about his lips, his strong build and low voice filled with testosteron. When I tell Mary that his father has met my grandmother and that Nate told me to stop by to meet him, she went nuts. 

"Liz, he just invited your awkward ass into his home!".

"I'm not going. He was just being polite.". I can hear a annoyed sigh. 

"We are going. You can act all cool but I saw your body language in the bar when you were talking to him. You want the guy. Virgin or no virgin. You want him and I think every girl in town will want this guy. He is sexy and unknown. You should grab your chance to meet him while you still can. If he starts to think that you may not like him, he will go to the next girl with pretty eyes and a nice body. Let's be honest. You have to take this chance to get close to him.".

I know she is right. I know someone like him will not go unnoticed and as Mary was rambling on the thought of losing him already sneaked up to me. I don't want to lose him. I don't know why but I just don't.

"Alright, but we will do this my way. WE will go the day after tomorrow, in the morning. We will go for a run together and just casually drop by for a minute and see how it goes from there.". 

"Fine with me. I will pick you up at 10.00. Bye hun".That's it then. Time for bed. 

 The next day was a slow, boring day. I had to do some chores around the house which took up most of my time. I only went in town to do some groceryshopping and while I was doing that I noticed that I kept looking around. I hoped to see Nate or Josh walk around somewhere, maybe find out if they would be happy to see me again. It did not happen. When all the work was done I made myself dinner and ate alone. I need to find some running clothes which are not repulsing for when I drop by the house tomorrow. Most of the time I run with some sloppy clothes on, simply because it is easy and I'm usually not the type of girl who tries to impress someone. I like to be a little under the radar and let Mary be the outgoing one. I went through my closet and found a dark purple legging which would go well with my black sportsbra. It would be hot tomorrow so I decided I would not put on an extra T-shirt. After sorting out my outfit I began to feel at ease about the run and went to bed satisfied. 

I wake up hearing my doorbell ring a hundred times. Why does she always do that? Even in the freaking morning. "DOOR IS OPEN" I yell out of the window. Just when I was dressed Mary barged in with a huge smile upon her face. "I hate running, but today, I might love it" she says. I tie my hair and put on my running shoes. "Let's go then..". While running I notice that I can't relax as much as I normally would. Most of the days my morning run helps me comfort my mind in a long lasting peace, but today every step I take makes me more aware of how close I am to the house. While we are marching on the sounds of reconstructions are getting louder and more clear. Suddenly Mary stops running, so I stop as well and turn to her. "Feeling okay?" she asks me as she is looking at me with a little more interest. Mary knows I don't do stuff like this a lot, she knows that I'm nervous as hell. "It's okay.. I just hope we can see Josh or Nate immediatly, so we are not standing there waiting like two lost idiots". She chuckles at me and starts to run again. "Let's move then!". We are entering a side of the woods where I do not find myself a lot. The trees are a lot closer together which makes it harder to run in a straight line or follow a path. After a view minutes we can see the house and the end of the woods. The house is surrounded with green grass and protected by the border of threes. It really is beautiful. The built must be century's ago. I do not know a lot about architecture but the house screams class, money and somehow also family. We enter the grass through the border as we stop running and start walking towards the house.