Welcome to Strangely

Two days ago, in a town in the North of Ireland, Jenny was standing in a corner at her local pub. Her elbow rested on the bar counter to her side, and she held the purple slash pink slash green drink in her other hand. She had not yet taken a sip, feeling nervous tasting alcohol for the first time. She was here with her friend, Veronica and Veronica’s boyfriend, Karl.

Jenny wished with all her heart it could have been just her and Veronica, seeing it was the first time she had stepped over the threshold of a pub. It was a week past her eighteenth birthday and even though her parents knew where she was, she still had a strict curfew of ten o’clock, so she wanted to make the best of the time she had. Her parents were firm believers that running the streets until God knows what hour only bred more people depended on benefits. They wanted Jenny to use her God-given talents to become so much more and Jenny shared their dreams.

Now, she was standing here listening to Karl going on and on to Veronica about his shelf-packing job at the local supermarket. Veronica looked interested. They had only been going together for two months, so it was still young love, and everything was new and exciting.

Then, across the room, Jenny saw him and for a second, maybe two, she had a feeling that the fabric of her life was rippling. She had had a crush on him since primary school, then she was accepted at Grammar and their paths never crossed again. His hair was auburn brown, the glint of the dull lights in the pub on his hair emphasised the red hues, and it was still cut in the same style. From all the way over here, she could see his amazing blue eyes and it looked like while he was away, living his life, he had been going to the gym regularly.

As Veronica and Karl continued to talk, Jenny studied him across the room, his face, his body, and when she imagined him naked, just for a second, she felt her cheeks warm up. Once the image flashed in her mind, she could not stop herself, though. She imagined his hands touching her breasts, her stomach, her hips...

Then, his eyes caught hers and all of a sudden, the chatter and noise in the pub faded away and it was just the two of them.

Jenny felt an intense excitement when she saw him move away from the crowd of people he was standing with. He edged past the crowd which separated them, but she did not want to get her hopes up. Surely, he was not crossing the room to get to her. Was he?

When he reached them in the corner of the pub, he smiled a brilliant smile, and Jenny smiled in return.

“Hey,” he said.

Jenny replied, “Hey.”

“Karl,” Sebastian said, turning to face him. “Why don’t you ask Veronica to dance?”

Veronica eyed Jenny concerned. “Would you mind?”

“Not at all,” Jenny replied.

Karl smiled and he took Veronica’s hand, pulling her with him to the small dance floor on the far side of the bar counter.

“Veronica and Karl look happy together,” Sebastian said, watching them walk away.

Jenny nodded her head a little. “It looks that way.”

“You don’t think so?” With a questioning look on his face, he turned to look at Jenny.

“I think two months isn’t long enough to know if you’re happy in a relationship or not.”

He raised his eyebrows a little as he looked her over, and then he smiled a crooked smile. “You’re all grown up. The last time I saw you, you were… What? Ten or eleven and now you’re standing here in my local as if you belong.”

“Time stands still for no man,” she said, feeling indignant.

“I saw you checking me out,” he joked.

Jenny felt mortified. She stood up a little straighter. “You saw that?”

“How could I not, Jenny?”

Jenny looked down embarrassed.

“But only because I was checking you out from the moment you walked in with Veronica and Karl.”

Jenny did not know what to say, so she brought the glass up to her lips to take a sip but then let her arm go back to the position it had been in all night.

He asked, “So, Jenny, what do you like to do for fun?”

“I’m having fun.”

“No, you’re clearly not.”

“What gave it away?” She dared a glance up at him.

“Since you’ve come in and got yourself that monstrosity of a drink, you’ve barely said two words, twirled that glass around in your hand so many times you’ve probably messed up the perfect balance it was supposed to be when it was created.”

Jenny sighed. “I just thought it would be different. More exciting.”

“Being in a pub?” He chuckled. “Having a drink?”

“People always make it look like so much fun,” she sulked.

“Seen enough yet?”

“I’ll stay a bit longer, see if it gets better.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” He asked, leaning closer to her. The whisper of his breath brushed against her cheek.

Frozen in place, feeling like her stomach just imploded, her legs threatening to run a mile, even if this was the only place she ever wanted to be, she said with a tiny hitch in her voice, “Okay.”

There was a pause.

“I like you, Jenny. Since a long time.”

Jenny took a small step away from him. Years and years of her parent’s words of advice and counsel were swirling in her head accompanied by a bright, red light which also spun in continuous warning circles. “I’m not looking for a romantic relationship,” she apologised.

He looked puzzled. “How come?”

“School has to come first.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Well, then let me ask you something.” He leant even closer to her. “Do you find me attractive?”

“Seriously?” Jenny laughed nervously.

“Do you?” He asked with a serious look on his face.

“I suppose,” Jenny replied, feeling her cheeks heat up again.

He lifted his hand and let his finger graze her lip.

Jenny closed her eyes.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he whispered as he dropped his finger away from her lips.

Jenny opened her eyes.

“Would you like to get to know me, Jenny?” He smiled a seductive smile.

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Don’t I already know you? From when we were at Primary together and then from all the gossip, I hear about you, I think I know you pretty well.”

He smirked. “I meant to say would you like to get to know me better? The real me?”

Jenny laughed amused. “Is the real you any different?”

His hand came up to clasp his chest. “That hurt.”

“From what I heard; you do all the hurting.” Jenny frowned.

He held his hand to her cheek. “I’m not that guy. Not anymore.”

Jenny shrugged her shoulders as if she did not care whether he was or not. She could not help it, though. She liked him, always have and him telling her he liked her since a long time ago, made her not want to think of her future, her parents, what other people say about him. Although she knew it was against her better judgement, she wanted to get to know him better. Even if, deep down, she knew the truth. She knew he would hurt her.

She turned to the counter and put her glass down. “I think I have to go to the Ladies.”

“And now you’re running.”

“No, I really do need to go.”

He sighed. “Tell me what you’re thinking right now.”

Jenny shook her head. “I can’t.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

Jenny remained quiet. How could she tell him she was afraid to lose all her dreams, all her goals for a fling which most probably would leave her with a shattered heart.

“I have a feeling when you leave to go to the toilet, you’ll be slipping out the side door and I really want to see you again.”

Jenny still gave him no answer.

He smirked. “I’m going to make this really simple for you, Jenny. I want you.”

His words shocked her. He was so forthcoming with what he wanted. He was so self-assured of himself, it made her even more nervous to tell him she felt the same about him. “I’m really sorry, but it just won’t work.”

He scoffed. “I don’t believe you. You don’t know how to get off your pedestal long enough to realise you want me too.” He surprised her when he cupped her face in his hands and gave her a long, passionate kiss.

Her breath quickened and her back arched as his hand caressed it. When he broke the kiss, he smiled. “One date.”

“What?” Jenny croaked.

“One date is all I want and if I can’t change your mind about me… Then our paths won’t cross again, ever.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.”

“That’s it? One date?”