Chapter 8

With a stomach full of food and a steaming cup of coffee in front of him he began to feel more human. The café was starting to fill up with drunks from the local bars and it was getting hotter and more uncomfortable the more people came in. When a rather pungent, obviously homeless sat down next to him though, he decided it was probably time to leave.

Squeezing awkwardly past the tramp, careful not to knock his watery cup of tea, he walked more confidently to the front door. The effects of the alcohol seemed to have worn off enough that he was now mildly maudlin, but could at least walk, and the cool outside air on his face on his face felt refreshing rather than incapacitating.

He stood for a second, letting the cold wind wash over him, weirdly pleasant after the stuffy moistness of the cafe. Across the street the cinema seemed to be kicking out after a late showing. He hadn't been to the cinema in ages, his friends were all coupled up and so any 'mate' time was spent down the pub, and it had been ages since he'd had a proper 'date' date. Maybe it was time to change that.

Glancing at the couples huddled outside the cinema he felt a pang for his youth, snuggling up in the back row of the cinema completely oblivious to anyone else, missing the film for the sake of a few kisses and a grope up her shirt. Most of the couples at this time of night didn't seem any older than teenagers, still in that stage where cuddling and holding hands in public was a massive achievement. He missed that innocence.

Staring enviously at the young lovers, his eyes were drawn towards one couple standing at the entrance to the foyer. She had her arms round his waist and her chin rested on his chest, staring adoringly up into his eyes, hanging on his every word. The boy was gazing down at her, one arm resting on the small of her back, the other holding a mobile phone, and while he was making a good attempt at appearing interested in what the girl was saying, the regular flashes of light from his phone gave him away.

He found himself feeling almost sorry for the girl, in love with a guy who was clearly more interested in whatever was on his phone than he was in her and he stopped to watch, something about her seeming achingly familiar.

She was dressed conservatively, blue jeans, not too tight, not too clingy, a long, dark duffle coat to protect her from the weather and dark shoes, maybe trainers, her long dark hair flowing loose down her back. She aroused all of his paternal instincts, making him want to go over and protect her from this dick of a boy who paid more attention to his phone than he did to her. Some boys just didn't value what they had.

A blue saloon pulled up outside the cinema and the boy looked at his phone before turning towards the car. The driver tapped impatiently on the steering wheel as she waited, windows wound down and blaring music into the night air. Disentangling himself from the cinema girl, the boy gave her a quick peck on the cheek before climbing into the passenger seat of the car and leaning over to give the driver a long kiss on the mouth. The car pulled away with a screech of its tires and the girl seemed to visibly shrink, pulling into herself as she hunched further into her coat and began walking along the high street.

With a shock, he realised the boy had left her to walk home on her own. Now his protective instincts kicked into full bore, in his book you never left a girl to walk home alone, especially late at night. He felt an unaccustomed spurt of rage at the the boy for leaving her here to drive off with some other woman, what kind of a dick was he for Gods sake. Feeling an overwhelming sense of responsibility, he started to walk in the same direction as the girl, for no other reason than wanting to make sure she got home safe. But still there was that nagging familiarity in the back of his mind.

As he went, he ran down his list of friends, wondering if perhaps she was the younger sister of one of them. She certainly looked young, her head hidden by the hood of her jacket as she walked dejectedly down the road. But he knew most of his friends sisters well enough to know that they wouldn't put up with that kind of crap from a guy. With any luck, he hoped they'd also had it drilled into them to not walk home on their own.

The girls he worked with were all far too materialistic to even consider dating a guy who didn't own their own car, so that cut them out. He supposed it might possibly be one of his cousins, but as he only saw them at weddings and funeral he didn't know how to tell.

As she thrust her hands deeper into her pockets and picked up her pace, he struggled to keep up, moving over to her side of the road to keep her in sight through the late night traffic. It was only when she started running that he realised his mistake. With a quick glance behind her she sprinted off, turning into a dark alley, and without a thought he followed her, wanting to reassure her that he meant her no harm.