Come Here and Save Me.

Part 7

Louis:

Out of all the girls around me with their body clinging dresses and thick mascara soaked eyes, there was only one standing out to me. One single girl stealing all of my attention. With all the bodies currently grinding closely together, this girl, in particular had a completely different demeanor to what you’d expect from those wasting their night away in some washed up London nightclub. I’d never even seen this girl before, so why was I so captivated?

Edging closer to her, the sudden anxiety she was currently phasing through became apparent in the enclosed atmosphere around her. I dropped onto the empty stool beside her petite waist, resting my elbows atop the bleached mahogany counter top and impatiently waited for the poor service the staff offered to acknowledge me; Silently examining the mysterious girl as I did so. Analyzing the way she sunk her teeth into the pink flesh around her violently bitten nails, the way her exposed sun kissed skin enveloped in goose pimples at every sudden breeze and the one discomfort about her that enthralled me the most - The frantic shaking of her tiny body. What was indicating her to feel this way?

My eyes skimmed over her once again, relaxing on her bloodshot eyes and their fixture upon the glass bottles opposite her.
There was no life within them, no glisten or shimmer like a usual teenage girl’s were. Instead, her hazel eyes held no sign of anything, no pain, no love, no feel whatsoever. She was either stoned and zoning out or drunk out of her mind. Either way, she was highly intoxicated by some sort of substance.

‘Are you okay?’ I croaked, finally tearing away my dumbstruck gaze.

The girl flinched slightly before tilting her head and shooting me one of the most beautiful smiles I’d ever come across.

‘I’m fine.’ She breathed in reply to my question. She ran a hand through her disheveled hair and then fully turned her body to face me.

The shaking had stopped now but there was still something extremely uneasy about her. Her flushed cheeks gave me the impression that they were well over their natural pink state and something or one had made them increase so heavily in color. ‘Actually,’ She paused slightly, reaching down to retrieve her small bag off of the floor. ‘I should be getting.’ Her voice flustering slightly. I said no more as she picked up her body and turned on her heel. I returned my interest to the bar in front of me, instantly realizing the cigarette box she’d left behind.

‘Wait! You’ve left-’ My call after her was immediately cut off by the loud bass thumping through the building.

I flicked open the cap only to see that there was absolutely no cigarettes inside, not even the bud of a leftover. I shook the contents upside down and a small plastic bag fell out to reveal the collection of pills in various shades of blue. From powder blue to Navy. She was intoxicated and now I knew the answer to what with; when your mother was a nurse it wasn’t hard to tell prescription meds apart and this girl, in particular was fixed to the pain killer known as morphine. My first instinct whenever I came across and addict or dealer was to run and never look back, but for some not-so-apparent reason, with this girl, my gut instinct told me that she was worth going back for. And I still had no idea why…

~~~~~~

‘Where did you get to last night?’ Harry quizzed, as he clasped a hand upon my shoulder from behind. Before he had chance to see, I stuffed the cigarette box into my pocket. Last nights minor encounter still reeling fresh on my mind. ‘I went out, had a few drinks. I was home by ten.’ I answered, hoping not to sound too mysterious.

‘Nothing too exciting…’ Harry sighed, as if expecting a whole wonderful story.

‘I don’t do anything too exciting, you should know this by now.’ I chuckled, turning the corner that leaded towards the bakery were heading. Whenever we were out, we’d always stop by for either the butterfly cupcakes or strawberry shortcake.

‘Okay, so I met this girl…’ He began before his sentence trailed to an abrupt end.

‘But?’ I asked, suddenly more intrigued. ‘Well, it’s basically her and her best friend and I have a feeling they are too involved with the hippie phases. I mean, why does one usually burn an incense burner?’ Harry asked, furrowing his brows.

‘I don’t know, I know what the answer you’re wanting is to block out the scent of marijuana but you know, some people just really love the scents they give off.’ I shrugged, hearing my heels click down the hollow alleyway. ‘There’s more, one two occasions - I’ve caught her drunk and zoning out. Yeah, I admit she is a little different from my ‘usual’ type but I believe there’s more to her than she lets on-’

‘Wait, so you’re assuming she’s an alcoholic? And how old is this girl?’ I began to gather almost anger at Harry’s sudden lack of respect.

‘She’s eighteen. That’s what I mean, she’s too young for this.’ I shook my head as we edged closer to the door of the bakery. Harry stepped aside in order to let me through, but just as I shuffled forward, I stopped dead in my tracks.

‘What? What is it man?’ I could just about hear Harry a midst my currently explosive thoughts. There she was, leaning against the counter, her chin resting on her palms as her brown eyes glistened over to us. She was definitely more refreshed this morning and her nails were now painted a luscious shade of pink which highlighted her naturally tanned skin. Her long hair draped over her shoulders, especially more perfected compared to the limp it had been last night. She was a completely different person.

‘Nothing.’ I shook my head once again, stalling over to the counter in which she stood behind. I waited for Harry to wander off and decide on which cakes we’d digest this morning.Her smile dropped as her eyes scanned over me. My eyes dropped to name tag hanging on the black blouse, just beneath her collar bone.

‘Good morning, Samantha…’ I breathed through tight lips. I couldn’t believe I was about to do this, but as per usual - I chose heart over head. I lifted a hand from under her chin and placed the box on to the palm, folding her fingers over it as swiftly as possible.

‘I believe this belongs to you…’ I added, spinning around and trailing over to where Harry stood.