Happy Hour (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 9

So I'm pretty much back to square 1 on my investigation. I update Sarah via text. 

She suggests I see if the anonymous follower has any tagged posts in his account. I'm annoyed at myself for not thinking of this but unfortunately there's barely a handful of posts - they're big group photos and the person who posted them all seems to favour blurry pictures over ones where you can, you know,  actually see the subjects. 

He could be in them but it's virtually impossible to tell. 

I've hit a dead end and I'm just going to have to accept it. Especially when there's a chance it really is just some random person.

So I hit the heart to like that one Instagram post - it is a good photo after all. Then I try to put it out of my mind.

The next week is busy anyway. We do our Edinburgh trip the following day, followed by my Friday night in the bar. Saturday is taken up by the gift shop and bar again, then on Sunday night we do an overnight in South Ayrshire. It's not a gifted trip, but a voucher deal Paige got me for my 32nd birthday. We take it easy, apart from making sure we grab some sunset photos. The Ayrshire coast often gives good sunset and that particular Sunday night is no exception.

I can't help but notice the anonymous follower likes my sunset post when I publish it the following day but I'm starting to believe I was being silly about it being Chris anyway. I have tons of followers I don't know after all. This is just another one of those. 

Tuesday I'm back in the gift shop and my boss Ally pops in to ask if I can work Friday/Saturday instead of Thursday/Saturday. I bite back a sigh as it means I'll be working from 9 until midnight both days since I have my pub shifts too, but Ally has always been good to me so I don't want to let her down. 

Plus it means I now unexpectedly have two days in a row off so I try to look on the positive side. It gives me more time to work on my own stuff… and on Thursday night I have dinner planned with some friends so it means I can actually put a bit of effort into getting ready rather than rushing straight from the shop.

I scrub up pretty decent for my dinner plans, I have to admit. It's a lot easier when you have several hours of free time to do a face mask beforehand and actually be able to take a straightener to your hair as well as erase your make up several times and start again. I so rarely have that gift of time so I do make the most of it. I opt for a lacy dark purple skater dress, teamed with a velvety black biker jacket and grey suede ankle boots. I like textures and sometimes I like to wear all of them at once!

I snap a mirror selfie. I feel like I'm trying to lure this anonymous follower out somehow as I post it on my Instagram, despite my doubts it is who I think it is. But it's almost like I can't help myself. It's like I'm putting on a show.

When I get that "like" pinging through it feels like an extra shot of adrenalin flying through my veins and that shocks me.

Then I shake my head at how ridiculous I am, and head out to meet my friends.