Finding My Second Swan

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE
~ She was right there, and I walked away.
What a stupid fool I am! ~

   "Hey, Ragazzo, Scott wants to see you in his office."
When I look up, I see Bailey standing in the gym doorway.
With a sigh, I excuse myself from my new client. As I tell her to "Keep stretching," Bailey tells me, he'll take over.
"Oh, okay. Thanks, B."

I left them to it, and walk towards Scott's office. I'm surprised to see him today, especially since he just got married.
Never thought I'd see that day come, but hey, what do I know? I thought I found the one for me. Yes, we've established I'm not the one for her, but it still didn't stop me from feeling so angry about it. For weeks afterwards, all I wanted to do was hit someone, so I took it to the gym. Once there, I proceeded to hit the bag. I punched and kicked it like it was the one who barged their way into her room that night. I imagined it was Kayne for a while too. He knows where she is, but he won't tell me. He'll deny it, but I know he knows.

"Hey, boss, you wanted to see me?"
I ask when I open his office door. He's sitting at his desk, reading something on his laptop screen. When he looked up and sees me, he closed it.
"Hey, come on in, and take a seat."
With a nod, I take the seat in front of his desk.
"Is this going to take long? It's just I've got a client waiting. I-"
He shook his head, telling me it won't take long.
"The reason I've called you in here is that, we've noticed a few things lately... basically, you've been kicking back far too much. Sarah's on my backside, pushing me to let you go, kid.
Believe me, I don't want to do this, but the big boss has spoken. She wants you to either sort your shit out or-"
Knowing what he's saying, I cut in and finish that sentence.
"Get out?"
He nods, looking a little sad about having to do it.
"However, I've bought you a little time. But you need to pull it together, Nath. I don't know what's going on with you, but I'll assume it's a woman. Either way, I'm giving you a few weeks off with pay. I don't want to leave you in the shit, but I don't want my business going to shit either. So go home, get pissed and then sort your shit out. Then when you're ready, then and only then; come back.
I'd like to see your return with a new working attitude, please."

I'm not only in shock, I'm pissed off because he said I'm slacking. To be fair, my head is all over the place. I guess a few weeks off could be what I need to sort my shit out. And I could do with getting pissed out of my head. Not that I've not been doing that already. Sadly, it's a lot lately.
So that's what I did when I left his office. I hit my local pub. I didn't even go home to change. That's how bad it is.

***

   "Well, now... hello there, Mr Harriott. What brings you here and so early, too?"
Angie, the bar owner asked while pulling a pint for one of her punters.
"Oh, I've got myself a few weeks off work, so I thought; whatever shall I do with myself? Then I had a light-bulb moment. I thought, oh I know, I'll go spend time with Angie baby." I finish and winked, making her laugh.
"Oh, bless your heart. Well, I'm happy to see you again.
So, what can I get you... the usual?"
With a little nod, I tell her yes. She smiled and proceeded to pour a shot of vodka. That's followed by a pint.

I sit at the bar for a few hours while getting pissed, just like Scott told me to. Probably not the best advice, especially since I know I have a problem now.
Yet after another hour or two, I turn to see a woman sitting by my side.
I'm pretty pissed right now, so I have to squint my eyes to see who it is. The first thing I see is a head full of red hair. I instantly think of Anna from frozen and then my thoughts instantly move to Paige.
You're wondering why I used to call her Anna, aren't you? Well, Paige basically is Anna, with her attitude and her feistiness. She'd kick your balls and happily run away laughing about doing it. Not forgetting she'd style her hair, just like Anna's.
I loved her energy and her fire. She had a certain way about her. It was like... Well, put it this way; there was one day I took her out on my bike to go see the ducks at the park. We also took a loaf of bread to feed them.
So, we're sitting laid out on the grass, with her half lying over my chest while watching the ducks swimming around in the lake. Then she spots a couple of swans walking around.