This Time I will stay [English version]]

Chapter 2 - Eric

She was there.

Obviously.

In the last period I had not attended the parties in that area very little, running Verne or Saffron.

I had taken refuge behind the fact that by now I had quickly climbed the heights in my working environment and that a boss certainly could not mix with stoned kids, pushers who were busy satisfying the requests of various customers or street kids hungry for money who did not wait other than cleaning up the pockets of some unwary.

Saffron and Verne had pretended to believe it, raising no objection, but from their looks it was obvious that they hadn't bought it in the slightest.

Perhaps it was precisely this attitude of their almost pitying, which if it had been manifested by someone else in the group I would have gladly done my best to make them disappear with my fists, to goad my pride and push me to take part in that evening.

Nothing too demanding, just some good music and decent alcohol, maybe a couple of pretty girls.

Something that distracted me.

For the first part of the evening the plan had also worked.

I had chatted with a couple of high school kids, interested in scrapping enough cash to pay for college and take the curtains out of that godforsaken hole once and for all, downed a few beers and then as if by magic she had saddled Mary on my arm. .

Or at least I was reasonably convinced that it was called that.

I had forgotten his name exactly half a second after he said it. Yet it seemed she didn't particularly mind my being so aloof. Most of the girls who had been buzzing around me for a while were not interested in me or in romantic gestures or in being treated in a special way. It mattered who I was, what position I held, and that everyone knew that if I frequented them then they too were automatically important people.

Nothing less true, but who was I to break their expectations?

- Eric? -

I turned to her, realizing that by the way she was looking at me she was waiting for my answer.

I had been so caught up in mulling over to myself that I had no idea what he had been chirping up to now.

It couldn't be anything too important anyway given the thickness of the type.

- Sure no problem. -

- Perfect -, she smiled happily, - then as soon as Candice finishes telling me what she must I go back to look for you. -

He just nodded, deigning a quick glance at Candice.

Anything. Even if she had introduced us or had already seen her around, she had an absolutely common face and the rest of her certainly did not help to differentiate her in some way: skimpy clothes, high heels, red lips, face made up in desperation. attempt to appear bigger and sexier.

On the first one he could also have been right, since he looked abundantly over eighteen.

On the second, I strongly doubted that there were enough cosmetics in the world to make her attractive to anyone.

- Yes, of course, as you like. -

If only she had been a little smarter she would have known on the fly that my interest level was close to zero, but in her perfect idyllic world all that mattered was the gossip her friend wanted to inform her about.

I walked away, heading straight towards the area where they had stacked the kegs of beer and a dozen bottles of spirits.

The crowd waiting to fill their glass opened in front of my advance without even needing to touch anyone and it took me less than expected to grab a glass and grab the nearest bottle.

And it was there that for the second time I met a painfully familiar figure.

Flame was just under five feet tall, yet she seemed to attract general attention even if she hadn't been some kind of giant.

It was probably due to the long dark waves that caressed her half-naked back or the delightful hourglass body that shorts and crop tops brazenly highlighted.

The tattoos seemed to dance on the alabaster skin under the bright patio lights as he raised a hand to push a strand away from his face and then threw his head back laughing heartily.

There was a guy in front of her.

He was wearing a black leather jacket with the name of some motorcycle gang, but the way it was positioned I couldn't make out the name. The only thing that immediately stood out was the gigantic tribal skull that could be glimpsed on the back.

The guy looked like an idiot and it was clear that he was trying hard ; he looked at her in a way that would have made even the most brazen of playboys blush and used any opportunity to touch her more or less abruptly.

The hand, the arm ... the hip.

Then he leaned over to whisper something in her ear.

Flame shook her head, rolling her eyes , but her burgundy lips curled into a smirk.

And that smile was yet another blow.

A pang in the heart, intense and painful, and I thought that I could even die of such a pain.