ALPHA

Pilot

I had always been afraid to go deep in the sea, but its presence always used to soothe me. I don't know what kind of relationship ours would be, but I needed to at least be close to it from time to time. Just closing my eyes, feeling the waves crash loudly, sometimes in a calmer tone, as the cold breeze of the night hits my face. The cold stones underneath me; I was loving their surface.

This was my escape. I wish I could do this way more often than I actually did. And I pray that everyone who needs this feeling gets to experience it at least once in their lifetime: surrendering to the sea, giving all your thoughts and feelings to the waves, letting them wash everything and bring them back and forth, while you breathe freely with an empty head and chest.

I felt my eyes get watery. I did not want to open them, until the urge to cry a little went away. I could feel steps a few inches away from me, cracking through the small stones.
It did not bother me. This coast was full of summer villas and it was the perfect time to spend time here. Even though it was 2:45 AM, that did not mean I could be the only one out here.

"Are you okay?" I heard a deep husky voice ask me. I must have been so busy listening to the thoughts inside my head to notice the steps getting closer.
"Yes, thank you for asking" I said shyly, while fixing my posture and sitting up straight.
"You sure you don't need anything?" His voice was getting even more familiar.
"Yes, I'm positive. Thank you though, I do appreciate it" I said looking up to meet up with the eyes of a person I never thought I'd talk to from this close.

A small smile was plastered on my face as I tried to remain neutral. After all, he was still a normal person, like the rest of us.

"No worries" He said smiling back. "What are you doing here at this time" he scrunched his nose up, causing his eyebrows to create a confused look on his face. "If I may ask, of course" he added quickly as if he was worried about invading my privacy, or asking too much.

"Were you planning to have the place all to yourself?" I said laughing, as his face calmed a bit and he laughed after me. "I'm just kidding. I just wanted to rest a bit, spend some quiet time here, think" I said while looking back at the sea, almost forgetting that he was standing there still.

"Yeah" He said nodding, looking at the same spot my eyes were landed "I love the sea. I'm so used to it, to being near it, I kind of start to crave its presence sometimes"

I don't know if it was just me, but he looked as exhausted as I was. Maybe more. I could swear that If I let him stare at the sea for a few more minutes, he would have ended up talking more about it and it would get deeper for sure.

"Are you here to get inspired for some new lyrics?"
He looked down at me and rolled his eyes.
"Just taking a day off. I come here often around this time. Afterwards it gets too busy and it is impossible to get some rest or just be by yourself"

I nodded thinking the same. My life was way different than his, but I still could not stand busy places when I wanted to rest alone. I could not imagine what it would be like to be known and recognized by the public, while trying to deal with yourself.

"If you wanna sit down, you can" I confidently said to him, breaking him from his thoughts. He laughed as if he had forgotten he was still standing up. "Promise I won't invade your privacy" I said putting my hands up in defense as he took a spot, not too far from me.

"Want one?" I said offering him a cigarette from my pack.
"You smoke?" He said looking at me, dead in the eye.
"Sometimes, yeah" I said looking for the lighter, but he found it first in between two rocks and light it up for me before lighting up his as well.
I reached for the wine bottle behind me and pulled out another glass that the waitress had put inside the ice bucket. He was looking at me while I was filling up a glass for him.
"I'm not an alcoholic" I said laughing while handing him the glass. "Nor am I a drug addict. I just enjoy some wine from time to time. But if you don't want it, I got water" I said pulling up a water bottle.

"Prepared, I see" He said laughing as he took a sip of his wine. "It's okay, I could enjoy some wine too. It's been a while" He said looking at the glass.

"You're telling me you don't drink?" I said raising an eyebrow at him.
"Well, sometimes I do yeah. But while performing in the clubs there is always cocktails and shots and what not. Never a nice glass of wine" He said raising the glass I gave him and smiling.

"Well cheers to that then" I said as our glasses made a clicking sound.

"Who are you here with?" He asked leaning back, one hand supporting his body and the other one holding the cigarette. His arm was flexing and you could see his muscles forming under the pressure.
"My friends." I took my eyes off his arms to meet his eyes "We all thought taking the weekend off would be a good idea. And it seems like it was."
"Are they sleeping?" His face wrinkled as he let the smoke out.
"I guess so. I know one of them is still up though, fixing her dating life"

He laughed taking the last puff off the cigarette and crushing it against a rock.
"What about you?" I sipped my wine, hoping it would calm my nerves down. I felt like these were very personal questions for someone like him.
"I'm with my friends too. I have another show tomorrow night and since I had the day off I wanted to just chill for a bit" He kept his look on me as he stopped talking.

"How do you do it" He was still looking at me "I mean the no-sleep-schedule, show after show?"
"Honestly" he started off lighting another cigarette "Sometimes I cannot even answer that to myself. I don't know where all that energy comes from. It does get exhausting yes, but I love the feeling of it. And for as long as I keep getting this rush of adrenaline from it, I will not stop doing it, even if I have to give up sleep for the rest of my life"

His eyes were shining as he spoke. There was a spark in them and you could tell he really loved what he was doing.

"What about you?"
"Oh, easy thing. I don't do concerts at all." I said waving my hand at him. "Just sometimes in my car"
"No, I mean what do you do silly" He said laughing and throwing a small rock at me.
"Um, getting comfortable much" I said throwing the rock back at him. "I am trying to do a lot of things at the same time" I said leaning back to be more comfortable. "I recently finished my masters, for which I have mixed feelings about. I am currenly working  and I'm trying to get one of my dreams to come to life. But I wouldn't want to talk about it at the minute"

He nodded slowly looking at me. I broke our gaze and turned my attention to the sea. I could still feel his eyes on me.

"Are you sure you're okay?"
I looked at him once again before getting up and brushing myself.
"Yes I am fine" I smiled at him. "I think I better be going. I would like to start the day off early tomorrow" I said picking up the garbage into a small plastic bag.
"Yeah me too" he got up, helping me get my stuff "I better get a good night's sleep before the show tomorrow. Where are you guys staying?"

"Just over there" I said pointing at our villa.
"Cool! Seems like we're neighbors after all. Mind if I walk over there with you?"

I shook my head no and we silently walked towards our villas.
None of us said a word. My mind was going to a million places, but I just wanted to sleep it off.

"It was so great meeting you, in not-so-usual circumstances" He said as we got the villas.
"It was great meeting you too" I smiled at him.
"Good luck tomorrow"
"Thanks." He said looking down "You can come if you want, I will save you guys a table. I mean, if you do not have any other plans for tomorrow night"
"I will have to speak to my friends, I don't know what they planned really. But thank you anyways"

He nodded his head and I smiled at him one more time, before getting inside.
While locking the door, I saw him get to the villa next to ours. We were really neighbors.

I got in the shower quickly and did my routine before going to my room and changing into some fresh clothes. I opened the curtain and the window wide. I wanted to listen to the waves and smell the sea from my bed.
I laid down and took another deep breath before closing my eyes.
At that moment my mind started playing games. It was replaying over and over the conversation I had with him earlier. How was I just sitting by the sea, drinking wine and smoking with one of the most famous people in my country?
I shook my head immediately and just went to sleep. It was just a coincidence. He is still a normal human after all.