INCOMPATIBLE

Where did you come from?

It was a busy night. The staff was scarce and the venue was full. Audrey didn't know when it was the last time she had time to properly look at the customer that she served. She's just taken orders and put drinks on the bar automatically. And tried to smile and be polite as much as she could while charging them.

Apart from drink orders, she was only aware of the buzz that was in the air. Buzz that came from hundreds of chats all around the venue and the music that was played inside. She was interested in the band that played that night but couldn't afford to go and take a peek. The concert was sold out and people were very thirsty.

»A beer, please,« a deep, husky voice that gave her goosebumps said from the other side of the bar. But in a rush, she didn't have time to pay too much attention to it and just nodded automatically without properly looking at the owner of the voice and went to fill the glass for him. While she was waiting for the liquid to fill the glass she side glanced at her customer and that is when her knees became all wobbly, her heart stopped for a moment and she felt like she was going to suffocate.

She had never seen the man who ordered the beer before. He was maybe a head taller than her. Not a beaut, but definitely very attractive and very impressive. Audrey thought that his almost completely white, long hair had a lot to do with it. They were falling over his shoulders and down to half of his back in big waves. Waves that many women would die for. He tucked one side behind his ear and left the other half to fall down to his chest. He was holding his head high and his view was fixed on bottles on the back side of the bar. He was wearing a black T-shirt. Blank. Not with the print of some rock band as most of the visitors that night. To Audrey's eyes, he looked like a vision from some other world. He looked completely unreal.

Audrey wasn't aware that she was staring at him until her boss and colleague Fred woke her up from wanderings of her mind.

»You are spilling the beer,« he said and she stopped the pipe hastily while shaking her head to get rid of the uneasy feeling that was gathering inside of her. »Is everything okay with you?« He asked concerned. »You look like you are seeing the ghost.«

»Do you know him,« he glanced in the direction of the unknown man, letting her know that he noticed her stare.

She shook her head, gave him a faint smile and answered: »No. Never saw him before. I guess I just wandered away in my mind a little. It was a long day.«

Fred smiled and said: »Yes, I understand. Thank you for coming to help today.«

Audrey knew he didn't want to bugger her with too many questions now that they were so busy. And even if they weren't he would never push into her. He was a good friend and would wait for her to tell him by herself. Plus, he was grateful that she came to help as a third of the staff got sick with the flu after the party they attended a few days back and decided not to grill her about her staring reaction.

She took a deep breath in, went back to her customer and asked: »Will you pay with cash or a card?«

»Card,« he answered and sent chills down her spine with his voice again.

She took his card and looked for pos terminal to charge him. While waiting for her turn, since Fred was just using it, she peeked at the card. It was gold and the name on it was Nathan Baker.

She printed the bill and gave it back to him together with his card.

»Enjoy,« she said, looked at him and smiled.

He nodded, but didn't return the smile, then took his beer and left without a word.

»Now, that was rude«, she thought to herself looking after him appaled. And annoyed. Not only at him but also herself. Why should she be appaled because some stranger she had never seen before and might never will again, didn't say thank you and bye? Ok. It was a basic of good behaviour. But she wasn't annoyed about that. She was very very much annoyed. And the fact that she didn't know why annoyed her even more.