padam - a jan peteh pov story

ENTITLED - 25.08.2019 - HANA POV

I'll admit it - the next night, there was some feeling of emptiness. When guys had left before, it hadn't felt like this; rather, I'd moved directly onto the next one. But today, stirring my straw around the icy pool of lemonade in front of me, 'isolation' was probably the best word to describe my state of mind.

'She's over there?' I heard someone hush in an attempt at a whisper, yet accidentally letting out a sound that I could hear from halfway across the bar. Instinctively, I turned, to be faced with one of my friends, Alyssa, staring awkwardly, accompanied by what I can only describe as an incredibly hot man. I mean, more so than Frankfurt, which was difficult. His brown hair was decently long and swooped in all the right places, and he wore the right pair of glasses to compliment his face shape.

Of course, Alyssa attempted to cover herself, completely dropping the task at hand and walking over to another table, filled with people I assumed she knew from her lectures. Which meant that now, this undeniably handsome man was stood gazing directly into my face.

It only took him a moment to clear his throat and begin to make his way over to my table, setting himself down on the seat opposite me. His hands flew down to his knees nervously, yet he managed to stifle a small yet goofy smile.

'Finn.' he introduced. 'Sorry, someone else was meant to introduce me, but they...' he turned himself around in an attempt to locate Alyssa, yet gave up within moments, realising that that was irrelevant. Yet his nerves awakened something in me - could it have been attraction? Two guys in a row who had potential was definitely a new high in my eyes.

'You come here, I take it?' I pressed, eager to move the conversation on to something more personal.

'Yeah. Economics student.' Music to my ears - not only a guy on campus, but also a guy taking an impressive degree.

'Business. International.' I revealed my course choice to him, and his face lightened up a little, happy that I was engaging with him.

'You want to move abroad someday?' he asked.

'Definitely. Italy, or somewhere nearby.' I clarified, despite knowing that I would have to be lucky to get over there.

'Do you speak Italian?' he quizzed instinctively, and immediately looking like he wanted to retract the statement afterwards.

'Fluently.' I confirmed, and he again let a small smirk grace his face. It was a nice touch, and I was even happier that it had been me to bring it about.

'A couple of my friends did an Erasmus to get over there. It was tough for them, since they didn't speak the language.'

'Surely not? I asked, stunned.

'Only the touristic places speak good English.' he replied sadly.

'You said your friends did an Erasmus? I didn't think they ran that anymore.' I carried on, not wanting to spend too much time discussing the extents to which Italian people spoke English - it wasn't really of great interest to me, and probably not to him either.

'They do, if you're not British. They're studying their Masters over here, that's how I met them.' he explained.

'That's great, actually. I've not met too many people since I got here.' I admitted, a vulnerable move on my part.

'They're awesome. Meeting people from all over the world is part of the experience, right?' he grinned, and I figured out immediately that I had both met a total geek and caught a few feelings within minutes. 'They're over there, actually.' he nodded over to a corner where three boys sat at a table, very involved in what seemed to be a heated debate. Two of them were the same pair that Frankfurt had claimed to be friends with just a few evenings before, but I didn't recognise the other.

It then dawned on me that this was my opportunity to solve one of many mysteries about the guy I had been speaking to.

'Do you know where they're from?' I blurted, quickly regretting it. 'I know someone who's from the same place, but I don't want to ask. It's awkwardly long into the friendship.' I lied, my words singing my tongue as they came out.

'Slovenia, I'm pretty sure.' he answered, laughing a little. 'I don't know why I said I'm pretty sure, they talk about how much they miss being over there a lot.'

So Frankfurt was Slovenian.

That was, well, not very much help.

What even is Slovenia?

'You know one of their other friends?' he carried on, noticing my sudden vacancy. 'Maybe I do, too.'

I sighed. Now or never. If this guy cared that I had been chatting to someone different just the night before, then I could easily find someone else.

'I don't know his name. He didn't tell me. We met a few nights ago.' I began. 'He went home last night, but he wouldn't even tell me where that was.'

He muttered under his breath suddenly. 'Only Bojan would do that.'

'Bojan?' I repeated, quickly deciding that Frankfurt fit him a lot better. 'His name, I take it?'

'Yep. He came over to see them the other day. From the way they speak about him, you would think he's a god or something. The stories they've told me... well, I couldn't exactly share them.' he cut himself off before revealing too much.

'He's gone now, anyway. He was kind to me, and that's about it.' I concluded, glad that Finn hadn't blown the situation out of proportion.

'Are you sure about that?' he questioned, and for a moment I felt a little wary.

'Yep. He said goodbye yesterday.' I returned.

'Who do you think the third guy sat at that table is?'

Shit.

I flicked my head around, my hair flying in all directions, as I made eye contact with Frankfurt - or Bojan, as he was known by everyone else. He looked angry, his brows knitted in fury as he stormed over to the table.

'I thought you'd gone home.' I commented nonchalantly, trying to hide my worry.

'And that would make it okay?' he barked back, causing me to retreat a little. However used you get to men shouting at you, it doesn't get any easier.

'Make what okay?' I fought back.

'Speaking to someone else, someone I know, just the day after? his shoulders stiffened.

'You were leaving. What was I meant to do? We've known each other for what, three days?'

'It felt like something. Clearly I judged wrong.' He now gave a death-glare to Finn, and although I couldn't see his reaction, you could cut the tension with a knife.

'You are ridiculous. You sound like a child.' I shook him off, completely unable to comprehend the madness going on in front of me. We were university students, supposedly mature enough to surpass the playground antics of our childhoods. Yet what I saw now was someone who had struggled to leave that behaviour behind them, rather than the same man who had been treating me so kindly.

'You're-' he began, but I cut him off.

'You're not entitled to me.'

In that moment, the atmosphere of the wide room shifted. You could drop a pin, and everyone inside could have heard. Without a word, Bojan admitted defeat, simply nodding his head jerkily and turning on his heel. He raced out of the door, which slammed shut behind him due to the wind.

I never saw him again.