It's Never Just Goodbye // Ed Sheeran

Breathless & Hopeless

Ed

I put your picture away. Sat down and cried today. I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to her- Kid Rock

I zip up my red jacket with the cat sweater Taylor bought me underneath. It was chilly outside for April. The sky a dark grey. I took in a deep breath as my foot touched the first step of my flat's building. I waved to one of my neighbors as I passed by the stairs and through the lobby doors.

I knew where I was headed: the pub. I seem to end up there a lot now. Taylor and I were still on the break for the tour, the one that only lasts about three weeks. As Harry and her were off to the Virgin Islands, I was here facing my own battles. I didn't mind though, I liked the company of girls I invited back with me.

The waitress, the one with the black hair and perky smile, waved at me once she saw me. Every night, she flirts with me hardcore and every night she tells me her name and I usually get so drunk that, well, I don't remember it and I feel foolish. Yet, come on...this is the only place where the workers don't wear name tags.

I take a seat in my usual spot and pop on my black framed glasses, the ones no one seems to regongize me in when I have my hood up. I fold my hands together and wait for the same old worker to come to my table. She smiles and I try to shake my brain for her name. Shelia, maybe? I wait for her to speak.

"Oh, our usual suspect again." she jokes. "Hello Ed."

"Good evening." I say with a grin.

"The usual?" she asks and I nod.

Her eyes light up and I feel myself getting lost in them, which is rubbish. They just, for some reason, feel like going home and being comfortable.

She comes back almost instantly with two pints of beer. What's-her-name sits down across from me in the booth and claps her hands together and says, "Buy me a drink, yeah?"

I laugh, "Are you even allowed drinks while you're at work?"

She checks her fake watch on her wrist, "Well, I get off in about ten minutes."

"Sure, take this one." I say, pushing one of the glasses towards her.

She takes a straw from her apron and pops it into the drink. I shudder. Drinking beer through a straw makes the buzz and the sickness even greater. Yet, she takes a big slurp like it didn't faze her. Then, looking around to make sure no one saw her, she pushes the glass away from her and to me.

"Hey Char..." a guy that just walked in said. She waves and he comes over and leans down.

"What's up, Jared?" she asks and he shrugs.

"On a date?" he asks, his eyes zooming to me and back to her.

She laughs, "No. I am completely single and you, of all people, know that."

The guy, well, Jared says, "Then let me take you out, Charlotte. You know me so well already..."

"Go home Jer, you're drunk!" she jokes and he rolls his eyes, waving her off and sauntering over to the bar.

Charlotte! That's her name. Pretty. I studied her closer. How old could she possibly be? I mean, she seemed pretty young, but didn't you have to be a certain age to work in a bar? With her dark brown hair and grey eyes, she seemed small but very outgoing.

I sit back and ask, "How old are you anyway?"

Charlotte raises her eyebrows, taking another sip, "I'm twenty one."

"Oh. You seem older, somehow."

"Why?" she laughs. I don't have time to answer that though because she's being called by her boss. She gives me a tiny wave and says, "Wait here, I'm going to clock out." before walking into the back.