Not A Runaway

Out For The Day

Out For the Day

Ow, my head hurt it felt like I had hit it off of concrete. Then I remembered where I was, I looked towards the chair for Nicole. Gone, beside the bed there was a note and an Advil with a cup of water. I took the Advil and got up. The note said “complimentary breakfast downstairs. Better than complimentary drinks. ~Nicole”. I groggily took a shower and put on a new set of clothes. A black tee with the word “BADASS” printed on it in red and a new set of jeans, I pulled on my black leather jacket to complete the set. Trying to remember where I put the key card to the room, then I remembered that we had only gotten one at the desk. Nicole must have taken it. I took the elevator down to the lobby. Sure enough there was Nicole, eating breakfast. When she spotted me she rolled her eyes at my outfit, and resumed to eating. I grabbed a paper cup and filled it with whatever was in the third pitcher, they weren’t labeled and were tinted so you didn’t know their contents. I took a plate and a breakfast roll, two of the small butter packets and three sausages. I sat down across from Nicole, who was having French toast. Irish French toast. Huh? Fork midway to her mouth she said.

“Now we’re even” before stuffing the fork load into her mouth.

 “Even?” She looked up.

 “You defended me. I let your intoxicated self, have the bed”. I swallowed the liquid in my cup. Grape juice.

 “Fair enough” was all I said. She suggested we make the most of being here and go sightseeing.

“Since we are staying at the Limerick Strand Hotel, we could visit the Treaty Stone before we crossed the bridge, and if we crossed the bridge we could go to King John’s Castle, Limerick museum, and. See” she said cutting herself off and pointing to a map of Limerick she had pulled out.

“Sure. I’ll eat quickly than” I looked down at my plate, the sausages tasted like cardboard.

 “They have a café on the other side of the bridge right?” she laughed. She got up leaving her French toast, I followed in suite. We went back up to the room first to grab some money. I snatched a hundred in twenties from my wallet and stuffed them in the front right pocket of my jeans. I left the remainder of five hundred in my wallet and tucked it in my jeans from yesterday. Nicole tossed the key card at me just as I turned, I caught it, barely. I closed are room door behind me and followed Nicole to the elevators. Outside we rotated ourselves in position with the map. We walked towards the Treaty Stone and the bridge. She observed the stone.

“They surrendered under certain terms August to October in 1961. They held off the first assault, but the second was too strong.” She eyed me.

 “You know about the history of Limerick?” I smiled and nodded.

“Every Irish boy learns about the history of Ireland in grade six to ten.” She laughed a little.

“What?”

 “Well I’m just trying to picture you as a child, it’s hard though. As childlike as you are, from what you’ve said about your life it sounds like you had to grow up fast; like you never really had a childhood.” She bowed her head a little and started to move towards the bridge. If only she knew all the stupid things I did.

“Sometimes growing up fast is a good thing, it allowed me to do more and be more as a child. I didn’t have friends I had family, like Jack. If we go to Climins we need to spend at least one night at Jack’s, he’s a great guy and I think you’d get along great with his wife Mandi.”She stopped to look out over the bridge.