Diatomic

- 3 { part two }

Twenty months ago

~continued~

"I- No, I can't Anna. It's our first night." Genevieve continued to protest, to no avail, as Anna fussed about her hair and makeup.

"Nuh uh uh, shush." She held up an authoritative hand, one finger raised, still focusing solely on applying some elaborate eye shadow. "Let the master concentrate on her masterpiece."

Genevieve winced, though stopped immediately when Anna huffed once again at her crinkled eyelid. "But Anna, it's our first night and we should be up early tomorrow. We can't just... Go out. Can we?" She opened an eye, tentatively, as Anna's magic brush seemed to have stopped for a moment.

"Of course we can." Anna smiled, waving her brush and palette emphatically. "I just finish your hair and make up, and we are a-go. No buts."

Gen sighed, her resolve weakening as she remembered her own advice to the oyster-card-less stranger: 'no buts'. Hypocrisy was not an attractive trait; so, she let Anna 'do her thing'.

"Et voila!" Anna smiled triumphantly with a flourish of her makeup brush.

<><><>

Genevieve wasn't quite sure how she'd ended up in an unfamiliar bar, crowded with music and pulsating with students. There had been a flurry of hair tongs and alien make up brushes, a tight midnight blue dress and a pair of decievingly painful heels thrown upon her by a very charming and charismatic Anna (Anna, it turned out, was half french, and so to Genevieve it appeared quite plausible that the trait was simply hereditary amonst the French. Or at least, she imagined so, she'd only ever been to a France described in novels).  Thus far, a hazy whirlwind of fabric and powdered glitter was all she could recall - and the inebriated glass in her hand certainly wasn't helping.

Anna, her guide, had been lost to the crowd some five minutes ago: she'd been swept off her feet by a rather debonair language student who'd charmed her with a tantalising ribbon of Spanish. Apparently he'd quoted Shakepeare, though Gen mused he could've said anything at all and it would've sounded just as intoxicating.

Sitting in the centre of the only three empty bar stools in the room, Genevieve felt quite alone. Anna had assured her that Genny looked stunning and there'd soon be a queue of guys lining up to beg for her number - Genevieve wasn't so sure. She sighed, swirling her pint glass round on the bar top, studying the tiny, golden whirlpool she'd created.

"Is this seat taken?"

Gen started, whipping her head round to see the stranger guesturing towards the stool next to her.

"Um, no." She gulped, eyes wide as the man slid on to the tattered stool, raising his hand to order himself a beer. Gen couldn't tell if he was actually handsome - in a tall, blond, dutch sort of way - or if it was the alcohol talking.

He turned towards her an easy smile on his face. "You a newbie this year?"

Genevieve just nodded shyly, raising her glass to her lips, to avoid embarrassing herself. I am cool, I am calm, I am collected.

His smile deepened and a more than attractive dimple appeared on his face, "You'll have to let me show you around sometime. I'm Will Harlow, second year bio student."

Pulling herself together, Gen suddenly found herself becoming a nonchalant extrovert - or certainly a lot closer to that than she usually was. It was probably the drink. She smiled, almost brazenly, "Are you sure you want to be talking to a first year, aren't we below you or something?"

Will paused with mock-seriousness, furrowing his brow, "I think I could make an exception," He took a sip of his beer, "But I'm afraid I'll need your name before I can make any rash decisions." Will raised an eyebrow, grinning.

"I suppose I can allow you that. It's Genevieve."

"Pretty name for a pretty girl, may I get a number with that?"

Genevieve felt heat rise to her already flushed cheeks, and she couldn't help staring at the way his blue eyes sparkled when he talked. Mills & Boon, ammiright? It was definitely the drink.

<><><><><>

Hey probably non-existent readers, sorry it's been such a while. I am a very bad writer, sorry.

Soooo, this is your first snapshot of Will; will it be your last? Or the first of many? Who knows... Anyway, if Genevieve is happy I suppose we should be too.

And I don't know about you but I'm beginning to love Anna more and more!

Wishing you prosperity in your literary endeavors,

- a m u n e t t e .