Bright Shadow

It was a dry summer's day. The sun was shining as bright as a spotlight, the birds were chirping their favourite song, and the leaves were as green as emeralds. Everything was as it was supposed to be. Adrian was having that perfect 'la vie en rose' moment, everything seemed perfect and his mind was at ease. Well almost everything was perfect. Since there was a man crossing the street whilst his car was moving right in his direction- wait, he was going to hit the stranger! Adrian hit the brakes as hard as he could, the car barely touched the stranger, but he was safe. Filled with relief, Adrian sighed. He unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car.

"Are you alright?!" Adrian asked, looking at the man in shock. The stranger had dropped his things, papers and notebooks were everything.

"Yes, yes. I am so sorry I wasn't looking, I was running late for a job interview." The stranger said, who had now bent down to collect his things. Adrian helped the man out by making a pile of papers and handing it over to the stranger. The man smiled and took the pile, putting it in his suitcase. He then held out his hand and said:

"The name's Blaine, Blaine Sallows." Adrian smiled back and shook his hand,

"Adrian Wilson." He replied. Once Blaine's things were collected, he put his stuff in his suitcase instead of holding most of it in his hands. However, Blaine had more notebooks and papers than space, so he merely carried less items this time.

"Thanks for the help." Said Blaine, "I appreciate it." Adrian, feeling as happy as always, smiled once again.

"It's no problem at all my friend, I have more than enough time anyways. Will you make it to your job interview on time?"

"Probably not. It's fine, it didn't look like an interesting job anyways." Said Blaine with a sigh. Adrian could not really relate. He worked at home, he spend his days freelancing photo edits. It wasn't always a stable living, but it was a job that he was passionate for. That's all that matters in the end. Blaine shook his head, as if suddenly a new thought jumped in his mind.

"Apologies once again," he said with a chuckle, "I'm probably holding you up."

"Not at all. I was going to have a drink with my friends later, you can join if you want. Seems like you need a drink anyways."

"Oh no, you've already done enough." Said Blaine, feeling shy to take any more kindness from Adrian.

"Hey, it's no problem. I'm always welcome to help a stranger out, especially when I nearly ran them over." Maybe it was foolish for Adrian to welcome Blaine with open arms whilst barely knowing him. However, life is too short to let it pass by. Blaine might need such optimism.

Laughs were surrounding the bar. Adrian and Blaine entered the place and found his friends already having a grand old time.

"Adrian! Come over here!" Yelled one of his friends, Brooke. Adrian signalled Blaine to follow him as he greeted his life long friend. Brooke Davis and Adrian Wilson have known each other since high school, and were inseparable ever since. With her were two other friends of theirs, Carl Stewart and Jaqueline Hardy. Carl was a friend he met during a martial arts class and Jaqueline was an old colleague of his, back when they worked part time at retail. The four of them have been a solid friend group ever since, and it is because of their shared happiness that Adrian feels like the luckiest guy in the world.

"Everyone, meet Blaine. I nearly ran him over today so I decided to make it up to him with a drink." Said Adrian with a smile. His smile was one of those playful ones, because he knew perfectly well that the introduction was an absurd one.

"Of course you did, you freaky saint." Joked Brooke as she playfully punched Adrian's arm. Then Brooke looked at Blaine, she smiled politely and said: