𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧' 𝐆𝐮𝐲 ➺ 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝑀𝒶𝓎 & 𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃

(8) 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘭𝘦

Another mouthful of cornflakes, another minute closer to 9am.

I multitasked that morning. I carried that bowl around the flat, consuming spoonfuls of the cornflakes, seeking out my notes for the day's lecture, whilst also thinking about Emma and if she was okay. I felt I had totally neglected her the night before, purely because I forgot she was back at Brian's place after he'd dropped me off. The least I could have done is call up and check on her.

Apologising was just a habit for me. I couldn't not say sorry in the slightest situations. That reminds me, I probably should have apologised properly to Brian, or even thanked him for his gracious gesture back at the pub. Nobody, apart from Emma, had tended to my attacks like that.

With that in mind, I headed for the phone in the hallway, placing my bowl of cereal on the unit. I had, shamelessly, cello taped Brian's number onto my wall, right next to the phone. Of course...It was for business purposes...

I couldn't hold back the little smile on my face as the phone rang out distantly. I was almost positive that nobody was going to answer until I heard a crackling and a soft 'hello' from the other side.

"Brian," I knew it was him. "It's Maria."

I heard him smile on the other side, his voice quickly perking up. "Maria. Hello, love, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing a lot better, thank you. I'm just calling to apologise again. I feel really bad for leaving you all hanging on that one..." I trailed off, huffing out a laugh.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to apologise until it's drilled into that brain of yours?" He chuckled.

"Quite a lot, I'm a hard person to convince." I smirked into the phone, proud of myself mentally for being able to feel so comfortable around someone new. Even though Brian wasn't really that new.

"I'll keep that in mind." He stated with a small chuckle. "But truly, you don't have to ever apologise for something of that nature, Maria, it honestly isn't anything you can help. Besides, we managed to get ourselves in at The Britannia, so we didn't miss out on an opportunity. So please, I'm begging you to stop worrying yourself over this. Please."

Perhaps he's right, I thought, sighing deeply into the phone, probably blowing Brian away at the other end. Running my hand over my face, I leaned against the wall, my finger tangling itself in the telephone wire.

"Fine..." I mumbled, looking down at the mess I made with my finger and the wire. "How did you get in?"

"It turns out that they needed their speaker system fixing, and John studies electrical engineering, so... Put two and two together, you have yourself a business deal."

"You lot are seriously interesting." I mumbled, shaking my head and earning a chuckle from Brian. "Well, I'm glad you got something out of last night. If you won't let me apologise, at least let me thank you for being like you were. You really helped."

"I think it's only fair that I help a friend in need in their most distressed moments." He said with a slight tinge of humour, but still evident that he meant his words. "You are my friend, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm your friend." I laughed, nodding my head. "But, I'll be your dead friend if I don't make it to this lecture on time. Sorry to cut a nice one short but, like, I have to be in class at nine. Precisely."

"You better sprint to that lecture, love, it's ten to now."

"Cheeky bastard, I can walk quick enough.

"Okay, okay, I apologise. Go to your lecture. I'll see you around somewhere, okay?"

"Okay," I started to put the phone down, but quickly pressed it back to my ear. "Brian??"