Cigarettes

Chapter 4

The cold wind flew through my hair as I hugged myself tightly trying to warm up from the cold breeze. The sun set about two hours ago and it would've been pitch dark if there weren't bright city lights all over the street.

When Luke went out again this morning I decided I might as well go and take a long walk around the city since I never actually took the time to look at it.

I took a cab to the city center and was surprised when I saw beautiful shopping malls full of people. The shopping malls weren't exactly that surprising and fascinating, it was more of the people that were there.

I liked examining people. If you looked close enough, you could see a lot more than just a face.

I saw a woman carrying a girly backpack on her right shoulder walking around the mall nervously. She was trying to find her little daughter who she has later found playing with a puppy outside a shop.

I also saw a guy with a visibly cut (or beaten up?) lip aimlessly and carelessly walking through the big halls not actually paying attention to anything or anyone. That I concluded after he literally walked right into me even though he clearly saw me walking towards him.

Maybe his colorful hair that resembled a traffic lighter drew his own attention into not seeing anything else but the fluorescent strands hanging down above his eyebrows.

After a quick sorry and yet another smirk, (what is it with the guys in San Francisco and smirking?!) he tapped my back and walked away.

When I finally got to a cafe shop, I bought a cup of cold coffee with extra ice and sugar and sat down on a bench outside the building.

The surroundings occupied me so much that I actually decided to roam around the city a bit more and explore it so I got stuck walking and sightseeing for a couple of hours until I finally realized the sun has already set down.

Now I was trying to find my way back to the flat and thought that the idea of staying out this late was stupid for the thirtieth time in about fifteen minutes.

When I came to the same building I was at just a few minutes ago, I decided I should call someone.

I took my phone out of my bag and dialed a number. I brought the phone up to my ear and there were a few rings before he picked up.

"Layla?" Calum asked not expecting my call.

"Hey Cal... Could you please come pick me up? I got lost. " I admitted biting my bottom lip embarrassed. I honestly felt like a little kid who got lost in a shop and couldn't find her mom behind the big shelves.

I heard Calum chuckle a bit but then cough it off. "You got lost?" he tried to sound serious but I knew he'd laugh. "Where are you?"

"I'm next to a huge library and there's a cafe next to it called Berne's." I did my best to explain to Calum where I was. I hugged myself again trying to keep the cold wind away from my clucking bones.

Calum sighed and I could hear him saying something to somebody before he turned back to talk to me.

"I'll pick you up in ten, just wait for me in front of the library." he ordered and hung up.

I sat down on the stairs in front of the huge door that were most probably the entrance of the library feeling relieved.

I fidgeted my fingers trying to distract myself but after a few seconds I ended up biting my finger nails after all. I tried to get rid of that bad habit but the more I tried the more nervous I got trying to do something else so I just ended up biting on them more.

Just as I was about to check the time, a car pulled over on the huge parking lot a few metres away and I recognized Calum's face lit up by, probably, the inside car light.