Stockholm Syndrome - ThatcherJoe

2.

The car journey home was quiet. The only words I'd spoken to Anäis were my address and 'thank you'. What else could I say? I didn't know the girl. I really didn't know this girl.

"So what were you doing on the Pier then Joe?" She said.

"Oh nothing, I was just with my sister and her boyfriend" I replied. Infact, speaking of Zoe. Where was she now? I can only imagine her and Alfie had taken a trip up the lanes and Zoe had got caught in one of her instagram whirlwinds. Typical. I remembered sitting in the coffee shop with them, drinking my shit tea. Then I remembered Anäis.

"Sorry about the tea earlier by the way," I said sheepishly. "But it was quite shit."

She giggled. I looked to her, she had a beautiful smile.

"It's okay Joe, I didn't make it, it was one of our apprentices, Harry. I've told him time and time again people like a strong tea, not just one where the tea bag has been dipped in and out and it's ninety percent lukewarm water." She giggled again, and there was that smile. I released a soft chuckle. Before I had the chance to reply she spoke again.

"And here we are Joe! That'll be fourteen pounds and fifty pence then please." She laughed. I looked at her with a confused look but smiled when eventually the joke hit me. "I'm joking Joe."  She frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be good at jokes?" I let out another soft chuckle and opened the car door. I'm usually confident but Anäis had so much confidence she made me shy.

"Thanks again," I smiled sheepishly. She waved me off as I unlocked my front door and I waved back at her too. What a strange day.

The rest of the evening was spent trying to find my old piece of shit phone, and contacting Zoe. She had gone up the lanes, typical. I knew her better than I knew myself. I sat myself down in front of my TV with a bowl of pasta and cold glass of water. I decided on watching my Friends box set... again. Life was kind of plain at the minute. Nothing exciting going on, nothing to look forward to, I wasn't used to this. This was the first time in years I actually had free time, Youtube had taken me on a whirlwind romance and now it was dying down. I knew this was make or break for my career, and to be honest, it was demotivating. I found myself every night sat here, watching the same episodes of Friends and eating the same bowl of lifeless pasta, pushing out and below average Youtube video every two weeks and calling it a 'job'. I'd thought about going back to thatching, living back in the country with my Dad, what a circle that would be. Thatching, to Youtube superstar and then back to thatching again. Ever since Caspar moved out with his girlfriend, I'd spent every night here alone, I was getting too old to go clubbing, but also had no one to spend my lonely nights with. Anäis sprung to mind. She was fun, quirky and had a great sense of humour. But she also intimidated me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I scrapped that thought and went back to my pasta. After eating nearly twice my own body weight, I closed my eyes and fell into a slumber.