It Was A Whole Thing | Herophine

One Night Stand

"Why are we here again?" I ask Katherine as we enter the pub. Smoke and the smell of sweat and beer smacks me right in the face. I shift uncomfortably on my heels as we eye the place and look for a booth or any available seats.

"Because it isn't a complete London experience until we've enjoyed a night at a London pub," she quips like it's the most obvious explanation.

"Okay, but why here? This place is so... unlike you," I whisper, feeling some eyes on us.

"There," she nods towards an empty booth by the bar. We make our way there and sit opposite each other.

"So? Why here?" I press.

"It's the closest to your hotel and I plan on getting drunk with you tonight. We haven't been out for god knows how long."

"I know. Good thing I got some time off from auditions," I say, looking around the pub once again. I don't know what it is but I feel like someone's watching me. I could feel a tingling sensation at the back of my neck.

"How'd the last one go anyway?" she asks in genuine curiosity.

Katherine and I don't normally talk about work or our individual careers, for that matter, but when the topic comes up, it isn't really an awkward or uncomfortable subject of conversation.

"I don't really know where I stand with that one. I'm hoping I'd get the role but I don't know..." I trail off, shrugging.

"Why didn't you audition for the female lead role anyway? I looked up the book series and I just personally think you're better off auditioning for that Tessa character."

"Because... because Maria thinks I'm better off going for the antagonist part," I roll my eyes at this.

"Well I think that's just bullshit," she comments, not masking her distaste. "You're way too good to settle for side characters when you're fully capable of taking on main roles."

Easy for you to say Hannah Baker, I mentally snort.

"Are we going to drink or not?" I groan in frustration.

"Okay, okay." She raises her hands up in surrender. "I'll go buy us some drinks. What do you want?"

"Gin and tonic, please," I smile sweetly, batting my lashes to add to my theatrics and she throws her head back in laughter.

"God, I missed you. I'll be right back."

I watch Katherine slide out from her seat and walk towards the bar, inserting herself among the people surrounding it. Just as I'm starting to roam my eyes around the pub for the third time, I feel it again-that sense that someone's watching me. And then I finally see it. Green eyes brilliantly shining despite the dim lighting of the pub. He's laughing at one of his friends' joke or something but his eyes are trained on me and I can't seem to take my eyes off the indentation of a dimple on his cheek. He's wearing a black cap backwards and a simple white shirt with two chains adorning his neck. He's surrounded by guys his age, well, our age really since I don't think he's any younger or older than I am.

How the hell did I notice all these things in just a second or two?

Feeling a bit flustered and uneasy, I tear my eyes off him and sigh when I see Katherine walking back with a large beer mug filled to the brim and a glass of my gin and tonic.

"Hey, you okay? You look flushed," she frowns, sliding the glass of drink to me.

"I think I just caught some guy checking me out," I whisper as I lean in closer to her.

"Oh, not an hour in and you already got yourself an English man, Jojo," she teases before roaming her eyes around the pub. She stops just where I know the handsome guy with the green eyes is sitting at and she nods in appreciation, her eyes widening and a huge grin taking over her entire face. "He's definitely checking you out, Jo. Like literally, he can't take his eyes off you," she giggles, taking a large gulp of her beer.