Without a Warning- l.h

I See What You See In Her

Tuesdays at the pub downstairs were Bingo nights. They were one of the rare peaceful nights when two people who eagerly threw punches at each other the night before put their differences aside and focused on the small paper in front of them to get the prizes of the week.

Since it had been a couple of months since I started working there, I recognised all the regular customers and the ones that came especially for Bingo nights. However, there was someone  sitting alone at the bar that night that I didn't recognise from before.

"Can I get you anything?" I asked.

The chocolate haired guy looked up at me with clear amusement in his hazel eyes.

"I want your most dreadful cocktail. What do you suggest?" he asked.

"If you don't count the fact that most of our cocktails are dreadful to begin with, Sonic Screwdriver is pretty shit" I laughed.

"Sonic Screwdriver it is then, as long as there's no screwdriver in it."

"I can't promise anything. We take the dreadful part very seriously here." I said.

"You know, I saw this pub on a list of places to avoid in a town catalogue once. Never thought of actually coming here before." he chuckled.

I started making the cocktail in front of him.

"What changed your mind?"

He sent me mysterious smile.

"Heard good things about it." he simply said.

I laughed in return.

"Whoever said nice things about this place was clearly not in their right mind."

"He never is." He offered me his hand to shake "I'm Ashton by the way."

"Franky" I said.

I took a good look at him when I put the cocktail in front of him.

"You look familiar. Have we met before by any chance?" I asked.

"I don't know. What do you do outside of this?"

"I go to university. I study political science at UCL."

"That's cool" he said, his tone a bit surprised.

He took a sip from his his drink and gave me a smile.

"What's the verdict?" I asked.

"It's actually not that bad. What's in it?"

"Vanilla vodka and Blue Curacao topped with lemon-lime soda" I said from memory.

"It doesn't taste like any of those. Was there a secret ingredient?" he asked playfully.

"Love" I said.

He laughed, seemingly enjoying our little exchange.

What surprised me was Luke coming into the the pub and sitting next to Ashton. He was wearing a wine coloured shirt with the first few buttons undone. I couldn't help but notice he looked exceptionally good that night.

"Hey Ash, I see you've met Franky." he said casually.

Everything made sense then. Ashton and Luke were in the same band and Ashton was either here for Luke or to meet me. I dismissed my assumption and decided it didn't have anything to do with me.

"Yeah, we've met. I'm considering stealing her from you." Ashton said to my surprise.

"Franky's not mine" said Luke "But if you're serious about it, I have to warn you, she's a huge fan of the band so you might get tired of her."

"Hey!" I looked at Luke in disbelief.

"That's bullshit, she didn't even know who I was."

"You see," Luke put his hand on my shoulder across the bar sympathetically "Franky here suffers from amnesia."

I swatted his hand away.

"Fuck you Hemmings." I said.

Luke responded with a hearty laugh, not bothered by my words.

Ashton and Luke stayed for the round to of Bingo. The prize was a pair of headphones and Ashton was determined to get it. Luke on the other hand was distracted, busy with doodling things on my arm.

One of his hands was places on mine to keep it steady and the other was drawing little notes on my arm. He was murmuring something to himself and thinking before writing which made me realise he was writing an actual song on my arm. Once he was done, he gave it a content smile and looked at me.

"What does it sound like?" I asked.

"You'll hear it once one of us writes lyrics to it." he said.

I took out my phone and sent a picture of it to Luke in case he'd forget to take one. He was too in the moment to remember things sometimes.

When Ashton couldn't win the round two of Bingo, he was devastated.

"Here," I put a beer in front of him "for you to drown your sorrows. It's on the house."

"Where's mine?" said Luke.

"You have to deserve it first." I said in a light tone.

Someone called me from the room behind the bar to help them carry some drinks. The pub was a bit loud but I could still hear Ashton's voice when I was walking away.

"You were right" he said "I see what you see in her."