Tripping| Van McCann

11. Mates, your loved ones

Sammy's P.O.V.

I met the glance of the man in front of me, who had been busily greeted by Van with a brother hug. They were like a perfect duo with strong bonding in between.

"Oh, Bond, lemme introduce you," Van said as he gestured for me to stepped forwards. "This is Sammy. Sammy, this is Johnny Bond, but he prefers Bondy."

"Hi, Bondy," I said as we politely shook each other"s hand. He smiled at me politely, from one glance you could know that he's a decent gentleman, quiet sometimes but did have the wits.

"Come in," he waved at us. We followed him into the house and he led us around to see the pool, his little garden, and we made ourselves comfy in his living room which was spacious and bright. He made us two cups of tea and handed the mugs to us. "Thanks," I said politely. Van started chattering with him about how things were lately, while I was looking around the house and sipping my tea. After some minutes, my cup was emptied and I pretended that I was listening to their conversations.

"So this lass you brought around here," Bondy mentioned my name suddenly.

"Yeah," Van said, gesturing for me to come nearer. I scooted my hip towards him. "We're neighbours, nowt special," he stated. I nodded besides him.

"So you're going on a trip together?" he asked us, warming his hands with the cup.

"Yeah, she's on a graduation trip summat and we just bump into each other and so here we are now!" Van gave a laugh about it, skipping the details but enough for Bondy to know. I was relieved to hear that. I looked at him from aside with gratitude, he surely grasped that I was some sort of private person as well.

"I see. What uni you're going to?" Bondy asked me amiably.

"Birmingham," I replied. "Might as well work a shift there."

"Sounds nice," he smiled.

After a brief encounter with Bondy, the two of them continued their conversation. "By the way, your room is on the first floor, turn left and the second one," Bondy said to me as he sensed that I was a little bit bored sitting there and doing nothing. "And we'll go out tonight for dinner. You can take a nap and get down here before 5," he added. "Okay," I answered and stood up, walking away from the couch to the stairs. I found my room where my suitcase was already in there.

I closed the door behind me and walked into the bathroom after picking some clean clothes for changing. I stepped into the shower and let the water rinsed over my body. Then I dried myself clean with the towel Bondy prepared beforehand and put on the bathrobe and dried my hair with the hairdryer. I jumped onto the bed as sleepiness hit me like tidal waves. I could hear my soft snores vaguely but after some moments my consciousness blanked out so I couldn't hear myself anymore.

The phone alarm woke me up at 4:30pm. Then I got myself changed and tidied up my hair, walked downstairs to the living room as Bondy was already there.

"Hey, lass," he greeted me. We were at about the kitchen island. He was busily cleaning up the surfaces of cabinets and islands. I offered to help him and he rejected. "It's better if we leave Van to clean it later," he joked with a wink. I laughed at his humour accordingly, "That's a perfect idea."

"Could I have a glass of water?" I asked him, my throat was dry and I needed to keep myself sort of hydrated as well, like Van did.

"Sure," he pulled out a glass from the dish washing machine and opened the tap and filled the glass full. "Here you go."

"Thanks," I said as he handed me the glass and I took a few big sips of it.

"It's weird to see him bringing some 'girl friend' here," he started, learning against the kitchen table. "Even if it's his exes, he wouldn't bring them here," he shrugged. I could feel that he was secretly giving me some hints. But those were the ones I wouldn't want to know about so I kept silent.