The Boyfriend

It started out as a friendly night out, just a couple of beers at a quiet pub in the gallery. The gallery was a row of cafes, pubs and restaurants about fifteen minutes away from campus where students from all the Universities in Gastonburry blend in like a melting pot. It was the only area for nightlife other than the two clubs they had for a more lively entertainment.

It often started like that with Kelsey, until she met her friends who also came to the same place and then the night would grow longer as it progressed. The drinks would come more than they initially planned, then they ended up hopping in the car to go to the club because everyone was drunk enough to invite each other for more drinks with louder music and a dance floor.

They were still at the pub when Julie’s phone rang. It was close to 10 PM, it was Nathan.

“Hey.” His voice at the other end.

“Hi! You’ve landed!” she was half shouting.

“(Chuckled) I’m at Ardor, actually, I went straight here from the airport … are you with Kelsey?”

“Yeah, we’re at the Road Kill Pub, you know, just hangin’ out for a few beers.”

“I bet … I texted her, she hasn’t read it, I figured she must be out and about,” his voice was low.

“She was kind of sad when she got back from the airport, I thought she could use a night out for a couple of drinks,” she tried to make it look like it was her suggestion.

“Hmm … is she still sad now?” he didn’t expect an answer.

Julie looked over at Kelsey who was laughing loudly at another table with her friends.

“No … she’s better now, see … it worked, I cheered her up.”

Nathan pursed a soundless smile.

“You wanna talk to her?”

He was silent for a moment.

“No … let her kick off her sadness for the night, just let her know I called and I texted her … is she there with you right now?”All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.

Julie glanced at Kelsey again, she was deep in a conversation with a glass in her hand. She was laughing and patting her friend’s back like they had just heard a very funny story.

“She’s nearby,” Julie said.

“She’s with her drinking friends at another table, you mean?”

“I can call her out just fine, she’s really close …”

“No, don’t, it’s fine,” he started to sound annoyed.

“I’ll call her in the morning, no, afternoon, it’s fine, I wanted to show you the place, actually, but maybe tomorrow, I’ll be back here tomorrow anyways.”

“Wait, no, it’s okay, let’s just switch to video call so you can show me around … I’ll just step outside for a little bit,” she said as she walked out of the pub.

It was quiet outside, and they switched to video call. He showed her the place where she would be taking her internship in December. The Ardor sign above the entrance was solid, elegant and masculine. So was the ambience of the place. It was a combination of wood and black industrial iron with a touch of brown here and there.

The chairs were solid wood, the bar was black, the huge kitchen equipped with silver apparels. “This is my office,” he said. He walked through a metal push door out of the kitchen through the back, passed a small corridor and there was a door. “And this will be your office,” he opened it. The room looked like the main office with a tall leather chair and a huge desk, fully carpeted and well thought out office furniture that goes with the concept of the whole restaurant.

Her eyes widened, “My office? That looks more like your office.”

Nathan pointed the camera back to his face. He was smiling widely, he looked tired but there was a twinkle in his eye that showed how much he cared about his project. “I told you, the kitchen is my office, I’ll be spending most of my time there so you can use the office for whatever desk work needed to be done.”

“That’s a great looking office, I already have some decorations in mind, why don’t you take some pictures of it and send them to me?”

“I will.”

They looked at each other for a few seconds through the screen, tried to find more things to say when she was distracted by an oncoming vehicle that stopped right in front of the pub.

Laughter and giggling can be heard when the car door opened. Preston stepped out of the car, “I’ll see you guys later!” he waved at them, and the car drove away.

“Preston!” Julie called out to him.

“I guess you should go back to your night out,” Nathan thought it was a sign to end the call.

Julie turned to Nathan again, tucked her hair behind her ear, “Okay, don’t forget to send me those pictures.”

“I’ll do it right after this, tell Kelsey I’ll call her tomorrow.”

“Okay, get some rest Nathan, you look tired,” she told him.

He smiled, “Will do, bye Julie.”

“Bye.”

“Didn’t know you were here,” Preston said and gave her a warm hug, “Who were you talking to?”

“Oh, it was Nathan, he was showing me his restaurant, he just got back in Bhorma.”

Preston took a pack of cigarettes, pulled one with his teeth. He looked at her without saying a word and twirled his cig with his tongue.

“What?”

He lit up his cigarette, “Nothing,” took a long drag and took her hand. “Let’s get you back inside.”

With Preston joining the group, it was definitely going to be a long night. He was there for an obvious reason, The Ladies Night at the club. They went inside and got more drinks, when the clock struck twelve, they hopped to their car and drove to the club.