By Kelly Gombert
Kelly is a local author from Sagamore Hills.
This is her first chapter of a recurring story.
This is her second recurring story with us.
Did you miss the first chapter of Paris May 2018 A night to remember? You can read it here.
“Cara doesn’t like the Irish pub. We’re going to The Five. See you there.”
“Dude, I’m already here,” Etienne had typed.
“Dan, come on,” Ian texted. “This is my last night. This is supposed to be guys night, got it?”
“Don’t think I’m going to make it after all,” Raj typed. “Sorry.”
The car came to a jerky stop throwing everyone forward by 2 feet. The doors open and Ian squeezed out like toothpaste and headed up the stairs. Topside, he typed “I’m 5 minutes from the pub.”
Etienne was leaning against the bar with two pints in front of him. Ian grabbed one, tapped it against the glass in his friend’s hand and downed half. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”
“Yeah, sorry. I know you were hoping for more,” Etienne replied.
“No worries.” His phone vibrated again.
“Cara and I are at The Five. You guys coming?”
“No. Sorry, man. Another time.” Ian shoved his phone in his front jeans pocket and shook his head. “To be honest, Etienne, you’re the one I wanted to see most tonight anyway.” He clapped his buddy on the back. He took another drag on his beer. “You sure you don’t want to come to the states with me?”
“I’d love to. I’ve got my summer job. Maybe over Christmas break?”
“Slacker.”
“Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t born a year earlier.” He emptied his glass and signaled to the barkeep. “So, what’s the news on the internship front?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’ve got an interview next week.” Ian put some notes on the bar.
“Your money’s no good here. Tonight’s on me,” Etienne said. “Congrats on the interview. Is it something you want to do?”
“Yeah, sounds golden on paper. We’ll see what they have to say.” Ian said distractedly and took another drink.
“That’s it? That’s all I’m getting? Where is it? What are you going to do? How much does it pay? Do you get a corner office?” Etienne backhanded Ian on the shoulder. “Dude, you seem a bit out of it. Oh wait, I’ve seen that look before.” Etienne leaned back. “What’s her name?”
“It doesn’t always have to be a girl.”
“But it always is.”
Ian looked sideways at his friend and sighed. “Jess.”
“Shit, I knew it.”
“I only met her for like 5 minutes and she’s long gone now so forget it.”
“Oh, yeah. Spill.”
“No big deal. I met in the kitchen at the hostel. We talked for a few minutes and I left. That’s it.”
“You talked? You never talk. I’ve never met a guy as shy as you.” Etienne said.
“She spilled water on my notebook.” He pulled it out of his back pocket to show the water stained book as exhibit one. “She apologized and invited me to eat with her. I said no and left.”
Etienne wiggled his finger in front of Ian’s face. “And yet your mind is still back in that kitchen with her and not here in the bar with me.”
“It’s my last night in Paris. Of course, I am here with you and not chasing some tail.”
“Seriously, you’d rather be sitting in a bar getting drunk with me than hooking up with some female distraction? Dude, you got an issue with your priorities.”
“You know, you have an awful lot of American slang for a French guy.”
“Half, mom’s an American.”
“Still.”
Etienne put his hand over Ian’s empty glass when the bartender came by.
“What? No,” Ian protested.
“I don’t know why you’re still sitting here.” Etienne indicated the exit with his eyes.
“There’s plenty of girls right here in this bar.” Ian turned around to face the room. “I could go up to any one of them. There’s a blonde over there. She’s cute.”
“OK, go, what’s stopping you?”
“She’s with her friends. I don’t want to interrupt her.”
“And that, my friend, is your whole problem. You’re going to have to get over that. Haven’t I taught you anything? You go over to that table, right now, and say, ‘Hi my name is Ian. Can I buy you a drink?’ Simple as that.” Etienne gave him a slight push.
Look for the next chapter of this story coming soon
