Rare (Hozier)

Chapter 6

A/N: Andrew's POV is going to appear a few times through the story (if you have a problem with this let me know).
Please express your opinions, I'm dying to know how you like the story so far. Believe me, the best is yet to come!

Andrew's POV

"This is insane!" I felt the urge to cry like a child when I realised what I was doing.

I was in the so-called SkyPod at the CN Tower in Toronto! I mean, Toronto like the real Toronto in fuckin' Canada! There were so many new experiences for me I could just not contain myself.

We were in Canada after having been to Texas and then half of the East Coast and New York and... I was on the American continent! It was my first time outside Europe and everything was surreal! Okay, the whole point was touring and promoting the album through interviews and radio sessions but... Honestly, I had never thought I'd ever get the chance to get this far. And by far I don't mean literally a place which is over three thousand miles away from home but by how far (can I say professionally?) professionally I got, in terms of how great the outcomes of my work turned out to be.

"You kiddin' me?!" Anna shouted excitedly. "This is the most astonishing view, it's amazing!"

And she was right, Toronto immediately became one of my favourite cities, it had everything from the buzz and crowds of big cities, the skyscrapers of New York (our hotel itself had over 50 floors which was insane!), the green areas and tranquil neighbourhoods that remind you of old European cities. Speaking of which, the other day we were in a park near the venue and there were squirrels running and playing and climbing trees right next to us! And then there was the lake, oh, and the port and...

"Andy look, a plane! It's landing!"

Anna was pointing desperately in the distance.

"I don't..." I've never been good at following one's finger.

"You silly, look!"

She stepped on her tiptoes (due to the considerable height gap between us) and wrapped her hand around my neck, pulling my head closer to hers until our cheeks touched. Her skin felt silky and warm and her sweet perfume got into my nose like a drug. I had never been so close to her and I swear I could even hear her heart beating wildly under her young flesh. Then I remembered about  the rough 5 o'clock shadow on my face and thought she might hate it. It might have scratched her delicate skin. I was too busy alarming and blaming myself that I didn't pay attention to what she was showing me.

"There! The plane! It's landing on the airport from the island. The small one, Billy Bishop I think it was called. Do you see it now?"

"Oh, yeah yeah, I do, thanks."

"I remember coming here a few years ago to play with the Toronto Orchestra and..." She might have noticed my silence. "Something wrong with you?"

Damn, I didn't want her to be concerned about my awkwardness. I was a terrible human being.

"Nothing, I'm just... overexcited I guess."

What was I doing with myself? What was I doing to myself? How was I supposed to face crowds of hundreds, thousands of people when I couldn't even look a girl in the eye? Damn!

***

"So you like her." Mia stated calmly.

"Shhhhh!"

Even though we were alone in the bar at midnight, I still had the impression someone could hear us. I was being paranoiac already.

"Don't shush me, I'm trying to help you but first let me get things straight, right? Consider that I'm your lawyer. I need to know everything so that I can help you."

Mia and I have known each other since college and we've had this kind of strong friendship where we could tell each other absolutely everything.

"Sorry, I'm just..." I could feel my forehead already sweating only by thinking at what Mia was going to propose me.

"It's fine. Tell me more."

"She is just... so kind and nice and down-to-earth and she has this amazing personality that makes me feel heavenly only by being next to her, I can't stop smiling and stuff... And we have like very deep conversations every time because she's so smart and we have so much in common... Plus, she's got this angelic kind of beauty you only hear about in stories you know... We're like very good friends and I wouldn't..." I stopped and reanalysed what I had just said. "Am I behaving like a teenager afraid to ask a girl out for the first time?"

Mia and I laughed.

"More like a nursery kid asking his mother for advice on how to hold a girl's hand but yeah..."

"Daaaaamn..." I felt even worse and laughed at myself. Again, whose stupid idea was to talk to someone about my feelings?

"It's okay, Andy. Anna is such a sweetheart and I'd really like to see the two of you together, I mean, I ship you."

"Oh, crazy fans already?" I laughed awkwardly at my own joke.

"Believe me, when the ship comes from the inside, it's serious business!"

"That's crazy. We should probably go to sleep now, tomorrow we have the gig. Good night!"

As I was getting ready to leave and let the bartender go home too, Mia put her hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

"Andy, Anna is certainly into you too." She said quickly.

"What makes you say that?"

"Andrew, she accepted to come with you in Ireland. When you had nothing to offer her. Not a train ticket, not a hotel room and definitely not a pay for the volunteer work she did recording for the album. She had nothing but hope in you and... of course, a certain level of sympathy. So be brave, man, ask her out, I don't know, she's a pretty straightforward person as we all found out so I'm sure she'll be very honest with you. Good night!"