Noumena: Sophie and Oliver

Chapter Seven: A Pocket Full of Crazy

We arrived at the local pub ten minutes late. Walking towards the old stone building a bitter stale smell burnt my nostrils. I hated the smell of pubs especially when I wasn’t planning on drinking. The big wooden windows of the first floor allowed us to see in perfectly from outside. A group of guys standing around drinking looked at Will and I. They stared at me for a second and went back to exchanging work stories.

It was the kind of look that made you wonder if you had food between your teeth. I arched my head looking for my reflection in a nearby window and ascertained that I was fine. The door to the tavern was scratched, dinted and old, but it retained carvings from the late 1800s. A warm breeze of perfume and smoke smothered my nostrils as Will opened the door for me. Lara stood out like a rose amongst a garden of dung, well that was except for the other rose that accompanied her. She was pressing up against a tall, olive-skinned, muscly boy. He didn’t look like a local, more like a surfy although the nearest beach was three hours away. His long arms meant he could have wrapped himself twice around Lara. I suddenly thought of Ken and Barbie.

Will gurgled beside me. The sound made him sound like he was suffocating. As we neared I coughed politely.

“Oh, hey guys,” Lara said awkwardly and quickly let go of her handsome man. A couple of men nearby who’d been engaging in voyeurism went back to their drinks. I flashed Lara a cheeky grin. Her face reddened but then she grew distracted as she took in my appearance.

“Er…Sophie, Will, this is Luke.” Her eyes didn’t shift from my face, she looked genuinely confused. I welcomed the opportunity to break eyes with Lara to shake Luke’s hand. Will shoved is hands in his pockets but offered a handshake when I elbowed him.

“Nice to meet you,” I said. I elbowed Will again.

“Yeah, me too,” he mumbled and stalked towards the bar.

I tried to improve the sudden awkward atmosphere that Will’s childish behaviour had created.

“Don’t mind him.” I gave Luke my best smile. “I took him away from his RPG game.”

Luke laughed a very deep manly laugh. It seemed wrong for someone his age to produce that level of baritone. Lara’s own soprano giggle contrasted and together they sounded like wind chimes. Lara looked eagerly at Luke and did her signature school girl cutesy shuffle. He ogled at her.

“Thanks for reserving a pool table,” I added trying to keep the conversation going to placate my own unease. I could sense the sexual attraction between them; their feelings of lust for each other was almost overwhelming to me. I felt like I was becoming some sort of empath: fictional humans that could sense the slightest change in other peoples moods. I’d read about them in novels. The surrealness of it all made me feel kind of hollow and I suddenly wanted Melinda.

“No worries, we got half an hour ago and started a game – but you can probably guess we’re a bit distracted.” Luke laughed loudly creating a bass line in my bones – it made Lara bite her lip. Urg! was all I could think. Lara stole a quick kiss from Luke, he made some masculine grunting noise and pulled her to him with his tree-trunk arms. The two guys sitting down began to watch them again. I felt like an unwanted spectator and I made a snap decision to drink alcohol after all.  

“Thirsty?” I offered, gesturing to the bar.

“I’ll come with.” Lara giggled as she carefully shuffled out of his grasp, and he made the experience last as long as possible. I averted my gaze uncomfortably. As soon as she was free I moved swiftly to the barman who was quite busy. Strangely, I got his attention rather quickly and he gave me a large interested smile and raised his index finger indicating he’d be one moment.