right here in my arms - alex turner

electricity

"my heart was breaking
and got left unlocked
didn't see you sneak in
but i'm glad you stopped"

11th january 2012 • 8:24pm • the pub

as i laughed and walked through the door of the pub me and my friends regularly visited, i couldn't help but notice something was up. was i unwell? would i have to go home? i hope not. we found a table and talked a bit more before we would decide on what drinks we wanted.

"so then i told him he was delusional and i took my shit and left him!" my best friend, rhea, explained to the group. we all nodded or cheered her on.

"good for you, rhea, he gave me bad vibes from the start. you are an independent woman and you don't need men like him bringing you down all the time!" i proudly said to her, her (now ex) boyfriend had just been caught cheating on her in her own home. rhea isn't the type of girl to just dish out forgiveness like nothing. she knew when things were bad for her, and she didn't take bull from anybody.

a few minutes later, we decided we needed some drinks in us. i took the role of the kind friend who orders and pays for 5 drinks in one go.

"and then please can i have a vodka coke? with mexican coke if you have any, thank you. that'll be all" i said to the nice man behind the till as i handed him a few notes.

as i waited for our drinks to be done, i looked around. i couldn't help but notice some man with a quiff looking heartbroken. it was usual to see things like that in here, but this felt different. i pushed it to the back of my mind, took the drinks, and headed off to our table.

"did you guys see that guy with the leather and quiff? i asked, putting all the drinks on the table.
"oh yeah, why? he say something dodgy to you?" one of our friends replied.
"no, no, nothing like that. something about him just seems different.." i explained, but with no luck, as they didn't understand

one thing about my friends, they loved to assume.

"someone's in love!" rhea shouted for the whole pub to hear. no, the whole street.
"god, rhea, calm down! he just looks so down, and i know that's regular here, but it's not the same. i feel like i need to comfort him, be there for him, and i don't even know him!" i said back to her, shouting back at her in the beginning, but quietening down.

"maybe you should go talk to him, rox." another friend suggested. maybe..
"i could.. but his whole aura seems intimidating." i said to no one in particular.

11th january 2012 • 10pm • the pub

i wobbled back towards quiff guy and the bartender to get more drink, placing my hand on someone's shoulder on the way to keep my balance. i started to regret wearing my heeled boots as i was almost falling over more and more as the night went on.

"more pleaseeeee" i slurred, handing over another note and my now empty glass.
he gave me a slightly disturbed look but complied.
as i looked around, trying to take in my surroundings, i noticed quiff guy looking at me.

"do you want a picture?" i asked, rather rudely.
most people would scoff, turn away, but no.
he laughed.
"sorry for staring, love. can't help but notice you've had at least 8 of those in the last hour. haven't you achieved your goal?" he explained himself.
"my goal?" i asked.
he just smiled.
"alex, alex turner" he said, taking another sip of his drink. it looked a bit like a margarita from where i was stood but i couldn't see clearly.
"roxanne." i replied, giving him a small smile.

i completely forgot about my friends back at the table, and it seemed they had forgotten about me too. my drink had arrived 20 minutes ago and i fully neglected it.
"so how come you're in sheffield if you are from manchester?" he asked me.
"well, i moved here when i was around 14, with my mum. it's always been just us, and we wanted a change of scenery." i explained
"i see."

we talked and talked for what seemed like minutes but could've been hours. i to this day don't remember. we talked about everything from home lives, to childhood pets, to jobs. and that's when he revealed to me what he was doing with his life, what career he had chosen to take when he was a boy.
he's the frontman of a totally famous band!

"i told you what i do, i wanna know what you do with your time! come on roxanne!" he pleaded. i felt embarrassed about my job knowing he had the one thing i had ever wanted.
"well i work in a HMV. embarrassing, i know. but i do like to play a bit of guitar on the side, although i probably couldn't compete with you." i said, looking down.
"oh sure you could! all you have to do is pretend you're not cool, and that makes you cool!" he explained
"so you being cool has nothing to do with this quiff or this leather jacket? you don't try at all?" i asked.
"of course not, because i'm not cool." he said with a wink.
i couldn't help but laugh loudly

and that was when my friends realised i had been "getting another drink" for at least 30 minutes now.

"roxanne it's time to go! you have work in the morning." rhea nagged. i was having fun. ugh.
"but rheaaaaaaa alex is telling me how to be cool!" i begged.
"oh is he now?" rhea asked, giving us funny looks.
"i don't wanna keep you too long, roxanne." alex said, drawing my name out. my name sounded totally different when he said it.

me and alex exchanged numbers and a very upset me got in the cab and waved bye.

i saved his number with the contact name
'alex band guy'
and texted him a simple "hi" so it would save.

thank you so much for reading!
1041 words
i'm going to try and update every friday, but if there's any changes, i'll make it known as soon as i can.
have a nice day or night ♡︎