Paranoid Birthday
It was 7 pm, he had gotten home from work an hour ago and he felt too goddamn tired... But he had promised Mark that they would go out to celebrate his birthday this year. He already regretted the promise, of course...
He changed out of his work uniform and into something more casual – just a T-shirt and black jeans. He checked himself in the mirror and left. No car keys this time – the bar was a 15-minute walk. And of course, if he were already going, he would drink.
He got there at 7:30 pm, but no one was there, he felt like an idiot, too eager to go out... "He should just leave, it was a Friday they would drink anyway, his birthday was just an excuse". He was just convincing himself to turn around and leave we he heard Mark calling for him. "Oh well, took too long..."
He saw that Mark was accompanied by their other friends: Greg, Sara, and an older girl that he had no idea who it was. Mark said, "Happy birthday man, you can finally drink!" and leafed. The joke was that Hendrik had been drinking illegally for almost a year now, "Such a healthy habit," he thought. Mark introduced the new girl as Marina and they found a table and started drinking and talking.
Later, he found out that Mark had met Marina in the afternoon at the Engineering Academic Center. Usually, Mark spent his afternoons smoking pot like crazy, so Marina was probably also a pothead. She was Mark's senior, two years ahead, and she studied Chemical Engineering while Mark studied Civil Engineering.
While they talked and got to know each other, Hendrik started to feel a little bit paranoid. Marina was too eager to talk to him, she showed too much interest and not in a romantic way. Maybe she wanted to go out with him, drug him and steal some of his organs? He would wake up the next day in a tub filled with ice and a note saying that he should call an ambulance ASAP. Marina was pretty, but not pretty enough for him to risk his kidneys being stolen.
TBC
