What do you want?
“What do you want from me?”
The man, startled by Clark’s sudden question, rubbed the back of his head almost nervously.
She had silently watched him whenever he wasn’t looking at her the nights before, which was very rare, but there was no glint of a ring on his hand. He was clean-shaven, with a nice suit that hid a wrinkled shirt and showed off a rather colourful tie; even the curls in his hair were tamed.
Clark had waited nightly for this mysterious stranger to announce himself with a cheesy pick-up line for hours every night after work, but he never did take that step, though.
“I’ll ask again, What do you want from me?” The man kept his eyes on hers, never wavering; however, there was a tremble in his lip before he finally spoke in a hushed tone, his hand tilting the glass of beer side to side.
“I just wanted to give you a drink; I didn’t want to make you feel awkward.”
That was a possibility Clark hadn’t considered; perhaps he was just an awkward guy who was just trying not to be creepy by suddenly asking a random girl in a bar out. But was that possible? He was a good-looking guy who didn’t look like he’d be the nervous type, and in this day and age, it was odd that he might just be trying to be a gentleman. How many guys were like that right now? Clark remembered that most of the guys she grew up with from school to college had their pants by the legs and the most dismissive attitudes, barely any wanting more than just a load of flings.
“You just wanted to buy me a drink? Every night for the past two weeks?” As Clark asked, she lowered into the seat by the man, still gripping her bag by her hip.
“Yeah, I’m sorry, I was trying not to be a creep, I swear I just...don’t know how to do all this.” He waved his hands in the air as he finished the sentence, being careful not to spill the beer across the table. Clark raised an eyebrow before clearing her throat. She understood what he meant about this. The meeting at a bar, she had only done it once, and it turned into a nightmare, but from his words, the mystery man was completely new to it.
“Your name."
“What?”
Clark released a deep breath, giving him a small smile. “To me, you are a complete mystery. I don’t know your name or anything about you except that every night you buy me a drink down the menu, and I believe to start this properly we should at least know each other’s names.”
His eyes lit up as he held out his hand for a handshake, but Clark hesitated before taking it. Surprise filled her mind as she took in how small her hand felt in his. His hand was smooth but felt worked like he was a builder. “Pierce.”
“Clark, nice to officially meet you and put a name with the face.”
Pierce was still smiling as Clark let go of his hand and fiddled with the strap of her bag, trying to ease herself while he started looking at the menu.
“Do you want something to eat? Or drink?”
The bar was mostly quiet now, with all the rowdy crowd leaving just before the two spoke. While it was mostly a place to drink, there was food and a menu. It was more like a tavern than a bar, and Clark was watching the man before her, “Are you asking me for a date, Mr. Pierce?”
She enjoyed watching his face flush at her question; he was definitely more of a shy guy, and for a moment, he was silent before shaking his head and placing the menu in front of Clark.
“No, I want to take you on a real date in a nice place where it doesn’t smell like peanuts and beer. Right now, I am offering food because you haven’t eaten since entering those doors, which was nearly five hours ago. I want you to have a meal and use that meal to take the time to get to know me a little, and then when I ask you for that date...I really hope you’ll say yes.”
Clark took that declaration to heart and felt herself smile once the initial surprise passed, ordering herself some chips and chicken wings. She then met his eyes and returned the menu, placing her handbag on the back of her seat. “Well then, be warned, I will not hold back. I will eat to my heart’s delight and not apologise for using my hands, no trying to be overly careful of what I say or do to make you like me.”
His eyebrow was raised as he ordered some fish and chips for himself and mentioned, “You sound like you’ve rehearsed that quite a bit. Don’t worry, I don’t mind.”
Clark watched as he took a swig of his beer, tilting her head slightly.
“Did you even consider how old I might be?”
“I did, you’re over eighteen ’cause you can drink, but you’re definitely not anywhere near thirty, so I wanna guess around twenty?”
Clark tried not to let him on that he was correct and instead slightly teased him as her chips and wings arrived, taking a bite of a chip. “What if I were using a fake ID for the drinks?”
There! In his steel eyes, there was a sudden alertness that woke, and he shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Had he really been so innocent as not to even consider that perhaps I was a stupid teenager using a fake ID to make poor choices to get drunk and speak to strange men in a bar? He must’ve because he lowered his voice,
“Are you...?”
“No, but I could’ve.”
Clark watched his shoulders slump in ease as his food arrived, and the visible relief made her grin, eating some more of her chips cheekily.
“And you were correct, Twenty-two. You?”
“Just turned twenty-three a few weeks ago.”
She was surprised Pierce was younger than she imagined, but she also pleasantly enjoyed the company of someone around her age who wasn’t a complete bonehead.
As the chips started to disappear from both their plates, Clark took a sip of her blue low-percentage alcohol and felt the awkwardness dull into an almost hum compared to the buzzing before.
“So what do you do for a living, Pierce?”
“I’m studying to be a scientist, but in the meantime, I work in a restaurant, mostly in the kitchen.”
He took a bite from his fish, and Clark felt a swelling feeling rise in her chest. She could understand working so hard to get into something she loved and was lucky enough herself to be doing what she loved.
“What about you?”
Clark felt herself grow bashful; she had never been shy to share her passion for her work, life she felt immense pride in it. But she always did find words on paper, online, anywhere but her own throat and voice to be more impactful and comfortable to share.
“I’m a writer, I have a blog, and I have an advice columnist section in the papers and online. Most of the time, I have to write stuff about places I’ve never even been to or things circulating in the news.” Clark played with the fork on the table as she spoke, “Which isn’t terrible, I’m grateful to be writing anything at all, but I much prefer advising strangers across the world where I can be freer with what I write.”
Clark could feel herself growing more and more excited as she spoke about her work; after all, she had been so focused on her work life that it had consumed her everyday life. Pierce was smiling, not that Clark noticed because she was exploding with excitement and passion, and it took a moment before she realised he was almost giggling at her by now,
“What? Why are you laughing at me?”
“I’m not laughing...truthfully? I already knew you were a writer, I’ve read your advice columns, and I came across your blog.”
In an instant, the awkwardness started to rise up a little in Clark’s throat, and her mind instantly wandered into the stalker territory again. Pierce noticed it and held up his hands in surrender. “I swear I didn’t know it was you. I came across your work years ago, but I never saw a picture. I’m not a stalker, I promise...I can’t believe you’re the Clark Juniper.”
He seemed genuinely shocked to realise it was her, and the clear admiration in his voice made her cheeks burn brightly. Slowly, the two began to converse about a couple of Clark’s works while eating the rest of their meals. The time seemingly passed with the click of a finger, and after all the laughter that was shared between the two eventually it was closing time. Clark rose from the stool and checked her bag before walking to the door.
“Can I walk you home?”
Pierce’s eyes were shining under the street lamps, and his smile was contagious, yet Clark twirled on her feet side to side, “That would be lovely, but I still don’t fully know you...”
He didn’t seem offended; if anything, his smile grew, and he nodded.
“That’s okay, at least let me call you a cab, though?”
“That I can accept, it is freezing out here!”
It was still early in the new year, but summer should’ve started to arrive; then again, it was always late in London. The two waited outside the pub until a car drove up and Pierce opened the door for Clark, closing it as she got in and put the seatbelt on. He leaned down to the window and, still with the smile, spoke,
“Get home safe, Clark. Will I see you again?”
A flutter in her chest made it impossible to deny, and his eyes, like a beautiful metal shining in the sun, kept her eyes locked on him until she spoke breathlessly. “Yes, another night here, and then we will see.”
Pierce stepped back from the car as the driver cleared his throat, clearly wanting to make the start of the journey, digging his hands into his suit. “See you soon, Goodnight, Clark.”
“Goodnight, Pierce.”
It felt oddly intimate the way they said each other’s names, and they both thought about that feeling as the car started to drive away. In the mirror, Clark could see Pierce watching until he grew smaller and eventually started walking away. She eased into her seat and watched out the window as houses blurred and sped by, only slowing when reaching the traffic lights. About twenty minutes later, Clark walked through the door of her home, hearing the approach of her best friend.
“Hey, boy! How was your day, Dr. Edison? Were you my good boy?” Clark knelt and rubbed behind the dogs’ ears, his light barks answering her questions before licking her cheek, causing the room to be filled with laughter.
“Good boy, come on, let’s get you some dinner.”
She filled Dr. Edison’s bowl and watched as he cleaned it in minutes, smiling before going to the sofa in the living room and collapsing into the cushions. Groaning as Dr. Edison jumped up and started nuzzling into her shoulder, lifting her hand weakly. “Five more minutes, Edie, today was...”
Clark was about to say, 'Long day.’ Like usual, but stopped as the evening she had was not a normal routine, anything but normal. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling with her arm hanging over her forehead, smiling slightly.
“Today was nice, actually, nicer than it’s been in a while. I met the mystery man, Edie, his name is Pierce, and he wasn’t a stalker or a psycho...well, not entirely at least. He’s a little odd, but then who am I to judge? I’m still not entirely convinced he’s not trouble, but so far he was just...nice.”
Dr. Edison barked in response and lay his head beside her leg until she shook her head and lifted the laptop from the coffee table into her lap and opened up her blog and column.
“Right, time to work.”
