Advice

After Warren had left the small back room with Rosa and stepped into the bar, he had felt a little better. This strange woman irritated him - very much. He had to concentrate hard to keep his thoughts together and do what Rosa asked him to do.

He should translate for her. Rosa understood a little of what the young woman was saying and probably could have communicated a little with her, but she wanted to be on the safe side the first time she met. She didn't want the young woman to be scared as she would likely be in shock when she woke up.

But it had been so damn difficult. Rosa had got him when Ms. Briscott woke up. Before, he had only seen her from a distance when she was brought from the plane into this back room. But now, when he stood in the doorway, he fully understood her - her looks, her movements, her voice, and what was worse, her smell. This almost drove him crazy and he actually wanted to leave as soon as possible. He could - but actually more importantly - he didn't want to be distracted by it. That was dangerous - not just for him! After all, he had been glad when Rosa indicated that she should follow her into the bar and escape this room and Ms. Briscott.

When she got back to the bar, Rosa watched him carefully for a while and then put a cold beer on the counter where he was now sitting. Not much had happened in the bar itself. Everyone was still in their place - some of them meanwhile drifted into the land of dreams and others still caught up in heated discussions. So everything is the same as before.

Rosa was just about to start something. Warren assumed she was about to talk to him about Ms. Briscott when the door to the bar opened and a man entered. That wouldn't have been anything special in itself if he hadn't been an absolute stranger.

This man was tall and muscular, but he tried to hide it with his clothes. He wore glasses and his blond hair fell lank over his face. All in all, at first sight he made a harmless impression - at least for those who didn't look closely - which was probably what he intended.

Nevertheless, for Warren's taste there was a hidden arrogance and self-confidence in the entire appearance of the stranger, qualities that he, however, knew not to want to flaunt. Warren would definitely keep a close eye on him.

The stranger looked carefully at the inner workings of the bar, until his gaze finally caught on the counter and on Rosa. His expression became a little more innocent, but only Warren noticed. When he got to the bar, he greeted Rosa and asked for a beer. When she put this on the counter for him, the latter asked if she didn't know where he could stay in this place. He wanted to wait here for his fiancée, whom he had not told that he could now take part in the long-planned trip. After much back and forth he would have gotten free and had traveled after her to surprise her. To make matters worse, he told all of this with an absolutely smeary grin on his face.

Rosa kept glancing at Warren as the stranger spoke. Warren knew that Rosa didn't trust this man. She had an unerring instinct when it came to recognizing someone's honesty. And this time, too, she had hit the bull's eye and exposed his dishonest intentions. But Rosa was always very careful not to let others see that she had seen through them. Otherwise it could easily become dangerous for them.

The stranger was in the process of explaining to Rosa what his fiancée looked like and roughly when she should be here. He asked her to let him know if she should find out about her arrival. But under no circumstances should she tell her that he was also here. As I said, he just wanted to surprise her, of course.

When describing his fiancée, Rosa's eyes met Warren again and what he read was pure horror. And he knew exactly why. In the description, Warren had also recognized the young woman who was in the private space of Rosa's bar at that very moment and who would probably burst into this situation unchecked.

The stranger himself didn't notice any of this, neither of the looks Rosa and Warren gave each other, nor of Warren getting up from his seat seconds later and disappearing through the door diagonally behind the counter. The man was too busy maintaining his innocent and probably meticulous facade.

When Warren closed the door behind him and thus largely eliminated the noise from the bar, he was about to go to the back room when he noticed a figure crouched on the floor to the right of the wall. Warren immediately saw who this was.

At the sight of her a strange feeling went through him, which he could not classify and which moved him to keep walking towards Ms. Briscott. When he came to a stop right in front of her, he noticed immediately that she was trembling all over.

And even if the tremor was enough to reveal her current condition to him, another sign that was much more obvious to him was proof enough: the woman in front of him on the floor gave off a definite smell - she was afraid, very afraid. And again the unknown feeling stirred in Warren. Could it really be possible? Had she noticed that someone was looking for her in the bar?

Warren addressed her carefully. He didn't want to startle her and he doubted she'd noticed him. It took what felt like an eternity - Warren thought she had stepped away completely - then she finally lifted her head and looked him straight in the eye. But she still didn't answer. When he saw her face, that strange feeling came over him again. It was getting strange and most of all it annoyed him, because he couldn't and didn't want to deal with such feelings. But no matter how his mind refused, his body was doing something completely opposite. Suddenly he found himself on the floor next to her. Both were still looking at each other, but now at eye level.

Then the voice of the stranger from the bar echoed again in Warren's ears. Very quiet and muffled - the sound was muffled by the door - but Warren could still hear it. Oddly enough, Ms. Briscott seemed to have heard it too, for her trembling increased in strength. Warren carefully put his arm around her shoulders. He hoped this could help her a little. He wasn't very used to doing such things, but he had seen a few times how Rosa did this with good friends when they were in a bad mood and asked her for advice.

It actually seemed to help. Ms. Briscott relaxed a little, but tensed again as the bar door opened again and then closed again. This time she heard a kind of snapping noise, which probably meant locking the door. But when she realized that Warren was completely relaxed and still had his arm around her, she let it and relaxed again. Strange. It had never happened to her before. She didn't even know him. How could she be so sure that she could find safety in his arm. But it was just like that. She would have to deal with that later, but definitely not now.