roman godfrey imagines

the stranger at the bar

It was 10:37pm; your date was supposed to arrive at 8:00. You desperately turned on your phone every few seconds in hopes to get a text, a missed call, something. But nothing came up, so you were here, wearing an elegant bun, forlorn smile, red lips, and an off-the-shoulder dark red dress. You've never been ditched before, and the thought of it made you sadder by the minute. You debated whether you'd sit at the bar and order a drink or go home. No- going home would just make you feel worse. So you sat there, observing the people chatting, flirting, and laughing.

The seat next to you got occupied eventually by a handsome young man. His hair was disheveled probably after a day of stress. He had prominent cheekbones, plump lips, and a tall, lean frame covered with a fine nylon black shirt and a few buttons undone on the top. Matching black pants complimented the bottom. The clothing contrasted his pale, ivory complexion. The man's captivating green eyes scanned the available drink options. You couldn't shift your eyes away from him until he turned and looked at you. Something about him seemed familiar, but you couldn't tell. You've not been to this bar before- you weren't much of a drinker.

He met your eyes with no expression at first, but then a tight-lipped smile rose. "Anything for you?"

"I'll pass, thanks," you said. Since your date didn't show up, you'd have to drive yourself home and anyone with half a brain knew drinking and driving were not an ideal combination.

"Cognac on the rocks and whatever she'll have," the man said as he slipped his credit card to the bartender. He ran his long fingers through his soft, dark hair and looked at you again.

"What are we celebrating today? Birthday? Anniversary? Freedom from a messy divorce?" the man asked as he took notice of how you dressed.

What was the harm in telling him, you thought. "A date where the guy never shows up," you scoffed.

"What a fucking idiot," the man creased his brows and let out a chuckle.

"Tell me about it," you rolled your eyes, as you put your elbow on the counter and rested your head on your palm. "And you're here because?"

"A regular. Just having a merry good time," the man said as he received his drink. "You sure you don't want anything?"

"I'm fine, thanks," you replied. You felt overdressed and slightly paranoid at this situation. You weren't the biggest fan of talking to strangers, but something about this man was captivating.

The man took a sip out of his drink. "I'm Roman," he said, out of the blue. "And you are?"

Were you going to tell him your actual name? Would that be safe? You paused for a while but just said, "Y/N."

Roman raised his eyebrows. He tapped his fingers on the counter as if it were a piano then said, "So- Y/N, are you from around here?"

You rubbed your right big toe against the velvet layer on your heel. "No?" you answered, unsure of where this conversation was going. "I moved here a few months ago for work. What do you do, Roman?" you carefully asked. You tried hard not to open yourself up too much to whoever this handsome stranger was, but something about him intrigued you. You almost felt clouded by his presence.

"I run a company," he answered casually. Then he looked at you again. "You know that massive tower that you really just can't miss in this town?" You nodded your head. "That's mine."

You stopped resting your head on your palm and sat up. "You're kidding," you said, fully knowing he was not.

Roman chugged down the rest of the liquid in his glass and asked for more. "Why, does that change anything?"

You took a moment to think of why this man in front of you seemed so familiar. When it clicked, you couldn't refrain from gasping. "You're Roman as in-"

"Roman Godfrey," he completed your sentence as he ran his fingers through his hair again. Something made you want to lean closer to him, brush aside the few strands of hair that fell on his face, touch his porcelain skin. But you broke out of your trance. You mentally cursed at what you just conjured up in your mind.

"Why would you be talking to a nobody like me at 11pm, Mr. Godfrey?" you asked. "I know I'm overdressed and probably look like it, but I'm not a prostitute or anything like that."

Roman accepted his new glass of cognac and pretended to clink it with some other glass in the air. Then he gulped it all down at once. "Sweetheart, I know," he said. "Do you want to stay here and pine over your lost potential lover all night?"

You rolled your eyes. "No, you're right. I should probably get going," you scratched the back of your neck. You sheepishly smiled at Roman and got up from your seat. "Nice meeting you, Mr. Godfrey. Thank you for keeping me company." Something wanted you to sit back down, but you weren't drinking, the purpose you even came here failed, so what was the point?

"Leaving me here all alone, Miss Y/N?" Roman had his eyes fixed upon you. It made you shudder and escalated your heartbeat. Why was a stranger having this effect on you? You cleared your voice and looked down.

"Well, there's plenty of beautiful women here tonight to keep you company," you answered. "Surely you'll meet someone you remotely like."

Roman got up from his seat and you began to really take notice of just how tall he was. He completely towered over you, even though you were wearing heels, and this made you feel like you were caged with a lion. You looked up to meet his eyes. They seemed darker than when you first saw him. Right afterwards, he closed his eyes and cracked his neck by bending his head first to the left then to the right.

He opened his eyes, then looked at the rest of the people. "I looked and found no one I liked," Roman's voice went down a few notches. "Except you, of course." Your breath hitched and your toes curled when he said that- out of attraction or fear, you didn't know. You let out a nervous laugh.

"Might I ask what made me get your attention?" you turned and looked at Roman. You noticed just how close he was to you, and that sent another chill down your spine. He was intimidating, charming, and everything in between, but you had only spent half an hour with him. That wasn't even enough time to get done with a medium-difficulty recipe.

"Well, for one, usually people leave the venue when their dates don't show up. You didn't. And two, you didn't recognize me." he answered quite happily.

"So you're a narcissist," you clicked your tongue and raised your brows. You then checked your phone. 11:19pm. "Although I'm flattered in doing my part in feeding your ego, I need to get going. Goodnight, Roman," you said, surprised that you felt free enough to joke around with a man your were simultaneously dazed by.

"Until we meet again then, Y/N," he smirked.

"What makes you so sure we'll ever see each other again?" you furrowed your eyebrows.

"You'd be surprised at how small Hemlock Grove is," Roman studied you up and down one last time. "So, until we meet again."

You gave a slight nod and left the bar. You couldn't shake off that strange feeling. You were no doubt attracted to him and had every reason to be- he was charming and handsome. But he was also frightening. You shook your head at your thoughts as you got into your car to drive home. "Until we meet again," you laughed to yourself.