Weakness (Jay McGuiness Fanfic)

Chapter 1.

I pushed the door of a pub after a long day of meetings, feeling well in need of a drink. I was in the end stages of a project which my manager was negotiating, and it was somewhat stressful.

"A Guinness stout please."

The female bartender smiled at me and opened my drink. She was attractive, but she had a ring on her finger. "Tonight it's pay-it-forward night in honor of the British Heart Foundation. You can buy someone a drink and the proceeds will go to the charity."

"That's a good idea, I'll gladly take part."

I spun around on my stool and looked around the room for a victim. Most people were in groups, laughing or playing darts, but there was one girl who was sitting on her own.

"How about a beer for the lady over there?"

"Coming right up!"

"Hey there."

The woman looked up at me, her look of suspicion quickly turning into curiosity. "Hi."

"I hope you don't mind, I bought you a drink."

"Thank you." She flashed pearly white teeth which contrasted perfectly with her dark skin. "But I don't drink."

"It's okay, I won't let it go to waste. It's for charity after all."

She smiled and looked at me for a moment. "I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure I recognize you."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You saw me on Strictly?"

"Actually I quite liked The Wanted." She put her long black hair behind her ears.

"I just realized that I didn't ask for your name. How rude of me!"

"It's okay. I'm Hailey, Hailey Lawrence."

"Nice to meet you. Can I get you something else since you don't drink?"

"I could kill for a piece of cake to be honest."

It was obvious that Hailey was more on the quiet side, but she seemed to be able to open up quickly to me. I found out that she was from Scotland, new to London, and she never really went to bars.

"Why are you here tonight then?"

"It's a long story" she smiled. "Basically I had a frustrating day at work and I wanted to cool off with some orange juice."

"What do you do?"

"I work mainly in admin, but my boss loves to give me tasks which have nothing to do with my job."

"That sucks." I took a swig of my drink. "I can see why you need the juice."

"Yeah." She sighed and smiled at me again. "What about you? What brings you here tonight?"

"Truth be told, I also had a stressful day."

"Well at least it's better now" she smiled.

We played a pub quiz as we sat together, neither of us quite wanting to go home yet. It was getting later but after the long days we'd just had, a bit of fun was warranted.

"Oh my goodness look at the time! I should probably get going." Hailey looked at her phone and immediately put on her coat. "I didn't see time pass."

"Me neither to be honest. Can I walk you home?"

"I don't live around here, but you can walk me to the underground."

We didn't say much as we walked along, both of us mostly spent from our conversation earlier. The entrance to the underground could soon be seen, and she turned to me to say goodbye.

"I guess this is where we say goodbye. I had a nice time with you."

"So did I."

She smiled. "Bye then."

I watched her begin to walk off before realizing something. "Wait! I didn't get your number."

"Oh yeah." She blushed. "Here you go. See you around."

She disappeared down the stairs and I looked on for a while, still basking in the moment, but the cold reminded me that it was time to go home.

She was nice, I thought as I began to head in the other direction. Can't forget to text her tomorrow.

The meeting's tomorrow morning at 9.

A text from my manager reminded me of my responsibilities the next day, so as soon as I got home I put myself to bed. The sooner we could come to an agreement, the better.

*

It didn't take me long the next day to realize that I'd made a monumental mistake.

I was so focused on my conversation with Hailey that I completely forgot my wallet at the bar, and now I didn't have time to go get it.

Think Jay, think...

Grabbing my phone, I sent a quick text to the only person who could help.

Hi Hailey, how are you? Quick question, do you think you could pass by the bar we were at yesterday? I forgot my wallet there like an idiot.

It'd be a life saver if she could get it, because I was already on my way to my meeting with my manager. "You'd better hope she pulls through for you" Damien chuckled. "Why are you so scatter-brained?"

"I have no idea" I sighed. "But I'm used to it by now."

My phone vibrated in my lap with a ray of hope.

Hey, I'm good. I could get it for you, but where would we meet?

I hadn't thought of that.

Where do you work? I'll text you the address of the building I'll be in and we'll see if we can meet up.

I'm not too far away so what do you say we meet up at lunch?

Okay then. I'll text you a good place.

See you then!

"You're a lucky bugger" Damien laughed.