If I'm There - Noah Sebastian

Chapter 1 - See you soon.

MID JULY - ENGLAND, UK.

It's summer in Manchester, England, and going to work was the last thing I wanted to do today.
The air con is broken (as usual), so finding something to wear that's appropriate for work but little enough so I don't sweat my tits off is a hard balance.

3 hours into my shift, and it's busy, and I'm not in the mood to speak to anyone. I'm just eager for my shift to finish so I can meet up with my friends because we're going to a gig tonight. Black Veil Brides, my childhood band I was obsessed with.

I'm stood on the makeup counter I worked on in the middle of the store, wafting myself with a piece of card that I found lying around when I heard some girls behind me whispering...

"That's him. Go ask for a picture."
"No, you go ask for a picture!"
"No, I'm too nervous, YOU do it."

I turned to see who they were talking about. A literal tattooed giant stood in the aisle, looking at nail varnish, visibly uncomfortable at the girls gawking at him.

Eventually, one of the young girls plucks up the courage to ask for a picture. "Hi, you're Noah, aren't you? we're really big fans, and we're just wondering if we could get a picture?"

The tall, long-haired giant smiles a little "yeah sure" and I visibly cringe as the awkwardness.

I stood watching the encounter none the less and after a few minutes, this giant looked up at me in despair. "Exuse me, is there any chance you could help me?" American. I walked over, a bit pissed that I actually had to do some work in this humidity. "Yeah, sure, what can I help with?"

He was so tall, towered over me even. I'm 5"2, so everyone towers over me, but he's easily got to be 6 ft.
"I'm trying to find some decent black nail polish. Do you have any suggestions?" I work on a makeup counter, so nail polish isn't my forte, but I decided to help him anyway.

Just as I was about to speak, another group of giggling girls came over and asked for a picture. In fact, they asked me to take it. Who is this guy?
I took the picture and stood there awkwardly waiting for the interaction to finish and carried on where we left off. I showed him a couple that I used and liked, and once again, we were disrupted. I'm losing my patience now, I looked back at my counter to see if there were any customers there. There wasn't. The giant turned to me "I'm sorry if I'm keeping you, you can go back if you need to" Something in me kept me there, and I told him he's no bother, I'm here to help. Just as we finished, a 3rd group of girls came over to bother him, and I saw the despair in his eyes.

I decided to wrap this up for his sake. As we were at the till point, I asked if he wanted me to take him out of the store through a quieter exit.
"Oh my god, if you wouldn't mind, I'd really appreciate that. I need to get back to the van"
"Yeah, sure, I'll walk you over there so you don't get lost. I can tell you're not from around here." he laughed and lowered his head as if he's been caught doing something he shouldn't. A piece of his long, shiny, brunette hair fell down over his face, and it took every part of me to not tuck it back behind his ear.

I walked him out the back and asked where he was heading. "Deansgate?" His perplexed accent was so funny, I couldn't help but mock him. He laughed and said, "Ha ha, very funny. It's like you've never met an American before. "
We walked half the way in quiet. It was serene, not awkward, just watching the Manchester traffic go by.

Most of the way, I kept looking at his patterned arms. Searching every line, every piece of shading. He caught me looking and broke the silence. I have plenty of tattoos, but he put me to shame with his. They covered his noodle fingers, neck, and arms. Barely any space to put anything else.
"Shit. I never caught your name? I'm Noah. "
"Oh haha, I'm Lou."
"Nice to meet you. Thanks for sneaking me out. Those girls can be a bit much"
"Yeaaaahh, what was that about? Even I was getting pissed. "
"Oh shit I'm so sorry."
"No, don't be sorry! It wasn't your fault at all!"
"Thanks for being so understanding. This is me anyway."

We had stopped outside of the O2 Ritz. This is where I was going to see BVB tonight, I didn't say anything because I was so in awe of Noah.
I've never really looked at him until now. Every pore, every line, every freckle, even the patterns in his iris. Beautiful.

Noah stopped and looked at me. It was so intense but gentle at the same time. We stood in silence, watching eachothers eyes for what felt like a lifetime. He broke the silence first again.
"I hope you don't get in trouble for leaving work,"
"Nah, I'm the manager. It's all cool. I couldn't let you get chased by girls after seeing you get so lost around the nail varnish, " I joked.

He smiled, and my heart dropped. No. Don't. Push those feelings down. You're never going to see him again. Don't be a little bitch and get attached over a little interaction.

"Okay, I'll go and leave you to it. Don't get lost again." I winked.
"Thanks again Lou, I appreciate it. See you soon"
My heart skipped a beat when he said my name.

See you soon. What?