01 | sheeran

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CHAPTER ONE

SHEERAN

( — ed sheeran; english singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. )

          SELINA'S HEAD IS THROBBING

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          SELINA'S HEAD IS THROBBING.

          Technically, it's not her fault, since it's a mid-July Friday night and Barcelona is bursting with life and lights, but perhaps a beach bar isn't the best place to work at when you're prone to chronic headaches. Regardless, she still loves it; she feels instantly more relaxed when the bar is emptying and it's just her, a gentle melody playing and getting mixed with the costumers' conversation and the waves crashing against the shore.

          Barcelona was the perfect getaway, she thinks.

          It's not that she's avoidant. It's not even like that; it was simply a matter of feeling like everything had become too much for her to handle and, instead of spiraling into an actual meltdown, Selina left a lengthy letter on her boss' desk and got in a plane. Naturally, her departure wasn't generally accepted by everyone (her boss certainly wasn't pleased to know she'd be gone for three months and it will certainly be a miracle if she still has a job once she returns home), but she did what she had to do—for herself.

           If there's anything her father has taught her, is to carry her own weight, as no one will keep making decisions in her place for the rest of her life and there comes a time when you have to pull yourself together and get back on track.

           Back to her pounding headache, one that leaves her nearly unable to pour drinks into shot glasses with steady hands. It's not about the noise, as she deals with it on a daily basis and did the same back in Los Angeles, even if these are two completely different jobs, but the lights.

          The lighting in the majority of the bar is gentle on the eyes, with the beige lights softening and warming up the blue and turquoise details on the counters and high chairs, but there's one particular thing that makes her job a living hell . . . not to be dramatic. Said thing just so happens to be the colored lights right above her head, which were installed with the only purpose of being reflected on the glass surface of the displayed bottles and the glass skylight.

          It's also what warranted it its name—Caleidoscopio, Catalan for kaleidoscope. The glass skylight of the building is decorated with delicate azure lines, creating hexagons against the clear surface; the curve is almost imperceptible, but still noticeable enough to have turned the bar into a popular tourist attraction.

          Selina was futile enough to apply for a job simply because of it, but never stopped to think about how it would affect her health.

          Therefore, she's also to blame for her headache, even if not fully.

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