Chapter Two - Petyr

The Blue Inn.

This place held a lot of memories. It has been what? 20 years since I last came here. A lot had changed. The old had certainly made way for the new.

But one thing remained, the old chap, manager of the Blue Inn, Sam Caldwell.

He laughed heartily as he walked up to me and embraced me.

" Good to see you, Petyr. What's it been? Fourty years?" He said, in between laughs.

"Twenty!" I patted his back.

"Well you don't look a day older."

It was my turn to laugh. "Even I know you're lying. I know I didn't have grey hairs when I left."I said

"You look the same, only with a few grey hairs. Well, thanks to the early notice of your arrival, I was able to arrange your favourite spot for you" He pointed to a long cushioned red velvet seat in the VIP section.

I smiled,"You didn't forget."

I could almost see her seating there, laughing at my jokes, her head on my shoulder. My Cienna. My sweet Cienna.

"It's a pity she's not here anymore. I'm sorry for your loss, Petyr." Sam said, as if reading my mind."Cienna was a wonderful woman. Evelyn was really saddened by news of her death."

Evelyn was his wife.

"Yeah." I sat down gingerly as if the seat had somehow become hot. My favourite drink. was already on the table beside me."Thank you for this, Sam. I've missed this place."

I managed a smile. The sadness brought by the memories was palpable.

Sam sat down beside me. "I haven't heard from Christian in a while. Laat I heard, he was hitchhiking across country. He's really your son, you know"

" The boy doesn't listen to me."

"And how many times did you listen to your parents when you were his age?"

I poured myself a drunk, chuckling."We're not the same person. I turned out fine."

"And you think he won't?"

I was about to answer when a man in black whispered in Sam's ears. He nodded and turned to me.

" I hate to leave you but I've got something to sort out."

"Of course."

I loved Sam but I could use the time alone. I came here to be alone with my thoughts. I sipped my drink and looked around the club. A lot had really changed.

The club had a more modern vibe now. Cienna wouldn't love it. She preferred to keep things the same way. It's sweet that Sam kept this spot the same.

I took a bigger sip and looked around again.

My eyes landed on a girl on my far right, taking shots. The top buttons of her shirt must have been opened by mistake because there was a lot of cleavage out and I could see the top of a bright red bra.

She looked really young. Same age as my daughter, Erica and I wouldn't let her in a place like this.

She was beautiful. I'd never seen anyone that beautiful. Long black hair and big eyes. And they said blonde girls were the prettiest.

She had a small mouth and full lips. I watched her lick them right before she took another shot. Fuck. Why was that having an effect on me.

I sat straighter in my seat as two men approached her.

My protective instincts immediately become alert. What did they want? Why did I even care?

For all I know she could be a regular here or a prostitute and needed no protection. But I couldn't get my eyes off her. I couldn't get my eyes off them.

I watched them have what seemed like a conversation and I could see she wasn't comfortable with their company. I could also see she was drunk.

One grabbed her hand and began pulling her up. I immediately rose from my seat and moved across the room to her table.

"Gentlemen, I believe the lady said you should let her go."

The big man turned with a sneer on his face, "And who are you, grandpa?"

"That doesn't matter."

"Of course it doesn't matter. Fuck off!" The smaller man said.

"Can you sing?" I asked amused. "I'd love to see you put that voice into good use."

The man went red in the face. "I've had enough of the mockery for one night. I said fuck off."

They turned back to the lady.

"You will leave her alone right now or you will be spending a long time behind bars." I said, rubbing my grey beard.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" The smaller man hissed

"Want to find out? My advice, have your lawyers ready before you do."

"You son of a..."

"Let's go, Micheal." The bigger man said, pulling the smaller man by his collar," I don't think I want to find out what he's talking about. She's not worth it. I doubt she even knows her way around it and I wouldn't go through all that stress for a novice."

"Yes, run along, Micheal. I'm still interested in that ministration." I waved at him.

"Go to hell!" Micheal screamed back.

I turned back to the lady who was pouring another shot. I took the bottle from her and placed it on the table.

"You're wasted."

"Thank you for that life changing information." She said, her eyes half open.

"What's your name?"

"Sirena"

"Cienna?!"

"Si-re-na"

"Do your parents have any idea where you are now?" I asked, my eyes straying to her cleavage.

She rubbed her temple and looked up at me,"What's that got to do with you? I'm an adult and I can do whatever I want."

She cocked her head to the side, "You're handsome. Like really handsome."

She lifted her hand to touch my face but stopped inches short and dropped the hand. She smelt like vanilla. Cienna always smelt like vanilla. I needed to stop comparing her to my dead wife.

"What's your name?"

"Petyr"

"Petyr. Right name for an old man." She laughed.

"We gotta get you home..."I put my hands around her waist and helped her up.

"Noooo" She fell back in the chair," I don't want to go home. I want to stay here. Come."

She held my hand and drew my down on the chair. Well, I practically sat down on my own since her grip was weak.

"Keep me company." She pulled closer and kissed me weakly on the lips. I could smell the alcohol in her breath.

For some reason, my heart started beating. It was surprising, no one else had made me react like this since I met Cienna.

“Does your wife have any idea where you are now?” She asked with a mischievous smile.

I shook my head and smiled,“No,”

“Oh,”She giggled,”Someone's a naughty boy.”

She stopped smiling instantly, picked her cup and brought it close to her lips. I took it once again from her and placed it on the table.

“Do you believe in love?” Her voice was low but still had the slur

“I mean, I wouldn't be married if I didn't.”

“That's a terrible answer,”She laughed, “People marry for a lot of reasons apart from love. People marry for status, protection, money…”She said staring at her manicured fingers. Her gaze strayed to me.

“I don't think I believe in love anymore. People just claim to love you and…well, they actually don't feel that way. They barely even care.”

“Let me guess, you have a boyfriend who cheated on you.”

“Fiancé”

“This probably makes me sound old but young people are crazy, you know. You get love from your family and friends every single day, yet some boy cheats on you and now yoy think love doesn't exist.”

“Shhh,” She kissed me again and touched my lips with her warm soft fingers. “How about we get to the real reason why you're here.”