Chapter 1:
He found himself standing opposite the bar for what must have been the third time that fortnight. Fighting the urge to enter the bar had become a common battle for eighteen year old Aaron Livesy in the past few months. However, this time curiosity got the better of it and before he knew what was occurring, his feet were dragging him towards the bar. He crossed the street with his head hang low and his hands buried deep in the pockets of his loosely fitted dark denim jeans.
Once inside, Aaron headed to the bar whilst breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn't been seen. He made his way to an empty booth with his pint to sit down out of the way. He sat there, lost in thought thinking how BarWest was just like any "normal" bar. Swigging at his pint, Aaron fell deeper into thought and didn't notice a tall, slim man approach him wearing tight jeans and a half unbuttoned red and white chequered shirt, until he spoke.
"You what?" questioned Aaron defensively in an aggressive tone.
"I said, you fancy a game?" repeated the taller man in a soft gentle tone whilst holding up a pool cue for Aaron to see.
"Nah" replied Aaron, jumping from his seat faster than he thought was possible, so fast in fact that he didn't realise his phone fall from his jacket pocket as he picked it up from the seat next to him.
"Mate, your…." The voice trailed off behind him as Aaron made for the exit, pushing groups of people aside to get to the door.
Once he was out of the bar, Aaron ran down the dimly lit streets of Hotten and further into the night, diving round a corner when he approached it. There were lots of recycling bins situated here, which Aaron decided to attack, kicking them and punching them until his knuckles bled.
Upon returning home at Smithy Cottage, Aaron flew the door open with such force that it slammed shut, almost knocking it from its hinges. He than ran up the stairs which were situated directly in front of him and into his bedroom, slamming the second door. All of the commotion woke Paddy, who was dozing on the couch. The noise startled Paddy, who feared a break-in was taking place. He stumbled sleepily from the lounge into the kitchen and up the stairs, peering round each door before making any movement. When he reached the top of the stairs, the older man heard sounds coming from out of Aaron's bedroom.
"Aaron" whispered a cautious Paddy as he gently tapped on the door, repeating himself when there was no reply. He pushed the door but it wouldn't open because little to Paddy's knowledge Aaron was slouched against it on the other side.
"Fuck off!" yelled Aaron, as tears filled is eyes.
Paddy was close to Aaron, the closest thing the teen had ever had to a Dad. He knew exactly what Aaron needed when he was like this. Time and space, "Night then" replied a concerned Paddy.
Aaron climbed into his bed, still fully clothed, as tears began to fall from his deep blue eyes and streamed down his soft cheeks, finishing their journey as they reached the end of his stubbly chin and fell to his pillow.
"What have I done?" whispered Aaron through the audible sobs that were now escaping his mouth with every breath he took.
Aaron woke early the next morning to avoid being bombarded with questions by Paddy. He wanted to forget all about last night. Cain was extremely shocked by the sight of Aaron waiting by the garage when he arrived, Aaron lied that he had to get out of the house to avoid Paddy's early morning singing which Cain couldn't really blame him for.
Aaron had been at work all morning and still had last night on his mind and he was slacking. Mr. Crow's fan belt should have been finished first thing but the teen had hardly made a start, much to the annoyance of Cain and Ryan, who were having to work twice as hard. Cain decided to send Aaron on an early lunch break so he could get on with some work with Ryan, without Aaron moping around and getting in the way.
Aaron had just reached the Wollie when a blue builders van parked outside Smithy Cottage caught his attention. He look ever confused, him and Paddy didn't need any building work done. He was just about to go into his local, but his heart skipped a thousand beats when he saw who the van belonged to. The guy from the bar walked over the van laughing with Paddy. Once the van was out of sight, Aaron ran home to talk to Paddy.
"Who was that?" questioned Aaron when he followed Paddy into the surgery.
"Jackson" replied Paddy simply as he began rearranging files.
"What did he want?" pushed Aaron nervously.
"Who are you the police?" joked Paddy, "He came to return this" continued Paddy holding up Aaron's phone. "He said you left it in some bar."
"Right," commented a relieved Aaron, "cheers" with that the teen took the phone from Paddy as he headed for the door.
"Hold on" called the older man. Aaron turned, "He left this" Paddy continued passing Aaron the business card Jackson had left.
"Why would I want this?" asked Aaron, looking at the card like it was an alien.
"I don't know, to call him maybe, say thanks, buy him a pint" replied Paddy sarcastically.
"No chance" said Aaron, throwing the now crumpled card into the bin. "The bloke's a muppet" he added before leaving the surgery t head back to work.
Aaron had just finished Mr. Crow's fan belt as his phone rang for the fifth time in as many minutes.
"Will you answer that bloody thing, your ringtone's doin me bloody head in" moaned Ryan as Aaron rejected another of Jackson's calls.
Aaron had finished work and had headed back home. He had a soothing shower and changed into some clean clothes before lying back on his bed to relieve all of the tension of a hard day at work. Aaron closed his eyes and began to relax when he his phone rang again. Looking over at his phone, Aaron could only think of how persistent Jackson was being, he quiet liked it.