Aria locked the front door of her house, unable to take the worry of John seeing the state that it is in.
She wasn't worried that he'd judge her, because she knew he wasn't like that, but she was afraid he'd try to pay for her to have it fixed and she was far too proud to accept that.

Aria then opened her purse and counted the money inside. There was thirty seven pounds altogether and although she obviously had more money in her bank account, spending as much as a penny of the could get her kicked out of her house.

Aria strolled down a cobbled street and into a small corner shop.
She lifted a loaf of bread and a two litre carton of milk then walked to the counter.
"Hi Gavin." she smiled at the nineteen year old boy behind the counter.
"Alright Aria?" the boy chirped in his heavy Yorkshire accent. "Do you want the usual too?"
Aria considered this for a bit. Cigarettes are expensive but how could she cope without them
"Uh, yeah thanks." Aria nodded.
She handed over her money, packet her stuff into bags and walked out.

After taking a cigarette out of the packet, Aria lit it and took a look drag.
"God." she whispered. "I needed that."
She then decided to go for a walk around her small village since she had nothing planned for the rest of the day.

First, she ambled over to the bakery where she knew a few people who worked there.
Usually company didn't make Aria feel better about anything, but on this day she couldn't think of anything better to do.
"Elle, hi." she mumbled to one of the girls behind the glass case of cakes and pastries.
"Oh my God, if it isn't Aria Striker!" shrieked Elle.
"Um, I - uh. Hi."
"Wow, darling you really haven't changed a bit. Still the awkward little cutie I remember."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Of course it is sugar!"
"Well then you're still the crazy bubbly girl I remember." Aria half smiled and refrained from adding, 'and just as annoying'.
"Aw, you are so sweet." Elle grinned. "So were you lookin' for something darling?"
"Nope, just felt like I had been too long since I stopped for a chat."
"Well my boss is gonna kill me if I'm caught chatting again, but maybe you could pop in tomorrow at around twelve and we could go somewhere while I'm on my break?"
"Of course sweetie, bye bye!" Aria said in a sickeningly sweet tone before exiting the bakery and swinging the door so that it jingled.

Aria continued to walk around the village until she came to an empty park where she used to hang out as a kid.
It had become a little worn over the years and nobody ever used it anymore, so since it was completely empty, Aria sat down on one of the two out of five swings that had lasted through the years to smoke.
She blew a smoke ring into the air and watched it until it disappeared.

Aria's phone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out to read a message.
[From - John] You alright? x
[sms;John] Fine.

She didn't feel like getting into a conversation with him at that moment so she made her response blunt.

Aria heard footsteps and she looked up to see a dark haired man walk over and sit down on the other swing.
"Do you have a lighter?" he asked her.
"Here." she half smiled, handing it to him.
"Thanks." the man took a cigarette out of his back pocket and lit it.
"No problem."
"I snuck out of my house especially for this. My friend or colleague or whatever he is always tells me not to smoke. But what can I do? An addictions an addiction."
"I know what you mean, back when I still had any friends that actually cared, they would always tell me to quit, but it's not that simple. It was always with the 'but it'll kill you'. They never seemed to understand that I'd probably be dead faster without them."
"Smoking. The slowest form of suicide."
"Wow. I never thought about it that way before. I like that idea."
"Glad to be of service." the man grinned at Aria, flashing a set of straight white teeth.

Aria's phone buzzed again, but she ignored it.
"Your boyfriend looking for you?" the man asked jokingly.
"Perhaps. Who cares?" Aria shrugged.
"Not me, that's for sure." he smirked playfully.
"What about your friend? Won't he be looking for you?"
"Probably. He won't find me at least for a while though, I don't live in this village."
"All that effort just for some nicotine, huh?"
"Of course. Wouldn't you do that?"
"For coffee I would. Coffee is my kriptonite but cigarettes are just something I use to blur my thoughts as much as possible."
"Ah, I see. Coffee to keep you alert because you can't ignore the voices when you sleep and cigarettes to dull them down as much as you can during the day."
"I have never heard anybody describe me so perfectly. Are you usually so good at reading people?"
"Only people I feel like I can relate to. So what can I call you, mystery coffee girl?"
"I'm Aria." she smiled, offering her hand to the man.
Rather than shaking it, he slanted a kiss on the tips of her fingers.
"Nice to meet you Aria. My name's Richard. Richard Brook."