The barman was chattering away with the occupants; I wanted another drink but I really didn't want to bother the guy. He was nice, not many have been nice to me in that wholehearted way as of late.
So I sat back and stared at everything, running my eyes over everybody. Until one solitary woman struck out:
Her long black hair swayed as she took a sip from her cocktail. She turned to me as she saw me staring, I looked away quickly to try and avoid eye contact.
As the night grew darker and my blood-alcohol percentage grew I found myself getting deeper and deeper into thought, I found myself still staring at everything. Now seeing things I don't think were happening.
As the barman's mouth opened to ask me what I wanted now, all I could hear was a slow, slow speech. His tongue dashed and whirled inside his mouth, sliding from side to side and poking in and out rapidly.
"You're right, this Absinthe does do something different!" I slurred and almost fell off my chair.
The barman chuckled again.
"Maybe you've had enough then, here have some water"
I looked down in to the glass, the ice was swimming and waves were crashing and falling back and forth, from side to side in the glass. There was a storm going on in there.
I shook my head.
"Snap out of it Sebastian".
I gulped back the water and sat there, feeling the cold ice in my mouth. It felt like my whole mouth was slowly freezing, it felt like my jaws were completely frozen shut.
"Hey, how are you doing?" the woman I had been staring at said as she sat down next to me.
I tried to open my mouth but my jaw still felt frozen, realised it wasn't I turned and faced her and spat out:
"Uhmmm, I would say I'm doing interestingly.
She smiled, then laughed.
She was beautiful in my eyes, not just the beautiful you see anywhere. This was completely different, she wasn't completely attractive but something attracted me to her a lot more than anything I've ever felt. I felt drawn to her.
I don't really talk to people randomly, so I felt uncomfortable and I think she could tell.
"I haven't seen you here before, you from around here"
I stared at her blankly for a minute or two while I thought of what to say, she didn't even look surprised.
"No I haven't been around here from before" I spurted out, I realised then that it made no sense.
"Uh, I haven't been here before no. What about you, where are you from?" I said as I fumbled for words.
She laughed and looked in to my eyes and smiled.
"I'm from around here, I've been here for a long time.
"Ok, ok. That's cool, what are you drinking"
"Just pineapple juice"
To me it didn't look like pineapple juice. I must of looked strange sitting there staring at her cup, it looked like the yellow was trying to escape her glass.
I looked at her again, feeling awkward as fuck.
"Oh, well the next one is on me"
In saying this I realised I hadn't paid for one of my drinks tonight, not one.
All this while this poor woman is sitting here next to me and I'm staring off in to space. She didn't look the least bit phased though.
We had been chattering for quite a while, the barman had been getting me my drinks and her that pineapple juice. I was finding it hard to even keep focused on her. At this point she was laughing about something I just said and had slapped her hand on my lap. She had been getting closer and closer to me and now was right next to me, I could feel her presence next to me. It didn't feel warm close to me like someone normally would. Maybe it was just the Absinthe though.
Hearing her talk was like a long slow echo in my mind, I felt so drawn to her and being so close to her body made me feel good. I found myself moving closer to her too. I still didn't feel that warmth.
As the night dragged on I was practically leaning all over her, I heard distant echoing voices.
"You might want to take him home, he doesn't look too good"
"Yeah, do you want to come home with me, Sebastian"
I looked up at her:
"Huh what"
"How did you know my name was Sebas.." I slurred out in an unrecognisable dialect, I wonder if she even heard me. How did she know who I was?
My eyes at this point started to feel heavy and I closed them, complete blackness now and distant voices and echoes.