part three.
Then she headed back into the club where she ran into Chris. The DJ was playing salsa music and two Latino women started dancing in the middle of the main room.
-Wow, salsa. It�s really big back in Los Angeles.
The blonde smiled and leaned in to speak to him.
-Do you salsa? Will you teach me?
Chris put his beer on a nearby table and took her hand. He showed her the basic moves. She laughed and tried to copy him. In the end, Chris danced salsa and the blonde did a really bad impression of salsa, laughing and enjoying herself nevertheless.
As they were leaving O�Neil�s the brunette grabbed her friend by the arm and pulled her aside as they were walking.
-Could you possibly bat your eyelashes at that guy anymore?
-What? I am so not batting my eyelashes at him. She laughed at her friends comment.
-You are, trust me, you are flirting with him.
-So what if I am? I am single; I can do what I want. Not like those of us who are in relationships. All you are allowed to do is look. Besides, after tonight I won�t ever see him again. Who cares? I am having fun, and that is all that matters.
The blonde smiled at her friend as they walked, holding on to each other�s arms.
As they left the ally and turned onto a larger road the group ran into a woman that looked like a young Sinead O�Connor. Darren must have seen her or someone with the same job before, because he immediately stopped her and asked her where she was going with her basket. Her basket was full of pretzels, and she was on her way to a bar to sell them. Darren, clearly enjoying the attention, asked her if she had any free ones to give away. It turned out that she had some free ones in the bottom of her basket and she handed them out to the group. The blonde got her hands on one and shared it with her friend.
The next stop was an old fire station, converted into a club. It was called Fireworks, and it was just the right place for the blonde at this point. She was happy and enjoyed herself. Walking into Fireworks can make anyone feel like a star.
But she could tell that her friend was tired and wanted to head back to their hostel soon. So she pulled Darren aside to ask him for directions back to Temple Bar.
-Are you leaving already? You�re not coming to the last club?
-No, we are heading out of here in about half an hour, so which way is Temple Bar?
He pointed out the direction and told her how to find her way back.
-Hold on, he said. Then he mumbled something about an e-mail address, something he needed to give her before she left. The blonde thought that he simply wanted her e-mail for something to do with the pubcrawl. Darren asked her for a pen and got one of his own flyers from his pocket. He began to scribble on the back, leaning against one of the railings. The blonde watched him scribble and wondered what took him so long.
When Darren finally handed her the note she asked for her pen back, and turned around to read it.
�Email me and open MY MIND.
It was a pleasure meeting you. Darren.�
Underneath was his personal e-mail and his phone number.
She smiled. She couldn�t remember getting a note like this before. She couldn�t remember anyone giving her notes at all. She had been feeling good about herself all night, but this made her feel like she was on top of the world.
She had hardly noticed Darren before, she had been too busy talking to Chris and having a good time. She had even made a joke about him being late when the group was leaving O�Neil�s, suggesting that they should see if any of the girls in the group had gone missing along with him.
Intrigued by what he meant by �open my mind� the blonde went over to Darren and leant in to speak to him over the music.
-So what do you mean by open your mind?
-I just heard you talking about living in Belfast and I�d like to know more.
She smiled at him.
-So what do you want to know?
He smiled back at her.
-Do you feel like dancing?
She gestured towards the coat she was carrying over her shoulder.
-Oh, don�t worry about that. I�ve got a place where you can put it.
A note, part four
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