“I’m…sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you. You were just trying to go home,” Mark said, turning to the girl whose arm he had previously been holding on to. “You accepting a drink from me – that’s all it was. Accepting a drink. I’m going now.”
With that, he turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction.
The two women turned cautiously to Rionan, who put his hands up, gesturing that he meant them no harm.
“Hi. I’m sorry. I was walking nearby, and I heard commotion. I had a bad feeling about what I was hearing, soI wanted to intervene. Then I realised, we have met before. I’ve met one of you, at least. Are you alright?”
Alianna narrowed her eyes on Rionan, before opening them widely in realisation. “Max. Max West? From the hospital?”
“That’s me,” Rionan smiled, remembering the false name he’d given. “You helped me today. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. It’s not every day you find somebody just…unconscious on a beach. Are you alright now?”
“Perfectly fine,” said Rionan, “I found myself unwell. I have recently arrived here, you see.”
“Business trip?” the woman in the red dress asked, gesturing to his finely cut clothing.
“Yes, of sorts.”
“Makes sense. Guy comes to Porthan on a business trip, goes way too hard on his first night on the strip, finds himself face down in the sand on the beach the next morning.”
“Tash!” Alianna exclaimed, “Max has just helped us by scaring off that creep, no need to be rude.”
“I wasn’t being rude,” Natasha replied, “I was just making an observation. It happens all the time, here.”
“People waking up face down on the beach?” Rionan asked, crossing his arms in front of him with a smile tugging on the corners of his mouth.
“No,” replied Natasha, “just the businessman thing. I used to work in one of the bars, and we’d get so many work trips coming in for business-related drinks, then before you know it, their shirts are half unbuttoned while they’re singing karaoke, and - ”
“Thank you,” Alianna interrupted, stepping forward. Rionan looked down at her. He must have been at least a foot taller than she was. “For your help.”
“It seems I owed you one. Now, genuine question. Would you like me to walk you home? The truth is, I’m out for a night stroll, and I don’t really know where I am going.”
“Where are you staying?” Natasha butted in from behind Alianna.
“The Rinniel.”
“The Rinniel,” Natasha echoed with a whistle. “Somebody’s on the big bucks.”
“Natasha!” Alianna turned to her friend, and Rionan heard her hushed tone. “Will you stop? You’re being so embarrassing. How much did you have to drink?”
“I’m being embarrassing? You’re the one talking to this very suave-looking rich guy withmarinara sauce on you, still.”
Rionan caught himself smiling as Alianna tried to scrub at her forehead with her hand. She turned, and he pretended he hadn’t noticed or caught any of their conversation. As he watched her, he felt a slight prickling beneath his skin, and he made an effort to drive his magic down within him.
Not now.He thought to himself.
Porthan. Porthan. Porthan.
He heard an echoing in his mind, repeating the same unhelpful word as it had earlier today.
“You know what?” Alianna said, smiling. “Potentially against my better judgment, you have so far proven yourself to be helpful, and I feel like we have some weird common ground when it comes to getting each other out of sticky situations. We will take you up on that walk, not quite home, but at least out of this park. You seem like a nice guy.”
“That’s a relief to hear. Come on, then. Which way are we going, Alianna?”
“This way,” she motioned to the path ahead of them, which veered off to the right in the dimly lit distance. “And you can call me Ali.”
Rionan walked with Alianna and Natasha. He discovered, on their short journey together, that they had been friends for sixteen years, that Natasha’s favourite food was tacos, that Alianna worked in a café somewhere in Porthan, and that she sometimes volunteers to help at an animal shelter. Natashadid not like rock music, thought that Alianna needed to get out more, and Alianna was very apologetic for her friend’s forthcoming behaviour. Rionan found himself enjoying their company, his eyes settling on Alianna as she told him about her quiet life with her dog, and her hopes to one day leave her café job to move into other things.
