The drive was epic and I was glad that I chucked the mattress in the back so that me and Mick could take turns driving. We drove for four hours to Folkstone to the Eurotunnel, followed by another four-hour drive to Brussels and finally, a four-hour drive from Brussels to Paderborn.
I booked two rooms in the Roadhouse Hotel and we both crashed out for a few hours before freshening up and heading to the pub to try and clean this mess up.
I was tired, wired, and on a mission to find that little fucker now that the clock was ticking. I went to the Irish bar and Mick was doing a bit of a pub crawl in hope of finding some information.
“Excuse me, have you seen this girl?” I thrust Dani’s picture under the man’s nose. I cursed myself for being so forward and realized that I needed to chill out and calm myself down.
“Sorry. No.” He turned and walked off, not remotely interested after barely even glancing at the picture. It was lunchtime in the Irish bar and was fairly quiet so
I ordered a double scotch on the rocks to steady my nerves and I felt myself relax as soon as the molten liquid slipped down my throat, burning its way into my empty stomach, leaving that smoky aftertaste that becomes strangely addictive. I swirled the drink around the glass watching the colours change as it sloshed over the ice and I thought back to the night that I met her. It seemed like a lifetime since I was stood at the bar drinking scotch and watching Dani sashay past me while she chatted to her malnourished friend, Marsha. I downed the drink in my hand and placed the glass on the bar and ordered another, while I continue walking around the pub asking people if they recognize her. I tell them that she’d arranged to meet me here and had not shown up, but no matter who I asked, no one had heard of an English girl called Dani. There was no way I could leave here without her, I needed that money because my life literally depended on it.
I decided to leave for a few hours and wander around looking in shops, another long shot, but I could feel anxiety building so I needed to be proactive and do something.
After scouring some of the local shops, I head into another bar and asked the young girl if she knows Dani. Again, I hit a brick wall, no one by that name comes in this pub, apparently. I wonder if she knows her and is covering for her, but then I show her the picture and I see it in her eyes - she recognizes her!
“Yeah, I’ve seen her in here.” She said pointing at the picture. “Her name’s Bex, though. She hangs out with a crowd from uni. Who did you say you were again?”
I could see her becoming suspicious, wishing that she could backtrack. She’d thought on her feet, mouth open before the brain was engaged. Now she was probably wondering if she’d done the right thing. Too late, princess! She had just given me everything I needed.
“I went backpacking with her and we agreed to meet up here. My name’s James.” I flashed my pearly whites and gave her a wink. She blushes and bats her eyelashes and, maybe, under different circumstances, I might have thought about making her blush in places she didn’t think was possible, but I was running out of time, and my goal was to find Dani or Bex, or whatever the fuck she was calling herself. “When did you last see her?”
“She was in two nights ago.”
Jackpot! Knowing that she was here in Paderborn was the best feeling in the world and the relief that flooded through me was immense.
I hadn’t figured how I would handle the situation because it was tricky, I needed to get to Dani without causing a scene because the last thing I wanted was her panicking and calling the police.
I was sat outside the bar the following night, smoking a cigarette when I saw her walk in and fuck she was hot. I’d forgotten just how hot she was – in an innocent way, though. She wasn’t one of those ‘look at me’ types that dressed for attention and got off on all eyes being on her. No, Dani was quite oblivious to the effect that she had on men. I gave my head a shake, no time for past shag depression setting in. I decided to ease up to her at the bar, play it cool and extra nice in the hope to lure her away from the guy she was with. I looked at him, all blonde hair and blue eyes and I felt like smashing him in the face. They exchanged words and it was hard to tell if there was anything between them, but he went to put music on and I sneaked up behind her at the bar.
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