Free For The Love Of Leon by J.S. Morbius Page A

relaxed than I had at the park and as the afternoon drew toward evening, I started to think about the long walk back through town to my apartment. I knew I couldn’t put it off, even though I would happily have stayed where I was, watching the world drift by forever. I drained my glass and headed back into the bar. As I leaned over to set my empty pint on the counter, I saw him, sitting alone by one of the windows. Suddenly leaving seemed like the last thing I wanted to do. I situated myself on a barstool, ordered a coke, and tried not to look like I was watching him, only glancing over every now and again.
    I guessed him to be around thirtyish, half a dozen years or so younger than me, and I was instantly drawn to how impeccably dressed he was. Unlike a lot of the males in my town, he wasn’t in torn jeans, combat-style trousers, or t-shirt. Instead, he was wearing black dress trousers, a light blue long-sleeved shirt which was unbuttoned at the neck, and well polished shoes.
    Not only was his dress nice, but the way he looked was as well. Slightly tanned, shaved with just a hint of light brown stubble, and neatly styled, not too long or too short, brown hair. A small, gold sovereign ring adorned his left little finger, and a diamond earring sat in his left earlobe.
    As I watched him, I noticed he never turned to face the rest of the pub. He kept his eyes firmly on the window as though waiting for someone, sipping from his glass.
    Now although where I lived was classed as a city, it wasn't much bigger than a large town. Every time someone new appeared, they always drew attention. This man was no different, I noticed, for I wasn’t the only person keeping a close eye on him.
    On the opposite side of the bar were a group of the local, so called, ‘hard’ men. They were also keeping their eye on this new stranger and seeing as I knew them as well as I did, I knew their reason would be totally different from mine.
    For a few minutes I continued to shift my gaze between the stranger and the thugs, and as they stood up to leave, I decided I had a decision to make. I could either let the man leave, knowing full well the thugs would be waiting for him to step outside the pub, or I could go over, introduce myself, offer to buy him a drink, and maybe get to know him.
    Keeping my eye on the man to make sure he didn’t just get up and leave, I called the barman over.
    “Get me another coke please, and whatever he’s drinking.”
    “Are you sure? He’s having double scotch.”
    “Yeah, that’s fine.”
    I paid for the drinks and took both glasses over to where the stranger was sitting.
    “Hope you don’t mind, but I saw you alone and got you another,” I said, placing the scotch on the table.
    “Oh thanks, that’s very kind of you.”
    “Well, you’re new in town and I just thought it would be nice for someone to welcome you.”
    “Don’t get too many places like that nowadays.”
    “I know, but I remember what it was like when I first moved here,” I told him. “My name’s Leon by the way.”
    “I’m Simon, but you can call me Si. Won’t you join me?”
    “Thank you,” I said, sitting on the small stool by the table opposite Si. “So are you just passing through?”
    “Hopefully I’m going to buy a place, if the property prices here aren’t as outlandish as the last two towns I looked in.”
    “I guess that depends on what you are looking for.”
    “Ideally a two bedroom apartment, or house if possible.”
    “There’s a fair few of those at the other end of town,” I told him. “Is it for just you, or do you have a family that will be joining you once you have found a place?”
    “Just me. I have no family.”
    “Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” I replied, lowering my head, slightly embarrassed at my clumsy attempt to find out more about him.
    “No need to apologize, you weren't to know.” He lifted his hand to wave away my apology. For the next few minutes the two of us sat there sipping