Good night...

I'm sitting in a smoky, stuffy pub in the basement of one of the city's most important buildings. Despite the late hour, or perhaps because of it, the place is packed. Music completely out of place in the stark interior pours from hidden speakers. I fiddle with a black straw half-dipped in a golden-brown, frothy drink and observe the people sitting at other tables.

There's a young lady in pink and blue, wearing brand-new mukluks, pressed against the side of an elderly gentleman carrying on a rather loud conversation with the man sitting opposite him. "Daddy or..." The girl looks up, meets my eyes defiantly for a moment; but I also see pure desperation and utter sadness in her gaze. Ah, the situation is becoming clear.

I lazily drag on my cigarette and turn my head away from the young lady and her older companions. At the next table sits a group of young people: three girls and four boys. They're all thirteen, maybe fourteen, which doesn't stop them from drinking their sixth beer in a row. One of the boys hugs the girl closest to him and plants a rather passionate kiss on her lips, licking half the wallpaper off her face in the process. Disgusting. The girl laughs, and her friends joke that they wish the same. The boy, being a true gentleman, complies, and everyone is happy.

Disgusted, I finish my cigarette and crush it in the glass ashtray. I look up and meet the dark gaze of a guy sitting across the room. Noticing me looking at him, he raises his eyebrows and nods slightly at the other teenagers. I smile wickedly. I won't lie, he's handsome. Nevertheless, I lower my gaze, pull a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, and light another. After a moment, I forget about the guy, because another interesting object of observation enters the room: my friend with his girlfriend. He nods in greeting, and they both sit down at a table by the window. They look into each other's eyes, smiling at each other's thoughts... I'm almost certain they're thinking the same thing. I smile completely unconsciously, and at that moment I notice that the man with the dark eyes has disappeared. Strange, because I didn't see him leave... I shrug slightly, remove the straw from my glass, and dip my lips into the last of the beer, which is flickering in the light of the stylish lanterns. At the same moment, I hear a quiet whisper right next to my ear:

"Didn't anyone tell you that beer and cigarettes aren't a healthy combination?"

I calmly put down the glass, take a drag on my cigarette, and blow the smoke directly into the face of the man standing behind me. Gray smoke briefly obscures his dark gaze.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to sneak up on people from behind?" I ask, without a trace of reproach in my voice. A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.

We leave the pub together. The moon shines with a bright, milky light.

"Are you cold?" he asks, looking at me sideways.

"No," I reply, gazing at the twinkling stars above our heads.

He suddenly grabs my hand; I tear my gaze away from the sky and look at him in surprise.

"You're not cold, and your hand feels like ice," he laughs, simultaneously embracing me and pulling me closer.

"What..." I begin, but I can't finish...

I enter the house, and my sleepy mother emerges from the room.

"Where have you been?

" "Out on the town. Goodnight," I reply with a laugh.

"You've been drinking." My mother gives me a disapproving look.

"Goodnight," I repeat, then lock myself in my room.

A moment later, I see the same word on my phone's screen. "Goodnight..."