6 Chapter 6

For the rest of the evening, Nathan stayed up in his room away from all of the commotion that was going on downstairs at the pub. Most of the time, Nathan would check the score on his cell phone, but it still didn't feel the same as watching the actual football game with everyone else. It wasn't that Nathan didn't like spending some of his free time in some of the night clubs and pubs that were located in the heart of London to watch a football game; the reason why Nathan preferred to watch a football game over at his family's pub was because it was the environment he was used to especially when he was growing up.

Before the existence of Fifth Avenue Square; Nathan was just your normal average 19 year old who lived on the outskirts of London. Nathan had lived a simple life ever since he was a child. When he was a child Nathan would run around and play with both Annie and Tom at the pub or along the river next to the pub. Nathan's mom and Auntie Lizzie would be hosting, waitressing or cooking while Uncle Hank ran the bar and managed the inn. Now as Nathan got older and after his mother died; Nathan was now helping out his family by working at the restaurant as a waiter or a bus boy. Obviously as time went on; Nathan was introduced to music and performing and it was obvious to his uncle, aunt and cousins that Nathan was meant to be in the spotlight. However, with being in the spotlight; there is always a good side and an ugly side. And for the past several years, Nathan and his family's relationship has turned from bad to worse and there was a very little chance of the relationship being salvaged. This was a major issue especially for Nathan because he wanted his family to understand that his career as a musician was where his heart truly belonged. And the only person who fully understood where Nathan was coming from was none other than Roxie Rodriguez.

When Nathan had first ran into Roxie's stories; he really enjoyed how the stories took him away from reality and made him forget about the issues with his band mates, Scott, and his family. Not only that; Nathan loved how Roxie completely understood where Nathan was coming from accomplishing his dreams and making it as a musician while at the same time making his family proud. And when Nathan heard that Roxie was coming to the UK for 3 months, he knew that this was finally the opportunity to meet her. Nathan had always wanted to meet Roxie. He just didn't know how to approach her in the right way. In the band and the music industry; Nathan was well known to be the "ladies man" in Fifth Avenue Square. However; Nathan didn't feel that way whenever he talked to Roxie. Each conversation was unique and different than any other conversation Nathan has had with any girl and for some odd reason it made Nathan feel comfortable. Whenever he talked to Roxie as Fifth Avenue Boy; Nathan was always challenged to not be the stuck up wannabee popstar that everyone knew him as once the band got famous. Nathan was just felt scared that if Roxie found out the truth; she would never want to speak to him ever again.

After an hour passed, Nathan got bored and decided to head back downstairs. Once Nathan made it downstairs; he was surprised that the pub was surprisingly empty. Usually whenever a sports event was on, a small town band was performing or a community event was happening at The Smouldering Hog; the pub would be packed from wall to wall. So it was completely weird to Nathan for the pub to be this empty especially with a championship football game happening at the moment.

"Oi, what happened to everybody? I would think there would still be a madhouse down here." Nathan asked Annie.

"The Rams were getting bloody killed, that's what happened. As soon as the other team scored the first four or five goals; everybody started to pack up and leave. Luckily, we still have a few old folks over there having themselves dinner." Annie explained.

"Well, then that just sucks. Anyway; did your mum at least save me some beef stew? I'm starving!" Nathan stated.

"The pot should still be on the stove in the back. She also put some in a container for you and your mates so you lads could at least have some supper while Scott is away on business." Annie sighed.

"Cool; you should go to bed. I'll close up everything when I'm done with my dinner." Nathan told her.

"Are you mad? There's no way that I'm going to let my wild crazy cousin close up a bloody pub when he got a little run in with the coppers the other night. Besides there's no way my father is going to let me allow you to do that." Annie remarked.

"Do you see your dad around her right now? Annie; your tired and you've worked all day. I think I can handle closing up a pub for the night. You guys already know that."

"Alright; fine, but just this one time and that is all. And you better lock everything up when you're all done." Annie instructed. Annie then walked to the back and headed upstairs to her bedroom. As Nathan was getting his dinner ready, the rain from the nearby storm was coming down making the pub ice cold. Nathan eventually went over to the fire place and made a small fire to warm himself up while he ate his stew. Once Nathan was done eating, Nathan went over to deal with the couple and start to clean up the last pits and pieces of the day's business and once he was done with that; he went over to the bar to serve himself a drink. All of a sudden the pub's door sprang open and with a gush of wind a shivering, wet, tired young girl walked into the pub.

"Sorry miss, we're closed," Nathan said. However the girl just stood there at the entrance holding her belongings, still shivering from the storm. "Didn't you hear me? The pub is closed for the night. I won't be able to help you out for tonight." he added. Feeling extremely weak, Roxie barely opened her mouth to speak.

"Help...me...freezing." she whispered. Then the room went dark. Everything happened so fast. For all Nathan, he saw this small girl stand up all soaking wet, shaking from head to toe from the cold storm outside and the next thing he knew; that same girl is lying on the floor unconscious and shivering. The first instinct that Nathan thought of was to get the girl close to the fire. Nathan then picked up the girl and laid her down on the sofa that was in front of the fireplace. He then went to the supply closet that was in the hallway to get some blankets. Once Nathan got the supplies he needed he rushed back to check on the mysterious girl on the sofa. Nathan then looked through the girl's belongings to see if there was any identification card. Every few minutes, Roxie's eyes would open but then would fade out because she felt weak.

"Hey, miss, if you can hear me stay with me ok? If you want me to help you, you've got to stay awake." Nathan said.

"Food...I need food." the girl whispered.

"Food; the stew. Ok; just stay here and relax by the fire. I'll be back with something for you." Nathan told her. The girl then nodded her head and closed her eyes and started to relax. Every once in a while; the girl started to have a few anxiety attacks and Nathan did his best at calming her down.

"Who are you and where did you come from?" Nathan whispered to himself as he stared at the girl while she was asleep. It was right there and then that Nathan finally recognized who the mystery girl was and it was a total shock. Nathan couldn't believe that Roxie was laying on the sofa near the fireplace in his family's pub. Nathan figured that he would meet Roxie either on the streets of London or at some restaurant or pub. But on a stormy night at his family's pub? That was unexpected and unpredictable to Nathan.

Once the girl had finally calmed down, Nathan went into the kitchen to get some of his aunt's stew warmed up to give to Roxie with a hot cup of tea. Pretty soon the aroma of the beef stew slowly made its way to where Roxie was sleeping. Once the girl got a whiff of the stew's scent her mouth started to water with an immense amount of hunger. Roxie's eyes then fluttered and to her surprise saw Nathan sitting on a chair near her.

"What; where am I? Ow; what happened to me?" Roxie grimaced. Roxie then tried to sit up but her head had this throbbing pain. Roxie then started to look around her surroundings and was surprised to find herself inside some house with none other than a guy that looked like Nathan Hendrickson from Fifth Avenue Square.

"Easy there miss; take it nice and slow. You are at The Smouldering Hog Pub and Inn. You kind of fainted and hit your head on the floor over there. It's a good thing I was here or else you could have stayed there all night." Nathan said.

"Oh, well thanks for the help and I guess that explains the massive headache I'm having right now. Is that beef stew that I smell?" Roxie asked.

"Yes it is; in fact, it's my aunt's homemade Irish beef stew and it's all made from scratch. Do you want some?"

"Yes, please; I'm starving! Oh; I'm Roxie by the way."

"It's nice to meet you Roxie; I'm Nathan." Nathan smiled. Nathan then started to serve Roxie some of the stew. The stew was so steamy and delicious that each spoonful that Roxie had was mouthwatering. The meat was so tender and melted in her mouth, the vegetables were seasoned and cooked perfectly and the soup just in general warmed Roxie up right away from the bitter cold of the storm.

"Gosh; that was so good. Do you by chance have anymore stew? I haven't eaten anything since I got here." Roxie asked.

"Yeah; there's plenty in the back. I'll go get you another bowl. In the meantime; drink some of this tea; it'll help keep the chills away." Nathan told her as he was giving Roxie the cup. Nathan then went back so he could refill Roxie's bowl and get himself a cup of tea as well. Roxie then continued on observing her surroundings. Roxie was intrigued of how quaint the lounge area of the pub was. Roxie felt like she was in some family's living room instead of an English pub. After a few minutes passed, Nathan had come back with Roxie's second serving of beef stew.

"Alright, here is the stew. Be careful the bowl is a little hot and since you're eating; I decided to have some tea too." Nathan smiled.

"Oh; that is nice of you to join me, but if you have to be somewhere else you can go on ahead. I'm pretty sure your girlfriend is already worried about you." Roxie told him.

"It's funny that you say that; I actually don't have a girlfriend and I also told my cousin that I was going to close up the pub so; by all means, take your time with everything." Nathan admitted.

"Oh, ok then; well at least we cleared the air on that part because-I'm sorry for that last conversation. That was just really awkward of me." Roxie blushed.

"It's ok; I understand how you feel right now. Since we're on that particular topic; do you have a boyfriend?"

"No; I don't, but I was actually supposed to meet this one guy that I met online here today. By the looks of things; I don't think that is ever going to happen." Roxie shrugged.

"Oh, wow; how did you guys meet online; if you don't mind me asking?" Nathan asked her.

"Well, I actually am an up and coming author and this one person named Fifth Avenue Boy liked one of my stories and he sent me a private message on social media saying that my story was well written and I thought that was sweet of him and since then we've been messaging each other practically every day now." Roxie replied.

"Wow; he seems like a lucky guy. You know; I got to check out one of your stories one of these days." Nathan lied.

"Yeah; you should its a really good story. I mostly write the typical teenage/young adult romance novels that me and my roommate like to read every once in a while." Roxie mentioned.

"You have a roommate?"

"Yeah; for the past two years I have been living in New York. I actually went to school in New York and my roommate, Cassie; who so happens to be my college dorm roommate, graduated from NYU about three years ago. So; you could kind of say that Cassie and I have had our fair share of embarrassing and memorable moments." Roxie explained.

"It seems like you ladies get along really well." Nathan pointed out.

"Oh, yeah; the two of us let alone have been through plenty of struggles in the past few years, especially when it came to my writing career. Whenever I had a rough day at school or I was having a hard time writing a paper for any of my classes, Cassie was always there supporting and helping me out as much as she could. She's kind of my good luck charm." Roxie laughed. The two of them kept talking for another hour or so. It wasn't until 30 minutes into their conversation, Roxie started to feel a little sleepy.

"You seem to be a bit tired." Nathan chuckled.

"Yeah; I know and I'm sorry if I seem totally out of it. I did walk almost 3 miles in the rain." Roxie yawned.

"Speaking of rain; I think it finally did stop raining right now. Do you by chance have a place to stay for the night?" Nathan asked.

"I was hoping to stay at Fifth Avenue Boy's place or maybe here, but I don't think the first idea is ever going to happen." Roxie said.

"It's fine; in fact why don't you stay over at my place? It's in a secluded area, it's got a some warmth, and a shower. You can even sleep on the couch in the living room." Nathan suggested.

"Are you sure? I mean; I don't want to be rude or anything." Roxie told him.

"Hey; it's fine by me if you stay with me for the night. Besides; my band mates are probably asleep right now so they won't notice you until tomorrow morning. You can even stay over for the weekend too; if you want." Nathan stated.

"You know what; now that you mentioned it, I might as well stay over at your place for the whole weekend. That way I can find a cheap motel or hostel to stay at while I'm here," Roxie said. "But first; let me get out of these wet clothes, do you by chance know where the bathroom is at?" she asked.

"Yeah; it's down the hallway and it should be the first door on the right. There is also a supply closet with some spare clothes as well." Nathan said. Roxie then got up, walked over to the supply closet to grab some clothes and went to the restroom to change out of her wet clothes. While she was changing, Nathan went to the kitchen to wash their dishes, put away the stew and grab the container of beef stew that his aunt made for him and his band mates. When Nathan came out of the kitchen, Roxie was already waiting for him, wearing the clothes that she had grabbed from the supply closet.

"You do know it's a bit cold outside, right?" Nathan told Roxie while she was grabbing her belongings.

"I think I kind of figured that out by now once it started to rain. Not to mention, I only packed my small, no soaking wet jacket with me." Roxie giggled.

"No worries; I'm pretty sure my mom has this heavier jacket. I'll be right back, don't plan on going anywhere." Nathan smiled. Nathan then quietly went upstairs to the bedroom he was in earlier and looked in the closet to find one of his mom's old jackets. When Nathan came back downstairs, Roxie already had her belongings by the pub's main entrance.

"Alright then; here's my mom's jacket, are you ready to go now?" Nathan asked her.

"I'm ready as I'll ever be." Roxie told him. Nathan then opened the pub door and the two of them walked over to Nathan's car.