Heavy Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page B

spotted Simon they all turned to shout “ Oy! Simon!” seeming quite excited to see him. He shouted back and waved to them all. The bartender began to pour four tall pilsner glasses full of deliciously golden colored beer.
    Simon led us to a booth in the corner, close to the bar. We climbed in and a small thin woman slinked over to us holding the tray full of beer. She was so petite that the tray should have tipped her over, but she carried it with one hand as if it was a tray full of feathers. She gracefully swooped it down in front of us and placed our glasses one by one on the worn-out coasters laid across the table.
    “Howie says first round is on the house” she stated. Her accent was very thick, maybe even Scottish rather than British; I always had a hard time distinguishing . Simon nodded toward the bartender, Howie, and raised his glass to him to say thanks.
    The waitress left without even offering us her name or any menus. I thought to myself that was quite rude, but then I remembered that I wasn’t in one of New York’s finest restaurants where men had to wear dinner jackets and women had to be on their best behavior; I was where people were real and I loved it.
    “I guess you come here often, huh?” Adam broke the silence as we each sipped our free beers.
    “Yeah, these are me mates. I spend most of my evenings here, or I at least try and pop in when I can. Good beer, great food, and brilliant people. What more could I ask?” Simon beamed as he spoke about this pub, and that made me love it too. I tasted my beer some more, letting the bubbles dance on my tongue and shimmy down my throat. It was so cold and crisp, I normally hated beer, but this beer was like drinking liquid heaven.
    We talked about the things we wanted to achieve during the summer before our inevitable return to our normal lives and school. Simon was twenty-one years old and already working on his master’s degree in molecular biology at Birkbeck. So his summer was just to blow off steam after a grueling semester. I didn’t dare mention to him that I wanted to use him in my experiment to fall in love over the summer; I didn’t really know how he would react to something like that. So I told him my summer was just to have an amazing time abroad with my best friends; which wasn’t a lie or anything.
    After twenty minutes of laughing and sipping on our beverages the stunted blonde waitress returned with another tray, this time it had four plates with food.
    “Here we are, enjoy.” She set a plate in front of each of us and was gone just as quickly as she came. If it were up to me she wouldn’t be getting a very good tip.
    I stared at my plate that was so graciously placed in front of me and it held a very greasy burger and a pile of thickly cut French fries, and it looked delicious. I could see looks of confusion on my friends' faces, and too be honest I was a little puzzled myself… I mean, we didn’t order anything this whole night but we still received beers and now burgers. I couldn’t help but wonder if Simon had possibly called ahead or something. I looked over at him for an answer, hoping he could read my mind.
    “I guess I should’ve explained. I can see you’re all a bit confused at the moment. Burgers and chips are the only thing that good old Howie will serve here, but like I said before, you’ll love em. So go on, dig in.” Simon expertly explained, and we all trusted him by devouring every morsel on our plates.
    I had eaten all kinds of gourmet foods and French cuisines, but this burger had to be the most delicious thing to ever pass through my lips. It was char broiled to perfection, just slightly pink, juicy as can be, and so fresh that I th ought I heard the cow mooing as I took a bite. And as for the fries, well they were the most sublime fried potatoes I had ever savored. That meal was amazing, Simon was amazing, and I could tell that my friends were feeling the same way as we all ate in silence; the