November 24, 2018, 10 p.m. West London, Dark Horse Cross Tavern.

Natalie yawned against the bar, and there were only a few people in the tavern. It's Saturday night! For God's sake! It shouldn't be so cold anyway. It seems that the owner is right, this tavern is about to run out of business. This means that she may have to look for a new job again. Although finding a new job shouldn't be so difficult because fewer young people are coming to London from Europe in search of opportunities after Britain left the European Union, Natalie hates changing jobs all the time. So, from that point of view, she wishes she could be busy.

Natalie only started working here as a bartender at the beginning of the year. She remembered her ex telling her before she left, when the Loftus Road course had not been demolished, and the pub was full every weekend. She looked around, unable to imagine how full it would be. In fact, with the loss of fans, the traces of the football club called Queens Park Rangers in the tavern are also fading little by little. For example, the team flag, which was still there when she first arrived, has now been taken down.

Natalie took a sip of tea, in fact, she would love to make herself a cocktail, but the boss said that you are not allowed to drink alcohol at work, and you can feel free after work. She knew that many colleagues would still sneak in a few bites, but that wasn't her style, she didn't think it was professional.

She glanced up at the couple in the corner, they were making out as if no one was around, and the two glasses of red wine they asked for had barely touched. As for the lonely-looking old man, Natalie felt that he was asleep on the table, and he still had a half-pint of Budweiser at hand, and she hoped he wouldn't reach out and touch the cup to the ground. There was also a guest sitting right in front of the bar. It was a middle-aged man, he looked tired, he had already asked for three pints of Foster, he had run to the toilet several times, Natalie guessed that he was in the middle of a midlife crisis, and maybe his work and relationship were not going well.

Natalie took a deep breath, it was a boring and dreary Saturday. She took out her phone and was about to open the hatsapp to ask her roommate if she had any sexual encounters tonight, when a man pushed the door and came in.

Nicholas patted the snow dots on his black coat and walked to the bar. It was warm in the tavern, and he took off his scarf and unbuttoned his coat.

Natalie's eyes lit up. Good handsome man. She smiled and greeted in British English with a Polish accent, "Hiya, what can I do for you, sir?"

Nicholas looked up and saw the young Eastern European girl behind the bar, he smiled politely and whispered, "Please give me a pint of Carlsberg, thank you." ”

Oh my God, he has a great voice. Natalie stuck out her tongue inwardly.

When she handed Carlsberg over, the man smiled again, and it was a sexy smile.

This Saturday instantly became less dull and boring.

It was only then that Natalie caught a glimpse of the small white dot on the man's heavy coat, and her round green eyes widened, "Oh God, is it snowing outside?"

"Yes, but it's small. ”

Natalie listened to him. His voice was still not loud, as if he didn't want to alarm the other guests. As he spoke, he handed her ten pounds.

"My God, my God, it's only November, and I can't even remember the last time it snowed in London in November. It's been cold this year, isn't it?"

Nicholas looked at the girl's exaggerated expression and nodded. Then he glanced at the hanging TV and asked, "Can I tune in to BBC1?" ”

"Of course. Natalie said as she went to find the remote. She searched for a long time, and finally found it. She smiled embarrassedly at the man, "Look at me, clumsy, always forgetting where the remote is." ”

Nicholas looked down at the phone screen, he hesitated for less than half a second and sent that message.

[I'm at the Dark Horse Cross Tavern, are you interested in coming for a drink?]

When he looked up, he smiled and shook his head, signaling to the bartender that it wasn't a big deal.

At this moment, the middle-aged man on the other end of the bar stood up. He seemed to be half-drunk, muttering to himself, "Damn the weather, damn London, everything is a fucking mess!"

Natalie has been transferred to BBC1 and she secretly grimacs at Nicholas when she hears the complaints of middle-aged men. But when she walked over, she saw a five-pound tip underneath the empty beer glass. She was a little apologetic and said as the middle-aged man opened the door, "Thank you, sir." Have a nice night. ”

The middle-aged man turned around, a little bitter smile squeezed out of his tired face, "You too, dear." Good night. ”

Natalie nodded goodnight. When the middle-aged man was out, she shrugged her shoulders and said to the handsome customer at the bar, "I feel like I'm a very bad person, and if he hadn't left a five-pound tip, I think I'd be telling you what happened to that drunkard......

"Don't worry, you're a good girl, even if you do. Nicholas stared at the television and politely glanced at the Eastern European girl as he spoke.

Natalie also glanced at the TV, which was still showing the news, and that matchoftheday program should not have started yet. Is that a soccer show?

She turned her head and asked mischievously, "How do you know I'm a good girl, charming sir?"

Oh, the title. It's exactly the same as it was three years ago. However, a different girl. Of course, he was three years older. Nicholas turned his gaze to the bartender and shrugged slightly, "Because of your eyes." ”

Natalie blushed, she tilted her head, but quickly turned back, she winked at the man, "Do you talk to the bartender like that often?"

Nicholas then knew that the young bartender had misunderstood, he shook his head, and said sincerely, "Sorry, please don't get me wrong, I mean you have eyes that are as innocent as a child." If you don't mind......" he said, leaving the bar with his glass of Carlsberg.

Natalie was a little disappointed, but she was quickly relieved. She leaned back, pulled out her phone, opened the hatsapp, and began to tell her roommate that she had met almost the sexiest and most handsome man she had ever met tonight, and judging by the accent, he should be Spanish.

Nicholas sat down at a familiar table, and it was still best to watch TV from this angle. At that time, she was very picky. This tavern hasn't changed much, or rather, it's completely changed. There are hardly any traces of QPR to be seen, and the bartender has changed. Moreover, Saturday night, it was so deserted. Of course, if it weren't for the fact that he didn't see anyone inside, he wouldn't have come in.

He took off his coat and his phone vibrate. It's her. She called.

"Why are you still in London?" she asked.

"Come, I'll tell you again. ”

"Aren't you supposed to be surrounded by so many fans at the moment?"

Nicholas looked left and right, lowered his voice a little, and smiled, "I only saw an old man asleep and a couple with their tongues stuck in each other's mouths. ”

"Are you really? I remember it was a fan tavern. ”

"Have you forgotten that you've moved your home stadium for more than a year?"

"But there must still be a lot of QPR fans living nearby......"

He interrupted her, "Are you really not interested in coming over?"

She hesitated. He's waiting.

After a while, she said, "It's snowing outside." ”

"Come, you owe me. ”

"The referee owes you! You might as well call Lee Mason to ask you for a drink. ”

Nicholas smiled, he didn't want to say "come" again, she was not interested, he was ready to hang up the call.

But her voice rang again on the phone, "I'll be here in twenty minutes." Help me get a cup of Long Island Iced Tea, please, thank you. ”

****

The weather forecast said that it would snow in London tonight and tomorrow, and the bartender muttered to herself several times in an exaggerated manner.

After that, on the TV, the music of motd started to play.

Lineker's charming smile appeared on the screen, and next to him sat two guests, Danny Murphy and Phil Neville. Natalie, who has no interest in football, knows these people at all. She looked around the tavern, and except for the handsome gentleman, neither the couple nor the old man were watching television.

Lineker's voice rang out: "This exciting Saturday matchday has just passed, and the first game we bring to you is undoubtedly the Queens Park Rangers match against Everton, the fourth meeting between Kristen Lue and Nicolas Flores, with Guy Mobley bringing the commentary. ”

This Natalie is not surprised, she wrote the game preview on the small blackboard outside today, she knows that there is a qpr game today, but the content written is all reported by the boss word by word.

She casually asked the gentleman, "Are you a fan of QPR?"

When he heard it, his expression was funny. Moreover, Natalie found that he seemed to be in a much happier mood than before.

"Sort of. He said.

Natalie thought to herself, maybe not really a fan, but only occasionally watching football shows. Her gaze turned to the TV screen again.

The atmosphere in the stadium was unusually lively. On the sidelines, a tall man appeared, dressed in black similar to the sexy gentleman who was now sitting in the tavern. He was walking towards a woman in a long down jacket - this woman Natalie knew, the head coach of QPR, Kristen Lu. She is also the only football coach that Natalie can remember both her looks and her name.

The two shook hands. The camera cuts to a close-up of the faces of the two men.

Natalie turned to look at Nicholas in shock.

He smiled and made a silencing gesture to her. Natalie's mouth was still open, still shocked, she moved her lips, gestured and lip-synched, "Are you him?"

Nicholas nodded at her. Natalie also hears the narration on TV, and it turns out that his name is Nicolas Flores. She is familiar with this name, and it seems that she often hears the boss mention it, and occasionally QPR fans mention it. By the way, by the way, is it the one who has a love history with the QPR manager?

She looked at the man again in astonishment, but this time, the man didn't look at her, nor did he watch TV.

Nicholas's gaze rested on the beer glass in front of him. The bubbling Carlsberg was only half left. His eyes were sharp, but they seemed a little ethereal.

At yesterday's press conference at Finch Farm, Nicholas' eyes were much milder. A room full of reporters wanted to know what he thought about his old club this time.

"I still feel like it's just a normal game. Last season, because I said that, I was called a liar, but this time, I really thought so. ”

A reporter from The Times asked: "The season has not started very well, but they have recently won five in a row, what do you think of the current form of the former assistant?"

"First of all, I don't think Kristen would like to like to always call her my 'former assistant', just as I don't want to be called 'Jose's former assistant' all the time. They've been in really good form lately, they've got good players and we're going to face a tough opponent. ”

Afterwards, a reporter from The Sun asked: "Everton and QPR, the two teams with the best defense in the Premier League at the moment, you have conceded seven goals and QPR have conceded five, will this be a game that relies on defense to decide the winner? Or is it enough to get a point?"

The corners of Nicholas's mouth curled a little contemptuously, "At any time, the game is about winning. As for the defensive stats and stuff that you talked about, I don't think Kristen or I will care, the goal of the game is always to score more goals than the opponent. Also, I don't want to hear about the mistake of looking at the data to predict the direction of the game in a press conference. ”

"So, what's the relationship between the two of you now? After all, you signed Delgado, who Christine always wanted to sign, and Delgado has been doing really well this season. Is she mad at you? Also, there are rumors that you're going on holiday together in Marbella this summer......" was a reporter from the Daily Star, and he asked very jerky.

At that time, there was some rustling sound at the scene. It's not that journalists aren't interested in the subject, it's just that when asked this kind of question, the managers always say "this game is not about the two of us, it's about the two teams", or "we respect and appreciate each other", and there is no point in asking.

But Nicholas paused for a moment. His smile disappeared for two seconds, then back on his lips.

"I hope she's not mad at me anymore. Our relationship is special......

Nick doesn't play by the rules, and all the reporters are in good spirits and pricking up their ears.

But he changed his words, "We respect each other and appreciate each other. ”

The reporters laughed, helplessly. Everyone on the scene, including Everton's press officer, should have thought that he was a cunning fox who was always teasing the nerves of reporters. However, just those few words have also caused huge waves on social media and among the fan base.

His thoughts were a little distracted, and Nicholas's eyes were still fixed on the beer in front of him.

It was the sound of the door that alarmed him. Oh, not only that, but also the exclamation of that Eastern European girl. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and she arrived.

But, too badly, he forgot to help her ask for Long Island Iced Tea. 166 Reading Network