Silver Cross

The original plan had been The Libertine. Nevertheless, he currently stood on the dancefloor of club 369.  The place was a bit too shabby to his taste. The music that they were playing here was deafening. No doubt that he would have to deal with a beep tomorrow. Also, he had noticed that the drinks here were just ice cubes with a hint of whatever cheap liquor they could find. His LITT, which was supposed to get him drunk, tasted more like a glass of water. Yet he stood here in front of the bar about to other another one. After repeating his order at least three times, he managed to instruct the bartender to get him two new ones as he liked to be double-parked. At the left of him, he noticed how a cute-looking girl also ordered herself a liquid refreshment. ”I’ll get you that one,” he said to her, throwing her a quick smile. From one of his pockets, he took some money and put it on top of the bar. ”Either spending it now or lose it somewhere tonight.” Oliver rarely made it through the night with money still in his pockets.

The girl next to him seemed a bit surprised that he was still carrying cash money with him. These days, most people paid everything by card or even with their phone. Oliver, however, had the habit of using coins and banknotes on a night out, because if he didn’t, he would easily spend all the money available on his bank account. ”I’m old-fashioned,” he eventually replied to her.  The girl also commented on the fact that he had ordered two drinks, reminding him of a certain rule about holding two drinks. Oliver chuckled as he looked away for a second.  ”Are you just making that up?” he asked her. ”Perhaps I’m just being generous and ordering an extra one for a friend.” Oliver was aware of the many rules there were around drinking. However, he had never heard of this one. Perhaps she was a bit confused with ‘Buffalo’, but that only applied to drinking with your dominant hand.

The strategy of only bringing a certain amount of cash on a night out had probably saved him many pounds and therefore had proven to be successful. Not that Oliver had ever faced any financial issues. Fortunately, his parents were always rather lavish when it came to depositing money on his bank account. ”I happen to have one of those,” he said when she asked him about having a smartphone. He took his phone out of his pocket and showed it to her briefly. ”Bought it to call my mom,” he lied, putting it back. In fact, he barely called his mom.

After she had pointed out that all rules were made up, she told him that she wanted to see him chuck the whole glass. Of course, that was what she wanted to see. Oliver hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t very fond of the idea of downing it right away. But he also didn’t want to give her the impression that he was a wimp.  ”Sure,” he said eventually as he grabbed one of the two glasses. ”Will you join me?” he asked, pointing to the other glass.

His mom always complained about him never reaching out to her. If she was lucky, he called her on important days such as her birthday or if he needed something from her. However, it was mostly her trying to get in touch with her oldest son to check on him. Every now and then, when she could not reach him by phone, his lovely mother had the habit of showing up at his house unannounced and always at the worst time.

The girl had challenged him to chuck LITT that he had just ordered. Oliver accepted it, however, proposed that she should join. He was curious as to whether a girl her size was able to down a whole cocktail at once. Fortunately, she was willing to join him and took the other glass. ”Cheers,” he said with a smirk on his face. After the two clinked their glasses, Oliver effortlessly downed his drink as if he was just drinking water. When he finished, he whipped off some drops from his chin with the back of his hands and watched how the girl tried to work her way through. ”Nice,” he said when she was done. ”So where did you learn how to do that?” he asked, hoping to make some kind of conversation.  

Before he had started studying at UCL, he had already struggled chugging simple beverages such as a beer. Nowadays, he downed strong alcoholic mix almost just as easy as a glass of water. Especially downing almost a litre of Smirnov Ice within mere seconds had become a quality.  However, he was not sure whether he should be proud of it, but it felt good to show others that he was capable of doing such things.

It appeared that the girl had learned the trick because her friends had forced her to chug drinks. But she admitted that it had been mostly beer, not cocktails. ”Practice makes perfect,” Oliver said when the girl expressed she was surprised at how fast he did it. ”It’s one of my many qualities,” he smirked. ”Are you a student? he asked, seating himself on one of the barstools. Judging from her chugging skills, he expected her answer to be yes.  

As he seated himself, he wondered how old she was, or actually how young. Judging from her looks, she could be a minor still. Girls these days looked like they were in their twenties while still not having celebrated their sweet sixteen. As someone that was considered a grown man, you had to be careful with these things. But inside a club with dim lighting while being slightly intoxicated by alcohol it was hard sometimes to distinguish the ones that were far too young. But since she told him that she was a psychology student he doubted that she would be under eighteen. ”I’m enrolled into accountancy,” he answered when she asked whether he studied. By now, he should have finished his bachelor’s but he was still struggling to finish up his last year. ”But psychology sounds cool. What year are you in?” he asked, trying to sound genuinely interested.

At the beginning of this studies, he had proven to be a good student and had passed several courses with high grades. But this all changed as soon as he joined Ithaca and started to live the life of a real student. Instead of studying, he started becoming somewhat of a party animal with a great fondness for strong drinks, girls, and parties. Nowadays, he barely spent time reading his books and working on assignments. Every so often he succeeded in passing one of his courses, which had got him to the final year of his bachelor.


The girl seemed to be impressed by the fact that he studied accountancy, commenting that it must be hard. Oliver never experienced it as a program that was particularly difficult. It was the fact that he actually had to do stuff to pass courses that made it challenging for him. He was sure that if he would spend more time at the library reading his books and making assignments, that he would have been graduated by now. ”It’s just about finances,” he reassured her. Accountancy had more to it, but it basically came down to one thing; money. ”I never really understood what you need statistics for,” he commented when she mentioned that she had difficulties with the subject. Oliver had managed to pass that course in his first year, by good luck. ”Well, you can resit an exam but not a night out,” he pointed out, trying to sound serious. It was an aphorism that he lived by. ”Can I order another drink for you?” he asked her, leaning a bit more towards her. Oliver didn’t like to be empty-handed in a club.  

Throughout the years, Oliver had to take several resits as he often failed to pass the first test for his courses. Mostly because he simply did not feel like taking the time to prepare himself for his exams. Instead, he preferred to spend is his time on the more enjoyable things in life such as parties and other fun affairs. He could have been graduated with his bachelor's by now, nevertheless, he was still finishing up some second-year courses. Oliver never understood students who completed their studies without any delay. After all, your time as a student was supposed to be one of the best periods in your life so why not prolong it as much as possible.

Since he wanted to have another drink, he thought it would be nice to also ask the girl. She agreed on having another one if he would still have enough cash on himself. Oliver chuckled as he reached down his pockets to see whether he would have the financial resources to buy a drink for both. A few coins came out, mostly the spare change that he got back from previous purchases. It was probably enough to buy a beer, however, in this chi-chi place he doubted it would buy him two decent drinks. ”You know what,” he said, putting the coins back in his pockets. ”I still have liquor at home. What if I make you a cocktail myself?” Not only would he avoid ending up in the embarrassing situation of not being able to buy a girl a drink, but hopefully if she agree, he was bringing a good-looking bird to his place. Two birds with one stone, or one in this case…

By now, he doubted he would find his friends back in this place. Some of them might have gone home already or moved to another and better place. He might as well start to make his way home too since he doubted, he would enjoy it in here much. But first, he had to convince this girl to join him, so instead of buying her a drink here, he suggested they could go to his place, and he would make some cocktails for them. ”Only one way to find out,” he said, throwing her a quick smile before he rose from the chair. His mixology skills were limited, however, there was no need to tell her that. That was something she was going to find out when she was already within the walls of his home. Oliver was getting ready to leave, eyeing the girl, whose name was still unknown to him, to see whether she would follow him or not.

Before they would head outside, the girl wanted to grab her jacket. Oliver didn’t bring a jacket, despite having pretty cold weather these days. He used to bring one, but more often than not he managed to lose them. By now, he had wasted hundreds or even thousands of pounds on jackets that had gone missing during one of his nights out. Since he was spending not too much time outside, he figured that it might be better to leave his jacket at home.

Oliver waited for some time before the girl returned, jacket in her hand. For a minute, he had thought that she would not return, but apparently, his promise for tasty cocktails was enough to convince her to join him. They headed outside and were welcomed by the cold night air. Oliver walked over to one of the taxis outside, listening to how the girl complained about how she could not wait until it was summer again. ”Agreed,” he said, trying to stop a cab. Oliver was also not so fond of winter and everything that came along with it. ”Let’s grab that one,” he spoke, pointing towards one of the taxis. He didn’t want to stay here for too long as the cold air was chilly on his skin. Oliver opened one of the doors and waited for the girl to get inside.

Fortunately, it did not take long before a taxi halted to drive them to his place. Oliver made sure that the girl could step inside first as she had pointed out before that it was rather cold outside. Once she was seated, Oliver also took his place in the back seat. After he had given the driver, the instructions needed to get to his place, he shifted his gaze back to the girl. ”James,” he lied almost effortlessly. James was not the name others knew him by, but it was his second name. Oliver sometimes used it to remain more anonymous. It was not as if his girlfriend would be happy to hear that her Ollie had brought a girl to his place without her knowledge. ”What about you?” he asked.

The ride from the club to his house only took a few minutes, so it did not take long before the driver halted. ”We are there,” Oliver noted as he already opened the door. His house was a monumental, stately house located in the vicinity of the university campus. He shared it with a few others, but luckily he had his own private room.

The girl introduced herself as Amelia. A pretty name for a pretty girl, Oliver thought. However, he was also sure that he won’t be able to remember her name the next day. Whether this was a sign of bad memory or lack of consideration, he wasn't certain.

It only took a few minutes before they would arrive at his house. From the outside, it looked like a very fancy stately house, but looks could be deceiving. The inside was far from fancy and luxurious. The house had all the student necessities, including a homemade bar for house parties, a toilet with disco lighting, and a beamer with a screen to watch movies and football. They used to have a cleaning lady, but judging from the bathroom's current conditions, Oliver was quite certain that this lady had not come in weeks. ”Yep, I do,” he said, eyeing Amelia for a second. ”But I wouldn't be too excited. It’s a mess inside,” he warned her. Oliver reached for his keys and opened the front door. ”After you,” he said, gesturing her inside. He hoped that his roomies were either in bed or not at home since he didn’t fancy the idea of having to deal with them at the moment.