To Kath's complete disbelief, the other person took off their dark helmet before responding; but that wasn't what shocked her. No, what did it was what lay beneath that helmet. Long, wavy hair dyed a steely gray framed a heart-shaped face, with tanned skin standing out due to its rarity in the always cloudy and rainy British Isles. Looking back at her, those amber eyes seemed to hide two pinches of danger and three of playful mockery.
Kath's brain almost short-circuited as she watched the flirtatious lips, painted with dark lipstick, move to speak to her again. "I was asking if you could recommend a place for dinner since you're from around here."
Kath's autopilot kicked in as her brain tried to process that the person who had terrified her for the last five minutes was a girl. An incredibly attractive one at that; which only makes her feel more shy. "If you're looking for real food, go to Old Tom's Pub; the Cornish pasties there are to die for, and if you want something simpler, you can also order the fish and chips—Thomas makes a special dressing that goes fabulously with them."
Kath was genuinely grateful for having answered that same question a hundred times before due to the many travelers who made Hertford their rest stop; otherwise, she would have stood there like a fool for at least a full minute.
Not that she could be blamed for it, being a social misfit almost universally known as the town's lunatic, her ability to interact with people her age was nothing to boast about. Kath was even worse at dealing with attractive people, whether they were men or women, as their natural charisma tended to make her feel even more shy. Perhaps because at her age, such people tended to be popular social butterflies, the antithesis of herself.
Unaware of all the chaos taking place inside the cute little head of the redhead in front of her, the girl with steely gray hair had a smile tinged with a slight feline mockery, one eyebrow raised, probably having noticed at least some of the other girl's discomfort. "Well, I could certainly use something substantial after all this time on the road, so Cornish pasties don't sound bad. Just one small problem, I'm not from around here, so I don't know who this Old Tom is."
Somehow, although tinged with a hint of mockery, the other girl's words snapped Kath out of the nervous wreck her mind had become. Giving the other person a strange look, Kath pointed to her left, at the restaurant in front of which they had parked, a bright sign adorning the entrance's top with the words "Old Tom's Pub."
It was the tanned girl's turn to have an uncomfortable expression, though it lasted just long enough for Kath to notice. "Seems like I need coffee in addition to those pasties."
The girl took a few steps towards the restaurant before stopping as if she had remembered something at the last moment. "Oh, where are my manners? It seems I still need to introduce myself, and yet you were kind enough to guide me to a place for a good dinner. My name is Lucia."
Still, a bit intimidated by the general aura of the girl who easily stood nearly twenty centimeters taller than her, Kath responded in a soft, slightly submissive voice. "My name is Katherine, but everyone calls me Kath. It's nice to meet you, Lucia, and it should be me thanking you for the ride."
Lucia nodded, satisfied with something only she understood. Feeling the stiffness that had gripped her joints from sitting on her beloved motorcycle for hours and hours, Lucia unbuttoned her leather jacket. Then she stretched, raising her arms, showing off her abundant curves in a way that would have attracted many gazes if there were more people around.
Witnessing what many would have considered a captivating scene, Kath only felt her insecurities grow, painfully aware of her own figure and how much she longed to be more like the girl in front of her.
"So, tell me, Kath, would you like to have dinner with me?"
Suddenly conscious of the pair of amber eyes looking at her intently, Kath didn't even realize her lips were moving on their own. "Sure."
The smell of fresh beer, fried food, and wood created the first impression one needed when entering any pub in England. Although some more knowledgeable individuals could immediately tell if the beer was of good quality just by the aroma or if the fried food was truly appetizing, the average person tended to rely on a simpler indicator: how many people were already in the place drinking and eating in good spirits.
In the case of Old Tom's Pub, Lucia immediately noticed two things: the first was that the place seemed to have more local customers than travelers, something strange considering the second thing she noticed was that the pub was considerably less old than its appearance suggested.
The wooden interior, the well-upholstered leather seats, the classic-style drink bar, and other decorations all seemed to belong to a truly old pub, which was common in towns like this. However, a trained eye could notice that the wood on the walls and ceiling was barely a couple of years out of the sawmill. The leather on the seats showed almost no signs of wear, and there was a noticeable lack of stains on the floor.
"Not to mention the name," murmured Lucia, not missing the detail that truly old pubs had a very different way of being named. Many of these details didn't really matter, but Lucia, for her own reasons, tended to observe and catalog such peculiarities whenever she visited a new place.
Precisely from there came her reasons for inviting the little redhead named Kath to dine with her. Lucia hadn't missed the oddness of the other girl, perhaps because finding her wandering in the woods in the middle of the night was quite strange no matter what excuses one might invent. Lucia had a couple more reasons, but there was no need to think about them for now.
As for the discomfort and slightly submissive attitude that the redhead gradually acquired? Lucia didn't find it strange; she knew from experience that someone like her could be quite intimidating. Besides, the redhead didn't seem particularly brave or good at socializing. "She's kind of cute," Lucia thought, but she didn't let her thoughts wander for long.