Dine and dash

I must confess I was worked up even before the night started. A lot of people from very different places and myself in the middle, as a kind of connection between them. I have a problem and that problem is that I always try to be a perfect host: speak to everybody, attend to everybody, manage the situation so that everybody can feel comfortable. I got to Portland very early. I'd been studying and reading all the afternoon and I needed a cool and restorative beer. Nobody was there yet but Nacho, a guy I always find as soon as I arrive, and her friend Silvia, who is weirdly reluctant to speak in English if she's not drunk. Nacho told me, slowly and carefully, about his recent trip to Belgrade and all the beautiful girls he saw there. I didn't sit with them. I ordered a beer and then I was waiting and drinking at the bar, just as a sad and lonely sailor newcomer to a foraign shore. The first arrivals were Sara and Majo. Davinia is still recovering for her operation and for the time being, their particular pair of three makes a common (but extraordinary) pair of two. We had a few sips at the bar and then we sat at a big... Sorry, at the biggest table in the pub for the people to come and the things to happen. In ten minutes our trio turned into an orchestra: Andrea, Elena, Hector, Jose, two strange guys, some friends of I don't remember who and a married couple from Liverpool. The biggest table in the pub, before empty, suddenly was filled and about to overflow. The man from Liverpool was talking to us about the slang, about football, about the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester and how comes that your enemy's neighbour always becomes your friend. It was a very good experience and one of those times I phisically feel that my English is improving day by day. The people began to leave the place but we had an unexpected income: Lourdes came straight from Requena to Portland and stayed with Jose and me talking about how they met until Mike started putting the chairs on the tables. As I said, the night was going to be hard and bussy but, eventually, it was a great night. I even did a dine and dash but... Put the blame on the beers, boys. Put the blame on them.