(THE HEART OF) THE STRANGER [chapter one]

The man typed on his smartphone then sipped  on his espresso, satisfied: it was not bad considering he was not in Italy but in a small town bar. He said to the owner he had missed his train and now he had to wait a couple of hours for the next one. Actually the place was closed, however the owner allowed him to stay while he tidied the hall up.
“How come you've ended up in this abandoned place?” Asked the owner, moving his arm: his intention was to hold(encircle, include, cover?) the whole town and every single inhabitant of the area.
“I'm a journalist, a freelancer and I want to write an article about places like these”
“ Why would people spend money to read about places like these...?” His face looked really concerned.
“Oh ya, if those people live in a big city...”
The door opened. A chubby and clumsy guy stood for a while waiting for comments about his new suite, a cheap thing he believed to be refined.
“Wow Hank...Now we can say you really are going to get married...!” Said the owner. He then explains to the stranger that the guy was the bartender. He was about to get married and tonight they have a party.
“Tomorrow is the day...” said Hank to the stranger.
“So, let's celebrate...please open a bottle, the best you got: it will be my pleasure to buy it and drink with you” said the man to the owner, who smilingly went in the back room. He came back with an even larger smile, carrying a bottle like a trophy.
“Pink champagne! From Chile!...”
The stranger made a bow, pretending to appreciate that crap which wouldn't even be good to wash hair with.
They drank a couple of glasses each, the owner declaimed a sequence of toasts, the silly kind you can learn by heart and that is good in any occasion.
“How did you realise you really loved the girl you're about to marry?” The stranger asked Hank. Hank became red in the face, he wasn't used to expressing sentences with more than three words.
“She...She...doesn't treat me like an idiot...”
The stranger smiled to the owner.

(THE HEART OF) THE STRANGER [chapter one]

The man typed on the smartphone, then sipped his espresso, satisfied: it was not bad considering he was not in Italy but in a small town bar. He said to told the owner he had missed his train and now he had to wait a couple of hours for the next one. Actually the place was closed, anyway the owner allowed him to stay while he tidied up the hall up.
“How did you come to get in this abandoned place?” Asked the owner, moving his arm: his intention was to hold the whole town and every single inhabitant of the area.
“I'm a journalist, a free lancer and I want to write an article about places like this”
“ Would people spend money to read about places like this?...” his face really concerned.
“Oh ya, if those people live in a big city...”
The door opened. A chubby and clumsy guy stood for a while waiting for comments about his new suite, a cheap thing he believed to be refined.
“Wow Hank...Now we can say you really are going to get married!...” said the owner. Then explained to the stranger that the guy was the bartender. He was up to be getting married and they were having a party that very night.  (this night they have a party)
“Tomorrow is the day...” said Hank to the stranger.
“So, let's celebrate...please open a bottle, the best you've got: it will be my pleasure to buy it and drink with you” said the man to the owner who, smiling, went in the back room. He came back with a larger smile carrying a bottle as a trophy.
“Pink champagne! From Chile!...”
The stranger made a bow, pretending to appreciate that crap -  not even good enough to wash your hair in.
They drank a couple of glasses each, the owner made a sequence of toasts, that silly kind you can learn by heart and  good for any occasion.
“How did you realise you really loved the girl you're about to marry?” The stranger asked Hank. Hank became red in face, he wasn't used to expressing sentences with more than three words.
“She...She...doesn't treat me like an idiot...”
The stranger smiled to the owner.