198Y"Hey! Hey!" He heard a girl call after him as he passed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her. "I want you to meet my friend!"
He sighed. He wasn't much in the mood for meeting any new girls tonight. He was mostly just out here because he was trying to avoid William and his incessantly worried nature and wasn't sure what else to do with himself but come here, like he had been for years. but before he had a chance to protest he was being pulled away from the bar and to a table of women out for the night.
"Ladies." He replied. He introduced himself but if they heard him over the music, who knew. Across the table was a familiar face, one who'd been bilking him for drinks then dodging him for awhile now. He'd come to find it amusing how exactly she managed to trick him into paying her way every time they crossed paths. Most nights he'd be up for the game of cat and mouse they'd developed over the last three years, but he wasn't in the mood for it on this particular night.
The accoster (who he knew as Patricia) pulled him closer to a familiar face and said
" Hey! This is who I wanted you to meet, this is-""Jessica Stolarz." He interrupted. "We've met."
He heard the start up of an excuse start up on the overhead. "Excuse me ladies, this is my song."
"Hey! Wait!" A voice called after him, but he ignored it, moving out onto the dance floor solo, never bothered by having to dance alone if need be."Won't you come see about me? I'll be alone, dancin', you know it baby-"But once he got to moving out on the floor he realized he wasn't alone at all. She stumbled out there with him and sloppily tried to move along. After a moment she nearly fell, but he caught her in his arms, and covered for her by allowing her to dance with him.
"You're drunk Jessica... and not on my dime, for once." He chuckled.
She laughed in his face, the smell of gin so thick she could have cleaned floors with her breath. "Well yeah, when you didn't show up I had to dupe some other prat into covering my night. and he was waaaaaaay more generous than you.""I buy you drinks because I find it amusing, not because I want to see you drunk. That's why I only buy you the first few. I'll leave it to the other poor saps to clean up your sick."
"I don't get sick." She replied in an offended tone as her arms found their way around his neck. He put his arms around her waist to steady her as they danced. As he did, he saw a very mousy looking man who he'd normally classify as a milquetoast, if it weren't for the hideously stern scowl on his face. He didn't know what bug had crawled up his ass, but he could speculate that he was the man Jessica had gotten a free ride from this evening. The unhappy man only caused him to hold that much tighter.
----
She woke up in an unfamiliar place and immediately the panic set in. At the moment she was alone, and she was still in the clothes she was wearing the night before, so those were good signs... right?
Kicking off the covers, she stood and looked around the room to see if there was anything she recognized, but there wasn't. She went to the window and looked outside to see if she recognized the area.
Chelsea maybe? The cleanliness of the neighborhood suggested it. She leant into the glass and saw other windows and patios... so she must have been in someone's flat. After a large breath, she plucked up the nerve to open the bedroom door and meet whomever she went home with that night.
Once she saw who it was things started falling into place. He was sitting at the counter in a small kitchen, writing something down.
"Good morning.""Mornin'." He replied, barely looking up at her.
" Do you know where my bag is? Did I leave it at the club?"He motioned with his free hand, his right, towards a couch, undeterred from whatever it was he was writing down.
She collected her purse and asked where the bathroom was and was given another quick distracted hand gesture.
She went into the bathroom and cleaned herself up as best she could with the things in her purse, returning back to his main room to find him... still writing and ignoring her. It was enough to finally get her to snap.
"Do you always ignore girls you take home from the bar and fuck or am I just special?!" She snapped. To make her point, she picked up the closest object she saw which was a translucent phone, ripping it free of the cord in the process. She miscalculated and the object wasn't something that would break, instead it left a dent in the drywall next to one of many same-y prints around the apartment."Oi! What the fuck Jessica?! That's a signed original Nagel! He's dead now, that's only going to go up in value!"
It seemed like his possessions weren't yet off the list for destruction as Jessica picked up
the next thing within reach, but he already saw her going for it and stood up to stop her.
"Stop breaking my shit!"
"Stop ignoring me after we had sex!""We didn't have sex!"
Jessica furrowed her brow, her arm slowly falling from the throw position. "... We didn't?""No! Jesus! You got drunk, you wouldn't leave me alone. Whatever guy got you three sheets wouldn't leave
you alone, so I brought you here. I let you sleep in the bed and I slept on my couch.
Actually, I made William sleep on the couch and I took his bed. Not really important though."
Feeling awkward now, Jessica slowly put the crystal seashell back where she found it, and stared at the ground quietly like a scolded child.He sighed and checked the wall dent, then let it go and went back to his writing.
Jessica made herself at home and started the kettle. Once she recollected her nerve, she folded her arms over her chest and leant into his counter, watching him write.
"What are you writing about?""What an entitled little brat you are."
She scoffed. "Like you're any better. I know all about you, you know. I know what you are."This caused him to pause just for a moment and look at Jessica like she had pissed in his Weetabix. "Do you now?"
"Yes.
I know your family is posh. Proper aristocrats even... But you're the blacksheep. I don't know what you did, but I know you did something.""...I didn't do anything except be myself."
"... Well... You are kind of a shit.""Ha-ha." He stated in monotone and went back to ignoring her.
She made herself at home and started looking through the cupboards for mugs and tea. When she found what she wanted she made sure to prep two cups, then asked-
"Where is WIlliam?""Out getting us breakfast. He should be back soon."
"Should I make him a cuppa?""Might as well."
She sighed again audibly. This was almost more awkward knowing they didn't sleep together. If they had, she could have stormed out of her justifiably angry. Now though, she felt like she owed him some form of nicity.
"... So what are you writing about?" She asked again."It's my journal. "
"... You write a lot?""Every morning, while William is figuring out break-y."
"... Anything about me in there?"He looked up mischievously. " I already told you, I wrote down what a brat you are. Don't worry Jessica, you've been immortalized in my memoirs. I'll make sure someone suitably horrid plays you in the made for TV version."
"Oh, well, Cheers then." she replies sarcastically.