She stopped the whole endeavor at some point as it held nothing but disappointment for her.
The party continued on. She had barely been seated for more than fifteen minutes when someone walked up to her. At first, she assumed that he wanted to walk past so she shifted her posture to make way for this person that she could not see to make his way past her. She held her leg in place for a couple of seconds when she noticed that the stranger was not moving past her. She peered up into the dimly lit room to try and see what the problem was but she couldn't see his face. It was hard to make contact as she tried to make the outline of his face.
The room did her no favors as it shrouded this stranger that was badly intruding into her time. She did not feel like having a conversation right now and she didn't feel like being nice to anyone at all. She just needed to be alone with her thoughts if she could at the very most gather them in this noisy hell. She just wanted her peace and quiet. Since it was evidently clear that she was not getting the latter, she wanted to settle for the first and this stranger was clearly standing in the way of both right now. She tried to look up at him again but came up blank. He was backing one of the sources of light so she still could not see him.
"You're in my seat." He said over the noise.
His voice carried a certain level of poise which she did not think was possible in this noise.
"No." She said in denial. "I met no one here and this is a free party is it not?" She asked him, not expecting a response from him.
"It is. But my seat still remains mine." He said in a final tone.
"Find another one." She said, making herself even more comfortable in the little seat at the edge of the room. At least, this place did not have as much noise as the rest of the party and she was grateful for that. That was majorly why she did not even so much as consider leaving. Itw as either that or she was going to have to leave and Ales was not ready to do that yet.
"Look," she began, putting her hand on her forehead to form a shield from the light. "I met no one here. For all I know," she continued. "You could be lying to get yourself an easy seat." She said, getting a little bit irritated by the minute.
"You're a pushy one aren't you?" He said in an equally irritated tone. "I just want my seat miss." He said.
"Shouldn't you be off doing beer pong with your buddies or something?" She asked.
What was he doing here anyway, she wondered. He should be off enjoying the party with his friends but he was here bandying words with her for the farthest seat in the whole room. She did not want to know his reasons for this but she didn't want to give up her seat. She was not about to do anything of that nature. She stared at him as if trying to see who she was dealing with.
The entire conversation had gone on without either of them actually seeing the other so far. She was getting very uncomfortable with this whole argument.
"Look," he told her with a questioning tone hanging in the air as if he wanted her to offer her name. But of course she was not stupid enough to do that. She did not go around giving random strangers that she had not seen her name. Safety first, she reminded herself. She watched him pause for more than was comfortable for both of them when she decided to actually cough to ease up the brief moment of weirdness that they both just had.
"If I wanted to play beer pong," he continued, pausing delicately on the last word as he took in a deep breath while he did. "I would be off in the noisiest part of the room," he said, casting a glance towards the other direction, "playing beer pong instead of bandying words with you."
Who was this guy anyway, she thought to herself. He was getting on her nerves and all of that but what shocked her the most was the fact that he said 'bandying' without batting an eye lid she assumed, even if she could not see him.
"Fine." She said, getting up from where she was sitting. "You can have your seat back." She told him, getting up.
"Look, I'm sorry. I just don't do parties," he told her as he placed a gentle hold on her arm. "I wouldn't be here if I had the choice."
"Me too." She said, as she stepped away from the seat. "My friend is somewhere in that mess." She said pointing towards the direction that he had a few seconds ago.
"I'm Gabe." He said, stretching his hands towards her for a handshake.
"Ella." She told him, leaving the seat that she had been in for the entire length of the party.
"Do you wanna step outside?" He asked her.
She didn't need any more invitations to leave this noisy hell that Alex had invited her to spend what was starting to look like an eternity in.
"Sure." She said, surprised that she had no hesitation to his request.
The two of them made their way out of the party, talking as they did. They had a lot of things in common. He was handsome, she noted when she they were finally away from the blue light. The dimly lit space that they had been in all along did him no favors.
He was actually really attractive, she noted as they both got to talking. He was funny and charming too. It was a refreshing change of pace to find someone that she could relate with in the most unlikely place.
Apparently, his friends had forced him to come. He would have rather stayed at home and did what he usually did. Maybe enjoy a show or something. Apparently, they were doing this for his own good so he would not become grafted to the sofa, he told her.
He was funny too, she thought. The two of them talked all through the night. By the time that the party was over, she felt like she knew a sizeable amount about him as well as he did her too.
She could be herself around him and that was a refreshing change of from people that she usually went out with.
Over the next couple of weeks, the two of them talked a lot. She figured out that he was a fan of horror movies and she was not but she promised him that she would see one with him and at least give it a trial. He also promised that he would take her to one that was less gory. The two of them agreed to go see a movie later that weekend. The week went by like a blur until it was time for them to see again later that Saturday. They quickly bought tickets as they were late and the movie was almost starting. She didn't have time to really talk to him like she wanted to but she guessed that they would have time to later.
The two of them settled in for the movie as the lights dimmed and the show began.
* * *
New York City blared with life as usual, a man shouted something profane at a rogue driver that had apparently splashed a puddle of water on him. The driver stretched out his hand, exposing his middle finger that caused the man to look even more infuriated. Thus, the crazy went on and it was barely past 9:30PM. Ken rubbed his well-trimmed beard and grinned at the man's horrid expression.
He crossed the highway to the other side as he checked his watch under the streetlamp to be sure it wasn't that late. Ken was having a few friends over for a housewarming party and he wasn't about to show up late. Work was intense and he was always more than happy to be out for the day. If anything, his work was what had blessed him so much that he didn't have to live in the crazy parts of the city anymore. He held fast to his shoulder bag that contained his laptop and other valuable items as he made his way through the congested crowd.
"Excuse me. Excuse me," he kept saying until he realized no one paid any attention to him. Shoving was indeed part of the daily norm around these parts, everyone trying to get to their destinations. No one really took that personally as everyone was in a frantic rush to make it back home.
* * *
Jenny hugged Ken hard, a huge smile crossed her face. She really was happy for him this time or at least she looked like it. Guess he wasn't worthless like she'd thought and told him he was many times. Ken managed a smile back as he pulled away from the embrace.
"Try the chips?" he told her, motioning towards the table with a smile as he walked away from her.
The apartment was a little too big for just him but he didn't care. He'd always never been good enough for his friends and always having the littlest. This was his chance to go overboard for once in his life.
He walked over to Greg who had Christie in his arm as usual. They were smiling about something; a scene that gave him a deep unsettling feeling at the base of his stomach. It wasn't that Greg was that handsome, maybe a little of that too but it was the smug look and aura he emanated was what Ken hated. He always had a way of looking at you like he was better and maybe he was? But he didn't have to look so pleased with himself all the time. Ken gritted his teeth as he made a beeline for Greg and his wife.
Greg turned to Ken, taking him firm by the hand.
"Congratulations brother!" he said. "Now, for that special someone to fill this house." he added.
Ken gave an acidic smile; if it wasn't that he had always stole anything good he ever had, maybe, just maybe he would have a family by now. Such guts to ask about him getting married when he would have been with Christie if he hadn't waltzed himself into their relationship.
"Yeahhh.. Pretty soon —" he managed to let out, his face reddening with concealed rage.
Come to think of it, he hated everyone in this room. This was a party of his closest friends and he loathed them all. They were reminders, some in words that he would never amount to anything. He made his way through the living room, playing host. There was Adam, Curt and a few others he didn't care to remember. He'd sent the invitation to his class group and given an address for them to show. Going around the room reminded him of who he was running from. The man in the mirror that the world saw as not good enough. He'd buried him so far down that he felt he was finally getting his life together. Ken tried therapy but it never worked. He would often blank out in sessions and come to almost at the end of them. He also hated that sympathy look he sensed from the doctors; like he was being handled.
He couldn't handle seeing any more of their faces. Those fake smiles and ridiculous friendships. He hated how they acted like they were his good friends. How they acted like they believed in him from the start. He took a deep breath, attempting to balance his even more unsettled stomach. This wasn't a drill; this time, he felt his dinner was coming up for air and it wasn't going to look like it did going in.