"Uhm. I -" She struggled to explain because she felt guilty.
"Nah. I am not mad." He said, withdrawing his face from her and looking straight ahead while drinking from his glass.
"You are not?" she inquired. The bartender put her order in front of her and pulled it closer to herself.
"I am not mad you stood me up, I am only mad you turned off your phone afterwards. You could have just said you couldn't make it. Not make a fool of your boss." He said.
"I. I just..had a lot on my mind." She said.
"Obviously. That's a strong one." He said, directing his eyes to her drink.
"I need it." She told him.
"Maybe you do." He said.
She paid no attention to his sarcasm and gulped her drink down her throat.
It caught his attention.
"Do not ask for another." He told her.
"You are not my dad," she said.
—"Another, please." she told the bartender.
"What are you doing here anyway? Billionaires don't come here?" She asked him.
"Well, I don't walk around singing it out. I just love to lie low." He said.
"Hah. I see what you did there." She said.
"I did nothing," he said.
"Durr. Yes, you did. You? Lie low? Nah. How does that work? I mean, you smell rich, dress it, look it, talk rich and wear arrogance perfectly." She said, getting ready to gulp her drink again.
He placed his right hand over her glass.
"I don't wish to embarrass myself by carrying you outside on my shoulder," He said.
"Funny how you think so poorly of me because I am a woman. Three of these wouldn't get me and I would walk out just fine." She said and forcefully took her glass from beneath his palm.
As she gulped it, she dropped the glass on the table.
"Fine," he said.
"A penny for your thoughts," he said.
"Who said I was thinking?" she asked.
"It's okay if you don't want to talk." He said, looking to his right.
His eyes met a lady in a silver gown. She looked pretty and winked at him.
"Lucky night," Mira said.
"Obviously, someone wants to get laid by someone they barely know," she added.
He smiled and returned his head.
"Tell me seven words you think suit my personality." He told her.
"Seven words." She reiterated.
"Yes," he said.
"Okay. Snooty. Acerbic. Playboy. Profligate. Annoying. Covert, revulsive and... Crazy. See? I made it to eight." She answered.
He smiled.
"I expected the last one considering the journey I led you on." He said.
- "but revulsive," he highlighted.
"Yeah. The other day in your office, the older lady that came in, I presume she is your mother." She said.
"And let me guess, you eavesdropped." He said.
"Not much." She told him.
"Mothers and sons always have something to fight about," He told her.
"But she is your mother. Forgiving shouldn't be so difficult." She told him.
"She lied to me. For so many years, she made me believe the wrong man was my father. The funny thing is, my real dad is even more of the wrong man. " He said, rolling his eyes away.
"I wasn't expecting that. I am so sorry." She said.
"It's fine. Maybe someday I can forgive her but not now." He assured her.
"I guess some reactions are justified?" she said.
"What about you? Do you have parents?" He asked.
"No. Always been an orphan until your uncle found me. He took me out of a dark place and brought light into my life and my friends. He saved us by being the dad we hoped for. Theo was a good man. He did good. Which is why believing he had anything to do with that Rad guy just gets me pondering." She said, faking a smile.
"Guess some things are beyond our control and whatever it is he did that you weren't aware of shouldn't really count. No one is innately good or bad. " He told her.
"Enough of the sad talks. Let's have some more drinks to forget." She said.
"I don't think you need more glasses. We have work tomorrow." He said.
"You are scared," she said.
"No," he said.
"Of course you are." She taunted.
"I am not." We can't be in a place like this and lose our senses. One must always be clear-minded He told her.
"Oh spare me, James Bond. Hey! Two glasses each, please. He pays." She said to the bartender.
"Why am I surrounded by stubborn women?" He asked himself.
They drank and laughed. They talked loud, they fell on each other with every lame joke they cracked. Everything moved, even the glasses on the table. The people around them blended into each other. They knew they had pushed too far but couldn't control reality anymore. Reality controlled them.
Lucian pushed the door open. It was the door to his apartment. They walked in with their backs turned and lazily slammed the door shut. The next were the stairs. They crawled up on all fours until he was able to locate his room.
Once the door opened, he lay on the floor with his back. He couldn't go further. He tried to catch his breath and focus his eyes, but there she came, crawling towards him till she fell on him. Chest to chest.
"You are beautiful… " He said with his eyes locked on hers.
She smiled and said no words.
Their hearts raced and they slowly came closer to the point where they breathed each other's air. He wouldn't blink, she didn't want him to. His right hand moved up to take a strand of hair that obstructed her face and place it behind her ear.
She softly pressed her lips against his and had his lower lip between hers. She let go, gazing at him with eyes lost in his.
He pulled her closer and initiated the next kiss, rolling over to get on top of her. She squeezed his shirt around his lower back. In no time she felt it hardening. Her mind could only imagine how she wanted things to go thereafter. Things she wished he would do to her.