A Certain Romance

Chapter 1: No. 1 Party Anthem

     "I hate you... but fine!" I unstoppered the vial. I never could resist a night of fun— at least not with Daria talking me into it.

     A bottle of champagne later, I was laughing at something she'd said, mention of the Peaky Blinders forgotten, when I saw two young men enter the club. It struck me that one of them was black-- we didn't get a lot of those in here-- but they wore matching grey three piece suits with starched white shirts, heads shaved on the sides. They stopped at the entrance for a moment, like they were taking in the scene. I motioned for Daria to sneak a peek.

      "Handsome buggers, aren't they?" She looked over her shoulder. Despite asking her to be subtle, she twisted her neck like a fucking owl. I smacked her arm lightly when I saw the white man's eyes slide over to us. He elbowed his friend and gestured to us.

     "Fuck— they saw you looking!" I could feel myself turning pink already as they approached.

     "Oh, no... the two handsome strangers saw us, whatever will we do..." She said dryly before throwing back the remainder of her champagne. I shook my head and looked for them in the crowd again, but they were nowhere to be found now. I felt safe having a night drinking with the girls so long as we stuck together, but purposely attracting the two unknowns that had just walked into the club hardly seemed wise, as I immediately decided to inform Daria.

     "I wouldn't get so excited. You know all the men that come in here are just low-life gangsters—," I hissed at her.

     "Wha'?" A thickly accented male voice asked from behind me. I whirled around. Leaning on the bar were the two men, sizing us up. The one with sandy brown hair was looming over me, a cat-like grin on his face. Clearly, I'd been overheard. "And I thought this was a gentleman's club, Isaiah. Guess we've come to the wrong place..."

     I hated being caught off guard and being loomed over-- so if this was his attempt at flirting with me he was off to a bad start. I refused to back up, even though he was invading my personal space. Instead, I cocked an eyebrow at him, letting my eyes drop to his feet and then travel up his trousers, past the gaudy gold pocket watch and cufflinks, all the way to that absurd haircut.

     "And what exactly would the likes of you be doing in a gentleman's club?" I asked with all the condescension I could muster. I could feel rather than see Daria having a heart attack behind me as we held our silent pissing contest, but then his friend burst out laughing. The man finally broke and the smile he gave me indicated he was amused by my belligerence, not pissed off. Considering that the bouncer they had posted for security was busy talking up one of the house whores and the bartender was too old to be of any real help... this was good news.

      "Well, we wouldn't have found such charming company elsewhere, I'm sure," He returned, looking me up and down. I rolled my eyes. I knew what he wanted. But I didn't do that kind of thing anymore. Hadn't for at least a few months now. Daria didn't either, but that didn't stop her from instantly chatting up his friend.

      "Oy, tall and handsome... You'll be ordering a whiskey for me, won't you?" She batted her eyelashes at Isaiah.

      "Well, I definitely am now," he grinned widely, leaning onto the bar to properly introduce himself. His sandy-haired friend took a seat to my left side. When he opened his mouth to speak, however, I immediately cut him off.

      "Listen, love, I'm not open for business."

      "Business? Let me set your mind at ease— business is the furthest thing from my mind right now..." He smirked.

      "Well if it's pleasure you're looking for, you can go pay for it elsewhere. I'm. Not. Open. For. Business," I took my drink and shifted to cross my legs pointedly. He scratched at the back of his head, frowning a bit.