Boylesque (🇬🇧)

Perfect view

"Wow...nice apartment," Alec said as his eyebrows raised, practically disappearing into his hairline. He stood at the entrance, contemplating the layout of the penthouse's foyer with lips parted in awe.

Though Alec considered Magnus' apartment to be impressive and somewhat luxurious, this place substantially surpassed his boss' penthouse. Whoever lived here had undoubtedly a tidy sum of money, or were, quite plainly, filthy rich. Alec felt like he had stepped into a rendition of some magazine cover for the super-rich.

The entrance area alone was as big as the apartment he had called home for the past few weeks. It was filled with luxurious and expensive furniture, and Alec was certain that every single piece probably cost more than his monthly rent. It led into a living room, which was so oversized and spacious, his parent's house could have absolutely fit inside of it. His eyes wandered upwards to the ceiling, and... Holy cow... If he wasn't mistaken, it was possibly as high as two, if not three, floors.

Modern pieces of art adorned the walls, providing very little personality to the penthouse. The rest, though, was mainly white, only a few areas whispered light pastels almost interrupting the essentially clinical layout.

Yes, this apartment was stately and impressive, but Alec could never imagine living in it. Not even the numerous individuals occupying the entrance hall and living area within their smaller and larger groups were able to hide the aloof, standoffish atmosphere that this space exuded. What kind of person lived here?

Alec glanced at Marik. Was he also so rich? As far as Alec knew, rich, privileged people preferred to stay amongst themselves. Alec frowned to himself. Was the salary of a doctor that high?

Alec let his eyes wander through the room, trying to find a reason why Marik had invited him to this party. He noticed multiple guests wearing expensive and elegant clothing; an affair that provoked him to feel completely underdressed in his simple leather jacket and working attire.

Before Alec could make a decision, whether to stay at this party or to just leave posthaste, he felt a gentle touch against his left wrist. He glanced down to find Marik's fingers curled around his arm. Alec didn't get the chance to free himself from the doctor's tightening grasp before Marik was pulling him further into the apartment, leaving him, yet again, with no other choice but to follow the other man.

As the doctor tried not to collide with anyone, he pulled Alec through the crowd. Alec was starting to wonder where on earth Marik was taking him as they left the entrance area and entered a kitchen that Alec would have expected in any given fancy restaurant, not in a private dwelling. A huge cooking island occupied half of the room, where a handful of professional looking chefs were busy prepping food and creating a deliciously fragrant buffet. Black-fronted kitchen cupboards and a huge refrigerator (in which he could surely fit into without even having to duck his head) took up the wall to his left.

Marik released his wrist the moment they stepped into the expansive galley. Then he headed directly towards a table that adorned numerous plates of prepared sweet and savoury delightful creations.

"What are you doing?" Alec whispered, a little horrified, when Marik took two glasses, a bottle of red wine and a plate with a variety of canapés. "You can't just take that!"

Alec looked left and right, but none of the chefs seemed to be paying any attention to him or Marik.

"Put that back," Alec, attempted again, throwing a pleading glance at the doctor. "You're gonna get us kicked out of here."

"Not if we sneak out first," Marik replied with a wink as he motioned for Alec to follow him. "Come on."

Alec glanced again at the chefs, but they were still focused purely on their tasks, not even looking into their direction. With hasty steps, he followed Marik out of the kitchen.