Catching Avery

Chapter 3

Sloth: Because I didn't dance or take shots, so how much fun was this night really going to be?

Nicholas~

It looked like I wasn't going to have to punch Chase in the face after all. Xavier's was exactly what Chase had claimed it would be, not one hipster in sight.

We were standing near the bar, looking for a spot to get comfortable, when a familiar face came walking towards us. "Hey, guys, welcome to Xavier's." Brian Sloane held his hand out to shake our hands. He shook my hand first, then Julian's, and then Chase's.

"Brian, my man. You work here?" Chase asked.

"Nah, man. Xavier's is mine. I own it," Brian replied with a proud smile on his face.

"No shit? That's awesome." Chase pulled him in for one of those slap-on-the-back guy hugs.

The year that we'd all turned eighteen, we had spent it investing and making as much money as we could to get out of Oakland. However, when Chase and Julian had both turned nineteen, they had finally enrolled in college. We knew that we were going to need some fancy degrees before anyone would take us seriously, and at least one of us was going to have to know more about financing than what we'd already had. I had spent the next two years taking random college classes while focusing on our investments, and once Julian had graduated with his degree in finance, and Chase had graduated with his degree in marketing, I had taken on more classes, and a couple of years later, had graduated with a degree in business management and economics. Chase knew Brian from college and had been friends of sorts.

"What are you guys down for tonight?" Brian asked.

"Just came to check the place out and have a few drinks," Chase answered casually.

"Well, there are three VIP sections here. The balcony sits two of them, and then the third one is on the other side of the dance floor over there." He pointed to all three sections as he explained where they were located. The two on the balcony were side-by-side but separated by the landing at the top of the stairs. The room on the left was made up in different shades of green, and the one on the right was decorated in blues. The dance floor room was a chaotic mix of blacks and greys. "The Black Room is already reserved for tonight, but I can set you guys up in one of the rooms upstairs," Brian offered.

"Hell, yeah." Chase was already on it. "Just put it on our tab." While we didn't flaunt our wealth, we still indulged in the finer things every now and again.

"Nah, it's on the house tonight. It's good to see you guys, and to be honest, it won't hurt business if word gets around that you three are known to chill in one of Xavier's VIPs," Brian laughed.

"Anything we can do to help," I offered good-naturedly. Hell, this was a win-win as far as I was concerned. We had a spot where Chase could check out every female that walked into the place, and I was far enough away from the action that I could drink in peace. I still wasn't sure where Julian stood on his plans for this night because one could never tell with Julez.

As Brian called over a server, I gave the place a curious glance around and noted that there was already a decent amount of people here, even though it was still fairly early. There was music playing through the speakers, but I could see from where we were standing at that the DJ was already setting up his set.

Brian's voice brought me back to the discussion at hand. "Cheryl, will you please escort these three men to one of the VIPs upstairs. Let them pick which room they prefer better." Looking back over at us, Brian let us know that he wanted us to have a good time. "Let me know if you guys need anything else tonight."