Whiskey, On The Rocks

one

West Side Chicago
January, 2008

"Mom, I'm doing fine, really." I insisted, rolling my eyes at Selena across the small living room. She winked at me as she carried a box into her room, amused by how long I'd been trying to convince my mother that I was alright. "I know you're worried about me, but I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"Oh, I know you are Taylor honey." Mom sighed. "I know you are. But you'll always be my little girl even though you're technically an adult now."

"Hardly." I wrinkled my nose. "My birthday was only last month." I was still in a little bit of denial that I was a legal adult since I didn't feel like getting older. "Look, Mom, I gotta go. We need to finish unpacking."

"Okay honey, call me when you can. I love you."

"Love you too." I sighed, taking my phone away from my ear and hanging up the call. "Ugh, you'd think I'd moved across the world, not just a couple states." I complained as Selena came back out.

"She's just missing you Tay, she'll get used to you not being around after a couple days." She assured me. "Now get your skinny ass over here and help unpack. We need to get this all done before we go out tonight."

"Yes ma'am." I gave her a sarcastic salute and dodged the pillow she threw my direction.

The tiny third floor apartment just outside the city in West Side Chicago we'd secured the rent for wasn't the best thing in the world, but it was cheap and didn't seem to be all that bad. Yeah, it was small, yeah, it looked like it'd be cold at night, but we didn't care about that. We didn't have a ton of stuff, and we had blankets. We had our own place, in a new city, and we were going to live our lives how we damn wanted.

It took us a few hours to unpack the rest of our things, but by the time night settled on the city, we were officially moved in. Our small bedrooms had no more room than to fit a single bed and a chest of drawers, but they were ours. We had made them ours, decorating the walls with whatever we pleased.

"You almost ready Tay?" Selena yelled down to where I was doing my hair in the bathroom. "I'm gonna order an uber!"

"Kay, I'm almost done!" I called, putting my hairbrush down and grabbing my lip-gloss, sliding the end of the wand lightly over my lips. Rubbing my lips together, I took a step back and looked myself over once. I gave the hem of my short black dress a tug, shifting it to lie where I wanted it to, and then turned for the door.

Selena had already landed herself an intern job at a pretty high up lawyer's firm in the city, so we were going out to celebrate. She'd worked her ass off to get there and was delighted at her new job. I hadn't found a job yet, but I wasn't too worried about it. I had worked a lot these last few years to save up, and I had a decent amount of money set aside for when I needed it. Selena knew what she wanted to do with her life; I still didn't quite, but I was alright with that. That's how I did things, floating along at my own pace doing things how I pleased, and it worked. Life had been kind to me so far.

"Have a good night ladies." The uber driver smiled as he pulled up outside the bar; one we'd found online. It was super popular - there was a casino inside too - and the streets were crowded with a decent amount of people. We thanked the driver as we got out, hooking our purses over our shoulders and holding onto the straps out of habit.

"Damn it's busier than I thought." Selena murmured as we headed to the end of the line.

"Well it is Saturday, but it's not moving too slow." I pointed out. "I don't think it'll take too long."

We chatted as we waited, and soon we made it through the doors after our ID's were very thoroughly checked. Selena and I walked through the front doors and moved off to the side, stopping to take everything in. The place was incredible. There was an open floor that led off the right into the casino, and off to a bar on the left. It was dark; browns, reds, and blacks mingling to create a seductive and exciting atmosphere as music pumped through the building. People danced, drank, talked, laughed over high tables and little booths against one wall. Then my eyes drifted further, just to the right of the bar where a few steps rose up to a guarded, roped off area. A VIP section maybe? There were a few tables circled by booth seats, but they were all empty.