Desolation // l.p.

Chapter VII

I walk into the small and dark tavern, the smell of smoke and alcohol linger in the air as I make my way to the bar. The clanking of pool balls and laughter plays through the room as many people enjoy themselves. I only hope I will be this chipper in a few hours. I take an empty seat at the bar next to a big man in a flannel shirt and a scraggly beard, he sort of looks like a lumberjack. I chuckle at the idea as I place my bag on the surface and flag down the bartender.

"Sarah." The familiar face smirks as he approaches me. I give a smile to Sebastian, my ex-boyfriend who works here. "What're you doing here?" He asks leaning in front of me, obviously enjoying the fact that I am here.

"I've had a shit day." I frown and he laughs. I can't help but join in as I remember his contagious laugh.

"Well, let's fix that." He smirks and pulls a shot glass from behind the counter. It's times like this that I'm glad we broke up on good terms. It may be weird, but I still like to think of Sebastian as a close friend and I'm glad our relationship wasn't damaged from us trying to date. Neither of us really want to admit it but we were both only in it for the sex.

My eyes follow the liquid as it pours from the bottle and into the glass on the counter. "Bottoms up." He winks and slides the glass to me, spilling some of the whiskey as it splashed over the rim of it. I don't hesitate to pick it up and down it, swallowing the shot in one gulp. I clench my eyes shut as it burns my throat, but still feels amazing going down. "Shit, she's still got it. Can't say I've seen you do that since spring break." He jokes and I let out an amused laugh as my time in florida floods into my mind. Thank god it was before my sister moved down there last year. I would hate myself if she knew what went on when I was down there. "So what happened today?" He asks quizzically as he pours me another shot.

"I started a new job today." I sigh and play with the puddle of whiskey on the bar as my glass is slid back to me.

"Really? You didn't tell me you got a job." He speaks shocked and I realize he is right. I tell him everything, I guess in the midst of being angry and trying to figure how I can make this job work, I forgot to tell him.

"Well, I only officially got it yesterday." I remind myself as I tell him.

"Quit holding out on me. What is it?" He asks with a giddy and excited smile.

"It's at Payne Industries." I shrug and grab the shot glass in front of me.

"You got a publishers job didn't you?" He assumes but has a look of pride covering his features. It's not going to last long after I tell him I didn't get the right position. "I told you that you'd be able to get in there easy. They'd be stupid to reject you, your grades were excellent and your absolutely brilliant and-"

"I got an assistant's job." I cut him off, not wanting him to rant on about why I do in fact deserve the job I didn't get.

"What?" He says bluntly, confusion taking over the pride.

"Yeah, you are looking at Mr. Payne's personal assistant." I shudder mentioning his name, all I can see are his eyes burning into me.

"Well that's bullshit." He says loudly and a few men look over from the sports game playing on the tv.

"A little bit. Yeah." I frown and push my glass towards him for him to refill it. I'm going to need a few more if I don't want to remember anything from tonight.

"Did he say why?" He asks and I shake my head. I'm here to get my mind off of Mr. Payne, not to talk about him. I figure this could be my only chance to get off of the subject. "I'm sorry Sarah." He frowns and pours another shot for me.

"It's fine. That's why I'm here." I shrug and grab the glass from him.

"Well then I guess we better make tonight special for you." He speaks slowly with a smirk and I blush a bit, not completely hating the comment.

"I guess so." I say with a devious grin and pour the contents of the glass down my throat. I can already feel the heaviness from all the alcohol seeping into my blood and I'm happy as all of my worries slowly wash away in the form of dark whiskey.

•••

I gasp as my body collides with the wall, Sebastian's mouth attacking my neck. I run my fingers through his hair, gripping it and holding him there, enjoying the control entirely. He moans as I tug at it, smirking from the response I've elicited from him. His hands run up my legs as the bottom of my dress is brought up and bunched around my hips.

Part of me is worried I will regret this in the morning, and I probably will. The alcohol in me doesn't seem to care though. At least Sebastian is my friend who I have slept with many times, there are way worse people I could have sex with. Like my boss. I push the thought to the back of my mind when my feet leave the ground and my legs wrap around Sebastian's waist. I kick my flats off and they land with a thud on the wood of Sebastian's apartment floor. His lips find mine as he kisses me, pulling me closer to his body. He kicks open his bedroom door and puts me down.

I immediately pull my dress over my head and toss it to the floor, my hands find the hem of Sebastian's t-shirt and pull it up his body, discarding it to the floor with my dress. His hands pull me to him, they travel around my back and unclasp my bra, letting it fall to the floor. Roughly I am directed to the bed and pushed down onto it, Sebastian crawling over me. My head falls back as his mouth moves to my breasts, tongue drawing circles around my nipple as his hand massages the other. His hand trails down my stomach, tugging my underwear down my legs. "Sebastian." I moan wanting to skip this torturous foreplay. He laughs before removing himself from the bed. He stands and watches me carefully as he unbuttons his pants, pushing them and his boxers down at the same time. His length springs free and I bite my lip, wanting nothing more than for him to be pounding into me and making me forget the entire day.

I smile when he grabs a condom from his night stand and tears open the foil, slipping it onto himself. I clench my thighs together hoping to relieve some of the want building in me as I wait for him. "I've missed this." He smiles lazily crawling over me.

"Me too." I speak slowly, only focused on the fact that we are so close to what I want. He places a kiss to my lips and trails down my jaw. We both sigh, when he pushes himself into me. His hips retract and slowly push back into me, the empty feeling disappearing. My legs wrap around his, needing him to go deeper. "Faster," I beg as the slow and intense burning in my stomach that I was once so familiar to builds. The pleasure is leaving me breathless as our moans fill the room.

"Liam..." I moan and throw my head back, but he stops.

"What are you doing." I snap.

"Did you just call me Liam?" Sebastian asks and my face pales.

"No." I say before I realize that yes, I did. "Oh god. I did." I say as Sebastian pulls himself from me, I groan at the feeling but let it go. "Sebastian, I'm so sorry." I speak, my voice cracking. I can't believe I just did that. And that it was my bosses name. I don't have those types of feelings for him, so where the hell did that come from.

"It's cool. I just didn't know you had been seeing someone." He speaks as he stands from the bed, pulling the condom from his erection.

"I'm not." I speak slowly, everything happened so quickly.

"Then who is Liam?" He asks and I shake my head.

"No one- I need to go." I say abruptly and get up from the bed. I find all of my clothing quickly and put it on. I feel nervous as Sebastian watches me. When I have all of my things I give him a kiss to his cheek and apologize before running from his apartment. When I make it out of his building the cool night air and rain whip around me. I pull at my hair, trying to figure out what the hell I just did; and what I'm going to do tomorrow.