Friends With Benefits

01. Drinks with a Star

01. Drinks with a Star

MIKHAIEL KARERA entered the club; he was smirking slightly at the rush he felt, at his first successful infraction of the law. The fake ID said that it belonged to a Leo Gabriel from Michigan, this only made the smirk turn into an amused chuckle.

The music that was beating its way through his sternum helped shed some of the dark, tired look he had about him - the kind of look that came after a whole day of managing paperwork and numbers, which is sort of what he had been doing. He didn't even know where he was, really, he just drove around until he found a club that didn't seem to have too many people waiting in line. He'd wanted a place that was quiet enough that no one would disturb him and a place loud enough that no one would bother to drag him into their merry making.

He sat down at the bar that had a lining of blue lighting installed all the way up and down the edge of the counter, it threw a ghostly glow on everything and everyone it came across. It resembled what the fields of Asphodel might look like, if Asphodel played Pitbul and remixes of Adele.

It took a few minutes for the bartender to work her way through the earlier crowd that consisted of a large group of friends, to get to him. She was pretty, dark haired and had blonde streaks that looked blue due to the light. She had eyes that shone at him with life, and a flirty voice that she called him 'babe' in.

He was good looking and she'd noticed that even in the strobe lighting. She asked him what he would like to drink.

He hadn't ever bought himself a drink before. He used to sneak cheap beers from his dad's stash in the basement. He shrugged in reply and placed a twenty on the counter saying, "Hit me with your best shot." The off-hand manner he said that in, and his suit, had her imagining him returning to an expensively furnished postmodern flat at a tall high rise that facilitated the skyline of the city. Despite being seventeen, Mikhaiel looked like a brooding, pensive twenty-seven year-old business man with a day of stress behind him and a day of stress ahead of him.

The empty seat to his right pulled back, perfect blonde curls and long tan legs alerted him to the fact that he had a chick beside him; a side glance told him she was way out of his league despite the smile she threw at him.

Even though his appearance was presently clean cut and somewhat attractive, his personality was the same. No one knew him around here because the chess club and the Mathematical Association and his sports club of amature misfits didn't come to clubs like this. He was a socially awkward teen who had decided to ditch a wedding he was attending with his family to blow off some steam, he'd been working hard for his AP classes over the summer and he knew better than to expect the school semester starting tomorrow to be a happy affair. School was hell for him, he was an outcast almost everywhere he looked, and the student council had thrown him out because they thought his lack of social skills gave the council a bad reputation.

When his drink arrived he downed it mindlessly.

"Whoa there..." the girl beside him gave him a look of intrigue mixed with wariness. "Have you had a rough day or are you a lapsing alcoholic?" she asked, when her own words reached her ears she blushed prettily, realising she had spoken her mind out loud to a near stranger. Mikhaiel chuckled through the burn of the alcohol.

"Looking ahead at a rough day," He informed her after some consideration, "Rough year in fact."

She raised her eyebrows inquisitively. "Why, does the stock market look bad? Or is it because of the Recession?"

He chuckled again, shaking his head. Who is this girl, he thought to himself. And what is she on?

She smiled at him hesitantly something about those cloudy grey eyes had him shaking off the sense of Dejá Vù. She excused herself and got up, her heels clicking softly as she made her way across the dance floor, the chain of her leather looking handbag shining in the dull orange light that fell across her perfect figure as she opened the door to the hallway that led to the washrooms.