Brooklyn

Chapter One

//A/N: Violence throughout. May be triggering

That's how they met. In a bar in Brooklyn. Of course, the girls were surrounding him and hispals, in their uniform. Tan trousers, tan button down shirts, pins and medals on a few of the boys. Caps either on their heads or placed on the bar. Crowded by girls and getting free drinks off everyone.

"You totally like him."Arielle looked at her friend in surprise and sipped her drink.

"Like who?"

"Him." She pointed to the boy... No, man... sitting at the bar in the left corner. He had a blonde haired pal with him. The man took a sip from his glass of amber liquid and took off his cap. He placed it on the bar top and ran a hand through his hair.

"No... No I don't..."Arielle said.

All three girls looked at the man dreamily. His hair was brown and with a slight curl, he was tall and lean... And hot as hell.

"If you don't get him,I will." The girl to Arielle's right said to a look of stunned astonishment from the girl on Arielle's left and Arielle herself."What? He's mighty fine..."

"You're engaged."

"Not anymore I'm not..." To Arielle, her friends' voices faded out. The man placed his drink on the bar, looking around at his pals around the bar. His eyes met Arielle's green ones. She didn't really know what colour his eyes were, not from where she was sitting in her booth with her squabbling friends. The corners of his lips twitched when he saw herfriends and he rolled his eyes slightly. She saw that and she smiled, giggling quietly. She was so tuned out that she didn't hear or seebthat her friends had heard the giggle and were watching the pair.

"Go talk to him!"Cheryl said (friend on the right).

"Come on, Arielle!"Kirsten encouraged (friend on the left). Just as Kirsten said that, three girls, much younger than twenty-six year old Arielle came up tothe men and the brown haired man got distracted.

"Chance gone."Arielle sighed. She downed her drink and stood up. Her friends watched her in silence as she went to the bar, the opposite side to where the man was, tapping her fingernails on the bartop to wait forthe bartender to turn around. She ignored the man. It therefore completely surprised her when he crept up behind her, leaned so close she had no choice but to be slightly pushed up against the bar, being pinned by his body as he called for the bartender.

"One whisky and whatever my Cinderella is having over here." He called out. Arielle smiled.

"Gin and tonic."Placing one hand on Arielle's hip, he spun her around to face him. She was pinned between bar and him. Technically, not a bad thing because his body was pressed up against hers and she could smell his cologne. The bar hurt a bit, digging in her back.

"Gin and tonic... What a girl." His smile was infectious.

"You're English."Arielle said it as a statement not as a question. She shook her head,eyes wide and face flushed. "God that wasn't supposed to sound so rude." He smiled even wider.

"You're American."The bartender called out their drinks and the man reached over to pay. He handed Arielle her drink.

"Gin and tonic for my Cinderella." Arielle took it with a smile on her face.

"What? I'm too dusty and covered in rags?"

"Quite the contrary. You're the beauty of the ball. Cinderella was the first one that popped into my head. So what's your actual name, your Royal Highness?" He said, taking her hand in his free one and bowing downto kiss it. She giggled as he straightened up, placing his free hand back on her waist.