Buckynat Oneshots

One night of action, Take 2

He was annoyed at himself. Really annoyed. It took a special kind of idiot to reject the offer of a lifetime from the worlds most sought after movie star.

And he was an idiot.

Anxiety got the best of him in the end, after she left his apartment the desire for her was replaced with the stress of work once more. Endless phone calls, angry ones at that, number crunching, rushed meetings to make up time. He cared about his job, at least he thought he did. He mostly cared about what his father thought and if he wasn't happy, James wasn't either. James Barnes Snr was never happy, so James Barnes Jnr was often miserable.

So he threw away the invitation to a movie premier, her number on the back included to get rid of the distraction.  Steve, his best friend and business partner would fucking throttle him if he knew, therefore he never told him a thing about his one night stand. Well...not the specifics despite Steve pressing for details on who was the mystery girl he cancelled his morning to be with.

It was several weeks later, while in London on business that Steve brought it up again, in front of their accountant, Sam, who chuckled and joined Steve in pushing James for more information.

"I can't believe YOU are upset over some chick!" Sam smirked, shaking his head as they exited the car that dropped them off for their meeting.

"Who said I was upset?" He grumbled, straightening his tie and frowning when Steve nudged him with his briefcase.

"I did. You've been even more moody ever since you had your monthly binge drinking loner session." He teased, walking along side him. "What? This girl one you're going to marry or something? I don't think you've been on a date since you were 16." He smirked, James flipping him the finger and carrying on walking into the building.  "Something must have happened for you to cancel all our morning meetings last minute."

"Did you finish too soon? Couldn't perform? " Sam smirked, he and Steve both descending into school boy laughter at their immature humour. Business humour, all sex, drugs and alcohol fuelled.

James rolled his eyes, ignoring their continued childish remarks and announced their arrival at the reception desk, the secretary flushing pink under his gaze and bustling off to let their client know.

**

Their meeting went well, as expected, and James related the information back to his father via conference call with Steve, Sam and their new clients. This was the the few moments the three friends would remained professional, too on edge to step a toe out of line in front of Barnes Snr, even if he was thousands of miles across water.

When the call ended, they all heaved a sigh of relief and signed papers, made plans for further meetings and gladly accepted the invitation to join to company at a gala event this evening. James grumbled an excuse about being jet lagged but Steve elbowed him hard in the ribs, accepting for all of them.

***

James wasn't really enjoying himself. Despite originally not wanting to leave the comfort of his hotel room, Steve had forced him into a new suit and tie, promising he would leave him alone the next evening and the bonus of free liquor at the event made things much more bearable. He hated these kind of things, but he had to show face for the companies sake.  He had stayed civilised and professional, seated at a table with Sam, Steve and the British company, sipping wine and listening to the money raising auction going on. It was all for charity of course, but even James had to question the amounts people would spend for one painting to hang on the wall. However, he wasn't very cultured in art, but threw in a few silent bids anyway to cure his boredom.

Nearing the end of the auction, there were a few speeches about the charities that would benefit from their money, and the organisers invited their representative to speak. James sipped his wine, relaxing in his chair as he thought about where the night would take them, how he'd he could convince thighs to head to a livelier bar or failing that, return to their hotel. He wondered why was he so caught up in working so hard for little reward, when was this big party going to start and what...the fuck was she doing here?