Soulmates

5

"I am not happy with who you set me up with." Ethan stood in front of Hallie, blocking her view of the awful karaoke that was taking place. He was pretending to be angry, but he just wanted an icebreaker that wasn't too personal or too vague.

"I mean, I only did it because she was hot, I had no idea that she'd be a total prick. That's why you never get to know people."

"Well it would of been fine but she had to be actively against the whole soulmate thing and in the middle of everything, whoever was hers just started writing threatening letters towards me about how I was stealing their girl and it was just awful. Also, hi."

She was laughing and scooted over in the booth. It was Friday night and so all the barstools were taken. "Okay, so Hipster Girl is a no go. Nerd Girl was pretty cool. Thank you for not picking hipster girl for me."

"Really? So next time I'll be invited?" He never wanted to think about Hipster girl again. Huge mistake.

"Oh no, she's too shy for that. Now her brother on the other hand..."

"Nah, I'm good." She already met her brother? Jeez, was she personal to everyone but him?

"I'm kidding. Now, are you going to go sing willingly or am I going to make you?" She glanced up at the karaoke stage and saw a poor guy get booed off for his complete failure of a rap song.

He couldn't sing. Not even a little bit. And it wasn't like that situation where they insist that they stink and then go up and blow the house away. Nope.

"Here's the thing... We come to this bar almost every day in the hopes of getting laid. Going up there and singing karaoke will severely hinder my chances for that. So, I will make a proposition: you force me to go up there, you're leaving with me tonight. Otherwise, I'm staying right here."

"So if I get rid of you for a couple of minutes then I'm stuck with you until tomorrow, but if I keep you around then I'm free to get anybody in this crowded mess of human suffering?" She thought it over for a bit and then answered. "Okay, but I never go to the same guy's place twice, so that means that we have to go somewhere else."

"Well someone's a world traveler. You go online and pick the hotel, I'll come back and pay for it... Try not to run away when you hear my awful singing."

He went up to the stage and chose Bohemian Rhapsody. It was impressive how he knew every word to the multi-song symphony, even with the lyrics scrolling in front of him. It was like he sang five songs simultaneously. But, he wasn't lying; his voice was awful.

He got a couple of impressed claps for keeping up with the pace, but mostly boos.

"Impressed yet?" He asked as he came back to the table.

"Oh yes, nothing gets me going like horrible singing. Anyways, this is about to be the most expensive, non-prostitute sex you've ever had." She handed him the phone and it was a five star hotel that cost $450.

"Alright, I hate you, but a deal is a deal." He paid for the ridiculous room and stealthily put his number in her phone before she noticed. "Shall we?" he asked as he motioned for them to leave.

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"Well, you don't have to do anything. I'm officially good." She jokingly acted like she climaxed in the entryway of the room and that he could leave now. She started exploring the room. "Ooh! Guest book, let's see whose had sex in this very bed."

"I'd rather do that after we finish so that way I'm not picturing Bill Clinton lying here."

"Great, now I'm going to picture him and it's all your fault." She flipped through the pages to find something interesting. "If I told you that Chris Hemsworth stayed here would you just accept the fact that I would be picturing him the entire time?"

"I don't think I'd have a choice." He tried to be lighthearted about it, but she could tell that he would be against it.

"Good. But he didn't, he was the first name I checked for." She closed the book and laughed as she approached the bed, leaving a trail of clothes.

"Today's my lucky day."

In two ways.

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"So, since this is a king bed you realize that we wouldn't even have to touch, right?" He knew how she was, but he didn't want all of that money to be for a night spent on the floor. Obviously, he thought it was worth it already, but he didn't want to sleep uncomfortably if he didn't have to.

"I know. Here, just make a pillow barrier and I'll get over it." She grabbed the pillows that they had knocked on the floor and put them on the bed. However, she claimed three-fourths of the bed and caused him to be stuck in a portion that was exactly his size.

Maybe never figuring out who my soulmate would be okay, maybe this could just be my life for now. He looked at Hallie as she fell asleep just a few feet away from him. I could be happy with this.

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Hallie woke up and decided to take a bath in the massive claw-foot tub. She filled it up completely, wanting to use up as much of the hotel's money as she could to make her room worth it. If she moved, the water would overflow and spill out. Perfect.

She scrolled through her phone as she felt the water boil her. It may be hot, but she didn't mind.

Her skin was shriveled up by the time she got up, but she didn't care. She dried off and got dressed. He still wasn't awake. He had spread out while she was gone, taking up half of the bed now. She was about to make herself coffee when she decided to wake him up and get him some. She looked at him.

No, that can't be right.

Her tattoos werestarting to show up on his skin.