Chapter Two

Jade blinked and sat up straight, wondering if her eyes, or maybe it was the whiskey, were deceiving her. While she'd been lost in the daydream, a strikingly handsome man had sauntered over, leaning against the bar diagonally from her. She flushed in embarrassment at the mere sight of him, subtly combing any flyaways from her hair. He wasn't the type of man she expected to see in this dump.

He had a billionaire tycoon look to him, without the pot-belly or ridiculous tophat. Maybe he was the owner? She sighed. Who was she kidding? There wasn't a chance in the world he'd ever notice her, not with how she looked at the moment. None of that matters, she thought. She was fresh out of a relationship and there were so many other things she needed to focus on.

Jade tried her best to ignore his presence and her interest in it. His deep voice barely carried across the room as he casually chatted with another man. A friend, maybe? They appeared well acquainted. They both let out a loud laugh, which made her glance up. Through the smoky haze of the room, his smile glistened in near perfection. He looked like he came straight off the conveyor belt at a Ken Doll factory. She dreamily watched with interest as he stroked the stubble along his jaw and then— Shit. He glanced over, catching her gawking.

Jade looked away in embarrassment, trying to hide her smile. She couldn't help but laugh at herself. Keeping her head down, she pretended to stir her drink. It was just melted ice cubes by that point. She could feel his eyes observing her. She cleared her throat and waited for the bartender to get within ears' reach. "Can I get another?" She raised the glass towards him, displaying the empty cup. He nodded in acknowledgment at her request. Jade tried to play it smooth, watching from the corner of her eye as the attractive man raked his fingers through his dark wavy hair. He glanced over at her, and their eyes met for just a brief moment before she bashfully looked away. He tried to appear interested in what his companion was saying, but through the mirrors behind the bar, she watched as a smirk formed across his lips. Was he laughing at her? He patted the shoulder of the man he was speaking with, seemingly dismissing him. She gulped as he strutted confidently around the bar towards her, dodging a group of rugged bikers, with his left hand casually tucked into his pant pocket.

Jade internally tried to collect herself; she wasn't expecting him to actually reciprocate the attraction. Was he attracted to her? There was no time to listen to her internal monologue. He straightened the scarlet tie around his neck and then smoothly leaned against the bar beside her.  "How is it that such a beautiful woman like yourself is drinking alone at this bar?"

She blushed. It'd been so long since anyone had really flirted with her, that she wasn't sure how to respond. There was a sudden realization in the back of her mind that even though this encounter would probably lead to nowhere, there were other men out there besides Jonathon. He wasn't the be-all and end-all to her love life, she did have other options; in the distant future of course.

 

The bartender placed the drink in front of her, saving her from having to answer his question. It wasn't a topic she wanted to discuss at the moment. Before she could reach into her pocket for payment, the man slid his credit card across the bartop as if he was some big shot. "Go ahead and put that on my tab," he confidently asserted. "So, what're you drinking anyway?" his jaw nodded towards the amber liquid in front of her.

"Whiskey." She held the small glass up between two fingers to thank him for the drink. She took a small swig of it and then swiveled the stool towards him, giving him her undivided attention.

"That'll put some hair on your chest," he grimaced. "So, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this anyway?" He rephrased the previous question. She knew he was only trying to strike up a conversation, but she wanted to roll her eyes at how persistent he was being. "A girl like me?" she playfully scoffed, going along with him. She could play the ditzy flirt if she needed to; that was her specialty. There were many times when she'd played the role of Jonathon's empty-headed arm candy.

The man shook his head apologetically as if to say he didn't mean to offend. "I just meant, that people who come here aren't usually the Burberry-wearing-type," he gestured towards her shoes. Jade glimpsed down at the expensive sneakers and felt her brow furrow. "That's rich, coming from the guy who looks like he's auditioning for a role in Men In Black." 

He smoothed out his coat and shrugged, "Auditioning? What makes you think I'm not an actual quasi-government agent?" he asked with a cheesy grin beaming across his face. 

She gave a fake laugh, hoping the display would cover up her genuine thoughts. If he hadn't been wearing the suit, he probably would have just been another face in the crowd. Jade knew designer clothing and could spot expensive taste from a mile away. She guessed that's why he'd been on her radar, to begin with. It wasn't intentional, but being brought into Jonathon's social circle had changed her life in various ways.

Over the years, her fiance had insisted she blend in. That meant she was expected to attend galas, grand openings, fundraisers, holiday parties, and have lavish girl's days with her friends—which were actually just his friend's wives—and it was a must to look presentable at all times. Appearances meant everything to him. Jade wasn't opposed to relishing in all the luxuries Jonathon eagerly purchased her; she'd just never imagined she'd turn out to be the type of woman who owned a wardrobe filled with dry-clean-only clothes. 

Before she could respond the man glanced at the entrance and frowned. "Would you excuse me?" he politely requested. Jade couldn't decipher which person he was about to ditch her for, but nodded and took a sip of her liquor.

She only hoped her disappointment wasn't too apparent. Oh well, at least she'd gotten a free drink out of it.

She watched from the corner of her eye as he weaved in and out of the crowd. Near the entrance, he stopped to greet a stubby older gentleman that was also wearing a suit; only his threads looked like they came from an estate sale. The men exchanged a firm handshake before they both slip into a backroom labeled 'employees only.'

Jade turned her attention towards a group of younger men that were playing darts nearby. She watched as they each took a turn, trying to hit the center target, noting they were pretty good at it. They started another round, and she quietly giggled along with them as they roughhoused and teased each other. She missed having simple relationships like that; with people with whom she could just be herself around. Where her words didn't have to be carefully thought out and she didn't have to put on fake smiles or overthink every interaction. Her entire life had become merely an act filled with meaningless connections. 

"Did you wanna play?" a deep voice boomed from behind her, making her nearly jump out of her skin. Maybe it was just because she had been thinking of her life with Jonathon, but for a moment, she could've sworn it was him speaking, and she wondered how he had found her. She spun around on the stool, her eyes connecting with the scarlet tie. She tilted her chin up at him.

"Did you wanna play a game of darts?" He asked again with a reassuring smile.

She wanted to play alright, but it wasn't anything like what he was suggesting. She laughed and shook her head. God, she needed to snap out of this. "Oh, no, thank you. I was just watching them," she quickly declined the invitation. 

"Not a risk taker then?" He playfully challenged.

She grinned, "Oh, so you wanted to wager something on it?" She questioned in her most daring voice, now trying to flirt back. 

He shrugged, "Sure, why not? What'll it be?"

Jade had no idea. She felt totally out of her element. "If I win, you buy me another drink," she proposed. She knew it was lame, but it was the only thing she could come up with at a moment's notice.

"Deal, and if I win, you have to tell me your name."

She blinked as it dawned on her that they hadn't been introduced. "Fair enough," she agreed. Although his winnings weren't extravagant either, it still sounded far better than her idea.

After the guys had finished their game, Mr. Tie, as she now thought to call him, gathered the darts and handed Jade half of them. "Ladies first," he insisted. She glanced at the cheap darts and shrugged. How hard could it be? She stepped up to the line of worn duct tape on the floor and tried to imitate the guys that she'd been observing. She held the plastic dart between her fingers, leaned her wrist back, and hurled it towards the target hanging on the wall. It torpedoed through the air, and to her amazement, stuck into the bullseye. Whoah. She tried not to let the shock bleed through her poker face.

"Are you hustling me?" Mr. Tie laughed in disbelief.

"Maybe," she lied and moved out of the way, giving him a turn to shoot his dart. He turned and shrugged off his suit jacket before carefully folding it over the back of a nearby chair. Jade bit her lip, reeling in the sight of his broad shoulders and muscular frame beneath the white dress shirt.

A few games and drinks later, and Jade was failing miserably against him, as she knew she would. Not that she wasn't determined in her efforts; it was just more challenging than it looked, and her beginner's luck had quickly worn off.

The time quickly passed by them, feeling too good to be true. Throughout the night, his dark eyes admired her like she was the center of his universe. Their slight awkwardness quickly faded, and their banter flowed effortlessly. Back and forth, they had teased each other, flirted, and joked around. They chatted about nothing of importance, both relieved to leave the worries of their everyday lives behind. There was no denying the chemistry between them.

Suddenly, Jade grabbed his arm, surprising them both. She shrieked in excitement, exclaiming how much she loved a song that had started playing over the jukebox. It was a song her father loved that she hadn't heard in years. It was an old-school country song, slow and romantic.  Mr. Tie took her hands into his own, trying to persuade her to slow-dance with him. She scoffed at the suggestion and shook her head with a firm no, declaring that she would absolutely not dance in front of all these strangers.

"Please?" is the only word it took for her to cave in. Very reluctantly, Jade wrapped her wrists around his neck. There wasn't even a dance floor, but right there in front of the pool tables, he held her against his chest as they swayed to the music. She closed her eyes, forgetting about all the people that were most likely staring at them.

She knew that there was more to the man than just a handsome face and a hot body. He was funny, charming, a good conversationalist, and also a much better dart player than she was. It was the best night out she'd had in a long time. She couldn't stop smiling, and her sides were beginning to ache from all the laughter. For a moment, she'd even forgotten about her miserable morning or that she looked a complete mess.

Jade was so wrapped up in the here and now that she had barely heard the melody coming from her coat pocket. She apologized and checked the screen, her smile instantly fading. Jonathon was calling her. Of course, he would be calling right now. She rolled her eyes and pressed the decline button, tucking the phone away. It rang again, and suddenly she felt like it was burning a hole in her pocket. "I'm really sorry," she frowned and quickly set the phone to vibrate only.

"You're quite popular," He stated, intrigued by the persistent intrusion.

"Just a guy that doesn't know how to take a hint," she answered his curiosity.

He looked away, his lips falling into a flat line.

Jade gulped, feeling the awkward silence now lingering in the air. She wanted to explain everything to him, to tell him that it was her ex that had been calling but that it was over between the two of them. She was hoping he wouldn't misinterpret the situation and think that it was a booty call. Then again, she thought, did she even owe him an explanation? Despite her disheveled appearance tonight, Jade didn't consider herself ugly; he should assume there are other men interested in her. Surely there were plenty of girls swooning over him as well.

The bartender interrupted the tension, announcing that it was the last call. "Already?" Jade asked aloud and checked the time. She wasn't ready for the night to end just yet, or the thought of facing her new reality tomorrow.

Like everyone else, they chugged the rest of their drinks and ordered another round. "Tequila?" He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. She gagged as she swallowed the awful liquid down and quickly chased it with a wedge of lime. "I think I've officially had enough alcohol for tonight," she announced, feeling her stomach burn.

"We should probably get you home anyway, Jade."

Home? The word didn't even sound right to her. Where was home, now? The last time she'd truly felt she belonged somewhere was when she a child, living in a small brownstone on Tuscon Street. She'd called other places her home since then, but none of them ever felt quite the same. Now, she was positive that no place in the world met that criterion.

"I'm not going home," The words blurted out from her mouth before she even realized what she was saying.

He looked at her puzzled.

"I mean..." Her mind felt foggy. She tried to shake the feeling from her head and rearticulate the words. "Would you like to come with me to get something to eat first?" She asked, hoping it sounded believable. It hadn't exactly been a lie. She did feel that she needed to get something other than alcohol into her belly.

"Sure, I know just the place," he stated as he placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her outside. 

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Jade leaned against the grimy building to keep herself from swaying and watched as Mr. Tie scanned the parking lot with his eyes. The temperature outside had dropped, leaving it unusually cold out for October. She wrapped her arms around herself as the frosty wind bled through her thin jacket.

From where she was standing, she spotted her little, blue, convertible parked amongst the second row of vehicles in front of the bar. She tried to recollect which bag she'd packed her toothbrush in, knowing she'd have to find somewhere to stay for the night. She was far too drunk to even think of driving anywhere, so it needed to be close by. She'd wondered if maybe she could sleep in her car, but realized it probably wasn't the safest area in the city. Hopefully, her vehicle would still be there in the morning.

Mr. Tie punched a number into his cell phone and held it up to his ear. Jade could overhear the faint sound of the line ringing on the other end and assumed he was calling them a cab. Maybe they'd go back to his place? She bit her lower lip and immediately felt guilty that the thought of it had excited her. She

hadn't even been broken up with Jonathon for all of 24 hours, and she was already thinking of getting into bed with another man.

She heard the recording of an automated voicemail before he quickly tried the number again. "Answer your phone," he swore under his breath. A small puff of air dissolved into the night sky as he sighed in frustration and typed something into the keyboard. He shoved the phone into his breast coat pocket and turned his attention back towards Jade, trying not to seem annoyed. "You ready?" he held out his hand suggestively and waited for hers. The butterflies swarmed in her belly as their skin connected. Wherever they were going, they were going to have to walk.

They trekked side by side along the paved walkway, the streetlights glowing overhead as the purring of motorcycle engines faded into the distance behind them. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she huddled close to his chest, soaking in the warmth from his body. The faint smell of his cologne still lingered on his dress shirt, and the aromatic scent of sandalwood and saffron danced in circles around them. It seemed that the missed calls to her phone earlier had long been forgotten.

She knew the last shot of tequila had officially kicked in. She was slipping away into a drunken stupor. That's why she never drank tequila; it never ended well. She wanted to stop it, but couldn't. With each step, her feet began to feel heavier and heavier, almost as if the earth had a magnetic pull. She kept pushing herself to walk forward, forcing one foot in front of the other. She listened to the scraping of their shoes against the concrete, the echo of a dog's deep bark in the distant sky, a car's engine humming past them. She could hear it all, but couldn't see it. Her eyelids felt like the weight of bricks, and each time she forced them open, she felt dizzy. Why did she have to drink so much?

"We're gonna get you some coffee, okay?" Mr. Tie's voice sounded muffled, almost as if they were underwater. "What?" she asked him, only she wasn't sure if the word even formed.

The bell hanging above the doorway let out a jingle as they stepped inside the diner. The room felt warm and cozy, swamped in the scent of breakfast and roasted coffee beans. Jade could hear the scraping of forks against plates, laughter amongst a crowd of unfamiliar voices. Mr. Tie slowly untethered himself from around her and it forced her eyes to open, viewing the change of scenery. She truly hoped that coffee would wake her up. She was groggy and off-balance. Her eyes followed a blurred figure of him as he requested a booth from a waitress wearing a frilly pink and white uniform. The room seemed to seesaw back and forth, and Jade braced herself as she felt her body sway a little too far to the left. She knew that she needed to sit down. She tried to move forward towards an empty chair but lost her footing. The world spun around her.

"Jade!" She heard him cry out in a frantic voice, but she couldn't respond. The room fell into silence as everyone turned their heads toward the thud of her body hitting the cold checkered-tile floor.

She wasn't unconscious, even though her eyes were closed. Mentally she had been very aware of what had just happened to her and how it probably looked to all the bystanders right now— just another idiot girl who couldn't handle her liquor. Jade could remember when it happened to other girls all the time at the college parties she had attended. She and everyone else would either roll their eyes or laugh at them. On any other typical given day, Jade would be mortified. She never wanted to be that girl, but right now, she was far too drunk to care. It's not like she could do anything about it now; she just had to go along with it and pray for the best.

His arms delicately scooped up her limp body and cradled her against his chest. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. The scent of his woodsy cologne seemed to keep her tethered to the world around them. She wanted to thank him and tell him that he smelled nice, but instead, the words "God, I'm such an idiot," came out in a jumbled slur. She wasn't even sure if he could understand her.

"I think you've just had a bit too much to drink," he replied with a light chuckle.

She couldn't even rationalize it, but at that moment, she had felt entirely content just lying there in his arms. Intoxication had taken control over all of her senses, her coordination, her everything. She was utterly vulnerable, her fate now resting in his hands. Yet somehow, she felt safe with this man. She felt happy. She knew it was just the booze that had made her feel like that, but happy felt so wonderful to her right then and there.

The frosty air creeping up the back of her shirt had stirred her awake. Was she asleep? She couldn't recall. Her insides bounced around uncomfortably as Mr. Tie quickly shuffled along the sidewalk, carrying her close to him like an infant.

"Where are we going?" Jade managed to mumble as she tried to focus her eyes. It finally dawned on her that she should actually care about her personal safety. She'd watched enough of the news to know that hundreds of people were raped and murdered in Philadelphia each year, and she didn't want to be the next one. It didn't matter how attractive she found him to be. Hell, everyone had thought Ted Bundy was hot too, and look how that turned out!

"I'm taking you to a hospital," he huffed, exasperated from hiking the incline of the street.

"Huh?" she grumbled, trying to sit up in his arms. A hospital? "No, I'm fine. I just drank too much," she explained.

"You sure about that?" he asked, not convinced.

"I'm one hundred percent sure that I drank way too much," she moaned and held her queasy stomach.

He let out a low chuckle, "I meant, are you sure you don't wanna get checked out? What if you have alcohol poisoning? You also hit your head pretty hard."

Jade didn't even care what he was saying at that point. Her stomach was beginning to feel like a ball of rubber bands being tossed around inside of her. A wave of nausea had hit her harder than her face to the tile floor. She beat on his arm, "Oh God, put me down," she demanded and wriggled from his grasp. Her feet struggled to work as she zig-zagged towards a nearby patch of overgrown grass.

Jade hung onto the earth, flustered and dry heaving. She wanted to get this toxicity out of her, but her body simply refused. If he hadn't been around, she would've forced a finger down her throat. The light breeze felt miraculous against her dampened skin as she finally gave up and sat on the grass. She watched as he scratched his head and then gazed around awkwardly. She just wanted him to go away, not see her like this. She thought that this was the worst first impression she could've ever made.

"Look, I had a great time hanging out with you tonight, but you don't have to stick around, I'll be fine," she snarled in annoyance. She dug her phone out of her pocket and stared down at the screen, trying to get her eyes to focus. Everything was still a blur, but she thought it had read 3:00 A.M. Jade didn't even know where to go at this time of night. Where were all of the hotels? It was downtown; they should've been everywhere!

She stood and then plopped herself onto the edge of the sidewalk, trying to contemplate what to do next, but it was too hard to concentrate when everything kept spinning around her. They both glanced up as a white Honda Civic crept by at a snail's pace, its speakers vibrating the trunk of the car. "Yeah, I'm not leaving you out here, alone like this," Mr. Tie stated firmly as he took a seat next to her on the cold slab of cement.

She looked over at him, noticing for the first time the exhaustion dwelling under his eyes and she gulped back the lump of guilt in her throat. "I'm sorry for being snappy and getting this drunk," she apologized and continued, "I don't ever get like this. I've just had a terrible day." She felt so incredibly stupid. "Honestly, I just need to sleep this off for a few hours until my friend wakes up," she yawned, "She's expecting me in the morning," she added, just in case he happened to be the sweetest serial killer ever.

He thought about her words for a moment before responding. "Well, do you want me to walk you home or call a cab for you?"

What no invite back to your place, Mr. Nice Guy? She gave him a warm smile. "Thanks, but as of yesterday — I'm currently homeless. It's a long story, but needless to say, I'll be adding apartment hunting to my to-do-list." She snorted and rolled her eyes at how pathetic her life sounded. In retrospect, she thought, it wasn't that long of a long story; he just didn't need to know the details.

"Oh," he uttered.

"Could you maybe just walk me to a hotel?" she finally suggested.

(Hi everyone! I'm sorry for any misunderstandings. When I began writing this story, each chapter was between 2700-6300 words. Due to the cost associated with the lengthiness, I've had to divide the word count up to make them more affordable on this app. As you can imagine, this has caused far more chapters than I intended.)