Bad Boy Attraction

I stare one last time at my apartment with a sigh before closing the front door. It has been two weeks since I move to this new city, and I can’t seem to get over the boxes stage. There are so many of them lying all over my apartment, some half open from the things I needed to get out. I really need to take the time to unpack properly. My phone indicates I have reached my destination after a few minutes of walking. I look at the bar, and can hear from outside the loud music playing. I take a breath of courage, and look straight ahead before walking with more confidence inside the bar. A new town means a being the new one, without anyone I know. I had a great opportunity professionally but if it wasn’t for my job, I would have loved to stay in the security of my old city, and friends. I was lucky enough to meet quite quickly this girl at work, Chloe, who invited me nicely with her friends to go out. Since I desperately need friends, I couldn’t say no. So here I am, opening the door of this loud bar, looking among the crowd for the only person I know in town. Luckily, I spot her by the bar, with a guy. A lot less confidently, I go to her. She greets me with a scream and a hug. I chuckle but smell the alcohol. The girl had a drink, or more than one. “Hey Jade!” she greets while hugging me. “Hi Chloe! How are you?” I respond, clearly seeing that she is having a lot of fun. She introduces me to her friend, Logan, and tells me the rest of her friends are by the pool table. I spot a group of friends, laughing and playing. They must have come way earlier than me, seeing the empty glasses on the tables around them. Chloe starts to tell me the name of each person but they are so mixed up around the table, I can’t seem to remember a single name. The barmaid brings on the bar in front of us a plate of shots. “Shots!” screams Logan, who takes the plate. He has already too much to drink and the stability of the plate is in serious danger. Chloe laughs when she sees him struggling to bring it to their table. We get welcomed with cheers, or more like the shots are welcome with cheers. I smile, seeing them all excited and happy that it cheers me as well. I’ve been alone for the last two weeks, calling my friends and family. When I told them that a colleague invited me out tonight, they said I didn’t have any other choice than to go. I should meet people. And in here, Chloe introducing me to her friends while I help her distributing the shots, makes me think that it was the right choice to go out. She hands me a shot, which surprise me since I haven’t start drinking yet but accept it gladly, since I haven’t start drinking yet. I wince as I feel the burn of the alcohol going down my throat. I see Chloe doing the same, before putting her empty glass and in the air, a smile of victory with a laugh escaping her. She looks at me, while giggling and I smile at her, laughing with her. “How do you settle in so far?” she asks me, or more like scream at me so I can hear her over the music and the noise. “Good, but haven’t had the chance to see much yet,” I reply, screaming as well. “So you’re Chloe’s new coworker?” asks me a guy, joining us. “Yeah,” I reply simply, looking at Chloe, too busy receiving a new shot from her friend from the bar. “I got transferred two weeks ago.” “Good, Chloe hated the guy you replaced. I mean, everyone in her firm hated him. He screwed up so many cases, his boss finally decided to fire him. She was so thrilled.” He accompanies his words with a movement of head toward his friend. I don’t know what I can answer to him, happy the guy got fired so I could take his place? He doesn’t seem to be waiting for an answer from me, looking at Chloe. “We will finally stop hearing her complains,” he says loudly enough for her to hear. He smirks at her and she feigns to be offended, before smirking. “You don’t know, maybe she will be worse than him”, she says, talking about me. I stay still, not really in ease between them. “She doesn’t seem the type to f**k up her work because she is lazy,” replies the guy, sensing my uneasiness. I smile at him, but still not answering. Chloe smiles at him and then at me, before taking my hand. “Don’t worry Stan, I’ll still complain about something else.” She winks at him, before taking me to the bar. “You want something to drink?” she asks me, clearly overjoyed. “Yes!” I answer, clearly needing the alcohol to get me the courage to go through my first night out in this new place. There are a lot of people and we have to force our way toward the bar. We try to get one of the barmen attentions but fail miserably. I use this opportunity to chat a bit more with Chloe. She explains to me how this guy, Billy, f****d up her case last year because he didn’t want to spend his time on a case which wasn’t fully his. She gave him some task to do while she did the rest, which was much harder, and he still managed to f****d up. They lost a client, not a big one, but still a client, that day. Apparently, her boss yelled so loud that the entire office heard him. She hated that guy since then, and so did her team anyway. He refused any overtime and was lazy to do is work in general, never finishing in time. I understand that in law, a single mistake can be fatal in court, so dragging a guy like that must be torture. I understand why the entire team welcomed me so well two weeks ago. The barmaid asks us for our order, and I ask for two beers, one for her and one for me. Chloe add a couple of more shots with a laugh. “We are celebrating,” she informs me, explaining the ridiculous amount of drinks her friends and her are having. “I am not judging,” I reply with a smile, taking the glasses the barmaid hands me. I take a big sip of the cold beer, while Chloe explains that Logan just got accepted in the police force. We go back to her friends, and I hand a shot to Logan, finally congratulating him for his new job. He beams with joy and pride, while taking the shot. “I have been studying so hard for this exam, I am so happy I got in,” Logan tells me. “I heard it is really hard to get in, so really, congrats!” I reply with a smile. “You know, you can feel safe now, Super Logan is here to take care of you,” he continues, leaning toward me. “Don’t start to flirt with my friend, you’ll scare her off,” Chloe says with a laugh, going between us. “I’m trying to show her she is safe since I am in the police force now,” replies Logan. “Thank you Super Logan,” I tell him with a smile, but Chloe doesn’t miss the hint of mockery, which Logan is totally oblivious of, feeling even more proud. “The raiders should be scared now, because I won’t let them get away.” Logan emphasizes on the I, as if the rest of the police force lets them away. “Raiders?” I ask. “A silly group of kids who thinks they can outsmart the police and think they will rule on our city. But really, they either end up in rehab or jail, nothing much,” replies Chloe while rolling her eyes. Stan comes to us with two pool cues, handing me one. Chloe takes it with excitement and tells me that we will play together. A few drinks after and a couple of rounds of both pool and shots, I am as excited as they are. I am having so much fun that I feel in debt to Chloe. If it wasn’t for her, I’ll be chilling in front of a show in my empty apartment. Logan makes a show of himself, while trying to aim for the right ball on the table. I am laughing with the group at his mimic, but a stare behind him catches my eyes. I feel like the music is going farther and farther, my attention on these two blue eyes staring back at me. The stranger smirks at me, while I get hypnotized by these damn eyes.