Falling From Disgrace

“So what’s your name?” he asked as she exhaled a long stream of smoke.

“Adrianna.”

“Adrianna? That’s a mouthful. You go by something shorter, like Anna maybe?”

“Some people call me Ade.”

“Nice to meet you, Ade,” he said, sticking out his hand. “I’m Jack.”

Adrianna switched her cigarette from her right hand to her left and then shook his, liking the way his fingers felt wrapped around hers. She wondered how skilled his fingers were.

“So, Ade,” Jack continued, “what do you do?”

Pursing her lips and shrugging her shoulders she answered, “Oh, not a whole lot.”

“You go to school?”

“Nope.”

“Work?”

“Uh uh.”

“You a trust fund baby?”

Adrianna snickered but said, “Something like that.”

“Are you always so forthcoming?” Jack laughed.

“Hey, you said I looked interesting, I never said you were right,” Adrianna retorted.

“True.”

Another patron called his attention away and Adrianna just watched as he mixed another drink and talked to his other customers. She admired the way his muscles moved underneath his tight black t-shirt and when he turned his back to reach a bottle from the shelf behind him, she admired his tight ass even more.

By the time she was finishing her cigarette, Jack said something to one of the other bartenders and then moved out from behind the bar to take the seat next to Adrianna. He sat facing the crowd and Adrianna turned on her stool to do the same.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” she asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

Jack lit his own cigarette and told her, “The boss won’t mind if I take a little break to keep a beautiful woman company.”

Adrianna didn’t miss the fact that this was the second time he had called her beautiful, and while she wanted to scoff at that, it made her feel good, something she hadn’t felt in a long time without the help of medication. She smiled.

They sat quietly beside each other, just watching people around them for a while, when Jack finally said, “You see the blonde over there? Little Miss Fake Tits?”

Adrianna smirked and looked to where he was pointing. She immediately spotted a platinum blonde in a skin tight, neon green scrap of a dress that was cut incredibly low. If she inhaled deeply enough she would give everyone in Loki’s an eyeful. “Aw,” Adrianna said, “don’t mock her. She probably paid a lot of money to look that cheap.”

Jack nodded in agreement and told her, “She just got served a drink. How much you want to bet she takes a picture of it to post on Facebook? Watch.”

Adrianna and Jack stared, watching the bombshell flick her hair over her shoulder while she giggled at something some suit said to her. Then she noticed her drink and, much to Jack’s delight, she snapped a picture of it with her phone and then began typing away on it.

“Can I call ‘em or what?” Jack boasted.

“You’re very talented, my friend,” Adrianna mocked. “But you know, posting pictures of your cocktail is very important. How else is everyone going to know how fabulous your life is if you aren’t updating your status about it every five minutes?”

Jack laughed. He decided right there that he liked Adrianna. She seemed genuine, not at all superficial like most of the girls that frequented Loki’s. He was guessing she was only around twenty-four, not a whole lot younger than him, but her makeup was minimally applied, and her brown hair was long, wavy, and without any bleach or dyes. The outfit she wore was nice but casual and he could tell it was chosen because she was comfortable in it, not to impress the opposite sex. That’s what originally attracted her to him when he saw her walk into Loki’s. Then the fact that she was reluctant to talk about herself was practically monumental. Usually the girls he met wouldn’t shut up about themselves. The whole thing about her not working or going to school did perplex him a bit, but she didn’t come off as some spoiled, rich bitch.