Thread: Beautiful Disaster (Soul &+& Vita

Chaos was swirling round and round inside of Jai's mind, deluding her thoughts and sense of stability and reason, confusing reality with nightmares, and she was doing all she could to keep herself afloat of the flood of disarray. Her eyes stung with salty, unbidden, un-shed tears, and her hands were grasping the edge of the counter so tightly that her fingers and knuckles had paled of all pigment and color. She was shaking like a leaf and she could feel herself slipping far beyond reasonable reaches of reality and just as she was about to let go, something slipped in and eased her back just enough to cause her to lift her head a bit, hazed, watery eyes meeting with clear cerulean ones- familiar cerulean ones. Nate... Her lips trembled, forming the first letter of his name with a clear stammer and hesitation. He was familiar to her, a regular in fact- someone who seemingly always turned up when she was working and who usually ordered the same thing. He talked a little bit too, and was friendly enough, respectful without question. And, he wasn't very bad to look at either, very easy on the eyes in fact. At that moment in time, he was perhaps the easiest thing on the eyes in the whole world too. First round's on the house if you don't mind coming outside with me for a few minutes? Her voice was wavering, unsteady, not unlike the way the rest of her body felt. Jaime?! A worried, loud, perky woman's voice peaked from a few feet to her opposite side, causing the girl to jump and give a soft sound of surprise, and she immediately glanced over her shoulder to find her best friend, and the owner of the club, Mel striding hurriedly behind the bar. Melanie Tuterra, Mel as most called her for short. She was just a year or two older than Jai, an inch taller too, with flowing auburn hair that reached all the way to her mid-back and had an almost professional bounce to it, striking green eyes, clear, smooth, olive tanned skin, and a body to make any human being stop and stare. She and Jai went all the way back to kindergarten, and together they had shared too many memories and life events, both big and small, to even consider each other anything but family. And now, here she was, hurrying to figure out what the trouble behind the bar was. Anyone else might have assumed that she was only checking to see the commotion because she wanted her club to run smoothly and without any troubles. Jai, however, knew that Mel was running over so quickly because it was Jai working, and a mistake on her behalf meant trouble. Jesus H Jai, babe you look like you've seen a ghost! Mel stopped short about a foot in front of Jai, lifting her hands to grasp the girl's shoulders gently. Are you okay? Jai you're shaking- bad. What's wrong? Come on, someone's on the way up from the cage to check on the bar let's go have a seat alright? Jai swallowed hard, bringing her eyes to meet Mel's reluctantly as she gently shrugged out of her friend's grasp. I just need a little air for a minute, okay? Nate here, she turned to glance over her shoulder at the man seated behind her, lifting one shaky hand to point him out, was going to come with me to keep me company. I'll come see you in the office in a few okay? Promise. Mel looked floored, completely flabbergasted, and Jai didn't wait for a response, not from Mel or from Nate. Instead, she gathered her bearings and hurried out from behind the bar, circling around it to the stool that Nathaniel had taken up a seat on. She touched his shoulder lightly, biting the edge of her lip as she met his eyes, and then she kept walking towards a back exit. The whole while, she could feel the dark figure's eyes haunting her, crushing her lungs slowly and tortuously. By the time she reached the door she was all but ready to start running, and she pushed them open frantically, immediately gulping in the fresh, cold, night air as she dropped her head and slid her hands over her face, ready at any moment to sink down to her knees and give up.