Heartbeats Away From Disaster

I readjusted my headset and then turned the little microphone so that it was closer to my mouth. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly before I read through the list of guests who were supposed to arrive for the grand opening of the restaurant. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was almost time for every one to start arriving.

Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands slide across my hips. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a familiar voice spoke behind me.

"Sorry." Lyle laughed.

"Oh, shit." I whispered, trying not to talk too loud because my headset was on, and currently connected to two other headsets being worn by Justin and Brent, the assistant manager.

I reached up and turned my headset off before I turned around and looked up to see Lyle with a smirk clinging to his lips.

"Jerk." I muttered. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Well," he grinned, wrapping his arms gently around my waist, "you're lucky that it was just me and not some creep prowling the streets. A pretty young woman like you shouldn't be out here all by herself anyway."

"I won't be out here by myself." I replied. "Pretty soon I'll be swarmed by tons of politicians and city officials."

"Ah, but not yet." Lyle retorted playfully. "Right now you're still all by yourself. Someone can very easily steal you away."

I opened my mouth to reply, but a soft voice that I would have been able to recognize anywhere cut me off.

"Actually, I'd like to see someone try that." Craig's voice was enough to cause Lyle to pull away from me.

For a few seconds Lyle and Craig stood there staring at each other, neither one blinking, neither one moving, neither one saying a single word. Ultimately, I was standing between them, but at the moment I would have given anything to be some place else; I could literally feel the tension between them.

Damn testosterone.

"Um," my voice was barely audible, even to myself. Clearing my throat, I decided to try it again, "Lyle, this is my best friend Craig." I said, tugging slightly on Lyle's hand to get him to turn his attention back to me. His light green eyes lingered on Craig for a few seconds longer before he looked down at me. "Best friend?" He repeated.

I nodded my head and then turned to Craig. I frowned when I saw that his blue eyes were narrowed slightly in dislike as he watched Lyle. "Craig." I snapped, causing him to pull himself from whatever thoughts were going through his head just then, and turn to me. "Craig, this is Lyle." I said, motioning to Lyle beside me.

"Her boyfriend." Lyle added.

Craig rolled his eyes slightly, "you act like I didn't know that." He mumbled, but held his hand out nonetheless.

Lyle glanced at me, giving me an annoyed look before he turned back to Craig, and reached over, shaking his hand stiffly. They released each others hands quickly, and went back to staring meanly at one another. My frown deepened, knowing that there was no way in hell that they were going to get along. Craig generally wanted everyone to like him, but for some reason, Craig was hell bent to keep Lyle on his 'shitty' list. He wasn't even trying to make a good first impression, he wasn't trying to establish any common interests he may have with Lyle. He flat out refused to like him. I could see it in the look in his eyes, he and Lyle would never be friends.

And, although it may be a bit hard to believe, Lyle was being even worse than Craig.

Knowing that there wasn't really anything else I could do about it, I glanced back down at my watch and decided to reach up, turning my headset back on in case someone was trying to get a hold of me.

"Lyle, you should probably get inside and start getting ready." I said quietly. "People should start arriving any minute now."

Lyle let his eyes linger on Craig a few seconds longer, before he sighed heavily and then looked down at me. "Are we still meeting up afterwards?" He asked.

"I don't know," I mumbled, "we'll see how things go."

Lyle nodded his head before he leaned over and kissed my cheek softly. As he pulled away from me, he shot Craig one last look of disgust and then turned around, making his way inside through the staff entrance of the restaurant. As soon as he disappeared inside, Craig uttered a few choice words underneath his breath, causing me to snap my eyes back in his direction.

"Stop it, Craig." I said sternly.

"Well I don't like him." Craig said meanly.

"You didn't even give him a chance." I protested.

"He didn't seem like he was really willing to give me a chance either." He pointed out.

"Craig." I sighed. "Please, just pretend to get along with him, okay? For me, please, that's all I'm asking of you."

"But Mitzi - "

"Craig, please." I whispered. "I really like him. Just, do this one thing for me."

Frowning to himself, Craig watched me with his blue eyes, observing me until he slowly nodded his head. "Fine." He muttered. "I'll give him a chance, but I'm not going to guarantee any good is gonna come of it."

"Thank you." I whispered.

Craig took a deep breath and let it out in a loud sigh before he reached over, resting his hand on my cheek. The first time he messes up though, Mitz, I'm gonna kick his fucking ass, okay?"

Rolling my eyes slightly, I nodded my head all the same. "Okay, fine, if that ever happens, you have my permission to beat the shit out of him."

Although the look on Craig's face suggested he had a few more words to say about the situation, he bit his tongue and instead focused on the shiny black Lexus that had slowed to a stop in front of the main entrance. Knowing that it was only the first of many guests, I left Craig were he stood. Tonight was going to be a long night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Mitzi, our last guests are on their way outside." Brent's deep voice came through my headset.

"Alright." I replied, scanning the entrance, waiting for the elderly couple of whom he was speaking of. A few seconds later, they appeared at the door, and I motioned for their chauffer to bring their car around to the front. "I see them, Brent."

"Okay, after you see them off that'll be the end of the night." He said. "Good job with everything Mitzi."

Saying our goodbyes, I turned my headset off and lowered it from my head so that it was resting around my neck before I made my way toward the couple. Giving them a friendly smile, I politely opened the car door for them as soon as their driver stopped in front of us.

"Thank you so much for coming tonight." I smiled.

The couple returned an appropriate response, and we bit each other goodnight before I saw them off into their private car. I watched as they drove off into the distance, and then their car turned the corner, disappearing from my sights altogether. Letting out a sigh of relief, I pulled my headset from around my neck, and then unhooked the radio from my belt.

Taking one last look at the building, I turned around and made my way down the street to the public parking lot where I had parked my car. Once there, I quickly got inside, set my things on the passenger seat, and pulled out my cell phone to call Lyle.

"Hello?" He answered after a few rings.

"Hey, are you guys already out at the bar?" I asked.

"Yeah, me, Lisa, and Gary are here." He replied, raising his voice slightly to make himself heard over the background noise. "Where are you?"

"I'm just getting ready to leave the restaurant." I said. "Are Craig and the guys there yet?"

I heard Lyle sigh in annoyance at the mention of Craig's name. "Yeah, he's here somewhere." He mumbled.

"Babe," I frowned, "can't you two at least pretend to like each other?"

"Fuck no." He growled. "He's a douche bag."

I rolled my eyes at his remark, but chose not to push the subject any further. "Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes, okay?"

"Alright babe, see you then." Lyle said softly. "Bye."

"Bye."

With that, I hung up my sidekick and placed it back in my purse. It didn't take me long to get to the bar, given that it was a Monday night, and most people were at home, catching up on their sleep. Surprisingly, though, the building itself was filled nearly to its maximum capacity, and I was barely able to recognize the back of Lyle's head up at the bar.

I glanced a few seats down from him I recognized Craig's dirty blonde hair, and it was no surprise to me to find him watching Lyle with a sour look on his face. I rolled my eyes slightly, and then lowered my gaze so that I could make my way through the crowd of people. Hearing some call my name in greeting, I looked up and responded with an appropriate smile and response.

Glancing one more time at the bar, I felt my mouth drop in shock when my mind suddenly comprehended what my eyes were seeing. I saw Craig drop his drink, letting it fall forgotten on the bar as he stood up, his face contorted in anger and hatred. Silently, unable to move or speak, I watched as Craig pushed his way to Lyle, grabbing him roughly by the arm to spin him around, forcing the two to face each other. I wasn't one for reading lips, but it was clearly evident as to the words Craig had spat in his direction.

The next few moments that passed went by agonizingly slow, and before I knew what was happening, Craig pulled his right arm back, making a fist, and then swung forward, punching Lyle in his face as hard as he could. Even from where I was standing across the room, I could hear the sickening sound it made when Craig's fist came into contact with Lyle's face.

There was a second where everything seemed t stop altogether, and it just seemed to be Craig and Lyle in the entire room, all eyes on the two.

Then, all hell broke loose.

It was hard to tell amongst all the chaos that had broken out as to who was punching who. All I know is that by the time I made it up to them, one of the bouncers was pulling them apart. As if I would be any help, I grabbed a hold of Craig's arm and frantically tugged him away from Lyle.

Angrily, he made a motion to jerk his arm away but he stopped himself short when he realized that it was me.

"Mitzi - "

"Craig, what the hell are you doing?" I snapped.

"Mitzi, I told you, that guy is a fucking scum bag." Craig said angrily.

"Craig, I don't give a fuck if you don't like him, you don't have any right to just walk up to him and punch him like that!"

"I did have a reason to, though, Mitzi," Craig growled lowly.

"What could he have possibly done to make you hit him like that?" I demanded.

"I watched him kiss a blond haired girl." Craig said meanly. "Just then, he cheated on you, and I sure as hell wasn't going to just sit around and watch him get away with it."

His words took me aback for a moment, but I quickly shook my head, shaking away the ludicrous suggestion. "Craig, Lyle wouldn't do that." I mumbled. "That's not him."

"How do you know what he would and wouldn't do, Mitzi?" Craig snapped. "I sat there, watching him with my own two eyes as he flirted around and kissed another girl. Don't be so ignorant to believe me and the words I'm telling you right now."

Biting my lip slightly, I took a chance and glanced over to where Lyle was, and saw the pretty young woman with long blond hair standing next to him, examining his bloody nose. "Craig," I mumbled, turning my attention back to him, "that's his cousin, Lisa; of course they hug each other, and kiss one another on the cheek from time to time."

"But it wasn't - "

I held a hand over Craig's mouth, silencing him. "Craigery, go home." I muttered. "It's been a long day, and I'm too tired to stand around and listen to you making false accusations concerning my boyfriend."

Gently, Craig pushed my hand away and examined me with his blue eyes. Sadly, he sighed quietly and shook his head.

"She wasn't his cousin, Mitzi," he mumbled softly.

"Okay, if it wasn't Lisa, then point her out to me." I insisted, motioning around the bar. "Where is she Craig?"

Slowly, Craig broke his stare with mine, and glanced around the room, searching silently for the girl. After about a minute, when his search came up empty, a frown crossed his lips and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine then," he whispered, "if you want me to leave, Mitzi, I'll leave." Taking a chance to look back up at me, he reached up and brushed a few stray hairs out of my face. "Believe me though, I can see how much you care about Lyle, and I understand that. But please, don't think that I'm the type of ignorant bastard to accuse your boyfriend of something he didn't do. I know that you say that that was just his cousin, but I seriously don't think that anyone would kiss their cousin, like Lyle was kissing that girl."

With that, Craig dropped his hand back to his side, eyed me for a few seconds more, and then stepped past me without another word. I watched him as he walked away from me. As soon as he disappeared through the front entrance, I turned my gaze to Lyle and Lisa, who were still standing near the bar. Craig's words echoing in my head, I looked around, searching through the faces of everyone else there. There was no one else in the entire room matching the description Craig had given me.

Sighing heavily to myself, I shook my head and began to slowly make my way through the crowd, going to join my boyfriend.

Craig must have been forcing himself to see something that wasn't there.