A Bit Of Luck

Cobe regarded her reflection. Her once bright red hair was now a bright shade of platinum blonde. An icy stripe of blue ran down the centre of her fringe, which hung limply in front of her eyes. The rest of her hair was flickered and disarrayed perfectly. She grinned.

She hadn't been to a party in a long time, and she was more than looking forward to one celebrating the coming-of-age of her best friend. From tonight, they'd no longer have to worry about Scarlett getting asked for identification when they wanted to drink beers at the local bar.

Taking in the rest of her appearance, she let another smile curl her lips. Draped over her body was a short sleeved, long grey sweater that doubled as dress, ending mid-thigh where it met her dark jeans. Her feet were wrapped up in her favourite peep-toe heels, the same shade of grey as her jumper.

Fixing the last of her appearance and touching up on the clear lip gloss she'd applied to her plump, rosy lips, she cast another smile at herself and headed out towards the door. A cab waited at the bottom of the stairs, and she alighted into it, muttering Scarlett's address as she did so. She was looking forward to a really good night, despite the fact that Adam would not be attending. Her heart fluttered slightly at the thought of him, but she shook him from her thoughts. He had been just too perfect for her not to think about him since their meeting. And he'd visited the shop a couple of times since.

She'd nearly swooned every time he smiled at her.

To dismiss Adam, she thought back to the plan she'd concocted. A match making plot had been thrown into the works after she'd decided that her foot was in far too much pain--after tripping over the Lego--for her to consider walking around on it without repercussions. She'd choked down her sheer glee when she found out that Scarlett's intern friend, Frank, was the person who took her to get her X-ray. Once she'd carefully hinted and supplied details about Scarlett's party, Cobe was more than ready to call herself cupid.

After greeting her friend and startling her with her shocking new hair, Cobe had slowly started to drink and dance and fall into the party fever. Scarlett had long since been lost in the crowd that had swarmed into her house and she knew that she'd never find her again.

The house was hot and sweat beaded her forehead. Deciding that another drink was necessary, Cobe pushed herself out of the way of the person--male or female, she wasn't sure--she was dancing with and made her way through the tightly pressed throng of people. Breaking the crowd, she took in a deep breath as she stumbled into the kitchen. A few people leaned casually against the counter tops, chugging back drinks and another group sat around the table playing strip poker. Bottles, cups and buckets of ice covered almost every other available surface. She picked up a plastic cup and quickly filled it with Vodka and cranberry juice; it burned down her throat as she took a sip. Already the kitchen, though cooler than the rest of the house and distinctively more quiet was boring her. She glanced around the kitchen for faces she knew, and finding none, decided she'd make an appearance with the birthday girl--and check to see how her plan was progressing. She'd seen Frank enter the house at some point, she was sure.

Cup in hand, she moved towards the crush of bodies but she was stopped short as a frame bowled her backwards into wall beside the doorframe she'd just passed under. Cobe hissed. Pain had erupted through her back as it met the wall and her drink, bright red, had made a delicate stain across the chest of her jersey. Not to mention there was now a body pressed tightly against her--muttering apologies--and trapping her to the wall behind her. She looked up, fiercely furious…and felt the words die on her tongue.

"A-Adam?"

Panting, and looking more than apologetic, Adam Lazzara rose his eyes and found himself staring at a familiar face. He grinned, "Cobe! Are you okay?" Reaching up, he carefully brushed his hands over her arms, touching them gingerly as if he might break her. "Oh, God! I'm so sorry." His eyes scanned more of her frame. He lifted a hand to gently run it through the blonde beside her right cheek.

"What did you do to your hair?"

"I dyed it," she choked out. Her heart was thudding out beats faster than she'd thought was healthy. "F-for the party. What are you doing here?"

He smiled, and Cobe was sure Adam could feel the heat from her cheeks from their close proximity even if the lighting prevented him from seeing the pink tinge. "Mommy said I could come out and play."

His finger was slowly coiling and uncoiling her hair around it. His breath brushed across her cheek. God, how could he breathe when they were so close? When she could just reach out and…

"I wish you'd told me about your hair," he mumbled. His eyes focused on hers through his light fringe. "I've been bugging every red head I've run into."

"You've been looking for me?" she asked softly, shocked. She wondered if he could hear her with all the noise in the background. He smiled, dropping the lock of hair to gently touch her cheek.

"Yeah." He spoke as softly as she had. "Yeah, I was."

Cobe forced herself to swallow back her fear and let the alcohol invade her senses, "Why?"

"Well, I was hoping for, at least, a dance. Maybe two?"

Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her fingers around the hand that had stayed beside his side. "Okay."

"What?"

Cobe fixed her eyes on his. They sparkled as she smiled. "Let's dance," she murmured.