Glitter

Jack lit the fag before offering me a drag. "Shit never let's you down," he said, hand extended.

I looked at the twisted stick apprehensively. I've never been a rebel, and I've never had any reason to be deviant but something about the way that Jack held that joint had me itching.

The fact that I was still smarting from the perceived rejection from Alex earlier played some part in this, I was sure.

It irked me that he had picked Nora's side over mine. The fact that he had every legitimate right to - considering that she was his girlfriend - made me madder.

Before I could even think, I reached out and pulled the joint from his fingers. He smirked.

"You had me fooled, you know," he told me when I took the very first drag of the very first marijuana joint of my whole entire life. "I had you pegged as a goody two shoes the minute you walked in with Alex."

The mention of his name sent an involuntary spasm through my chest. Shutting my eyes to the world, and my senses to his voice, I took another drag. My mind began to spin.

"People can be surprising." He had taken the joint back and was puffing it down like a fat kid would a chocolate milkshake.

"So what exactly did you plan to do for the rest of the night?" I asked him. Dear god, that shit was strong.

I felt like laughing my ass off and jumping up and down.

Jack turned to face me. He was staring at me like I was something to eat.

"I'm not going to have sex with you, you know. I'm not that kind of girl." I may have been giggling but I was dead serious.

He laughed. "Don't worry sport, you're way too skinny for my taste."

Despite the fact that I'd been the one to bring the topic up, his comment made me furious.

So I wasn't good enough?

What the hell was wrong with this people? Was I really just not that good enough?

"Don't tip toe around my feelings, really."

Jack made a face. "You're strange."

Turning away, I looked back to the city lights. Apparently, fun for Jack began on the rooftop of the damned Empire State Building. How he got us access I will never know, but I liked it.

This place and the view, had a magical feel to it. It let me remember how it felt like to be free, and to have lived.

I missed the thrill of life, the spontaneity of Moscow and the comfort of my family. I missed the security and love the arms of my ex boyfriend - Gustav - had offered me and I missed the feeling a standing ovation would give me.

This place reminded me how it had been like for me before, and damn did I miss those times.

The tears came unbidden.

"Hey, are you ok? Jesus, are you crying 'cause of what I said?"

Throwing him a dirty look, I wiped the moisture away and scoffed. "I'm not that fragile, Jack. Just reminiscing, is all."

"Reminiscing isn't something I like to do." His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion. I had to look at him to make sure that he was still the Jack I'd left the party with earlier that night. From the get go, Jack's tone was either sarcastic, flirty, bitter or cynical.

"Then, let's not reminisce." Waving a hand in the air, I rocked back and forth on my heels. I needed to move, to go somewhere, do something.

"Do you want to do something insane?" he asked me. There was a twinkle in his eyes not dissimilar to the twinkle Alex's eyes would get every time he thought up something crazy.

I bit my lip, unsure.

Like I said, I'm not one of those people who inclined towards the rebellious part of things. I was more of a straight arrow, rules down to a tee and ironed sheets kind of person. Hence my perfect adaptation to the life of a house cleaner/minder/maid.

"Oh come on," he whined when he saw my expression, "don't tell me that you are the goody g-"

"What were you going to suggest?" I cut him off.

“Something stupid and probably illegal.”

I flinched at the illegal but held my ground.

What the heck, right? You only lived once. Heaven knew how being boring old Dianna had fared for me. I needed to change a few things, live a little, enjoy this country for what it truly was. If doing whatever the heck Jack had up his sleeve would get that for me, then why not? It didn't matter that he was really still a complete stranger, or that I had no idea what his intentions were (I hoped to god that they didn't involve raping/murdering or both the stupid fool that was me). That was all part of the thrill now - the high.

You're doing this because of Alex, aren't you Dianna?

Cross at myself, I frowned. Jack on the other hand, was grinning like an idiot.

Finally, I winked at him. "Lead the way."



Standing at the curb, Jack raised a hand at the rushing traffic and smiled at me. I simply wrapped my arms around myself and poked my tongue out at him. Something about Jack made me feel like a child again. I knew that it was too soon to make proper judgement, but I kind of liked it.

When he had finally managed to stop one, and we were safe within the confines of the warm car, he grinned at me. "Ever been to Madison Square Garden?"

I shook my head.

Turning to the driver, Jack leaned forward and tapped the guy on the shoulder. "I'll give you two hundred bucks, excluding tips, if you were our personal driver for tonight."

The driver, an Indian man, gave me a worried glance then looked back at Jack. "Okay."

"Great. Now take us to Madison Sqaure Garden and we'll see where we end from there."

"Let's not die tonight, okay?" I told Jack when he leaned back. The thrill of not having a plan was getting to my head.

He laughed and patted me on the shoulder. "We are not going to die, Dee."

And of course, we didn't.



After Madison Square Garden, we went club hopping. God, I hadn't gone club hopping in such a long time, I'd actually forgotten how it was like.

First was Veronica's Lounge, a classy, out of town little lounge with velvet plush seats and a ridiculously overpriced bar. Jack made straight for the bar but I pulled his arm. "It's so expensive here," I murmured. He shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

Pulling again, I made a face. "The crowd's too quiet."

Looking around us, Jack took in the suits, cocktail dresses and scoffed. "Right. Let's get out of here."

I made my way back to the waiting cab but Jack didn't follow like I'd thought he would.

"The man?" the driver asked me.

I shrugged. "He was right behind me."

And after a few moments, he finally emerged from the club. He was holding an unopened bottle of Bourbon in his hand.

My jaw dropped. "You are kidding me."

Getting into the car, he opened the bottle and took a swig before looking at me. "We're just getting started, babe."

I watched the swirling liquid in the bottle and then turned back to him. He was going to get us thrown in jail but for some strange reason, I didn't care. Not right now. Grabbing the bottle from his hand, I copped a swallow.

Fuck, did it burn or what!

I soon lost track, but between Veronica's Lounge, that first swallow and Shenanigans club on 56th street, that bottle went from unopened to completely empty. I think it took us an hour to drink it dry. But it still wasn't enough. Stumbling into another club - one whose name I cannot for the life of me remember - we paid the cab off and danced like crazy.

Oh, the freedom of having nothing but the alcohol on your lips to think about.

At about five'o'clock the next morning, we were escorted out by security. Apparently the sun showing over the horizon meant that they had to close down. Arms over each others' shoulders (it's amazing how much of your inhibitions alcohol could truly remove), we walked down the empty streets singing some stupid song.

We were halfway to the corner of the block when Jack pushed me away and started throwing up. I think I did too.

After we were done with that, we looked at each other and laughed. Yes, there was still puke on the corner of our mouths and last night's sweat clinging all over our bodies but we laughed.

One of us, I can't remember who, waved down a cab and we both climbed in, still laughing. We were going to regret it in the morning but we didn't care.

It was almost six when I stumbled out of the car to the front of our apartment building, still drunk as hell.

Jack threw me a drunk kiss and I threw him one back. Turning, I made to take the long walk upstairs before kind Mrs. Jones found a passed out Dianna on her cafe's doorstep.

One could never be too careful about one's reputation.

Giggling at the thought, I somehow managed to reach the apartment front door without blacking out. Banging on the wooden panel, I almost jumped when the door flew open not a second later. What I saw standing there made me wish I had asked Jack to take me back to his house and let me sleep the hangover off there with him.

It was Alex and by god, he looked mad.