Lost With Lust

The night was fairly uneventful for Nigel—a few arguments broke out between some of the ladies at the bar, but they usually resolved peacefully and without coming to blows. A few people got heated in… other ways. They took their altercations to other places—usually hotel rooms, from what he overheard. Leaning off the wall, Nigel walks back behind the bar and grabs a few glasses and a bottle of vodka and heads to the employee lounge. Inside he finds his boss and a few co-workers chatting amongst themselves about the future of the business. He didn’t worry himself with those things, as he had no plans to stay here long term.

They chuckled happily as he entered with the alcoholic beverage and sat it down on the small table that sat in the center of the room. Their lounge really was nothing more than five chairs, a table, a small fish tank with a goldfish in it, and a few pornographic pictures of women doing strange things to other women on the back wall. Kinda pathetic, but they liked it the way it was (mostly).

“Nigel, what’re we drinkin’ for this day?” Ronald questioned, his face still beaming. Ronald was the boss, even though he didn’t act like one most of the time, all of the staff still respected him. A happy Ronald equals a good time. The same is true reversely, as he’ll bring down the hammer on slacking employees. Or so the rumors say, it’s never been a problem for Nigel, however.

“Safety, I’m thinking. We’re all here, smiling, alive and well without a worry in the world (on the outside), but some people don’t got that privilege today. So I think it’s a good thing to drink to.” Nigel set the shot glasses down and poured full each one with the high-quality vodka, each of the workers whooping noisily as they watched him. Once he’d finished, the smell of the strong liquid quickly envenoming the room, they each grabbed their glasses and raised them up.

“No, no, no!” Kenny, a blonde haired employee, piped up as the third guy moved his glass to his lips. “We’re supposed to toast first, dipshit.” He rolled his eyes. “Go on, Nigel. I’ll keep an eye on that idiot.” They both exchanged a half-hearted laugh.

“Today we live!” He shouted. “To safety and well being!” There was a soft chink as the glasses collided gently together, and a general slurping noise as they all took a big gulp. Nigel cringed as it burned his throat going down and coughed a bit. He didn’t drink often enough for him to be used to that feeling, but he didn’t let it bother him. Ronald was already pouring second helpings for everyone, so he reached out his own cup to get a refill.
“Tonight we live!” They shouted together as they swallowed the shots.

They went through a couple of bottles before Nigel decided enough was enough, and headed out, waving goodbye to the still drinking men. “Morons.” He laughed.

As he clambered into his vehicle once again, he questioned silently if he was too drunk to drive—especially this late at night. Shrugging mentally, he decided that if he was capable of asking that, he was sober enough to drive. Without thinking about it, he looked sidelong into the right mirror outside the car. He saw a dark brown haired man with gray eyes, slightly pink lips, and high cheekbones staring blankly back at him.
Coughing, he turned the car in reverse and drove out of the lot and into the swarm of traffic. He didn’t know where he was going to go, as he left the key to his and Liana’s apartment at the club, so it was probably long gone. Again, he kicked himself mentally.

“How could I leave the bloody key in all the rush… stupid, stupid, stupid…” he muttered. So, without any specific destination, he just drove. The street lights were somewhat blurred and the activity was at a minimum, but he drove.