As he managed his blurry vision and weak knees towards the counter, he could already hear his name becoming the centre of the tea.
"He's so boring, and unbelievable"
"Who invites his friends for hangouts and becomes the party pooper?"
Another voice echoed softly, feigning confusion.
"Guys, let's take it easy on him" Tyra urged, stealing a quick glance at Fedora's unstable silhouette, and then with a tired shake of his head he added "he's drinking too much, must be heartbreak"
"When is it never a heartbreak, oh please!" One of them dismissed.
"Idiots!" Fedora muttered through clenched teeth as he advanced forward, just because he refused to share his private life,' God forbid a boy has his little secret '
One thing was certain: if no one would stop him, he was sure to drink till he knocked himself out, till he woke up in the hospital.
"Just fill this with anything strong" he murmured towards the barman, as he leaned on the counter and with a careful but loud thud dropped his empty glass, patiently waiting for the refill.
The man studied him with concern, but his salary won't pay itself so.... Without hesitation he gave a soft nod and launched into a mixing and shaking mood.
Fedora stood for a while and since it was taking longer than he intended,he decided to hop onto the long wooden stools, finally a comfy spot to lean on the counters.
That was when the entrance door gently swung open, as troops , probably a dozen men walked in, briefly catching everybody's attention as they headed towards the empty seats like they owned the building.
Fedora's face soured for a quick second, these types of circles are always the 'homophobic, toxic masculinity type' so he didn't pay much attention to whatever it was .
'so street thugs get a reservation now?, maybe it's a sign for me to start staying at home ' he thought to himself, brushing the thought off as he turned to the bartender, cupping his red flushed face with his palm as he watched they way the man's muscles flexed with whatever it was he doing with the Boston shaker.
And just as he was about to get comfortable."Good evening sir" came a polite voice.
Fedora,just moved only his eyes to the direction the voice came from,and standing there was a gentleman in his neat apron and calculated smile.
Fedora's face went sour again immediately, shaking his head as he finally sat up.
" What is now?" he asked, voice laced with irritation as he measured the man standing before him, thinking he was about to say their hypocritical usuals
" sir, I think you've had enough,let's get you an uber"
But fortunately and unfortunately,that wasn't the case today.
"Is there a problem?" Fedora fired, his annoyance growing at how the man just stood there like a dusty 'welcome' mannequin.
"Not at all" the man let out a dry laugh, waving his hand nervously for apology before he continued.
"Ummm…we actually don't do this here sir, but..." the man paused ,his face changing a bit, as he watched the bartender finally refilling Fedora's glass.
Then he made to continued,but fedora stretched his hands towards him,a gesture for him to wait, as he gulped down the whole liquid in one go "ahhhh!" Fedora exhaled bitterly before dropping the glass with the same careful thud.
"Another one please" he ordered, before turning back to the waiter, no were words needed,just a dull barely open eyes that meant "speak up, am already getting bored"
The man cleared his throat,"sir, it's just,someone wants to pay for your expenses,I told him you came with friends too and he said he got it all covered" the man delivered.
"Wow, did you?, so nice" Fedora replied as his face scanned the room, probably looking for who that riff-raff, audacious son of a bitch was.
and from the waiter's body language,he could tell it was from one of those 'thugs' from earlier,
His answer was sweet, but his face said completely otherwise,his nose scrunched with distaste before he could even help it, that sounds indulging but at the same time doesn't!!.
Someone wanting to cover his bills and that of his friends. " As per, damsels in distress,Sheesh!" He took a quick glance at his 'never ending talk' friends,they would approve of this without a second thought, 'they are stupid by the way' then his gaze landed back to the waiter waiting patiently for his reply.
A soft scoff of disbelief escaped his lips,then he leaned a bit close, using his last strength to hide how agitated and disrespecting this whole thing was.
"Well, I have a message for you too"
At the far end of the room sat the presumed thugs, one thing was undeniable,none of them was bad looking, they looked like hot fantasy book demons in tempting silk.
They were all deep into their drinks and celebration talk.
"Thank you so much sire Miguel" one of the men greeted,palms placed together with a slight bow,and what followed next was a rhymed chorus of greetings to the man in question.
Miguel!!
He sat at the very dead end of the room,a little distance from others,you needed no tell, from his calm composure,and calculated movement, there was a hierarchy in the group and Miguel was on top of that food chain.
Another undeniable factor was how 'hot' is an understatement,how eye-catching and extreme lethality his handsomeness carried.
He looked like a man carved out by the finest artist and woven into a very well detailed dark romance book.
Dark jet black hair, jaws that could slice metals, killer eyes, an epitome of alluring yet magnetic danger.
He exuded that icy aura,and from the way he sipped his drink?, it was obvious,man knew his effect on people.
He was fully aware of what he was effortlessly capable of, already making heads twist till they crack,he could hear the giggles and muffles of compliments from both genders,but that didn't faze him,never did.
Nothing could actually do that now,not the glazing hype from his boys.
Only one thing was able to effortlessly and unconsciously catch his attention that night.
This precious little prey, in a conversation with the waiter he sent.
To be continued...