02

Hey Readers. This is Feeling Good, resubmitted. It's exactly three thousand words long which means that it's long. Yeah. Enjoy

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The potion stirred within the cauldron, shimmering with bright white light. The witch cackled over it, an evil grin spreading across her face. All of a sudden a man burst through the door and yelled at the witch.

"How dare you, Aphilla!" He screamed at her.

"I'm just making a potion that will get rid of her. You shall never be taken in by her beauty ever again. Her spell shall be broken and she will die!" Aphilla cried out to him.

The man shook his head in disgust and upended the cauldron, causing the potion to spill over. It sizzled and burned to the ground. The witch yelled in agony as the potion splattered onto her. Her screams quickly died away as she melted into a pile of wax and clothes on the ground. The man muttered. A beautiful woman came in and quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh, Storner! You have saved me!!! How shall I repay you?" She cried.

"All you need to do, Beautania, is love me forever." He replied before passionately kissing her.

"Oh, Ana. How can you stand to watch this trash?" Kella asked her roommate and best friend as she walked in the door, carrying heavy bags of groceries. She struggled with getting her key out of the door before Ana vaulted over the back of the couch and rushed to her side, grabbing half of the bags and ripping the key out of the lock.

"I think it's funny and somewhat sad. You can't help but pity them. They are such bad actors that have to deal with incredibly bad writing. I laugh hysterically every time I watch. "They walked into the kitchen and began pulling out food. Tortilla chips and salsa never made it to the pantry as they were dipped into right then and there.

"Fuck, Kella! You got the hot type. Now my mouth is burning." Ana yelled, rushing over to the sink and drowning her mouth with water.

"Consider it punishment for subjecting me to even a moment of that smut you love to watch. You know what you need-?"

"A fire hydrant?" She answered dryly.

"No. You need to get laid. It's been long enough, Ana. Derrick never deserved you anyway. I mean, he cheated on you for Christ's sake." Kella replied.

"Thanks for reminding me about the pansy ass I used to date, Kella. I really needed it."

"See? You're moving on. He's no longer the gay-flower-ass-that-I-should-never-have-let-touch-me-with-a-ten-foot-stick. You need to get out again. It's been a year. You've already wasted enough of your life on him. I suggest we go clubbing tonight. You'll find a new victim, I mean, guy and screw his eyes out. Then you can move on."

"Kella. You are one sick and twisted bitch."

"Why thanks, honey. You know you're opinion means so much to me. "Kella answered with a laugh.

"I hate that you do that. I can never insult you."

"Why do you think I do it? This way, I'm never insulted. Besides, you know you love me." She replied.

"Unfortunately, I do. " Ana gave a long suffering sigh.

"Anyways. We have to go out tonight. I shall not see you suffer any longer."

"You just don't want to sit through another night of my smut."

"You know me so well sweetie." Kella said walking down the hall, not even acting chagrined at being caught in a lie.

Ana just laughed and followed her down, the burning taste in her mouth forgotten.

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The two friends walked through the door of the nightclub, the strobe lights pulsing. Ana immediately got a headache and wished that she had not given in quite so easily to her friend. Even if it was stupid and practically smut, she found her shows to be funny and entertaining in a world that was fast becoming depressing and boring. And monotonous. Her life was very monotonous. She got up and went to work, came home, ate, and went to sleep. Her talks with her roomie were the exception to her day. They hardly went out anywhere anymore. Perhaps she should just ignore the stupid and inconsequential strobe lights and have fun.

"Good girl, Ana. I knew you were having doubts. Now I can see your thinking about the fun this could be. Look. I'm going out to dance. Go to the bar and snag us some drinks. If you get picked up along the way, so much the better." Kella yelled above the loud music and grinned before dancing away into the crowd.

Ana shook her head and made her way over to the bar. Her friend was a force to be reckoned with. She fought through the crowd mingling around bar and after several desperate pushes and an elbow into the face- her elbow and somebody else's face- finally made it to the bar area. As luck would have it a bartender was right in front of her. Without looking, she slapped money on the bar and ordered a screwdriver and a marguerite on the rocks.

"Anything else I can get you honey?" The husky voice slid through her system before landing in the lower extremities of her stomach. She snapped her head up and collided with a hard jaw.

"Ow!!"

"Ow!!"

The twin yelps of pain were lost within the loud music but neither cared as Ana got her first look at the bartender.

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Kella had left her friend behind without a qualm and moved onto the dance floor. She began to shimmy her butt to the music and smiled. God, she loved to dance. She felt so bad for her friend. Having only those stupid shows to watch must be really lonely. There was only so much that Kella could do to help her friend. She couldn't exactly be a lover to Ana because neither of the girls swung that way. She did love her though. She would do anything for her and if getting her friend to be happy meant that she had to dump her in the middle of a very popular club to do it then so be it. She loved Ana too much to just sit back and watch her suffer.

'In The End' by Linkin Park came on and she smiled as she started swaying more than her butt to the beat. She loved their music. Perhaps it was the sexy leading voice that did it for her.

"That is fucking fantastic." A strange and unfamiliar voice spoke up behind her and Kella whirled around to face him. The sight in front of her was one that she believed she had never seen before. Why oh why were some men so perfect looking? That right was reserved only for women. She smiled at the vision before her. Some would think he was too perky looking. He wore a bright blue silk like shirt that shimmered in the strobe lights and black stretch pants that showed his amenities to an excellent degree. His brown hair was long and held back in a low ponytail. He was muscular without being overly showy and he was tall. His eyes were hard to distinguish in the dim lights of the club but from what she could tell they looked to be a vibrant ocean blue. He looked just the way she liked it; except for the hair.

Kella smiled and, as 'Illegal' by Shakira started, she walked toward him in that sexy walk that women seemed to have down to an art. She reached him and put her hands on his hips. As her hands roamed up his sides she leaned into him. When her hands reached his face she leaned up and, rubbing her body up against his, whispered in his ear "I don't go for guys with long hair", and walked away.

"Challenge accepted, sweet thing." The man whispered, watching as she walked away.

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He was... hot. Ana felt that her brain was fried just from looking at him. Her mouth dried and her hands became sweaty. Her stomach felt like it had been punched... hard.

"Hey there. What's your pleasure?" He smiled at her and winked. She knew that he wasn't only talking about her drink.

"Uhh...umm..." What the fuck? Why did her brain have to stop functioning properly just when she needed it the most? The bartender's smile grew wider and he leaned in close.

"Sorry, sweetie. I don't think I caught what you ordered."

'Ana stop it. Stop thinking about him with his clothes off and... oh, wow.' The thoughts running through Ana's mind were sure to have made even this man blush had he knew them. She mentally shook her head and looked him in the eye. The man wanted to play dirty, huh? Ana smiled. She hadn't watched her smut filled shows for nothing.

"You know, I'm beginning to think that you're asking me for more than my drink order. Seeing as how I already told you what I wanted."

He smiled. "Well. I could be. Then again, the club is so noisy I probably didn't hear what you had said."

She leaned in and whispered "I want a screwdriver and a marguerite on the rocks. And possibly you later on."

"Coming right up." He said and walked away, smiling. He had to admit that the little word play had been enjoyable. He started mixing her drinks. He was used to being propositioned by the women, and even some men, who came to the club. Even he admitted that he was somewhat good-looking and really, it was everybody's dream to boink the bartender. He knew it wasn't going to go anywhere and so he never took them up on their offer. This time wasn't going to be any different. Even though he felt something with the woman he didn't plan on going with her when the time came. He was looking for more. He was 28 and wanted to settle down and, need he say it, have a family. He brought the glasses to her and set them down.

"Here you go. Have fun." He smile and leaned down close to her. "Sorry but I'm going to have to say no to the invitation. I'm not looking for a one night stand. If I was I would definitely go for you, though." He moved away and went back to his job.

Ana picked up the drinks and went searching for her friend, feeling like her heart would break. And the strangest thing was that she didn't really have any reason for the feeling. It's not like she loved the guy or even particularly cared. Ok so she felt a bit of a connection with him and she would have loved to finally get laid for the first time in a long while. She understood how he felt though. She didn't want a one night stand either.

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Kella had moved away from the dance floor and took a seat towards the back of the club. That man disturbed her as no other had. Was it just because he was as hot and perfect as men could get? How was that even possible? Her mind was so engrossed on her questions that she never noticed the long haired man had approached her and was watching her silently. She looked up and was startled to see him standing before her, wearing a grin upon his face at having surprised her. He was quite the little trickster.

"Can I help you?" She asked sarcastically. She was not equipped to deal with this right now. She had come to the club to have fun, not to be stalked by some cute guy. Yes, a part of her knew she was being irrational but she couldn't believe that he was there. Had he not taken the hint? Yes, she had mildly flirted with him, okay it was blatant flirtation, but that didn't mean that he had the right to stalk her. 'Oh stop it Kella Marie. He hasn't done anything to you except take you up on your oh so blatant offer. One that you didn't really mean to make but did nonetheless.' Kella shook her head and tuned into what the guy was saying.

"Has this—you haven't heard a word of what I've said, have you?" He asked. She grinned sheepishly and shook her head.

"Sorry. Personal thoughts got a hold of me and bore me away. I'm sorry but I'm really not interested right now. I'm sorry if I led you to think differently even though I said that guys with long hair don't do it for me. I'm only here for a little fun, okay?" Kella replied, feeling a little bad at rejecting him. After all, he was sin personified but she wasn't looking for a relationship or even a one night stand.

"Okay." He laughed and walked away. Kella hung her head and began to regret coming here. Why did she turn him away when it was so obvious that they were attracted to one another?

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Cain moved away, thinking. He knew that she was attracted to him. What was holding her back? He went to the bar.

"Matthew. Can you make a drink and send it to the woman sitting in the back over there. Tell her that the ponytail guy said he was sorry. Thanks." With that Cain sat down and stretched. He watched as Matthew made the drink and sent it over to the girl. He never had learned her name. He knew that this wasn't the last he would see of her. Something about her intrigued Cain and he wanted to see where it could lead. Perhaps she was the one. And perhaps he was just getting ahead of himself. Who was he to know when the one came along? When she looked up and stared straight at him he knew that he wanted to get to know her. To know if she was perhaps the one. Perhaps this was all for nothing. She shook her head, picked up her drink and melted into the crowd. And he knew that somehow, this was probably the last that he was going to see of her. It irked him. The challenge was still on and he never gave up easily.

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Ana sighed; just when she had found her friend again, sitting at a back table, Kella had moved. Ana was just about ready to give up when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Is that for me? Sorry. I've been a little distracted." Ana turned around and saw her friend looking absolutely miserable and sad.

"Kella? What's wrong? Why do you look as though somebody told you your dog died?"

"Nobody better come to me and say that my dog's dead. They would be dead themselves." Kella retorted, looking slightly better.

"Sorry. Bad description. Why do you look so sad?"

"Oh, Ana. There is this completely gorgeous man that's interested in me but for some reason I can't seem to get interested enough to pursue it. Wait- wrong. I am interested but something is holding me back. I just don't want a no- strings attached affair anymore. Could that be what's holding me back? Because he seems like the type that is looking for something shorter than Christmas. I don't want that type of relationship anymore. I don't think I could take it again."

"Kella. You will never know what might have been if you don't do anything about it. And you will regret it for the rest of your life. Don't stereotype this guy just from what he looks like. Maybe he wants more than just that. Why don't you go talk to him? Is he the one that bought you the drink? Can you point him out to me?" Kella wordlessly pointed to him, for she knew where he was at all times, and Ana opened her mouth in a big O.

"Wow- and I thought the bartender was hot- this guy takes the cake. Not my type at all, though. Why don't you talk to him and see where it goes. And I should take my own advice. I have to see you, Kella. Go for it. Don't worry about what your heart is saying. You're just scared. That's all right. It's okay to be scared. Just don't let it get the best of you."

"Since when did you get so wise?"

"Don't know. I'm just pulling this straight out of my ass and all the chick flicks that are out there. But just because its clichéd doesn't mean that it's not true. Just go for it."

Kella looked apprehensive but she physically squared her shoulders and started walking to him. She stopped and turned around.

"This night isn't going anywhere near where I thought it would, has it?" She asked. Ana laughed.

"No. Not at all. Looks like I'm not the only one who might get lucky. Good luck. I love ya. Here, take the drink I got for you. Maybe it will fortify you. Don't get drunk though." Kella completely drunk was just a tad bit frightening. When she was drunk she was no longer the happy go lucky girl but rather a bitch of the first class. She grew incredibly mean and sharp- tongued. Not even she truly knew why she basically went off the deep end when drunk. She just knew not to get drunk.

"Yeah yeah. Aren't you supposed to be the one to find love tonight?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I think I know exactly who I want. You just go get your man. Meet up later to talk. When do you want to leave?"

"Oh don't expect me to be back tonight. I think I may have other plans for tonight." Ana just laughed and watched as her saucy friend walked away towards a hunk that Ana had a feeling would be very good for Kella. Now it was time to go get her man.