Clubbing is a place for a type of people. Firstly, they had to be rich. Clubbing wasn't a poor man's activity. The cheapest booze inside would be worth twice the expensive brands outside. Everything was outrageously overpriced—not that he cared anyway.
Second of all, they had to be a crowd person. Being in an enclosed room full of drunk people isn't exactly a
paradise
for introverted people. Sure, there wouldn't be much talking. Half of the experience was having conversations you'd barely hear over the booming music, or even remember the next morning because you're wasted as fuck, but there are still people who'd come up to you and talk.
So when Ellison saw her, standing awkwardly with her outgoing friend dancing wildly by her side, he knew she didn't belong to this kind of scene. The complete opposite of him; as someone who basically grew up here, Ellison loved everything about the place. It felt like home, more so than any of his mansions, actually.
He watched the two women as they headed towards where he was; seated right in front of the bartender's counter table.
The seemingly outgoing blonde girl sat to his right and yelled. Ellison could barely hear her voice, but he figured she was ordering a cocktail. Pretty soon, he was proven right. The bartender had laid down two glasses of Long Island filled to the brim. Immediately, the blonde-haired girl took one of them and gave it to her friend, who accepted it before raising it up with an awkward cheer.
Ellison chuckled. It was painfully obvious she wasn't used to it, but he found it cute that she tried.
As if noticing his stare, the friend looked back at him. Ellison didn't make an effort to avert his gaze and simply took a sip of his wine. He liked observing people, so the occasional glances and eye-contact were the consequences—not that he minded it much. In fact, he gets quite a few stares after the initial one, which was understandable considering he was easy on the eyes.
This one looked away pretty fast, though. He wondered if she took one look and was immediately disinterested. If Ellison had even the slightest sensitive bone in his body, he would probably bitch about it.
Shortly after, the blonde noticed him too. This one had a much more typical reaction; though, bolder than most women too.
Her eyes beamed, surveying him out as she greeted, "Hey, handsome. What's up with you?"
Ellison stared at her and spoke, "Life. Here for a drink. And you?" He looked at the wheat-skinned brunette. "I think your friend here would prefer acoustics."
The blonde woman chortled, "Oh, absolutely. How the
hell
did you know that? I'm taking her here to get a taste of how the other half lives."
"Is it really that obvious?" the brunette suddenly asked. He almost didn't hear her because the tone of her voice was on the lower side, unlike her friend.
Ellison licked his lips. He liked low-pitched altos on women. The type you could hear settling on your throat and chest, like the booming bass of a hardcore EDM song. What he liked more, however, was the rasp present in her voice. From experience, those sounded the best when they cry out of pleasure.
They're basically
heaven
to the ears if you fuck it out of their throats.
"Especially next to
her
," Ellison replied, pointing at the energetic blonde. It was true. They seemed like polar opposites, so the differences were a lot more conspicuous than usual. It was surprising that they were friends. They seemed really close too.
The brunette chuckled at his reply.
Ellison almost groaned.
Shit
, he inwardly cursed. Pure heaven.
He knew better than to overtly express his interest this early in the night, however.
Especially to a woman who definitely ain't the type for one-night stands.
So he turned to the blonde-haired woman and reached his hand out. "The name's Ellison. Call me El. What about you guys?"
"I'm Sienna. This 'acoustic' girl is Max." She shook his hand before gesturing to her friend. Ellison naturally offered his hand to shake again, only this time to the brunette.
Max stared at the extended hand for a bit before shaking it. He had rough hands, she noticed. On his wrist was a genuine Patek Philippe. Which generation exactly, she didn't know. She only recognized it because she's worked with a few pieces for a magazine once.
Well, not a magazine. More of like a tabloid denouncing luxury items. For years, she did them for free.
Regardless, it must cost a few bucks. She wondered what he did for a living.
So she asked. Max wasn't someone who hid her thoughts very well anyway. The handsome man couldn't hear her over the music and asked, "Come again?"
Max repeated, only this time leaning closer to him. He smelled like some sort of flavored soap, she thought in passing.
Suddenly, she got a little conscious and reflected. The brunette knew she tended to come off really strong at first, but she actually despised being rude. Clearly, by asking this so crudely, she was failing. Thankfully, the guy didn't seem to mind her lack of tact and answered, "Corporate. You?"
Ellison saw her scrunch up her nose in response. The next second, he found out why.
"Journalist."
He inwardly sighed. Of course it wasn't going to be easy. He licked his lips.
That's part of the fun, though.
He smiled at her and said, "Well, we won't have much in common, will we?"
"Funny, because I was thinking the same thing," Max replied before an awkward air suffused in the air, along with thick artificial vapors that threatened to choke you—she noticed.
This experience was off to a rocky start.
The brunette was never a smoker, and that included vaping. Or fuchsia for that matter. She hasn't tried, but she didn't have to.
She disliked even being near it.
"Woah,
woah
! I came here to make acquaintances I'm never going to meet again, not enemies who'll kill each other in their sleep. Chill, people," Sydney remarked somewhat sarcastically as she shook her arms. El chuckled at that before raising his chin at Max. "You know, she's right. We'll never have to see each other again after today."
"That
does
sound appealing," she retorted with amusement.
He suggested, taking a drink from his scotch, "Let's just lay off each other and have fun, yeah?"
She thought about it seriously for a moment before nodding.
Sydney clapped her hands. "Great! Now that that's out of the way, where do you work, El?"
"Sydney!" Max reprimanded, obviously wanting to drop it. The blonde-haired woman giggled mischievously.
