City of Dreams

The following is a complete work of fiction.

Any resemblance between the characters and any real life person is completely coincidental. Please do not copy or distribute the story without the author's permission.

This is my first attempt at writing. I would appreciate feedback on what you think of the story, but please keep it constructive. I have a fragile ego. LOL Please try to ignore any spelling or grammar problems. If people like it then I will continue, so if it seems a bit slow to start, I am sorry.

Disclaimer:

The following story may contain erotic situations between consenting adults. If it is illegal for you to read this please leave now.

Previously:

I gave the girl the drink that she ordered and was turning to go see what Gina and Gen wanted when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"What can I get ya?" I said as I turned around. It was the guy in the dark blue shirt. His mouth moved but I couldn't hear what he was saying over the music. He looked a bit concerned so I leaned over a bit to hear what he was saying.

"Miah?"

I was able to see him more clearly now that I was up closer and my breath caught in my throat as our eyes locked. I heard him say my name again.

"Miah, is that you?"

I started to feel dizzy and suddenly I couldn't hear the music that was pounding through the club. My mouth moved, but no sound came out. I was in shock. Suddenly my brain connected a name to the face. And my brain finally allowed me to utter one single word.

"Bailey"

Chapter Two

It seemed like my life was destined to be a wild, nauseating roller coaster ride. Just earlier this evening I catch my now ex-boyfriend humping some nameless person, and now I am face to face with the guy who used to be my best friend. Whoever said that life's a bitch really knew what they were talking about. My imitation of a statue was broken when I heard him speak again.

"Miah, is that really you?"

A smile was beginning to form on his face, and no not just any smile. It was the type of smile that could light up a whole city block. My heart began to melt just at the thought of having Bailey back in my life, to have my best friend and brother back. Just before a smile broke out on my own face memories flashed before me. The times he called me a fag, when he helped his football buddies spray paint my locker, when they made fun of weight, and a thousand other things. I was not remembering the Bailey I grew up with, but the monster he seemed to become during high school. I remembered that my best friend abandoned me. It was almost like someone flipped a switch inside of me. The happiness that had been building was completely destroyed by the pain and anger I felt rising inside. How dare he call me Miah!?!?! I went from zero to bitch so fast I know Gina and Gen would have been proud.

"The name is Jeremiah. Is there anything else you needed from the bar sir?" My blue eyes became ice cold. The edge in my voice was so sharp you could have cut the tension with a knife. And by the hurt expression on his face you would have thought that I really had cut him.

"Jeremiah," he started out slowly "I can't believe it's really you! I didn't even know you were living in the city. I never imagined that..."

"Look here Mr. Rogers," I interrupted him coldly, "This isn't the land of make believe and the bar isn't going to serve itself. So if you don't need anything else from the bar I have other customers I need to serve. Enjoy your evening at Diversity sir."

Bailey's jaw practically hit the bar after I said that. I am sure he didn't know what to think, and I wasn't sticking around to find out. I turned on my heel and quickly walked away muttering under my breath the whole time. I would have stalked right past Gina if she didn't put out a hand to stop me.

"Whoa! Slow down there Rain Man. What's with all the muttering under your breath? You look like you are ready to commit murder!" Her eyes quickly scanned the bar. I head her gasp. "Josh is here isn't he! I bet that piece of shit brought that little tart to our bar. Where is the bastard?"

"No Gina it's not Josh. It's that guy you had me take the pitcher of beer too. It seems that I am on an episode of This Is Your Life."

"Who is he Miah?"

"Bailey"

"Bailey?" Her face crinkled up and you know she was trying to place the name. Suddenly her whole face lit up with shock. "Not THE Bailey, Miah!"

"Yup. That would be the one. He tried to play all mister nice guy and I gave him the evil bitch routine and walked away. How dare he think he just come in here and act like nothing every happened. That mother..."

"Miah, he is on his way down here." Gen interrupted. Thank goodness she interrupted me. Otherwise I would have been going off with him standing right there. This also gave me the chance to escape. I ducked under the bar and took off into the crowd. Luckily an awesome dance version of one of Madonna's songs came on and the lights on the dance floor starting flashing and the crowd started going nuts. I stopped half away across the floor and turned back to see if Bailey had followed me. My eyes zeroed in on the bar and I could see that Genesis and Gina had stopped him. I could see that he was scanning the dance floor with his eyes trying to find me. I turned and took off for the hallway that leads to the bathrooms. Once in the hallway I entered the door marked "employees only". Luckily the club provided a lounge for the employees to hang out in and to store their stuff in lockers while on the clock.

I quickly opened the locker that Gina, Gen, and I shared and grabbed the pack of cigarettes that was there. I lit one up and collapsed onto the leather coach. I could still hear the music of the club, but it wasn't as loud. This allowed me to think a little more clearly. What the fuck was Bailey doing in New York City? Ok Miah, think a little more clearly than that. NYC is a pretty big city and a popular one at that. Ok. Why was Bailey at Diversity? There were hundreds if not a thousand bars that he could have went to, but yet he ended up here.

At this point I just wanted a large hole to open up in the ground and just swallow me whole. Why did he have to look so good damn it? Bailey was always taller than me when we were kids. So right now I would have to guess that he was at about six foot three or so. His green eyes still had that brilliant shine to them. He had his black hair cut short and it had that wild messed up look to it. He obviously continued to play football in college, well if he even went to college that is. I really don't know since we obviously were not friends at that point, but his body had that hard muscular look that someone gets only from years of play sports. My eyes welled up with tears. This was just not fair. First he walks out of my life, completely destroying it and then has the audacity to waltz right back into like nothing ever happened.

I know that people are probably thinking that I had some major crush on Bailey and that is why I was so upset about everything that happened, but that was not the case. A lot of people won't understand what my childhood was like, but I am just going to take a quick second and try and make you see why I am so upset. I was an only child and my mother left my father when I was only two years old. I don't hold that against her in any way. Hell if I could have left that early I would have also. Now you may be wondering why she didn't take me with her. And that's a good question. She didn't take me because she feared my father. He threatened her that if she tried to take me that he would hunt her down and take care of her. And how do I know his you may ask? My father told me that himself. I told you he was a bastard.

So life was rocky, to put it kindly. I was all by myself and had no one to love me and I had no one that I could love back. That all changed in kindergarten. That is when I met Bailey. We became best friends almost instantly. We were inseparable. Bailey's mom was kind enough to watch me while my dad was at work. I spent so much time hanging out with Bailey that he became the brother that I always wanted, but never had. He was the one the helped make up excuses when I showed up at school with black eyes and bruises from the beatings my father constantly inflicted upon me. He was the one that never let anyone make fun of me. He was my anchor. Bailey was the one that I could always go to and he always made me feel safe. No matter how many times I got hit at home or how many times that my father belittled me by calling me every name he could think of; Bailey was always there for me to build me back up. He helped me to believe that what my father said wasn't true. He was a light in the darkness the helped me always look toward tomorrow instead of giving up on today.

Then everything changed. The rug was pulled right out from me so to speak. We started high school. Bailey's father pushed him into playing football, and the time we had to together slowly decreased over time. The "popular" kids at school didn't like me for some reason. I can look back now and realize that if they didn't pick on me, then it would have been someone else. So one good thought I try to keep is that I saved someone else from all that punishment. I thought that life had been bad before, but I was in no way prepared for what was to come. Bailey slowly withdrew from me completely. Which to some degree I understood that. What I couldn't understand was that he joined in with their taunting. If he would have just stood in the background or maybe tried to stop them even once it would be different, but instead he helped them with all of their pranks and their name calling.

Unfortunately for me things got worse at home. My dad started to drink even more than he ever had and felt that it was cheaper to beat the hell out his son instead of the punching bag at the gym. That was the worst part of anything. Before I had someone I could confide in and tell me that everything would be ok, but now I had no one. I only had my father to listen to. And as my senior year in high school began I couldn't help to start to believe what my father said. I must have been worthless, disgusting, and everything else he said because I was alone. I didn't have any friends. Everyone at school was afraid to be my friend because that might mean they would be teased too. There must have been something wrong with me because Bailey didn't want to be my friend anymore. Some of you will see where this is headed, and you have to be thinking 'please don't let this be going where I think it is going', but unfortunately you would be right. It was the night of my eighteenth birthday and I just couldn't take it anymore. It happened to be the night of my senior prom and I was home alone. On top of that I was nursing injuries that my father had inflicted upon me that morning. So I took the bottle of pain pills that a doctor had prescribed for me earlier that year after I had "fell" and broke my arm and took what was left in the bottle and swallowed them down.

I fell back onto my bed and just tried to relax and wait for all the pain to end. I dreamed of running away and leaving everything behind, and realized that I was doing just that. I was running away, but the path I was running on would never let me come back. My eyes somehow focused on a picture that was on the table next to my bed. It was a picture of Bailey and me when were in fourth grade. We were at the park and we were coming down the slide together. Both of our faces lit up with joy and happiness. I then realized that I could still find happiness. If I couldn't find it here, then I would have to go looking for it. I rolled off the bed and crawled into my bathroom and forced myself to throw up into the toilet. I was hoping that I was able to get rid of most the pills that were in my stomach. At that point I was so drowsy I ended up passing out on the floor right next to the toilet. I woke up 12 hours later in the same position. I got up and took a shower. I then packed up all my shit and headed out the door. I hopped into my beat up used car and just took off. There was a few more weeks left of school, but I had more than enough credits to graduate. I got onto the highway and ended up in New York City and have been here ever since.

Now I certainly don't want anyone's pity, but I wanted y'all to know where I was coming from. Hopefully now you realize how difficult it was for me to see Bailey again after all these years. Just as I was finishing up my trip down memory lane the lounge door opened and Gina came walking in.

"Oh honey, are you ok?" she asked as she rushed over to the couch I was sitting on.

"I'm fine G. I just had to get out of there. I still can't believe that any of this is happening to me. Please tell me that he's gone."

"He finally left Miah. I hate to admit it, but he looked really concerned about you."

I gave her the classic Miah death stare.

"But of course I still hope that his balls turn purple and fall right off his body so that he can never have sex again. Better?"

I just had to laugh. Thank goodness for Gina. Otherwise I would be a major mess.

"Gina I totally felt like I was in some bad episode of 901210 or something. All I needed was for Shannon Dougherty to walk up and bitch slap me."

Gina rolled her eyes and gave me a huge hug.

"Miah I knew that getting cable was a major mistake. You are such a TV junkie. Come on, as you told Bailey that bar is not gonna serve itself."

So reluctantly I got back up and finished my shift at the bar. It wasn't too bad and Gina and I ended up with about $700 bucks in tips between the two of us. I was damn lucky to be working at Sity let me tell you! Gina was heading out to an after hours club with Genesis and I just didn't feel like going. I told her that I would just see her back at the apartment.

I walked out the bar and started down the street to catch the subway. And in true Miah fashion I rounded the corner and walked smack dab into a brick wall. Well it really wasn't a brick wall. I soon realized that as a large pair of muscular arms caught me and keep me from hitting the ground. I composed myself and looked up to thank the guy for not letting me drop.

"Hey man I am really sorry. Thanks for catching.....Of course it would be you mother fucker." Now I rarely use that phrase except for when I am royally pissed off. And of course you realize who I walked into. Bailey.

"Miah..."

"Jeremiah asshole."

"Fine. Jeremiah. Why can't you just calm down and talk to me? I searched all over the fucking city to find you damn it and you could at least be decent enough to talk to me."

"Me be decent to YOU??? Why should I even bother listening to anything you have to say? You are such a fucking bastard. You expect me to stand here and listen to what you have to say after you fucking ignored me for the last 8 years? Oh wait. You didn't ignore me for the first four did you? No no that's right. You and your fucking so-called friends tormented me and made my life a living hell. I fucking tried to talk to you then, but you acted like you didn't even know me. And now I am supposed to just forget all of that and put it aside because the all mighty fucking Bailey decided he wants to talk to me? Fuck you asshole!" I roughly pushed him away and took off down the street trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

I should have remembered that the fucking bitch could always out run me, and this time was no exception. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. And of course since I am a big klutz I lost my balance and hit the pavement hard. I couldn't fight it anymore. The pain inside me was just too much to keep pushing down. Damn him! I sat there on the sidewalk with tears streaming down my face, and I refused to take the hand that Bailey offered to help me up.

"Miah, look at me. Please Miah look at me." I felt his hand cup my chin and he raised my gaze to meet his own. I had to blink and shake my head for a second. Why would he be crying?

"I need to tell you how sorry I am Miah." He continued on when he realized I wasn't going to correct him for saying my nickname, "I was so worried when you never turned back up at school all those years ago. I was so afraid that something happened. That maybe your dad finally went too far and I...."

"Please just stop Bailey. I have to say that I am sorry too. I'm sorry that I just can't do this with you. Not now, maybe not ever. I can't sit here and listen to how hard it was for you because you'll never know how hard it was for me...."

I had to pause for a second and catch my breath before I had some type of breakdown right here on the sidewalk. I stood up as well and tried to clean myself up somewhat.

"I am sorry that I can't stand here with you and rehash old times. Because if I do that then I will lose my mind. I can't honestly believe that you think that I would want to listen to anything you had to say. I want you to leave me alone. If I remember correctly that is something you are pretty good at. Just forget that you saw me and go about your life like you always have. I don't need you anymore. Good bye Bailey."

And with that I turned and started to cross the street to the subway. I could hear Bailey yelling out my name, but I ignored him and continued to walk and wipe the tears from my face. If I wasn't being such an evil bitch I would have stopped and maybe tried to listen. If I did that then I would have seen the taxi that came flying around the corner. But I didn't stop walking. Suddenly my whole world went black.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Ok that is chapter two. I just couldn't help myself. Cliffhangers always pissed me off, but I have to admit it helped to end this chapter. I finished chapter one and had to just continue on. Thanks again to Sara for all of her kind words and encouragement. It means so much to me!!! Please send any feedback to the link below. Again, please include something in the subject so I know it's not Spam. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Michael

Copyright - Gryffindor 2003