What a horrible evening. Elise and her husband had just had another major blowup and decided to part ways and give each other some space. They'd been having some problems lately, compounded by a difference in opinion on what they should do with their free time. Her husband had become a bit of a homebody, wanting to watch movies and chill out at the house all the time, while Elise enjoyed the release of going out for a few drinks, dancing and having fun. Until recently they'd kept a good balance, but they'd both started leaning more toward their preference, causing strife. Elise's husband didn't particularly care to see his good looking wife go out partying without him, since he knew the attention she'd receive. Elise was just under 5' and 115 lbs, a weight that makes a girl decently curvy at that height. She had a great hourglass figure and figured out years ago how to dress to accentuate it. She also had light skin and dark hair, making it easy to create dramatic makeup. He wasn't a particularly possessive man, but her husband wasn't in the mood this evening to fend off guys who wanted to cross the line with Elise. He wanted to go home after they met up for supper and Elise wanted to go out. The difference in opinion sparked a fight that lasted through dinner and resulted in a discussion to spend some time apart.
Not really feeling like going to a bar and partying, Elise texted her friend Gabe to see what he was up to for the evening. Gabe had been friends with Elise and her husband for a long time and was someone she knew she could spend some time with, explain the situation, but not worry about him pushing her to talk more than she wanted to. She also had a comfort level with Gabe that would allow her to relax into his arms and cuddle while explaining her problems. Gabe and Elise had a little history together, Gabe having been one of the people Elise chose to make out with during a time when she and her husband had an open clause in their relationship allowing them to have a little fun with other people without going so far as to have sex with them. Gabe had been one of the few people they'd opened up to in that way that had been able to handle the change in dynamics and keep the "fun" times separate from their everyday friendship. They'd shared a closer friendship ever since, having that intimacy between them, so it made sense to her to go see him when she needed a shoulder to cry on.
Gabe replied to her text after about 15 minutes of Elise driving around aimlessly, telling her he was at his friend's tattoo shop, having some drinks. "Perfect," thought Elise, a few people, some drinks, but still quiet enough to have a chance to talk if she could bring herself to. She asked if it would be alright if she came over, heading the car that way before getting a reply. She intended to talk her way into it being okay if he didn't immediately offer. Gabe replied "Sure, come on and party with us." Ten minutes later Elise walked in the door of the closed tattoo shop. It was after hours and all the front lights were off and the place appeared empty. You'd never know from the street that people were in a back room having drinks and hanging out. The doorbell rang as Elise walked through and Dave, the owner of the shop stuck his head out of the bathroom door to see who was walking in. Elise realized immediately that Dave was taking a leak with the door open by the awkward way he stuck his head out, making her grin and shake her head.
"Hi," she said. "Want me to stay up here for a minute?"
"Naaaaah," Dave responded, looking her up and down. "Bout to zip it up. You're looking good tonight."
Elise smiled, genuinely pleased to have a positive reaction to her outfit after her husband's negative response since it was obvious she wasn't planning to go home and watch a movie in a black tight fitting low v cut top, loose dark gray skirt and stilettos.
"Thanks Dave. Gabe tell you I was coming?"
"Yeah, he mentioned it," Dave answered as he stepped out of the bathroom. "Come on back."
Dave put his arm around Elise' shoulders as they walked to the back room, putting a little more weight on her than usual. This meant he'd already had quite a few and she was guessing from the open bathroom door that it was a small crowd in the back room tonight. Elise was correct about the small crowd. It consisted of Dave, Gabe and Jerry, another tattoo artist and piercer. Elise was met with a round of "Heeeeeeey" from the two guys that hadn't seen her yet and Gabe got up to give her a hug.
"What's wrong?" he asked before he even got to her.
Elise's smile hadn't reached her eyes and Gabe recognized it immediately. He looked past her to the door and back at Elise's face as he got to her.
"Y'all fighting?" he asked as he drew her in close for a hug. At 6', hugging her tight like that meant she could bury her face in his chest, which was what she needed to do for a second to quell the tears.
"Yeah," she finally answered, taking a deep breath and barely pulling back from their hug to look up at him. "We're spending some time apart."
Gabe gave a slightly pained look and squeezed her into a gentle hug as she looked up at him. "I'm sorry sweetie, you wanna talk about it?"
Elise looked back up at him, feeling some comfort in his brown eyes and shook her head. Gabe held the look for a moment and leaned down and kissed Elise on the cheek, brushing her lips on his way to her cheek. This was his subtle way of kissing her the way he wanted to when present company made it inappropriate for him to do so. She kissed him back, half on his cheek, half on lips and felt a combination of the comfort of familiarity and a jolt of attraction. He pulled back, staying close to her face and smiled at her mischievously. She decided to strike first, knowing he was about to be a smart ass to make her laugh.
"Did I interrupt a date between you three?" she asked, feigning innocence and concern. "I mean you even shaved for the occasion." She stroked along his jaw line where he had shaved his entire head, save a line of hair tracing his jaw and his goatee.
"Yep," he said, straightening up and laughing. "You caught us, guess you'll have to join in on our orgy now. Good thing too, there was way too much dick in here."
They laughed and walked over to the piercing table Gabe had been sitting on when she arrived. He helped her up, offered her a drink and they all sat around drinking and talking for a while. After a few drinks, Elise relaxed and began teasing the guys with her low top and by readjusting the way she was sitting to give a view high up her skirt. She loved flirting and was comfortable messing with these guys on this level. They were all laughing about something when Gabe stood up, stepped in front of Elise facing her and leaned toward her, resting his hands on either side of her.
Instinctively, she'd spread her legs a little for him to stand between them when he approached her, which put her a little off balance trying to lean back and look up at him at such a close distance. Her laugh trailed off first, her smile a moment later when she saw the serious look on his face.
"What is it?" she asked, confused at the sudden change in pace and off balance position she was in.
