It wasn't that the music was loud, it was the type of music that they were playing. It sounded as if a stereo and blender decided to compose a song alongside a robot. If she had, to be honest, it wasn't just the music that made her feel uncomfortable and irritated, but also the company. Her coworkers were usually tranquil and well behaved, but every year at the annual holiday party, she felt like she saw a different side of them. A wild and exotic side that should be kept in. Though it did bring some sort of joy to go over the pictures and videos the following Monday morning.
"Patterson, you want another tequila?" Jane shouted into her ear as she maintained her balance by holding onto Patterson's shoulders.
"No, I'm good." She cautiously said as she made sure that Jane didn't fall. She grasped her hands and seated her next to her. She pushed the bowl of peanuts over, suggesting that she eat some. Though at first Jane showed no interest in what Patterson had placed in front of her. After an exchange of glances, she eventually ended up eating more than half of the bowl. Noticing that Kurt was making his way over, she got up. Leaving the seat vacant for him. Not because of courtesy but because she suspected that there was something going on between the two.
Kurt thanked her, his voice sounding as raspy and deep as always. No amount of alcohol could make him slur his words.
She decided that it would be a smart idea to go to the bathroom before leaving home. Especially, because it was the Friday before Christmas, the Friday that most people decide to have their holiday parties. Hence, the traffic was at an all-time high in the city of New York. As she made her way across the dance floor, she couldn't help but stare at the confused faces she called her coworkers. Most of them were drunk and a few of them were either on herb or powder, something she didn't think was the most ethical thing to do given who they were, where they worked, and what they did.
Glad to be on the other side of the room, she quickly opened the door. Making her way to the bathroom she noticed something in the corner of her eye. It was a woman reading a textbook. At first, she was confused, but since her body didn't give her any time to stop, she was already half way across the lounge. Opening one of the wooden doors, she rushed into the stall. Part of her couldn't get the image out of her head. The woman with long dark brown hair, her eyes glued onto the pages, and her wardrobe. She was dressed to go out and party, in all of the bare honesty, she was dressed to begin stripping down a pole. Instead, she was pages deep into a textbook. Her mind began to race with possible reasons as to why she was reading on a Friday of all nights. It was a sight she had never seen before. Therefore, it wasn't long before she was deep into her hypothesis as to why that woman was there.
Realizing that she had spent too much time thinking about the woman and the plausible scenarios of her situation, she decided to get out of the stall before she had the toilet seat engraved onto her ass.
She had never gasped so hard in her life, at least not by accident. The woman was there, standing by the sinks. She was too busy to notice her, though. Applying mascara was a difficult task even for those proficient with makeup. She saw how tenaciously concentrated she was when applying the content on her eyelashes.
Patterson could have sworn that the beautiful brown eyed woman in front of her had noticed her. Yet, she stood there like an idiot, admiring her technique. As a smile crept on the woman's lips, she finally turned around. "You want some?" She offered, extending the tube of makeup outward. Patterson didn't understand what she had just said, she was too busy contemplating the sound of her voice. It was so different, it was unique. "A simple 'no' would have sufficed." She turned around and put the makeup away.
Patterson didn't want to stand there dumbfounded like an idiot, but for the first time in her life, she was speechless. She couldn't believe that this was her first expression. Watching as she began to pack her bag, she became nervous. It was then when she felt herself hesitating to get any type of words out. "What are you reading?" She blurted, not having processed her thoughts completely before expelling them through her mouth.
She chuckled, "A sociology textbook." She lifted the book up. All Patterson nodded, and then without thinking she grasped the textbook. "Please don't tell me that sociology is your major and that everything in it is garbage because to be frank… I really don't care. I've also had it happen to me various times, and I am quite sick of it."
Patterson was fond of her sass, she had never met anyone so expressive and unafraid to say what she thought. Still, there was something different about the woman standing in front of her that made her feel so intrigued. She pretended to look through the pages, making it seem like she was interested. She flipped through the pages rather quickly, frustrated with herself for having the decency to do so, she handed the book back. "I really don't care about sociology, I just wanted to know why you're so interested in it, enough to read it here."
She snatched the book back, "Well, what's wrong with catching up on some reading?"
Patterson wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question or not. Baffled on what to say she took a quick deep breath. "Well, umm nothing. I'm just curious as to why here?"
She got up on the sink, her short dress sliding up barely keeping her covered. "Why should I be answering these questions from a stranger? I mean I don't even know your name." She sounded flirtatious and curious, but Patterson didn't want to respond in the same way. She didn't want to risk being a flirt and scaring the woman off. She wanted to be her friend and flirting wasn't going to get her that."Your name?"
"Patterson." She rushed, she wanted to pull out her name tag to prove it, but she knew that would have been a bad idea.
"Patterson?" The girl questioned. "Hmm."
Patterson nodded, "Well yes, I go by Patterson. I'm not fond of my first name, so you can refer to me as Patterson, just like everyone else." She noticed how the still nameless woman nodded. Unlike everyone who she met, she did not ask what her first name was. Somehow she felt relieved, but at the same time concerned. Maybe she just doesn't care enough to want to know my name. The door from outside opened, allowing the loud music in. It took a while for the music to fade. They both waited to see who it was, and to Patterson's luck, it was Jane. No, actually it was drunk Jane. The Jane that had taken too many shots two hours ago. Patterson cussed as she made her way over. "Jane, are you okay?"
"Yeah… I'm good." She lifted her thumbs up.
"You don't look good." The woman sitting on the sink said, "I mean you look good, great actually, I've never met someone who could pull off leather like that, but you are not well. I mean..." Jane and Patterson tentatively waited for her to continue to speak. "You're drunk, maybe wasted." She looked over directly at Patterson. "Is this your friend?"
Patterson didn't know what to say, primarily because she had no idea how she would react. "Yeah, were here because of the holiday party thingy." Jane interrupts. She then excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Patterson then looked back at the woman, noticing that serene strokes of emotion on her face.
Usually, she was good at reading people, but this was the first time she was having trouble. Part of herself still felt conflicted with what she wanted to gain from the conversation. Was she doing it to get a number out of her or was she doing it finally establish a friendship? What she did know was that she wanted to see her again. She seemed like an interesting person, intriguing also, though she knew it was because she was still just 'she', nameless.
"Patterson, are you going to babysit your friend all night?"
"No, no. I don't think so." She noticed that she was packing her makeup and textbook. She took a little jump off the sink, and then pulled down her dress. "Why?" She asked as she tried not jump into conclusions.
She shrugged her shoulders, feeling unsure, "I don't know." She looked at Patterson the same way Patterson looked at her. A gaze filled with hope and insecurity.
"I could help you study," Patterson suggested after their uninterrupted seconds of silence. She felt like she had no clue with what she was doing. She just felt so off, so not herself and if things had been different they wouldn't be still in the bathroom.
She glanced at her with a smile, "Yeah?"
"Yes, I mean I was pretty good at the whole college thing."
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Are you saying I'm not?" She then grasped her bag close. "You want to wait for your friend or do you want to get out of here?"
Patterson wide-eyed nodded her head. "Let me just make sure she's okay." She knocked on the stall, "Jane, you alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm just drunk." She took a long pause. Enough to get Patterson and the woman next to her concerned, Get out of here, Patterson." She joked.
So they did just that. Patterson had no idea where they were going, just like she had no idea what her name was. They made their way through the maze of people, many times being shoved into each other. She had always dreamed of escaping the holiday party, and now she was being rescued by that nameless woman. Patterson turned her head over to check on the woman once she felt the absence of her hand on her arm. Patterson noticed how she had both hands covering her ears. It seemed that she wasn't a fan of the rowdy blasting music either.
It was when they made it outside of the club that Patterson finally asked for her name. "I thought that was the reason you were snooping through my sociology book." She noticed the deception in Patterson's eyes. "Cheer up, it's Tasha."
"Tasha, you wanna get a drink?" Yet, she was too busy checking out Patterson to hear what she was saying. No one could blame her, though, she was wearing a very intricate outfit: black pantyhose, black flats, a black skirt, a black top that had a rather long V-neck, a long red cardigan, and a gold necklace. "Tasha?"
She flipped her hair back, "I thought you were going to help me study?" She tilted her head, confused and amused. "If I would have wanted a drink, I would have been all up in that bar."
"You're right. Sorry." She wasn't sure if Tasha had taken the whole studying thing seriously, but it seemed she was. Patterson didn't want to disappoint, "There's a Starbucks around here, it's opened until eleven thirty. Do you want to go there?
"Yeah, the one on seventh."
Their walk there wasn't long, and it was only nine thirty, so really there was no rush for them to walk as fast as they were, but it was cold and knowing what day it was, they knew that a taxi wouldn't be there for a while. "Aren't you freezing?" Patterson glanced down at her legs.
"That's what I'm wondering about you," Tasha said as she referred to her legs that also seemed to be very exposed. They laughed, expelling the vapor from their breath. Tasha brought two fingers up to her mouth and pretended to smoke. She took a few steps closer to Patterson and exhaled a cloud of vapor all over Patterson's face. Her eyes closed shut and Patterson let out another laugh. Tasha pretended to pass Patterson the imaginary cigaret. Patterson smiled awkwardly knowing what she had to do with it. She did her best to imitate what Tasha had just done. "You've never smoked in your life, huh?"
"What?"
"I mean..." Tasha sounded upset. "You work for the government and you suck at pretending how to smoke." She sounded irritated, as if not smoking was a bad thing. "You've never smoked."
"How do you know that?" Tasha ignored Patterson's question, instead, she continued walking forward, hoping that she would also along with forgetting about her question. "Tasha." She said trying to catch up to her, "How do you know that I work for the government?"
Tasha turned around in a flash of a second, "One, you're college educated. Two, you mentioned holiday party. Three, Jane doesn't do a good job hiding her badge." She had only spent a few minutes with Tasha and she was already mad at her. Even more, Patterson was left dumbfounded by Tasha, again. "Are you also FBI?"
"Well, don't preach it," Patterson mumbled. Tasha nodded her head, seeming more disappointed than before. "There's a reason I don't tell people. How did you even see Jane's badge, no one was wearing their badge?"
"She had it in her purse." Tasha groaned, her arms crossed across her chest. She once again began to walk leaving Patterson behind. It wasn't snowing like most years, but it was still pretty damn cold. Patterson sped up behind her. She felt bad, not because she didn't tell Tasha about being FBI, but rather because Tasha wasn't too pleased about it.
She wanted to stand right next to Tasha, but they were so close to the Starbucks it was only a block from the corner. Then again, she couldn't complain at the view she was getting: Tasha fast walking in a short dress, her hips moving side to side and a great view of her ass. Patterson hated herself for focusing on such things, but then again who was Tasha to wear such provocative dress. When they finally got there Tasha didn't mind to look back if Patterson was still there. She walked up to the barista and ordered some drink. Patterson was about to order when she turned to see that Tasha had two cups. "They're not both for me."
They seated themselves at the table closest to the window, at first, only a couple of glances were exchanged followed by Tasha sighing and pulling out her book from her bag. "How did you know that I was right behind you, how did you know to order exactly two drinks?"
"Your footsteps, also the doorbell." She took a sip from her drink, a mocha latte.
"You make me feel stupid," Patterson admitted, taking a sip from her drink also. "Not like you know a lot of stuff, but like you know stuff like really useful stuff."
Tasha gasped, "I'm so flattered, especially since you're..." She leaned in closer, enough to make sure she could hear what she was about to whisper, "F-B-I" Patterson shushed her. "You know, if I was really that smart, I wouldn't be taking philosophy as a senior in college." She confessed
"So you're twenty-two?" Patterson asked.
Tasha shook her head smiling, "That's cute, but no." She took out her ID and handed it over to Patterson. "I'm thirty."
Patterson smiled and handed Tasha her ID back, "I can see, Ms. Zapata." She teased. "I'm thirty-one."
"Could I see your ID?"
Patterson glared at Tasha, "Really?"
"No, I was just playing."
She patted her textbook, "Are we going to do this study thing or are you going to continue your investigation.?" Patterson stole the book from Tasha's hands flipping to a random page.
While they were there, they weren't just studying, there were moments in which they went off topic and vented about their lives. Though at first they had a rough start at the beginning of the night, pretty soon they became comfortable around each other. Tasha was constantly asking Patterson questions about her shampoo and how she managed to keep her hair so soft. Patterson too asked Tasha millions of questions, many she avoided asking and other she answered abruptly. It didn't take long for Patterson to realize that Tasha had a hard life. She avoided all family questions and said she didn't have many friends. When she asked about her family Patterson noticed how tense Tasha became, but most of all the hurt in her face. She then decided to lay off all the personal questions.
Five minutes before closing time the barista came over to remind them of the closing time. At first, they were hesitant to leave. They lingered outside for a while. Freezing in the chill of the night. Patterson couldn't help but notice the constant swinging Tasha engaged in. She moved from side to side, her long hair following wherever her body went. "You're cold."
"Yeah," she admitted. "A lot." Patterson would have taken her cardigan off if she had asked, but she didn't. She didn't want to offer either because she knew she wouldn't stop thinking about that and other cliché things. "Patterson?"
"Yes, Ms. Zapata."
Tasha's face lit up, and for a second she forgot that she was freezing. "You know that whole getting like a drink thing? Is it still on? I mean not today, not right now, but like another day?" She then began to swing her body from side to side, holding on to the hem so her dress. Patterson still couldn't believe that she dared to wear such a dress on such a day. She noticed how she began to shiver and how she tried to hide it.
"I mean yes. Are we also going to study for your sociology class?" She asked.
Tasha shook her head, "N- no, were going to celebrate. My final is t- tomorrow." She continued to shiver. Tasha then violently turned around and saw that a Taxi was coming their way. She quickly moved her arm to see if she got its attention. When it did, it parked right in front of them. "I have to go." She took her textbook from her bag handing it over to Patterson. "My number's in there. Call or text me. I didn't realize how late it was. I really have to go."
Patterson would have suggested they carpool, but she was already inside, waving at her like a child. She waved back lifting the book up, trying to get her to understand that she would call. When the Taxi was finally out of sight, she opened the textbook. There on the first page in the corner was her name and her phone number right below. She took her phone out and added it to her contact list. She then sent her a message: Patterson. She wasn't expecting Tasha to reply, but deep down she wanted Tasha to reply because knowing herself she knew that she would become frustrated anytime soon.
She had never been out on the streets so late, usually because of the fear that something would happen, and although she did feel safer with Tasha, she did feel safe standing on the sidewalk right next to the closed Starbucks at 12:05 in the morning. She couldn't help but smile, holding on to the sociology textbook, the very one that initiated her interest for that nameless girl who then became Tasha. Lost in her thoughts she took her phone out and ordered an Uber. She swore she wasn't going to go home at the rush hour, but then again she never expected meet Tasha.
AN: This one is going to go for the long run. Please tell me what you think after reading it. This first chapter is mainly to set up how Tasha Zapata and Patterson meet. I really hope you guys like it! Please note that the rating will change as the chapters progress. Violence and torture is expected. Yes, I am dark. Let me know what you think.
