Ocean blue watched as the ripples in the crystalline white follow along with the muscles underneath, the possessor of these physiques downing what Ellis guessed was the man's third glass of caramel colored liquid.
The slicked black hair was covered lightly with white shadows. He shook his perfect-profile head up and down toward the bartender for another shot, the reflections from his gelled hair bouncing with him. The white shimmering off his wire-like hair was close to the pure white of his suit.
The only bright color that stood out from the colorless plains was the robin egg blue of his dress shirt's collar. The white made the gorgeous cerulean stand out nicely against his peach tinted skin.
From where he was sitting, he could only vaguely make out the soft scowl shaped on the man's face. Yet it was the only detail he could make of his face, his eyes were too almond and almost squinting in synch with his cold expression, so it made it nearly impossible to make out the color.
It was an incredulous question as to why Keith hadn't stopped talking about his hotheaded stories to ask about what his best friend was staring at.
Ellis knew that it would only be moments till he halts in the middle of his overly exaggerated blabbering. He took the time to read the man rather than appreciate his structure.
He noted the glower from earlier and brought it to the front of his mind for evaluating. Could it have been the social and busy atmosphere in the bar? Maybe the stranger was not too keen on communal places like his local bar. He couldn't have been waiting for anyone; he came in with no expression portraying that he was searching for someone. In fact he had not lifted his head to even look around the bar, only to order more alcohol.
It could have been that was the problem. He had no one to meet. He was just alone at a bar, while everyone else was with a companion of some sort.
But he looked so rich, so uptight and classy; someone who wouldn't step foot in a 'hick' town like Savannah. It could have been that the man had come on a business trip, it would make sense seeing how he was dressed so formally for something so casual as a bar.
Ellis' pouty lips quirked to the side, his nose following with an endearing wrinkle. Poor guy doesn't know anyone; he has to be a tourist of some nature. Should he go say hello? The man looked like he needed some company…
Ah, Keith had finally stepped out of his little mesmeric bubble to follow Ellis' stare.
"Wha'chuu lookin' at?" The red head was looking everywhere around the original target of his friend's sight.
El shrugged, finally pushing his line of vision to the glass underneath his palms that did not look as appealing as it did ten minutes ago.
"Yew okay El? You been actin' funny all nayht." Keith genuinely sounded concern, but it was overlooked with a selfish curiosity.
Ellis took in a deep breath, letting it out in a form of a sigh. "Its nuthin. Just, that man over there looks lonely's all."
The daredevil turned his head, looking at said man for such a short time. He turned back giving Ellis a knowing smile.
"Ya know he's one ah those uptigh' fancy shmancy guys righ'? Don' go an bother 'im El. He's just gunna send ya away." He waved a hand in a shooing motion, shaking his head in a scoffing gesture.
Ellis thought of the outcome of just saying a polite hello. He was positive that the man was just lonely, why else would he look so upset. The other choices popped up instantaneously, but he just threw them away. He really wanted an excuse to just talk to him, even if it meant throwing out the logic.
Keith could hear, see, and feel the wheels turning in his best friend's head. "Oh ho ho, before ya go'n get yer dumbass over there an' make a fool ah yer self, will ya jus' think 'bout it?"
But he had thought about it. It wasn't as if he was going to go and ask 'Hey do you want to go on a date with me and meet my family; maybe we could sleep together? Oh and by the way, what's your name?' No. It was just a simple hello: polite, casual, and subtle.
Besides its not like anything could happen, he was way out of Ellis' league. So far out that he wasn't even considered in the ballpark's parking lot. In a way he also just wanted to see what color his eyes are, it was a childish thought, but it was still a thought.
He could see his friend's hazel plates roll in a 'I knew this was going to happen' kind of way as he stood up from his own stool and made his way to the free one next to the suited man.
"Hi, s'all right if ah sit here?"
The man only gave him a glance from the corner of his eye. It happened so fast that Ellis almost missed it. He appeared to have done a double take internally when the jade disks flicked at him once more before the man turned his whole head to the left to look him up and down.
Ellis stood there, feeling very awkward. He just ran his hand up and down his arm. Every time he saw the green glazed look move down or up, he felt more insecure about what they were looking at.
He was wearing just a light grey tee-shirt that had a 'University of Georgia' Logo on it, he thought that it was a tad too small, but it was the only clean shirt he had at hand. For his bottoms he just pulled together his dark blue jeans and some old chuck tailors that he had since he was nineteen.
The suited man said nothing, he just turned his head back to his drink and lifted his shoulders barely an inch. Ellis took it as an 'okay' to seat himself right next to him.
A few lingering moments passed between the two silent strangers. Ellis had mentally chastised himself for not thinking about who was in the position to start the conversation here. The larger man was far too highbrowed to speak first, unlike he, who should decorously be the one to start the colloquy.
He held his hand out directly below the green eyed man. "Mah name's Ellis, but ya'll could call me El if ya'd like." He felt a little too cheery for the dampness of the man's personality. He quickly retracted the thought; he hadn't even spoken to him yet!
He heard a halfhearted grunt, the man not even looking at his hand, though making it obvious that he knew it was there.
Ellis slowly moved his hand back down to his side. His meaningfully lifted lips drew down into a gentle frown. He had no back up plan to even say anything else. Why was he even determened to say hello? It wasn't as if the man would care for someone as simple and middle class as him. The other must think he was just some sort of underclass dumb southern hick and nothing more.
"So ah… what brings ya down here? Ya'll seem tah be some kind uh city folk." His hands are blandly sitting on his lap, twitching lightly to hold or fiddle with something nervously.
The white suited man gives him a warning kind of stare, one that easily read as an annoyed look. Yet he still proceeded to answer the kid's question, even though he didn't meet his eyes as he spoke.
"Came down here on a sort of…business trip. I kind of own my own business if you can call it that." His voice was purely silk. It was so smooth, so rich, and just so…sexy. It had a thick growling undertone that was rivetedly wonderful. Ellis had never once in his life heard anything as lavishly luscious as this man's voice. Not even an A-listing celebrity could compare to this man's voice. He has to forcibly keep his jaw hanging to his head so it wouldn't embarrassedly fall open.
"So yer an 'entrepreneur' or sumthin'?" Ellis actually didn't know what to ask, it felt like a dumb question in his head and sounded even more obvious coming out of his mouth. He just really wanted to keep the conversation going.
"You could call it that. Listen, Kid what are you even doing here? Aren't you a bit too young to be at a bar?" Finally after waiting all night, the man locked his sea foam eyes onto his. They were even nicer in the light, a perfectly opaque green that did not fit his blue shirt. They were harsh looking, but warm. They were sharp and judging, but at the same time loving and welcoming. They were just two big bulbs of enigmas and illogicalities. He could stare at those eyes for a lifetime and would be still unable to make out the clear picture of what they were saying.
"Ah-Ah'm twenty three! Ah'm no child or nuthin'. An' aren't yew a bit too old to be an entrepreneur?" He didn't know why he shot back the little unnecessary snarky comeback, but it just felt like something the older would appreciate instead of become offended to.
And that was probably the only predictable aspect of the man. The thinned out lips that were previously sipping the intoxicating drink was now curving into a full amused smile.
"Kid, if I didn't like you, I would have had to teach you a lesson on respecting your elders." That voice, it was just too addicting. Even if the man had told him that the world was being infested with cannibalistic zombies, he would still be in more of a daze because of the suave tone than to actually care.
He had said he…liked him? What does the word like mean here? Does he like him as a friend? Did he like his personality? Did he like his remarks? Did he like him like an adult liking an innocently naïve child? Did he like like him?
The thought just brought a hinted feeling of heat to his face.
Trying once again, he brought his hand in front of the man. "Mah name's Ellis."
The jaded disks flipped to his hand then to his eyes, they were quick, impatient to wait for the messages his brain sent to him. It said enough about the man's overall character.
His hand was rough and sandpapery. It wasn't a pleasant feel. In fact it felt as if the man had slapped the splintery end of a piece of plywood. It was way too rough, but the roughness held his masculinity.
"Nick."
Nick. The name was so…fitting. Just as strident as himself. God it was a piercing name that just stung its way through Ellis' mind. It was such a bad-boy kind of name that it actually sent a wave of short shudders through his clothed back. He hoped that no one had noticed.
Once again thinking that Nick wasn't interested in saying anything, the miracle of his voice was playing through his ears again like a delightful tune.
"That your boyfriend looking at you like that?" That was definitely not what Ellis was thinking would come out of his gregarious mouth. He turned to see where Nick had tipped his glass to, only to fall upon…Keith.
He had this look like he was in between bursting out in hysterics at the pitiful scene or narrowing his gaze in disgust.
Ellis just gave him a fourth of a smile, turning back to Nick, which in his opinion was a more alluring display.
The word 'boyfriend' came to his mind as he tried to assess his earlier statement to think of a retort. Boyfriend?
"N-nah, he's…uh," Deciding on the spot he continued, "…jus' some guy. Never in mah life seen him before. Did ya uh…say boyfrien'? Ah mean why would ya think tha'?"
Nick's grin took on a more crafty meaning. "Just wanted to see how you would react."
Another trait of Nick is that he raised a lot of questions. In a cliché or chick flick way he was the mysterious loner guy that every girl would be falling on her fake implants for.
For example: What in the hell was this man talking about 'reaction'? Was he trying to see if he was gay? How could he even tell if he was gay? Why did he want to know if he was gay? Was Nick gay?
It could all be answered in one simple reply though.
"An' what was the reaction ya were lookin' for?" Ellis turned his head to the table underneath his hands and laughed sparsely.
Nick's coarse hands were now on his chin, holding tightly, but not roughly. He forced (using that word in its lightest form) Ellis' face to see into his eyes, as if his eyes were speaking for him and he should pay attention to what they have to say.
It was startling at first, being handled like that when they had just met, however, it was oddly affectionate and striking to be conducted in this brutish, yet charming, kind of way
"Just the way I expected. Blushing like a damn virgin. Don't bother trying to squirm your way out of this. I am a professional when it comes to reading people. I do it for a living." Nick's voice had taken a turn from sultry and honeyed to gravely and coquettish." There was a burningly cold shiver that ran pleasurably up El's body. It felt as if the muscle underneath his skin had just suddenly frozen in place.
At first when he saw the forest orbs move closer he thought that it was the sudden haze in his mind mussing with his senses. Then he felt the tantalizingly warm breath nearing his mouth and it all became clear that this definitely was not a trick of the mind. He was about to kiss him.
Instinctively his eyes had closed blissfully and excitedly, and his neck had lifted only a few centimeters to find the other's lips…only to feel the lukewarm temperature of the bar had replaced the breeze of warmth coming from the other's mouth.
His baby blues snapped open, a sea of hurt swimming through the sheet of blue. Nick had pulled back and was now smiling humorously at him.
"Sorry Kid, your hot as tits. Its just your not exactly in my grouping per say. Maybe if the world was ending and you and I were somehow the only people left in the apocalypse I would gladly fuck you. But I don't see the any bridges exploding or some shit like that…so thanks for letting me eye-rape you and I guess having the balls to actually talk to someone like me."
He threw the musky bartender a fifty. Ellis didn't nor wanted to know where to look, so he just stared at the bar table again, doing everything to hold back the gigantic tantrum springing up into his throat.
Without even lifting his head to say goodbye or even look at the godly man before him one last time before stepping out of his life forever without even setting one foot into it, Ellis just shut his mind off of him and everything around him. He shut off the fact that he had slapped his back in a friendly way. He shut off the fact that he mumbled something to him about learning to lie better about the people he knew and didn't know. And he shut off the fact that he had left the bar without him in his arms, like he had actually was idiotic enough to hope.
Like his hopes, Nick had been way too high above him.