Grant was simultaneously loathing of and grateful for the infernally loud music that filled the club in which he stood. Loathing, because the incessantly repetitive song was irritating beyond belief and was giving him a headache, and grateful for, because it drowned out most of the babble that was coming out of the vibrantly lipsticked mouth of the girl in front of him.
Tara, or Tanya, or Tessa, or something like that (he hadn't really been able to hear her introducing herself) had slinked up to him in her tiny red dress about 5 minutes ago, and had so far absolutely refused to leave him alone. He had tried almost everything there was to get rid of her (without outright asking her to go away, of course, because that would be rude), but it was all to no avail. Fortunately, his drink was almost gone, and it was already well after midnight, so in a few more minutes he would casually excuse himself and call it a night.
Talia laid one of her manicured hands on his bicep to get his attention. "Did you hear me? I asked if you wanted to get out of here? My place is only like, two minutes away…"
Great, there went his plan for leaving. If he tried to get out now, she would probably try to follow him home, and he just wasn't one of those guys. Unfortunately, girls like Theresa seldom took no for an answer. He was just racking his brain, trying to find a way out of this, when another girl came up beside him.
"There you are, baby!" she exclaimed, loud enough for Tyra to hear. She leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek, and used it to disguise her whisper in his ear. "Just go with it. I'll get you out of this." She winked at him as she pulled away, and Grant breathed a sigh of relief. He had no idea who this new girl was, but he felt a lot more comfortable with her already than he had thus far with Tasha.
"Hey sweetheart. I was wondering where you'd got off too. Teya, this is my girlfriend, Jess". Grant managed to speak the blonde girl's sort of name in such a manner that it could have passed for pretty much anything, and she didn't seem to notice that he actually had no clue what her name was. She was too busy focusing on the new girl. Grant didn't actually know her name either, but he figured he had to call her something, so…
"Nice to meet you," the new girl claimed. Turning her back on the blonde, she addressed herself to Grant. "I'm tired baby, can we go home?"
"Yeah, sure thing!" Grant downed the last of his drink, waved goodbye to the thoroughly disgruntled Tyesha, and let the mysterious girl take his hand to lead him towards the exit of the club. Once they were out of sight, she dropped his hand.
"You looked like a deer in the headlights back there!" She had to stand on her tiptoes to get close enough to his ear to be heard, but Grant found it adorable. "I'm Skye."
"Grant" he replied. "And yes, I felt like one too. Thank you for that!"
Skye laughed. "No problem! We've all been there. Anyways, you have a great night! Try and steer clear of her though, she was looking at you like you were a piece of meat, and I know her type… If she sees you again, you won't get away so easily!"
"I'm sure you're right! Hey, can I buy you a drink to thank you?"
"Actually, I wasn't lying about going home… I'm just going to hit up McDonalds and then go home and crash."
"Let me buy you McDonald's then. I was planning to leave as soon as I could get away from her too."
Skye looked him over for a second, then shrugged. "Well, I'll never say no to free food!" She started weaving her way through the crowd towards the exit, and Grant followed. After people got between them twice and almost separated them, he put a hand on her shoulder. Skye looked back and held out her hand instead, which he grabbed onto willingly. Finally, once they were out on the street, Grant reluctantly let go once again.
"Oh thank god, I can hear again" Skye exclaimed.
"Tell me about it. My ears are still going to be ringing tomorrow! Now, I promised you drunk food. Are you dead set on McDonalds, or can I convince you to try something new? Because there's this AMAZING diner just down the street…"
"Hey, you're buying!"
Grant smiled as he started walking down the street, but it turned into a full blown grin when Skye's now-familiar hand gently entwined with his.