Miami, Florida
July 23, 2003
Tia brushed a hand through her hair and stared at the front of Dark Magic in trepidation. Her hands were trembling and her breath was coming in short, sharp gasps. This would be the third time she'd tried to step into the club since she'd been released from captivity, and it wasn't looking any more promising than the previous ones. "Come on," she muttered, clenching her hands into shaking fists. Her first step towards the club had her nearly crumpling to the ground as black spots danced across her vision. She wobbled a bit and then flinched when an arm came around her waist.
"You okay there, sweetheart?" a low voice asked and Tia felt herself bristle automatically at the endearment. The last time a guy had started calling her pet names, she had ended up kidnapped. Her head turned sideways and upwards to take in the sight of a dark skinned man who was holding her up. He looked vaguely familiar, and Tia's brow furrowed as she struggled to figure out where she knew the man from. After a moment it dawned on her. This was one of Brian's friends who'd been waiting at the Miami-Dade police precinct. The loud one who'd looked like he'd wanted to shake Brian for scaring him.
"Y-Yeah," she choked out, managing a weak smile. "You're one of Brian's friends, right?"
"Roman Pearce," he said, carefully letting go of her. "And yeah, I am. Someone's gotta keep that crazy white boy outta trouble."
"That sounds like quite a job," Tia said with a more genuine grin, some of her panic fading away. Roman grinned back at her and she noticed that her hand had wandered up to play with a strand of hair that had come loose from her bun. "Um, how's Brian?"
"You can ask him yourself, if you want," Roman told her, jerking his head to one side. Tia turned her gaze in that direction and found herself smiling again when Brian- O'Conner, not actually Spilner- waved at her. He was leaning against the silver body of a car with deep blue shapes and blue lighting on the undercarriage. Next to him was a pretty woman with dark brown curls pinned up at the base of her skull. She gave Tia a friendly smile before turning and saying something to Brian. "You going in?" Roman asked, redirecting her attention towards him. He gestured towards the club as he spoke, making it clear what place he was talking about.
Tia chewed on her lower lip, considering her options. This had been looking like the third unsuccessful attempt on her part to re-enter the club. Maybe she could actually manage to get inside the club if there was someone around to distract her. "Yeah," she said, determined.
"Great. You can come in and hang with us," Roman said with a wide grin.
"If you want to," a new voice cut in and Tia turned to see Brian smiling at her. "You don't have to."
"It's okay," she reassured the blonde haired man. "I could use some company. I, uh, I haven't successfully been back in Dark Magic since the kidnapping." The last sentence jumbled together in an awkward rush and her cheeks flushed pink.
"You got kidnapped from here," the woman said with a gentle smile. "It isn't uncommon for that kind of thing to have some kind of psychological effect."
"Yeah," Tia replied with a weak laugh. "It's not exactly fun though, and I have to go back to work sometime."
"If you think this will help, then we'll try it," the woman told her before offering her hand. "I'm Monica, by the way. Monica Fuentes."
"Tia Holloway," Tia said, shaking Monica's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure's mine," was Monica's polite reply, her smile suggesting that she might genuinely mean the sentiment. "Ready to head in?" The brunette glanced over her shoulder at Brian with a smile. The blonde man answered by sliding an arm around her waist and guiding her into the growing line down the sidewalk.
Tia turned to grin awkwardly at Roman, who smiled back and gestured for her to join the line ahead of him. "A gentleman, huh?" Tia questioned, arching her eyebrows as she stepped into the quickly moving queue.
"Only when he thinks it'll get him somewhere with the ladies," Brian turned around to inform her and Tia laughed over the sound of Roman's irritated mumbling.
"Sorry, hun," she informed Roman. "But you're not gonna get lucky with me tonight."
"So tomorrow night," he asked, giving her an equally sly look, and she laughed.
"Sorry Roman, but I don't do one night stands and I don't date guys I don't know," she told him, brushing a strand of her blonde hair out of her face. She'd left it down tonight, something that she was beginning to regret as the lingering humidity made it stick to the back of her neck.
"We'll just have to get to know each other then," he replied with a wink and Tia giggled.
"Smooth line," she informed him and watched as the seriousness faded away from his face. They were nearing the door now, the sight making the blonde's heart pound and her mouth go dry. She swayed a little and gritted her teeth, determined to see this through. She'd agreed to work a shift for Mindy, one of the girls who had been covering for her while she recovered from her kidnapping, on Friday, only a couple days away. She needed to go into Dark Magic at least once before then so that she, hopefully, wouldn't have a panic attack when trying to come into work.
"You gave me the perfect opportunity," Roman told her, slipping an arm casually around her shoulders. "And my friends call me Rome."
"Oh, we're friends now, are we?" Tia questioned archly, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Someone behind them cleared their throat, prompting them to move forward.
"Y-Yeah," Rome stuttered and Brian, who'd glanced back to see why they weren't moving, laughed at the look on his friend's face. "At least, I think so."
Tia grinned but didn't have time to reply as the line moved forward again, leaving them standing in front of the bouncer. Ricky smiled when he saw her and waved her through without checking her ID. "Hey, what gives?" an angry female voice demanded from the line behind them. "You didn't even check her ID."
"That's because she's an employee," Ricky's voice replied before it was lost under the pounding of music. There was a decent sized crowd in the club, considering that it was a Wednesday night and a good chunk of the customers would have to go to work the next morning. The four crossed over to bar where Tiffany Boswell and Luke Hanson were bustling around, serving people who approached them. Tiffany paused to wave briefly at them before turning back to the guy she was chatting with. Tia had been working at Dark Magic long enough to recognize him as the brunette bartender's boyfriend, even if she couldn't remember the guy's name.
A new song came on, bass thrumming through the floor, and the crowd around the bar cleared out, heading to the dance floor. Tiffany leaned across the bar to kiss her boyfriend on the cheek before crossing over to their part of the bar. "Good to see you back, Tia," Tiffany said, leaning across the bar to give the blonde a quick hug.
"It's good to be back," Tia replied, surprised to discover that she was telling the truth. She'd been hesitant to even agree to come back to work at Dark Magic. After all, it had been Jeremy DeWade's fault that she'd been grabbed, and her boss had been the one who had prevented her only friends in Miami from calling the cops. She'd only agreed because DeWade had come to her home and apologized profusely for the whole incident, telling her that he'd give her hazard pay for the event regardless of whether or not she continued to work at Dark Magic, and making sure that she knew this was valid grounds for legally terminating her current contract. Now, standing inside the club for the first time since she'd been kidnapped, she was sure that she'd made the right decision.
"So, what can I get for you guys?" Tiffany asked, standing upright.
"My usual," Tia told her and Tiffany nodded, glancing at the others.
"An Amaretto Sour for me," Monica chimed in.
"Okay. And for the guys?" Tiffany prompted.
"Budweiser for me," Rome said but Brian hesitated, making Tiffany grin.
"Still testing things out?" She prompted. "Or are you far enough past your former friends to go back to drinking what you like?" Monica's expression turned thoughtful as Brian glanced down at the polished surface of the bar.
"Just give me what you did last time," he told her and she nodded.
"Brian, you don't have to go on a date with me if you don't want to," Monica said as Tiffany turned away to fix their drinks.
"Thanks for the out, but I want to. I mean, if you're okay with that," he told her earnestly, while Tia turned a questioning glance towards Rome. He shrugged at her, but his eyes were knowing and a little bit protective. Tia didn't push. She wasn't a part of their friend group, and they didn't have to tell her all the details of their lives if they didn't want to.
"Here we go," Tiffany said, sliding two bottles across the bar to Rome and Brian, a Budweiser and a Heineken respectively. "And an Amaretto Sour for the lady and a Whiskey Sour for Tia." They thanked her and passed their money over so she could ring them up and hand over the change.
Tia took a sip of her drink and let out a happy hum at the taste. "You're the best Tiffany," she told the brunette, who grinned and handed over her change.
"I try, new girl," she teased in response. "I try." Tia snorted out a laugh and took another sip of her drink as the brunette hurried off to serve another customer.
"So, are you still working here Tia?" Monica asked after taking a sip of her own drink.
"Yeah," Tia replied with a relaxed smile. "I'm covering a shift for one of the other girls on Friday, but I start again officially next Wednesday."
"That's good." Tia nodded at the other woman and down the rest of her drink as the music changed. The beat hummed through her and her grin widened in excitement.
She turned to Rome and asked, "Are you up for a dance? Because I need a partner."
"For a pretty girl like you? I'm ready for anything," Rome replied with a flirty grin. Tia laughed and led the way onto the dance floor.
Rome was a good dance partner. He wasn't grabby like some of the guys she'd ended up on the dance floor with. His hands settled solidly on his hips and didn't stray from them during the entirety of the song, not trying to cop a feel. He stuck close enough to her to discourage any other guy from trying to pull something but far enough away that it didn't feel like he was crowding her. She settled her hands on his shoulders as the song changed to a different one. One she hadn't heard yet. It was the kind of music that Holly loved, with a hard, fast beat and plenty of electronic filler. It wasn't the kind of thing that Tia listened to on her free time, but it wasn't bad to dance to.
Someone tapped Tia on her shoulder and she turned to find herself confronted with what appeared to be a college age football player. He had puffy blonde hair and nice shoulders but his expression said he was used to getting what he wanted. She thought she could see a couple of his friends in their letterman jackets standing off to the side, one of them with his arm looped around a girl with long, dark hair. "Can I help you?" Tia questioned, voice frosty, arching an eyebrow.
"Hey baby," college guy replied. "Why don't you come dance with a real man instead of whatever the ghetto spat out?"
Tia's lips thinned and she wondered whether this guy was hitting on her because he thought she was pretty, or because she was dancing with a black guy and he thought she needed rescued. Smiling sweetly at the college guy's leer, Tia stepped closer to Rome and slipped her arms around his neck. "I think I have all the man I need right here," she cooed and college guy's expression turned dark.
Before he could say anything, Rome pulled her closer and shot a smug grin at the college guy. "Sorry dude, but you're just not good enough to make the cut."
Apparently that hit a nerve, because the college guy drew his arm back and aimed a punch at Rome's nose. His arm lunged forward only for his hole body to be jerked back by that same arm. "Is this guy causing you trouble?" a familiar voice asked and Tia smiled up at Tony Andretti.
"He thinks he should be able to dictate who I spend my time with," she said in a sugar sweet voice. Tony nodded at her and shifted his grip from college guy's arm to his shoulder.
"I suggest you avoid harassing other customers," Tony told the college guy, steering him firmly away from the dance floor.
"Thanks Tony," Tia called after him, resting her head against Rome's shoulder as the music changed to a slower beat and gentler tone. After a minute she pulled back a little to smile up at Rome.
"Want to head back to the bar?" she asked, not entirely comfortable with dancing a slow song with a guy that she wasn't dating.
"I wouldn't mind another drink," Rome replied, shifting so his arm was around her waist as they made their way through the crowd of slow dancing couples, most of which were staring dreamily at each other.
Brian and Monica were still at the bar, chatting amicably. Tia wasn't sure that they were in love, despite the fact that they were putting on a good show as a couple, but they were sweet. "How are you doing?" Monica asked when Tia leaned against the bar next to her.
"Good," Tia replied with a smile, catching Tiffany's eye and tapping the bar. She got a nod of acknowledgement before turning back to Monica. "It's nice to be back, actually."
"Good," Monica replied before glancing at the elegant gold colored watch at her wrist. "Wow, it's almost three." She turned and smiled at Brian. "I have to go so I can drag myself to work tomorrow. Call me in the afternoon and we'll set up our date." Then she turned and sauntered out, drawing the attention of multiple men on the dance floor.
"That is some woman," Rome said with a whistle. "Too bad she's a cop."
Tia punched Rome in the side and Brian rolled his eyes. "Being a DEA agent isn't the same as being a cop, Rome," Brian told his friend as Tiffany made her way over.
"Need another drink?" the brunette asked but Tia shook her head.
"No, I just wanted to take a look at the schedule. I'm working for Mindy on Friday and I wanted to make sure I had the right time down for her shift," Tia told her.
"Gimme just a sec," Tiffany replied, bustling off down the bar to grab the waterproof binder where every week's schedules were stored. She returned with the binder in hand and slid it across the surface of the bar so that Tia could flip it open. She flipped to Friday and scanned it quickly, pulling out her phone to set an alarm reminding her to show up at Dark Magic on time before flipping the binder closed and sliding it back across the bar.
"Thanks," she told Tiffany who smiled and nodded, tucking the binder under her arm as she made her way over to talk to a customer. Then Tia turned to Brian and Rome, saying, "Thanks for hanging out with me tonight."
"No problem," Brian told her with a friendly smile.
"Maybe you can join us again sometime," Rome suggested and then looked slightly mortified by the fact that those words had actually come out of his mouth.
"Maybe," Tia agreed with a grin, hoping that she wasn't blushing. Then she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door.
"Wait," Brian called after her and she paused by the door, turning back to see both of them hurrying over. "We'll walk you out," he said with a disarming smile. "Just in case."
"Thanks," Tia said again and allowed Brian to link his arm with hers, the three of them heading out into the very early morning heat.