Hi guys (and girls)! Thanks for the reviews! Glad for the advice Sailor Peach…Sorry about the apostrophes – I normally use italics for characters' thoughts….and I was just being lazy concerning using the proper quotation marks…I'll rectify that from now on! As far as I can see though, I have been starting each person's dialogue with a new paragraph….Can you maybe point out where I made the errors previously? Much thanks!
CHAPTER 2
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''Well I guess we should be flattered,'' Sango laughed as she and Kagome walked up to the bar. ''I mean, we both got carded, which means that we don't look anywhere like our actual ages.''
''Good thing I remembered to walk with ID,'' Kagome agreed as she signaled the bartender. He looked across in her direction as she waved, and perked up, his grin widening as he sauntered over to her end of the bar.
''What can I get for you, sweetheart?'' he asked, his hazel eyes roaming over the curvaceous body that was clad in a short, plunging, figure hugging, silver grey dress.
''Two glasses of champagne please,'' she smiled.
His grin widened as he took in Sango standing next to her in a pair of hip hugging white jeans and a midriff baring purple top. ''Right away ladies,'' he said, reaching on the shelf behind him for two long stemmed glasses. He deftly poured them each a glass, and they thanked him before moving away to one of the private booths to the edge of the dance floor.
The two friends sat and surveyed the dancing bodies, unaware that a number of men, and also women, were also fixated on them in turn. Sango, turned to Kagome and waved a hand in front of her face. When Kagome quirked a questioning eyebrow at her, Sango laughed and said, ''Okay, now spill.''
''Spill?'' Kagome queried, deliberately playing dumb. 'What do you mean?''
"Oh please woman,'' Sango smirked. ''I'm your best friend and the person who knows you inside out. Normally, if some stranger rescues you, and a good looking one at that, you would have been babbling about him non-stop. But you haven't said a single word about your mystery hero from today. Why is that I wonder, hmmmmm?''
Kagome coloured faintly. "There's nothing to tell San," she denied. "All that happened was that he was in the right place at the right time and thanks to his quick thinking, I would have probably been spending tonight in the hospital, or the morgue, instead of at Hedonism."
Sango stared at her a moment, then burst into laughter. "Say it again, Kags."
Kagome threw a puzzled glance at her friend. "Say what? That whole story over again? Weren't you listening to me from the beginning?"
"N-no," Sango managed to gasp out between gales of laughter. "The name of the club that we're in! Oh how I wish you could see you facial expression as you said it….like if you swallowed something foul." She playfully elbowed her companion. "Prude."
"I am NOT a prude," Kagome declared hotly. "A prude would never even consider being caught dead in the same city as you, far less sharing the same booth," she added slyly.
"Touche," Sango murmured, touching the rim of her glass to the other woman's. "You hit hard, bitch."
Kagome threw back her head and laughed, unaware that her life was less than a few hours away from ever being the same.
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"Everything is running smoothly as usual Mr. Taisho," the tall man, clad in black reported. "No brawls have been reported, we've kept a strict eye out for any illegal substances and for once, there doesn't seem to be any soliciting going on."
A low chuckle came from the man behind the desk. "The night's still young, Daigo. Don't get too optimistic as yet."
A rueful smile curved the corner of the other man's lips upwards. "Yeah, I know boss. But one can hope," he added, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.
Inuyasha uncoiled his lean frame from the comfortable leather chair and prowled restlessly to the large wall that consisted on one-way mirrors used to observe the coming & going of persons within Hedonism. Years ago, when his father had died and left him and his older half-brother Sesshomaru a veritable fortune, they both gave in to the urgings of a mutual friend of theirs, Miroku, to invest in a nightclub. Inuyasha had been drawn to the idea from the start but Sess needed a bit more convincing. The name of the club however, came surprisingly from the older Taisho brother, who dryly suggested that since the club was Miroku's idea, they should name it after him. The three friends became business partners and never looked back or experienced a moment's regret.
Hedonism, Inuyasha smiled to himself. The perfect place for humans, hanyous, youkai and even daiyoukai to interact amongst each other without fear of prejudice. Sess called it an never-ending orgy and Mir loved to use the club as his own personal playing field, but one thing was certain – they all loved the establishment and what it represented.
Speak of the devil, he thought as his keen nose picked up a familiar scent behind him.
"Inu!"
"Hey Mir," Inuyasha replied, without taking his eyes off the crowd. "What's happening?"
"I've found my future wife!" the other man exclaimed.
Inuyasha smirked at him. "Have you asked her to bear your children as yet?"
Miroku deflated – there were no other words to describe it. "I haven't even said 'hello' to her as yet," he admitted.
Inuyasha resisted the urge to laugh. He knew Mir took his flirting to a whole new level, but this was a first even for him. He eyed his friend appraisingly, taking note of the tailored shirt in a shade of purple that reminded Inuyasha of an eggplant paired with form fitting black jeans. Inuyasha smiled to himself. Although he personally wouldn't be caught dead in a colour named 'eggplant', he had to admit that on Miroku, the thing actually worked well with his dark hair and serving to make his eyes appear more violet than dark grey. From firsthand experience, Inuyasha knew that women went crazy over the unusual shade of his friend's eyes, as there were many times either he or Sess had to step in to prevent two or more 'ladies' from coming to blows over who would enjoy Miroku's company for the night.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Miroku broke into Inuyasha's thoughts as he gestured to the other man.
"Huh?" Inuyasha asked, confused. He looked down at his faded but comfortable blue jeans and black t-shirt. "Clothes, as far as I can tell…is there a problem?"
"Damn right there is, buddy! I need to go and meet that girl but I can't do it without a wingman," Miroku stated, flapping his hands wildly at his friend. "Go change!"
"You've lost your fucking mind," Inuyasha retorted. "I've been in back to back meetings, starting from 6 o'clock this morning until 9 o'clock tonight. Then I've had to double up on my workload because Sesshomaru is out of the country, dealing with the negotiations for the Taisho & Higurashi business deal and to top it all off, my cell was crushed to pieces earlier today when I prevented some ditzy female who doesn't know how to cross the street properly, from being splattered all over the road. I'm tired, irritable and I extremely frustrated and I am NOT leaving this office. Do you hear me, Miroku? Miroku? MIROKU!"
"There she is, Inu," Miroku beckoned him over to the glass. "Tell me she's not sheer perfection, a goddess in a human body."
Inuyasha stared at him in disbelief. "You didn't hear a word I just said, you fucking nut. You have got to be the most idiotic, moronic, and just all around plain stupid jacka…..Well, hello…." His tirade trailed off as he finally took a look at where Miroku was pointing.
"Stunning, isn't she?" Miroku asked, as he gazed at the woman in purple and white who was sliding out of the booth and heading to the dance floor.
"Definitely," Inuyasha murmured, golden eyes drinking in the silver clad beauty as she tossed her head back and laughed unreservedly. He crossed the office floor swiftly, his bare feet making no sound on the thick, luxurious wine red carpet, as he pulled open a door that was cleverly designed to blend in with the walls of the office and entered a fully furnished bedroom. He turned to Miroku, who was looking at him with a totally mystified expression and grinned. "Give me twenty minutes. You'll have to live with the jeans, since the only other clothes I have here right now are business suits and shirts, but at least I can clean up a bit first."
Miroku was still standing there with his mouth open, when the bathroom door shut in his face. Finally finding his tongue, he shook his head and muttered, "Well, son-of-a-bitch."
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"Aren't you glad you came, Kags?" Sango asked, as they left the dance floor and headed towards the bar for another drink. Her cheeks were flushed prettily and her eyes were sparkling with enjoyment.
"Oh, for sure I am!" Kagome replied, leaning against the bar and signaling the bartender. "I've forgotten how much fun we have on our girl nights out! It seems like AGES since we last did something like this!"
"It HAS been ages, Madam Workaholic," Sango teased. "The last time we did this was when your witch – spelt with a capital 'B' -," Kagome snorted into her drink and almost choked with laughter at that line, "sister unexpectedly dropped off her broomstick and showed up uninvited at your apartment at 11 o'clock in the night, demanding that you let her stay for the week. Personally, I'm surprised you didn't kick her ass out instead of calling me and going out to get wasted."
Kagome shot back the remains of her seventh – or was it eight – glass of wine and beckoned the bartender over. "Two shots of Café Patron," she ordered. She eyed Sango and replied, "Honestly, Sango, I don't know WHY I tolerate her for. She's older than I am and yet, she's always been the one who gets pampered and coddled by everyone around us. I guess, I'm hoping that maybe one day she'll show me that she has more to her than the shallow, materialistic personality that she has displayed so far."
"What was the reason she gave for coming home by you though?" Sango questioned. "I remember she threw a tantrum when you had asked her initially. Did she ever end up telling you what it was?'
Kagome shrugged. "Some recent breakup with some new boy toy. She didn't go into detail, but from what she did tell me, he was madly in love with her, but she wasn't ready to settle down as yet and he started becoming extremely jealous, possessive and paranoid." Her lips curved in a wicked grin. "But knowing Kikyou as well as I do, I'm willing to bet that the poor bastard had damn good reasons to behave like that. We all know she's unable to stay in one man's bed for very long."
The shots arrived and they each picked up a glass.
"Cheers," Kagome saluted, before they tipped their heads back in unison, emptying the contents. They placed the shot glasses back onto the polished surface of the bar and Sango grabbed her friend's hand, pulling her back into the crowd.
"Let's rock," she exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air as she dragged a laughing Kagome in her wake.
