A couple glasses of Romane Conti on the ride over had definitely taken the edge off. No longer did Izaya want to tease this new guy out of spite, he wanted to just for the fun of it. Izaya was quite good at holding his liquor but he had a tendency to get very playful when he was buzzed. The few times he had gotten to this point had ended in disaster, Namie finding him against a wall with some unknown man kissing his neck, then Namie stabbing the man in the ribs with her high-heeled shoe. He had avoided alcohol for the most part after that but this seemed like the perfect time to lower his inhibitions. For all he knew, the wine would help him in making a good first impression.
As he stepped into the upscale restaurant, he was met with the finishing chords of what he recognized as a Ludovico Einaudi piece. He hummed the tune, more on key than the pianist at that gold-embellished baby grand, and wove his way around tables until he spotted Namie. She was drumming her fingers on the table in irritation as she idly chatted with the man across from her. With dreadlocks and thin, modern glasses, this man was the perfect image of the fashion industry. His suit was tailored to fit him in all of the right places and it did wonders for that thin frame. If he weren't so obviously straight Izaya might have messed around with him a little, just to fluster the poor thing. However, his attention was on the gorgeous creature that sat to the man's right. Messy hair that rivaled the color and luster of the golden chandelier above them was brushed aside by a large hand just then. Izaya followed the line of slim fingers down this man's arm until he gaze landed on a toned bicep, shrouded by a simple dress shirt. A slight rush flooded his body, making his spine tingle and heart beat faster. Izaya let out a small purr in appreciation and continued to observe this masterpiece of a man. His chest was that of a god, Izaya could tell; the space left unbuttoned on his shirt giving him a decent view. To top it all off, he had a strong jaw line which was currently jutting out in a childish pout.
Izaya couldn't help but smirk as he took his place beside Namie. She glowered at him darkly.
"Nice of you to finally join us, Izaya," his manager spat. Izaya just laughed it off and sipped his Chardonnay.
"Blame the driver, not me. I'm not the one at fault here," he said. Quickly, his attention left the fuming woman and returned back to the other two men. He outstretched his hand, waiting for either one to take it. "Izaya Orihara. And you are?"
"Tom Tanaka. It's a pleasure to meet you," the man with dreadlocks said, shaking his hand and smiling amiably.
Izaya let out another amused purr. "Trust me, the pleasure is all mine."
His eyes flicked over to the blonde as he spoke those words. Izaya put his hand out to him only to have it stared at like it was diseased.
"Shizuo Heiwajima," the blonde said in a low baritone that resonated in his chest. No more words came from him, so his manager cut in to keep an awkward silence from falling between the four.
"Shizuo here has done a few spreads some pretty famous designers, and he even was even a model for one of those expensive American clothes lines," Tom told them. Namie forced a smile even though she was so unimpressed in hurt, and Izaya just grinned even more.
He propped his elbow up on the table, chin resting daintily in his palm. "Oh, you model? I've never heard of you," Izaya mewled derisively.
Caramel colored eyes narrowed at him from across the table. Shizuo looked like he was about to say something before Tom interrupted. "He's pretty new to the industry, so that's understandable."
"Or maybe he's not as good as I've been told," Izaya continued, licking a bubble from the rim of glass.
The lone woman at the table cleared her throat loudly. Namie was on the verge of a homicidal breakdown due to all of the pure stupidity going on around her. "Can we please just get to the whole point of us having this little get together?" she hissed.
"Ah, yes," Tom said nervously. "We've been thinking about having you two do a shoot together, and depending on how things go, you'd also do a few advertisements that air globally in magazines and on TV. I figured working with Izaya-kun would help get Shizuo's name out there, and Izaya would get more publicity for working with a novice."
"No."
Three pairs of eyes trained on the statuesque blonde after he spoke. He was swirling the Chardonnay around in his glass, uninterested in everything up until that point.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Namie asked. Her eyes had widened to the point where it was almost funny, but Izaya was too busy being offended by that all too quick rejection.
"I'm not working with him," Shizuo said. He said his glass down as gently as he could manage. Those intense brown eyes focused on Izaya who was now scowling. "You piss me off."
With another swig of white wine, the grin was back. "Oh yeah? Too bad. I was thinking you and I could have some real fun together."
"Come on Shizuo, can we at least try one shoot? If things don't go well then you won't have to work with him again," Tom tried to reason, desperately wanting to get his client's name out there, and he knew that Izaya was his ticket to fame. People all around the world knew who he was. Men and women alike wanted him and wanted to be him. If Shizuo could just do one magazine page with this man then they would be set.
Shizuo looked between Izaya and Tom, fists balled up tightly. The pleading look on Tom's face broke down his last wall of defense. "Fine," he said with a sigh. "But if you do one more thing to piss me off, I'm gonna kick your smarmy little ass. Got it?"
This clearly well-thought out threat was directed at Izaya with the intentions of scaring him into submission. Instead, the raven haired man giggled.
"Whatever you say, Shizu-chan," Izaya said.
At that very moment, Shizuo was pretty sure he hated his life.
Haha, this is fun to write. It makes me giggle every time I open up the document ^.^
Anyways, I hope you guys like it as much as I do. Show me some love and review, please!
~Chickadee
