After what had been a rather interesting work week, Serena was prepared for a fun and relaxing night out with her friends. Mina had used her celebrity influence to secure the VIP room at "Crystal Tokyo," the trendiest, best-known nightclub in all of New York. The party girl within Serena had long been eager to visit the location, but reservations were limited to only the wealthiest and most influential citizens. In fact, even Mina had had a difficult time securing a table in the past, and was only able to recently because her divorce had made her a regular in tabloids and television interviews, pumping up her fame significantly for the time being.
With the large influx of clients she had been receiving recently, Serena had not had a chance to just hang out in a while, so she was really excited for tonight. Pushing aside a dense layer of business suits, she eventually reached the very back of her closet, where she kept a small number of sequined tops and dress pants especially for nights such as this one. Serena filed through the hangers and pulled out a daring white V-neck top that dipped all the way down to halfway between her cleavage and her bellybutton. The sleeves were translucent white chiffon, cut to resemble kimono sleeves and decorated with tiny, blue sparkles. The neck and bottom hem were decorated with red glitter, causing the entire piece to shimmer even in the dimmest light. After carefully pulling on the top, Serena paired it with a pair of slim-fitting, boot-cut jeans and red leather boots that went all the way up to the base of her kneecaps. Dressed to the nines, she quickly applied her makeup before grabbing her red, white and pink Coach purse and heading out the door.
Music boomed from oversized, high-tech speakers. Multicolored disco lights swirled around an otherwise dark dance floor, illuminating the crowd of sweaty bodies dancing below, their hearts pounding to the throbbing booms of techno drumbeats as their muscles tensed and relaxed in synchronized rhythm. Serena had managed to easily make her way past the oversized bouncers, dressed in sleek Armani suits and designer sunglasses, and into the club. Of course, this was solely due to her connection with Mina, as Serena would have never been able to secure a spot on the guest list at such a popular celebrity hotspot on a Friday night. Carefully maneuvering her way around the bumping and grinding throngs, she spotted her group of friends seated at the bar.
"Serena!" called out Mina, who looked absolutely stunning, as always. A thick coating of mascara and eyeliner accentuated her deep blue eyes, and her long blonde hair was curled and elegantly fashioned into a loose bun, decorated with two red and gold chopsticks. A gorgeous, oriental-styled, red mini-dress and gold heels completed the look. The short hem ended right at mid-thigh, allowing a teasing view of the woman's perfectly toned legs.
"Hey, Amazon!" greeted Raye, clad in a slinky red top with thin straps that revealed practically her entire back and a pair of low rise, black denim jeans. Serena groaned upon hearing the embarrassing nickname.
"What's with the nickname, Raye?" asked Ami Anderson, a young medical student at NYU, who had met Serena while studying abroad for a semester in Japan. Immediately pinning her as a nerd, Serena had been pleasantly surprised when the intellectual woman had proven herself capable of hanging out and having fun, just like any ordinary person. Tonight, as always, she was dressed much more conservatively than the others in a fitted blue t-shirt that bore the letters 'NYU' in silver, a pair of dark blue jeans, and black stiletto-heeled boots. Her short hair was streaked with blue, and topped with a pair of sunglasses decorated with light blue rhinestones.
"Oh, just a little inside joke, eh, lawyer girl?" responded Raye with a wink at Serena.
"Whatever, Raye," answered Serena, rolling her eyes. "Has Molly arrived yet?"
"Here I am!" called out the perky voice, right on cue. "Sorry I'm late, everyone! You won't believe the traffic I was sitting through. I had to park five blocks down and walk all the way here!"
Molly joined the group and plopped down on a bar stool to regain her breath. Her normally frizzy brown hair was now straightened and lightly cascaded down either side of her face. Being ever the sweet character of the bunch, she wore a pink lace tank top, a jean skirt, and pink pumps. Her front bangs were pulled back with a plastic pink hairclip.
"Well, now that everyone's here," said Mina, rising from her stool. "Let's get on into that VIP room!"
Serena eagerly jumped up, along with the rest of the girls. All were more than eager to escape the crowded main floor for their especially reserved and fully serviced private room.
"Sorry, ladies," stated a tall, muscular, and Armani-clad man standing before the VIP entrance. "Room's reserved."
"I know," answered Mina with an eye-roll. "I reserved this room. Mina Aino."
"Sorry, Miss Aino," responded the bouncer, not moving. "We were not able to inform you in time, but there has been a slight change. The room has been especially requested by a highly respected associate of the owner of this nightclub. However, you are free to re-request for another night and your fee will be promptly refunded."
"Listen, buster!" exclaimed Mina angrily, marching right up to the man. "I don't know who you are, but –"
"Well, well, well," came a voice that was becoming all-too-familiar to Serena. Honestly, how was it possible that a month ago, Serena had never even met this person before and now, it seemed like they were crossing paths everywhere?
"Hello, Beryl," responded Serena coolly. "Enjoying the night?"
"Why, I think so," said Beryl with a sly grin that Serena did not like at all. Such an expression could only mean that something had happened to make Beryl happy – something that would undoubtedly bring misfortune upon Serena. As if on cue, Beryl's usual posse approached the door to the VIP room, walking right past the bouncer who stepped aside to let them through. Serena was astonished, although not as much as Mina, who appeared utterly flabbergasted, her mouth gaping open with amazement. Beryl saw the expression and her grin grew even wider.
"Well, I must be going, now," she said, nonchalantly turning towards the door. Looking over her shoulder, she added, "I just booked this room shortly before our arrival. I know it was quite rushed for the club owner, but no big deal. After all, they always let real celebrities get away with things like this."
Serena watched Beryl do a quick snap turn, flipping her wavy red hair, which she was wearing down tonight, and strut right through the door, her slinky emerald dress shimmering under the fluorescent lights of the club. For a few seconds, Serena and her friends just stood before the doorway, absolutely shocked by what had happened.
"Why, that little witch!" exclaimed Mina, running towards the door. Immediately, Serena and Raye grabbed her by the arms. The last thing they needed was for an undercover paparazzi reporter to snap a photo and ruin her career. Besides, when examining the situation with insight, Serena realized that this type of action was more than expected of Beryl. Perhaps now the two were even and Serena would not have to worry about the rabid supermodel stalking her any longer. The only downside to all this was Mina, who still stood staring at the door, a dejected look plastered across her beautiful face.
"I'm sorry, Mina," said Serena apologetically, approaching her friend and embracing her in a hug.
"It's not your fault," answered Mina with a sigh. Serena felt a wet drop through her chiffon sleeve, and released Mina to gaze into her face, now slightly smudged with mascara. Mina slowly averted her gaze, staring instead at the floor.
"Hey, forget Beryl," Ami offered, putting an arm around Mina comfortingly. "She's just a narcissistic, vindictive, and insensitive witch."
"Well, at least I understood part of what you just said," responded Mina, wiping at her eyes and smiling. "Thanks, you guys. Who needs a VIP room, anyway? I have real friends – something that Beryl would never even know."
"Yeah!" everyone answered. Turning their backs to the door, the group marched onto the dance floor. Immediately, Serena lost herself to the beating rhythms of the DJ's tracks, the lights above bathing her in their fluorescent rays. Immediately, she felt her body grow warm as other club-goers continuously bumped against her. Her heart pounded to the drumbeat. Loose strands of hair fell out of her ponytail, framing her face in blonde coils. Across from her, she spotted Raye, who had already found another piece of "man meat", as lean and handsome as all the others before him. Serena rolled her eyes as she watched Raye grind her hips into his groin, his chin resting on her shoulder as he licked her neck seductively.
"I'll give this one three days," Serena thought to herself. "Although if he turns out to be bad in bed, then make it one night."
After dancing continuously for who-knows-how-long, Serena decided she had better take a break soon, or her feet will surely suffer the consequences of her stiletto heels. She could already feel the calluses forming. Besides, a nice martini would not hurt. Pushing out a path among the surrounding figures, Serena made her way over to the bar, a silver structure lit by lines of fluorescent tubing. The silver stools were topped with leather cushions of alternating, bright colors. With a tiny hop, Serena managed to pull herself onto one of the seats. Resting her arms atop the table, she motioned for the bartender, who quickly caught her signal and made his way over. Serena noted that he was about her age, with a chiseled face that ended in a slight cleft chin, and deep blue eyes. Giving him a once-over, she tried not to laugh at his uniform, which consisted of a deep red, velvet vest over a white button-down shirt and black pants – not all too embarrassing, though, had the ensemble not featured a large tie, with fluorescent squares of different colors that glowed under a blacklight that must have been located somewhere near the bar. Serena could not help but think of the accessory as some sort of hypnotic beam, since no matter how hard she tried to look away, it always seemed to draw her gaze right back.
"Let me just start out by saying that I did not pick out the tie," said the bartender, drawing Serena out of her reverie and causing her to blush profusely.
"Sorry," she said with a slight giggle. "And I didn't think you would have, because if you did, you'd be embarrassing bartenders everywhere."
"Wow, really?" he joked, smiling. "I guess I had better bring this up with my superiors, then. I didn't know that I was causing such a worldwide disturbance. I'm Andrew, Andrew Hansford. What can I getcha?"
"A vodka martini, thanks," responded Serena.
"Doing it up old school, I see," Andrew said, grabbing a shiny silver cocktail shaker. "Lemme guess, shaken, not stirred?"
"You got it," said Serena, smiling at the James Bond reference. Coincidentally, James Bond had been what had introduced her to the vodka martini. After watching one of the movies, she had decided to try the drink and, after doing so, had decided to make it her drink for life.
"Coming right up," Andrew announced, grabbing a variety of random bottles and pouring their contents into the shaker. "So, enjoying yourself tonight?"
"Yeah, it's been pretty good," Serena responded. "First time getting away from the office in a while – I'm a lawyer, you see – so enjoying it while I can."
"Awesome," Andrew responded, while pouring her drink into a martini glass. After sliding in a thin coil of lemon rind, he slid the glass across the table. "Here you go."
"Thanks," said Serena, taking the drink. As she took a sip, she spotted Ami across the bar table, which did not surprise her in the least, considering Ami was usually too shy and modest to dance in public, although Serena knew the girl to be just as excellent at dancing as she was at everything else. Holding the stem of her glass firmly, she made her way over.
"Hey, there," Serena said, evidently startling Ami, who gave a slight jump.
"Ummm, hi," answered Ami. "What's up?"
"What's going on?" asked Serena, eyeing Ami carefully. The girl merely looked up at Serena with a blank expression, but Serena definitely noted a slightly nervous, distracted hint to her voice. Gazing steadily into Ami's blue eyes, the blonde lawyer summoned up her professional intuition, which very rarely failed to alert her when something was going on that she did not know about.
"Hey, I'm back."
This time, Serena was the one who jumped at the sound of the male voice behind her. Turning around, she came face-to-face with a pair of grey-blue eyes. It seemed that tonight, she was running into blue-eyed people everywhere! Backing away, Serena gave the man the same once-over glance that she had just given Andrew five minutes ago. He had a thin face that seemed almost effeminate in shape, framed by tousled, strawberry blonde hair. A plain, navy blue t-shirt and boot-cut jeans clothed his thin, yet muscular frame.
"Hello," said the man, holding out a hand to Serena. "I'm Zach. Are you friends with Ami?"
"Zach, this is Serena," said Ami, walking over to him and taking his hand. Looking back at Serena, she added bashfully, "Zach and I just met tonight."
Serena smiled. Ami had always been such a wallflower, never wanting to impose or accidentally embarrass herself, especially around guys that she could potentially have a romantic relationship with. Every time the whole group went clubbing, Ami would just hang out by the bar. Serena always felt guilty about leaving her friend, but Ami would insist that she wanted to come and didn't mind watching. Serena felt happy that her friend had finally found someone.
"Well, I'll just leave you two alone, then," she said, grinning broadly as she made her way to the restrooms. "I need to retouch my makeup, anyway."
As Serena pushed open the bathroom door, she heard quiet sobs coming from one of the stalls, echoing off the empty walls. Immediately, Serena recognized the high-pitched, squeaky hiccups. Making her way over to the stall, she lightly tapped the door.
"Mina?" Serena asked hesitantly. "It's me, Serena."
The bathroom door opened slowly. Serena stepped back, allowing Mina room to walk over to the sinks. Silently, she watched her friend turn on a faucet and wash her face before drying off with a paper towel. Typical Mina, making sure her appearance was perfect before she could even cry to a friend. Immediately, the young starlet burst into tears, running over and hugging Serena as a child hugs its mother.
"Hey, come on," Serena said, while patting Mina's back consolingly. "Is this about Beryl, again? I thought we all agreed that she's not worth our time."
"She's right, though!" wailed Mina, her eyes gushing a new torrent of tears. "I'm a nobody, a one-hit wonder. Do you know at what spot my last two films have debuted? Number fifteen! I can't even make the top ten, and this next film will be no different!"
"Oh come on," whispered Serena softly. Still holding Mina, she made her way over to a nearby hot pink couch and sat the both of them down so that she could look at Mina face-to-face. "You are a great actress and an even better person. All the fame in the world couldn't give Beryl a personality like yours."
"Yeah, right," responded Mina, her voice steadying now to barely a whisper. Serena felt her heart break at the sight of the tiny streams of tears leaking out of her friend's eyes. "Look at me. I can't even make a marriage work out. The jerk had to go and get some from someone else."
"Well, he's an idiot," said Serena, putting a hand on Mina's shoulder. "Look at me. Go on, look me in the eyes. That divorce was his fault, not yours. You have done nothing wrong and if he had failed to see that, then he's a total moron who doesn't deserve you in the first place. Forget Beryl, and forget Lucas."
"Th-thanks, Serena," said Mina with a slight hiccup. "I'm going to put some more makeup back on, and then I'll meet you guys out there, okay?"
"Sure thing," responded Serena with a wink. Getting up, she quickly reapplied some mascara and lip gloss before grabbing the martini she had left on the sink and leaving Mina to reenter the main club area. As she made her way onto the dance floor, Serena caught sight of Beryl and her posse leaving the VIP room. Fueled by a sudden surge of anger, Serena marched up to the redhead.
"You really are something," she said, her voice shaking with rage. "I do my job, which just happens to get in the way of your little plot, and you take it out on my friend, who has done absolutely nothing to you?"
Beryl gave a sinister grin, her eyes glittering with malice. "On the contrary, your friend brought this upon herself. If she weren't such a lackluster actress and a total ditz, then none of this would have happened now, would it?"
"You take that back," said Serena in a low voice, through gritted teeth. "No one insults my friends!"
"I told you not to get in my way," said Beryl nonchalantly, glancing at her manicured fingernails. Suddenly, she pressed her face right near Serena's, looking her squarely in the eyes. "I told you not to get in my way. This is war, and I will make you rue the day you chose to mess with me."
Drawing back, Beryl grinned once more. "And I'm not sorry for what I did. You just tell your friends to stay out of my way too, or else Mina will not be the only one."
At Beryl's words, Serena felt her rage escalate to a point that she felt ready to explode. Before she could even register a single thought, she felt her arm jerk forward robotically, pouring the leftover contents of her martini glass all over Beryl's dress.
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Oooh, D-R-A-M-A! Sorry this took so long, everyone. I've been pretty busy over the summer, and sort of had a brain fart over what the chapter was going to be about. I wanted to give you all some real excitement (finally) and add some juice to the plotline. So, enjoy and keep up the reviews! I can't personally thank all the reviewers anymore, because there were just too many for the last chapter and I just don't have the attention span. xD However, I do read each and every one and you all know how much I luv ya! .:hearts:.