A/N: Sorry I've been dragging my feet with the updates, I stumbled across a nasty writer's block. So here's the product of a couple sleepless nights.
Also, none of my betas are responding, so once again, the positions up for grabs.
"Okay, kids, this is how it goes." Rahzel paced up in front of the meeting room, scratching the stubble on his chin. "The next person, or people, who are late to a goddamn meeting are going to be publicly humiliated in front of the entire room. Why? Because I can. Okay?"
Kaori raised her hand. "What's that mean?"
"It means I'm going to make fun of you and yell at you so you won't be late again," Rahzel grinned at her.
"And what exactly does this humiliation entail?" Mac asked, hand up in the air.
"Well, smartass, I can use you as an example," quipped Rahzel, snapping the clip on his clipboard. Mac's hand fell limply to his side.
"Lovely. So as you know, race in two days time. Usual 11 am report, 12 sharp start. We do our shit... Blah blah blah," he skimmed through a few pages. "Oh, here. We fly to France the next day, you have to pack your bags the night before. And I have to baby you and check them because your all a bunch of goddamn babies..."
"I'm hungry. Can we go eat now?" Seeiah whispered to Marisol, who shrugged.
She whispered back, "I don't think he's done bullshitting us yet."
"... Curfew tomorrow night will be strictly enforced, 12 am. And no later. And that seems to be it. So scram!"
Chatter erupted throughout the room, and everybody made a beeline for the door.
"Hey there Elise. How's karma treating you today?" Brodi asked, stepping into stride next to her.
Elise shrugged. "Not too bad. but I think it's telling me to do my laundry."
"Ah," Brodi replied, nodding. "I was going to see if you'd like to get some coffee or something."
"Well, you are supposed to put your mind and spirit above your material possessions..." Elise made an act of rubbing her chin.
"And I was going to do my laundry later on anyway," Brodi added. "We should do it together."
"Ellie, just don't forget," Eddie chimed in. "A new episode of South Park is on tonight, and I bitched at the receptionist for, like, 20 minutes to get the feed in my room!"
"I'll be there, don't worry," Elise said with the wave of her hand. Raising his eyebrows, Eddie looked less than assured.
Mac and Kaori headed into the hotel lobby, each cradling an earpiece of Mac's Mp3 player.
"So Kaori, wanna grab a slice for dinner?" Mac asked, peering over at her.
Kaori furrowed her brow. "A slice of what?"
"Pizza. A slice of pizza," Mac replied, grinning at her.
"Oh I'd love to!" said Kaori. "But first I want to visit the Shibuya."
"You mean we're going shopping again?"
Kaori pouted cutely.
"Okay, fine," Mac agreed reluctantly. "But when we get back, we're playing video games in my room."
Firing off an excited reply in Japanese, Kaori grabbed Mac's wrist and they headed for the door.
"She has him completely whipped," Zoe commented dryly. Psymon nodded.
"I think it's kinda cute," Hailey replied, shrugging.
Psymon grunted, rolling his eyes. "After a year and a half, the charm wears off. Trust me."
"So what the hell is everybody doing tonight?" Zoe asked.
Moby looked uncertainly at the trio surrounding them, taking especially long moment to gawk at Zoe. She didn't seem to notice.
"I could use a couple fucking drinks," declared Psymon after a few moments of awkward silence.
Zoe nodded. "Sounds good to me."
"And me," Moby added hastily.
All eyes fell on Hailey, who just scuffed her sneaker against a bare spot in the carpet.
C'mon, live a little, she thought silently. Just get a couple drinks with a couple friends. It doesn't have to turn into a drunken blur of a night.
"I'll take that as a no," Zoe responded to her indescision, looking Hailey right in the eyes.
"Actually," Hailey piped up, averting her gaze to a distant spot over Moby's shoulder. "I think I'd fancy a couple drinks. Where to?"
Psymon whooped. "Alright! Party it is! I've hit up Rope-pongo or whatever the fuck it's called, and their happy hour starts in 20."
"Roppongi it is," concurred Zoe, winking over at Hailey. She felt a knot of anxiety twist within her gut. Whether it was excitement or dread, she was unable to tell.
Eddie sat alone in his room, spread eagle across the crimson colored bedspread. Sneaking another pained glance at the clock, he realized it was now almost 8:45, and only 2 minutes had passed since the last time he checked. Boredom was truly setting.
Rolling off the bed and onto the floor, he racked his brains for options. South Park was on in less than an hour, and Elise still hadn't returned from her escapade with Brodi, so count her out. He grimaced. Mac and Kaori were off being chummy in his room, definitely not needing a third wheel around. So what other friends did that leave him?
Fighting back the shadow of a grin playing on his lips, Eddie picked up his mobile phone and thumbed through his contact list before reaching the right person, and pressing send.
"My mobe's ringing, and I need to use he loo," Hailey insisted, looking up at Zoe from her trapped position on the inside of the booth. The punky brunette shook her head, grabbing the cell phone.
Zoe looked at the screen. "No need for some fucking straight arrow like Eddie to ruin our fun night!" she laughed, switching off the phone and pocketing it. "Now chill. Let me buy you a drink."
Moby hailed the waitress, promptly ordering a Jack Daniel's.
"Two Flaming Jesuses for me," said Psymon sharply, topping Moby's order. He grinned profusely at the waitress as he did a once over of her stunning curves that were less than concealed in that particular outfit.
"Make mine two as well, love," responded Moby quickly.
"Hmm," Zoe pondered, ignoring the obvious flow of testosterone already surrounding their table. "Get me a couple tequila shots. I've had a rough day."
"What about you?" the young asian waitress looked at Hailey, pencil-thin eyebrows raised and hand poised over the mini-notebook, ready to scribble down another drink order.
"Just some water," shrugged Hailey.
"She means Holy Water of course!" added Zoe jovially while winking at the waitress, who winked back and sauntered away.
Ignoring this, Hailey sighed quietly. She felt kinda funny sitting there, and apart from the fact that she could probably slip away from everybody and light up a fag without worrying about being caught by a tour manager, this trip seemed completely weird.
"Why so down, eh?" asked Moby, having to strain his voice slightly over the thumping techno music erupting from the rave a floor below the bar.
"Just... Don't drink a lot," replied Hailey, shrugging again.
Psymon smirked, "Well get used to it."
They sat in silence for a couple of mintues, all minding their own business, until the waitress returned, setting down a wide array of drinks in front of them.
"Cheers!" Psymon cheered, downing his drink in one gulp.
Zoe and Moby followed in a suit, and Hailey felt a wild desire to do so as well. Against all her better judgment, Hailey took a shot of the vodka set in front of her. The drink burned her throat going down, but after a few seconds, there was a warm tingling in her stomach.
"Not bad, eh?" winked Zoe, enjoying the drink enough to finish her second shot.
"Not too bad," Hailey nodded, grinning shyly. Why am I such a fucking wuss? They only want to show me some fun!
Psymon too had downed his second shot. He burped loudly, turning to Zoe. "Let's skip out on practice tomorrow morning and get some grub at a diner or somethin'."
Having gulped down her second drink, Hailey nodded. "Sounds great."
Sneaking a glance over at Zoe, who was laughing and staring right at Psymon, Moby signaled the waitress to bring another round of drinks. "One more go, eh, then we'll do some dancing."
"Long as I don't have to shake it anywhere near you!" said Psymon loudly, laughing.
Zoe sent Moby a pleading look, and he closed his mouth, which had hung open in an unspoken protest cut short by his desires to please her.
"Oh I adore dancing. It may be one of the only things I'm good at," Hailey spoke up, feeling much more comfortable around these new friends, no matter how they may be bickering like children. Helping herself to another drink, she decided it was time to try and make these bitter feelings go away. A fist fight between Psy and Moby would totally ruin this night! "C'mon, I'll show you guys how to move to even this weird Japanese techno shit!"
Mac tossed his controller onto the floor, cussing loudly, which caused Kaori to giggle. "Sheesh Maccie, you have temper problem! Hai!"
"How do you win everytime?" he grumbled. "Chicks aren't supposed to be good at Medal of Honor!"
Kaori purred and rubber her head against his shoulder. "Calm down, you sore loser. Let's play a game you can win so you won't be so angry."
"Whoa." Eyebrows raised with shock, Mac grinned. "How about we play that game I was telling you about before, the one where we play with cards and everytime the loser loses they take off some clothes?"
"...Poker?" Kaori ventured a guess after racking her brains for the right term. Mac nodded eagerly.
"It's too cold for that," Kaori shrugged, humming a happy tune and flouncing over to scan through Mac's video game collection again. He slumped down in his seat slightly, defeatedly. Bending over to reach for a video game which had been discarded on the every back edge of the dresser, Kaori gave Mac a reason to smile again.
A/N: So lemme know what you think in a review, eh?