Chapter Two: The Challenge

"This is one of the disadvantages of wine: it makes a man mistake words for thought."
~Samuel Johnson

Mia looked up from the book of maps after there was a slightly long pause from her grandmother. The little girl gave a questioning look with her eyes once finding that the old woman had stopped her writing and was clenching and unclenching her hand. Faye smiled gently at her, telling her not to worry, and then picked the pen back up. She quickly read over the last sentence she had written, and went back to her story once remembering what she was going to say.

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"Oh come on, Faye. It's not just a coincidence that there was a bag of Beli sitting on the counter!" Mia tried to reason with me, but I wouldn't hear a word of it. In fact, I had gone as low as the stick my fingers into my ears and repeat the annoying "I'm not listening!" phrase over and over again. It may have not been a coincidence to her, but to me… well, you just don't find two thoughts Beli randomly appearing out of nowhere.

"Faye, stop being so childish and hurry up on closing the shop!" She slapped my arm, but my fingers didn't budge. Her face turned up into a dark scowl before she disappeared completely into her room in the back of the shop.

Once I was sure she wasn't going to pop out and start her illogical reasoning with me, I dropped my hands and took a quick around my shop. After that small-fry (Ace was it?) left, I had surprisingly gotten a large number of customers come in not far behind him. Of course I only gave the excuse that they were small-fry themselves or tourists. This irked Mia, and I ended up getting my revenge on her like that.

My green eyes landed on the empty space that an orange hat once sat in.

The room felt different without it there. That thing had been sitting in that exact same spot for the past four or five months and I had been praying for a while that it would, and wouldn't, sell. I wanted it to sell, because the orange just totally screwed up the vibe of the rom. And I hoped it wouldn't because the thing was starting to grow on me. I had even tempted on wearing it for a day or two.

"Alright Faye, I'm off to work. See you at the usual time?" I glanced over at the now dolled-up Mia. The skirt she wore barely even covered the highest point of her tan thighs, and the top she wore looked more like a strip of fabric than a bikini top. I, again, was embarrassed that she even thought about wearing something like that in public.

I nodded at her anyways, turning back to putting away a few things, and grabbed the bag of Beli; might as well make good use of it.

My closet was small, only consisting of a couple blouses, pants, coats, and accessories that I switched back and forth between over the week.

Staring into the door-long mirror that was actually placed on the back of my closet door, I finally pulled away from my millions of thoughts and scrunched up my face once seeing what I was wearing. The blouse was one of my favorites, to put it simply. It was an off white that went perfectly with the many coats and sashes I wore. Speaking of which, I was also wearing one of my few favorite coats; it was a deep royal purple; not violet, purple. It helped bring out my green eyes more. Plus I liked to stick out in a crowd – unless I was trying to hide from someone, then I would just flip the coat inside out and it would then be black instead of purple.

My hands smoothed out the few wrinkles in my blouse, slowly sliding down to undo the green sash and retie it. My expression turned back to the usual bored one once I gave up on worrying about what I looked like, and pulled my black curls out of the ponytail I had them in. The silky tresses fell down gently and settled just at my shoulder blades. Shaking out the few bumps that had formed from the small piece of leather that kept my hair up, I ran a hand through the curls, trying to get out any unnecessary tangles.

After a few grimaces from the knots that had formed over the day, I tied the bag of Beli to my sash tightly and went to go leave. The front was empty for other than me and the many objects that I sold. I locked the front door once making it out on the street, and turned to the west, already finding the sun making its descent. How long had I been staring off into space, into that mirror?

The sounds of the night rang in my ears once I turned the corner and came face to face with the many night "shops" and "bars" opening up their doors once again. A few waves and greetings were exchanged between me and a few others, but that was it. You either knew me, or you didn't.

The bar I was looking for, other known as "The Starstruck", had just opened their doors to the public for the night. How did I know this? The bar wasn't rowdy yet. Men were still trying to get drunk and women were in the back, putting on who-knows-what, getting ready to make some money. Of course there were no fights at "The Starstruck"; you even look like you were going to cause a scene, your ass was automatically kicked out by Henry, DJ, or me – it just depended on which of us could get to the man first.

"Yo!" My head snapped up from the floor to see the usual wise-old bartender who stood behind the counter, wiping a crystal clear, smiling in my direction. The few others in the bar didn't look up, too set on finishing their alcohol before the group came. "I was wondering when you were gonna show up, Faye."

I rolled my eyes at him. The actually bar that you sat at was pretty much empty for other than myself, some old guy, and the bartender.

"You are so predictable, DJ." A long dark red, thin-neck bottle was set in front of me. Again, he was so predictable. "Thanks," I muttered and pulled out the sand-tan cork from its spot at the bottle's opening. A sickly sweet smiling liquid suddenly hit my senses, and I visibly relaxed. Wine was, and always would be, the best thing that I ever tasted. It wasn't as strong as alcohol, yet not as weak as the wanna-be drinks that were sold to those who couldn't hold their liquor.

It was just right, and tasted pretty darn good too.

There I sat, alone in my corner of the bar, drinking at the age-old grape juice that would give me a familiar buzz and slightly flustered look. Soon after finishing half the bottle, I would place my Beli on the counter, wave a good bye and mumble something if the bar wasn't already too loud to let me hear myself think, and then stumble through tables and bodies, trying to get to my exit.

Of course, it took me around an hour and a half to do this because I liked to savor my alcohol.

"See ya, DJ. I'll see you same time tomorrow." I placed the correct amount of Beli from the small black bag onto the counter, and made my way to the door. The bar was only three-fourths full, but it was still quiet loud. That, plus the familiar buzz in my senses, mad me a bit uneasy for some reason.

I was used to leaving around this time, after half way through a bottle and out the door no later than two hours. Something made my stomach churn, though. I could only push away the feeling and continue on my way.

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"What was wrong, Grandma? What happened next?"

Faye was taken away from her train of thought, yet again, by her granddaughter. She gave a small playful scowl, and pinched the little girl's cheek softly so not to hurt her.

"What did I tell you last time about interrupting me?"

Mia leaned back in the chair again, placed a hand over her mouth and giggled embarrassedly.

"Sorry…"

Faye kept silent though, not knowing what to say next. The part of her story that was coming up was not meant to be heard by a little girl her age… What was she to do? It was an important part to what would be happening in the near future of her story.

Anne opened her eyes, once know remembering what was going to be said next. When Anne had been the young teenager she was when she heard the story, she had always known for her mother to be a pure, golden-white angel that helped anyone in need. But once she heard that certain part, and many other parts in her mother's story, that image was soon burning up in Hell's flames. Her mother wasn't the golden halo angel she had imaged. Anne glanced at the clock on the wall, helping come up with an excuse, and also needing to get going herself.

"Oh look at the time!" She said softly, not wanting to awake the sleeping baby she had in her arms. Mia, Faye, and Isaac were all slightly surprised by the sudden realization that Anne hadn't been asleep. "We have to go! Lord knows what will happen if we miss our boat ride…"

Mia groaned, closed the large book in her lap and sat it on the desk that her grandmother sat in. There were hugs and kisses exchanged quickly while a frantic Anne hurried to get her daughter and husband to the port to get to their boat ride over to the other side of the island that they lived on.

Faye waved to them and watched as they quickly walked down the grassy hill (Isaac had let Mia ride on her back), to the port, and loaded onto medium sized ferry-like boat.

Her wise-old green eyes strayed away from the glistening blue sea water and to the half-filled page in the small notebook she had. She gave a sigh, knowing that Mia would want to know what happens next, but there was no way for her to tell her until she was older, and knew of the things that were really out there.

Faye began to write again. Hopefully she would finish her memoir before her time came. And if she didn't finish it… maybe, somewhere out there, someone knew how to finish it for her.

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The streets were filled with the life of the night. Of course, I was only looking for a certain redhead who would be wearing pretty much nothing, and the certain corner of the bar she "worked" at that she would be standing at.

Mia was easy to point out. She was the one with the most men around her.

I sighed, shouting for all of them to scat, and they did. Mia didn't look pretty happy, but I could see a bag of Beli swinging back and forth behind her back. I shook my head at her, gave a sigh, and stood beside her.

There were a few more guys that came up, some asking to have a "good time" with me. That got with a black eye, a bloody nose, and probably a broken rib or two… okay fine, the rib thing is an exaggeration, but the rest is true.

As soon as there was a slow flash from the bar sign that hung above us, we made our way through the alleyway beside the bar and into the back door. There, Mia dropped off her "pay" for the night, and went to change. I waited patiently, mingled with a few of the other girls there, and gave a lazy wave and wink to the guy who counted to Beli. He was big, no not fat-big; I mean like…perfectly ripped body that every time he moved his muscles shifted his skin, big.

Mia was done before I knew it and pulled me into the front of the bar. This was the kind of bar that was the exact opposite of "The Starstruck". I pretty much hated it here, but the Beli we got off of bets was amazing.

Table upon table were filled with empty shot glasses and passed out men who were still caressing the bottle that made them the way they were. There were still those, though, who had either just started or could hold their liquor quite well. Mia immediately went to the table that was closest to us. One of the familiar drinkers was already on his ninth round. How long had we been waiting?

Amounts of Beli, curses, and incoherent words were being yelled out. How Mia and I figured out what they were saying was a bit of a mystery, but the redhead known as my Mia was already taking up slips and bags full of Beli. I sat not far away, making sure no one else was being a little-cheat or a bit too rowdy, but this table seemed to be pretty calm.

Suddenly, a hand grasped my shoulder, and I was forced to look at the greatly scarred face of some gray-haired stranger.

"I challenge you to a drinking contest."

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A/N: First Order of Business: Yes, I know, it's a bit boring of a chapter. To me, it's mostly a filler-chapter, but… it helps me get ready for the next chapter. Also, the next chapter WILL be out later tonight.

Second Order of Business: Sorry for not getting it out until now, though. School has been horrible with exam, after test, after project, after exam that I've been having this final week of the semester. BUT, I got awesome presents from my few Secret Santas. (The gifts include LOTS of chocolate, brown sugar vanilla lotion, LEGOS which I totally freaked out about and started making stuff in the middle of class with, and the sum of $15.

Third Order of Business: This is for anyone who is actually interested in helping me, but, I need a Beta Reader. I'm one of those people who has too much confident in their writing to go back and check for errors. Plus, I'm starting to get in a little hole of where I'm actually going to lead this story too. Like most of my stories, I didn't outline ANYTHING for the plot. Meaning, all I have is what's in my brain – which I will sooner or later forget. Plus, I like hearing things that people would like to see happen.

Fourth Order of Business: I would greatly like to thank and love those who have reviewed/alerted/favorite/etc on oMaM. It makes me so excited to hear from people who actually want to find out what happens in my story! Also, I had a question from a reviewer (which I already answered) but yes, this will eventually become an AcexOC fanfic. I'm not the type of person who does the whole "love at first sight thing". Blah; too cliché. I actually want to get WAY past the first few double-digit chapters before anything romantically starts happening. But, knowing me and being such a sucker with romance, it just depends.

That's all for now, folks!