Alright, here's these two. I've done them and Cao PixZhen Ji first because they all don't seem to get much love here.
"The one advantage to playing with fire⦠is that no one ever gets singed. It is the people who don't know how to play with it who get burned up." Oscar Wilde
She leaned her hip against her desk, cell phone against her ear. Her golden brown eyes stared out at the club from a window, bodies all pushing their way to where they wanted to go. With an affirmative sound, and a quick good bye, she flipped the phone shut. Taking a breath, and straightening all the wrinkles from her outfit, she walked out to the bar.
"Ms. Zhu Rong," one bartender said, setting a glass down he had been cleaning.
"I hate your facial hair, Zhang Liao," she hissed. He only rolled his dark brown eyes at her repetitive 'subtle' hints. Only to annoy her, he smoothed one of his thin inky mustaches and turned to a customer. It was her turn to roll her eyes. He was one of her better bartenders, but that wasn't why she enjoyed his company over the others. He was an honest man, who kept things calm. Always respectful to everybody, and holding his head in times when it did not due. Not to mention he was able to lay a man flat in one hit. She had always known she hadn't made a mistake with him. "Anyway, Lu Bu has my husband and they are on their way."
He nodded his head as he handed the young man his desired drink. "That is good. I did not know Lu Bu worked today."
"He does. Thanks again for letting Meng Hou use your tools Zhang Liao. I owe ya one." She ran a hand through her long platinum hair with a good long sigh, rolling her head to look out at the dance floor.
"It is no problem Ms. Zhu Rong. Though I do worry about you, if you don't mind me saying. It is bill time, and I have worked here long enough to know how you stress. I fear you will fall to the same fate as your ever beloved truck." He turned to her with a smile.
Zhu Rong didn't take her eyes off the dance floor. She never did like the entire bill paying process, it often getting confusing and her wild temper rearing its ugly head at the costs of things. Last time she had run herself sick, getting a rather gruesome rash that had ruined some of her favorite tops. But she knew she couldn't take time off, and she did not trust anybody else to pay the ever annoying but important bills. Shaking her head, she looked back at the bartender. "You're just imagining things. Now, pay attention to the customers." He sighed, but turned to face the new man.
She walked away from the bar and moved to the more relaxed part of the club. Tables were set up, groups of friends and couples filling the chairs. The music was almost deafened by the screams of the chattering people. She noticed the form of a usual walking down the stairs to the exit, his gold outfit making him an eye sore with his flaming brown mane of hair and beard. Zhu Rong hoped he was not being forced to leave. Although his sanity was questionable, he was a sweet man with good intentions. Always preaching about some religion and enlightenment to those who would listen, he had gotten drunk and stood up on a chair and started to preach for everybody to hear.
A man by the name Yuan Shao, another usual, had mocked the idea, resulting in a fight between the two drunken men. It involved, from what she had been told, chair legs, name calling, hair pulling, drunken gibberish, and some lady's shoes. Zhu Rong had been highly upset that she had missed that one. But now she only hoped that his visit here was still enjoyable. Turning her head from watching him leave she scanned the area again.
She spotted some more usuals, and made a mental note to tell Lu Bu, or any of the other security she found first, to be watchful when he finally showed up. It seemed that spring break had already arrived. Some of the college kids from neighboring towns liked to party here and also hated other 'local' schools with a passion. She noticed the looks some of the kids, like Cao Pi and Sun Quan were sharing and frowned at them both from her position. Yes, Lu Bu would have to be very careful. Hadn't there been a football game recently?
Her unhappy thoughts were interrupted by quick movement from the corner of her eye. Turning, she looked to see a new waitress dash away from a table. Frown deepening, she pushed herself away from the railing. The pretty woman, who for the life of her Zhu Rong could not name, had a frightened expression on as she quickly made her way through the small maze of tables. Her brown hair was pulled back into a bun, as customary, and her dress was wrinkled like somebody had grabbed the end.
Zhu Rong noticed a fat man standing up from the booth. He was very round, similar to the size of her husband. His face was twisted in a scowl, his flared out pitch-black beard adding to the affect. He stood with the surety of a sober man, making Zhu Rong's glare deepen. As he followed the girl, Diao Chan now that Zhu Rong thought about it, to the kitchen where she was making her way to, Zhu Rong put herself in his path.
Hands planted on her hips, a scowl on her once pleasant face, Zhu Rong stared down the fat man. "Diao Chan," she called, not taking her eyes off of him, "is this man bothering you?" The pretty waitress, a table away from Zhu Rong said yes. She had to say it twice, louder for Zhu Rong to hear, and whimpered when the man turned his glare back to her over Zhu Rongs shoulder. Zhu Rong's glare turned feral. "I refuse to put up with people who harass my workers. Sir," she spat out the title with venom, "you shall remove yourself from my club or I will have you forcibly removed possibly involving the law."
The man looked her up and down, sizing her up. Zhu Rong only glared. She could handle drunken fights, from school rivalries to fighting over whether some guys shirt was blue or black (she wouldn't have believed that being the reason for one of the bloodiest fights she had seen in her club if she hadn't of been there), but refused to see her employees harassed in any manner beyond a drunken complaint.
"Oh? And what is a hussy like you going to do to protect that whore?" the man said, sticking his chest and consequently his whole stomach out in an egotistical way. Zhu Rong raised an eyebrow, making a face of disgust as she glared.
"So then you shall not leave but admit to harassing my waitress?" She pulled a walkie talkie out from her belt. Pushing a button, she called for security to the dining section. The man on the other line who picked up, Lu Jin, another new addition, was slow, asking for reasons as he grunted to move. Zhu Rong, tired and angry, started throwing insults directed at both her security officers and the fat man in front of her. While the security officer started to move with more swiftness, the fat man got angry.
"How dare such a useless wench insult me!? And then be so impudent to try and throw me out of a club!" he bellowed. He grabbed Zhu Rong's upper arm. Zhu Rong, who had been itching to take a swing at the man since she had seen him, almost said thank you with a smile. Instead her trained fist met his nose. He really hadn't been much taller than her, making it a good solid hit. She felt the bone break under her knuckles.
He stumbled back, hand going to his now bloody face. Zhu Rong heard the gasps and then the reigning silence. A tension grew in the air, mostly created from the long time usuals that knew her. The man looked up with a pained glare. She met it with her own glare, far more practiced with her fiery temper. The man, who she later learned was a big business tycoon who thought himself godly, took a swing at her.
Zhu Rong wondered how sober he really was as she dodged the swing and retaliated with one of her own. He fell back into one of her tables, the group of people sitting there scattering as the table broke under the fat mans weight. Zhu Rong, noticing the security officer at the edge of the crowd, trying to find a way through, growled and stomped to the groaning man. Grabbing him by his hair, she tugged hard enough that, while some hair ripped, he got to his feet and stumbled after her as she pulled him to the doorway.
She could make out Lu Jin's screams and Diao Chan's mumblings as everybody with brains moved out of the way and pulled their drunken friends with them. She kicked open the door, noticing for the first time that it had started to rain outside. Happy that she lived in a small town, like she always was, she threw the fat man into the damp road. She couldn't have gotten away with this in any other town. She had no doubts about that.
The lights from a car entered her vision and the bright red Supra swerve and barely miss the fat man before braking and turning, probably leaving skid marks in the street. The decked out Supra was unmistakable, Lu Bu taking much of his pride in his speedy project that had taken up three years and counting. Zhu Rong could make out the shapes of him and her husband
Meng Hou sighed, though it couldn't be heard between Lu Bu's laughter and the music. Zhu Rong, his ever beautiful spitfire, glared from the car to the man in the street. Maybe it took years to finally learn how to handle the hellcat, or maybe it was because taxes were due, but she seemed to be throwing more people out than usual. Meng Hou resisted turning to Lu Bu to ask whether the college kids were on their break, since they always brought more bad then good. Instead he opened the door and slipped out.
"I'm going to go park," Lu Bu called out, and when the door shut the car backed up and turned quickly down to a parking spot. Meng Hou, covering his head with his hands, made his way over to his wife.
"Sweetie pie-"
"How come it took you and that brute so long to get here? You can't tell me there was traffic! You stupid men, all useless pigs the lot of you." She wagged her finger in his face. Meng Hou mentally sighed, noticing not for the first time the dark raccoon eyes appearing more so every day. Out from the club stumbled a security officer. Zhu Rong whirled around to face him, face in another dangerous scowl, yelling about useless men and the ever old 'if you want something done you have to do it yourself' line she so loved. Meng Hou rubbed the back of his head feeling a little sorry for the lad.
He looked around; he noticed the man trying to stand in the street, the way Lu Bu strolled towards them with the amused cocky grin of his, how people filtered back into the club, and the way Zhang Jiao continued his friendly banter with Zuo Ci while they smoked. The usuals, ever adapting and used to Zhu Rong-since she refused to bend and adapt to anybody else-continued on with their partying. They dragged with them those who still watched with slack jaws, explaining the customs and rules of her club.
Lu Bu stood next to her now, making a triangle between the security guard her and him. Both she and Lu Bu glared and scolded the man, making Meng Hou pity him even more. He turned, noticing a woman in a waitress outfit, watching it all with wide doe brown eyes. "Don't you worry none," he said, catching her attention. The way she jumped and watched the yelling he guessed she was the reason for the fight. "My darling won't have any trouble from this. I doubt that man'll come back here anymore. I've only met that Dong Zhou fellow a few times in my life, but he ain't willing to risk his easy life to have a battle with my sweetie pie. It's all good. You go wash up some, get a drink, relax them nerves of yours, and go on back to work. It's all over and done."
"Oh, ah, thank you." She bowed, and although she still seemed a little shaken, and took a glance back to Zhu Rong, who was now in Lu Jin's face, she made her way inside. Meng Hou gave a fatherly nod as the door shut before taking shelter under the doorway. He already knew the tools he needed to fix the truck were with Zhang Liao, but thought it would be better to wait for his wife. Although he would still get a scolding for standing around, it would be an easier anger to appease. His eyes watched his wife, trailing down to her ever luscious backside, and he couldn't stop the grin. Zhu Rong caught the lecherous grin when she whirled around, Meng Hou unable to hide it quickly enough. Ready for another lecture, he watched her stomp towards him with a red face.
I seem to like Dong Zhou as a villian... Anyway, I wanted to put in all the characters in the 'Other' section in DW. More importantly, I wanted to show how Meng Hou accepted and loved Zhu Rongs brash temper, and how he was used to it and how to live with it. Kind of like finding somebody perfect 'cause they aren't perfect type of deal. She also isn't the type to get all lovey dovey. Maybe cuddle on the couch during a movie at home, but not 'long walks on the beach under the moonlight after a candle lit dinner' type deal. And she's older, so she neither wants, needs, or expects that anymore. After marriage, the flaws come out, right? (Joking)
