Dean stood before his reflection in the mirror, fidgeting with his tie trying to get it just right, tonight was an important night for him and he'd decided to dress up a bit more than his usual attire.
Tonight was the grand opening of his new bar, Purgatory, and he wanted to give his patrons a decent first impression, he was expecting some big names to show tonight.
He'd given his brother a list of some well-known people to invite to the opening in hopes of getting investors, with the promise of free liquor of course.
He'd worked his ass off to get this place running from the ground up, with the help of his brother, and business partner Benny,
it hadn't been easy so Dean was eternally grateful for their help.
"We're ready when you are," Sam announced poking his head into the backroom, catching his brother's attention from his fussings. Dean turned to face Sam, who smiled brightly at him.
"Did you get the entertainment?" Dean questioned him, pulling the door open, Sam stepped aside to let Dean out of the room.
"I booked some real good entertainment for tonight," Sam answered patting Dean on the shoulder, giving him a knowing smile. Dean furrowed his brows in confusion at his brother.
"Relax, it's just waitstaff and some dancers," Sam chuckled elbowing Dean in the side, earning himself an elbowing in return as they exited the space between the backroom and bar.
Benny was behind the bar unpacking a crate of liquor and setting them up along the ornate shelves set against the mirror that took up the entirety of the wall behind the bar.
Dean noticed Benny had dressed up all snazzy, a blue and black satin vest over a black dress shirt and matching slacks, his hair gelled and styled.
"Lookin' good boss," Benny grinned as he looked up to see Dean and Sam approaching him, Dean smiled at the sincere compliment.
"You clean up pretty well yourself, Benny... Is everything in place for tonight?" Dean walked over to Benny and grabbed up a bottle of whiskey from within the crate, setting it on the bar.
"Yes'sir... Just getting the rest of the liquor from the back," Benny responded, tucking the crate under his arm before disappearing through a door behind the bar, into the storage room.
"Where's the waitstaff and... the dancers, Sam?" Dean questioned rounding on his brother, coming out from behind the bar onto the main floor.
"I set 'em up in the rooms upstairs, they're getting dressed and what not, should be down in five," Sam explained, nodding his head toward the stairwell set by the far back wall opposite of the bar.
"That's fine, we'll have ten to open the doors..." Dean wrung his hands, expectantly nervous and excited at the same time.
-_-
The front doors swung open as someone came bounding into the bar, Dean and Sam quickly turned to see Bobby, their long time family friend walking towards them.
"There's a load of people itchin' to get inside, boys... We ready for 'em?" Bobby huffed, turning expectantly to look at Dean.
"Let' em in," Dean announced as he glanced over to the stairwell, seeing a line of people starting to file their way down into the main floor. He nodded and waved the waitstaff towards the bar.
Bobby turned back around to prop open the double doors to the bar, allowing small groups of people in at a time, as to not overwhelm the waitresses and waiters. Benny reappeared just as the first patrons made their way to the bar.
Sam hurried over to help Benny behind the bar, leaving Dean in the middle of the room to greet people as they filed their way in, taking up the empty tables decorating the floor. The dancers began making their way down the stairs, smiling and flirting at the patrons.
That's when Dean's attention was drawn from greeting people to the stairs, towards the top that almost vanished into the upper level stood a man dressed in a black and red pinstripe vest, white dress shirt and black slacks.
His black hair was styled with gel, he had beautifully tanned skin and the most striking blue eyes Dean had ever seen. He felt like he couldn't breathe, he had been struck by such a gorgeous looking man.
"Dean! Come here, would ya'?" Sam called across the bar, shouting to be heard over the thick buzz of conversation amongst the patrons. Dean had to shake himself, quickly crossing the floor before the man reached the bottom of the stairwell.
-_-
The droning buzz of conversation had settled into a low thrum as most of the patrons had made their way into quiet corners of the room, leaving Dean and Sam with Benny to pour and serve drinks to those who remained at the bar.
A scrawny looking man by the name of Garth, along with his associates, a man named Ash and another, Ketch, sat along the bar talking among themselves. They'd been a few of the well-known people Dean had asked Sam to invite to his opening night.
He was hoping they would become investors for his bar, and potentially help him open more around town, possibly even the state. From the sounds of their conversation, they seemed really impressed by Purgatory.
Too bad Dean couldn't keep his eyes off that dancer, the one he had been watching throughout the night as he flitted from table to table, dancing for or otherwise flirting with the patrons scattered about the room.
The one with the raven black hair and eyes as blue as the ocean, who, every time he passed by the bar would smile or wink at Dean, who would smile in return and quickly frown or clear his throat when Sam would catch him staring.
-_-
"Would you quit looking at that man like you wanna eat him and just go ask his name already?" Benny whispered to Dean when they had their backs turned to the bar, low enough that only Dean could hear him.
"I can't do that... Not here, not now..." Dean hissed, side-eyeing Benny as he focused on making a gin rickey for himself, telling himself it was to calm his nerves.
"No, but it won't hurt to after... We can shut down early, tell everyone this was some big ploy to get returning patrons," Benny offered with a shrug.
Dean sincerely appreciated Benny, for knowing Dean and not judging him for being attracted to women and men.
He and Sam were the only people in the world who knew Dean enjoyed the company of both sexes, and they fully accepted him even if he didn't quite understand why he was attracted to both.
"I couldn't do that..." Dean waved a dismissive hand, gulping down half his drink as he turned around to look out across the bar, watching the people enjoying themselves.
"I mean, you could, being the boss and all. It is your bar," Benny said matter-of-factly, bumping his shoulder against Dean's. Dean quirked up an eyebrow at him, shaking his head.
-_-
"We made a killing tonight, boss... And that Garth fella left his business card for ya'," Benny announced excitedly, counting out piles of cash on the bar. Sam was cleaning up the empty liquor bottles off the shelf behind him.
"That's great, I'll be sure to get in touch with him... Hey Sam, are those dancers still upstairs?" Dean questioned as he approached the bar, having locked up after Bobby had left.
"They should be, I told 'em they could have some drinks after workin' so hard tonight..." Sam answered with a shrug, not bothering to turn around from his task.
Without another word or second thought, Dean hurriedly made his way up the stairwell, stopping on the landing when he reached the first door on the upper level. Pausing momentarily before knocking.
The door swung open, revealing the male dancer from earlier, he had removed his vest and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to show off his toned muscular arms. Dean had half expected one of the women to answer the door.
"You must be Dean... What can I do for you, sir?" the man's voice was low and rough, yet his eyes were soft and even more blue now that Dean was standing so close to him.
"I wanted to get your name, you obviously know mine..." Dean answered, trying to ignore the stammer in his voice.
"Castiel, nice to properly meet you," Castiel smiled sweetly, stepping aside as he opened the door wider, as if he assumed Dean wanted to come inside.
"Where are the other dancers?" Dean noticed the room behind Castiel was empty, he had expected the others to be gathered together, sharing the drinks his brother had presumably sent up.
"In the other room, sir... I was given my own for privacy," Castiel answered with a small shrug. Dean frowned slightly, wondering why Castiel hadn't joined the others.
"May I ask why you're not celebrating a job well done with them?" Dean followed Castiel into room, letting the door swing shut behind them. Castiel took up a chair in front of a vanity by the door, Dean leaned against the doorframe.
"Oh, I'm not much of a drinker..." Castiel insisted turning his eyes up to look at Dean's face, taking in his features, the solid lines of his jaw and his emerald green eyes.
He took note of the suit Dean wore, tan waistcoat over a white dress shirt, brown vest and tan slacks. The man looked real good, no doubt having dressed up for the night. Castiel wondered what he looked like underneath the neat clothes.
"Well, would you humor me in sharing a drink? In honor of opening my bar, of course..." Dean questioned, the corner of his mouth tilting into a smirk. Castiel couldn't help wonder how that mouth would feel against his own.
"I don't suppose it would hurt, sure," Castiel answered standing to his feet, he moved past Dean as they left the room and made their way down the stairs.
Dean followed Castiel across the room to the bar, Sam and Benny were nowhere in sight. Dean figured they must have migrated into the backroom, Dean's office. He wondered for a moment if they'd gone home for the night.
"So, what's your poison?" Dean asked stepping behind the bar, turning to look at the mostly empty liquor shelf. There were a couple half empty bottles of whisky and vodka, among them a single, unopened bottle of gin.
"I'll have what you're having," Castiel grinned as he took up the seat at the very end of the bar, eyes on Dean's reflection in the big mirror behind the bar. Dean turned to face him, holding up a bottle of whisky and two shot glasses.