InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Ahoy!!"

james dean. (aidansullivan) wrote in cali_sl_rp,
@ 2008-09-12 21:48:00

Current mood:

confused

Who: Aidan and Sophie
When: Friday night
Where: S Bar; Los Angeles
Open: Go for it

After what felt like an eternity away from Solstice, the core of his existence, Aidan finally returned. What he imagined was going to be a bittersweet reunion between himself and his employees turned into screaming matches left and right, and it wasn't long before he was locked away in his office, contemplating lighting the match that would send the place crumbling to the ground. Most of the employees were pitting him against the others, stating what all had transpired while he was away. And the recent loss of quite a few people had him reeling, since their positions had yet to be filled, and he made it clear that he wanted that done immediately. Hours upon hours were spent sorting through various portfolios of potential employees until he thought for sure he was going to explode. Just as he was finishing up, his phone rang, and that old familiar voice was calling out to him in a jumbled mess of drunken slurs.

The parts that he could understand were seemingly the only important things he needed to hear anyway. Brooke needed him to come to S Bar, she was in another fight with Brady because he was insisting on making her jealous with Sophie. Sophie? He almost questioned it, but then remembered that Brooke was too inebriated to even know what it was that she was saying in the first place. Making a call to ensure that his sister was okay with the kids, he set off for S Bar, gritting his teeth the entire way. It was one place that he'd never gone to, and he wasn't too proud to say that he never wanted to. Not that he only went to Solstice, because he proved that to be false quite a few times. Stepping in through the doors, his eyes darted around through the crowd, trying to pinpoint Brooke. When he found her, his arms went around her, tugging her away from the person she was dancing with to announce that he'd arrived like she asked him to. She frantically pointed to the bar, and his eyes locked directly on Sophie, who was leaning over to engage in what looked to be something unprofessional. He didn't care to analyze it.

Tongue rested on the base of his lower lip as he approached the bar, hands shoved into his pockets. A crooked grin was on his lips while he thought over the prospects of turning into an asshole right there in front of everyone, or just waiting it out. So he moved in against the counter, hands pressing firm for balance. "Funny how Los Angeles looks nothing like Boston right about now, isn't it." With a loud clearing of his throat, his hand shot out so that he could point. "Get me a Corona and then kindly tell me why the fuck you quit and left Solstice in a fucking frenzy .. if you're not even in Boston."

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heroin_chic
2008-09-12 10:28 pm UTC (link)

Aidan was just being silly. It wasn't unprofessional to deal drugs while you're at work. And while it was "frowned upon" it certainly wasn't explicately banned in the thick set of guidelines her boss banged her over the head with. She was leaning over the bar, one hand sliding over a vial of coke, the other one, taking the small roll of bills her customer offered up. Surprisingly, she wasn't high (part of her was waiting for Brady) -- and on a Friday night, this spoke fuckin' volumes. Because Friday nights, they were chaotic to stay the least. She normally did almost a gram before coming in to keep up with the rapid pace; the constant stream of customers barking orders, the attitude that all of her co-workers seemed to give her without any honest reason to back it up. The money was good, but on nights like this one, she missed Solstice so much that it hurt. The frenzy was quietly controlled, and there weren't any asshole males trying to cop a feel. But most of all (and best of all) Aidan was always there to oversee things. His presence is what kept her there, but ironically, what chased her away.

Brooke and her crew were another reason she stuck around. They came in three, four, hell, five times a week. They were always rowdy, and always tipped well. Not to mention, that's when she saw Brady the most; her newest partner-in-crime. They were using each other. For sex, for cocaine, to fill the void of being alone, to make the sting of loving someone they just COULD NOT have less intense. Both of 'em knew it, neither one would admit it. Sophie quickly lined up a row of shots, filling them up before sending them on her way, her hazel eyes scanning the hoards of people milling around, looking for Brady, and didn't see Aidan. Figures. The second you stop watching your back, that's when someone knifes you in it.

The shock of seeing Aidan rendered her completely speechless, and slackjawed. It felt like falling through thin ice without knowing how to swim. Nearly dropping the bottle of Cuevo, she outright turned away from him, avoiding his gaze, unable to take the burn of his accusations. Quickly opening up a Corona, she slid it his way, before yanking on the belt loop of one of the few coworkers who bothered being civil.

"Lex, I'm taking five. I'll be back." Without a second look at Aidan, she popped up the bar entrance, shoving through the crowd towards the back of the place.

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aidansullivan
2008-09-12 10:57 pm UTC (link)

The snub that he received in response to what he had to say had him gripping the neck of the bottle, tossing some of the icy cold liquid back before he even had a chance to think about it. A Corona wasn't what he really wanted, but it was comfortable. It was like his safety net, protecting him from anything else that he might want to indulge in. And the scene that he witnessed moments prior, Sophie sliding a vial of coke over like it was candy, had him shaking his head in disbelief. Thoughts swarmed him, making him second guess her, having him wonder if she ever sold coke out of Solstice, and how often she went about it. He'd like to believe that she didn't do that to him, because in a perfect world, she wouldn't have. But he knew better than to think anything about Sophie, or the world she lived in, was anything even remotely close to perfect.

Stepping away from the counter, his eyes latched onto Brooke once more, knowing what kind of a drunken mess she was, but not having the patience to tend to it. Seeing that she was draped around Chloe and Dylan, it brought him a few seconds of relief, and time to push through the crowd and directly to the back. There were no clear answers as to why he felt the need to follow her back there, to push her into answering the questions that he desperately wanted answers to. The hand that held the Corona bursted the door open, the night air smacking him in the face as if to wake him up. It didn't work.

Letting the door close behind him, his body positioned up against it, like it was his goal to keep her from darting back inside without notice. "You could have just answered my questions .. you didn't have to go running like a coward. Obviously you're not in Boston like you said you would be. Obviously you have another job that's not Solstice. You could have just said that, you know."

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heroin_chic
2008-09-12 11:21 pm UTC (link)

Sophie was used to running. It was comfortable to her, and if that made her a coward so be it, slap a bright red "C" square on her chest. Her decision to leave Solstice was quite possibly, the best one she'd ever made, even if she'd gone about it the wrong way. It was almost torture, coming into work day after day. Talking to Aidan, joking around with him, feeling the undeniable connection they shared drawing them together -- only for him to say good night and go home to his family. He was the one that opened up her wounds and unfortunately, the only one that could really heal them up. Adultery wasn't never her sin of choice, and despite her feelings, she wasn't willing to be the cause of a broken home. It was a tune she knew waaay to well, one that no one should have to listen to. Whether he believed her or not; because how many people said this very phrase -- it hurt her a lot more to lie, than it hurt him.

She stormed towards the back of the bar, pushing aside anything that got in her way; knowing he was following her, but silently praying he'd lose sight of her, again. Part of her was furious with Brooke for blowing her cover, leaving her naked and vulnerable. The other part was angry with Aidan. Why couldn't he just leave it alone? Why did he have to come find her? He had a wife and kids, and her drama wasn't worth it. The night air felt cool against the thin film of sweat coating her skin, but did nothing to calm the lit up endings of her nerves. Lighting a cigarette, she glanced over her shoulder at him guarding the door, snorting in amusement. First time for everything, someone wanting to keep her from getting away. There were a hundred things she wanted to say to him, and she grappled with the right thing to say after seeing him for so long. He looked good, and when Sophie finally turned around, her arms automatically crossed over her chest, paranoid he could hear the heartbeat slamming against her ribcage.

The casual way he said it. Like her walking outta Solstice was an easy decision, in par with deciding what to wear is what irked her, it brought her out of shell, forcing her to bare her insides. "No I couldn't have. Don't you fucking get it?" Inhaling deeply on the cigarette she bit her lower lip, glancing away, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "I all but tell you I have feelings for you, and nothing. I tell you I LOVE YOU, and you want to send me to an NA meeting. I tell you I want to be with you, and nothing. You're the one who's a coward. You can't ignore it, and act like it never happened."

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aidansullivan
2008-09-12 11:38 pm UTC (link)

The Corona was finished off and the empty bottle was quickly discarded into the nearby dumpster. Digging into his pocket for his Zippo, he moved the cigarette from behind his ear and lit it up, letting the smoke swirl around him like a thick grey haze in the night air. It was with a blank stare that he took a step back, his head moving from side to side in an obvious effort to get his neck to crack. With the first and second pop, he felt a little bit at ease, but that still didn't take care of the problem that she'd just made him face whether he wanted to or not.

While he thought it over, which took him precisely three and a half minutes as he let it marinate, he focused purely on the cigarette and nothing else. To her, it may have appeared that he was ignoring her. To him, he was thinking it over, taking it all in very carefully. When he spoke, it was through a cleared throat, the cigarette in the corner of his mouth. "You don't love me." It was a cold, hard statement, one that he felt to be nothing but the truth. Finishing off the rest of the nicotine, he tossed the remains of it off near the dumpster and turned back to glare at her.

"You always have had feelings for me, and I had them for you. It was the heroin that we were shooting into our veins like it was fucking water, Sophie. What you claim is love, isn't love. You're all fucked up again, and I can see that. I'm not right there with you this time, I really don't want to be. You're on your own now, and maybe that's your problem. I don't know for sure." A step back was all he needed, like he was trying to build the gap between them, making it less awkward for himself. "We can never be together and you know that. One, I don't love you. Two, I don't think I could love you. Three, I'm a married man .. with twins on the way. Four .. don't call me a fucking coward. If you wanted a chance with me, you had it a long time ago. It's too little too late."

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heroin_chic
2008-09-13 12:08 am UTC (link)

"You don't love me." She looked away from him and grimaced, as if it physically hurt her to hear him say those words. And in a way, it did. Her took her feelings, the most honest ones she ever had, threw them back in her face; ground up in a mangled heap. What did he expect her to do with them? Choke them back down with a fuckin' smile on her face? That's what she'd been doing, and she was tired of it. It's exhausting swallowing your heart on a daily basis, but Aidan didn't seem to get that, and if part of him did, he certainly didn't seem to care. She sucked back the last charge of nicotine, and tossed the dead cigarette away, looking everywhere but him, as he talked. At the week old graffiti scrawled on the brick, at the dim light casting their shadows along the cracked asphalt. Sophie didn't want to look at him, if she did, and saw pity in his dark blue eyes, she'd crack into a million goddamn pieces. And he didn't want to be the one to clean them up.

Sophie knew he didn't love her, she wasn't stupid. All she wanted was validation, for him to acknowledge how she felt, instead of tossing it aside like day old trash that he couldn't tolerate the smell of anymore. And that's what hurt. It fuckin' crashed into her heart like a three car pile up, and she was still reeling, completely unequipped for this sort of break. Her chin rose and she stared at him for a few moments, lips pressed together. When she finally spoke, her voice quavered a bit, striving for control. "Fuck you, Aidan. Don't throw my feelings back in my face like they don't matter. Like they're a nuisance you can't be bothered with. So I'm an addict, so I'm the furthest thing from perfect." She got her bearings and she stepped up, shoving him with her hand. "You know me. I wasn't fucked up when I told you, and I'm not fucked up now. You don't love me, fine. But don't trash my feelings for you. Don't make them insignificant, when they're the only honest and true thing I've got."

When she stepped away, she was breathing heavy, angrily swiping at the streams of tears that had unknowingly started flowing. "Why couldn't you love me? What is just so repulsive you couldn't even conceive loving me?" She quieted down, and she took back that step, making up with it for three more. Her hand fell on his shoulder before sliding to grip the collar of his shirt. If she was pleading, she didn't care how pathetic it was. Sophie was spilling her guts, and that was never a pretty thing. "We're the same." It was murmured right before she brushed her lips against his. Hesitant at first, and then with more pressure as her mouth covered his.

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aidansullivan
2008-09-13 12:20 am UTC (link)

The baring of her soul really meant nothing to him at that point, since it wasn't anything that he wanted to hear. Her window of opportunities had long been closed, by him, and he wasn't too interested in opening it back up. A sober mind was what kept him going, and to see her still stuck in the same drug induced rut is what had him staying fifty feet back at all times. He had enough faith in himself to keep away from those demons, but he saw her being eaten alive by it. What he once thought was the most beautiful thing in the world, her shooting up, was now poisonous to him, almost as if it'd make him blind just by looking at it.

"I'm not trashing your feelings, I'm trying to sort them out for you. I want to tell you all sorts of things, like you're .. better than that." His hand waved in her direction, not outright naming her affliction, but giving enough of a hint so that she'd know he was referring to her habitual drug use. "It's different for me now. I used to think that you were the most beautiful person in the world, and now it's like you're diseased." Brows furrowed together, holding tightly in that position, like it pained him to speak the truth.

He'd turned to head back in when he felt her gripping his shirt. One hand instinctively lifted to tug her wrist away but she was already against him, her mouth to his, and he reciprocated for merely two seconds before firmly pushing her back and away from him. "We're not the same anymore. You don't even know who I am, and that .. well, I guess that's something that I have to deal with." Clearing his throat, he pulled the door open, leaning against it. "I heard you have another partner-in-crime now, so I don't see why I'm such a big fucking deal to you these days. I'm clean, I'm going to stay that way. Don't try to fuck it up." As he said it, he let the door close behind him and went off in search of Brooke, wondering what kind of shenanigans she'd managed to get herself into while he was outside.

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