After Work [Grace]

[pine]

Work was tough that day. No one's computers worked. People were insubordinate left and right. Luke usually commanded respect , but today he was a bit distracted. he was contacted by a private investigator he had hired. His family still didn't know his whereabouts, but they were in Canada.

The thought scared Luke. He wasn't even sure if these people were really his family. They said they weren't having financial troubles anymore, but they waited until he was successful to find him. Why not attempt to find him when he turned eighteen? it was all so confusing to him.

he hoped in his sports car. Going home to a empty house didn't appeal to him. he just drove and when he saw those neon lights shining in the window, he pulled over. he took off his tie. he was already in black slacks, black shoes, a shiny purple shirt, and a black blazer.

Luke held the door and smiled at a group of young women who made their way into the bar. The smiled and waved and winked. Luke just nodded and made his way to the bar.

Bud, please. Thanks.

The bottle slid over to him and he took a sip. A simple good beer always hit the spot. He wrapped his hands around it and closed his eyes. He just let his mind wander. He concentrated on the cold wet of the glass on his hands. He concentrated on the warmth of the air around him, on the aroma of sweat and too much cologne. He opened his eyes and ran his hands through his tousled hair. He had been doing that a lot today, and he was afraid it was going to become a habit.

His blue eyes scanned the crowd and saw what humanity had becomes. sweaty mobs of men and woman rubbing against each other. Luke hated things like that. He liked dancing, and he wasn't bad at it, but this was not dancing.

Luke's cell phone vibrated against his leg. He leaned over and pulled it out of his pocket. It was his secretary. She probably had a question she should already know the answer too. Luke silenced it and slipped it back in his pocket. No calls tonight. He was busy.

[grace]

Sitting in the back of the taxi, Grace pulled out her compact mirror and surveyed herself in it carefully. Her long, dark hair flowed effortlessly over her shoulders and her makeup looked flawless. Yet despite these facts, she couldn’t help but to feel ugly. Ugly on the outside but, most importantly, ugly on the inside. Here she was again- another day, another night out- a night out which would invariably lead to jumping into bed with some stranger she had met on the dance floor. It was a bad way to live, Grace knew that and she was as disgusted as anybody could be with her lifestyle, but yet she couldn’t stop herself. It was addictive- those few hours of feeling that somebody wanted her, even if it was only for sex.

It was almost like a vicious cycle as the more Grace slept around, the more worthless she felt and she made up for this feeling by sleeping with yet another guy. In addition, the more she screwed around, the more heartbreakingly difficult she made it for herself to find anyone who could actually love her. Who after all wanted a girl who had been to bed with half the town? She was damaged goods, plain and simple.

As the taxi pulled up outside the bar, Grace put away her mirror and took a note from her purse, handing it to the driver before teetering carefully out of the cab in her short dress and skyscraper heels. She took a deep breath of the cold night’s air and headed confidently towards the entrance, past the bouncers and into the bar. She gave sultry smiles to a few guys who passed her, eyeing up who was about tonight. She always found herself sinking a little inside as she noticed past conquests- guys who had slept with her and then moved onto the next girl, having absolutely no care for sticking with Grace past the one night.

No-one would guess it bothered her though, the super confident exterior did a good job in hiding all of Grace’s inner feelings. She showed the world a happy-go-lucky, strong and fun filled girl and left the broken, damaged and scared one shut firmly away. Getting a mixture of dirty looks and pervy gazes as she wandered across the dance floor, Grace spotted somebody she’d never seen before over by the bar. He was looking pretty good looking from here as well. Deciding she could do with a drink anyway, Grace headed over, placing herself at the bar a few feet away from the guy.

If Grace thought he looked good from a distance, she certainly wasn’t disappointed when she saw him close up. She made sure not to come across too keen, ordering herself a cocktail before turning to the mystery hottie. ”Hey” she smiled sexily, picking up the cocktail from the bar and running her finger around the glass provocatively. ”I haven’t seen you about before”

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