1. New City—Okay, Where’s the Club?
Aurora Frisk finally got herself into too much trouble with too many perverted men and took her cue to dip out of Babalous. She had lived in the city of Babalous for just over two years—since she moved out at 17—and she liked it there, but it was time to move on. So, she did some job searching and landed a job as a barista in Chrisdonus, halfway across the country.
Her eyes gleamed with wonder as she drove her packed car into the city limits of Chridonus; another large city ripe for the picking. New place, new people, new hot men. All of her "friends" from Babalous had some beef with her anyway, so why wouldn't she be excited for the unknown? Everything was just the way she wanted it......... right?
Arriving at her new apartment, a bit more luxurious than what a 19-year-old would need, she quickly dropped all her stuff in the living room and sped right back to her car. Sitting in the drivers seat, she immediately typed into her gps, "Clubs near me." Not skipping a beat to get to the good stuff. Scrolling through the list, she paused at one that caught her eye: "The Good Life Club." The branding was on point. The mix of reds, blacks, and golds screamed for her attention.
"Oh, only 3 blocks away..." she mumbled to herself, "Let's go!"
Pulling into the parking lot, she saw that glorious branding, "The Good Life Club" in bold lettering on the red building. Yes, the good life indeed. She walked into the dimly lit building, filled with blue and purple hues—and a surprising amount of sunlight for a club. Then, the atmosphere hit her: a chorus of brilliant piano keys stringed together in a classical fashion, accompanied by a soft saxophone and a bass guitar. That's when she also took in the scene fully: tables set across the whole room, filled with scattered people. The building was far from crowded, but had a decent amount of people, and the bar counter only had one seat open.
"Okay... not what I was expecting." Aurora stood still with her head leaned back.
Thud! While she was frozen in the doorway, another man, looking down at his phone tried walking blind through the door, running right into Aurora. She barely caught her balance before faceplanting, only to turn around inches away from the face of a tall, toned man with golden hair and crisp-blue eyes.
"Oh, I'm so sorry miss! Are you okay?" He stated with wide eyes, placing a stabilizing hand on her shoulder. Wait, he put his hand on her shoulder? Bold.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" She quickly stated, losing herself in his deep eyes. She glanced at his gentle hand on her shoulder—perfect. She let out a slight smirk.
"Hey, I haven't seen you here before," to her shock, he put his other hand on her other shoulder and gently stepped away, giving her some space. His hands dropped from her shoulders, offering a handshake, "The name is Joseph, who might you be?"
"O- oh. Hi, I'm Aurora." She said with wide eyes, her smirk had faded to a blank face. She suddenly snapped, stepping aside for him to enter the building, "I just moved here, where's all the fun at in Chrisdonus?"
"Oh, you're already here! The Good Life is the hot spot for sure!" He said with a bright smile, as he began to walk towards the bar counter.
She followed him over, glancing across the full seats, darting her eyes back to the only empty bar stool between glances. Joseph began to pull out the remaining chair, but then he paused and looked around. "Oh, this is the only bar seat left, isn't it?" He pulled it out further and gestured for Aurora to sit in it.
"Oh- um, thanks. Where will you sit?" She slowly sat down, staring into his eye with a mask of concern.
He pushed the seat in for her, "Eh, I'll just sit by the window. Good meeting you!" Before a word could break through her shock of his audacity, he walked away and sat by himself at a two-chaired table by the window.
She starred at him across the room with her jaw dropped and brows tightened. "Hey miss, how are you doing?" A deep but soft voice came from the large man with arms the size of Aurora's head sitting next to her. "Don't recall seeing you here, this your first time?"
At the first sound of his voice Aurora's head snapped towards him and was immediately enveloped with the muscular structure of the man speaking.
"Oh hey... yes, it's my first time, could you help me?" She leaned in close to him, holding his arm softly.
With a blank side-eye, he peeled her hands off his arm with his free hand and slowly slid his stool a little further from her. "So... uh- um... How are you doing?" His eyes slowly drifted away from her and to the ceiling.
Jaw hanging open again, Aurora said, "I'm good. How are you?" Then she finally crossed her arms looking to down away from him.
"Hey miss!" The bartender broke the tension with a bright smile, "What can I get ya?"
Auroras eyes narrow and her brows clenched, "Give me the strongest thing you got." She continued to mumble, giving the massive muscular man a fiery side-eye. "I might need it with these guys..."
"Oh, you like it black! I gotcha, I gotcha." The handsome bartender smiled wider than his face .
"Er- yeah, sure." She agreed, somewhat puzzled.
She continued to stare at the wall behind the counter with a glare as she waited. "So... what's your name?" The muscle man slowly asked, leaning even further away from her, like she had a plague.
"Aurora. Not that you care." She pouted.
"Aurora?" He confirmed, sliding his stool slightly further from her, "I'm Abenigo."
The bartender walked up with two large cups, one filled with a dark red liquid, topped with blueberries and a lemon slice, he set in front of Abendigo. "Your kool-aid." Followed by the other cup filled with a hot brown drink set in front of Aurora, "and the strongest we have!"
W h a t ?
K o o l - a i d ? !
Aurora's disgusted gaze slowly moved from the glorified kool-aid to the strange 'strong drink' before her.
