The Shadow and the Flame (Nickolas/Open)

[Seraphina]

The was packed tonight. Most of the patrons were either on the dance floor or sitting at the tables drinking with friends, chatting with dates, or looking up potential hook ups. Seraphina watched them all from where she stood, leaning up against a wall near one of the more isolated corners of the establishment, crimson eyes looking over the crowds passively as people walked past her. So this was the new night club huh? She wasn't too impressed with it so far. It was by no fault the nightclubs fault. The place was pretty decent as far as nightclubs were, the music was good and the place looked pretty well designed from what she could see when she came in. It was her that was the problem. Seraphina was not a huge nightclub fan. While the solaris was pretty much a people person and loved to have fun she was not much of a dancer. Nightclubs were for people that liked to dance or for those looking for dates or at the very least one night stands, and Sera was none of those people. She was the kind of person who liked to drink and fight when she was out of the house. She already had a bar that she frequented in this city. But every once in awhile she liked to have a change of pace. It was then that she sometimes came to places like this, but it was usually when she wanted to listen to some music and people watch.

This was not one of those times. Still, when she saw the fliers saying a new nightclub was going to open here she felt curious enough to check it out. It wouldn't hurt she had thought. Going meant she would get a look at somewhere new and hey, sometimes when new clubs opened up that meant free drinks. Who could say no to free drinks? Not this girl, that was for sure. Now that she was there though, all of the enthusiasm had slowly died off. She had wandered around for about 20 minutes, tried out a few drinks which weren't too bad, and then spent the rest of the time here in this corner. Now she was bored. Sera hated being bored. But there wasn't much that she could do about it. She could try to make a new friend out of someone in this crowd but so far Sera found no one of interest to approach here. Besides, most of the people here would probably not indulge her anyway. The women here typically were already here with their other girl friends, so they had little interest in adding another girl in their circle, and the group of girls usually were all on the prowl for men. The guys were no different, if a guy approached a girl here they had only one thought in mind.

The girl sighed, it was a waste of time coming here tonight. It would be better to come back when she was in more of a mood for a place like this. At least then she could appreciate it better. There were better ways to waste her time tonight then at a club. Sera fiddled around with the pack of smokes in her pocket. Perhaps she should leave this place, have a quick smoke, and go for a walk till she could find something else to do. Sera pushed herself off the wall and started to head towards the exit. That idea sounded far more appealing to her than staying here and waiting for something more interesting to happen so she would do just that. The solaris pulled out the pack from her pocket and started to pull out a cig. Unfortunately she didn't pay attention to where she was going and bumped into someone in the process. The girl stumbled and dropped her pack when she collided with the stranger. “Crap...sorry.” she said, leaning down to pick up what she dropped. Talk about being clumsy.

[Deleted]

Nicholas stopped across the street from La Pesadilla, smiling at the line in front of the night club on its Opening Night. He had spent months with contractors and decorators, making sure that Pesadilla was not shorted on anything. Top of the line liquor, glasses, lighting, sound system, and POS sales systems were installed and thoroughly tested. Nicholas had also spent those months exhaustively interviewing for a General Manager, finally finding an older man who, while not "hip", knew the bar business inside and out. Nicholas and his GM knew that fancy gadgets were only a small part of the battle, having great employees was just as important. They had spent a solid two months interviewing for doormen, bartenders, and wait staff.

The red and blue neon sign advertising the club washed over Nicholas as he walked across the street. His black Italian suit making most of his body disappear into the night except for the crisp, white, button down shirt that seemed to glow in the neon light. The white shirt was a nice backdrop to the black diamond with the Royal Crest that Nicholas always wore. The silver stud in his left ear, and the large silver Rolex on his wrist glinted in the new one light as he stopped for a moment to talk to the doormen. Nicholas shook their hands, and made sure they both knew what to do and how to reach him if any problems came up.

He slipped between them and into the darkened club. The swirling and strobing lights in the dance floor and above the DJ's booth, highlighted the body's moving to the deep bass of the dance music the young DJ was playing. He walked over towards the bar, the only other place that had strong lights, stopping and talking with different tables and groups, playing the good host. He flicked his glance over to the swinging doors that led to the kitchen next door.

While he was distracted he walked right into one if his customers, making them both stumble. He silently cursed himself for an oaf as the girl apologized and bent over to pick up a pack of cigarettes he had made her drop. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her, his owners mask on.

"No, no. The problem was mine, Miss. I wasn't paying attention. I hope you aren't leaving already, then I wouldn't be able to buy you a drink as an apology. What are you drinking tonight?"

[Seraphina]

((Short post is short, sorry.))

Talk about being clumsy. Seraphina never really thought of herself as being a naturally clumsy person. She was by no means graceful, but she wasn't the type of girl that would trip on her own two feet. So when she accidentally bumped into someone here she felt even more foolish for it. Sure there was a lot of people here so accidents were bound to happen at some point, but it was her fault for not seeing where she was going in a place that she knew was crowded. Sera mentally cursed herself as she tried to quickly grab her cigarette pack so she could get out of the poor guy's way. She was sure the man had better things to deal with than her, and she wanted to get out for a bit of a breather before she too went about her business. That was the plan, but it seemed that the stranger had other ideas. Sera felt the man put his hand on her shoulder and apologize for the accident. The girl opened her mouth to say no it was her fault (because it probably was) but then he offered to buy her a drink as a way of apology.

Well damn, she didn't think this was going to happen. A smile graced the pale girl's lips at the sound of the offer. There was no way she was going to take the blame for this if she could get something out of it. The thing Sera liked better than booze was free booze. If he was willing to pay for it who was she to stop him? “Well, if you really want to buy me a drink I will gladly accept it.” she said. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that she had come to this place after all. She could end up with something from this encounter besides a drink, maybe she could make a friend too. This guy seemed friendly enough to just spend some time with. He didn't seem like some kind of creeper trying to get with a younger looking girl, or anything dangerous. The way he dressed meant he had some money too. Rich friends were useful to have at times. Sera wasn't the type to steal from friends but they always could be helpful if she ever found herself in a bind. “I'll take a martini if they have any. By the way, the name is Sera what's your name?”

[Deleted]

Nicholas forced a smile onto his face as Sera accepted his offer. She was a pretty little thing, that was for sure, but Nicholas had hoped to be able to focus on the club tonight. There were so many things that could go wrong with opening a regular business, let alone one that encouraged drinking and dancing. He wanted to make sure that nothing happened tonight to put a black mark on the face of his club. One fight, one bad song, one mistake in the kitchen was all that was needed to kill La Pesadilla before it even got a chance to thrive. But, that also meant taking time to shake hands and try to make as many people as happy as, including this girl. Nicholas extended his left arm towards the bar, to get Sera her martini.

"Very nice to meet you Sera. Im Nicholas and Im sure we could find you something at the bar."

In the few steps that it took them to get to the bar, Nicholas knew that while his staff was well trained, they were sinking fast. They were working fast, getting the drinks made correctly and getting them out fast, but there was nothing they could do against the onslaught that was opening night. They were keeping cool under pressure but it was the crowd that was worrying Nicholas, one upset customer would spread that angst like the plague.

Without looking at Sera, he ducked behind the bar to make her drink. As he was pulling down a martini glass, he picked up the phone next to the POS register and punched in the extension for the kitchen. As it was ringing, he grabbed a napkin and set the glass on the counter in front if Sera and gave her a little wink. He grabbed a shaker and set it in the counter when the kitchen finally picked up.

"April, it's Nicholas. The bar is backing up a bit, who's working the floor? Ok, can you spare Michael? Yea just to run drinks and try and keep people happy. Thanks."

As he was talking, Nicholas filled the shaker with the ice, absinthe, gin and vermouth. He held the phone up to his ear with his shoulder as he gave a vigorous shake to the drink. He dropped the phone back onto the base as he strained the martini into the glass and dropped an olive in. He slid the glass across the counter to Sera and gave her another smile.

"Sorry about that. Give that a try and see how you like it!"