Was I hallucinating? I wasn't sure. The Persian beauty across the bar from me rolled her at me and mouthed 'shoot me' as she waved off another drunk man. I flashed her an amused smile and mimed shooting her with my finger while mouthing 'bang'. She shot her drink out of her nose as she tried not to laugh. I took a few seconds to really look at her. She had perfectly flawless carmel colored skin. Her eyes were a rich cinnamon color and her features were delicate and pixie like, making her seem more ethereal. Her hair hung loose down past her shoulders in thick cascading waves of raven black. Her lips were full, plump and begging to be kissed senseless.
I smirked finding it endearing that I could make her laugh. I downed the last of my whiskey sour and made my way towards her. I leaned on the counter next to her and flashed my gun at the guy that was trying to touch her hair. He glanced at my gun and scurried away as fast as he could in the drunken crowd like a cockroach scurrying away when the light came on.
Panic stirred as I took in the woman's scent, an intoxicating blend of clove, cinnamon and cayenne with an undertone of honey and fresh cream. It suited her well. She smiled up at me and spoke in an exotic accent. "Did you seriously just threaten to shoot him for real? You are encourageable."
"Maybe. But it eliminated my competition." I gave her a cocky smirk.
"Flash it at the bar tender. See if he finally pays attention to this end of the bar." She said and I chuckled.
"For that you need to flash something else." I said and pulled a hundred dollar bill from my wallet and raised it to eye level while whistling at the bar tender. I placed the bill on top of my wallet on the counter when he made his way towards us. "I'd like to open a tab. I'll have another whiskey sour and...." I looked at the woman expectantly.
"Another Shirley Temple please." She said with a polite smile.
"I'm Devin by the way." I said offering her my hand. She took it and I felt a warm relaxation spread through my entire body. I knew in that moment that no other woman would ever compare to her. I finally understood Jasper on a fundamental level. His depth of passion for Trice and his need to have her at his side. I knew in that moment that I would burn the world to ash if she merely asked it of me. I was hers. Irrevocable and undeniably hers.
"Jasmine. It is a pleasure to meet you." She smiled warmly as the bar tender brought our drinks. I returned the smile as I took a sip of my drink.
"So Jasmine, what brings you out on the town tonight?" I asked unable to walk away from the interaction.
"Girls night." She said motioning to a group of about ten girls that were chatting and giggling as they drank away their troubles without a care in the world. Almost all of them were intoxicated. The only one who wasn't was a small bespectacled girl who seemed to be shy and quiet and appeared to want to be anywhere else. "What about you?"
"Bachelor party." I motion to the large group of fifteen guys that were all chanting chug in unison. "I dipped out when they started placing bets on how many bottles of hot sauce the groom could chug consecutively." Jasmine smothered a laugh.
"At least he isn't seeing how many strippers he can lift." She said in amusement.
"About eight if they're sitting on a bench. But that's just women in general." I smirked. "His bride has seven sisters."
"Oh..... I guess he already found out how many women he can lift." She laughed. Jasmine's laugh was just as beautiful as she was.
"Yeah it's kind of tradition.... Sort of..." I said with a small smile. "When a man in my family intends to ask for another man's daughter in marriage he must first preform a feat of great physical strength to show his worthiness of the woman in question."
"And if a woman wants to join your family? Must she also prove her worthiness through physical strength?"
"She'll have to hear 'why? WHY? You can do so much better!' from my family in regards to the man in question... They're mostly joking though." She giggled and the sound reminded me of a babbling Brook. We continued to talk until Jasper vomited all over the poor waitress who screamed.
At that exact moment one of her friends was trying to climb into the massive five hundred gallon fish tank that served as a partition between the regular riffraff and the VIP section where my friends were profusely apologizing and attempting to clean up the mess while my ever clueless little brother chugged an entire pitcher of beer. The shy girl from Jasmine's group arrived and told her to close their tabs because they were being kicked out.
"I'm sorry... I have to go.... It seems that my friends have had quite enough fun for today." Jasmine said apologetically before rushing through closing her friends tabs. I handed my card to the bar tender and told him to add her tab to mine and close both out before pulling out two hundred dollars and stopping the disgusted waitress.
"Here..... As an apology for the trouble. We'll be leaving now. Can I get my brother's bill please?" I said with an apologetic tone. Before I could finish clearing my brother's tab Jasmine had disappeared into the night. I felt hollow and alone, and for the first time in my life it terrified me.