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Post by Eliot Quinn on Aug 22, 2015 1:32:06 GMT
Eliot was having a great week at work. He'd brought in a new corporate client, came to a settlement for another, brought the soon to be ex-wife of one of his personal clients, and gotten another off on a convoluted assault charge on a technicality. Most of the time, Eliot dealt with corporations. He made sure that their liabilities were covered and advised them on moves to make, he represented them in any hearings they were involved in and protected them against lawsuits and government legislation. But in turn, those who served on Boards of Directors and who had gotten to know him personally often retained him for very specific and very personal needs. Ones that he was all too happy to assist with for an extraordinary fee.
So he was celebrating. He'd all but cleared out the VIP section of one of the trendier Upper West Side nightclubs and had invited a few of his closest associates. Throughout the night, depending on what women caught their eye on the main floor, they would invite them up to dazzle them with bottle service and some attention. He sipped on his scotch and surveyed the crowd, checking his watch to see where Brandon Finn might be. The heir to Finn Industries had become one of his best and most reliable drinking buddies and wingmen and there were two blondes at a table nearby that he thought might suit both of their tastes, perhaps even enough to sway Brandon off of his treacherous road to monogamy and boredom.
One of the cocktail waitresses brought him a fresh drink, and he grinned at her, leaning in near her ear to ask her what time she got off of work before dropping a handsome tip on her tray.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 22, 2015 18:52:55 GMT
It had taken several arguments, a few dozen apologies, and a compromise to spend more time at home with Amber, but she had finally agreed to join he and Eliot out on a night on the town. It had been something that they had made part of their adolescence together and he had been eager to involve her in the part of his adult life that still included late night parties. Brandon hadn't meant to have called her life boring, and he was even sorry for thinking that it was. He justified the thoughts by assuming that things had been dramatically different for her ever since moving out to California and later coming back. She had become a different person, and according to their fight the other night, she had seen that he had grown too.
But, he had added, not too grown to still find himself taking up Eliot's offer to come out. Brandon had let his friend know that he was going to be bringing Amber, but part of him had still questioned whether or not she had been serious about joining the two men on their next night out. He had been pleasantly surprised when she had agreed.
He tried to remember what it had been like to have her out partying with him and had grinned at the memory. He just wasn't sure how much things were going to have changed, especially considering the fact that he was sure that his behavior in these situations hadn't. Figuring that having Amber be part of the evening was really going to change anything too much, he conceded that he hadn't been doing anything that he felt needed to be corrected now that his girlfriend was in attendance. He had been having an easier time than expected adjusting to thinking of her in those terms - though he wasn't sure he was at the point where he could say them out loud without feeling like a complete idiot. There were still a lot of things to get used to about this situation.
Spotting Eliot in the VIP section, where Brandon had assumed he would be, he took hold of Amber's hand and led her over to his friend. "Looks like you're already well on your way to make trouble," he commented to Eliot.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 22, 2015 19:48:44 GMT
Amber had to admit her biggest issue was with Eliot. Because other than that, when she'd taken that factor out entirely, she'd been a bit excited. Like old times, she'd taken painstaking care in getting ready that night - picking a dress that she thought showed just the right amount of skin for such an occasion. As teenagers, half of the fun of going out with Brandon, or rather, where she knew Brandon was going to be - was because it turned into a game. How much did she drink, who did she dance with, who did she let buy her a drink until he decided that she was coming home with him. Some nights they'd go the entire time not actually speaking a word to each other, and she'd still end up stumbling into the Penthouse in a race to see who could undress who first. Things were different now, of course - her hand in his told her that. Because now Brandon was her - well, boyfriend seemed like an awfully juvenile word to apply to what they were, but it was the only one the dictionary provided, she supposed.
She smiled at Brandon, even as she was led over to Eliot.
Eliot's smirk broadened when Brandon approached. It wasn't until he recognized the blonde in tow that it faltered for a moment. "Amber, you actually came," he greeted, nodding at her before clasping a hand on Brandon's shoulder. "I'm glad your here, I could use your help with a couple of things," he grinned, glancing over his shoulder at the two women he'd been eying earlier in the evening.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 22, 2015 20:09:50 GMT
Brandon laughed when he caught sight of the two women Eliot was glancing at. "No, you definitely couldn't get their attention without me," he nodded, smirking at his friend. The more he and Eliot had started building their routine of nightclub and bar one after another, the more they had slid into the routine of the two of them flirting with whatever women they identified as being suitable for that evening. He had figured that even if he couldn't take any of the women home with him for the evening, it didn't mean that he couldn't flirt with them and put in a good word for his friend. It was just a game, he figured.
Looking at Amber he realized that he couldn't just abandon her here while they went off to flirt with two unsuspecting women. Unless she was okay with it. He hadn't thought this far ahead into what the evening was actually going to unfold into. It was more difficult to fall back into their routine than he had expected, now that Amber was here at least. "Though something tells me they're not going anywhere for a while and I could use a drink first."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 22, 2015 20:30:49 GMT
Eliot eyed Brandon for a moment, brow furrowing briefly. "Right then," he flagged down a waitress. "Your best single malt for my friend here and, Amber - let me guess - a Cosmopolitan. Like your magazine."
Amber glanced up, plastering on a smile before turning to the waitress. "I'll take a dry gin martini, three olives. And I work for Glamour, Quinn," she nodded. She glanced between both men for a moment before looking past Eliot at the two women they'd been discussing and she came to a realization. She wasn't stupid, she knew that women would throw themselves at Brandon. She hardly blamed them. It was a bit different to come to the realization that to a degree, he might have been entertaining them a bit. She wanted to be a bit angry about it, part of her perhaps should have been, but he'd invited her with them, hadn't he? And at the end of the night, he'd always come home to her. She remembered their arguments recently, about her expecting him to change in some ways. She knew that sometimes even she could be flirtatious, often without any intention of it going anywhere.
When the waitress returned promptly with their drinks, she let go of Brandon's hand to take hers and glanced at the women again. "Oh, boys. Am I cramping your style by being here tonight?" she teased.
"A tad," Eliot nodded, forcing a smile.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 22, 2015 20:42:27 GMT
Brandon narrowed his gaze at Eliot, warning him silently to play nice with Amber as he had warned her to play nice with him. He wouldn't have said that she was cramping their style in any way, but he was finding it more difficult to be at ease with the flirting and the games now that she was here. It had been so much easier ten years ago when he knew that she was ultimately going to end up as his target for the night and the only person that he had to convince to come home with him was her. And while that was still true to a certain extent, he had gotten used to having so many Amber replacements in her absence, it was hard to flip the switch and go back to playing their same old game. Especially when he factored Eliot into the mix.
"Eliot will live without adding two more women to his never-ending list," he remarked, taking a drink from his scotch glass. "It's not like that's the only thing we ever do at these bars anyway." Except, he realized quickly, it kind of was.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 22, 2015 21:04:04 GMT
Eliot looked at Brandon in confusing. "Like what?"
Amber rolled her eyes slightly, taking a sip of her drink and turning her attention up to Brandon, leaning up towards his ear. "Oh, Brandon, it's not Eliot's fault that he needs help picking up women to take home night after night,"
"Some people say variety is the spice of life, Amber," Eliot remarked, taking a sip of his drink. "It's certainly something I've tried to impress upon Brandon."
"I'm sure," she nodded before turning to look up at him. "You know, if you want I can call Maddy or Cassidy, invite them out too. We can dance, you can go help Eliot lure some poor unsuspecting girl with low self-esteem into his bed," she quipped. "Then at the end of the night you can come flirt with me a little, and maybe get lucky," she teased.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 22, 2015 21:09:13 GMT
He didn't want her to feel like she couldn't have fun with the two of them so her suggestion of inviting her own friends made him frown slightly. In a perfect world, he decided, Eliot and Amber would have just sucked it up and been friendly with one another. At least for his sake. "Look, why don't we just sit down, talk, do whatever it is that normal people do when they're in a group situation and just ... leave it at that."
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Post by Eliot Quinn on Aug 22, 2015 21:40:59 GMT
Eliot rolled his eyes at Brandon. "C'mon, man, she already said it was okay," he countered, running a hand through his hair. "You know, I think I preferred it a lot more when you were off your leash, Brandon. Or at least when you were with someone like Rhiannon. She was vapid and lacking in opinion and seemed to know her place while still being rather nice to look at."
"I'm standing right here, you know," Amber added stiffly, not liking at all where this conversation was going. "And I'm trying very hard to not intrude and support Brandon's friendship with you, so I'd really appreciate it if you didn't speak to me or about me like that again."
"Like what?" Eliot asked. "Like you're not going to be here three months from now? Because let me tell you, I know the cycle. And maybe, just maybe, you'll last a little longer and if you do I promise you I will take great pleasure serving as Brandon's lawyer in that divorce hearing. Which I know might be something different for you, since I'm sure you're only used to driving your significant others into an early grave, but Amber, I promise it will be some of my finest work."
Amber glowered up at Eliot, her grip tightening on her drink as she refused to break eye contact. "Brandon," she said, as calmly as possible. "I want it to go on record that I tried very hard to play nice."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 22, 2015 21:54:29 GMT
It had been one thing to bring up Rhiannon, that was a mistake and a choice that Brandon had made entirely on his own. There was even a certain hint of honesty in what Eliot had said, she had been vapid and the pair of them had taken some pleasure in quickly forgetting about her with Brandon being quick to flirt with other women and in some cases even pick up their numbers for rainy days. But, he admitted, it had been a long time since any of that had come into play. With Amber back in his life, things had been very different. It was, however, something entirely for Eliot to go on the offensive with Amber.
"Eliot, that's enough," he warned. "There is nothing the same about my relationship with Amber as there was with any of the women before - especially Rhiannon. She was around long before you and she'll be around a hell of a lot longer than you will if you continue to speak that way about her."
His hand had clenched into a fist somewhere in the midst of Eliot's words and was now trying very hard to convince himself that hitting him wouldn't be worth it; especially not in public where anyone, including the press, could see. That wasn't the sort of publicity that his company needed.
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Post by Eliot Quinn on Aug 22, 2015 22:13:19 GMT
Eliot scoffed at Brandon and shook his head. "Keep telling yourself that, Brandon. But you and I both know the way this ends when she overstays her welcome, but don't worry, when that happens you're more than welcome to start coming out with me again. Just call me when you come to your senses."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 22, 2015 22:21:41 GMT
Brandon's fist hadn't yet relaxed, but he kept his voice low in warning, "I would suggest walking away right now before I do something I'll regret. Not because I'll be sorry that I did it - but because I'm sure you'll press charges for assault."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 22, 2015 22:41:58 GMT
Eliot glared at Brandon and Amber before wordlessly slinking away.
Amber, however, reached for Brandon's arm, squeezing his bicep lightly. "Hey," she said gently to him, trying to get him to relax a bit. Part of her felt a little badly that one of Brandon's friendships would suffer partially because of her. "Brandon," she nodded. "Are you okay?" she asked.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 22, 2015 22:53:47 GMT
Just having Eliot walk away was enough to cause Brandon's body to relax. He sighed and turned to Amber. "I'm fine." He hated to admit that she had been right about Eliot to the point where his friendship with him had ultimately caused some harsh words to be said to her. "I'm sorry that he said that you to," he shook his head, "I should have listened to you."
It wasn't necessarily that he was upset over the loss of a friend, it was more that he was upset that he hadn't nipped it in the bud soon enough to keep Eliot from turning the tables on Amber. He was beginning to see why people like Riley Nicholls had such a problem with Eliot.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 22, 2015 23:09:56 GMT
Shaking her head, Amber wrapped her arms around him. "You don't have to apologize. Part of me really did want to be wrong about it, Brandon. I stand by my statement that I want you to be able to go out and have fun with your friends on nights that I might not be up to it." Leaning up she pressed her lips to his cheek. "I mean, if you need a temporary stand in to come out and flirt with random women in bars, I can try it, but it was never really my cup of tea," she teased. "And thank you for standing up for me," she added, smirking up at him. "I honestly don't care what Eliot Quinn might think of me, but something about watching you get angry was, admittedly, attractive." Then again, years ago Amber had tried to instigate him to fight with her often enough that she'd always known that to be true. "Want to go get another drink?"
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