Serena starts to call her friend, waiting patiently for her on the line but no answer. Shauna only gave of where the bar was located and the name, offering no information of how she got there, Serena had immediately enlisted Calem's aid. He didn't hesitate and they quickly returned to his car.

They were now driving back towards the city and away from the park, keeping an eye out for United Street.

Serena was a unclear of where it was but tried not to stroll out to the particular side of town which Wasn't the friendliest neighbourhood.

"I can't believe Gary left her there!" Serena exclaimed with an angry expression as Calem hits the brakes at a stoplight.

"I'm really sorry," Calem said, apologetically. "This is my fault since I'm the one who brought Gary."

Serena shook her head with a small smile. "No. It's my fault for forcing her to agree to the date. When I saw you brought Gary and saw they already knew each other, I thought it was okay. And even though Gary's a playboy, I've never heard of him just leaving his date stranded."

"Well, to be fair to Gary, we don't know if he left her or if she left him," Calem replied as they started moving again.

"But still, as a man, he should take responsibility," Serena said, concentrating out the window. "Oh, up ahead! There it is!"

Calem slowed the car, and turned into United Street then stopped right there at the corner in front of a building where the name 'Rooney's' flashing at the window.

Serena could see groups of men of different ages at the front, smoking and drinking.

what a terrible scene, Serena thought, scrunching up her nose as Calem turned on the emergency lights.

A bus behind them honked repeatedly.  

"Hold your horses!" Serena shouted, climbs out of the car, slamming the door shut and then said through the open window. "Why don't you circle around and then come back since there's no parking. Otherwise we'll end up blocking traffic."

"I don't think it's very safe for you to be walking around here on your own," Calem said in a worrying tone.

Serena shot a quick smile to Calem. "I'll be fine! See you back here in a few!"

Calem frowned and Serena knew he really disliked the idea of leaving her there but had no choice as the car behind them honked again. Calem drove off, Serena flicked off the driver, who honked again as he passed, before stepping up the sidewalk.

She headed into Rooney's bar and immediately smelt of a horrible smell of sweat and beer.

"Hey! You lookin for someone?" a rough voice said from her right. Serena turned and nearly chocked as a middle-aged man grinned. A gold tooth spark in the light. "I can help you."

"No thank you," Serena said and continued searching further inside.

She was going to kill Gary. Bad enough being in a place like this, worse was being dressed as she was wearing heels! Loud laughter erupted and Serena craned her head to see what the commotion was, walking to see past tall shoulders and heads.

Her eyes widened as she walked past through the people and approached a large booth where a crowd was gathered. Right there on the table top was a spread of cards and grinning over was Shauna.

She looked squashed in between of two middle-aged bikers, one was asking if his wife would forgive him for burning their anniversary dinner while the other asked if his daughter would appreciate a animal for her 10th birthday.

Across from them and all around the booth where all the other men and a few women shouted out questions, which the fortune teller herself simply held up a hand saying, "One at a time."

"Wow. And to think I was worried," Serena said finally able to reach the table.

Shauna paused her reading to the first biker and exclaimed by looking up, "Serena! Guys, this is my best friend I told you about!"

Everyone turned now to look up at Serena and shouted out "Hey Serena!" while lifting their bottles.

"Did you bring the jerk who wronged her?" Biker One asked.

Serena raised one eyebrow. "Um, what?"

Biker Two slams his fist against the table causing all the bottles to rattle. "Yeah. You bring 'im here so we can pummel him for tryna pull a fast one on this sweet girl!"

Cheers and shouts of "Yeah!" and "Stupid jerk!" went all around the table as Shauna laughed and said, "Guys, guys. It's okay. You don't have to kill the guy. He's long gone now."

"Mind telling me what you apparently told all these strangers but wouldn't tell me?" Serena asked crossing her arms and staring down at her friend.

Shauna shot her a guilty smile. Biker Two stood up and offered Serena a seat which she gladly accepted.

"So?"

"Well," Shauna said, picking up her cards, shuffling them. "Hmm. I feel more embarrassed telling you what happened than telling strangers."

"C'mon," Biker One said. "Tell her."

"Yeah," a random man encouraged. "Ain't she your best friend? Tell her what that jerk did. Then maybe she'll wanna bring 'im here for a good beating."

The random man punched a fist into his hand.

"Look," Shauna said facing the men. "I appreciate your support but there's really no need to beat anyone. What's done is done and I already took care of him myself."

"You're too sweet, girlie," Biker Two said from where he now stood, leaning against a wall.

"Will someone please tell me what happened?" Serena called out looking around at the faces of strangers until finally gazing on Shauna who sighed.

"Long story short, after you all drove off, Gary was supposed to take me home right?"

Serena nods. 

"Well, instead of that, he takes me to some random back parking lot in some dark area and stops the car. Well I mean the first thing I thought of was that he was a drug dealer."

"Naturally," Serena replied. Knowing where is it going.

"See, you agree," Shauna continued. "Well I started telling him he'd get in trouble for drug dealing and that I wanted no part of it when the next thing I know, the nasty jerk is all leaning over me and before I can tell him to get his ugly face away, he kisses me! Not only that, but it was way too forced. Now I know, my experience is limited but I don't think the guy should be trying to bruise your lips and hello, why kiss someone who clearly hates you?"

"Well that's Gary freaking Oak for ya," Serena said, shaking her head.

"Gary? Is that the jerk's name?" Biker One asked leaning forward to stare intently at Shauna who mutely nodded.

As Biker One and Two tried to figure out if they knew any Gary's, Shauna whispered to Serena , "I may hate him, but I don't want him killed and I don't want tabloids to pick up that I went on a date with him. Imagine the downfall of my rep it would cause!"

"Oh," Serena whispered. "Sorry. So what happened next? What I want to know is how you ended up here."

"Well, he kept kissing me and let me tell you, that Blue Fin Tuna I had was about to make its way back upstream when his hand started wandering. Let's just say, I bit his lip really hard and when he moved back, I kicked him in the stomach and then slapped him and then jumped out of the car."

At this point in the story, the crowd around them cheered, a few saying they'd never get tired of this story. Serena wondered just how many times Shauna had told her tale to these strange drunk men. Also, Serena could imagine the scene of Gary's beating by Shauna in her head and giggled.

"You've got to be the first woman to reject him like that," Serena said.

"Good. About time someone taught that playboy a lesson!" Shauna said loudly and a cheer went up again. Someone plunked a bottle in front of Shauna and she held it up, clinked it with others and took a great swig. "Yeah!"

Immediately she sputtered and set the bottle down. "Ugh. That stuff's nasty."

"You still haven't told me how you ended up here at Rooney's," Serena said, handing Shauna a few napkins she found laying around.

Shauna wiped her mouth and shoved the bottle away. "Right. Well, he kept telling me to get back in the car and after what happened, I did not trust him anymore. Not that I trusted him to begin with but I mean, before I didn't think he'd really try something. His reasoning was that he thought I was just playing really-really-hard-to-get. I said no I'm playing I-really-hate-you. So I walked off."

"You left him?"

The fortune teller nodded with a victorious grin. "You bet I did. He tried to follow me in his car but," she grinned mischievously. "In between kicking and slapping him, I had pulled the keys out of the ignition. So to make sure he couldn't follow me, when I got out, I threw the keys a good distance away. While he went to get them, I made my escape and ended up walking here and met these guys." Shauna gestured around the table. "This gentleman let me use his cell to call you," she said pointing to one man who looked like he hadn't shaved or trimmed hair anywhere for months.

"In return, she's been reading our fortunes for free," he told Serena.

"Uh huh," Serena said and stood up. "Okay I'm glad you're safe and your new friends seem nice but Calem's waiting for us outside so we should probably get going."

"Actually, Calem got worried so he found a parking spot and came in here to check up on you girls," a voice said from behind Serena.

"Hey Calem," Shauna said waving the bottle she had picked up once again and sips.

Calem nodded towards her then looked at Serena with a frown. "Can we go now?"

"Heh."

Serena helped Shauna slide out of the booth and Biker Two came over to give her a pat on the back. "You take care now lil one," he rumbled and Shauna told him that his daughter wanted her dad to be home more often instead of off with his bike gang as her birthday present.

"What happened?" Calem whispered to Serena as he cast a gaze around the interesting establishment.

"Long story," she whispered back, grabbing Shauna by the arm. If she didn't forcibly pull the girl away from these soppy teary eyed drunk men, they were never going to leave.

Shauna waved one last time and allowed Serena to drag her back into the crowd. Calem was in front of them but kept glancing back.

"We're okay. Just keep going," Serena shouted over the crowd.

She was sure that after tonight, her dress would need some major dry cleaning and ironing.

They finally made it to the front door and Serena felt the relief swelling within her. Still keeping a firm hold on Shauna, who was now stumbling slightly and giggling, Serena  followed Calem out of the bar.

"Finally!" she gasped, sucking in the nighttime air. Not that out here, the air wasn't polluted but it was better than inside.

"Thanks Sere. Thanks Calem," Shauna said. Draping arms around them and pulling them together. "I owe you one. Y'all are wonderful."

"Are you drunk?" Calem asked incredulously as Shauna let them go with a giggle.

She shook her head. "Psh. No way."

"She has a really low tolerance," Serena replied, grabbing Shauna as she stumbled. "A few sips is all it takes."

"Wow. Good thing Gary didn't know that."

"Gary," Shauna said with a growl from deep in her throat and Serena looked towards her in surprise.

Inside she had seemed perfectly fine. But it was towards where Shauna was staring that caused Serena to understand why her mood had suddenly changed.

Serena would of too if Calem weren't standing right beside her. Walking in their direction but completely unaware of the two women sending them dark vibes were Kaiwe and Brock, followed by Gary Oak and Alvin Ketter.