A painful pinch forced Don awake. A long, sharp nail dug deep into his skin; it would probably leave a mark.

Almost falling from his chair, he cursed and jerked his arm at the sharp pain. He then stared blankly at the person on his right.

"You okay, pal?"

It's the dude-who-looked-like-a-lady singer from earlier. The singer looked relieved to see the blonde man was not dead from alcohol poisoning. They were the only people in the bar late at night.

"Wha-what time is it?" Don groaned as he wiped his face with his hands.

"It's midnight. The bouncer might kick you out if he sees you sleeping here for one more hour," The singer said before he puffed on his cigarette. "You looked like you were having a nightmare, sleep talking and all that..."

Don shook his head aggressively to waken his spirits.

The singer cleared his throat and introduced himself, "My name is Mallory."

"Don Vasco," He winked. He then yawned before drinking a bottle of vodka.

Don managed to still look charming, despite the fact that his hair was tousled like a bleached broom and the dark circle under his crystal blue eyes became more visible. 

"You were impressive," Mallory complimented.

Don stared at him while he chugged down half the bottle's contents. He then put it down gently before staring Mallory down.

"You were trying to make me look very bad earlier, weren't you?" Don remarked groggily. "You kept throwing punches over the fact that I wore a suit in a 70's themed music party." 

Mallory chuckled casually and rested his cleft chin on his hand, showing off his midnight black nails. "Are you pissed about that?"

"Me? Pissed? Hardly!"

"It was just playful teasing. No harm done," Mallory assured to the slightly drunk man. 

Wilfred came back, cleaning a drinking glass with a dry cloth. 

He greeted Mallory as he passed him,"Hey, Snow White." 

Mallory chortled while Don stared alarmingly. 

The nonchalant bartender stopped in front of the blonde customer.

"Oh, Don. You woke up! I thought you fell into some kind of coma," Wilfred stated.

Don sighed mildly. "I almost did but he pinched me away from the afterlife, and it hurt like hell."

Mallory smiled cheekily and raised his shoulders. 

"Oh, right. Don wants to say something to you!" Wilfred exclaimed. Don's spirits woke a little bit more and remembered.

"Yes! I almost forgot." Don turned his head to Mallory. "Would you like to collaborate?"

Mallory asked after his eyes glistened with interest. "With you?"

"Who else?" He said as he shrugged vigorously. 

Mallory looked up at the ceiling to think. "I dunno, I am hard to please."

"Wil, dear. Can you get me some strawberry daiquiri to help me think about it?" Mallory requested. 

Wilfred nodded and went to the other side of the counter to mix the drink.

"Poor Wil," Don commented. "Won't that drink take time to make?" 

"How did you know that?"

"I had friends who were bartenders. I bar hop frequently."

"Ha, well... Willie gets a bit gossipy. Had to get him busy," Mallory whispered impishly as he adjusted his hips and shoulders towards Don. He then examined Don head to toe and asked. "So, what's up with the suit?"

"I like suits," Don simply replied, looking down at his attire. "What's wrong with that? Suits are underrated."

"Nothing, really," Mallory chuckled as he inhaled his cigarette. "I had a bad history with men with suits."

"Why is that?" Don curiously asked.

Mallory paused for a bit then shook his head with a bitter chuckle, "I ain't sharing why with a stranger like you... despite how attractive they look."

"How curious," Don smirked. He then glanced at the bartender coming back with the complex drink Mallory ordered. 

Don turned his head and whispered with a cheeky grin as he pulled out dollar bills from his sleeves. "Drinks On me, dollface."

"Oh, nice. Maybe suits aren't that bad after all," Mallory jested.

Don laughed a bit and raised his glass of whiskey to Mallory, "Cheers!"

They both clinked their glass and filled down their shots. 

A long haired woman sat near Don and tapped his shoulders. She wore a tight blue dress that showed off her curvature. She spoke with a flirty and playful tone, "Hello there."

"Good evening," Don reciprocated.

"My friends and I saw how magnificent your singing was."

"I'm glad you and your friends liked it."

"So, I became curious... Are you single?"

"I'm not looking for fun, unfortunately."

The lady leaned in to Don, revealing and squeezing her cleavage as she whispered seductively, "Well, we can still have some fun in my place."

Don smiled at her politely and shook his head gently, "No, I'm sorry."

"Oh, are you gay?"

"Not really, I had a... girlfriend."

Mallory stood up and stormed out of the bar, prompting Don to turn his head to him.

"Pardon me, I have to go," Don said politely. The lady released her grip on him reluctantly as Don walked out of the bar. He searched outside and saw Mallory near the road.

"Why did you go?" Don sped up to catch up. 

Mallory glared at Don momentarily and returned his focus looking for Taxi cabs. "You were busy," he replied with a hint of contempt in his voice.

"Sorry, I had to talk to her for a while," Don explained.

Mallory ignored him and refused to make eye contact. Don sighed and added, "Besides, I'm interested in someone else."

"Oh, who's the lucky dame?" Mallory said as he glimpsed at Don, his arms crossed. 

Don fixed his collar and casually confessed, "I won't exactly call him a dame, but he's pretty."

Mallory finally turned his head at Don with skepticism. "What?"

"Oh, my tongue must have slipped." Don smirked impishly, "Must have been the alcohol."

Mallory's eyebrows raised.

"Fuck off," He said with utter disbelief. "You're just playing with me, Blondie."

"It's alright if you don't believe me. You'll see soon enough," Don said with a roguish smile.

"Maybe I will. You sly devil," Mallory grinned. He yawned and brought out a cigarette stick and put it on his blood-red lips, "Can you light it for me, then?"

Don grabbed a lighter from his vest and lit the cigarette in Mallory's mouth.

"One last thing. Do you have a pen and paper?" Mallory asked as the cigarette shook in his mouth.

Don tilted his head in wonder and grabbed something from his pockets. He gave him a small gold and red themed notebook and a pen with the same fancy colors.

Mallory twirled the pen in his fingers before starting to write something into the notebook's first blank page.

"Lovely pen, may I have it?"

"Of course, the pleasure is mine."

Mallory returned the small notebook and took another huff of his cigarette.

The blonde man checked the cursive writing, which turned out to be an address to an apartment.

Don raised his left eyebrow and grinned, "When do you want me to come?"

Mallory took his turn to raise an eyebrow before puffing out some cigar smoke, "We'll talk tomorrow at noon about your request. My roommate and I have to rest."

Don took a glimpse at his watch and realized that it's 2:43 AM, "Oh, you must be incredibly tired by now."

Mallory lifted his shoulders and briefly removed his cigar, "I am used to this, how about you?" 

"Three hours of sleep is enough for me. People like me exist. Anyways, do you want to take a long ride on my motorbike?"

Mallory giggled, either from amusement, drowsiness, drunkenness, or all of the above. 

Don tilted his head and looked at him thoughtfully, "I think you should ride with me. You sound too drunk to go off on your own."

"Aren't you drunk too?" 

"I just sobered up minutes ago."

"Huh, that's fast."

Don went to his motorbike parked on the side. Mallory followed and climbed up behind him.

"Don't let go now. I won't pick you up when you fall on the road," Don joked as he zoomed off.