The club isn't the best place to find a lover but the bar is where I go
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Alejandra (Alea) Finn was the new bad bitch in town not because she was new to the town or anything like that but because she wore knee high black boots and a black leather cat suit that subdued her body into shape. Her jet black hair flowed in bouncy curls and her lips were painted blood red.

The smell of sweat, alcohol and sex accompanied by the tepid heat of dancing bodies hit Alea smack in the face when she entered the dimly lit Gold Bar. She shimmied her way passed the reckless dancers and found her way to what would have been a booth if she removed the layers of crushed peanuts and toppled cans from it's surface which Alea was not going to do.

Alea went to the counter and pointed to the vodka martinis and the bartender made a show of pouring the vodka into the glass from a deadly height. He grinned when she broke a smile but Alea was simply being courteous. She snatched her glass from the counter and hefted herself onto the bar stool.

"Hey dollie." A sweaty and shabby looking fat man cooed from the seat next to her. His shirt was stretched tightly over his round gut and his black beard sported streaks of grey. Alea wished that she could say something sassy to him but she couldn't. Alea couldn't speak. Not because she was speechless but because she couldn't get any word to come out of her mouth.

Ever since that little altercation with her father twenty two years ago, Alea had tried and failed miserably to utter a single word. The fact that she could walk let alone sit was a miracle. It had taken her twenty one painful years of physical therapy to reach this level. Owing to the efforts of a speech pathologist at the mental health clinic, Alea was now able to form shapes with her lips. Last week on Tuesday during her weekly session with her doctor, Alea had managed to utter a "puh" sound and she had cried.

Alea settled for a head shake and thankfully he got the implied message. He settled for paying more attention to his beer that looked like urine. Alea swirled the colourless vodka in the glass before she took a small sip.

Alea needed to be drunk for what she had to do next. No one in their right mind would do what she was going to do. She twirled the glass in between her index and middle finger and smiled inwardly. Alea had become her mother. In the course of her childhood, she had loathed her mother's drinking habits with a passion. She had not understood then, how easy it was to become her mother.

A whole bottle of vodka later, Alea had gone from sobre to crazy drunk. She selected a lone man dancing on the stage. He was big and burly with the kind of blonde hair that Hollywood actors would kill for. Alea wanted to run her fingers through it. She convinced herself that it was the alcohol talking but she knew better. His white dress shirt was partially untucked. He looked at her and his piercing blue eyes drew her in like a magnet. In a flurry of movements, Alea was infront of him smiling like a teenager. There were no words needed. They were simply two people who needed to forget.

As if detecting their desires, the song changed from a slow sensual ballad to dancehall and they danced like crazy lunatics. All their cares were being thrown away through the movements ot their bodies. They danced in sync and the crowd gawked at  the oh–so–loving–couple. Women were openly staring daggers into Alea but she couldn't care less. Alea was happy. For once, Alea was not a helpless woman who couldn't control her own body. Today she was wanted. She was admired.

The trouble began when Alea tried to kiss him and he pulled away. His nice freckled face with lines that crinkled when he smiled turned uncharacteristically dark. Alea was shocked. For the first time in her entire life, someone was rejecting her. Not that she'd had much of a dating experience anyway. Few men were willing to date a mute woman no matter how hot she was. Alea's shock turned into anger and then into the genuine need to make him jealous.

Alea moved to another man. His hair was not blonde but chestnut brown, his eyes didn't crinkle when he smiled and his burly figure danced in an uncoordinated manner on the dance floor. Nonetheless Alea began to grind her ass against his body. Her former partner sat on one of the worn bar stools and watched them in rapt fascination. Alea ramped up the fun by kissing the man. It was of the wet and sloppy kind. The ones that never made it to Hollywood movies. Her former partner simply arched a blonde brow. Alea was not one to give up and she took it up another level.

Alea took her new partner by the hand. Funny that she didn't even know his name. Once they were outside the bar, he took over. He pushed her against the wall and smashed his lips against hers. His lips tasted of peanuts and alcohol. Alea's mind went straight to blueberries and bees. Sweet, sweet memories–

Her new partner was now fuming. Why the hell was he looking at her like that.

"You don't like it huh? I know your types they always like it rough." Her new partner said in a scratchy base that made Alea feel like creatures were crawling over her body. Alea made the mistake of remaining silent.

Her new partner grabbed a fistful of her voluminous jet black hair and slammed her head into the wall. Small lights exploded behind her now closed eyes and pain percolated through her brain. The rusty tinge of blood filled her mouth and she spat a red liquid. The world spun dangerously.

Before she could fully gauge her bearings, his beefy hands grabbed hold of her neck and he began to squeeze. Her hands flailed against his broad chest but he only squeezed harder. God she was going to die after all she had been through all for a man who didn't give two shits about her. Love sure does kill.

Air rushed into her lungs and her lungs sang with joy. Her new partner was clutching his head on the floor. He was screaming but Alea couldn't care less. Alea was tempted to think that her former partner from the bar had come to save her. Her knight in shining armor was–

Wait a minute. Her former partner was not that huge and broad. Her former partner didn't have jet black hair and brown seeking eyes. Alea only knew three men with that description and one of them was dead except......

Her saviour faced her and Alea almost doubled over. The world was spinning again and bile rose to Alea's throat. Oh God he was back! And just as he had come,he disappeared and her former partner materialized before her eyes. He skewered her with his icy blue gaze that sought answers that she could not give. He tapped her sweaty cheeks earnestly but she wasn't paying attention. All she could think of was that she needed to call Archer. She needed to tell him that he was alive.

And for the first time in twenty two years, Alea was truly and utterly scared.

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