Roswell Fanatics

~Michael~

Ok, I'm officially bored as hell. I've drawn my friends and the women three times already and now sit here twidling my thumbs. Forget this shit. I decide there must be something better than sitting at this damn table doing nothing. Then I get an idea.

"Yeah, that's it." I say to myself as I make my way to the center of the room. Before I can stop myself, I find myself flying through the air as I jump on the bed again. Hey, it's better than nothing.

"Yeeehaaawww!" I shout as I jump again.

Kyle

"Well, being devastatingly attractive is a full time job in of itself, but my friends and I actually own a small chain of bookstores all over the country. I am kinda just biding time until I can do what I really want."

I give her a quizzical look.

" I want to be an illustartor. I love to draw and paint. It's my passion. To do it for a living would be absolute heaven, but I am just involved in too many projects right now. I don't have the time to give it the effort it deserves. One day when I get all this mess figured out I will."


"So what do you do?" she asks me as the slow the song comes to and end. I'm about to reply in earnest when hear someone shout.

"Yeeeeeeee Hawwwwww"

Looking over I see Michael jumping up and down on the bed. Alex and I catch each other's eye and smile. Over Alex's shoulder I spot the red headed gold digger that was sitting with us earlier.

"Kyle?" Tess says, bringing me back to reality. I'm practically sucked in my her eyes again when her previous words echo in my head Well, being devastatingly attractive is a full time job in of itself,..

Full time job, huh? This girl, Tess, as beautiful as she is, seems to have the words, high maintenance written all over her, and in my experience, most if not all high maintenance chicks, are gold diggers. She was clever too, those are usually the most dangerous GD's.

"Oh I'm sorry..." I say, turning and pointing towards Michael.

"My friend, very distracting fellow." I say as we watch Michael jump up and down on the bed. I escort Tess off the dancefloor and back to our booth where we take a seat. The waitress comes over with anothe bottle of Dom, which she opens and pours for us. I reach into my wallet and produce a $100 bill to thank her for her service. Handing Tess a glass I say.

"So where were we..." just as I hear my name being called.

"Valenti?...I thought that was you,...what's up man?... how the hell are you?" my old frat buddy, Damian says, coming over to the table, clearly bombed out of his mind. I shake his hand and introduce him to Tess as a friend. We chat for a while and as Damian turns to go says.

"Oh, hey...I heard about VOE's stock price...dude... " Damian says as I try to get him to leave.

"...this man, right here..." he says looking at Tess

"....he's a freaking gold mine, " Damian says, but he's not finished.

"...nah... screw gold... platinum....pla-tin-um..." he says slurring her words slighty. I can can't help but wince.

"If Bill Gates wipes his ass with 20's....my man Kyle, can uses 100's" he adds.

"Okay, D...I think you've have quite enough for one night" I say as I rise from my seat and help D off the floor.

"Never could hold his liquor...I'll be right back...I gotta get this man a cab" I say as I pick him up off the floor and help him over to the bar, leaving Tess in the booth.

*Tess*

For a moment there I'd thought I'd lost him. He was staring at his rather odd friend jumping up and down on the bed. Which I have to say I would sooo totally be doing if I hadn't worn a rather short skirt. He gives me this once over like he's trying to figure me out. Mmmm Boy don't even try. You'll never understand me, and I'll have you completely fooled and under my thumb before the weeks done. After we are seated the waitress brings us more to drink. He tips her $100. I don't even blink. I am not easily impressed. A lot of guys tip big when they are in the presence of a lady so they seem wealthier than they really are. That's a handy little piece of knowledge I gained from Isabel.

Apparently some guy he knows who by the way is three sheets to the proverbial wind comes up to talk to us.

"If Bill Gates wipes his ass with 20's....my man Kyle, can uses 100's"

Hmm. Thats a good little tidbit to know. John Wayne here might be a nice fellow to have around...for awhile.

I want to be angry about being left unattended in a booth ,but I can't help but smirk. He's loaded! Well, it looks like I am going to be able to afford those expensive painting oils after all.

I am brought out of my happy fantasy land by a deep sexy and oddly familiar voice. I turn my gaze away from the glass in my hand to see a face I have looked upon in three years.

"Andrew!" I basically accuse. I evaluate my first love. This Dark complected 6 ft 2 epidiment of a Greek God stares at me as though he is a imprisioned man on death row and I am his last meal.

"What are you doing here?" I spout avoiding his hungry chestnut eyes.

He smiles a cocky grin and nods teasingly, "Looking for you of course. I wanted to see you so I just told the Cab Driver to take me to the swankiest club in town, and suprise suprise here you are."

I smile at my long lost friend and past lover. He always reminded me of Clark Gable. He was always definitely the right kind of wrong.

"You look good, but you know that."

He chuckles at my insult and leans in closer to me.

"I've missed you Tessa, When are you going to get this silly dream out of your head and come home with me?"

Home. He was refering to the place where we grew up. Where I lived for the first 17 years of my life. The place I ran away from. And in front of me stands the boy I ran away from. Only he is no longer a boy but a 21 year old man with a designer suit and more ice than P. Diddy.

I painfully smile at the man I had loved so long ago and answered,

"I'm not. I thought I made it crystal clear then ,but I'll refresh your memory. I am not some blonde bimbo with a charge account. I won't be someone's trophy wife. If that's why you flew all the way out here. I'm sorry ,but you travelled a great distance for absolutely nothing."

He takes my hand to his lips and presses his lips gently on top of it sending chills up my spine.

"Oh it wasn't for nothing my amour. Just to look upon your angelic face has eased my mind tremendesly. Just know I am not giving up. We are meant to be together. You just don't realize it yet, but trust me you will, and when you do I'll be around."

If he is looking for redemption he's obviously lost because it's not here. In fact, I am about as far from it as I can get. He slips something in my hand. It's a room key to the hotel he's staying in.Mmmm The Hilton. Not Bad.

"If you change your mind..." He whispers caressing my hand.

No wonder I lost my virginity to this guy. He oozes sex appeal, but no can't go down this road. He didn't love me for me. He loved me for who he wanted me to be. Who his parents thought I should be, Hell, who society expected me to be. I am stronger than this.

I ease my hand carefully from his grasp and look up to see Kyle walking towards us. Ewww! Not good.

"I won't" I assure him. Meeting Kyle's eyes as he approaches the booth.

Andrew looks over Kyle and grunts in disapprovement,

"So... he's the new one huh?" Showing his distaste he captures my eyes once again.

Well, you know where I'll be." He concludes completely ignoring Kyle's presence and walking away.

OOC Andrew is just a character I am using in passing to make things interesting. I am not going to give a version of his point of view or anything, because he always says exactly what he's thinking. Think Brad Pitt, James Dean, and Clark Gable all rolled into one. Deadly combination. He is merely a device created to try to tear Tess away from her ambitions, and of course eventually away from Kyle. He represents lust and false security. If you hate him I am sorry. He is not a bad person. He's just written that way! If later on someone wants to join the RP and play him thats fine, but for now I am just going to tug on his strings and make the puppet DANCE! I hope that's okay.

Kyle

After putting Damian in a cab and sending him on his way, I turn to go back into the club, when I notice a floral vendor standing on the corner selling roses to drunken clubbers. I can’t help but laugh at the enterprising old man, who just so happens to be wearing a cowboy hat. It’s an unusually chilly night, and here he was...out past midnight...selling flowers.

I start to walk back into the club, but before I actually step inside I re-evaluate the flower guy. Changing direction, I walk over to the old man as he finishes up with his previous customer. “Good Evening, Sir” he says, tipping his hat to me.

With my hands in my pockets, to keep them from the cold, I smile at the spunky old man and ask. “How much?”

“1 for $5...3 for $10...5 for $15...or a dozen for $50” he says. I evaluate my options as a couple walks over to the vendor and purchases a single rose. Thinking I might have been a little judgmental about Tess and feeling slightly guilty over leaving her alone for this long, I opt for 5 rose combination – I didn’t want to over do it.

Handing the old man a $100 bill, I watch as his shaking and wrinkled hand searches in the pocket of his tattered apron for change. I look at him for a moment, his nose and cheeks flushed from the cold and can’t help but be reminded of my dad. Had he lived, he’d have been about this man’s age.

The man looks at me as he struggles to find his change. “I’m sorry...just a second” he says as he searches in the pockets of his worn blue jeans for more change. I look around at his “business”, which consists off of supermarket shopping cart and several buckets filled with roses, and am amazed.

“So, how’s the floral business?” I ask him, trying to make small talk.

“Like any other, I suppose.” the man laughs “...some goods days...some bad days...” I smile as I nod.

“How much do you pull in night?” I ask him as he continues to search.

“Oh, it varies” the old man says pleasantly.

“Ballpark?” I ask.

“Well...if I had to guess...I’d somewhere’s between, $100-$150 on the weekends” he says. “It’s not much, but...it’s a living, I reckon” he adds, counting out my change and handing it to me. I look down at his heavily veined hand, as it shakes slighty...perhaps from the cold or just from old age. I reach of for my change, but rather than take it I push it back into his hands.

“You know what.... keep the change” I say. The old man gives me a shocked expression.

“No, sir...you gave me a hundred dollar bill, those roses where $15, I owe you $85.” he says

“Please.... I insist,” I say, as the older gentleman gives me a quizzical look, as if to say, you sure, buddy?

“Just take it and call it an early night, it’s late and it's getting cold out here!” I say, shuddering slightly as I take the flowers from the bucket in front of me.

The old man stares at me for a moment, and says nothing. Then finally smiles and nodds.

“I'll do that, thank you, son....you have no idea how much this means..." he says. "I hope the lady that get's those flowers realizes how lucky she is..." he adds as he starts to pack up his grocery cart.

"Yeah, I hope so too" I say as I turn to leave.

Now, had you asked Max, Alex or Michael for the reason why I did, what I just did, they’d say I was showing off, trying to impress the man, but standing there in the cold, talking to this older man, I did not have the desire to impress him with my money...only the desire to give back to a hard working man that reminded me so much of my own father. A man who, like this floral vendor, worked for every penny he ever earned, worked up until the day he died. An unfortunate fate that likely awaited this poor fellow.

As I made my way back into the club, I was excited at the prospect of getting back to Tess and learning more about her. Hiding the flowers behind my back, I walk past the bar towards our booth when I notice Tess is getting rather comfortable with another guy.

I watch as Mr. GQ, takes her hand and slips something into it. The object glints slightly under the lights of the table, a room key... huh? I’m not gone 5 minutes and this girl is already getting room keys. Shaking my head, I turn around and place the flowers on the bar. The lovely waitress who has been tirelessly serving us for the last couple of hours looks at me and smiles sweetly.

I hand them to her and say “For you...” she looks over at where Tess is sitting with that guy and thanks me for the gesture. I’m pretty sure she knew she was not the flowers’ intended recipient, but it didn't matter, she was greatful all the same.

Turning from the bar, I head back to the booth where Tess is sitting just in time to hear her say. "I won't"

The titan looks over at me as I approach the booth and grunts. Clearly the Neanderthal’s got a good 4 inches on me, but fuck it...I’m up for a challenge.

"So... he's the new one huh?” he says glancing at me and then turning back to Tess. The NEW one, I think. What the...?

“Well, you know where I'll be." He concludes completely ignoring the fact that I’m standing there...standing, right fucking there...

I take my seat at the booth as Tess turns to face me, but before she can say a word our friendly neighborhood waitress comes over and says.

“Oh, thanks again for the lovely flowers Kyle...they’re beautiful” and with a wink she leaves. I can’t help but laugh...smart girl...very very smart girl.

OOC Great Post Emmy! I loved how you showed Kyle thinking about his father and the old flower vender. Sooo sweet, but still very Kyle. I used him a bit. I hope you don't mind. If you do I'll edit.

*Tess*

Okay let me just tell ya now jealously doesn't look good on me. Just trust me on this one. I try to play it cool ,but to be perfectly honest on the inside I have the flaming desire to bust that chick in the face. So did he really just leave me in the booth all alone to go and buy some slutty waitress some flowers?

Oh Hell no! Turning back at him I bite back the harsh words and instead I turn on the charm. (Trick # 11 The Pout)
Letting saddness and what seems to be hurt fill my eyes I pretend to be upset. I don't cry that would be overly dramatic, but I do stick my bottum lip out as I present my show. (And indeed what we girls do is put on a show)

"So that's why you were gone so long. You were out buying our waitress flowers?" I question.I batt my eyelashes accordingly and hang my head.

He gives me an odd look and seems completely intrigued by my actions.
I am not responding the way he would have guessed. Good. You gotta always keep them on their toes. (Liz taught me that!)

"I'm sorry. I..I..I thought we had something ,but I am obviously very very wrong. " I snatch up my purse from the table and steal a last look from Kyle before I turn around and start walking towards the door.

He seems very conflicted like he doesn't know what to do or say.
Now if I have done this procedure right he won't let me go. If not I owe the ladies a round of drinks because there is no way I'll win the bet now.
Okay, count it off...

3...

2...

1...

"Tess! Wait." haven't made it four steps away before I hear him call my name.

Damn I'm good! Smiling maliciously I stop. I slowly swing my golden curly
locks around to face him. (The Charlie's Angels Hair Flip) That's two manuver's tonight that I've used on this boy. He may actually be a pretty hard one to crack. I bite my bottum lip in a seductive way yet I act oblivious to the effect it has on men's bodies.

"Why?" I bait him. I shift my eyes uneasly from side to side not looking him. He places his hand on my chin and raises my head so that we are staring to each other eyes.

I sigh. Wow, He really is dreamy. Ugh, Tess snap out of it. This is just a game. Remain focused on the prize. I swallow and put on my game face.
Even though I don't care about him, am anxious to see what he'll say. That was an award winning performance. I'm sure even the Acadamy would have to agree. I swear, If I don't deserve an oscar I don't know who does. That was Meryl Streep material right there baby!

OOC: If the music or anything is working for someone, tell me and I'll edit.

**Gail**

Mario doesn’t seem too thrilled about giving me that introduction. Actually, from his reaction, I would say he’s down right dreading it. What, is he afraid I’ll embarrass him or something? He probably thinks I’m just some pathetic little hanger-on and is only doing this so as not to be rude. Well, won’t he be in for a shock? I may be inexperienced, but so what. I can hold my own with anyone of the people in here. And I’ll prove it too. I don’t need these people. It’s just a fact that with a few of them helping me my life would become a lot easier.

He walks away without even waiting to see if I’m going to follow him. I stand and follow him for a few steps, before having second thoughts about this scheme of mine. From the looks a couple of those women are giving me, a casual introduction isn’t going to go over well. They’ll see me for the pathetic user I’m attempting to be. And that isn’t the first impression I want to make. If I’m going to get what I want I need to make a lasting impact on them. I need to prove that I can fit in with them and I’m someone they are going to want to have around. And if I just walk up and shake their hands that isn’t going to happen. I know if I were them I wouldn’t pull myself away from some hot guy to chit chat with me.

Reaching out I trail my hand down Mario’s arm to get his attention. When he looks back at me I give him what I hope is a seductive smile and intertwine my hand with his.

“I’m suddenly not in the mood for an introduction. How about we dance instead?” I tug him towards the dance floor without waiting for a reply, still giving him my impression of a seductive smile. He seems to be going along with it. For a second I know I should feel guilty for using him this way, but I push that aside. I don’t even know him. Why should I care about his feelings?

As we reach the dance floor a slow song is just ending, and some fast pace dance remix begins to blare through the club. It’s perfect for what I have in mind. Without the slightest hesitation I begin to grind my body against his. Even compared to how the other couples on the floor are dancing the way I’m moving against him is indecent. I’ve never really done this before, but from the looks I’m getting I’m doing a pretty good job of it. And Mario doesn’t seem to mind. I just hope his ‘friends’ are still watching, because as first impressions go, I think this will be a pretty good one.

ooc: I used Isabel and Alex a tiny bit, I hope its ok.

Kyle

Green is definitely not Tess’ color, though I must admit its rather satisfying to see signs of the green-eyed monster in my blue-eyed pixie. I smile to myself - she probably thought she could hide her displeasure...nice try, sweetie.

"So that's why you were gone so long. You were out buying our waitress flowers?" she questions battering her eyes at me as she hangs her head, feigning hurt feelings, though something tells me, her ego was far more bruised than her heart.

"I'm sorry, I...I...I thought we had something, but I am obviously very very wrong. " She says as she snatches up her purse from the table and steals a last look at me before turning around and walking towards the door.

Members of the Academy, I give you...Tess Harding....

Shaking my head slightly, while still maintaining my blasé smile, I reach into my pocket and retrieve my wallet. As I pull out one of my business cards from it, I can’t help but think how she managed to switch this whole situation around. Wasn’t she the one being slipped room keys while I was out buying her flowers? Sure I gave the waitress her flowers, but Tess forced my hand on that account...no one would ever accuse Kyle Valenti of being a punk.

Taking my pen from my pocket I scribble a note on the back... ...if you change your mind... before grabbing something from the table Tess had left behind and rushing off to catch up to her.

"Tess! Wait." I say as she stops and slowly turns around to face me. She bites her bottom lip in that seductive way women often do. I swear, they must teach girls this shit in school.

"Why?" she adds, without meeting my gaze. Placing my free hand on her chin, I raise her head up so that I’m staring directly into her oceanic, blue eyes.

“You forgot your room key” I say, trying not to smile. The look on her face is priceless, surely she was excepting for me to run over, apologize profusely for my insensitivity, beg her not to go and to tell her that I too, thought we had something...I do, think we having something, but she doesn’t have to know that. At least not right now.

“It was a pleasure meeting you Tess,” I say, kissing her lightly on her cheek, while placing the key in her hand.

“Get home safely..” I add, for good measure as I turn and leave her standing there, by herself.

Once my back is turned to her, I smile broadly ...blue, blue....what am I gonna do about you... I steal a quick look back and see that Tess has disappeared. Making my way back to the dance floor, I spot Alex and his lady friend still dancing. Walking up to them I apologize for my interruption.

“Kyle, this is Isabel, Isabel...this is my buddy Kyle,” Alex introduces me politely. I nod and shake Isabel’s hand.

“Listen, I was wondering if you could do me a favor...” I say to Isabel. I watch as her eyebrows furrow. Pulling out my business card with my scribbled note on it, I hand it to Isabel.

“Can you give that to Tess, when you see her...” I ask.

Isabel eyes me curiously for a moment then says. “Sure, no problem”

Thanking her, I let her and Alex get back to dancing as I make my way over to Michael, thoroughly pleased with myself and firmly intent on kicking his ass in our ongoing battle of bedding jumping.

~Michael~

I'm just about to get off this bed and say fuck it. That little blonde headed woman over there with the other women my friends seem real interested in, is looking pretty damn good and it's all I can do to contain my self control enough to keep from waltzing over and making a fool out of myself. I didn't get where I am in life by being womens lap dog and I'll be damned if I start now.

The only women I've encountered in the past five years are ones that are either A. out for money. B. Out for sex. or C. Out for sex and money. Now I'm not opposed to a good one night fling here and there but even I want more in life than that. Yeah, I know. Michael Guerin want a real relationship? Yeah, who doesn't. Those who say they don't ever want to meet someone and settle down are lying through their teeth. But I'm not willing to sacrifice my dignity and everything I've worked so hard to have for some woman that I don't even know would be around in the morning. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a tight wad. I have no problem with spending money on a woman, but I won't be taken advantage of either. Not again. Not this time.

I'm still lost in my thoughts when I see Kyle coming over. Deciding this is the perfect excuse to keep me from walking over to the blond headed woman with perfect curves and full lips, I smile.

"Hey Valenti. Here to get your ass kicked by a real pro?"

*Tess*

Well, here I am ALONE. Ugh, Okay that didn't work out as I planned. I must be losing my touch. I have to admit I almost died when he handed me the room key. What the hell am I supposed to do with it? He clearly heard me turn Andrew down. Brushing off my pissed off demeanor I start towards the bar. Tessa needs a drink very very badly.

I'm not there two seconds before I start getting hit on by the most discusting pathetic excuse for a human being I have ever seen. He looks like He hasn't shaved in a week and his shoes look like their straight off the clearence rack from Payless. After three minutes of listening to him run his best lines which trust me aren't worth the time nor the effort he spent working on them, I hand him the room key.

He looks suprised and very pleased. " I want you to go here. Take off all your clothes. Turn off the light, and get in the bed and await for my arrival." I whisper seductively. He nods and trails his fingertip along my chest. Ewww! Standing up he leaves the club bascially skipping.

Chuckling I walk up to Liz to tell her I am forfeiting the game and returning home for a little R&R. I can't help but laugh at tonight events. First I meet Mr. Tall dark and smart alecy then Andrew tracks me down and uses his best attempts to win me back. Smirking I think about how pissed Andrew is gonna be to come back to a naked man instead of a naked me. Ahh that commerical is right. Some things money can't buy. Andrew's expression when he gets into bed with another man. Priceless!

Kyle

Making my way over to Michael, I loss the urge to bounce around like an orangutan on the bed. Unfourtunately however, since things didnt seem to go so well with Tess my options were, shall we say, limited.

As I approach the bed Michael's jumping around on, I notice him eyeing one of the other blondes in Tess' group. The corner of my mouth curls in a grin. Always admires them at a distance, Guerin does.

"Hey Valenti. Here to get your ass kicked by a real pro?" He says.

"Nah, come on down and let me buy you another brew" I say as he steps of the bed and we head towards another bar located on the opposite end of the club, away from the lion's den.

Beers in hand we hang at the side of the bar and watch people dance, flirt and wander around aimlessly.

"Saw you check-in out the blonde, why didn't you get her number?" I ask, taking a swig of my beer.