Simon was tending to his bar when Ethan walked in. "Ethan, good to see you! What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I wanted a drink, and who better to patronize than my old friend?" Ethan replied. "One beer please."
"Coming right up", Simon said, and decided to spark up another conversation. "So how are you and Ella?" he questioned.
"Pretty good. We're going to the beach to watch the sunrise tomorrow", Ethan told him. "Hopefully she doesn't fall asleep or get bored", he added a bit nervously.
Simon laughed at the remark and handed him a beer. "That sounds like something she would enjoy. She needs the relaxation", he said.
Ethan nodded. "I think the peace and serenity should be great", he noted. "Also, if things go along like I hope, we might spend the whole day together."
"Sounds interesting", Simon replied. "What are you going to do and where are you going?"
"I don't know yet", Ethan shrugged. "I want to plan it as we go, see what she'd like to do."
"Aw, if I was a girl I'd be so swooned by your thoughtfulness", Simon joked, poking fun at his friend.
"Har har", Ethan replied, sarcastically.
"So what's going on in the great Simon Ng's love life?" he moved on.
"Like a desert experiencing an extreme drought", Simon replied.
Ethan wrinkled his eyebrows. "Really? A young good looking guy with a lot of money who's surprisingly not a jerk isn't getting any love? What's wrong with this picture?" he made fun of Simon. "Maybe your magnetic attraction force that seems to surround every rich young guy is broken", he added with a laugh.
"Very funny", Simon sarcastically replied.
"Here's a weird story though", he started. "I am currently the fake boyfriend of someone", he straightforwardly said.
Ethan choked on his beer. "I'm sorry, what? What made you agree to do that?" he asked, curiously.
Simon shrugged. "I'm doing it as a favor to her", he replied.
"You must like her if you're willing to do that", Ethan smiled. "So who's the special girl?" he probed.
"Kristy, the assistant manager at my dad's agency. And I find her interesting, I don't exactly like her", he defended.
"Come on, Simon. We're adults now. If you like someone, just say it. We're not kids anymore", Ethan teased.
"I'm not even supposed to tell you about this", Simon replied, but then his face softened.
"She's different though. Ambitious, tough, intelligent, and a feisty and fiery spirit unlike any other girl I've met", he talked about her fondly. "Very stubborn though", he added with a chuckle.
Ethan started pointing at Simon. "I've never heard you talk about a girl like this, you are definitely in love with her", he said.
Simon laughed. "I guess I am", he replied.
"Be careful though, she sounds like a potential heartbreaker", Ethan warned, jokingly.
"We'll see about that", Simon said.
Quinn and Vince entered the bar in commotion.
"Why did you drag me here?" Vince complained.
"So you can have a little fun! You've been so boring lately!" Quinn complained back in a huff.
Simon and Ethan looked up and caught sight of the two. "Quinn, hey!" Simon called.
"Hey, Simon!" she yelled. She nudged Vince. "That's the handsome son of the owner of the agency I was telling you about", she told him and skipped over to him.
Vince followed Quinn over to the two guys and took a good look at Simon. "Hmph, what's so special about him? I'm just as handsome as him", he thought to himself.
Simon pointed to Vince. "Your boyfriend?" he asked Quinn in a friendly tone.
Quinn looked appalled. "He wishes! This is Vince, my good friend and flat mate", she introduced.
"Nice to meet you", Simon and Ethan said to Vince and shook his hand, who appeared annoyed at the "He wishes" comment.
"So what are you two talking about?" Quinn asked, enthusiastically.
"Our love lives. Or in my case, lack of it", Simon joked.
"Interesting", she replied, intrigued. "I still find it hard to believe you wouldn't have a girlfriend", she pondered.
"That's the same thing I said to him", Ethan agreed.
"How hard is it to believe? You've made several of my girlfriends run away", Vince teased her.
"Whoa, Quinn, what did you do?" Simon asked in deep interest.
"Nothing! Girls just don't like the presence of another girl at their boyfriend's place", she replied, defensively.
"I can see how that would cause some problems", Ethan laughed.
A guy from the other side of the bar came over beside Quinn. "Hi there, what's your name?" he asked, flirtatiously. Clearly, it didn't take him long to take a liking to her cute and fun personality.
Simon and Ethan watched without much reaction, but Vince's nose flared. What was this chump doing talking to Quinn? Looking for a quick hook up?
"Quinn, what's your name?" she replied with a smile.
"Johnny. May I buy you a drink?" he shot Quinn a smile.
"Sure!" she said with her usual enthusiasm.
Another guy came over, ready to sweep Quinn off her feet as well. "I'm Daniel, I couldn't help but noticing your cute face from over there", he said with a smile.
Vince's eyes widened. Another guy?! he yelled to himself.
He reached over and put an arm on a grinning Quinn's shoulder. "Hey, Daniel, can't you see she's with me?" he told the guy.
Not wanting to pick a fight, the guys simply left.
"Huh, cheap and undetermined", Vince said about them, satisfied.
Quinn threw his arm off her shoulder and yelled "What did you do that for?"
"They were obviously trying to hook up with you!" Vince replied.
"So? I wasn't going to follow any of them to a hotel room!" she said, angrily. "They offered me a free drink!"
"If it really means that much to you, I'll pay for your drink", Vince offered.
"That's not the point!" Quinn screamed. "But you can definitely pay for my drink", she added.
"Ok then, everything's fine", Vince said.
"No, everything's not fine! Why did you ruin my fun?" Quinn whined.
"Nothing good was going to come out of that! Who knew what those guys were really like?" Vince claimed.
Quinn groaned. "Who are you to say that? I know you've picked up girls at bars before. I've seen you do that once, and it was not much different from what they did!" she said.
"Yeah, but you know me and what I'm like", he answered.
"I wasn't trying to find a boyfriend here, Vince. I only wanted to mingle a bit", Quinn rolled her eyes.
"I'm going to go to the restroom", she said, and left in a huff.
Vince bit his lip. Ok, maybe that was too much, he thought. But who knows what they could've done to Quinn?
Simon and Ethan had been observing the two's bickering in amusement the whole time.
"So what's up with you and Quinn?" Simon asked, curiously.
"We told you. We're friends and flatmates", Vince repeated.
"That didn't just look like an argument between two friends", Ethan said.
Simon nodded. "Somebody seemed jealous", he noted.
"Rich boy, what are you talking about?" Vince grumbled.
"It's pretty obvious. Why else would you have such a big reaction?" Ethan questioned.
"She's my friend! I have to look out for her", Vince said.
"Even if you're just looking out for a friend, you don't have to look like your eyes are going to pop out of your head at the sight of her with another guy do you?" Simon joked. Simon and Ethan both burst into laughter.
Vince faked laughter. "Har, har, har, are you two done laughing at me yet?" he asked, annoyed.
"Ok, sorry, Vince. We aren't trying to make fun of you", Simon apologized after he managed to stop his laughter.
"Yeah, sure you didn't", Vince rolled his eyes. "I'm going to go to the restroom", he said and left the two guys.
He turned the corner to where the restrooms are and saw Quinn standing there talking to...another guy?! Seriously?
He hit his head against the wall. Come on, Vince, why do you care? he thought to himself, extremely annoyed.
===================
Comments: A very dialogue driven chapter with several character interactions. I am slowly developing the relationship between Simon, Ethan, Vince, and Quinn. These four will quickly become close friends in the near future, while the three girls will under go more bumps.
It was pretty fun writing lines for Simon and Ethan, as the two are supposed to be good buddies who make fun of each other a lot. :)
Aw, poor Vince! He seems to be in denial that he loves Quinn, doesn't he? :P I love writing their scenes, hehe.
Preview of what's coming up: Ethan and Ella go on their first real "date".
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