"Strong Drinks & Stronger Hits: Elena and Ashley"

[Afterhoursclub]

The Drinking Dutchman Bar
9:30 PM

The Drinking Dutchman

The yellowish lights of the ceiling lamps painted the entire place with a sort of cozy, warm look. The inescapable smell of cigarettes and strong alcohol filled the air with a strong burning sensation that followed you wherever you stood, and that you would still be feeling for even hours after leaving the bar. A couple of luxurious chandeliers hung from the roof, looking somewhat out of place, seemingly too "fancy-looking" for an establishment of this nature.

The place was packed with dozens of chatty patrons: Some of them yelling, others talking normally, most of them drunk already, but conscious enough to avoid making a scene. However, a night in The Drinking Dutchman without a single incident would definitely be a first.

And this night, promised to continue the tradition.

Ashley Morgan

Sitting all by herself at the bar's counter was Ashley. The heelish redhead was already in a bad mood, regretting her decision to come as soon as she first set foot inside. Ashley had the brilliant idea of trying something new, something different after finishing up her training routine for the night...

"Never again..." she thought, tapping one of her nails on the counter's wooden cover. Holding a cocktail in her other hand. Already having threatened two brave customers who offered to buy her a drink out of the kindness of their hearts and who seemed interested in getting to "know her". Ashley was mere seconds away from losing the last bit of patience she had left and starting suplexing everyone around her.

Things took a turn for the worse when a third "friendly" fellow approached

"Hey, beautiful- Maybe I can get you anoth-..."

"That's it! I'm out!" Ashley didn't even let the man finish; she turned around and started heading to the exit, squeezing through the crowd of people while holding the drink right above her head.

"Can't stand another second in this damn place!"

[Hitman45]

“Where the fuck are you, Ford?” Elena’s brows creased as she grumbled over the phone.

Elena's Casual Fit

“Been twenty minutes, and I’ve been stuck at red. At the SAME spot! It’s bumper to bumper over here…” came the reply from the other side, thinner and metallic due to the speaker.

“I told you to take off early. I repeatedly reminded you to do that. But Nooooo…..Allison doesn’t like to worry too much. Allison has so much trust in the good people of the city to let her pass through…. DURING rush hour!" Elena face-palmed and shook her head…. disappointed with her friend.

“And they DO let me pass through. So suck it, Walker!.....”Allison retorted, vindicated that her trust would be repaid as the vehicles started to move again….
Only to come to a halt a couple of feet from her previous stop.

“I seem to have spoken too soon…..hehe….Touche….?” The raven-haired woman let out an awkward, nervous chuckle, which saw Elena shake her head with eyes closed and lips pursed. This woman will never learn….

“Alright, it looks like I won’t be able to make it there anytime soon. You go ahead, stake the bar, see if it's any good. And hopefully I’ll be there by the time you’re done. Sound good…?”

“I am thinking that you did this on purpose to avoid trying out the bar…..”

“……No….?”

“If I find myself like a corpse and throw up tomorrow, and you so much as breathe funny looking my way…boy oh boy will I enjoy beating living shit out of you.” The warning came out super serious, and Elena’s growl made the threat look even more menacing.

“Why do you have to be so negative about such a fun drinking experience? Maybe you will enjoy it a lot. Don’t think about ending up drunk in a ditch or a dumpster….or the middle of the road, or the sidewalk….or a ship about to cruise away…..or in jail…” Allison listed out a lot more possibilities while grinning from ear to ear, still stuck in traffic in her car, though now a lot more bearable courtesy of this conversation.

“…..None of those came to my mind, and I wasn’t even thinking that far. But thank you for your concern. And, get your ass here pronto….” Sarcasm dripped from Elena’s reply to her best friend. She put the phone away and finally brought herself to face the bar.

“The Drinking Dutchman….Huh, wonder what’s the lore behind that name….” Elena’s ocean blue eyes reflected off the neon letters of the name, the brightness standing out in the pitch-black night.

Squinting and rapidly blinking her eyes to normalcy after having stared at those letters, Elena strolled into, curious to see the make-up of this establishment, which wasn’t too fancy, and leaned towards a more rinky-dink energy.

The blonde was distracted, taking in her rather rowdy surroundings, the smell of cheap cologne and cigarettes, stains of liquor on the floor and the tables, when she bumped into a wall of muscle.

“Aoou…I’m Sorry. My Bad….”Elena would quickly turn around to apologise to the person against whom she collided….

[Afterhoursclub]

"Excuse me..."

"Move aside!"

"Fuck off!"

Ashley's annoyance grew more and more with every step she took, drifting across the sea of people, trying to maneuver her way to the exit, without dropping the drink in her hands. It was a race against time before she committed a murder with the first unfortunate soul she had in front of her when her patience ran out.

"Hey, careful..." Someone shot back at Ashley, but a single sharp scowl by the redhead was enough to make them regret their words.

"Almost there..." The Brit finally saw the "exit" sign among the crowd. She only needed to take a few more steps, advance a couple of meters, and push a few pricks out of her way and...

-BUMP- splash

"Arghh... The FUCK!"

Just as Ashley was about to escape from her newfound personal hell, a rather muscular person bumped right into her with enough force to cause Ashley to drop the glass she was carrying and spill its contents all over herself. An awkward silence fell over the room when the glass crashed against the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces in seconds.

The soaked redhead stood still for a moment, her hands raised at her sides with her fingers curving like claws- Processing what had just happened.

Perhaps, if the context had been any different... If she hadn't been regretting her decision to come to this place for the past hour... if she wasn't fuming already...

Perhaps only then, there had been a slight chance that Ashley could have let this go... Unfortunately, that was not the case... not even close...

The Red Menace was shaking, barely containing her anger, and she turned toward the person who had bumped into her. Completely ignoring her apology

"You... fucking Asshole!" Ashley shook her arms, trying to dry herself. "The hell is your problem!"

[Hitman45]

The atmosphere was something one couldn’t find in a more classy, sophisticated place. Similarly, this kind of chaos and crowd also wouldn’t be possible there.
It was a LOT to take in from the moment Elena set foot into the establishment. She had to push and squeeze into any nook and cranny available between the sea of sweaty, inebriated bodies to get through, not expecting so many people inside.

That’s when it happened. Lost in the maze, Elena was finding her way out and towards the bar when she bumped into a taller person.

A glass broke. Silence. The whole bar. It was a big, athletic, muscular lady who was sporting an angry, murderous look on her clearly irritated visage, and it was understandable why. Her hair, torso and face were all coated with what surely was liquor. And she wasn’t happy one bit.

“It was an honest mistake, alright? I didn’t see you moving amongst all these people” Elena suppressed a spike of rage when the woman went off at her, speaking in a neutral, even tone. She wasn’t completely in the right here, and it was understandable that the taller woman would be irate. Elena wasn’t the one with a spilt drink all over her after all.

Thus, she would try to reason with the redhead, knowing that she should have been better aware of her surroundings.

“Lemme help you clean it up…..” Elena would motion the angry woman towards the bar, where there must surely be a pack of tissues or towels to spare, gesturing the people to make way for both of them…

[Afterhoursclub]

It was a fact known by many, both in the LAW offices and backstage, that... when Ashley was angry, there was simply no reasoning with her... especially if one was the reason for her anger. And to say that Ashley was "angry" in this precise moment would have been a massive understatement.

The redhead was already having a shitty night, hating the bar since the very first moment she set foot inside, and now- she was soaked, covered in beverage, and smelling like alcohol. It was enough to make her almost think about murdering someone... and that someone was standing right in front of her... in the form of a muscular blonde woman, slightly shorter than her...

Ashley was trying her best to contain her ever-growing rage... but she was clearly failing. And when the woman tried to hold her to take her, who knows where... she simply exploded.

"Get your filthy hands off of me!" She forcefully shoved the woman aside, drawing the attention of the people surrounding them. "You already did enough, you damn brainless ape!"

[Hitman45]

It was looking increasingly clear that Elena was dealing with quite a volatile character. From whatever little she had with the woman till now, the blonde could make out that she wasn't afraid to throw hands. And she got to experience it as well.

"Whoaaaahhh!....Hahhh..." A surprised gasp whooshed out of the woman from being shoved aside, almost crashing into some furniture around, but fortunately caught by a table, which crumbled almost immediately the moment Elena leaned against it to balance herself, to find herself in the debris.

That's it. If this woman was looking for a fight, she was going to get one. Every fibre of Elena's being wanted to go off at this redhead, and there wasn't anyone to stop her from doing so, which would be her friend Allison, usually; always the one to keep her in check.

So, just for the sake of her, Elena was going to give it one last try to calm her down, which was highly unlikely.

"Now you've gone a tad too far, alright? There's a limit to how much a person can be courteous. I would strongly suggest you get your hotheaded ass away from here so that you can get yourself cleaned up. Am trying my best to be nice here.... " Elena stepped close to look at her directly in the eye with a scowl, their height difference evident by the fact that the blonde had to tilt her head up to make eye contact. And if this woman thought her size was going to intimidate Elena, then she would be sorely mistaken....

"After You." her thumb finger would jab in the direction where she expected the larger woman to head.

[Afterhoursclub]

"Too Far? I've taken things too far?!"

"You are trying to be courteous?!"

"What the fuck is this woman's problem?!"

Ashley's mind ran wild with questions after hearing the blonde talking back to her, acting offended, and now telling her to calm down. She imagined a hundred ways to respond, but she ultimately took a deep breath and tried to act calm.

"You fucking suck at trying to act nice!" Ashley finally spoke, staring at the woman straight in the eyes, surrounded by the curious looks of the patrons present at the bar that night.

"But... you are right..." The redhead responded, turning away and heading in the direction the blonde woman was pointing, "Thank you for being so... nice..." with deceiving calmness.

"I'd better go..." Ashley took a few steps, heading toward the exit, when suddenly she stopped next to a table where a woman wearing a fancy dress was sitting. The Brit quickly snatched a large cup of red wine from the woman's table, and with a fast turn, she threw the wine directly into the blonde's face, making sure that not a single drop remained in the cup.

"There! Now we are fucking even, Miss. Nice girl!"