High voltage

The name's Mike Viera. More than likely I'm hotter than you can handle and I'm okay with that. I don't make a habit of giving a damn what other people think. That's life, kid.

[parkerdevereux]

So what’s the point of starting a conversation with someone you don’t like?

[infernoviera-blog]

Do you have a legitimate reason for not liking me that doesn't involve someone else?

[parkerdevereux]

[Waits a moment before sighing] You don’t have to go. Sorry. I’ll try to be nice.

[infernoviera-blog]

You don't have to fake being something you don't want to be. What the hell is the point of that?

[parkerdevereux]

I wasn’t, but I’m definitely considering it now.

[infernoviera-blog]

That is my cue for me to be on my merry way.

[parkerdevereux]

There is just way too much testosterone around here.

[infernoviera-blog]

Are you complaining, Blondie?

[efronlove21-blog1]

[parkerdevereux]

“Uhh, yeah.” Parker nodded slowly, processing everything he’d just said. “I’m working on it. I don’t really know what the problem is, so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how to fix it. But I’m going through a kind of guess and check process right now.” She figured she’d get back into her photography soon enough. That is, if she ever got out of this stupid elevator. “Oh? Cool. Gigs are good.” Parker mentally slapped herself, knowing how stupid that had sounded. Then she wondered why she even cared if it sounded stupid. Falling silent again, Parker pursed her lips as she watched him check his phone. Maybe she wasn’t the best company, but it irritated her that he kept checking the time. “Oh. Thanks,” she answered slowly. It was one thing to make polite conversation in an effort to keep them from clawing each other’s eyes out. It was another to purposely go out of his way to wish her a happy birthday. Parker tilted her head, watching him curiously for a moment before speaking again. “Finally 21. Hopefully I won’t miss my first real night of drinking.” There was no snark or sarcasm in her tone this time. She sounded more resigned than anything as she let out a little sigh.

[infernoviera-blog]

Mike drummed his fingers on the side of his leg, debating if he should offer to make her a drink. Her response could go one of two ways; she'd either agree or laugh in his face. And the more he thought about it, the more he was beginning to want to laugh at himself. He didn't care much about her opinion, or the opinion of anyone for that matter, so he didn't see much of a reason to be nicer to her than she was to him. That being said, he leaned his head back against the wall and looked over at her. "There's no possible way you'll miss it. Bars are always open, have a little faith." That was a bit of a backhanded way to mildly suggest that she could come by his bar if she wanted to, but he would be damned if he actually came out and said that.

[parkerdevereux]

It took all of her energy and self-control to keep from making a biting remark in response. If she wanted to write a strongly worded letter, she would do it. To hell with what Mike said about it. But that was just her being stubborn and wanting to do the exact opposite of anything he said. At least she could admit that to herself. Instead of retorting, she fell into silence once more. It was a long silence, broken surprisingly by his inquiry. Parker raised her gaze to look at him, the confusion in her expression painfully obvious. She didn’t know why she was so surprised by the question. “It’s… It’s going well. It’s been a little slow lately. I haven’t really found much that’s worth photographing, I guess.” Unfortunately, her motivation had gotten lost somewhere and she was still struggling to find it. Parker was quiet for a moment before the need to reciprocate a question became too much. “How’s the band?”

[infernoviera-blog]

Mike was a bit put-off by her obvious confusion and shock by his question. Then again, he had to remind himself not to be. The girl obviously only saw him as one thing and there was no point in trying to change her mind about that. "Maybe you need a muse or you need to go somewhere away from your normal photography spots, or whatever. Not to mention, going to galleries will do you a lot of good. But I'm sure I don't need to tell you that. When she asked about the band, he shrugged and looked over at her. "They're good, as always. We have a few gigs lined up for this weekend, which is pretty awesome. Other than that, there's not too much to say about them." Looking away from her, he checked the watch on his wrist and say that no more than ten minutes had gone by. Perhaps it was his optimism dwindling, but it felt like so much more than that. "Oh... Happy belated birthday, I guess."

[parkerdevereux]

With a scoff, Parker focused her attention elsewhere. It was a shame that there wasn’t much to actually look at. She picked a spot on the ceiling of the elevator and stared at it for a while. Finally, she pulled out her cell phone. There was no signal, of course, because that would have made her life a little too easy. “When we get out of here, I’m writing a strongly worded letter to this establishment,” she muttered, setting her phone on the floor and crossing her arms. This was a disaster. Were any of her friends even looking for her? Parker ran a hand through her hair tiredly, letting out another sigh. The silence was killing her. With a frown, she finally looked at him again. “Look, okay, maybe I was a little harsh.” Parker still didn’t like him, but she could at least tolerate him for this one night. “Let’s just… make the best of this.”

[infernoviera-blog]

"I'm sure no one is going to care much about your letter. Besides, sometimes things happen and there's no one that can be blamed for it." Mike shrugged, clearly not caring if she thought what she had said was a little harsh or not. In his eyes she shouldn't have said anything in the first place, but apparently his opinion didn't matter to her. Slipping off the leather jacket he was wearing, Mike pushed his hair out of his face and looked around the elevator until his eyes reluctantly fell on Parker. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to be there, but Mike was certain she wanted out more than he did. Deciding to suck it up and deal with whatever attitude she dished out, he tilted his head in her direction. "How's the photography thing?"

[parkerdevereux]

Parker rolled her eyes. It seemed like a sob story to her. Maybe she should have been more understanding, but she knew how hard a time Annie had had with the entire thing. She couldn’t ignore that. She couldn’t quite forget that or move on from that either, as he was apparently trying to say she should. “Hey, I don’t pretend to be better than anyone. I make a hell of a lot of mistakes. Just not to that magnitude.” Maybe it was wrong to be rubbing this into his face, particularly since he’d already admitted that he’d messed up and would like to do it all over if he could. “You didn’t have to pick up the pieces after that whole debacle, did you? Granted, Annie is a strong girl. She hardly even showed her emotions; she never does. But it still sucked to have to see her go through that shit. So sorry if I’m not over seeing one of my friends in pain.”

[infernoviera-blog]

Mike looked over at her, patiently waiting for the moment when she would shut up. It was one thing to have this conversation with the person that had mattered to him and her family, it was another to deal with someone whose opinion didn't exactly matter to him. And frankly, friend or not, he didn't think she needed to have such a strong opinion on the matter. Realizing that nothing he said would matter, Mike looked away from her and didn't even bother giving a reply. He had learned a long time ago that once someone's opinion about him was formed, it was almost impossible to change it. Checking the watch on his wrist, he was irritated to find that more than twenty minutes had passed and they were still stuck there.  This is proving to be a great night, he thought sarcastically.

[parkerdevereux]

Watching him with something close to a sneer on her face, Parker remained silent for quite a while. She’d figured that her problem with him would be obvious, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Parker wasn’t quite sure that she actually felt like explaining the whole thing, but she also hated silence to a certain degree. It was hard to tell how long they’d be stuck in here together, and it’d be better if they could at least tolerate each other. That seemed nearly impossible at this point though. “It’s Annie,” she finally said, breaking the irritating silence. “Your breakup with Annie, who actually happens to be a very good friend of mine. Didn’t like seeing her have to go through all of that.” Parker narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed that she even had to spell it out, but there it was. “You were kind of an asshole, in case you didn’t realize. Or maybe you conveniently forgot. Either way.”

[infernoviera-blog]

Mike clenched his jaw and nodded, not too surprised by her confession of what her problem was. Of course that was it, why wouldn't it be? It's not like he hadn't gotten the same reaction from everyone else, but at least they had made a point of telling them that they hated him, Parker obviously preferred not to. "You think I don't know I was an ass? Then again, I shouldn't expect the benefit of the doubt from you. Yeah, I was an ass and if I could do it again I would, but I can't. I was stupid and I was young and I didn't know how to handle my girlfriend telling me that her parents just died. I didn't. I thought maybe it would be better if I were out of the picture, she has her brothers and sisters, she didn't need me. Was it the stupidest mistake I've made? Yeah, one of them. So thank you, Miss Holier Than Thou, for obviously judging me like everyone else. I love to know that three years have passed and you're still holding more of a grudge than Annie is. Moving on." Mike could feel his irritation beginning to build and with that, so did the temperature inside the elevator.

[parkerdevereux]

Parker could be incredibly stubborn when she wanted to be. “What, so we just sit here and hope someone finds us?” she demanded, turning to give him a dirty look. The less time she had to deal with him, the better. But after a few more attempts, she realized he was right. With a little “hmph,” Parker sank to the floor as far from him as possible. She was half-tempted to blame him for this but she had a feeling it wouldn’t go over well, since it really wasn’t his fault at all. Sighing heavily, she leaned back against the wall. “What are you doing here anyways?” she asked, turning her head to look at him. “Don’t you usually work?”

[infernoviera-blog]

Using his index finger to twirl the silver ring on his thumb, Mike didn't even give her the courtesy of looking at her when she spoke. "I was off," he answered flatly. He would have gladly carried on a conversation with her, but like always, she reminded him why he never made an effort. "What is your problem with me, Parker? I really don't feel like dealing with your bitchy attitude and stuffiness. So if you want to talk to me then start with that. Otherwise, stop talking to me." With a shrug, Mike tapped his boot on the ground. Praying to whatever gods there were that this would be over soon.

[parkerdevereux]

Viera was probably the very last person on earth that Parker wanted to be in an elevator with, but thankfully it wouldn’t be a very long trip. In a few moments, she’d be out of the elevator and in the club and she wouldn’t have to worry about seeing Mike for the rest of the night. She avoided his gaze, leaning her head back against the wall of the elevator. It wasn’t until the elevator shuddered to a stop that she pushed away from the wall, shaking her head. “Oh, no no no,” she muttered under her breath, shaking her head. She watched him pushing the emergency button, holding her breath to see if it worked; it didn’t of course. “Just your luck?” she repeated indignantly, glaring at him. “No. I am not spending my belated birthday celebration in an elevator with you. Not happening.” Parker picked up the elevator phone, pressing it to her ear. “How the hell do you work these things?”

[infernoviera-blog]

Mike could handle a lot of things, it wasn't very easy to get under his skin, but it seemed like Parker had made it her life goal to be insufferable for no reason. Choosing to ignore her once again, Mike sat down on the floor of the elevator, tapping his fingers on the rail above his head. Watching her struggle with the phone was almost amusing enough to replace the energy she was draining from him. Mike rolled up the sleeves of the shirt he was wearing and hoped that they wouldn't be stuck here for much longer. Because if that was the case, he was sure that one of them wasn't going to be making it off the elevator. Tilting his head up to look at her, he shook his head and laughed at her question. "It's broken, so stop wasting your time and breath."

[parkerdevereux]

[Rolls her eyes and glances towards the door to the staircase for a moment. When the elevator door opens, she steps inside and hits the button for her destination, moving to lean against the back rail]

[infernoviera-blog]

Running a hand through his hair, Mike waited almost impatiently for the elevator to reach its destination. The air in the elevator felt crowded and stuffy and he personally thought it was because of her attitude. It was still amazing to him just how much she seemed to dislike him without ever giving him a real reason for why. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Mike kept his back to her, hoping to make a quick getaway out the door. However, the elevator jerked and the lights turned off, coming back on less than five seconds later. It was obvious what had happened and Mike silently prayed that it wasn't true. Repeatedly pushing the emergency button, he finally gave up and kicked the large door. "Just my luck," he muttered under his breath.

[parkerdevereux]

Right. Well things change. Glad we got that sorted out. [Pauses, crossing her arms] I suppose you’re taking the elevator too, aren’t you?

[infernoviera-blog]

[Ignores her, pressing the button and waiting for the elevator to arrive]

[parkerdevereux]

Remind me again why I should be civil with you?

[infernoviera-blog]

[Shrugs] You shouldn't and you don't have to, but you were. That's the point I was getting at.

[parkerdevereux]

infernoviera liked your photo

Why am I not surprised to see you here?

[infernoviera-blog]

And here I thought we were past all this and getting somewhere beyond civility. Silly me.

[hypnoticprince]

Oh come on, you know you’re jealous that you can’t have a movie night.

[infernoviera-blog]

Um... [Pretends to think] Nope.