Hayden’s smile felt plastic and fake, but if anyone else thought so they were hiding it well. Or maybe they were used to fake smiles. After two minutes, Hayden had lost track of Andrea, their coworker who had brought them on the basis that they needed to get out more and meet people. Andrea was particularly concerned about the fact that Hayden’s love life was nonexistent. Andrea and Hayden had only met recently, and she hadn’t been around to witness the wreckage of Hayden and Dirk’s breakup.
Hayden managed to reach the table that was serving as the bar. There were beers and some sort of punch concoction in a bowl, and Hayden took a plastic cup full of punch--or whatever it was--in the hopes that it would be stronger than a beer. A familiar laugh caught their ear, seeming to rise above the hubbub of voices and music. No. Surely not. What were the odds?
Hayden turned, eyes sweeping the throng of people. (That was probably Hayden’s anxiety exaggerating things, but it did seem like quite a crowd). There. Dirk, his arm around a woman’s waist, his eyes crinkled in that particular way they did when he laughed. Fuck. Hayden downed half their cup and made a beeline out of Dirk’s line of sight. The last thing they wanted was to cause a scene, and if Dirk saw them the odds were high that a scene would be imminent.
@crew-from-capulet