Categories > Celebrities > Panic! At The Disco > Take A Chance On Me
Chapter Three: Burn This City
“If we die - we lived with passion. They said we'd burn so bright. We'd burn this city and go.” – Cartel
Harper sauntered up to the VIP lounge, holding her camera protectively while it dangled around her neck. She grinned widely and wandered up beside me, ordering a martini before she spoke, “So….” She said.
“So….what?” I asked.
“What’d you think of the show?” she asked while sipping her Appletini.
“It was good. For normal people music anyways,” I said jokingly.
“Well I got some amazing shots, can’t wait to show you when we get home. I mean the lights were just…” Harper stopped for a moment, “Hello? Listening? Damn Addy, it’s been like ten fucking seconds-“
“Huh?” I said shaking myself out of the stun I was in. You see, members from the bands that had performed and what I had assumed were their friends began to come into the lounge. Among them was the guy from the day before, Ryan. “Sorry,” I continued, ”distracted for a moment.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she muttered, “Barkeep,” she said knocking on the bar top, “Let’s get this girl a fruity martini.”
A moment later, a watermelon martini replaced my empty whisky glass. Harper smiled at me and we toasted to my job. Harper looked over to the couched area of the lounge and nudged me, “Wanna meet them? I’m gonna go introduce myself – maybe get a job or two in the process. Couldn’t hurt you either, babe. It’s called networking.”
I peeked over, trying not to be obvious, and saw Ryan sitting on the couch amongst a bunch of the guys “Sure,” I said hesitantly. “But first,” I said with a smile and downing the rest of my martini in one foul swoop, “I’m gonna need another drink.”
Harper cheered me on as I put down the empty glass, which was once again soon filled by another Watermelon martini. Harper, being less awkward and much more social than I, took lead and walked over to the group. They smiled and greeted her and shook her hand as she introduced herself. “…And this is my friend and roommate Addy,” she said gesturing to me. They all chorused a ‘hi Addy’ in response, I felt like I was in one of the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. I avoided looking at Ryan for a moment but as Harper jumped in and grabbed shots with some of the guys I decided to sit, and the only available spot was next to Ryan.
“Seat taken?” I asked with a smile.
Ryan smiled, “Nope,” he said, “Please sit.” So I did. I sat down and sipped my drink nervously enjoying the beginning feeling of the alcohol infiltrating my bloodstream. “Decided to make up for running out on me earlier today?”
“No actually,” I said taking another sip, “Harper dragged me here to celebrate my first day of work… and to make sure she doesn’t do something stupid…”
“Oh,” he said. He said it in such a way that unnerved me. How could one syllable make me feel so guilty?
“But I’m glad she did,” I said trying to recover, “You were good. I mean.. this isn’t really my scene or anything but I dig it… your music…” I stuttered a bit. I took another sip.
“Thanks.. I think…” He said with a grin. He grabbed his beer and took a swig, “So, before you get too much alcohol in your system. How about you give me that number? You said if we ran into each other again…”
I blushed in embarrassment, I had forgotten that part of the day. “Sure,” I said and grabbed a napkin. I snatched one of the many markers from my purse and scribbled down my digits and handed it to him, “We’re even now.” I said with a grin and finished my drink. Ryan took the napkin and slipped it into his pants pocket next to his wallet for safekeeping.
As the night went on Harper dominated the conversation and continued to rope me in to get me to talk. I said as little as I could get away with and not seem rude when all I really wanted to do was talk to Ryan, who was sitting next to me most of the night. After a couple of hours of drinking and chatting with everyone I decided it was time to go, for me at least.
“Hey Harper,” I said tapping her on the shoulder, pulling her away from the crowd so no one else could hear, “I think I’m gonna bail. I have a job now, remember?” I said with a grin.
“Lame,” Harper said, “But fine. I think I’m gonna stay a bit, see if I can slip them a business card… or ten.. but I’ll see you at home.. AFTER you get off of work. None of that eight a.m. bullshit again.”
I laughed and grabbed my purse from the arm of the couch. I looked to say goodbye to Ryan but he was no where to be found. Disappointed I waved one last time to the group and walked down the stairs and out of the club.
“Hey!” I heard a voice call out to me as I turned the corner on my way to the train station.
I spun on my heels, not the best idea considering the amount of alcohol I had taken in my bloodstream, and saw Ryan standing, his hands shoved in his coat pockets, and smiling at me. “Hey,” I said, “I looked for you to say bye, but you weren’t there…”
“I had some business to attend to,” Ryan said firmly. He walked over and offered his arm, “You shouldn’t be out so late at night by yourself. You never know who is gonna find you.”
I laughed nervously, “Offering to walk me home?” I asked, “What a gentleman. And they all say chivalry is dead..”
“Not offering,” Ryan said, “Demanding. I don’t think I would get any sleep if you walked home by yourself. Why are you walking anyways? Cant you just take a cab?” He asked as we neared the train station.
“Broke,” I said simply, “Some of us aren’t big star musicians who can get free rides everywhere or make a ton of money from playing every night or so.”
“What do you do, anyways? I mean, you were in such a rush this morning to get to work…”
“I’m a composer… kind of… right now they have me editing and arranging other people’s work but they gave me the job because of what I write.. I think they are just making me go through the ringer to prove myself before they let me do anything of my own. Doesn’t pay well but it’s a foot in the door..” I rambled. I hated it when I rambled, especially around a guy. A cute guy. A cute musically inclined guy.
“That’s cool,” he said.
“That’s cool?” I repeated as I swiped my fare card, twice, the second time was for the guy who never took the train who insisted on escorting me home. “What kind of answer is that?”
“Anyways,” he said, switching the subject as we stepped onto the train, “When should we go get drinks?”
I ignored the question for a moment, forcing myself to be graceful and balanced as I held onto the bar of the train and walked toward the back of the car. Ryan followed behind. I turned to answer when the train jolted forward, knocking me off balance and sent me toppling to the ground and on top of Ryan. I looked down and smiled nervously and brushed the hair out of my face, “Sorry,” I said quickly. Before I could push myself up Ryan lightly grabbed my chin and pulled my face towards his. It wasn’t anything special, it wasn’t earth shattering, and it wasn’t anything to write home about but it was a nice kiss. Just, nice. I said nothing but smiled and pushed myself away and sat down on the bench seat, a moment later Ryan sat next to me and put his arm around me. We didn’t say anything else.
Four stops of awkward silence and three homeless people later, we arrived to my stop. We got off and when we got to the front of my building I turned to face Ryan, “Tomorrow,” I said.
“What?” Ryan asked, confused.
“Drinks,” I said simply, “Tomorrow night. Call me tomorrow and give me the time and place. I’ll be there.”
Ryan smiled, “Deal.”
“Uhm,” I said slowly. I was never one to randomly invite people back up into my apartment or anything of the sort so I just thought of what Harper might have done in that situation, “Do you want a cup of coffee or cocoa before you go?” I asked.
Ryan nodded and we walked up the three flights of stairs to my apartment. After I opened up the door I flipped on the lights and threw my purse onto the floor next to the couch. I walked into the living room and slipped my shoes off when I felt two arms wrap around my waist from behind and lips nibbling on my neck. I turned to face Ryan and laid my arms over his shoulders. He smiled and kissed me sweetly before letting his hands travel the area of skin underneath the back of my shirt.
I stepped from him inch by inch and led him to the couch and pulled him down on top of me as I fell backwards onto the cushions. I let my hands explore the planes of his shoulders, his back, and chest. The kisses became more passionate, rough, and my hands became intertwined in his hair. He pushed my tunic up and ran his hand across my stomach as I worked his shirt over his head.
Suddenly we heard a SLAM from the entrance hallway and we fell off of the couch and Ryan hit his head on the floor. Startled I sat straight up, straddling Ryan, to see my roommate staring at me as she tossed her keys onto the counter, “Am I interrupting?” she asked sarcastically. Harper had thought I was changing in the living room or something – because I was never the kind of person to bring a guy home.
Ryan sat up and still had his hands wrapped around my waist and stared at Harper, “Actually…” he said slowly, “I was just leaving.” Quickly we stood and I pulled my tunic back in place and Ryan grabbed his clothes. Harper gave me a look that said she could not believe that I had the balls to bring a guy home and walked into her room.
I laughed as Ryan put his shirt back on and ran a hand through my hair, “Tomorrow?” I asked.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call,” he said and kissed me one last time before I closed the door behind him.
Outside, Ryan threw on his coat as he turned the corner. He went to hail a cab to get back to his apartment. Twenty minutes later he got out of the yellow checkered car and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. As he did so, he had forgotten about the napkin tucked loosely next to the wallet with scribbled numbers on it. He opened up the leather envelope and when he did he saw a white paper fly in front of his face with the wind and down the road. He threw his money at the cabbie yelling, “Keep the change,” and darted down the street. He tried to snatch the napkin on it’s way down but missed and when he went to grab it off the pavement it was soggy and illegible from the puddle it had fallen into. “Fuck!” he yelled. He held the paper up to the streetlight, trying to make out the numbers on the surface but could only pick out two out of the seven after the area code.
“If we die - we lived with passion. They said we'd burn so bright. We'd burn this city and go.” – Cartel
Harper sauntered up to the VIP lounge, holding her camera protectively while it dangled around her neck. She grinned widely and wandered up beside me, ordering a martini before she spoke, “So….” She said.
“So….what?” I asked.
“What’d you think of the show?” she asked while sipping her Appletini.
“It was good. For normal people music anyways,” I said jokingly.
“Well I got some amazing shots, can’t wait to show you when we get home. I mean the lights were just…” Harper stopped for a moment, “Hello? Listening? Damn Addy, it’s been like ten fucking seconds-“
“Huh?” I said shaking myself out of the stun I was in. You see, members from the bands that had performed and what I had assumed were their friends began to come into the lounge. Among them was the guy from the day before, Ryan. “Sorry,” I continued, ”distracted for a moment.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she muttered, “Barkeep,” she said knocking on the bar top, “Let’s get this girl a fruity martini.”
A moment later, a watermelon martini replaced my empty whisky glass. Harper smiled at me and we toasted to my job. Harper looked over to the couched area of the lounge and nudged me, “Wanna meet them? I’m gonna go introduce myself – maybe get a job or two in the process. Couldn’t hurt you either, babe. It’s called networking.”
I peeked over, trying not to be obvious, and saw Ryan sitting on the couch amongst a bunch of the guys “Sure,” I said hesitantly. “But first,” I said with a smile and downing the rest of my martini in one foul swoop, “I’m gonna need another drink.”
Harper cheered me on as I put down the empty glass, which was once again soon filled by another Watermelon martini. Harper, being less awkward and much more social than I, took lead and walked over to the group. They smiled and greeted her and shook her hand as she introduced herself. “…And this is my friend and roommate Addy,” she said gesturing to me. They all chorused a ‘hi Addy’ in response, I felt like I was in one of the Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. I avoided looking at Ryan for a moment but as Harper jumped in and grabbed shots with some of the guys I decided to sit, and the only available spot was next to Ryan.
“Seat taken?” I asked with a smile.
Ryan smiled, “Nope,” he said, “Please sit.” So I did. I sat down and sipped my drink nervously enjoying the beginning feeling of the alcohol infiltrating my bloodstream. “Decided to make up for running out on me earlier today?”
“No actually,” I said taking another sip, “Harper dragged me here to celebrate my first day of work… and to make sure she doesn’t do something stupid…”
“Oh,” he said. He said it in such a way that unnerved me. How could one syllable make me feel so guilty?
“But I’m glad she did,” I said trying to recover, “You were good. I mean.. this isn’t really my scene or anything but I dig it… your music…” I stuttered a bit. I took another sip.
“Thanks.. I think…” He said with a grin. He grabbed his beer and took a swig, “So, before you get too much alcohol in your system. How about you give me that number? You said if we ran into each other again…”
I blushed in embarrassment, I had forgotten that part of the day. “Sure,” I said and grabbed a napkin. I snatched one of the many markers from my purse and scribbled down my digits and handed it to him, “We’re even now.” I said with a grin and finished my drink. Ryan took the napkin and slipped it into his pants pocket next to his wallet for safekeeping.
As the night went on Harper dominated the conversation and continued to rope me in to get me to talk. I said as little as I could get away with and not seem rude when all I really wanted to do was talk to Ryan, who was sitting next to me most of the night. After a couple of hours of drinking and chatting with everyone I decided it was time to go, for me at least.
“Hey Harper,” I said tapping her on the shoulder, pulling her away from the crowd so no one else could hear, “I think I’m gonna bail. I have a job now, remember?” I said with a grin.
“Lame,” Harper said, “But fine. I think I’m gonna stay a bit, see if I can slip them a business card… or ten.. but I’ll see you at home.. AFTER you get off of work. None of that eight a.m. bullshit again.”
I laughed and grabbed my purse from the arm of the couch. I looked to say goodbye to Ryan but he was no where to be found. Disappointed I waved one last time to the group and walked down the stairs and out of the club.
“Hey!” I heard a voice call out to me as I turned the corner on my way to the train station.
I spun on my heels, not the best idea considering the amount of alcohol I had taken in my bloodstream, and saw Ryan standing, his hands shoved in his coat pockets, and smiling at me. “Hey,” I said, “I looked for you to say bye, but you weren’t there…”
“I had some business to attend to,” Ryan said firmly. He walked over and offered his arm, “You shouldn’t be out so late at night by yourself. You never know who is gonna find you.”
I laughed nervously, “Offering to walk me home?” I asked, “What a gentleman. And they all say chivalry is dead..”
“Not offering,” Ryan said, “Demanding. I don’t think I would get any sleep if you walked home by yourself. Why are you walking anyways? Cant you just take a cab?” He asked as we neared the train station.
“Broke,” I said simply, “Some of us aren’t big star musicians who can get free rides everywhere or make a ton of money from playing every night or so.”
“What do you do, anyways? I mean, you were in such a rush this morning to get to work…”
“I’m a composer… kind of… right now they have me editing and arranging other people’s work but they gave me the job because of what I write.. I think they are just making me go through the ringer to prove myself before they let me do anything of my own. Doesn’t pay well but it’s a foot in the door..” I rambled. I hated it when I rambled, especially around a guy. A cute guy. A cute musically inclined guy.
“That’s cool,” he said.
“That’s cool?” I repeated as I swiped my fare card, twice, the second time was for the guy who never took the train who insisted on escorting me home. “What kind of answer is that?”
“Anyways,” he said, switching the subject as we stepped onto the train, “When should we go get drinks?”
I ignored the question for a moment, forcing myself to be graceful and balanced as I held onto the bar of the train and walked toward the back of the car. Ryan followed behind. I turned to answer when the train jolted forward, knocking me off balance and sent me toppling to the ground and on top of Ryan. I looked down and smiled nervously and brushed the hair out of my face, “Sorry,” I said quickly. Before I could push myself up Ryan lightly grabbed my chin and pulled my face towards his. It wasn’t anything special, it wasn’t earth shattering, and it wasn’t anything to write home about but it was a nice kiss. Just, nice. I said nothing but smiled and pushed myself away and sat down on the bench seat, a moment later Ryan sat next to me and put his arm around me. We didn’t say anything else.
Four stops of awkward silence and three homeless people later, we arrived to my stop. We got off and when we got to the front of my building I turned to face Ryan, “Tomorrow,” I said.
“What?” Ryan asked, confused.
“Drinks,” I said simply, “Tomorrow night. Call me tomorrow and give me the time and place. I’ll be there.”
Ryan smiled, “Deal.”
“Uhm,” I said slowly. I was never one to randomly invite people back up into my apartment or anything of the sort so I just thought of what Harper might have done in that situation, “Do you want a cup of coffee or cocoa before you go?” I asked.
Ryan nodded and we walked up the three flights of stairs to my apartment. After I opened up the door I flipped on the lights and threw my purse onto the floor next to the couch. I walked into the living room and slipped my shoes off when I felt two arms wrap around my waist from behind and lips nibbling on my neck. I turned to face Ryan and laid my arms over his shoulders. He smiled and kissed me sweetly before letting his hands travel the area of skin underneath the back of my shirt.
I stepped from him inch by inch and led him to the couch and pulled him down on top of me as I fell backwards onto the cushions. I let my hands explore the planes of his shoulders, his back, and chest. The kisses became more passionate, rough, and my hands became intertwined in his hair. He pushed my tunic up and ran his hand across my stomach as I worked his shirt over his head.
Suddenly we heard a SLAM from the entrance hallway and we fell off of the couch and Ryan hit his head on the floor. Startled I sat straight up, straddling Ryan, to see my roommate staring at me as she tossed her keys onto the counter, “Am I interrupting?” she asked sarcastically. Harper had thought I was changing in the living room or something – because I was never the kind of person to bring a guy home.
Ryan sat up and still had his hands wrapped around my waist and stared at Harper, “Actually…” he said slowly, “I was just leaving.” Quickly we stood and I pulled my tunic back in place and Ryan grabbed his clothes. Harper gave me a look that said she could not believe that I had the balls to bring a guy home and walked into her room.
I laughed as Ryan put his shirt back on and ran a hand through my hair, “Tomorrow?” I asked.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call,” he said and kissed me one last time before I closed the door behind him.
Outside, Ryan threw on his coat as he turned the corner. He went to hail a cab to get back to his apartment. Twenty minutes later he got out of the yellow checkered car and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. As he did so, he had forgotten about the napkin tucked loosely next to the wallet with scribbled numbers on it. He opened up the leather envelope and when he did he saw a white paper fly in front of his face with the wind and down the road. He threw his money at the cabbie yelling, “Keep the change,” and darted down the street. He tried to snatch the napkin on it’s way down but missed and when he went to grab it off the pavement it was soggy and illegible from the puddle it had fallen into. “Fuck!” he yelled. He held the paper up to the streetlight, trying to make out the numbers on the surface but could only pick out two out of the seven after the area code.
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