The next morning

Hayden woke up and rubbed his eyes. He smiled, remembering the night before. His eyes still closed, he reached over to the other side of the bed and found an empty space.

Startled, he sat up, his eyes wide awake. He found that he was in the room, completely alone.

He was used to the situation being in reverse, but this time - for the first time, he'd been the one left alone the morning after.

Hayden's mind went back to the previous night's events ~~

Hayden stood around at the bar, waiting on his drink. Another night, another party, he thought to himself. His thoughts went back to the earlier conversation with Tove. The truth was, he wasn't really sure if all of this was making him happy. It had sort of started out fun but it had snowballed into this massive lifestyle that was leaving Hayden very jaded.

It was still early and there were a few people walking around but the party wasn't in full swing yet- Tove hadn't even arrived yet. Hayden surveyed the room for anyone he knew. There were two girls in tight miniskirts dancing to "Promiscuous" on the bar dancefloor, throwing looks at Hayden, in hopes of getting his attention.

He pretended not to notice.

The bartender handed him his drink at that moment and Hayden went back near the doorway.

Hayden lit a cigarette, leaning against the doorway and continued to look around the room.

His gaze became transfixed on a girl with dark brown hair standing at a table across the room. She was wearing an aqua colored top with a white mini-skirt. She was there talking with another girl.

~~~~~

Oh shit!" Steph whispered grabbing Cara's arm.

"What?" Cara said hastily.

"I think that's Hayden Christensen over there in the doorway!" Steph said, her voice still a harsh whisper.

Cara looked at Steph, "oh yeah?" and then she turned to follow the direction of the doorway.

Cara and Hayden's eyes met at that moment and neither looked away.

Hayden continued to watch her, taking a drag from his cigarette.

Cara finally broke the gaze and turned back around to Steph. "Yeah, that looks like him."

Sarah looked at her like she was an alien, "you were just having a staredown with him too!"

"I was not," Cara retorted.

"Uh, the two of you were totally staring at each other," Sarah said.

Cara rolled her eyes, "we looked at each other, so what?" She turned back around to see two girls now swarming the doorway where he was.

"See? He always has female attention...that's his life," Cara said.

~~~~~

Hayden was polite as he could be without being overfriendly. He really wasn't trying to welcome any attention. He just wasn't in the mood for all of that tonight.

By the time the giggling girls had left the table and he had managed to steal a glance where the girl had been standing, she was gone.

~~~~~

Steph and Cara had stepped to the side of the bar to order drinks when Cara saw one of the ladies who had interviewed her.

"Hello Melissa," Cara said.

"Hello!" Melissa said in a friendly tone. Cara got the distinctive impression that Melissa couldn't have remembered her name if her life had depended on it.

"It's Cara...you interviewed me last week."

A look of realization crossed her face, "Oh yes! How are you Cara? Are you ready to start with us next week?"

"Yes, definitely," Cara said.

"Well, we're not starting work yet...so to welcome you to the company, here's a shot!" Melissa said handing her a vodka shot.

Cara laughed and looked at Stephanie. "C'mon-- remember, we're celebrating?" Steph grinned.

Cara smiled and threw back the shot.

She used to drink like a pro in college but she hadn't drank in several months and her tolerance certainly wasn't what it used to be.

The three women continued laughing and taking shots together.

It wasn't long before Cara was very affected by the alcohol.

Hayden watched her from across the room, taking a long slow drag from his cigarette.

He wasn't quite used to this -- he normally didn't even have to be intrigued by a girl from afar. Girls usually made it very easy for him and he never had to approach them.

This girl had taken several looks at him and it looked like she was knocking back a fair amount of liquor shots.

Hayden had had a few himself, even after promising himself that he wouldn't drink too much tonight.

It was a vicious cycle that kept sucking him in every time.

He had gotten to the point that he enjoyed the numb feeling all of this gave him - he enjoyed not feeling anything. It's when feelings get involved that people get hurt , Hayden thought to himself.

He was still reeling from what his brother liked to call 'Hurricane Sienna'.

The two had connected and had become very close -and then suddenly, Hayden had realized she wasn't at all the person he had thought she was. He was tired of people jerking each other around, especially in this industry. He was tired of getting jerked around -- that's perhaps why this new lifestyle appealed to him so much.

He could drink and party and have a great time and no one got hurt, especially him.

~~~~~~~~

Melissa had left to mingle and Steph and Cara were taking what may have been their 9th shot a piece, they weren't sure though. They seemed to have lost count.

Suddenly a twenty dollar bill appeared on the bar, "two more of those for these ladies," the voice said behind them.

Cara turned to see who was buying shots for them.

Steph's mouth dropped open, even in her drunken daze.

Hayden looked right at Cara and grinned. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," Cara looked at him, still in surprise but also because she was starting to see two of him.

Hayden introduced himself to the two girls, but it was pretty evident that he was completely focused on Cara.

An attractive guy began talking to Steph and she then focused her attention on talking with him while Cara and Hayden proceeded to take a few more shots.

"Are you alright?" Hayden asked with a smile after the last shot.

"Yes," Cara grinned, closing her eyes.

This was the first time in weeks that she wasn't stressed out. She wasn't upset or nervous or sad. It felt great.

"Okay then," Hayden smiled.

"Let's dance!" Cara said, sliding off the barstool and grabbing Hayden's hand.

"Uh...I don't know," Hayden said. Drunk or not, he wasn't big on dancing, especially in public.

"C'mon!" Cara laughed, still pulling him to the dancefloor, while Steph watched in amazement from the bar where she was still talking. Cara was acting completely out of character. Normally, she was very uptight and due to the alcohol, she was so much more uninhibited.

The dancing turned out to be more of Cara dancing and Hayden standing there, smiling and watching her.

Then a slow song came on. Hayden pulled her a little closer to him. "Okay, this is a little more my speed."

Cara smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck and danced with him.

A few minutes later, Cara rushed over to Steph. "Alright, I'm gonna go....I'll meet you at home, ok?"

"What?!" Stephanie asked in surprise.

"You're okay aren't you?" Cara asked.

"Yes, are you?" Stephanie asked.

"Oh yeah! Hayden and I are going to hang out for a little while and he's gonna drop me off at home...." Cara said.

Stephanie looked at her skeptically, "...and that's okay with you?"

"Yes!" Cara grinned. "I'm having a good time, Steph! I'm celebrating, remember?!"

Stephanie nodded, "Okay, have fun and be safe."

Cara smiled and hugged her.

When Stephanie had looked around again a minute later, Cara and Hayden were gone.