The Devil has Blue Eyes

****************************
Chapter 2 - A Fancy Affair
****************************

++++++++++

A/N: My computer, which I finally got to take home with me several months ago, has eaten my original chapter two, which I had just finished. A few days ago, the hard drive blew out for no apparent reason other than it was probably some internal defect or whatever. Apple, or CRAPPLE as I now like to call them, has now lost their place in my heart. It was under warranty, but the hard drive was unrecoverable. As I morn the death of every single thing that I had on there, my photos, my artwork I had not yet backed up, and my stories, and my thousands of dollars worth of graphic design programs, I will probably do nothing but bitch in my authors notes so be warned. But I must impart this piece of vital wisdom to you. BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE! IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON! BACK IT UP! Other then that, I have re-written chapter two and hopefully it is better then they first time I wrote it. This is, by no means the final edit, but seeing as I have no safe place to keep my work right now and transfer it from computer to computer (because some idiot decided to get rid of diskette drives, and because my memory stick quit on me as well) and right now AFF seems the safest place for me to keep it, so hopefully they won’t have anymore problems. Chapter three, which contains a juicy lemon, is written down in my composition book, so don’t worry, it will be here soon.

++++++++++


Over the next couple of days, friends and family questioned Keiichi about the bruise on his cheek. He told everyone he had tried to grab Amber’s boob and she’d smacked him. Strangely enough, people accepted it.

On Saturday night, he stopped by Amber’s house to pick her up. She’d offered to treat him to dinner because she thought the fight between him and Mark was somehow her fault. Keiichi didn’t feel much like enlightening her. He liked dinner. It was his favorite meal of the day. And as long as it was on her he would choose the most expensive item on the menu.

Amber Sterling looked ravishing in her new halter cocktail dress. It was a deep greenish blue, the exact color of the ocean at night. It went perfect with her sharp eyes, which were almost yellow like a cat’s. Her unruly curls of fiery red hair were tamed in a fabulous up do, with a few well place strands let loose for a dramatic effect. She made her way down stairs.

“You look great,” Keiichi said, while not taking his eyes off a picture of her sister Jessica he had taken off the mantle to get a better look at.

Amber sighed. Getting dressed up was always wasted on him. He wouldn’t know a real woman if she bit him on the ass.

He placed Jessica’s photo back on the mantle. “You ready to go?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” The got started on their thirty minute walk to the restaurant. It was a nice evening, but let’s face it, walking in dress clothes sucks.

“I don’t see why you didn’t ask your mother if we could use the car,” Keiichi griped.

“I did ask. But she laughed and said ‘It’s only Keiichi.’”

“Your mother is a bitch.”

“I should probably argue with you just on the point of the matter, but she has no redeeming values which I can defend her with.”

They continued to the restaurant, laughing and talking about what a bitch Amber’s mom was. She was just in the middle of telling him how her mother had farted loudly while speaking at a charity auction when they came up upon the flashing lights and loud music of the new night club, Creep.

“Hey, wanna go there instead? I hear it’s eighteen and over tonight.”

Keiichi very nearly said yes until he spied Mark’s midnight blue mustang in the parking lot. “Hey, you said I’d get to pick, and I picked The Lilac Terrace, Red.”

Amber huffed. “You just picked it because it was the most expensive joint in town. Besides, you didn’t make the reservations in time and we don’t even get to sit on the terrace!”

He yawned. “I figured I’d save that for when I had someone special to go there with. You know, like your sister.”

Amber’s eyes rolled into the back of her head. “Ugh, as if she’d even go there with you!” Not to mention he’d have to break into his savings account.

The Lilac Terrace was just a few blocks from the night club Creep. It was located on the second floor of a big luxurious looking building, the bottom of which housed an upscale women’s clothing shop that had long since been closed by this time of night. They went through a plain looking door marked only by an old fashioned wooden sign hanging above it with the name of the restaurant embedded in it with fancy letters accompanied by delicate, hand painted lilacs. Once they went through, they found themselves at the bottom of a long, dimly lit hall of stairs. The sweet, slow sounds piano music drifted down from the actual restaurant, giving the whole place a rather expensive atmosphere.

Amber made sure to take hold of Keiichi’s arm as they walked up the stairs. After all, she was a beautiful young woman and Keiichi was clean cut and handsome, and together she knew they cut quite a striking pair. He had black, layered hair with bangs and although it was still on the short side, it was now almost getting long enough to break the Green Mountain Academy dress code. Although his skin had dark undertones, he really was, on the whole, fairly pale. His dark, slashing black brows made a striking statement on his delicate face. Plus he looked really, really good in a white shirt and dinner jacket. Yes, all together her best friend Keiichi had turned out to be quite a stunning young man. And tonight, everyone who was anyone would now know it. He and Amber shared a hearty dislike of people in general, so up until now, at school, he’d pretty much kept to himself. Although Keiichi didn’t realize it, he could soon kiss his beloved anonymity goodbye. After word got out how well he looked in dress clothes, all the girls in school would be whispering his name in every lady’s bathroom on the campus. Amber nearly laughed to herself. She loved it when she made the other girls jealous; and if Keiichi could just keep his big mouth shut long enough, no one would realize he was really a giant dork.

As they got to the top, the lights became even dimmer if that was even possible. The large chandler in the middle of the place gave out hardly any light and the rest of the tables only had little oil lamps. Keiichi was surprised to see that most of their fellow diners were kids from their school. The room seemed to still as they entered, but he chalked it up to his imagination. He had reservations under his name and the hostess led them to their seats right away. A wave of mischief swept through him and he decided to give Amber a hard time.

“Pretty swank place they’ve got here, mind if I start dancing?” He made as if he were going to bust out into a dance move at any moment.

Amber laced her fingers through his and squeezed her acrylic nails in painfully. Her eyes flashed yellow fire. “Listen here, Keiichi darling,” she whispered in his ear. You’ve wandered into my territory now, and if you make a scene and embarrass me in front of the sons and daughters of mommy and daddy’s rich friends and I will destroy you.”

He winced in pain, trying to shake himself from her grip. “Grah! Augh! I get it! Just let go!”

They were seated at a table in the far corner of the restaurant, and, although cramped, it had an excellent view of the piano man. They were still looking over the menus when their waiter approached them.

“Hello, my name is Michael and I’ll be your server this evening . . .”

The voice, both professional and friendly, was strangely familiar to Keiichi. He looked up, startled. It was the strange, green eyed man from the café. Apparently, he had a night job.

“Oh, er . . .” Keiichi was at a loss as to what to say. Luckily, the other man did the talking.

“Oh Keiichi! Great seeing you, how’ve you been?”

“Oh, uh, I’ve been just great.”

“That’s good. And I see you’ve brought your girlfriend tonight! The plot thickens.” Before Keiichi could question him about this last statement, Michael was bent over Amber’s hand, kissing her knuckles. “And what a lovely girl she is . . .”

Keiichi nearly gagged at the cheesiness of it all. But Amber, who didn’t find it cheesy at all, was beaming. Girls. “Amber this is . . .” What the hell had he said his name was again? “This is Michael. Michael, this is Amber.” He never bothered anymore to contradict people when they called Amber his girlfriend. It was just too much trouble explaining to people that he, a healthy young man, and she, a beautiful female were just best friends who spent all their time together and had no romantic interest in each other whatsoever. People never believed them.

After he was done flirting with Amber, he stood back and cleared his throat. “Now, what can I get you two young people to drink?”

Keiichi ordered Dr. Pepper and Amber a Shirley Temple. Their drinks were promptly brought to them by another waitress on the staff and they sipped them while looking at their menus.

Keiichi, who had looked over the menu several times, still could not find anything he liked. He hailed the waitress that had brought them their drinks. “Er, uh, Kim,” he squinted to read the name off the elegant gold tag on her shoulder. She seemed to be no older then him and Amber. “Would you guys happen to offer any vegetarian dishes that aren’t listed on the menu? Because I can’t seem to find any . . .”

She looked at him as if she thought him very strange. “Uh, sir, you do know this is a steak house, don’t you?”

He flustered. “Oh, yes. I ah, heh, how silly of me.”

Amber snickered as she walked away. She’d tried to tell Keiichi that he wouldn’t like anything on the menu here. But he had been so insistent because all the kids in school were talking about how cool this place was.

In the end, Amber ordered the fillet mignon and Keiichi went with the tuna. While they waited for their food, they sat and gossiped about all the people they knew sitting around him.

“I see Theresa’s gained weight,” Amber sniffed.

“Jack always smells like balls.”

“I wonder why she always looks so constipated?”

Amber had also ordered soup, and she practically leered at Michael as he brought two big bowls of it to the table. Keiichi looked surprised. “Oh no, I didn’t order any soup.”

Michael startled. “Oh, you didn’t? Crap.” He coughed, covering his mouth with the back of his arm, trying to cover up the euphemism. “Oh well, I suppose it’s on the house then.” He unfolded Amber’s napkin into her lap. She looked hungry, and something told Keiichi it wasn’t for the soup. Oddly enough, he also unfolded Keiichi’s napkin for him. Eh? I thought they only did that for the ladies. Keiichi nearly yelped as the man’s hands brushed dangerously close to a certain part of his anatomy. Amber happened to be glancing down coquettishly and missed the whole thing. Did he just . . . He could have sworn that Michael winked at him as he turned to leave.

He waited for him to walk out of ear shot before he turned to Amber and said, “Dude, I think that guy just tried to grab my wiener!”

Amber, who’d been watching Michael’s retreating derriere looked at Keiichi, startled. “What? Who’s trying to grab your wiener?” She said a little too loudly.

“Shhhshhhh! Keep your voice down, damn it! Michael, who do you think?”

She looked incredulous. “Him? No. He’s too damn hot to be gay.”

“No! I’m serious! When he put the napkin on my lap I think he tried to touch me . . . you know . . . there!”

She gave him a look that said, you’re so stupid. “Come on. So he accidentally grazed something. It must have been more uncomfortable for him than it was for you, I mean, think of how embarrassed he must feel.”

He looked down at the table, feeling quite embarrassed that he’d even mentioned something so childish. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

When he looked back up, Amber was eating delicate, lady-like spoonfuls of her soup. Apparently she did hide some good table manners somewhere. But her soup looked weird. It was green and red with what seemed like orange chunks swimming in it. Come to think of it, Michael had brought him the same thing.

“Uh, Amber, what is this stuff anyway?”

“It’s mango gazpacho. It’s good, try it.”

Keiichi wasn’t sure what a mango was, but he was almost certain it didn’t belong in soup. Perhaps it was just the incredibly dim lighting that was making it look so strange? He decided it couldn’t be that bad if Amber was eating it, so he took his spoon and shoveled a large portion of it into his mouth.

“BLECH! Ugh!” The soup spilled right out of his mouth and all down the front of his good white dress shirt.

Amber stared at him, horrified, two red spots rose to her cheeks. Everyone in the restaurant turned to watch their little debacle. “Keiichiiiiiii! What are you doing?” she fairly wailed.

He pointed an angry, accusing finger at the soup, jabbing it. “It’s freaking cold!”

She stared at him as if he were from another planet. “Duh. It’s supposed to be cold. It’s gazpacho.”

“I don’t care!” he carried on in an angry whisper. “This shit if awful!”

Their waiter, Michael, approached the table. “Oh, did we have an accident?” He gave Keiichi a manly pat on the shoulder. “Come one and follow me to the back, we’ll get you cleaned up.”

As little as he wanted to follow the man he was almost sure had tried to grab his wiener earlier, he was at a loss about what else he could do without being rude or making a scene. So he got up and followed him through the doors that led into the kitchen. He led him through the kitchen, to the back where the employee restrooms were. Keiichi followed him into the men’s bathroom, but regretted that he had when he saw that instead of being a series of stalls, it was all one room.

Michael had started taking off his shirt.

“Hey, what the hell – ”

Michael stopped to stare at him. “I’m giving you my shirt to wear while I get the stain out of yours. That girl you got there seems like a handful. She might get mad if you’re gone for too long.”

Keiichi reddened. “Oh, of course.”

“What’d you think? That I was trying to hit on you?”

Keiichi was mortified. “No! Oh no, I – ”

He was relieved when the other man laughed. “Christ! I was only joking with you. No, but seriously, this doesn’t work unless you take your shirt off too. Unless you want me to take it off for you?”

Keiichi stared wide eyed.

“Joke! Another joke!”

He laughed feebly and began unbuttoning his shirt, relieved when Michael started talking again.

“But really, if you want I can slip a little somethin’ somethin’ in your girl’s drink to make sure you get lucky tonight.”

Keiichi, who had his shirt nearly off, blanched. “Oh no, I’d never – ”

“Kidding again!” Michael laughed heartily as they switched shirts. “You just don’t seem to see them coming!”

Keiichi dressed in the shirt that had been given to him, embarrassed to find it still a little warm. It was also several sizes too big. He then suddenly became very aware of how well built the other man was and how puny he was in comparison. He tore his eyes away, hopping he hadn’t been caught staring.

When they were done switching shirts, Michael propelled him out the door saying, “Don’t worry about the shirt. Just go get her!”

As he walked through the kitchen he could feel the eyes of the staff upon him and when he walked into the main area he could see all the diners staring at him as well. He was all flustered as he sat back down at the table.

“Wow, that was fast. It looks like you never spit your gazpacho out on it at all. Oh! Did he try to touch you in your soft spot again?”

“First of all, you’re a moron. There’s no possible way any shirt could have been cleaned that fast. This is Michael’s shirt. He had us switch for the time being so I could continue enjoying my meal. Second of all, I think I was wrong about the whole touching thing. He seems like a pretty nice guy.”

“See, I told you. Too hot to be gay.” Her eyes widened. “Is that really Michael’s shirt?”

“Yeah, why?”

“. . . Can I smell it?”

Keiichi rolled his eyes and sighed condescendingly. “If you must.” He let her sniff the end of his sleeve.

“Mmm, he smells dreamy,”

Shortly after, the same waitress who had made the comment about this being a steak house brought their food.

“Michael told me to bring this over, he’s still working on your shirt.” They thanked her.

Keiichi watched as Amber cut into her steak. It was so red it looked as if they’d just cut it from the cow. He decided to concentrate on his own food and cut into his tuna. It was pink inside.

“Hey, I don’t think they cooked my fish well enough!”

Amber looked at it. “Sure they did. You got the seared ahí tuna right? Trust me, it’s really good.”

His eyes narrowed. “You said the same thing about the soup.” She ignored him and continued eating. He cut off a little piece at the end and put it in his mouth. He promptly spit it out into his napkin.

Amber rolled her eyes. “I told you that you wouldn’t like the food here. We should have gone clubbing.”

He thought about the blue mustang in the parking lot of Creep. No, it was much better they didn’t go there. Crappy food and peculiar waiters were much better then being stuck somewhere with Mark Stevens.

They talked while Amber finished her food. Kim came to their table with the bill. “Would you like any dessert?”

Amber’s eyes lit up and she was about to speak, but Keiichi quickly interjected. “No, no. Just the cheque please.”

Kim left him the bill and he got out his wallet, whipping out Amber’s platinum credit card that she had placed in there earlier. She never wanted it to look like she was paying the bill when she took Keiichi out. This time she was particularly glad she had forced her credit card on him because she could here the gasps of several of the less rich, more ambitious girls in the room.

“Didn’t you even think that I may have wanted dessert?”

Keiichi winced. “Knowing my luck, we’d order chocolate cake and it would probably have squid in it!”

Before Amber could put up an argument, Kim had returned to their table bearing Keiichi’s shirt, the stain magically removed. She was about to leave when Keiichi stopped her.

“Wait. I need to give Michael back his shirt.”

She looked as if she wanted to tell him it wasn’t her problem. “Oh, but he left. He was in a hurry.”

“He left shirtless?”

Kim blushed and looked as if she was making a mental image of a shirtless Michael in her head. She laughed. “Oh no, he keeps a spare shirt in his locker.”

“Couldn’t I just change out of it here and leave it for him?”

Kim looked around doubtfully. “Right here?”

Keiichi flushed for the millionth time that night. “No, in the bathroom. I could just leave this here for him.”

She thought about it. “No, no, you can’t do that. We have nowhere to keep it.”

“But didn’t you say he had some sort of locker or something?”

“Yes, yes, we all do. But Michael keeps his locked.” She looked as if the thought perplexed her. “Come to think of it, he’s the only one who actually locks his locker. Bought the lock and key himself. Nope, you definitely couldn’t leave it here.”

“Oh, I guess I could just bring it to him sometime . . .” Keiichi looked defeated.

Kim didn’t even let him finish. She took the leather folder with the bill in it. “Great. You guys have a good evening!” she said as she walked away.

Amber laughed at him.

**********

They left the restaurant laughing at all that had happened, Michael’s shirt slung over Keiichi’s shoulder. “HA! I can’t believe it! When you bent down to pick up your purse right in front of Theresa’s boyfriend, he dribbled iced tea out the side of his mouth!”

Amber laughed, her face turning red. “Na ah, I don’t remember that!”

“No, I swear, Theresa was so pissed!”

She looked thoughtful. “Oh, maybe that was why she smacked him with her purse! Oh my God!” Her derision at this last statement made her loose her balance and she had to grab on to Keiichi for support.

Their laughter echoed through the street as they passed across the street from Creep. A couple in the parking lot turned to look at them. It was Mark, leaning against his car as a girl from their English class, Sydney, clung to him as if they had been Krazy Glued. She was wearing a sequined halter top with no back, and her pants were so low they could be considered indecent. She waved to Amber.

Amber put on an awful grimace of a fake smile and waved back, mumbling under her breath, “God damn, she must be cold.” Keiichi, who had thought she had said she herself was cold, quickly slid the jacket to his suit around her shoulders. Mark’s beautiful eyes burned into Keiichi’s with fiery blue hatred. Why? Why does he have to look at me like that?” He could feel Mark’s eyes burning a hole through the back of his neck even after they’d long passed.

When they got to their houses, he bid Amber a hasty goodbye and then crossed her vast front yard over to his house. He bypassed his questioning mother in the living room and went directly upstairs to his own room, closing the door tightly behind him. His heart beat a heavy staccato and to be quite honest, he felt a bit unglued. He didn’t know why seeing Mark and that chick and made him feel, well, just so weird. And that look! Why had Mark looked at him as if he wanted to tear him apart? Keiichi dressed down to his boxers and went strait to bed, visions of icy blue eyes so angry they were about to tear over haunted his dreams.

+++++++++

A/N: Like I said, this is by no means the final edit, so any suggestions or errors can be posted or emailed to me. But do keep in mind that this is only a sort of “building up to” chapter, and that the story does get more exciting, like next chapter’s non con lemon. I wanted to transfer it from my composition book to type today, but it’s already 4 in the morning and this isn’t my house.

miles – Thank you so much for being my first review. It’s been a long time, so I hope you’re still here for the next chapters!

madlodger – Thank you so much for reading the first chapter, I hope you stick around. I tried to put a little bit more character descriptions in. Keiichi is the son of third generation Japanese immigrants, so he is all Japanese. He actually excels in his English class and he is very good at writing compositions, and that does play a major part in my story toward the end. Thanks so much, I would very much like to hear more of your comments in the future!

dut – Thanks for the review! Reviews are what keep me going.

Yblue – Hope the wait wasn’t too long for you. I think I blushed a little when you said it was well written . . .

Nastyscarthingunderthebed – Yes, I have long since turned back to my normal shade. But as you can see, there are other problems now afoot.

Ameno – Thanks. I hope I fixed all the errors. Remember, if you guys don’t tell me I’m probably never gonna know.

beki – Sorry to keep you in suspense for so very, very long.

++++++++++