It had been a week since Sera had run out on her, and Rosa still felt guilty. She shouldn't have read the girl's thoughts. Still that didn't stop her from going to the White Mice to enjoy a night of feeding and music. The nightclub was full of the men she targeted, and was happy to take her anger out on someone.

Dressed in a sleeveless black satin shirt with a matching skirt walked into the nightclub bombarded with the music that the younger generation listened to. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, and she wore a light blue shade of eye shadow. It wasn't her favorite, she usually preferred The Tequila's music, but this was alright. Moving gracefully to the bar she ordered a dirty martini. While waiting for the drink Rosa surveyed the crowd looking for something specific within the minds of the men throughout the club. It was kind of hard with the music and other people's thoughts, but she was sifting through them all the same.

Same as always, disgusting men who were here to cheat on their lovers, or to get an easy fuck. It made her sick just how men took women so lightly. With a sigh she took the drink from the bartender, and thanked him with a generous tip. She could feel some of the men staring at her. Smiling a little bit she moved to an empty booth where she could get a clear view of the dance floor. Tonight was going to be fun for her.

Trey gave a deep sigh as he wiped out a glass behind the bar. Things just hadn't been the same since Aury left... He missed her a lot more than he ever thought he would have too... After she'd vanished into thin air, he'd just been working, going to school... It just wasn't the same at all. He tried to find out what happened to her after he hadn't heard from her for a week, but she didn't pick up her phone... And when he went by her apartment three weeks later, there was someone else in it.

She hadn't shown up in the papers... So Trey assumed it was something with her father. her father had been sick, so maybe she had to move to take care of him. It was possible... But why wasn't she calling him back then?

He'd missed her when he was walking alone, watching movies, or even working... It wasn't worth the effort anymore...

As Trey snapped out of his thoughts, he saw a woman sitting at a booth. She hadn't been there a few moments ago, so he figured she was new or had wanted a drink.

She was pretty... But one of the kinds that knew they were and wanted every man in a fifty foot radius to know it too. Not his type. He liked the low key, modest almost shy and they didn't even have to be that pretty really. Aury wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but he had found her beautiful even so...

"Welcome to the White Mice miss." He greeted her with a smile as he slid int the other side of the booth. "I'm Trey, and you've had the luck to sit at one of my tables tonight, so I'll be checking up on ya every now and then, possibly cutting you off when you've had to much." He chuckled. "So what can I start ya off with?"

Rosa had been paying attention to the crowd of men as the other man slipped into the booth. Looking at him for a second she felt something different from him...something that she didn't expect as she probed his mind. A girl had left him...vanished it seemed. Sighing she took a sip of the dirty martini she got from the other bar. "Thank you." She said a little flustered, but didn't show it staying outwardly calm. "I'm Rosa." She said offering her hand to him to shake. Something she didn't usually do, but it seemed right to her. "I'm glad that someone like you will be watching over me." She said with a soft chuckle. He was definitely attractive, she'd say he was younger than 29 if she didn't read the topmost portion of his mind. It seemed whoever the girl actually hurt him.

"Can you get me a martini? Gin mixed with Bacardi Silver, shaken and with lemon peel if you don't mind." She said knowing full well that it was something she saw from that accursed James Bond film Casino Royale. She hated Bond, but she couldn't deny that it was a good movie. She finished off her dirty martini, and handed the empty glass to Trey. "Do please come back quick before some despicable man takes your place." She said smiling, actually genuinely smiling at the man. He had taken her by surprise. He was actually still hurting because of the girl that left him, but she kept telling herself that he was the same as the pigs in the nightclub.

"Bond Martini, coming up." Trey gave her a little wink as he slipped from the booth.

"All of the tenders here are pretty cool though. No one'll really bother you and if you do, just get either me or Gary by the door. I also double as security, so don't think for a second you'd be bothering me." He said honestly. Maybe she wasn't as shallow and superficial as he thought... Just because she was pretty didn't mean she was superficial. There were times when beauty and personality actually went hand in hand. Like with Aury...

Damnit... Couldn't he just forget about her for a moment?

He didn't know where she was, if she'd be back... He'd even went down to the Tequila and they hadn't been able to tell him anything...

"Hey, was this Larry." He said as he tossed the glass to a lanky man behind the counter. Fixing up Rosa's drink he made his way back to her.

"I gave it a bit of a twist, its stirred, not shaken." He grinned as he set the martini down in front of her. "Is there anything else I can get for ya Rosa?"

Rosa felt uncomfortable and even now she felt an attraction for Trey that she hadn't felt in a good three hundred or so years. She felt that she could actually trust this man with making her drink. As he went to make her drink Rosa shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She hadn't met someone like that since she met her husband before he turned her over to the Inquisition. So Gary was the name of the man who was at the door? She almost laughed at the idea of needing a man to protect her, but she knew that she wasn't exactly the strongest vampiress. Then Trey returned with her drink and she sighed. "I guess I'll try it without bruising the gin." She said showing the knowledge she had gained from drinking a lot, well a little was also from reading some bartenders's minds, but it was more her own experimentation. Taking a sip she sighed enjoying the taste of the alcohol as she drank it. "Mmmm...delicious." She said taking note to try to ask for stirred martinis more often.

Then she turned her attention to Trey's question. "No, I'd like to know more about my guardian tonight." She said holding the drink gingerly in her hands. It felt as if an old fire had been stirred to life again within her icebox of a heart.

"Well I'm glad you like it. It would have hurt my pride as a tender if you hadn't liked it." He chuckled.

But Trey's smile soften, looked almost sad, as she asked about him. That look in her eyes told him something he'd rather not know really... Something that in truth bothered him. "Nothing special about me. I work here to pay the bills and go to school." He said with a shrug.

He didn't want to be rude to the woman, but he wasn't feeling entirely comfortable around her anymore. She probably wasn't after his heart, just after a good time, but he couldn't give her either really. After all, who wasn't to say that Aury wouldn't just walk through the door, that she wouldn't be back and thrilled to see that he had waited for her.

Yeah... A pathetic hope, but his only hope.

"But I'm not all that interesting. Gary's more the interesting one really, from New York like me too. Was in Iraq when the war first started. Marine until about two years ago, he's got some stories. And I'm sure he wouldn't mind spending some time with ya." He gave her a wink. Gary was looking for someone, not just anyone though, someone special. His wife had died in childbirth along with the baby while he was away in Iraq... It had nearly killed him, which was why he went back to the states, then moved up here with his mother.

But of course he didn't say a thing. That was Gary's business, not his to tell.

Rosa contemplated the man sitting in front of her with a kind of confusion. She wasn't used to seeing men like him. She could see the sad smile as he answered her. She could tell that he was only really there for the girl who vanished off the face of the earth. If she tried hard enough she could probably find the girl, but listened to what he said. Her mind was torn between listening to him, and searching his mind. "It's always good to go to school." She said not mentioning the fact that she hadn't even been to one, just the bare minimum of home schooling. Hell it took her a couple of years just to read english. "I'm sure Gary's got some great stories...but I haven't met someone like you in ages." She sighed and took a sip of her drink. "You just seem like the kind of guy that women would kill for." He was honest, kind, hell he was even kind of devoted to the girl.

"Why the sad smile...something happen recently?" She asked even though it was a little bit of a rhetorical question. She knew about the girl, but she didn't want to make the same mistake she made with Sera.

"Yeah, not sure what I wanna do yet, but I think I want to be a substance abuse counselor or something... Grew up in a rough neighborhood and all." He shrugged.

He couldn't help but laugh though as she said he was the kind of guy girls would kill for. "Ah... I dunno about that ma'am... I have my reasons that state otherwise." He said simply. After all, why would Aury have just disappeared without even saying goodbye.

"Huh? Nah. Nothing of interest really. Just same ole same ole type stuff really." He shrugged.

"But I gotta get back... They pay me ta mingle, not to socialize. They'll just think I'm trying ta take ya home with me after my shift or something." Or at least they would say he should. But na... He wasn't that kind of guy.

"Just flag me down if you need anything though, Rosa." He said with a nod before making his way back to the bar. But he didn't hang out in the front part, instead, he went into the back and leaned against the wall.

Usually he wasn't this bad... Usually he kept her off of his mind a night at a time. But tonight... Tonight she kept haunting him. He wanted to hold her again, touch her face... Feel her silky hair between his fingers.

With a sigh he ran his hands over the top of his rowed head, pulling the rough strands that were left back into a small ponytail. "She's gone buddy... Just get over her already." He muttered softly as he looked into a mirror. But the other part of him refused. What he would give to see her again, hold her, kiss her... Just to touch her again.

But he sighed and went back out to the bar, occupying his hands as he cleaned more glasses. It needed to be done anyway...

Rosa listened to Trey amused, but she knew that the girl who left him was bothering him. She half listened to Trey as she thought of what to do. It was strange how Trey was so different than what she expected. She expected someone like him to have a different girl every night.

"I'll definitely flag you down if I need anything." She said with a smile. It'd be fun to play around with his mind a little bit. Maybe create a memory so he could get over the girl. Or maybe messing with his mind so he believes she's the girl. So many possibilities, so little time.

Finally Rosa decided on pretending to be the girl with a phone call. It would be pretty tough to pull off the charade of the girl. As he walked out of the back room Rosa entered his mind, and dialed his cell phone number into her own phone. She then made his mind think it was his girlfriend, and she even altered what he'd hear. "Trey?" She spoke quietly as she sipped at her martini.

Huh?

As he was cleaning out a beer mug he felt his phone vibrating. It was a number he didn't know, but he felt like he needed to pick it up, he wanted to pick it up.

Setting the mug down, he quickly made his way to the back room where it was quieter.

"Hullo?"

Trey nearly dropped the phone as he heard the once voice he'd been longing to hear, the one voice he had never been able to get out of his head completely. "Aury! Baby! God I've missed you! What happened? Where you been, I've been so worried something might have happened to you after you disappered. Are you okay Aury? No one's hurt you have they?" He asked rapidly, work forgotten amids his excitement and joy at hearing her voice again.

He wanted to see her again, wanted to hold her tight, smell her hair and see her smile. God if he could only see her smile again.

If someone had hurt her though, he'd do whatever he had to to make things right. He'd beat the holy hell out of them, sue them... Even forgive them if that was what she wanted. He was just so happy to hear her voice again.

Rosa listened to the phone and kept her hold over Trey's mind. She was pretending to be the girl that Trey was missing. "I'm alright Trey. How're you doing?" She asked smiling. Then he started asking a lot of questions, and Rosa sighed. "No one's hurt me. I'm sorry I haven't called you...It's just Dad. He's really sick, and the doctor said that he won't get any better." She paused and sniffled for a second. "He doesn't have long, and both he and I needed to go away...I've been travelling with him to see some doctors all around, but they can't help him...I don't think I'll be able to come back any time soon...I want to be at his side."

Rosa wanted to sound as genuine as possible, and she figured that the girl's father would be a way to do that. "I love you Trey...but I don't want to torment you any more than I have...Please don't wait for me." She said sounding as sad as she could.

"I'm okay I guess. I was just really worried about you and all." He said quietly as he moved to the back of the kitchen where it was quieter.

"Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that baby." He murmured sadly as she spoke about her father's failing health. He knew they hadn't gotten along to well, but he was still her father. She had to love him on some level. "Is there anything I can do to help Aury? You know I'll do whatever I can. Do you want me to come be with you?" He offered. He could take care of things like cooking and cleaning and other small tasks so she could focus on her father if she wanted. He would do that for her.

"What?" He asked, shocked as she said not to wait for her. "Aury, don't be stupid baby. I love you too, I'm not going anywhere unless it's to be with you." He said firmly. "Besides, it's not like I've got any body else to go to or even want someone else."

Rosa had him fooled. Hook line and sinker, he would have swore up and down that it was Aury on the other end. But of course it only sounded so because he wanted it to be. He wanted to be with her, talk to her.

"Where are you Aury? I don't care, I'll come to be with you. Please." He pleaded with her. "You don't have to be alone through this."

Rosa listened to Trey as he spoke to the one he thought was the girl he loved. She listened to his apology about her father. It was amusing, but she felt bad for tricking him.

"There's nothing you can do Trey." She said as he asked if there was anything he could do.

Rosa smiled as he spoke about having no one else to go to. "I know that you want to be with me, but I can't...Father needs a lot...I don't know when I can come back Trey. I don't want to hurt you any more than I already have. Please don't let me worry about you!" She said with a little more emotion. "I can't bear to hurt you anymore."

"Thank you Trey, but I have to do this by myself. My father is my responsibility alone. I don't want you to be hurt by this. Please don't look for me...I need to be alone." Before Trey could say anything else she hung up on Trey.

"But Aury, there's gotta be something I can do." He insisted. "I could cook and clean so you have more time, I can take care of other things so you can focus on him. Please Aury, let me help you." Trey begged over the phone.

He didn't like where this was going. He didn't like it one bit. He know of course that Aury was under a lot of stress of course, but he wanted to do nothing but help her. He had to.

"Aury... Baby, no. You're not hurting me. I was just worried. Please baby, let me help you. I want to help you with thi-" But before he could finish the sentence the phone was hung up abruptly.

In all his life, he could only remember a few times when he had ever cried... The last time was when his grandfather died. And now... He leaned back against the wall, his eyes closed as tears began to run down his face. His chest was tight and he found it hard... So hard to breath without this sharp pain in his chest. So painful.

"Yo. Trey!"

He quickly wiped at his eyes.

"Yo, man. You okay? I saw you come back here and you've been here for a while."

"Huh yeah... I... I'm okay. Just not feeling to good." He muttered.

But the other guy looked at him curiously. "Was it her? Is everything okay man."

Trey just shook his head. "I... I need to go home... Can ya cover my shift man? Just need some time off..." He asked as he went to move past the other guy.

"Yeah sure. No prob man. You've covered for me after all." He agreed with a slight pat on Trey's back.

"Thanks..." He nodded, as appreciative a gesture as could be provided his current mood. He couldn't even think about smiling let alone actually fake one anymore. Not look for her? How... How did she just expect him to sit around? Expect him to just find someone else. He loved her. He didn't want anyone else...

"Hey... Trey, don't forget call me if you need anything buddy alright? I know she meant a lot to you, but don't get too down okay?"

"Yeah... I'll try Jason... Thanks again." He mumbled as he grabbed his hat and Jacket before heading out.

Pulling his cap over his eyes he tugged on his jacket as he was walking out. How could she even think that he'd forget about her. That he'd just let her go without a fight. He had to find out where she was and... And go to her. He had to see her again, had to hold her and just... Just be with her. He had to. He couldn't let her go, like an obsession, but he loved her... He loved her so much and he knew that she loved him, that she cared for him just as much as he cared for her.

But why was she so... So adamant that she wanted to be alone? That she didn't want help or support. He wouldn't do anything to be in the way, to distract her from her father... He only wanted to help her... Why wouldn't she let him?

He wiped a tear as it began to fall, not looking up at anyone as he made his way around the booths, not through the crowds... But even as he passed by Rosa's booths he didn't look up. Didn't want to look at anyone.