Val tapped her foot against the bar stool lost in her own thoughts. Stella set another glass in front of her and Val winked at her. She tipped the glass back and drained it in one go. The slightest of buzzes starting to settle in. Val topped it off again and this one she only took a few sips of. Better to pace herself than get too drunk too quick.<br/><i><br/>
“Rum and Coke.”</i><br/><br/>A voice came from next to her. Val took a sip her own stealing a glance at the woman. Nobody she knew or at least nobody she thought she knew. She didn't pay the woman much more thought as she focused back on her drink. Staring at it as if it might actually hold all the answers to life and it's mysteries. Her thoughts wandering like they usually did when she was feeling a touch melancholy. It wasn't that anything with her life was particularly wrong, in fact things were going better than they ever had in the past. She had come a long way in the last few years. She had gotten serious about training, gotten her act together and even clean. Well, mostly clean anyways.<br/><br/><i>"Everything's in full swing tonight, isn't it, Val?"</i><br/><br/>The question snapped her from her thoughts and she looked up. The same girl she had stolen a glance at was now watching her very intently. Val tensed momentarily as her mind instantly jumped to the worse case scenario. Roman often sent people to the club to find Val, usually when he had a job for her. She didn't like Roman, not in the slightest. She had done everything she could to stay off the man's radar but he always seemed to know when she was out about.<br/><br/>Yet....<br/>…...She looked...familiar?<br/><br/>Val's memory wasn't the best. Too many hits to the head had left a bit of a fuzzy spot in her memory. Her body relaxed a bit but her sharp ice blue eyes looked the woman over fully. Yep, she was convinced she knew this girl. Who though? No matter how hard she dug she couldn't quite place the girl.<br/><br/><i>"Let me guess, you don't recognize me, do you?"</i><br/><br/>It wasn't until the girl spoke again that Val realized she hadn't answered her. “Sorry I don't.....” Val finally spoke and then quickly trailed off as the girl started biting the nail of her thumb. Like having cold water splashed on her face Val felt a memory slam to the front of her mind. A ghost of a girl dressed in baggy clothes. One of those girls that you take one look at and almost forget as soon as you look away.<br/><br/>Almost.<br/><br/>Val turned to fully face the girl and clapped her hands together resting them against her chin. A ghost of a smile crossing her lips. “As I live and breathe.” She said with a half chuckle. “Marceline Acosta.” Val almost couldn't believe it. She sat up a little taller leaning against the bar. She couldn't help but look the girl over one more time. It was more in the eyes than anything. It had been the most predominant features about the girl. Bad memory or not Val would have been hard pressed to forget those dazzling eyes.<br/><br/>It wasn't like they hand hung out in high school. They had occasionally crossed paths or met eyes in the hallways. Val very distinctly remembered catching herself staring at Marceline more than few times back then. It had crossed her mind more than a few times to see if she wanted to hang out. With everything that had been going on in Val's life around then....it just hadn't worked out. The timing had always been off or she would be working or a hundred other excuses.<br/><br/>“Marceline Acosta.” She said again after a few moments. As if she was still half convincing herself it really was her.<br/><br/>“Wow.” Val blurted with a half chuckle. “It's been a hot minute.” Val looked the girl over one more time. “Really came into your own. How have you been?” She asked taking another sip of her glass. Of all the people she thought she would see tonight Marceline was not one of them. In fact Val was inwardly thanking Marshall for giving her the night off.