"I don't see how this is going to help me, Andrea," Buzz said as he took a look around the noisy club. This wasn't really his scene, he much preferred a coffee shop with soft jazz playing in the background, over the cacophonous noise that passed for music at this place. Still, Andrea had been kind enough to invite him out for drinks after the guilty verdict was returned on what he thought had been a particularly shaky case. Andrea was good at her job, however, and she was always appreciative when key evidence helped her case.
"Hey, quit staring at your navel! If we're going to find us someone to hook up with tonight, we have to get to looking!"
Buzz glanced over at the woman, arching an eyebrow as he picked up his beer and took a long drag. "I am perfectly happy going home alone with Rosie and her five sisters."
Andrea snorted as she shook her head. "You've been alone far too long, and so have I."
"You just need to stop mooning over our captain. She's thoroughly smitten with Flynn, and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon."
"A girl can wish and hope," she whispered, almost to herself, and Buzz smiled as he reached out and patted her hand tenderly. "You know what? You're right. I need to excise her from my brain. Put your drinks on my tab, I'll take care of it at the end of the evening." Slamming back the rest of her Long Island iced tea, she squared her shoulders and began to wade her way out onto the dance floor. He could just make out the top of her blonde head, given how tall she was, and a small smile curved his lips up when he noticed a young woman sidle up to Andrea's side and run her fingers up and down her arm.
"At least one of us will go home happy tonight," he muttered as he sipped at his beer. Leaning back against the bar, he continued to watch Andrea, noticing that she really didn't seem to be fully into the young woman, even with how hard she was flirting, and he frowned a little, wondering what was going on in her head. As soon as the current song ended, Andrea was skillfully extracting herself from the young woman's embrace and coming back to him at the bar. "Andrea?"
"She's young enough to be my daughter. When I asked her when she graduated high school, she told me 2012. She's barely old enough to drink! That's it, I'm going home. At least there, I won't have to deal with babies hitting on me!"
"You should be flattered, Andrea. Apparently, it's a thing, young women loving middle aged women. We should all be as lucky." She rolled her eyes. "Seriously."
"Let me guess, you heard that from Rusty?"
"No, Gus."
"Like that's any better. What would they know?"
He took a long swallow from his beer before fixing his gaze on her. "Apparently, a lot, when it comes to social media. When we were working on his vlog, Gus mentioned that if we really wanted it to go viral, we should have had Sharon in them, since all the fangirls on Tumblr would have gone crazy for her."
Andrea sighed. "Well, at least they would have good taste."
Buzz nodded as he looked up to see a young man looking at both of them intently. He was intrigued by the gaze, since he couldn't figure out which of them were getting stared at harder. "Hey, we've got some interest. Should we beckon him over?"
"Well, that would certainly be a different way to end the night," she drolly replied, and he took that as his cue to discreetly signal the man over to their side. He smiled as he got up off his stool and strolled up, an easy grace to his movements that instantly attracted Buzz. "Hello there."
"Hello." The man looked them both up and down, and Andrea shifted slightly uneasily under the scrutiny. "I couldn't help but notice you two. Would you like to grab a table, to talk?"
The slight accent caught his attention even more, and he nodded before Andrea could deny the request. Picking up his beer with one hand, Buzz took hold of Andrea's hand and got up. "Lead the way."
The man smiled, and Buzz felt desire course through his body as they followed him over to a secluded table. Andrea gave him a little glare, and he shook his head as he gently pushed her into the inside seat, knowing that she would escape if given the chance, without giving the experience a chance. "What are you drinking?"
"Long Island iced tea," Andrea said, shooting Buzz another glare.
"I'm still working on my beer," he said before knocking his foot against Andrea's shin. "I'm Buzz, by the way, and this is Andrea."
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Charles." He extended his hand and Buzz shook it firmly before watching Andrea do the same. "Are you two here together…?"
Buzz knew the look that was on Andrea's face before he even turned to look at her, and he gave a small shake of his head, wanting to see how far this would go. "We are. You here with anyone?"
"No, I was just looking for someone to talk to this evening."
Andrea cleared her throat, and Buzz groaned a little, finding himself thoroughly interested in Charles, for some reason. "Well, I have it on good authority that Buzz is an excellent talker. I'm often fascinated by the things that come out of his mouth."
There was a hint of double entendre in her words, and he gave her a glance from the corner of his eye. "Oh? Do tell." Charles leaned in closer to her, and Andrea blushed a little, which surprised Buzz. She didn't seem like the type to get easily flustered, but this man seemed to get beneath her skin and he decided to tease her a little, reaching out and twirling a piece of hair around his fingers. It was silky and soft, and Buzz found himself enthralled by the feel.
"Well, he's had such an interesting life. Go, go on. Tell Charles about your job." Reaching up, she took hold of his wrist, tugging on it gently. "I don't like people touching my hair," she hissed, smoothing it down.
"But it's so shiny," he said as he tugged at the strands closest to his fingers.
"You two are so adorable, how long have you been a couple?"
Their eyes locked, and Andrea narrowed her eyes as she slowly shook her head. "You got us into this, you get us out," she hissed.
Buzz gulped and then glanced at Charles. "We're not. We're both gay."
"Oh." A lazy smile spread across Charles's lips, and Buzz again felt desire pool in his groin at the look. "Well, that's even more of a challenge."
"I'm not a challenge!"
"Of course, you're not. The situation is, though." Andrea cocked her head to one side, clearly assessing the man. "I mean, you don't seem like the type who would go home with a relative stranger and fall into bed with her, or him…"
"Only her." She smiled at Buzz. "Buzz, here, though, well he's looking for someone to chase his blues away. You'll have to get my approval before that happens."
Charles nodded before reaching out and stroking Andrea's hand with his thumb. "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less." This seemed to mollify Andrea, and she nodded before relaxing in her chair. The night seemed to fall into an easy rhythm, and Buzz found himself more and more drawn to Charles. Finally, the lights came up as last call was announced, and Buzz shook his head a little, suddenly realizing that they had spent the last six hours talking.
"Well, I don't know about you boys, but I have to get up in about five hours to spend time with Sharon. And don't even say it, Buzz. This is just a friendly outing."
"All right, all right, I won't say a thing. Have a good time, Andrea."
She smiled as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'll try." She gave them a small wave before making for the door. Buzz watched her leave, hoping that there would be someone that came into her life soon, to take her mind off her crush on Sharon.
"She's in love with that Sharon, isn't she?"
He turned back to look at Charles, shrugging a little. "I think it's just a crush, one sided at best, because Sharon is happily with someone else."
"Stranger things have happened. Do you want to go home with me?"
Buzz wanted to say yes, since he had had such an enjoyable time that evening, but a part of him held back. "Not tonight? I think I'd like to get to know you a little better here before we take that next step. Or did I read our connection wrong?"
A true smile, warm and kind, spread across Charles's face, and he shook his head. "No, you read things completely right. How about dinner tomorrow night?"
"Sounds perfect. Holby's at eight?"
"Great. Friend me on Facebook so that we can chat between now and then." Charles nodded and they exchanged contact details before Buzz stood and made his way over to the door. Andrea had been right, this had been the best thing for him, and he couldn't wait to see where things with Charles went.