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Chapter 2- Friends of Friends

Jennifer's POV

Days pass, I wake up and go to work every morning like usual- then I make the journey back home.

But of course- today is different. It's time for me to leave work and head home and it's pouring down rain. "Are you kidding me?" I mutter as I look through the glass door, hoping that it'll stop. "Is supposed to rain all night...." I hear a voice behind me. I turn and make a face. "Oh yeah?" I ask. "You headed home too?" David, my co-worker asks me. "Yeah... looks like I'm just gonna have to deal with the rain and home my umbrella holds up." I say and face him. "Best of luck to you." he says and head out the door- running to catch a cab.

I don't live far from the office so I have no reason to get a cab, I'd rather walk and get a little wet than sit in the back of a cab with a stranger driving me home.

I take my umbrella and walk out the door. I start to walk, keeping my head down. Raindrops appear on my pink Louboutin booties that have small golden spikes on them. I walk for about a block and then I walk past a girl that's bent over, picking things up off of the soaked sidewalk. I feel bad so I stop and offer her a hand.

"Anything I can do to help?" I ask. She looks up at me and does a double take. "Oh, um- it's okay." she says. "You're the one I ran into the other day..." I say, recognizing her voice. "oh, yeah." She says and stands up. "I'm Leah..." she says and extends her hand to me. I shake her hand and smile, "I'm Jennifer." I say back to her. "Oh, I love your shoes!" I say once I catch a glimpse of them. "Thank you... yours are so cute!" She says. We laugh for a second and then I feel my phone buzzing inside my purse.

"Well, nice meeting you. I'm gonna get out of the rain!" I say and start to walk off. "Me too... thanks for your help!" She calls to me as I walk off.

Leah's POV

This girl... she's absolutely stunning. She's one of those girls you see and think "shouldn't you be an actress or a model or something?". She looks Puerto Rican but I can tell from her voice she's straight out of New York.

I walk off in the opposite direction, hurrying because I don't like rain. I finally get to my apartment and close up my umbrella once I step into my building. I put It by the door and head up to my apartment with my keys in hand. I walk inside and put my purse on the table and walk around and lean against the window, just looking outside.

I get a call from a friend and I'm invited to go out to a bar since it's Friday and everyone just wants to cut loose. Apparently it's a group of 8-9 people meeting up and just having some drinks for fun. So I agree to go with them.

Hours pass, and it's 7:30 so I get my purse and head down to catch a cab. I take a cab to the bar where everyone is meeting and it's still raining outside... it's not as bad as it was but still... I go inside the bar and I see the group so I walk over.

"Hey! You made it!" My friend says and hugs me. I hug her back and the next think I know I'm being handed shots. I throw one back and shake my head. "Oh shit. I can't get drunk!" I say and throw my hands up. "Fine, fine. Just have a beer." she says. I shrug and get a bottle from the bartender and make conversation with everyone.

I hear another loud "HEYYY!" From the group and I see two more people walking towards us, a guy and a girl. It takes me a second but I look closer and the girl- it's the same girl I met today while I was walking home. The guy introduces himself as Bradley Cooper and then introduces Jennifer.

They take drinks and we all start to talk again.

Jennifer's POV

Bradley asked me to go out with him tonight... so I went and now I'm hanging out with a bunch of strangers in a bar. I'm not a huge drinker but I don't mind a drink or two every once in a while.

I start to look around at everyone and then I see a somewhat familiar face. I make eye contact with this girl and then I walk over to her. "Leah, right?" I ask. "Yes." she says. "Oh, well it's nice to meet you again. I guess we have some mutual friends of friends of friends." I laugh. She nods and smiles.

Bradley turns and puts his hand around my back and on my opposite hip. "You two know eachother?" He asks. "We met briefly today." Leah says. "I see...." he says. "Jennifer, you good? I'm gonna go outside with the guys for a few minutes." he says. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be here." I smile. He winks at me and walks off.

"Is he your---?" Leah asks me, waiting for me to finish her sentence. "Boyfriend? No." I laugh and take a seat on and barstool beside Leah. "Oh, I just thought that-" "It's fine, I could see why you'd say that." I say with a friendly smile. "So what do you do? How are you tied in with this crowd?" I ask her. "I'm an interior designer/decorator. I've decorated for some of these people before but this is the first time I've met Bradley." she says to me. "Bradley's a good guy... but that seems like a fun job." I say to her. "It is... I enjoy it. What about you?" "I dabble in different areas but I double as an editor for a magazine and a small movie producer." I explain. "Movie producer? That's a big job..." she says, sounding surprised. I laugh and smile. "It is. But I like it." she nods and asks a few more questions about my career.

Bradley comes back in and puts his hand on my thigh. "Leah, I remember you...." Bradley says randomly. "I don't think we've met before." She says. "Oh, maybe not." he responds. He's a little tipsy...

"Bradley why don't I get you home... You've got a flight to catch tomorrow morning." I say and touch his arm. "What? No baby." he says and makes a face. I raise my eyebrows. "I think going home might be a good idea." I say and stand up. I stand in front of him and he puts his hands on my ass. "You finally gonna have sex with me tonight?" He asks, really loud. I look back at Leah and make a face, she just laughs. "Bradley!" I snap and push his hands off of my ass. "I'm gonna get him home... nice talking to you though." I say to Leah and give her an awkward hug. "Don't let him ruin your night... take him home and come back here!" She says. I look at Bradley and then back at Leah. "Um, I might. Could you give me your number... I don't wanna leave you hanging if I don't come back." I say and laugh. "Yeah, sure. Here." she says and pulls a card out of her purse and hands it to me. I smile and walk out of the bar with Bradley on my arm. I walk around back to where he parked his car and put him in the passenger seat and I take his keys.

As we drive back to his house he starts getting bold, he reaches over and puts his hand on my upper thigh, which I don't mind too much. But then he reaches in between my legs and tries to touch me through my jeans.

"Bradley! Cut it out." I snap at him and push his hand away. "Come on baby... how long you gonna make me wait before I get to bang you?" He says. I look at him and shake my head, deciding not to even respond to what he just asked me.

We arrive at his house and I park his car in his garage and walk him inside. I put his keys on the counter and stand there with my arms crossed.

"I pissed you off, huh?" He asks and reaches his hand out, now acting a little bit more acceptable. I reach out and put my hand in his and he pulls me over to him and hugs me. "Sorry." he says to me. "It's okay." I say and look up at him. He grabs my chin and kisses me.

"Get some sleep." I say to him and kiss him again. "Thanks for bringing me home." he says. I nod and then I leave his house and call a cab.

I decide to just call it a night, I go back to my condo and change clothes and then go to sleep.

Note:
Leah's apartment is the one in the picture- again, giving you guys a visual.