ANCHOR DOWN (Pedro Pascal x OC)

CHAPTER TWO

Warnings: swearing

After nine hours full of hard work and another nerve-racking conversation with Grace concerning her work moral, Katie finally found herself in the bar just around the corner with Melissa. Katie sighed in relief when the bartender placed her favourite drink in front of her- Moscow Mule. Melissa was sticking with Champagne.

The two women were chatting away animatedly and Katie was able to tell Melissa all about her holiday and how good it felt to be away from everything. Melissa herself was in a stable relationship and craved for her boyfriend to eventually propose to her.

After two drinks, the bar gradually became more crowded and at some point Katie spotted Grace, who she assumed needed to have a couple of drinks as well. She wasn't alone, though, she entered the bar accompanied by some other girls from the theatre Katie wasn't too fond of either. What nearly made her drop the drink to the floor was Pedro Pascal coming in, all smiley and flirtatious like he had been before. He obviously liked being in the company of so many young women and Katie couldn't despise him more.

"Katie," Melissa's warning voice managed to soften up the frown on her face, "give him a chance. I heard he's really nice!"

Katie turned to Melissa and chuckled, "y'know, I bet he's just like any other guy. Careless and narcissistic."

Sometimes Katie wondered if her ex-boyfriend had brainwashed her so much she would now hate any male individual on this planet. But then again, men were bastards. It would take a lot to convince her otherwise. The only two men Katie adored would always be her dad and granddad, who were genuinely good persons full stop.

Katie tried her best not to look over at the group too often, but somehow she had to. Her head was magically being turned into their direction. At one point, probably because she had been staring right at him with a furious facial expression, Pedro's eyes met hers. He smiled at her.

Quickly and embarrassed, Katie looked away, feeling her face burn up instantly. A cold shudder ran down her spine and the goosebumps covering her skin seemed to be very persistent.

"Are you ok?" Melissa inquired when she noticed a change in Katie's behaviour.

"Yeah, I'm good. I need the loo."

Not deigning to look at Pedro once more, Katie disappeared in the ladies' bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she washed her hands and studied her face. She thought she looked alright, but weirdly enough her hands were shaking. Katie blamed in on the alcohol- during her vacation she'd developed what others might call a habit- killing a bottle of red wine each night until the pain was gone.

Now, after two drinks, Katie felt she'd had enough, though. Tipsily, she returned to the main room and nearly bumped into someone, who she sooner than later identified as Pedro.

"Hi again," he smirked, and Katie swore she could've hit him with her handbag for being so fucking charming.

"Hi," she grumbled, avoiding to look him in the eye. Where was her professionality when she needed it the most? Katie cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders to look more imposing.

"Why don't you come over and have a drink with us? To forget this morning's dissension?" The cheeky smile on his lips was all Katie needed to turn him down and prove to her he wasn't being sincere.

"No, thank you. We don't want to be a part of your harem." Katie replied, feeling incredible for being so quick-witted.

"I have the feeling you like to judge people," Pedro crossed his arms in front of his chest and rose one eyebrow.

"Look, we work together, we don't have to buddy up. So how about each of us simply returns to their friends?" Katie rose her hands in defence, intending to avoid starting a discussion.

"Fine," Pedro sighed, "you have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow." His hand was quick to brush her shoulder as he turned away. Katie needed a second or two to process what had just happened. She snapped back to the moment and sat back down opposite of Melissa.

"What did he want?" She instantly blurted out through the music.

Katie took a big sip of her drink, "he invited us over for a drink."

"And you denied because...?"

"Because he's a dickhead who treats women disrespectful!"

"You don't know that! Leave him be!"

Somehow, Katie couldn't. At the same time as feeling a deep repulsion towards Pedro, she was also intrigued. That was why she caught herself looking over at time several times during their stay at the bar, and she would've guessed that in 90% her eyes were lingering on her as well.

But that might've been the alcohol.

The bloody fucking alcohol that once more made Katie's head spin and guts turn when she was laying in bed an hour later. She cursed her weak mind for drinking so much on a week night, already knowing what she would feel- and look- like the next morning. Melissa had showed her some random Instagram pictures of Pedro to convince her that he was actually a nice person, so Katie spent the time waiting for the walls to stop spinning with scrolling through his feed. Her drunken brain didn't absorb any analyse it all very well, but at first glance he seemed a very open-minded, social guy with a healthy self-confidence and even a similar opinions about politics and feminism as herself. Katie decided to give him a chance after all. Maybe she had him wrong. Maybe Melissa was right. Katie promised herself to be her most unbiased, friendly self when she met him at work the next day. Good plan.