The night went by quickly, and before I knew it I was laughing and drinking with Roger as if the pair of us had known each other for years. Considering everything that had occurred tonight, including Roger and I's little confrontation earlier, this really shouldn't have been happening. I should have been at home, in the comfort of my bed and attempting to get at least a semi decent nights sleep. But instead, I was here - occupying my evening in a pub getting hammered with a complete stranger, and even worse, having an absolute blast.

It was if the rest today hadn't even happened, like my memory had been completely wiped and nothing else mattered apart from the here and now - then again the booze was probably to blame for my absent-mindedness. But it was just wrong, so wrong. However, by this point, I was too drunk to even give a damn.

So I stayed where I was, and ended up having a grand time with Roger who was chatting away happily with me and effortlessly bringing a smile to my face.

'What did you say you did for a living again, Charis?' he asked me out of the blue, drunkenness evident in his voice, although I was a hell of a lot worse than he was.

'Um, I'm a concert photographer.' I told him.

'Really?'

'Yeah,' I nodded, 'Rock concerts are my area of expertise. The Stones, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, KISS, you name it. I've photographed them all. A lot of my pictures get published in music magazines, sometimes I even tour with them, but the job pays a pittance.'

Roger looked like he was in deep thought, 'Wait a minute. You're not...Charis Hendry, are you?'

'Yes...' I replied, quizzically.

'No way,' he looked at me starstruck, 'I see your pictures in issues of Music Life all the time. Your concert photos are some of the best around!'

I chuckled, 'Why, thank you.'

'Who would have thought I would be sitting in a pub next to you, eh?' he smiled cheekily as he lit up a cigarette.

'I'm hardly a celebrity,'

'And?' he shrugged, leaning in dangerously close to me, 'I still think you're pretty great. Arrest me if that's so wrong.'

Smirking playfully, I lit up a cigarette of my own, as I replied, 'Now you're just embarrassing yourself.'

As we sat barely inches apart from one another, I studied Roger's face more intently as I couldn't help but think I'd seen his face elsewhere. Had I had an encounter with him before? In my current state, I wouldn't be able to remember even if I had.

'Roger, have we met before? Your face looks awfully familiar.' I asked unexpectedly through observing eyes.

He chuckled, 'If we'd had, I think I'd remember, but no I don't believe so. And loads of folk say that, I guess I'm just one of those people who gets mistaken for someone else more often than normal.'

'Who do you get mistaken for?'

'Let's see...quite a lot of people say that I look a bit like James Dean.'

I snorted, 'James Dean? You're just taking the piss now, you are.'

'No I'm not, it's true!' Roger defended himself, trying to hold back laughter, 'Must be my Hollywood star appearance.'

'Aye right. You can't be mistaken for a dead man,' I slurred, as I smiled mischievously at him, 'Besides, you're way better looking than he was, anyway.'

'You think so?' he smirked.

'Well, you're definitely not bad looking.' I replied as there was a slight pause between us for a moment. I then asked him a rather personal question, my head propped up with my arm that was rested on the table, 'You got a girlfriend, Roger?'

He looked surprised at my question, but answered me nonetheless, 'Nah, I'm a free agent. It'd be nice, don't get me wrong, but it's so much easier when there's no strings attached. Why'd you ask?'

Staring at him in silence for a second, I took a drag of my cigarette as I shrugged my shoulders once again, '...No reason.'

After one last drink and more shameless flirting, I announced that it was time that I'd best be heading off. Roger nodded in agreement, also saying that he should be going too, as I grabbed my purse and the two of us slowly made our way towards the exit, Roger guiding me with his hands on my shoulders.

Stumbling out the doors in fits of giggles, we stepped out onto the street at the cold, late night air washed over us like a wave. As we stood outside the pub on the pavement, I turned to face Roger, who was looking at me, smiling softly.

'I, uh, think I'll walk home. It's not far.'

His faced instantly turned sour, 'Um, I don't think so. You can barely even keep yourself upright, never mind walk. You're not walking home alone.'

'Well, neither of us have enough money for a cab as we spent it all in there, so what do you suggest?'

Being just inches away from Roger, I was instantly transfixed by his eyes. He was inhumanly gorgeous (not to mention sexy), and I couldn't prevent the indecent thoughts that were racing through my head as I stood there eyeing him up and down like a predator and its prey.

However, before I had any chance to make any decisions about what I would do next, Roger's lips were suddenly on mine. It was a short kiss, barely lasting two seconds, before the blonde pulled back with a look of extreme worry on his face.

'Oh fuck,' he fretted, 'I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done th-'

But before he could panic for any longer, I quickly pulled Roger to me and crashed my lips into his, stopping him mid sentence. His hands gently cupped my face as he slowly backed me up against the wall of the pub behind us, his tongue finding its way into my mouth which set us off on a full-blown make out session.

Part of me felt like the worst human being on earth. I had broken up with my boyfriend of 3 years just 6 hours ago, leaving his house in tears as I ran as far as my legs could carry me. Even if Stephen had cheated on me, I shouldn't even be thinking about men, let alone snogging one up against a wall. I was just as bad as he was, in some respects.

But I didn't care. Even if he was a stranger and I was getting myself into the unknown, I was too tantalised by Roger and his raw sex appeal to resist the temptation. The way he was touching me, the way he was kissing me - I could feel his growing hard on through his jeans pressing on my leg as we stood in heated embrace.

The fact I was drunk out of my mind and had virtually no control over my actions didn't help either, as my uncharacteristic slutiness showed through. If we weren't in public in the middle of the street, I would probably fuck him right here, right now. I wanted him badly. And I wanted him now.

Pulling back to catch our breath, I leant my head back against the brick wall as my heart raced at million miles per hour. Roger did the same, with his arms at either side of me, as he looked at me with lust filled eyes. Then, with a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips, he asked me a question which I would later regret to have answered.

'So,' he breathed, 'My place or yours?'

-

Hi guys!

So, this has been kinda like a little prologue to the rest of the book, and the chapters that follow are the main part of the story i.e. when the real action begins Sorry if the description of Charis and Roger making out is really bad in this part - I'm not used to writing this sorta sexual stuff. I'm going to have to, though, as the majority of the book includes it, so hopefully I'll quickly improve. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter nonetheless and as always, a vote/comment would be wonderful.

Many thanks!

- Anna :-)