"Chicago been working for you?" 

A man she had never once recognized before in the particular bar she was sitting in, posed the question to her as if he was one of the customs staff at the airport - acting suspicious in her presence. Honestly, cutie felt interrogated and a bit unease at his sudden interest in her recent move to The Windy City, but she invited his friendliness anyway and answered his question promptly. 

"Oh, it's been great, really. I guess what I love the most is the nightlife and scenery. Don't get me wrong, work is great and all - I'm all about them checks coming through - but there's nothing better than visiting a club after work and having the sound of Count Basie or Joe Williams in your ears."

cutie smiled warmly, and shortly after picked up her wine glass from the table and brought it to her lips for a sip. She was in an adventurous mood, and if tonight would bring an unexpected turn of events - she would gladly let it consume her. It was the weekend, and to her, that was an excuse for some fun. 

She wished she could have brought John or Bachelor with her, but it was really late at night now and she wasn't sure that they'd agree to a night of drinks and crazy nightlife establishments. Instead, she waved them off goodbye from the headquarters and told them she'd greet them the next morning at their doorstep with a hangover and her underwear over her head.

How it would ever be on her head was beyond her and she didn't wish to think about the possible causes. 

So, right now, as she sat elegantly on a bar stool across from this unknown male, her mind was running on ideas of what to do to kill time. Sleep wasn't on her list of priorities right now, and besides - there was too much fun to be had. The man nodded, pursing his lips in eager curiosity as he held his cold glass of whiskey on the rocks to his face. 

"Awesome. I suppose you aren't looking to be sober tonight?" It seemed like a rhetorical question from the obvious fact that she was already a bottle deep in wine, but she nodded anyways and shrugged like she didn't give any fucks. "Yeah, you could say that," cutie took one last swig of her wine before setting it down and sliding it away from her. 

She didn't want any more wine to drink, and soon found herself transitioning to the dance floor with this man wrapped around her finger. By the end of the night, she was feeling like she was about to puke any minute on the sidewalk or have her head in the toilet while regretting everything she did. cutie didn't even catch his name, a shame, but also a relief because it meant that she wouldn't have to see him again. 

It was way past midnight now, and while this one night stand was fun while it lasted - she really did have to return home. Walking in heels were being an absolute pain in the ass, plus the stupid idea of wearing a skin-tight pencil skirt was making her unmotivated to take any more steps. She hauled herself out of Club DeLisa and waved her arms around frantically in an attempt to attract a taxi. 

Minutes had passed already and from the look of only a few cars on the road, she wasn't going to get herself a cab ride anytime soon. The man from moments before showed up again. He ran out of the club, losing his breath in the process, and the first thing she noticed was his nose bleeding so heavily like the damn fountain sculpture just outside Burnham Park. It was only a few seconds before she realized that a fight had broken out inside Club DeLisa and her body tensed up with immediate panic. 

cutie was far from her family headquarters plus she didn't even have any designated friend/driver to accompany her - so she was scared about what the consequences would be if she stayed here any longer. A conversation she had with her mother once suddenly flashed inside her mind, and she inwardly groaned at her own conscience. "Don't visit these places!" Her mother would say to her angrily with a hand on her hip and a plate of mash potatoes in the other. As always, cutie would show defiance and roll her eyes at her mother's objection of her going out with friends to an underground club back in the day. 

A gangster child, she was. Or at least she aspired to be one. But from this situation alone, with this dude mad drunk, bleeding from his nose while a violent fight was happening from within the club - she didn't think she was all that gangster anymore. Sure, she knew some defence moves herself, but there was no way she would spend another minute here.

"Uhhhh.. I think I'm gonna go," she quickly slipped out of her heels and dangled the straps from her hands while she was slowly growing impatient, "... I actually got a reaaalllly early plane to catch tomorrowww...." Her words were being unintentionally slurred, probably because of the alcohol that was now hitting her. 

In addition to that, she really wanted to just get the fuck outta here. However, the next few seconds denied any hope she was holding onto. The fight that had caused a commotion inside was now causing a riot OUTSIDE, and there were even more people getting involved. Glass bottles were being thrown - one guy got a piece of glass stuck in his eye - and cutie was still glued to her spot in shock. She was getting dizzy from all the craziness she was bearing herself witness to, and the accidental punch to her eye that came after made her collapse dramatically onto the sidewalk.

She didn't choose the nightlife.... the nightlife chose her... 

***

You would think the next morning she would be waking up in some stranger's humble abode, catering to her needs, but as her eyelids fluttered open, she was surprised to notice that she was still lying across the concrete sidewalk. Embarrassingly, she stood up from her fatal position and in those few moments where she had to recollect her thoughts and gain back her five senses - it all was slowly coming back to her. Like a hurricane that was just waiting to cause rage over the land, cutie felt like she was being tormented from her remembrance of last night. The exterior of Club DeLisa was trashed, shards of glass on the floor, and not to mention the amount of people who was also lying passed out around her. Shit was mad crazy, but hey.. that was the nightlife for ya.

Maybe she should stop trying to fit in as a gangster chick and resort to being a cute waitress at the local cafe down the road... might be a better environment suited for her capabilities. She wasn't definite though, and still wanted to experiment with what Chicago had to offer her. So - after confiding in Bachelor for advice, she set out to do some soul searching on the streets.