bruised and bloody

       “Well, I, for one, am jealous,” she replies, thanking the bartender for her freshly poured glass of merlot, ensuring to thank the man before her, too, before taking a lengthy sip. “I’m not used to having a regular place to wind down. Although, this bar might just be one I’ll consider becoming a regular at, now that I know the company isn’t so bad.” Another smirk crosses her features, her gaze inadvertently glancing towards the pager, a frustrated sigh escaping her as she finally decides to put the thing away in her purse. For the first time in a long time, Sofia decided to well and truly enjoy her night off, along with the company that had presented itself. Why not?! The brunette nodded, though she was unable to help but notice the subtle way he redirected the conversation back to her, as though he didn’t wish to speak about himself. “Oh, well.. I dabble in a bit of everything, I guess. Wherever they need me.” Another sip of her wine, brown eyes narrowed slightly in curiousity as she gives him a once over. Why did she have the slightest feeling of familiarity whenever she looked at him? “So, has my wine saviour got a name?” 

“Oh, well if you’re going to be here more often, I’ll just have to make this my bar of choice from now on.” his answer came with an easy grin before taking a sip of his beer. He was enjoying his evening, particularly the unexpected company, much more than he had planned to. He watched her put her pager away and immediately raised a brow as he considered her, impressed. “Well done! Now that wasn’t too painful, was it?” he teased, even going so far as to clap once or twice to encourage her behavior. “So you’re the catch-all guy? That means you’re probably a good person to have around in a crisis.” He pushed himself off the bar and extended his hand to her in greeting when she asked his name. “Anthony.” he replied, almost easily. He was still getting used to referring to himself as such. But he was getting better. “And what about the pretty doctor?” he asked.

While it definitely wasn’t his job of choice, (if it had been up to him, Anthony would have a more glamorous job as his cover), the brunette was definitely taking to his newly assigned career path. He had always been good with his hands, and with a mafia boss for a father who refused to show any favoritism to his son, Anthony had long ago learned to do whatever he could to help out, including working on his father’s cars.  

The skills he picked up as a kid came in handy when the FBI dropped him off in Southport and told him to report to work at Mike’s Repair Shop the next day. It had taken a little while to learn everything he needed to know, but when he did, he took to it quickly. And soon enough, Anthony’s boss took enough of a liking to him that he let him close up shop for him some nights. The man was old and tired and liked to get home early. And that was exactly what Anthony was doing tonight as the only employee left in the shop.  

He was tidying up when he heard the bell at the reception desk begin to ring impatiently. With a sigh, Anthony prepared to put on a fake smile as he walked towards the door. The second he opened it though, he froze in his tracks. Regina Salazar was standing in his shop. He did a double take, as if to really be sure she was actually there. Regina was someone he really shouldn’t be seeing right now. She knew him from his past life, as Carlos Valentino, the son of Rafael Valentino. She knew him as a completely different person, and as he approached the reception desk she was leaning against looking beautiful as ever but so very out of place in this repair shop, Anthony couldn’t help but wonder if his two lives were about to collide . 

“Regina Salazar.” her name coming out more as a question than a statement. “What the hell are you doing in North Carolina?” he asked, fighting a grin that represented a reaction to her he knew he really shouldn’t be having. He should be running for the hills right about now. 

anthony.

“I think you could really make the uniform work for you. Plus, the other prisoner’s would be on your side in a day. You have the skills.” Making it a point to have her tone lack anything that might clue him into her teasing, she looked him dead in the eye as she nodded to herself. “My skinny ass on the other hand, let’s be honest, just wasn’t built for prison. So…” Once giving him a shrug, she motions back to the bike as if she’d just presented him the most convincing argument.

“Yeah, they’d be on my side because they all want a piece of this ass.” he grumbled, already crouching down so he could get a look at the lock. Mumbling something under his breath about not letting females talk him into this sort of shit, he pulled a pin out of his pocket (yes, he just so happened to carry one around with him for this very purpose) and began fiddling. A moment later, the lock clicked open. He rose to a standing position and turned to face her, shaking his head as he did so. “What would you do without me?” 

       “The workaholic type.. I guess so,” though she despised the term and thought of her career as more of a lifestyle, she wasn’t about to embark on that argument with a total stranger. Let alone one kind enough to offer her company and an ear. Though, Sofia was well aware of that fact and the knowledge that nothing ever came for free; she was an intelligent girl. A full blown smile crossed her features, however brief, as the guy ordered her another round with mention of her beauty. Men were so typical, even the admittedly cute one before her. “I take it you’re a regular, then? —And, isn’t it obvious..?” Sofia questions, glancing down at her pager pointedly before lifting her gaze. “My life belongs to the local hospital. How about you?” 

His lips pulled upwards as he caught sight of her smile. Funny how she could pull off a smirk and a smile so easily. It left him wondering just where he stood with the brunette. But so long as she wasn’t chasing him away, he wasn’t about to ask. He was enjoying trying to figure out how to read her. He let out a practiced wince at her observation that he clearly knew the bar they were in pretty well. “Guilty, although I try not to be.” he answered truthfully. He was about to launch into his usual, vague explanation of what he did for a living, when he remembered he wasn’t that person anymore. Anthony had long ago come up with a clever way of telling people what he did without actually telling them what he did. When talking to beautiful females, it made him sound a little dangerous and pretty impressive. Now, he couldn’t do that anymore. He was pretending to be someone else, and what someone else did was pretty boring. “I’m just your average, humble mechanic.” he replied, quickly directing the conversation back to her. “So, you’re a doctor? What field of medicine do you practice?” he asked, intrigued. 

ANTHONY.

        “Only eighty percent of my time, probably,” the brunette replied with something of a smirk. “I might be generous in saying that.” Far be it for Sofia to talk about anything but work.. she’d allowed it to take over her life in its entirety, accounting for her many failed ‘relationships’ and friendships. And yet, Southport’s hospital offered something unexpected compared to New York hospitals — a chance to breathe. She was still trying to decide whether she liked working back home or not, considering she’d become accustomed to the fast paced, intense atmosphere New York had offered for so many years. There was always an interesting case to come by, always something happening. Whereas, Southport offered her the chance to have free time, a foreign concept to the likes of Sofia Asani. Glancing over at the obviously handsome male, she realised she’d just sparked up conversation out of the blue with a total stranger, mild embarrassment settling in. Not that she’d ever let any outside source be aware of that, her facade all too strong. “And I guess it’s fair to say I deserve another, right?” She questions almost rhetorically after knocking back the rest of her wine. 

“Ah, so you’re the workaholic type, huh?” he questioned with a small chuckle. Anthony was very familiar with that lifestyle, where your life revolved around your work and you were literally on call 24/7. His entire life had been tangled up in the mafia work his father prided himself over. It was his family, literally. He never got a break from it. That is, until now... “Oh, I’d say, definitely deserved.” he agreed, nodding his head appreciatively as she finishes her wine. “Hey, Joey, help the beautiful lady out with another round, ok?” he calls to the bartender, before turning his attention back to the brunette. “So, what is it you do, if I may ask?” he questions, interested in what takes up so much time of the gorgeous woman in front of him. 

        She’d been sitting there less than twenty minutes, staring at her pager in fear it would go off and end her attempt at relaxation with a good glass of merlot after a thirty eight hour shift. Not usually one to be chatty towards others, she glances over at the person hovering adjacent to the bar where she sat. Although she lived for her job and was certainly something of a workaholic, Sofia needed a distraction from anything work-related, even if only for a short while. “Do you think it’s terrible of me to hope that I don’t get called into work for once?” 

In the six months that Anthony had been in Southport, he’d gotten to know the local bars pretty well. After all, even though the FBI agent he had been assigned since moving here said there was no way he would be found and he should go about life as normal, Anthony wasn’t about to take a chance. He made sure he took different routes to work every day, never went to the same bar two nights in a row, all that kind of stuff, to keep anyone from tracking him down. But when you lived in a town like Northport, after six months of trying different bars, and considering how much Anthony drank, you eventually had to start repeating. 

Despite his best efforts, he now knew the bouncer and bartender at this particular bar. And was making conversation with the bartender when he noticed a beautiful brunette seated a little ways down the bar from him. With a nod in her direction, he was in the process of asking the bartender about her, when she actually spoke. And apparently, to him. With a wink sent in the direction of the chuckling bartender, Anthony closed the gap between him and the beautiful stranger, moving to stand next to her. He leaned his elbows against the bar and turned to look at her, a tiny spark of familiarity coursing through him once he got a better look at her. But he shrugged it off. He didn’t know anybody in Southport. 

“‘For once’ sounds like you spend a good amount of time there as it is.” he answered with a shrug. “So I’d say, no, definitely not terrible.” he added, his lips pulling upwards in a teasing smile.