Boltini Lounge

[Holly]

So she had expensive taste, so what? On her salary, Holly could more than afford to splurge every once and awhile -- and then some -- whether it be on new clothes, jewelry, or just a night on the town. Boltini was perfect for the latter; jazz, great decór, and damned if the bartenders couldn't make the best martini's she'd ever had. Now all she needed was a handsome man on her arm, and she'd be set.

Unfortunately, that seemed to be easier said than done, even for Holly. She had busted out the little black dress, the pearls, and even the violet suede stilettos, but nothing interesting seemed to be floating her way. And the bartender at her end was a woman, so that was a definite no.

Holly sighed and tapped the back of her heel idly against her barstool. The pomegranate martini in her hand was getting warm, too. Dammit.

[Forbes]

The bar wasn’t really too his tastes. Forbes had never been a fan of pretending to live beyond your means, be it by heavy gambling to try and fund a life style or borrowing more and more money in an attempt to pretend you could afford to visit these kinds of places on a regular or even on a semi regular bases. Jazz was a weakness for Forbes though the music a hidden ‘vice’ for him. It was so hard to find anywhere within the city that hosted decent live jazz and so he’d resigned himself not long after moving back to the city that every now and then he would visit the Boltini.

Forbes was dressed smartly but not too lavishly, dark silk shirt unbuttoned at the very top, along with dark pants. He believed in dressing for both comfort and discretion, even when he wasn’t on the job, the detective sitting with his back to the bar, comfortable and sure of himself, absently scanning the rest of the room while he listened to the music. One of these days he was going to have to show this place to Ronnie – if his partner didn’t already know about it of course. His gaze moved from the floor of the room to those seated at the actual bar.

His eyes lingered on the woman sitting at the opposite end and really, it was no surprise. She was dressed to make an impression, and looked completely stunning. Far too many steps out of his league, and he forced himself to look back to the bar, gracefully twisting himself so he was facing it again and tried not to let his mind wander back to the blond.

[Holly]

Even as she traced one perfectly manicured finger around the rim of her glass, she felt eyes on her. Of course, Holly was used to being stared at given that she tended to dress to impress. She liked being noticed. And she was quite pleased once she set her sights on the man down the bar from her. He was a tad under-dressed, in her opinion, but that was something that could always be fixed.

"Miss," Holly called the bartender over with a smart snap of her fingers. "You see that man at the other end? Dark skin and curly hair? I want you to put whatever he's having on my tab, and give him my regards."

Satisfied, the reporter let her gaze linger on the stranger while the bartender set off to do as requested. Perhaps tonight wasn't a total loss, after all.

[Forbes]

He swallowed his small mouthful of whiskey, eyebrow quirking as the bartender approaching him. She too was extraordinarily beautiful; Forbes was pretty sure that looks were a required talent to get a job at Boltini. In all his visits since he had discovered the rather exclusive place, he had yet to see a man or woman working there that would have looked out of place on a catwalk or in an exotic movie. It made him feel rather small and plain by comparison, which was another thing he didn’t look for in a night out, so it was a good thing that the jazz there was so damn good.

At the explanation of what she wanted, his eyebrow climbed even higher for a moment. Only his training prevented the surprise from being clearly visible on his face, inwardly a little flattered as well. It was certainly different and after a moment of considering it – and building up his courage to actually speak to her – Forbes moved away from his part of the bar and headed over to her, faint smile on his face. “Thank you for the drink.”

[Holly]

Well, Holly was glad to see that her current prospect didn't clam up on her. Some men couldn't take female attention well at all -- they went all to pieces and, at that point, completely ceased to be interesting. This one, however, held her interest as he glided -- for that was the only thing she could think to call it -- to her. Holly smiled at him in a slow and feline fashion, sort of a signature expression for her, and turned in her seat to face him, crossing her legs seductively as she did.

"Don't mention it," she returned airily. "You seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere and I would hate for you to go thirsty." Her fingertips skated over the smooth pearls that sat at her throat. "I hope you don't mind?"

[Forbes]

He recognized her instantly as someone who knew what they were doing with every movement, every apparent casual twitch and word. The woman also seemed familiar in another way, her face tugging tantalizingly at the edge of his mind as though Forbes had seen her in some other place, at some other time. The detective was confident it hadn’t been more than a second or two; he would have remembered her far more easily he was sure if it had been a prolonged meeting. She seemed to be the sort of person you didn’t easily forget.

The nagging feeling that he knew her wouldn’t go away as she spoke and Forbes had to content himself with the belief that the elusive memory would come to him in time. His eyes were drawn to the pearls and her throat itself; as was no doubt intended. “When it’s such a delightful person as yourself? Of course not.”

[Holly]

Holly's smile was a soft one, feminine and almost sweet, save for the sharp glint that made itself known in pale green of her eyes. It was nothing sinister or malicious, but it was the indeterminable spark that Holly had been practicing since middle school. The look tended to get her whatever she wanted and she was proud of her ability to put it to use.

"You're too kind," Holly murmured. Her fingers dropped away from her pearls and returned to the martini on the bar. She toyed with the rim of the glass, tracing it with the pad of her forefinger as she offered her new companion another slow smile. "I don't believe I've seen you here before...but, then again, I could be wrong. Have we met?"

She was fairly sure that she'd never seen this man before, but one could never be too careful. Especially if she'd dumped him at some point...

[Forbes]

Forbes lifted the glass to his lips as she spoke, taking a small sip of the alcohol within, partly to wet his lips and partly so that his hands would have something to do instead of just standing there and looking completely awkward. Forbes liked to think he knew how to talk to women and one of the tricks was to distract your hands so you didn’t become overly conscious of them. He watched as she fingered the glass, playing with it coyly.

“I’m sure I would have remembered you if we’d met,” Forbes answered, attention drawn back to her smile and the rich lips. More and more he was thinking he’d either been wrong in his pervious instinct or that he had seen her as a photo or something. If he’d met her in person… well, Forbes wasn’t blind, stupid or forgetful.

“I’m Forbes, a pleasure to meet you.”

[Holly]

Forbes...the name sounded familiar, for whatever reason. In the back of her mind, Holly tried to work out where she had heard the name before, even as she offered up her hand for the standard, introductory shake. "Madison," she replied with a lopsided smile. "Holly Madison. And the pleasure is truly mine."

Her grip was firm without being overpowering, gentle without being a limp fish. From her experiences with the male gender, the first impression was, indeed, everything. She had to maintain a balance of strength and softness; flirt without appearing vapid. It was a delicate line that she saw many women stumble over, but Holly prided herself in her ability to walk it confidently.

So, when she removed her hand from Forbes' grip, it was done carefully; not quite a lingering carress. "Not the typical first name, Forbes," the reporter prompted with an intrigued cock of her head. "Unless, of course, you're only giving me your surname?"

[Forbes]

A bell rang in his mind at the name the woman gave him. Just a faint, clear tinkle of a sound that were trying to get his attention and tugging at some corner of his mind, with the information he was seeking. He could feel the answer in his mind, the information lingering tantalizingly out of reach for the moment, almost mocking him as it slowly uncurled in his mind.

Forbes had nothing but respect for a woman who knew how to hold and handle herself as Holly appeared to do, even if that did make her more… dangerous. As a cop and in a way, a predator of those who broke the law he recognized another like him when he met them.

“Perceptive,” Forbes murmured softly, approving of the fact. So many people – men and women – would have just accepted the name with a shrug and probably not even thought about it one way or the other, even if he knew it was a name that was every now and then used as a first name. “I use my surname enough for it to be my first name. Julian Forbes, but people call me Forbes.”

[Holly]

"Julian...well, that's quite an attractive name. I don't suppose you'd mind if I called you Julian?"

She said this with a coy smile that was hidden behind the rim of her glass. The remainder of the crimson alcohol within was polished off in one smooth swallow and Holly licked her lips in a delicately cat-like manner, tasting the biting flavor of pomegranate and vodka. As she studied her companion, she kept her mind running, trying her damndest to think up where she would have heard the name 'Forbes' before. Contacts and associates flashed through her mind while she smiled at Julian once more and let her green eyes twinkle.

[Forbes]

He smiled back at her, mind moving faster than normal as he quickly weighed up the pros and cons, not wanting her to know how much the question had thrown him. People rarely if ever used his first name, let alone asked if they could. Forbes had never been able to settle exactly on why he didn’t really like or the problems he had with people using it. It had simply sounded wrong when applied to him, right back into childhood with the word tumbling off his Grandmother’s lips. He didn’t feel like a Julian.

“Of course not.” It didn’t sound quite as bad coming from Holly’s mouth as it did from others, and Forbes supposed he could let her have the victory if she wanted, and call him whichever name she preferred. It certainly helped separate Holly from pretty much everyone else he knew, right down to Ronald and the rest of the department. Thoughts of his partner led onto the thoughts of everyone else he worked with, and finally his brain kicked into high gear, the connection clicking loudly into place in his mind.

“You wouldn’t happen to be Holly Madison, the fashion editor would you?” Forbes asked, hoping against hope that he was wrong, amused smile still on his face despite it. Not that it would change anything in the short run but he could already hear the jokes in his mind.

[Holly]

One perfectly-sculpted brow arched toward her hairline. "The one and only," Holly replied as she set aside her empty martini glass. "It seems you know me, Julian, which isn't exactly fair. Although I get the feeling we might have some acquaintances in common. I've heard tell of a Forbes before, but..."

And then, she remembered the last girl's night out with Sarah; the redhead had told a story about one of the more ridiculous detectives in her department and the way he liked to torment his partner, Forbes. Given that Julian was the only Forbes she knew so far, she would take a wild guess. "I don't suppose you work with a Sarah Masterson, do you?"

[Forbes]

He lifted his near empty glass in salute to both Holly and Sarah before drowning the rest in one go and settling it down on the bar next to the other empty glass. “I do indeed,” he replied, inwardly wondering what the chances were of running into not only someone who was connected – albeit only distantly – to his job, but someone who he had heard stories about from both Sarah and Chris, giving him two different views of the woman sitting with him.

“And people say Los Angeles is a large city,” Forbes joked after a moment, motioning with his hand to attract the attention of one of the impossibly attractive bar staff. He didn’t know how this current revelation would have on how the rest of the evening played out but he certainly hoped that it wouldn’t end here and now, no matter the long term effects. Holly was just too attractive and too intriguing to pass up.

[Holly]

Holly chuckled to herself. No matter where she went, it seemed, she ran into one of L.A.'s finest. That was the problem befriending a cop, she supposed. There was also another problem. Julian was intriguing. Attractive, too. But if he knew Sarah, then he definitely new Chris, and Holly's attraction to the latter wasn't exactly a secret. Hopefully, neither seargant had managed to color her in a bad light...

"Well, Julian, I'm afraid I haven't heard terribly much about you yourself," she began, smiling coyly. "Moreso about your partner...Ronnie?"