This is my entry to 
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THE PROMPT
At the Club
by
The club lights flashed and waved to the beating music. They washed the dancefloor in neon colors, in time to the heavy vibrations of the giant speakers. Surprisingly, Toby admired the bright lights, how they illuminated the huge space and modern architecture. Though he found himself nursing a headache at the bar.
Jan from accounting had organized the “bonding time” for the office, saying how it’d bring everyone closer together. Toby had been devoid of any good excuse, so now he was stuck between a beer, clubbers, and Jan, with her volume louder than the pounding speakers.
“And so that’s when I said, ‘Kevin, that’s the wrong variable!’” She snorted in laughter at her own joke. Toby managed a smile. “You see, he made a simple mistake!”
“No, I get it. I think Susan’s around here somewhere, she’d appreciate hearing it too.”
“That’s a good idea, but I can tell her on Monday!”
Toby took another drink. He liked Jan well-enough at work, but tonight was proving a little more difficult.
“That does bring up a good point, though. I haven’t seen many people from the office here." Scanning the room, she asked, "Do you think they're stuck in traffic?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Toby answered, knowing full well it was more a case of empty promises. Still, there was something about the disappointment in her eyes that struck him. “But hey, you got some of us here.”
She gave a small smile and looked around again, this time lingering towards the lights.
“Hey, let’s go dance!”
Before Toby could gently protest, she’d swept him onto the floor, beer and all.
My continuation...
Toby was in an impasse. While on the dancefloor, Jan didn’t follow Toby’s lead well, couldn’t do any of the more sophisticated turns or steps, and often moved uncontrollably off the bit. In general, following someone’s lead wasn’t Jan’s thing. Besides, her best years were behind her and it was painfully obvious that she could benefit from spending more time in a gym.
On the other hand, Toby respected Jan as a capable and resourceful worker. She spent 6 years slaving on her Ph.D. in accounting, now became one of the “go-to” people, and although not being his direct boss still was in habit of throwing her weight around the office. Toby always wanted to be on her good side.
Still, when there was the time of a slow dance, and Jan, who apparently didn’t hold her liquor well, shared with Toby with a meaningful wink that, besides majoring in accounting, she was minoring in LOVE, Toby came out of the closet about his headache and informed Jan that he wanted to go home.
While negotiating a treaty with Jan in the middle of the dancefloor, Toby noticed a glance of amazingly deep blue eyes, directed at him from another corner of the nightclub.
Toby wanted to respond to the call of these eyes immediately, looking in their direction over of Jan’s head, cursing in his mind her annoying persistence. However, Jan wasn’t so easily denied, didn’t want to take “no” for an answer. It took Toby many diplomatic maneuvers to lose her in the crowd of clubbers.
***
Frantically Toby elbowed through the crowd looking for those blue eyes. Lucky for him, he was tall enough and most of the time could see above Brownian movement of heads and bodies on the dancefloor. Soon his efforts paid off, he noticed the owner's mysterious blue eyes and started to navigate his way through the crowd toward them.
It’s probably worth noticing that these eyes weren’t exactly blue, but light gray. Bluishness gave them a blue mascara around the eyelids. Yet, in the dim light of the bar, Toby didn’t see that and was completely smitten by the effect.
Coming closer and following the promise nested in those tempting eyes, Toby didn’t know what to say. He was so mesmerized that, once standing in front of her, could utter a word from his dried-up throat. Seeing how her eyes started to become more and more distant, Toby was panicking, when suddenly a silly childish thought flashed through his mind and grabbed for it as the last straw.
“Sorry, your eyes made me so nervous. Their bright blue color is it because you wear contact lenses?”
“No,” the girl retorted with a pretend offense and Toby felt that the distance between them started to melt. “It’s my natural collar. I never thought of it as blue, though. But hey, you are entitled to your own opinion.”
Toby approached his face to hers, towering above her and stared inside her eyes from a close distance.
“Still looks blue to me and very pretty.”
The girl grinned. “It’s must be a reflection of the ocean left in them.”
“Reflection of the ocean?” Toby repeated her phrase, trying to make sure he understood it in the noise of the club.
“Yes, I like to walk on ashore.”
“…walk alone?”
“I like collecting things,” the girl responded as if not noticing the duality of his question.
“Like what? Rocks, shells?”
“Rocks and shells?” the girl repeated his words rhetorically, “Some people collect those objects. I collect what I can't carry with me.”
“Meaning?”
The girl pulled out her smartphone, stretched her hand and made a selfie.
They both laughed.
“That’s what you do. Are you a photographer?”
“No, you guessed it wrong again. I am a … “she turned her head away and looked up, “I am a discoverer.”
“What...How do you discover?”
“Sometimes, - deliberately, and sometimes by accident, unexpectedly. They are not large discoveries. They are like little ones.”
“Still what kind?”
“Well, that’s already not a conversation for a night club.”
“Let’s get out to the terrace. This way we wouldn’t have to scream.” While they were going through the terrace door Toby asked, “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Loran and yours?”
“Toby”
***
When Toby and Loran stood outside and had a lively conversation the door opened and Jan approached them in an unsteady gait. “Ah, here you are…Toby.”
‘Shit’ Toby thought, ‘why does it happen to me? Why here, why now?’ But he couldn’t do much, but to introduce the ladies.
“Loran, this Jan, my coworker from my office. Jan, this is Loran.”
Jan made a clumsy curtsy and almost fell holding a bottle of beer in her hands. Toby had to support her under her hand.
“Ah, I see”, Jan measured Toby and Loran with narrowed eyes and then spoke in her customary loud way, “…you prefer veal over seasoned beef. Let’s drink to that”
Other people who stood on the terrace turned around as Jan made another drag from the bottle.
“Jan, please. You don’t need to drink anymore. You need to go home, I beg you.”
“That’s what I kind of wanted to tell you about. I need to go home and you, my boy, need to follow me there.” Then turning to Loran she added, “I need his services you see.” She winkled at Loran.
“Who is that woman?” the Loran waved her head at Jan
Toby bit his lip. Destiny gave him the chance to meet this beautiful blue-eyed mermaid, maybe the best chance of his life and here you go, he had to attend to this drank broad. Toby hated Jan at this moment. Yet. He couldn’t just leave her like this. He needed at least get her safely home. Find her a cab and make sure the driver knows where to take her. But will Loren wait for him? Did he make an impression on her enough for her to stick around and wait for him?
Toby bent down to Loran’s head and started whispering in her ear.
“Loran, please, don’t listen to her. She’s drunk and there’s nothing between us. She’s nobody. Just a woman from my office. She’s drunk and lonely.”
“Why are you telling me this? I don’t care.” Loran shrugged.
“Please don’t leave, don’t disappear, ok? I need to tell you so much more. I just going to walk her,” Toby waved his head at Jan, “outside and get her in a cab. Ok.”
Loran looked away. “I don’t like drama…”
“Listen, I cannot just leave her on her like this.” Toby quickly wrote his number on a piece of paper in his notebook, tore the sheet and wanted to give it to Loran. While he was doing it Jan came close to them, patted Toby on his cheek a couple of times, “what did you write?” and then turned to Loran. “Oh, he’s already writing a love letter! Hehe. All men are pigs, my dear. I hope you know that … hahaha,” then she turned to Toby again “Give it to me, lover boy! I want to see if you have good handwriting.”
Toby gently pushed Jan aside and shielded Loran from her with his back. “Call me,” he gave her a piece of paper and with unusual to him resolve added “Please!”
Loran shrugged again and shivered. “I’m getting cold. I’ll go inside.”
Toby wanted to scream to her ‘Wait for me!’ but stopped himself. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers because now he noticed how much his head hurt.
“Let’s go”, he grabbed Jan by her hand, turned his head away from her and spat, “I’ll get you a taxi.”