Between Heaven & Hell (Marcus)

[lana]

16^th May, 2009


Mid-afternoon. Loud euro drum and bass music. A half full strip club. Fragile, skinny girls wrapping their legs around poles. And a lonely barmaid. Lana looked around the club, her head slumped in her hand. She pouted her lips ever so slightly, wondering when the next jerk-off would be hitting on her. As much as she loved the tips and money, she hated the job. The idea of stripping was degrading, not only to her, but to women themselves. She isn't a feminist, far from it. Her slinky black dress that was far too short clung to her upper thigh. At home she would be wearing skinny jeans and a band t-shirt of some sort. Showing off wasn't really her favourite thing, sure she could flaunt what she had, but why bother? It only attracted idiots.

"Beer." A suited man appeared in front of her, lifting his eyebrows repeatedly. It was flirting, just like every other guy. His friends laughed and looked at her up and down. She wanted to say no, reject him, punch him if neccesary. But the mood she was in, she told herself not too. Besides, if she got really ticked off she would just tell him to go home, and put in his mind he needed to go home. She bent over and pulled a Budweiser out, knowing all the suits enjoyed it. When she stood back up, she noticed his wedding ring had been taken off and a band of white skin was beneath. Lana put on her fakest of smiles and handed the beer to him. "Four dollars." He lifted one eyebrow this time, shaking his head. "No sweetheart, I'm a working man, what do you do for a living? Take your clothes off?" He and his friends laughed. Lana rolled her eyes and licked her lips slowly. He stopped laughing and was suddenly drawn to her. "Listen here sugar, why don't you and your friends go and visit Cindy over there? And she'll give you a show worth seeing." She winked at him and he nodded, ushering his friends without thought. Her concentration wasn't affected by the loud music, she had grown used to it now. Until he sat down with the stripper, she took her eyes off him and let him have his mind back.

Lana's contacts were beginning to hurt, she needed them specifically for work because of her epilepsy. They stopped the strobe light affecting her so badly, and usually the boss kept them away from the bar area knowing how one of her fits could be. Everything went blank, she could no longer think. It was horrible. Luckily she hadn't had one in over a year now, and she didn't want one either. The music suddenly changed, and a guitar solo came on of Velvet Revolver- Slither. Lana rolled her eyes, looking through the manager's office door. He winked at her and nodded his head in the direction of the stage. She nodded, it was her song. She had three or four songs a night in which she would have to go dance. Lana walked over, well strutted up onto the main stage and ruffled her hair as she did.

The crowd began watching her, every little move, every little smile. Lana herself was an amazing dancer, she knew how to work it and the pole for that matter. As she looked up to see the same grovelling drunk men, she noticed someone at the bar. Striking blue eyes clashed with her own. Who was he? More importantly, why was he here?

[marcus]

Marcus had been in the States for a couple of months now, searching everywhere for his new family. Well, old family, but new to him. You see, Marcus thought he knew who he was, but it turned out he didn't know who he was at all. Oh, he might have the same surname as the family he was 'supposed' to belong to, but the people he had grown up to think of as his parents, weren't his parents at all, they were his aunt and uncle. The worst of it was, he was supposed to have found out when he was sixteen, yet he didn't find out until his parents died in a terrible airplane crash when he was thirty two.

He had finally tracked his parents and siblings down to New York, and the last time he had checked, they were living in Mid-Town Manhattan, but so far he still hadn't found where they were living. Hopefully tomorrow he would finally locate them, but tonight he felt he needed a bit of fun and relaxation. After all Marcus had been travelling the States since he had arrived trying to find this family, he was exhausted. He found a bar, night club which looked like it might be interesting, and walked in, making his way straight to the bar.

"Guinness please, my good woman." He asked in his thick Irish accent, as he had been raised in the Emerald Isle. The barmaid raised her eyebrow at the way he had asked for a drink, but smiled and poured what he had ordered and handed it over to him with another smile.

"Cheers doll." He then took a sip and sighed in to himself, one thing about Ireland he was missing was the amount of Guinness he could pack away. Marcus held his drink well, and it took a vast amount of alcohol to make Marcus the slightest bit drunk. His eye was soon caught however, by a slightly younger female, brunette at that, ruffling her hair and heading to the stage which hosted a pole. Interesting he thought, pole dancing.

He turned slowly in her direction and just stared at her every move, he couldn't deny she was simply stunning, but right now, he wasn't really sure he had the time to allow himself to get into a female, finding his family right now was more important, yet at the same time, he couldn't help but feel drawn to her. For a few brief seconds their eyes locked, and he saw the gorgeous blue of her eyes, but he quickly looked away again as he took another sip of his Guinness.

He began to wonder if the reason he was drawn to her was because this was Emma, the sister he never knew he had. But at the same time, Emma was only supposed to be twenty, this girl looked older than that. He shook his head, that didn't count for anything these days. What if this was his sister, he wasn't sure how he was feeling about the fact she was doing that kind of thing. Yet at the same time it would be none of his business. Damn it, why did he have to have such a complicated fucking life.

[lana]

Lana kept her eyes firmly on the guy at the bar. He was drinking the black stuff, the Irish stuff. She usually stuck to Guinness and blackcurrent, being part Irish herself, she rather enjoyed it. It was hard to dance when she suddenly felt self conscious about the way she looked, what she was doing. He looked like one of the gems. And the way he was looking at her, it didn't look great. She gulped loudly and done one of her signature swings around the pole, her legs eventually sliding down it.

The idea this guy was thinking that she was a cheap, no good whore made her stomach turn over. When her song finished she bent down, picking up the tips that had been thrown around. Her long, silky looking legs stayed perfectly straight as she bent. When she made her way off the main stage and the other two girls went back on, she made her way around the opposite side of the bar, suddenly nervous about the guy at the other end. Her manager looked at her as he served up a drink to another after work guy. "You ok sweets?" Lana looked up at him and sighed, "Fine." She made her way down to the other end of the bar near the Guinness drinker.

Lana's sparkling blue, eyeliner eyes looked over at him. She was fascinated, yet the music suddenly turned back to the drum and bass so she couldn't read his mind. If she could, she was sure there would be something interesting in his mind. His glass was almost empty, so she decided to finally go up to him. Pulling her dress down slightly so it hung lower on her legs, she made her way over the few feet towards him. "Hey sugar, you need a refill?" Lana's smile widened and she licked her red glossy lips. Flirting, the joy of being a barmaid.

[marcus]

Marcus continued to watch the raven haired beauty do her stuff around the pole, with interest, intrigue and maybe a slight touch of discomfort thinking that this could be his kid sister out there. Alright, so she was twenty and she probably didn't even class herself as particularly young, but to Marcus, she was still his kid sister, because at thirty two himself, there was a twelve year age gap between them, so Emma would indeed always be his kid sister.

Still, he couldn't be sure, the more he watched this girl, the more he seemed to think maybe she was older than twenty. Then his mam's voice would come into his head, 'Impossible to tell a girl's age these days Marcus'. Well when he said his mam's voice, technically his aunt's voice. This was so difficult to understand and take in. Even after the couple of months since he had travelled to the States he was still finding it difficult to comprehend everything he had found out about himself and his family in such a short space of time.

The girl had finished her routine and he watched as she made her way back behind the bar. He slowly turned away from the stage and gulped more of his Guinness, just about draining it. The raven haired beauty then approached him, and he wasn't sure how to react. Half of his mind was saying this could be his sister, the other half was telling him he was bloody ridiculous. He watched casually as she pulled at her dress to bring it down a little which made him give off a weak smile.

Marcus went to take another sip of his Guinness when the girl spoke to him, almost flirting with him, which made Marcus choke on his drink. He coughed a couple of times, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Then thinking that she could indeed be his sister, he instinctively grabbed her wrist in his hand, but keeping a weak smile on his face and in a steady voice he said, "Your name wouldn't happen to be Emma Woods by any chance?" He asked, and then added a little more quietly but probably loud enough for her to hear, "I focking hope not mind."

[lana]

When the man coughed and spat out some of his Guinness, Lana sighed heavily. "Sorry." She mumbled, realising she was either being too full on, or not full on enough. He was such a handsome man, yet being in a place like this, it told something about him. Maybe he was looking for a one night stand, or maybe he was looking for something else... Every night there was someone different, so who knows. Lana didn't feel too good all of a sudden, and her usual glowing face now turned a pale white.

Lana turned even paler when he grabbed her wrist suddenly. Having not said anything to her before hand, it frightened her and her skin turned whiter. She gulped loudly, looking down at his wrist, then looking up into his eyes. He said he hoped not, in a thick Irish accent. The music stopped for a moment, just long enough. She squinted slightly, reading his mind. 'My sister... Emma... Who are you?' She squinted her eyes shut suddenly in pain when the music started again. That's all she got. "Emma?" She asked, slightly dazed. "I don't know what you're talking sugar, but I'm Lana." Her bright blue eyes stared at him nervously, and she tried pulling her wrist away.

The manager looked at her through his office door and frowned furiously, seeing the man gripping her wrist. Lana could just make out his thoughts and turned to the door, but already he was charging over. "Excuse me buddy, you mind letting go of my barmaid?"

[marcus]

When the girl mumbled an apology Marcus realised he must have made her feel bad, and he gave her another weak smile, "No, I'm sorry, I'm just, ah I'm not meself right now, sorry." He mumbled slightly himself, however he hadn't bothered to mention whether he wanted another drink or not. At least, not right at that moment anyway. He wanted to make sure this girl wasn't his kid sister first, then he'd feel a lot better about things. He watched as the girl turned pale. Very pale it would seem, if he hadn't been so concerned about trying to find out if she was his sister, he'd have been more concerned about how she looked and felt.

Of course he had then took that moment to grab her wrist and ask if her name was Emma. He hadn't meant to scare her, he really ought to be more careful about how he handled certain situations. Then she said Emma's name with a question and when she next spoke, she said her name was Lana. A look of relief washed over Marcus suddenly, but he felt terrible for upsetting the girl.

He was just about to let her go, when a guy came over and asked him to let go of her. Which of course he did, raising both hands up, "Ah, sorry my good man, I just got meself a bit mixed up is all, no harm intended." He then looked at the girl, Lana as he now knew her name, and gave her a weak smile, "I'm really sorry about that gorgeous, didn't mean to scare you, I just thought might have been me sister that's all."

Marcus felt like he could breath a bit easier now, he had no problem with what the girl was doing now he knew for certain she wasn't his sister. So all was good. "And aye, I'll have another Guinness please, and have one for yourself." He said, as he downed the rest of the Guinness he had in his hand.

[lana]

Lana immediately noticed the look of relief on the man's face when she said her name was Lana. He let go of her wrist when the maanger came over, and Lana smiled at him thankfully for a moment. The man threw up both of his hands and apologised. Just another day in the strip club eh? "It's fine." She said patting her boss on the chest. Of course, she didn't want any trouble right now. Lana had been the center of trouble here before, and it never earned her a good name with the girls. "Honestly, I'll be fine. Had worse guys than this one." She winked at the man cheekily and her boss walked away, mumbling to himself.

"Always likes to be the hero sugar, sorry." She didn't know why she was apologising, she just didn't like to be rude to people who didn't deserve it. "It's fine sugs, honestly. And no I'm not your sister. I only have one brother, and he's in Washington living the high life..." A weak, almost desperate sounding sigh escaped her lips. Lana quickly shook it off, not wanting him to know or see her remotely upset. She did notice the 'gorgeous' comment however, and lived up to it. "Well ya know." She winked at him playfully.

The guy asked for another Guinness and told her to have one for herself. "Not when I'm working, but later maybe. Thanks sugar." She took his empty pint glass and pulled the pump down where the brown Irish gold began pouring out. "So what part of Ireland are you from?" As she looked up at him for a reply, she noticed the sparkle in his perfect blue eyes and couldn't help but buckle slightly. Her knees wobbled and she stumbled in her stilettos. "Shit." She mumbled, flicking Guinness off her hands.

[marcus]

Marcus watched slightly uncomfortably as the girl, Lana tried to tell her boss that all was alright, and that she'd dealt with worse guys than Marcus. He gave her a weak smile at that, but he still felt terrible inside for having hurt her. When her boss began to walk away, Marcus felt even more relieved, the last thing he wanted to do was upset the boss of a night club like this, he might have found himself rather quickly on the other side of the door. Not that he needed to worry about getting hurt, but Marcus just tried to avoid confrontation at all costs.

"You're alright, ye shouldn't be the one apologising anyway, I'm the one who made a fool of meself, sorry." He said, and then since he now knew her name, even if it was only her Christian name, Marcus felt he should properly introduce himself as well. "The name's Marcus, Marcus Woods. Prize Irish Wanker." He said with a bit of a chuckle at the title he'd given himself, but it was truly how he felt for upsetting the girl. Really he should have known better, he had that photograph on him of their mam, all he had to do was look at it to see there was no resemblance, he felt like an idiot.

"Ah, so ye got a brother yourself anyway, that's good." Marcus said, continuing to make general conversation with the girl, well it was the least he could do after making a fool of himself the way he had. He did notice how her voice trailed off and she seemed to go a bit distant, but it wasn't in his place to pry, it was obviously something personal, so Marcus just let it go.

He caught her winking at him, after he had called her gorgeous. Well the truth was she was gorgeous. "Yeah, actually I'd like to say I do know." He said flirting back slightly, now that he could without wondering if he was flirting with his possible sister. Of course he had then asked for another Guinness and said she could have a drink herself, which she had declined for now.

"Ah, very well, understandable, well maybe when ye get off, I can treat ye to one to make up for my foolishness earlier, what ye say gorgeous?" Marcus asked as he gave her a better smile than his earlier weak ones. Lana then asked what part of Ireland was he from as she poured out his Guinness. "Born in England, but was raised in Belfast all me loife, until I moved over here couple of months ago to find me family." Then he realised what he had said and now stupid that must have sounded. He had just told her he was raised in Ireland but he had come here to find his family, she must think he was nuts or something.

However, her little stumble didn't go unnoticed by him, and he laughed lightly as he heard her utter the word shit. "Falling for me already are ye, must be the ole Oirish accent aye?" He asked teasing her a little. He simply couldn't help himself now, he knew there was no way she was his sister, and he could sort of flirt freely with her. However, his priority was still trying to find his family and importantly, his sister.

[lana]

"Marcus Woods?" Lana asked. She reached over the bar, licking her lips as her fingers began tugging at Marcus's hoodie. "That's my favourite name." This was her job, if single guys were at the bar without their friends and they were seeming lonely, she had to flirt and pretend she wanted to sleep with them. Although... this one, she would happily leave with him tonight. He was simply gorgeous, the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. Then she realised what he said after stating his name, and giggled. "Prize... Irish... Sex-on-legs." She said, her breath blowing on his ear. She pulled away then, and licked her lips once more.

"A beer after work, I haven't done that with a guy in a while." Lana's eyes lit up, why hadn't she done that in so long? No-one had asked her, they had demanded. Marcus actually asked. "Well sugar, sounds like a date." She lifted her perfectly shaped eyebrows and smiled widely. "Northern Ireland? I'm quarter Irish, not sure where from though." Lana leant her elbows on the table and put her head in the hands. "Always wanted to go there though." She said drifting off into a daydream. "Sorry, you're looking for your family? Sugar, you're in the wrong place. This part of NYC, only the lonely souls gather." She smiled at him, hoping she hadn't disappointed Marcus.

When Lana did stumble she giggled nervously, realising she had just slipped up. "Sugar, I'm an empty shell. Not much to fall for these days." Why the pessimism? She was kicking herself inside. She put the Guinness in front of him and smiled, wiping the spillage on her dress. "That'll be three dollars sugar." She smiled widely at him, then noticed the same group of guys from earlier approach the bar. Lana rolled her eyes, obviously her telepathy hadn't fully worked on him. Damn music and lights. The same suit approached her behind the bar, and she left Marcus unwillingly. "Well you're back, I'm so thrilled." She said sarcastically,

[marcus]

Marcus wasn't quite sure how to react when Lana first repeated his name back to him, and then tugged at what he was wearing before saying it was her favourite name. He looked around the place he was in for a second, taking in everything. He then had to figure out what she was doing came with the job so to speak. He gave off a slightly nervous laugh, but gave her a wink right afterward.

"And I bet ye say that to all the guys, right?" He said with a low voice which had definite humour in it. "Not that I don't find it flattering like, never had anybody say my name was their favourite name before." He continued, not wanting to make it too obvious that now he knew she wasn't his sister, he might be just a tad attracted to her.

The licking of her lips didn't go unnoticed either, but he couldn't help but wonder if she would act slightly differently when and if they ever got into a one on one conversation. He had been in plenty of pubs over the time, come on he's Irish, they're known to drink their asses into a stupor, most barmaids flirted with him and all the punters, but this girl, she seemed to do it even more than the average barmaid who'd chatted him up in Ireland.

When Lana corrected him, saying Prize Irish Sex-on-legs instead of what he had called himself, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and smile slightly. "Well, if that's what ye think gorgeous." Marcus said, a slight blush actually appearing across his face. My god, Marcus had never blushed quite like that before, but then again, nobody as gorgeous as Lana had called him sex on legs before. He could probably say the same thing about her, but he refrained.

Marcus smiled when Lana agreed to a beer after she had finished, he felt it would be good to actually try and get to know this girl. Then when she said it sounded like a date, Marcus just smiled again, his blue eyes sparkling as always, "Sure to be sure it's a date." He said being typically Irish. He couldn't wait to sit and have a proper conversation and try to get to know the girl better.

"Ah well, maybe ye can go back one day, might take ye there meself, who know eh?" Marcus said with a smile, although he had got away from Ireland to get away from the press which had hounded him, as well as coming to track down his family. However, when Lana said that only souls gathered in this part of town, he began to wonder if he had been informed incorrectly on the location of his family.

"Well, I'm just going on what I've been told, I was told either here or Brooklyn, so guess that place will be me next stop if I don't fine them here ye know?" Marcus replied, not feeling too disappointed. He certainly hadn't found them yet since he'd arrived in Mid-Town Manhattan a couple of days ago.

Marcus felt a little uncomfortable after he'd tried to flirt with her, and she said that she was just an empty shell and there wasn't much to fall for. Should he say, maybe he could give her something to fall for? Or would that just make him sound big headed? He opted for the latter and decided to say nothing. When Lana asked for the cost of his Guinness, he delved into his pocket and pulled out a few dollars, and immediately handed her over a five dollar bill. "Keep the change." He said and winked at her.

Soon after Marcus saw a guy approach Lana behind the bar, and he couldn't help but watch out of the side of his eye, just to make sure they weren't about to cause bother, especially when he heard her speak to him. The tone in her voice made it sound as if the guy was unwelcome.

[lana]

Lana shook her head when he asked if she said that to all the guys, "Not all of them, just a few ya know?" She smiled at him. "Well Marcus is definitely one of my favourites, it's just so... manly." Lana's smile told it all, she actually did love the name. But he seemed no where near as flirtatious towards her, so she decided to stop, not wanting to come across as a whore to him. God she felt like a bit of an idiot now.

"Course it's what I think, don't get many gems like you in here that's for sure sugar." His blush didn't go unnoticed by Lana either, infact she found it rather amusing. Usually guys would mess her around and take the compliment as another ego boost. But Marcus actually blushed, a beautiful tinted pink lifted through his cheeks. Lana then suddenly noticed, he never replied. Not saying anything about her. Again she sighed, realising nearly all men were the same. Caring about themselves. She shrugged it off though, not wanting to come across as a complete bitch after being a flirtatious barmaid.

"Yep it's a date." The blue-eyed beauty smiled, but had less enthusiasm in her voice. "Meanwhile I gotta keep pretending to want to screw every guy that comes up to the bar. So don't get jealous now." She winked at him, going to walk away to see who else was at the bar. But when she looked up, she realised there was no-one. So immediately she decided to stay with Marcus, feeling he was the most decent person in the whole club at the moment.

Lana laughed when he said he might take her back to Ireland, "Slow down cowboy, not even had a drink with ya yet." She smiled at him and cleaned an old pint glass, placing it behind her with the others as she listened to him talking about his family. "And I doubt they are here sugar, this ain't a nice part of town." At least she was honest though, it really wasn't a nice part of town. In fact, it was horrible. Well most of it was.

Of course Lana felt like a prize idiot when he looked uncomfortable after she called herself an empty shell. Why was she saying shit like that to him? What did he care? Obviously not a lot as he just said, 'keep the change'. "Cheers doll." She placed the note in the till and took the remaining change and pushed it into her tips jar. Once Lana approached the other men, she hung her head and watched Marcus from the corner of her eye.

"So what'll it be?" She asked the suited man, he leant over the bar, staring down her dress. As he looked up and into her sparkling blue eyes, he raised his eyebrows. "A private dance, just me and you." Lana burst out laughing, "Yeah you wish sugar, keep walking." Lana went to walk away until she felt her wrist be grabbed by the guy. "Look you're the second guy to do that today, I really DON'T appreciate it." "Why who else grabbed my girl?" Lana laughed again, "Your girl, look mister. I've known you less than half an hour, you call me your girl one more time, I'll get you and your little friends thrown outta her for good ya hear?" The music was too loud to persuade him, not to mention the lights a few feet away. "You do that, and I'll get you fired for not doing your job, and treating me and my friends here like dirty. Isn't the customer always right?" He twisted her arm, and Lana winced, feeling his nails dig in. "Let... me... go."

[marcus]

Marcus couldn't help but smile when Lana said she didn't say it to all the guys, just a few. When she said she said Marcus was one of her favourites because it was so manly, his smiled got bigger and he actually winked slightly at her. "Well thank ye doll, I've got to say though, I like your name, it suits such a gorgeous girl." Marcus said, actually finally throwing in a flirt of his own, he just didn't want to over do it. He didn't want her thinking he was doing it because he felt he had to because of the place he was in. He wanted her to know he was doing it because he was actually finding himself attracted to her. What ever it was that was drawing him to her earlier, must have just been the physical attraction. Nothing to do with the fact he thought she might have been his sister. Since it had now been established she was not his sister and he still felt drawn to her.

"Well maybe that's because ye never had someone from the Emerald Isle in your bar before?" Marcus said with a bit of a laugh, hoping she would get his little subtle joke at the whole gem and Emerald Isle thing. "However, I think your boss is a bit of a thief meself, because he's got a diamond in you." He said and winked again, as he just gave probably one of the corniest chat up lines ever.

He smiled when she confirmed it was a date, and then went on to say that she had to pretend she wanted it with every guy that came into the bar and he wasn't to get jealous. Normally Marcus would have said nothing at that kind of remark, or say he isn't the jealous type, but he found with Lana he could very well be. So he looked at her and locked eyes with her, and said "I can't guarantee that gorgeous."

Marcus couldn't help but laugh along with Lana when she laughed at his statement about taking her to Ireland. He meant taking her one day, not right that minute. "Well I meant after we'd had that drink, but I can take ye sooner if ye like." He said having a laugh with her, "Best ye hurry and get that drink with me then aye?" He added, as he took a sip of his Guinness. Then she said that she doubted his family were in this part of town because it wasn't nice. "Well if it ain't nice why are ye here?" He asked, not because he was trying to be mean, but he felt she was really nice and if this place wasn't so nice, she could probably do better for herself.

After he had told her to keep the change, he watched out the side of his eye while she dealt with another customer. A customer who seemed to be rather troublesome from Marcus' eye view and he didn't like it. Marcus hated unnecessary violence, and he knew Lana was a nice girl, so he knew immediately she'd have done nothing to provoke this what so ever.

Marcus didn't want to get involved right away feeling that he was just another customer and it shouldn't be up to him to cause a scene in the place. But the more he watched the more he didn't like what he saw and eventually he couldn't take it any longer. He took a long gulp of his Guinness, put it down on the bar and then got up and walked over to where the scene was unfolding in front of him.

"I think ye'll find the lady said to let her go, and from what I can see ye're hurting her. So I'd suggest ye let her go now if ye don't want me to make ye." Marcus said glaring at the guy, and if the guy refused to let Lana go, he'd get in between Lana and the guy, after all, he could take anything which came to him.