'It has to be head trauma. That's the only way to explain it.' Michelle Taylor thought as she stewed in her seat and took another sip of the fruit punch from her red plastic cup. The sweet flavor of the fruit juice covered up the harsh bite of the alcohol that had been mixed in it right up until you swallowed and you got that burning aftertaste. She was pretty sure that there was more than one type of booze in the drink, but at this point, the alcohol was the only thing keeping her from blowing up at her boyfriend, Todd.
At 24 years old, in the prime of her life, everything should have been coming up Michelle. She was friendly as hell, had an awesome sense of humor, and liked to think of herself as a thoughtful person. Tack on a rocking body, with a pair of 34D breasts sitting proudly on a 5 foot 8 inch, 138-pound frame, and the brains to back it up, and she was the kind of girl most men wished they could have. Yeah, she got upset sometimes, but even a cuddly panda bear acted like the second word in its name when it was pushed. She didn't consider herself to be any more of a vengeful person than the average person, but Todd was really pushing the limits of that assumption.
Todd wasn't a horrible boyfriend. If she looked past the anger, Michelle could admit that he was... okay. He actually used to be wonderful when they first started dating. They had similar tastes in entertainment, a shared fondness for trying out different types of food, and the same twisted sense of humor. They could sit in a room reading and be perfectly content just to be in each other's presence. They clicked in a way that she hadn't experienced very often with other guys. He was also pretty decent in the sack. Todd was attentive and creative, never in a rush to get to the grand finale. All in all, the first six months of their relationship had been a dream come true.
These last two? They'd become an exercise in measuring just how long someone could be brushed off before they snapped and pushed their significant other down the stairs.
Despite having a degree in Computer Engineering, Todd got it into his head that he wanted to become a streamer. Michelle was all for it at first. She knew the kind of money a really successful person could make streaming games on the various social media platforms and Todd seemed really passionate about doing it. His success was slow going, but he was building a steady fanbase and adding a decent amount of subscribers regularly. She was happy for him at first, but when he started ignoring her to hop online, that's when it started to become a problem for Michelle. The time that would have normally been spent together started turning into more time for him to stream and even when they were together, he was distracted by something else he found more interesting. Every time she'd bring it up, Todd would brush it off as her overreacting or that he would do better next time.
He didn't.
This led them to tonight, where Michelle was currently trying to figure out if going to jail for assault would be worth the satisfaction of shoving the PS5 DualShock controller Todd was currently holding, up his ass.
"Oh! Did you see that?" Todd yelled out excitedly as the character he was playing in WWE 2K22 landed a reversal and eliminated one of his friends from the Royal Rumble match they were all playing.
Michelle rolled her eyes and downed the last of her drink in one go before she got up to get a refill. The punch bowl and snacks had been set up in the kitchen. The boxes of pizza were sitting on the stove and the counter next to it, but the punch bowl was sitting on the island in the middle of the room so no one would have to be right on top of each other while they were getting whatever refreshments they were after. Despite the number of people in attendance, the kitchen was surprisingly empty, save for a guy doing the same thing she came in here to do.
She walked past him, setting her empty cup down next to the bowl before filling it back up. As she did, she glanced over at the guy. He was a big guy. Tall with light brown hair, cut short and neat, with a slightly scruffy beard that gave him an easygoing vibe. His face wasn't the most remarkable that she had seen, but he wasn't exactly ugly either. He didn't have a sharp jawline or piercing eyes. He couldn't make you swoon with just a smoldering look. He was just... cute. A solid seven out of ten, possibly an eight if he really worked for it.
The guy looked up from his cup when he noticed Michelle walking into the kitchen. His eyes stayed locked on to her as she came over and started refilling her cup. The guy leaned against the counter and tried to do his best attempt at a casual smile. "So, uh..." he started, his voice light, "...do you come here often?"
Michelle froze in mid-pour before glancing over at him. She could a sheepish grin on the guy's face, like he already knew just how bad his line was. Michelle couldn't help herself, she let out an unladylike snort, which she quickly covered up by slapping her hand over her mouth as her body broke out into a fit of giggles. To be fair, she was pretty drunk at this point.
"Oh my god. That was horrible!" she said through her giggles.
The guy chuckled, clearly not taking himself too seriously. "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that." he admitted. "It got you to laugh though, right?"
Michelle nodded, a smile still spread across her face. "I guess it did. I really wasn't expecting that one." she told him as she finished filling up her cup and, putting the ladle back in the punch bowl.
"Hey, if it works, it works." he shrugged. He extended his hand out to her. "I'm Sean by the way."
Michelle accepted his hand, surprised by how much bigger his hand was than her own. "Michelle."
"Nice to meet you, Michelle." he smiled, releasing her hand and going back to drinking his cup. "So, what brings you here tonight? The free booze?"
"Nah, just hanging out with my friends. My boyfriend's friends actually." she corrected herself, nodding towards the living room where everyone was hanging out. "I don't actually know anyone here."
"That's not true, you know me." he smirked.
Michelle looked at Sean with a raised eyebrow, an amused smirk playing on her lips. "True, but what exactly do I know about you?"
Sean pretended to think about it. "Well, you know that I use cheesy pick-up lines to make beautiful women laugh."
"That's a good start. What else?"
"I'm also a mind reader."
Michelle's perfectly arched eyebrow lifted up, interested in seeing where he was going with this. "Mind reading, huh? Alright then, what am I thinking about right now?"
"You, pretty lady, are not having a very good night." Sean said, his voice deep and serious. He moved in closer, his face mere inches away from hers. "Annoyed with the boyfriend, aren't we?"