Duties, duties, duties... Say that again?

His side of the story

"Dinner has been postponed one week." his father's annoyed voice hit him from the other side of the line. "Monday,"

"Alright." Allen answered neutrally.

"Your sister is still coming next week, so pick her up at the airport."

"OK." His father mumbled something on the other side of the line.

"I'm hanging up." that being said, the line went dead.

Allen put away his phone, rubbing his temples. He looked around his room, the lights still off, but some light from outside leaking through the curtains. He blinked a couple of times before grabbing back his phone, checking her chat. A smile crossed his face as he read her text, typing something back. A couple of minutes passed when he received a reply.

I: "Next week sounds great!"

Suddenly, his mood got better. He changed into something comfortable and grabbed something to eat before heading to Kyle's apartment. He was now in the mood to go out.

The drive was of about ten minutes, little to none traffic, until he reached a long street leading to a dead end. It was a very sophisticated and modern building, with a pool and a basketball and tennis court. The view from the complex was also outstanding, showing the city's downtown to one side and the city's outskirts to the other. He had a spare key to his best friend's place, so he just went in like if he owned the place.

He left himself in, hearing some rustling and thudding from one of the bedrooms as he approached the sofa. A couple of minutes passed, and a petite, blonde girl walked past the living room to the kitchen; completely oblivious of Allen's existence. He followed her with his stare, seeing she was wearing nothing but a male's oversized shirt. He smirked for a millisecond, his eyes glued to her figure, waiting.

She turned from the freezer with a jar full of water, pouring some into a glass, when she raised her eyes lazily. He tilted his head, making her eyes grow wide, her mouth opening and closing before finally making a sound.

She screamed.

He heard a loud thud, followed by Kyle cursing loudly. Allen's eyes looked towards the hall, when the half naked body of his friend appeared; jumping on one foot as he grabbed the other with a pained expression.

"What the fuck, man?" Kyle said, reaching the girl's side and covering her body with his.

"Forgot I got a spare key?" Allen asked, his face turning bored again and he played with his phone in his hand.

"No, but fuck, at least tell me when you're coming." He looked annoyed. "I have visits."

"I can see that." Allen smirked again. "Please don't mind me, finish your business."

The girl didn't wait any second, running back to the bedroom and coming out again in a flash, completely dressed. She didn't say goodbye, or anything at all, leaving Kyle with an exasperated look on his face. He went back to his room, putting something on too before heading back to the living room.

"So?" He dropped his body in front of Allen. "What is it?"

"Nothing…" Allen thought for a moment, and his face light up. "Next week we're going out." Allen said. Kyle rolled his eyes mentally, thinking that his friend was either stubborn or plainly dumb. He let it pass.

"Like on a date," Kyle repeated, raising his eyebrows. "Like a date date?"

"Is there a difference?" Allen's lost expression made him sigh.

"She knows it's a date?"

"It's not a date" Allen replied almost immediately, but a couple of seconds passed when his eyebrows knotted over his eyes.

"If you're going out together, alone, to somewhere fun, it's a fucking date." Kyle raised his hand before he could hear anything else. "Al, women like to hear things out. If it's a date, she can only suppose it is until you tell her."

Allen has a weird expression on his face, a mixture of confusion, realization, and annoyance.

"Why, though. We can't just hang out?"

"Women need reassurance."

Allen scoffed. "You're the expert here, but is it really that complicated?"

"You haven't even started yet, and you're complaining?" Kyle laughed. "Dating is not so bad. You should try it out for real this time."

"Who said anything about dating? We're just going out—"

"On a DATE, Al." Kyle cut him and finished the sentence, making emphasis on the word. "And before you say shit, you were the one barging into my place, excited to tell me you were going out with this girl."

Allen pursed his lips, knowing he could not win that argument. He shifted his body on the sofa, clearing his throat.

"I was not excited." He mumbled. "Whatever, wanna hang out? I have to go to the mall and buy some stuff for the business dinner."

"Oh right, your father's dinner." Kyle's eyes darkened a little, looking at his friend with concern. "Is it going to be alright?"

"Why wouldn't it? I'll just try not to fuck things up." Allen raised to his feet, heading towards the kitchen and grabbing some water from the counter.

Kyle looked at him.

"If anything, just give me a call." Allen nodded, gulping the water down as he was trying to do with the anxiety the dinner represented.

Two hours passed. It was almost noon when they finally left to the mall. A couple more hours passed as they went from store to store looking for a nice suit for him to wear that day. Allen didn't like wearing formal clothes, but it was non-negotiable as this was related to his father's job. After having a quick lunch, they went to the upper floor.

This mall was enormous. So much that you'd easily need more than 3 hours walking non-stop to just pass by every store. The last floor, however, was the VIP zone: every important and expensive brand had a store there.

Allen tried to avoid it at all cost, as he didn't want to spend too much on the suit; not because his family couldn't afford it, but because of his own stubbornness. In the end, it was his only choice, since every store he got in, the clothing's quality went from bad to worse. He had an expensive taste, and he knew it, but it was only because that's how he was raised: with a gold spoon in his mouth.

It took him one more hour to find the perfect attire. A dark satined blue tux jacket, with matching trousers, black dress shirt, a black waistcoat and black dress shoes. He also picked a traditional bow tie, matching the tux's color. He was confident about his choice.

As expected, Kyle's hands were itching to buy one too. He, contrary to Allen, liked wearing suits whenever he had the chance. He controlled himself, much to his dismay, leaving the store fast, so he wouldn't change his mind.

The tux would be delivered in two days as it needed some corrections.

"We should relax now," Kyle started. "I want to check out this new gaming store on the second floor."

"Yeah, same here."

Heading towards the store, a reddish blur crossed his sight, catching his attention. He stopped walking almost immediately, looking around him. Kyle stood there, watching him, not sure if he wanted to ask what was going on or not. The red flash appeared again behind a little crowd that was forming ahead. His feet moved again, cutting distance fast, feeling the music grow louder the more he came closer. A big banner hanging from the ceiling wrote 'Dance-Off', and underneath, the crowd clapped the rhythm of the song as they watched two couples moving and circling around each other.

Then, he saw it.

A bright red wave flash from afar.