Work Text
Fareeha winced when she saw Cassidy getting yet another rejection from one of the patrons at the bar they frequent at every Friday after a week of work before the weekend. She looked away, giving him what little dignity he has left when he took a walk of shame back to where their table was at.Cassidy lets out a wistful sigh, leaning back against the booth behind him before removing his old cowboy hat from his head. He held it between his hands, frowning. “This used to bring in all the gals and guys running to me, what happened?”Well, Fareeha could come up with several reasons why his tactic doesn’t seem to work anymore—if it ever did. The cowboy hat was an old, nearly worn out to the point where it could disintegrate at any moment and not to mention there is an odd odor emitting off from that old thing. She brought the bottle of beer up to her lips, downing the entire drink in one go before she gently set it back down on the table. “Have you ever thought about getting a new hat or try a different approach?” She decided to give him her input.“Now why would I do that?” Cassidy snorted. “It has always worked before.”“It’s not the 1980s anymore.” Fareeha shrugged her shoulders, paying no mind to the offended look he was sending her. “And besides, I thought you and Genji were on again.”“We’re on a break.” His response was short, leaving no room for further questions about his private life. “Besides, what makes you really think it’s the hat?” He asked, quickly shifting the conversation back to the original topic.“Because cowboys aren’t cool,” Fareeha said, giving him a curt response with missing a beat. “Have you ever actually tried to start a meaningful conversation with your one-night stands that doesn’t involve talking about a snake in your pants?” What a crude line, taken from a beloved children’s film.“First off, cowboys are cool,” Cassidy said matter-of-factly. “Second of all, that line works all the time with Genji. And third of all, you’re making it sound like you could do better than me.”“Nope,” Fareeha said, shaking her head. “I know I can do better than you.”“Prove it then,” Cassidy challenged her. “Prove it you can do better than me. It’s a full house tonight, so take your pick.”She knew she shouldn’t be playing into his little games, after all, what would her mother say? She could get an earful from her if her mother ever finds out, but the buzz from tonight’s drinks and the building’s atmosphere has made it difficult for her to back down from a challenge, especially if it’s coming from Cassidy. “Fine, you’re on. What do I get if I win?”“Drinks will be on me.” He gave her a smirk. “Does that sound good?”“You’re going to be regretting that.” A wide grin came over her face. “Let’s make things more fun, why don’t you pick my target?” She suggested, wanting to make this challenge a little bit more interesting.Cassidy returned her grin before he turned his attention to the bar, eyes scanning through the bundle of patrons until his eyes finally landed on a dark-haired woman that stood at the furthest corner of the building who looked like she didn’t even want to be here, seemingly glaring at anyone who got too close to her. He cleared his throat, catching Fareeha’s attention when he gestured his head towards the dark-haired woman’s direction. “Why not the icy belle over there, she looks new. I think you should give her a warm welcome.”Fareeha turned her head to the woman he was referring to, seeing that the woman was obviously not a regular in this bar. Her fancy business attire amongst people wearing jeans was an obvious indication. “I’ll be right back then.” She said before she slid out from the booth to make her way over to the woman, putting on her best charming smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before.” She finally stood right before the other woman, taking note that the other was several inches shorter than she is. “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Fareeha and…” Her words immediately trailed off, whatever she wanted to say next died from her lips. She felt her brain turning into mush when the other woman sharply turned her head towards her and the first thing Fareeha noticed was how beautiful she was where she found herself wanting to run her fingers down on the woman’s brown skin that looked soft to touch; the other woman’s full features were sharp enough to cut anyone down that dares to be around her presence. However, that wasn’t what caught Fareeha’s attention—it was the other woman’s eyes, an intense gaze of molten gold sparkling under the ceiling’s lighting.Oh she smelled divine too and Fareeha almost felt self-conscious, hoping today’s work out on the field wasn’t too notable. “Is there something you need?” The woman spoke with narrowed eyes.“There’s…a snake in my pants.” Fareeha instantly turned into stone, frozen on the spot when those words tumbled out from her mouth. She felt her entire face heating up, wishing the ground could swallow her up whole right about now, she couldn’t believe she just said that! It wasn’t even moments ago when she gave Cassidy shit about it as well.The other woman scanned Fareeha from head to toe, lips pressed together into a thin line while looking quite peeved with what she had just said.Fareeha had her eyes shut, prepared for the woman to slap her in the face or throw a drink to her face, perhaps even both. But after a few seconds passed by and neither of those came, she slowly opened her eyes to see the woman held something out. Fareeha mindlessly took it without a word.“You should really get that snake check out,” the woman said, straightening herself up before she walked around Fareeha to make her way towards the front of the building, pausing for a moment to look at Fareeha over her shoulder then exiting out of the building completely.Moments later, Fareeha headed back to the booth where Cassidy awaited for her the entire time. He has a cigar in his mouth, having watching the entire scene unfolded with a grin. “I think I owe you a bottle of Corona.” He said before he got up from the booth, heading to the bar to deliver what he had promised.Fareeha waved him off, turning her attention down to a business card in her hand where the woman’s name and personal phone number was written on there. “Satya Vaswani.” She sounded out the woman’s name, a smirk slowly making its way up to her face.“I should give her a call to help me out with that snake.”
