Aariz's phone buzzed for the third time in two minutes. He glanced at the screen while navigating through evening traffic in his black Porsche.
"dude where are you"
"I'm bored and these guys are weird"
"bring cash I may have promised them drinks"
Classic Mira. They'd started the night at his place, splitting a bottle of decent wine while she complained about her latest dating disaster and he pretended to care about some work drama. The plan was simple: meet at City Tap, have a few drinks, maybe play some pool, head home before midnight like responsible adults.
Of course, Mira had gotten there an hour early because she was "in the neighborhood" which usually meant she'd gotten kicked out of somewhere else.
He pulled into the familiar parking lot of City Tap. Through the windows, he could see the usual Saturday night crowd - a mix of college kids, office workers unwinding, and people who'd clearly started drinking much earlier in the day.
His phone rang.
"Please tell me you didn't start a tab in my name," he answered.
"Okay, I won't tell you that."
"Mira."
"Look, I ran into these guys from some finance company, and they were buying shots, and one thing led to another—"
"How much?"
"It's not about money anymore."
Aariz paused, keys in hand. "What do you mean it's not about money anymore?"
"Well, one of them got a little handsy, so I may have... reacted."
"Define reacted."
"I slapped him. Pretty hard. And now his friends are all worked up about it, and honestly, they're being kind of aggressive, and I could really use some backup right about now."
Through the window, Aariz could see a small crowd gathered around one of the back booths. He spotted Mira's dark hair in the center of it.
"I can see you from here. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but these idiots think I overreacted. Apparently grabbing someone's ass is just 'being friendly' in their world."
"I'll be right there."
"Thanks. Oh, and maybe don't mention that we're not actually dating. They kind of assumed, and it's been keeping them at a reasonable distance."
"Of course it has."
Aariz walked into City Tap, immediately hit by the familiar smell of beer, fried food, and poor decisions. The music was loud enough to make conversation difficult but not loud enough to drown out the raised voices coming from the back.
He spotted the situation immediately. Mira was sitting in a booth, looking perfectly calm while four guys in business casual stood around her looking various levels of pissed off. One of them was holding a napkin to his cheek.
"There he is," Mira said brightly when she saw him. "Guys, this is Aariz. Aariz, meet... I honestly forgot your names already, but the one with the napkin is the grabby one."
Grabby Guy lowered the napkin, revealing a red handprint on his cheek. "Your girlfriend has anger management issues."
"My friend has boundaries," Aariz replied, sliding into the booth next to Mira. "Maybe try respecting them next time."
"It was just harmless fun," another one said. "She didn't have to assault him."
Mira snorted. "Assault? I slapped him. If I wanted to assault him, he'd be on the floor."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a fact."
Aariz could feel the tension ratcheting up. He'd been in enough situations with Mira to know when things were about to go sideways. "Look, nobody wants this to escalate. How about I buy everyone a round, and we all move on with our lives?"
"I don't want a drink from you," Grabby Guy said. "I want an apology from her."
Mira laughed. "You want me to apologize for not letting you grope me? That's adorable."
"You're making this a bigger deal than it needs to be."
"And you're making this a smaller deal than it is."
One of the other guys, clearly the designated peacekeeper of the group, stepped forward. "Come on, man, let's just drop it. We've all had a few drinks."
But Grabby Guy was apparently the type who couldn't let things go. "No, I'm tired of girls thinking they can just hit people whenever they want. There are consequences for actions."
"Yeah," Mira said, standing up. "Like getting slapped when you grab someone without permission."
The guy next to Grabby stepped closer. "You need to watch your mouth."
And that's when Aariz knew they were past the point of talking their way out of this. He'd seen that look before - the kind of entitled aggression that came from guys who weren't used to being told no.
"We're leaving," Aariz said, standing as well. He pulled out his wallet and dropped some cash on the table. "For whatever she drank."
"You're not going anywhere until she apologizes."
Grabby Guy moved to block their path, and his friends spread out slightly. Not quite threatening, but not exactly friendly either.
"Move," Aariz said quietly.
"Make me."
Mira sighed. "Why do they always say that? It's like they want to get hit."
"Stay out of this," Grabby Guy said to her, then looked back at Aariz. "Your little girlfriend needs to learn some manners."
"She's not my girlfriend," Aariz replied. "She's my best friend. And she doesn't need to learn anything. You need to learn to keep your hands to yourself."
"Or what?"
The bar had gotten quieter around them. Not silent, but people were definitely paying attention now. Aariz could see the bartender reaching for something under the bar - probably a phone to call security or the cops.
"Or we take this outside and settle it like adults," Aariz said.
"You sure about that, pretty boy?"
Mira grabbed Aariz's arm. "This is stupid. Let's just leave."
"Can't leave if they won't let us leave."
Grabby Guy grinned. "Smart man. Outside it is."
The migration to the parking lot happened quickly. Word had spread, and a small crowd followed them out, everyone suddenly very interested in the entertainment. Someone's car stereo was playing music, giving the whole thing a weird party atmosphere.
"This is so dumb," Mira muttered, but she stayed close to Aariz as they walked outside.
"You started it."
"I finished it. There's a difference."
"You slapped him. I'm about to fight four guys. I'd say you started it."
"You're not fighting four guys. You're fighting one idiot while his friends watch and rethink their life choices."
She was right, of course. The other three were already looking less enthusiastic about the whole thing. Peacekeeper Guy was actively trying to talk Grabby out of it.
"This is getting out of hand," he was saying. "Let's just go to another bar."
"No way. This asshole thinks he can disrespect me."
"You disrespected yourself when you grabbed a stranger," Aariz said, shrugging off his jacket and handing it to Mira. "I'm just returning the favor."
The fight itself was pretty straightforward. Grabby Guy was bigger but slower, and probably drunk enough that his coordination was shot. Aariz had learned a long time ago that most bar fights were won by whoever stayed calm the longest.
It was over in about thirty seconds. Grabby Guy took a swing, missed, stumbled forward, and walked right into Aariz's punch. He went down hard and stayed there.
His friends helped him up, and Peacekeeper Guy looked genuinely apologetic. "Sorry, man. He gets weird when he drinks."
"Then maybe don't let him drink so much," Mira said helpfully.
They loaded Grabby Guy into an Uber, and the crowd dispersed, disappointed by how quickly it had ended.
"Well," Mira said, handing Aariz his jacket back. "That was fun."
"Your definition of fun is concerning."
"Says the guy who just punched someone in a parking lot."
"Says the girl who started it by slapping someone in a bar."
"He grabbed my ass!"
"I'm not arguing with you about it. I'm just saying, this is why we can't have nice things."
They walked back to his car, the adrenaline already fading. Mira seemed completely unfazed by the whole incident, already checking her phone and complaining about her battery being low.
"Your place or mine?" Aariz asked as they got in the car.
"Yours. I'm out of coffee, and you have that fancy machine."
"I have instant coffee. Same as you."
"Yeah, but yours doesn't taste like sadness."
The Porsche started with its usual purr, and they pulled out of the parking lot, leaving behind another typical Saturday night disaster.
"So," Mira said, settling into the passenger seat, "scale of one to ten, how stupid was that?"
"Eleven."
"Come on, it wasn't that bad."
"You slapped a stranger. I punched a stranger. We're probably on someone's social media by now."
"Yeah, but we looked good doing it."
Aariz glanced over at her. She was grinning, completely pleased with herself, already planning their next adventure. Her hair was slightly messed up, and there was a small stain on her shirt from whatever she'd been drinking, but she looked perfectly content.
"Next time," he said, "maybe try the verbal approach first."
"Where's the fun in that?"
"The fun is in not getting arrested."
"We didn't get arrested."
"Yet."
She laughed and turned up the radio, filling the car with music that was probably too loud for the residential streets they were driving through. But it was Saturday night, and they were both still running on adrenaline, and honestly, Aariz couldn't bring himself to care about noise ordinances.
This was just how things went with Mira. Quiet nights turned into adventures, simple plans became complicated stories, and somehow he always ended up in the middle of whatever chaos she'd managed to create.
And despite his complaints, despite the headaches and the stress and the occasional bar fight, he wouldn't have it any other way.