Jealousy, Jealousy

2003, Los Angeles

Mike constantly invites his girlfriend to after-show parties. Of course, he has never gone alone since he asked her out a year ago, and she has always known that he likes to attend parties, so she would never refuse his invitations. Only guests are allowed to enter this type of venue, and of course, the members of Linkin Park are always guests of honor.

Knowing that he always frequented that kind of place put Celina on alert, despite everything. Not with him, but with the rest of the people surrounding him. Of course, it was a place full of women, mostly groupies, trying to get a piece of the guy for hours on end. And she knew very well that he had taken advantage of that before they started dating. Mike didn't make a point of hiding his past; it's part of him being extremely honest, and he's terrible at lying.

But even with his honesty, that never made her feel any better. Every time they go to those places, even holding hands, even dancing together, and even kissing, women continue to come up and flirt with him. Sometimes even in front of Celi.

And today would be no different. The two were at a party after a festival the band had participated in. It was a complete success, and everyone was still very excited. She doubted the party would end before sunrise. Meanwhile, Mike had his hand on her waist the whole time. He kissed her cheeks, jaw, and lips when he wasn't talking to his mates, and he wouldn't leave her side at all.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she whispered in his ear and he nodded, approaching her.

"Want company?"

"No, don't worry," she smiled and pulled him in for a quick kiss before turning and walking through the party. He was talking to some friends and the last thing she wanted to do was ruin her boyfriend's night.

Nothing much happened in the bathroom. She did what she intended to do, washed her hands, retouched her makeup, and looked at herself one last time before leaving to meet Mike.

It seemed like a simple task. Celina just walked to where she had been before.

But of course he wasn't there anymore. Damn. She started looking everywhere and it made her a little desperate, but she decided to walk around until she could see her boyfriend's face in the crowd again. Mike probably didn't even notice when he walked away; he was with his buddies talking about a new project that was coming up for Fort Minor, and that always made him space out. It never bothered her, after all, it was his dream.

"Need some help?" a male voice, but an unfamiliar one, whispered in her ear, and she quickly turned away to look.

The man in front of her wasn't ugly, far from it. He wore a cap, earrings, and had a goatee... Well, it was the style of men nowadays. Nothing new.

"You are..." she recognized him quickly, of course.

"Fred," he said with a smile.

Fred Durst, of course he would be there. Limp Bizkit had also been at the festival earlier, and she had watched their show with Mike backstage.

"It's a pleasure!" she smiled and held out her hand so they could shake, but his first reaction was to kiss her fingers while staring at her. "A-ah..." she looked at him nervously, slowly withdrawing her hand from his grip.

"You seem a little lost..." he stared at her, waiting for her to say her name.

"Celina," she introduced herself.

"Celina... Beautiful name. Need some help?"

"Yes, I... I was looking for Mike, here." She looked around again, still worried about being alone.