Letting out a sigh of unacknowledged defeat, Alice took a sip of the strong drink, which undeniably reminded her of the tall, intriguing stranger, wherever he was hiding. She tried to get a glimpse of him further down the club, but there was no chance to spot him.
“No worries, this one’s on me,” a voice spoke from the previously vacated place next to her.
Alice moved her head slowly, wondering if there was either a neon sign above her head pointing out that she was single, which she couldn’t see, or if the clique she had abandoned for her own psychological well-being, was trying to help out, making her one of their own again.
The man she was facing now was normal. There wasn’t really a better way to describe him.
He wasn’t incredibly handsome, but hadn’t been cursed with something scarring him either.
Yet, he looked somewhat familiar.
Without answering him, she looked around, not finding any sign that someone was setting her up, or watching the both of them. This night was becoming stranger and stranger by the minute, yet somehow, she liked it. It was something different, something unusual, anything but boring.
She probably would return to this place, soon.
“I should say thanks, then,” she raised her drink to him and took another sip, looking at him over the rim of her glass, while trying to place why he looked familiar.
Brown, short cut hair – though not as much as Private Creepy – and standing up straight, a muscular body, broad shoulders.
Everything screamed military.
Again.
“Older brother, trying to save the family honor?” Alice guessed, but her voice made it clear that she was pretty sure about her judgement.
The initial response was dry laughter and the man with the dark brown eyes suddenly felt the need to study the floor.
“Damn, you really are sharp-tongued,” he eventually answered and looked at her again.
“And I’m right.” Alice grinned widely, turning towards him and wrapped her free arm around her torso.
“You’ve got to admit that it’s easy for a keen eye,” Creepy Junior’s not so creepy older brother gave back.
She nodded in agreement.
“But why come back here and buy me a drink, when I’ve hurt your little brother’s feelings?” Alice tilted her head slightly. “Please, don’t tell me that you like challenges.” She took another sip of her sharp, but malty golden drink. “And please don’t tell me that you’re here for your brother, either,” she added.
“None of that,” he brought up both his hands in defense while holding a bottle of beer in one of them. “I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t offend you. It’s his first time back,” the soldier explained.
“He didn’t,” Alice shook her head. “I’m just not into younger guys, that’s all.” This time the only response she got was a frown.
“I’m not in my twenties anymore.” Alice sighed and felt the annoyance and frustration return.
Somehow she managed not to look over her shoulder and see what the clique was up to right now. She felt better with everyone thinking that she went clubbing on her own. The idea made her feel self-confident and powerful and drowned the emotions her confession had evoked in her. There was actually no reason to be ashamed about her age and not being a mother. She was fine with that.
“Really? Wow, I wouldn’t have guessed.” Soldier-boy attempted a compliment.
“You’re not alone,” Alice gave back, grinning.
“I’m Jeff.” He held out a hand, and she took it, noticing he was actually the first guy to actually give her his name.
“Alice.”
“Do you want to join us, maybe?” He asked with audible uncertainty in his voice, which put her off a little.
All her boyfriends had been nice guys, in a way, always sounding gentle, even if the meaning behind their words was disrespectful or belittling. Alice had a hard time recovering from these men. And right now, all she wanted was someone who said what they thought, and claimed what they wanted.
Jeff didn’t appear to be that kind of man, just like his little brother. Still, it would mean getting away from that invisible neon sign marking her as fair game, and maybe even make some new friends. She followed his index finger pointing at a group of people, mostly men, and a few with their obvious and not so obvious partner. However, the singles seemed to come out on top.
“Sure, why not?” Alice shrugged and emptied her glass. “Just let me get myself another drink. Need one, too?”
Jeff shook his head and wiggled his bottle.
“Thanks, I’m fine,” he stated.
Alice leaned onto the counter again, pushing further so she could get a good look down the bar. She was aware that she was presenting her buns like that, but she didn’t really care. Somehow she liked feeling the watchful eyes of the men around her. What was the harm?
“I’m…,” Jeff started and Alice smiled widely at him. “Yeah, I’ll follow you asap.”
The cute bartender was a long time coming, but eventually he came over to her.
“What can I get you?” He asked, leaning towards her, almost as if he wanted to whisper something into her ear.
It came as a surprise to Alice, but she still enjoyed the little rush that came with it. Plus, she needed that thrill to jump start her mind into ordering something to drink. She had no clue.
“Another one,” she smirked at him, and skidded the tumbler towards him across the countertop.
“Sure,” he smiled and turned away to get her a fresh glass, the strange vibe he had sent before, gone.
“He has a girlfriend, you know,” a female voice informed her, and for a split second Alice was pondering whether she was attracting the same sex now, too.
Slowly she brought her feet back on the ground and looked at the woman, who could be her age, other it was hard to tell. She hadn’t seen her before, but she looked almost like the other women who were speeding around and getting those people, who actually had hired private lounges, their drinks, such as the mommy clique.
Alice quickly checked on the women she had entered this place with and then brought her attention back to the quite beautiful woman. She was slightly smaller than her, but had long black locks and dark brown eyes.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Alice eventually said.
The beauty in front of her gave her a long look and then nodded briefly as if she was satisfied with what she saw, in an absolute rational way.
“You’ve been invited,” she simply stated as if it was nothing one should furrow their brows about. Still, this was exactly what Alice did. Unaffected by her expression the woman handed her over a plain black business card, which Alice took after a short moment of hesitation.
“Have fun,” the beautiful woman smiled whimsically, turned on her heel and merged with the crowd before Alice was able to say or ask anything. She gave the black card a closer look. On the side facing up and written in silvery letters were the words ‘Dark Alley’. She turned it around and what she read made her cock one brow in skepticism. It read ‘10 pm to 6 am, 8.5 Elm Street’ and nothing more.
Alice knew where to find Elm Street, just as sure as she knew that there were no half numbers, but she was intrigued despite being somewhat unsettled. When she looked up, the woman was nowhere to be seen and none of the people seemed to be paying her attention, for once.
What did this mean? What kind of invitation was this? And what was this ‘Dark Alley’? It seemed like the only way of finding out was actually going there, but she didn’t know if she was up to that.
The cute bartender returned with her scotch, but this time she barely looked at him when she paid for her drink. It seemed as if he wanted to tell her something when he saw the black card in her hand, but she already had started moving towards the spot Jeff had pointed out, while constantly turning the card in her hand.
This definitely was a night to remember.
Two
It was Sunday morning, the m
orning after. And as agreed, Alice was sitting at the kitchen table with her not-so-best-friend while having brunch, alone, as in just the three of them.
She couldn’t help but occasionally look at Bianca’s belly trying to see the first signs of pregnancy.
“I’m 15 weeks!” Bianca finally exclaimed, and Alice glued her eyes to the black coffee in her mug; two spoons of sugar.
“Look, I’m not mad at you for not staying the night at our place,” her best friend bravely faced the big pile of crap in the room, “I know what I told you. We weren’t expecting to get instantly pregnant after stopping the pill.”
“I didn’t know Matt was preggers, too,” Alice mumbled as a response and didn’t need to look up to know Bianca was rolling her eyes. “Yeah, I get that. Still, losing my best friend that fast was kinda hard to digest.”
“You’ve not lost me!” Bianca shouted.
“You’re more emotional than me nowadays,” Alice finally looked up at the cute brunette with large freckles.
“Yes,” her friend exhaled in defeat, realizing that she just had contradicted what she was trying to say. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, I’m happy for you,” Alice confessed. “I just had hoped that the two of us would be clubbing a few months more. So, when’s the wedding?”
Bianca’s face brightened up hearing the new topic, but her expression darkened just as quickly.
“Will you have a date?” She wanted to know, and now it was Alice’s turn to roll her eyes.
“Just because I stayed out late yesterday, doesn’t mean I found a new guy,” she huffed with annoyance. “I just made some new acquaintances.”
“That word doesn’t sound very promising.” Bianca frowned, failing terribly at hiding her disappointment.
“They were soldiers on leave.” Alice shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. “Not sophisticated minds, but sweet.”
“So, no boyfriend material,” Bianca mirrored her best friend with a taste of her own drink.
“Men can be more than just boyfriends, you know,” Alice scolded. “Jeff is a sweet guy.” She remenisced, staring into the distance as if the white wall behind Bianca was actually a screen showing her the rest of the night before. “He’s a peace keeper. I know if I need to get rid of a stalking boyfriend, he’s the one I can call. But...” she narrowed her eyes, bringing her gaze back to her coffee, “Not someone who really can challenge my mind, unfortunately.”
“Unfortunately,” Bianca repeated.
Alice was still thinking about the black business card, with nothing more than an address and a times printed on it. She wondered if she could tell her best friend. Somehow she knew that Bianca wouldn’t be any help.
Alice had been invited, but she had no idea by whom, and more importantly, for what? There had been no further information on that card. It didn’t say when exactly she was expected to be there. It was eerily mysterious, but that made it all the more exciting.
“Alice?” Bianca’s voice dragged her out of her world of thoughts. “Where are you?”
Still not entirely back in reality Alice, brought up her right hand, pinching her the bridge of her nose and shutting her eyes tight. Maybe Bianca would believe she had a huge hangover.
“I guess, I haven’t slept enough, or I’m not used to drinking scotch, or both,” Alice mused.
Listening to her own words, she had to think of the man she had named after said drink. She hadn’t seen him again after their short encounter. Not clearly, at least. For the rest of the night she had hoped to see him now and then among the crowd. Had he sent this strange invitation? Or had it been someone else? Was this a prank? She wouldn’t find out until she went to the mysterious address.
“Someone gave me a business card,” Alice said suddenly, and saw how Bianca became instantly attentive to her words.
Alice couldn’t help but wonder if it was just her best friend trying to find a way to make her a part of the mommy-club, but for now she ignored that thought.
“The only thing she said was you’ve been invited, and she gave me the card, with nothing more than an address and a times on it,” she continued. “It says ‘Dark Alley’ nothing more.”
“Did you know her?” Bianca asked curiously.
“No, never really seen her before,” Alice shrugged. “She did look like one of the employees, though, but that’s just an assumption.”
“Where’s the place?” Bianca inquired.
“Somewhere downtown.” Alice was being cryptic on purpose; she didn’t want her best friend to turn up there.
Somehow she had a feeling that it wasn’t the right place for Bianca, but for her it might be just the right spot. Something told her that she wanted to investigate, that this Dark Alley was just the place she wanted to be. Not knowing what this was all about, was truly exciting, something new, something challenging. Alice knew that if she went there, she would step over the thin line that always had held her back. Sitting there in Bianca’s kitchen, drinking a coffee that could be way stronger and less sweet, she knew that she was ready to take that step.
Now all she had to do was to get this day behind her and wait until it was 10 pm, so that she could get into that alley between 8 and 10 Elm Street. A good idea how to diminish her waiting time was getting some sleep.
Alice knew that if she wanted to be on high alert later, she needed to get her rest now. Somehow she felt like she had to make a good impression. It was just a feeling. There was no real reason why she thought this. Maybe it had something to do with how the card was given to her.
“That’s strange,” Bianca commented, and Alice could read from her expression that she would love to have a look at this business card.
“I left the card at home,” she explained with a shrug.
It wasn’t even a lie. She hadn’t really planned on telling her friend about the whole thing, she had just blurted it out because she was bored and annoyed about the whole morning’s every conversation had been about the baby and the wedding.
“Aren’t you the slightest bit suspicious?” Bianca asked, enfolding her mug with both of her hands. “I mean, you didn’t even know the woman who gave you the card. It could be for anything?”
“I’m not even sure that she’s even involved. It seemed to me as if she was nothing but a messenger, and some of the people I met yesterday are involved,” Alice told her best friend. “And that’s exciting rather than daunting.”
“You are serious?” Bianca did her best to keep her voice even, but yet again her expression spoke volumes.
“That’s why I want you to look out for me,” Alice responded on the spur of the moment. “When I go there tonight, I’m going to message you the address and if you don’t hear from me again, send the cops.”
“W… wait a minute.” Bianca waved her hands in agitation. “When?”
Alice frowned, tilting her head. The needle needed a moment to drop. “Oh, well. Let’s say... I’ll send you one five minutes later, when I’m inside and another one two hours after that. How does that sound?”
Bianca’s brows formed a straight line of skepticism, but that wouldn’t make Alice change her mind. Not now that she was starting to look forward to whatever this was.
“Hell, for all I know it could be a Tupperware party.” Alice laughed out loud, but her best friend wouldn’t join, so her laughter died quickly. She tried to come up with something that would ease Bianca’s mind.
“Do you really think someone sinister would hand out business cards through a third person like it was some kind of lottery ticket, just to kill people off?” Alice asked.
“What if it’s drugs? A commune? Human trafficking?” Bianca asked nervously.
“Fine, if you have a bad feeling, then call me, okay?” Alice leaned over the table and placed her hand on Bianca's own. Alice could still feel the tension in those slim fingers. “I know that the whole thing is strange, but at least I told you about it.”
“I should go with you,” Bianca stated, meekly
.
“But you weren’t invited,” Alice countered. “I have a feeling that they’re picky about that. Why else all the fuss?”
Her best friend gave her a long, reproachful glare, which she met without flinching. She knew Bianca was just worried, but after betraying Alice by getting pregnant just moments after having promised her that her fiancée and she were planning to wait, was something that softened the blow Bianca had intended to throw.
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” Bianca’s worried anger slowly faded.
“I will, like I said,” Alice squeezed her friend’s hand once again. “I’ll message you when I’m about to go in, once more when I’m inside, and one last time two hours after that. And if you have a strange feeling that’s stronger than your urge not to embarrass me, you’ll call, okay?”
“Okay,” Bianca agreed, and Alice’s had retreated.
They took both another sip of their coffee in silence. There wasn't much more to say after that, though Alice was aware of her best friend’s acceptance as their glances met. She couldn’t quite believe that she was actually going to do this.
♠ ♣ ♥ ♦
Having slept for another four hours, Alice managed to roll herself out of bed and get herself into the shower Neanderthal style. And now she was standing in front of her full-length bedroom mirror – just the same as she did 24 hours ago.
This time, however, she was way more nervous and excited. She didn’t really know what to expect in the alley between 8 and 10 Elm Street, but she secretly hoped it would be an adventure of the erotic kind. Nothing would fit better for the life she had played out for herself. A life without commitments to another person, who eventually would just bleed her out.
Alice did put her hair up into another slick, high ponytail again. This time she wore a black, light dress that fell just over her knees, and hid the thin straps that didn’t entirely cover the lace straps of her bra with a denim jacket. Her boots were fake aged leather that somehow gave harmony to the combo. She didn’t want to look like she was going out clubbing again, she also didn’t want to look like she was asking for it either.
Dark Alley: The Complete First Season (Dark Alley Seasons Book 1) Page 2