by H. T. Night
One night, we decided to go dancing. Yes, dancing. It was her idea. Anybody who knew anything about me knew that I didn’t dance. I felt awkward doing it and therefore, felt foolish. I was an MMA fighter and I never wanted to feel out of sorts with my body. Dancing was included on the short list that left me with that feeling.
Lena had heard of an alternative club in Riverside that catered to all. She wanted to go in a terrible way. She said she’d go with or without me. I couldn’t exactly allow my best friend’s girl to go to a nightclub alone. It seemed to me an acceptable place to go where I wouldn’t be self-conscious about my dancing moves.
We arrived at the club around 11:00 p.m. It took us about thirty minutes to make our way through the line outside. All the while, we were surrounded by a cacophony of music. When we reached the door, a burly, bald guy checked our identification cards and then strapped glow-in-the-dark plastic bracelets on each of us. Then he stepped aside and allowed us into the club. It was a happening place. The club was three stories, and that was absolutely insane to me.
When we entered the club, blaring techno music greeted us. A bar to the left took up most of the downstairs floor. There were some tables scattered on the right, along with an old-school jukebox and a dartboard on the back wall. Okay, now that was what I was talking about. I needed some liquid courage.
Lena and I made our way to the bar to talk to the bartender.
“What will you have?” asked a muscular bartender from behind the bar. He was wearing a skintight, see-through T-shirt which showed off his two tattooed sleeves going all the way up to his shoulders. It was a good look. With the nightclub’s clientele, I imagine, it must have helped him in the tip department.
I looked down at Lena. Even in her heels, she was much shorter than me. She was wearing a reasonably tight black dress that ended at her knees. She looked hot, but not trashy. “What’ll you have to drink?” I asked.
“Long Island Iced Tea—oof!” A short, blond man bumped Lena from behind, she stumbled forward and grabbed my arm to steady herself. Normally, I would have yelled at the jerk for bumping into her, but now that she was holding onto my arm tightly, I felt like giving the guy a big high-five for a job well done. Then a pang of guilt hit me and I began to regret the feelings I was having. Maybe, I should hit on another girl and completely stop thinking about my best friend’s girlfriend.
There was a blond at the end of the bar who had made eye contact with me a couple of times since I had walked up to the bar with Lena. She was older, but she was stacked in a low-cut red dress. She looked like she was a regular. The vibe I was picking up was that the stool she was sitting on was all hers. Hell, it might even have a nameplate underneath it with her name on it.
“I’ll have a double shot of Patron tequila and a Long Island Iced Tea.” I paused and looked at Lena and then to the older beauty sitting at the end of the bar. “And send a drink to the woman at the end of the bar. Whatever she is having.”
The bartender smiled at me and looked at Lena. “One woman isn’t enough for this guy, huh?” he joked.
“We’re friends,” Lena quipped. “He can order drinks for whoever he wants.” There was a tinge of jealousy in her voice. Clearly, she was fighting not to display it, knowing it was an inappropriate emotion.
It might have come out louder than she’d wanted. It was loud to be heard over the music and even on the bar floor full of patrons chattering away. I smiled at Lena, and she gave me a warm smile back. Was she jealous? If so, she was fighting hard not to show it.
I looked over at the blond woman in the corner wearing the slinky red dress. She smiled and motioned for me to join her. The bartender had brought her the drink and evidently told her who had bought it for her.
Our drinks were slid in front of us by our friendly bartender and I handed Lena’s to her. A napkin with a lime and a salt shaker sat beside mine. I ignored those and just pounded my double shot. I looked at the bartender and pointed at my empty shot glass. “Another one of these, please.”
“Sure thing, buddy.” The bartender poured me another double shot of Patron tequila. I downed that one as if it were water. The effects of that drink did not feel like water, however. I had a buzz coming and I was about to feel pretty good.
“One more,” I said to the bartender.
He looked at me and laughed. “Okay, pal. Yer funeral.” He poured me yet another double shot of Patron tequila and I downed that baby. I felt good.
“Getting the nerve to go talk to Grandma over there?” Lena joked.
“Huh? Oh, her?” I laughed. “No, this is how I normally drink. I like to take about six shots and then see how the night plays out. You drove, so I can count on you as my designated driver.”
“I didn’t sign up for that. I thought we came here to go dancing.” Lena glared at me.
“And do you think for one second, I could have the nerve to get on any dance floor while sober?” I laughed and looked over at the woman in the corner and she made eye contact with me. She raised her glass to me. I didn’t have one to raise, so I took Lena’s drink out of her hand and raised it to her.
“You better not drink it, you lush!” Lena said, in a half-mean tone.
I looked at Lena and she laughed. “Go on. You bought her the drink. You didn’t think this would happen?”
“Why would I think this would happen?” I asked.
“Just go.” Lena took her drink from me and found a small table where nobody was sitting. Oh, boy, she would be prime pickings in that spot for all the trolls who came here for what was some easy action. Little did they know, her heart belonged to someone else. And that was what I needed to keep reminding myself. I turned and walked over to the woman and sat on the stool next to her.
“Hey, handsome. You’re a little young to buy such an old lady a drink.” She smiled at me and she was clearly beautiful. Older by fifteen years, and gorgeous from head to toe. Okay, maybe I was pretty drunk already.
“You’re not that old and I’m not that young.” I leaned in, picked up her drink and sniffed it. “What is this?” I asked.
“It’s a little something the bartender whips up for me.”
“Tomato juice?” I asked, seeing as the drink was red.
“And other fine liquids,” she grinned.
“Nice.” I turned my body so I could see the woman and also keep an eye on Lena at her little table.
“Is that your girl?” the woman asked.
“Nope.”
“You seem pretty preoccupied with her. Is she related to you?”
“Nope.” I looked at the woman. She was nearing forty, and had a sexuality about her that was enticing. Her blond hair was immaculately done and with not a gray hair to be seen. She had to work out five to six days a week to maintain a body that was as toned and fit as hers.
I motioned to the bartender that I wanted another double shot for myself. The lady had barely touched the one I’d bought her, but she struck me as someone who would make sure she would eventually see the bottom of the glass.
“So, are you trying to make her jealous?”
I laughed. “No.”
“You sure?” The woman now stepped down off of her stool and pressed her body up against mine. My drink came.
“I’ll pay for that,” she said to me. “Put it on my tab, Rob,” she said to our heavily tattooed bartender.
“Sure thing, Rosie,” he said.
Rosie was shorter than me, and with her body pressed up against mine, my lower regions couldn’t help but react to her. There was no way she didn’t know I was pleased by her actions.
“Oh, my,” she said, looking down at my obvious happiness. “Drink up.”
I downed what was now my seventh and eighth shots of tequila.
Rosie sipped her drink and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go dancing.”
Before I could say anything, Rosie was hauling me past Lena’s table and up the side stairs. The stairs led to the second level of this gigantic club.
We reached the top of the stairs and there was a vast dance floor overflowing with hot sweaty bodies grinding to the music. Rotating lights and more peppy alternative music was being played with a dash of rave. To the right were rooms that were completely separate from the dance floor and playing different types of music. Every time someone went in or out of those doors, the music briefly filled this room. To the back was another set of stairs leading upward. Rosie dragged my ass to those stairs. She apparently didn’t like this floor. Then we marched ourselves up to the third floor.
On the third floor, there was a more jazzy feel. The music was less thumping, but again, there were separate rooms playing different music than what was playing on the main floor.
She once again dragged my ass to the back of the dance floor. This time, she took me into a side room where they were playing slower romantic songs.
Inside this room were a series of bean bag chairs tossed along the back wall. There were couples sitting on them kissing and others just talking with friends. I had a feeling that was where she was taking me.
To the far left, there were empty bean bag chairs. So, she just hopped on one of them. Her dress flipped up and I had a brief glimpse of lacy orange panties.
“Lie next to me... uh… I don’t think I ever learned your name.” She laughed, realizing she had never asked me my name.
“Tommy,” I said.
I was pretty drunk by this point. Eight shots made Tommy a very happy boy.
I lay down with her on a large white bean bag. Our bodies were pressed up against each other. She looked at me and tilted her head toward mine and gave me a sloppy wet kiss. She tasted like strawberries. That was all I needed. For the next five minutes, I proceeded to make out with this woman who I had met only minutes before.
During our makeout session, my body had shifted to lay more on top of her, mainly so I could hide my growing excitement from the room. Suddenly, I felt a slap on my back so hard I thought a bouncer had done it.
Were we breaking some kind of rule by making out so intensely?
I turned around and it wasn’t a bouncer. It was Lena, and she looked pissed.
“You’re a piece of work, Tommy. We’re not even here ten minutes and you are up here with some... some…” Lena looked at Rosie and said, “I don’t know who you are, but your actions tonight can only be those of a floozy.”
Rosie stood up and adjusted her dress. She thought better than to respond to Lena. She turned to me and gave me a passionate sloppy kiss. Then she picked up the shoes that she had taken off and walked away with a sexy swish.
Lena looked at me like she was a disappointed parent.
“Stop looking at me like that. I have every right to meet who I want and be with who I want. I don’t need my best friend’s girlfriend cock-blocking me.”
“I thought you wanted to do something together as friends.” Lena looked very hurt. “I would be just as pissed if Yari invited me dancing and two minutes later, she was hooking up with some guy she met. So, spare me your cock-blocking routine.”
I smiled at Lena and put on my shoes. “You want to know the truth?”
She looked at me, puzzled. “What truth?”
“The truth as to why I was up here with that woman.”
“I think I can figure it out. You’re a guy and you have hormones and you need to release them.”
“It’s nothing like that. Well, maybe the hormones’ part. Let’s get out of here. I can’t dance and I have pretty much shit all over this evening.”
“I didn’t even finish my drink.”
“All right. Let’s go back to the bar and talk. Maybe no one has taken your table.”
Chapter Twenty
Luckily, no one had sat at Lena’s table because she had left her keys by accident. We were very lucky that no one decided to snag her keys and take off to the parking lot to see which car was hers by pressing the alarm button.
We decided to sit at the table and gather ourselves before we left. Lena grabbed her drink and downed it. It dawned on me that someone could have put something in her drink while she’d left to go find me.
“Lena,” I said. “How do you feel?” I was worried.
“What do you mean?” she asked with a confused look on her face.
“Do you feel dizzy and disoriented?” Her drink had sat there for a while. Anyone could have slipped a roofie into it at any time.
“Sorry, Tommy, it’s going to take more than one drink to get me drunk,” Lena joked. “My tolerance skyrocketed the moment I was turned. I can drink most sailors under the table these days.”
“That’s not what I was referring to.” I grabbed Lena’s hand from across the table. “You left your drink unattended for a while and anyone could have put something in it.”
Lena’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Holy shit! Do you think?”
I couldn’t tell if she was messing with me. So, I pressed my point. “Some men that come to these places are horrible creatures. They are savages looking for prey. And those are just the humans.”
Lena now looked worried. “Please don’t leave me, Tommy. No matter what happens until you drive us home, do not leave me for any reason.”
“Then, let’s leave,” I said. “Does us no good to sit around to see if the effects hit you in the den of the ill intentions.”
I took Lena by the hand and we exited the club. We walked over to Lena’s car and I took the keys from her hand.
“Hold on,” Lena said. “So far, I feel nothing from the drink. On the other hand, you were slamming down tequilas to get the nerve to stick your tongue in that old woman’s mouth. Your alcohol level must be ten times higher than mine.”
“You want to risk driving after figuring out you just might have been drugged?” I asked. I was sober enough not to let someone who might have been drugged to take the wheel.
“How long does it take for one of those pills to affect you?”
“I have no clue,” I said. “Never even seen the drug.”
“It’s been ten minutes since I drank my drink. I would imagine I would at least feel nausea at this point. I’m certain my drink was clean. I’m driving you. There are cops all over the place. We don’t need to add a DUI to your life.”
I grabbed Lena’s shoulders and looked down into her eyes. At first, I was trying to see if she was loaded on something. But I quickly realized she wasn’t, at least, not yet. I continued to look down into her eyes. She was so beautiful. My heart hadn’t felt this type of emotion since Maya. I turned my head away.
“What’s wrong, Tommy?” Lena asked, concerned.
“You seem okay,” I said. “I’m going to let you drive, but the moment you feel anything, you pull over the car and we will switch places. I don’t care if we’re on the freeway. Pull over to the side.”
We entered the vehicle and locked the doors. Lena took a deep breath and gauged her senses to see if she was okay. She smiled at me confidently and turned the key in the ignition.
We were thirty minutes from my house. Lena made her way to the 215 Freeway and hopped on. I kept looking at her to make sure she wouldn’t pass out on me.
“How do you feel?” I asked, five minutes after we had turned onto the freeway.
“I feel great, Tommy. No one put anything in my drink. I would definitely feel it by now.”
She was right. I looked down at my phone and it was midnight. We were planning on staying out till two or three tonight. “It’s still early,” I said. “Do you want to do something else?”
Lena looked at me side-eyed and I could tell she was not feeling it. “I’m going to call it a night on my end. But, you are free to do whatever you want tonight. We’re not obligated to one another.”
Not obligated to one another?
I didn’t know why Lena’s statement hurt so badly. Did it hurt because I missed Maya and missed having someone wonderful obligated to me? Or, did I want Lena to be obligated to me? I was afraid it was a little of both.
Fo
r the first time, I said inside my head, ‘I want you, Lena.’
Holy shit! I was breaking every bro code from here to eternity. As long as I never acted on what I was feeling at this moment, I should be okay. This, too, would pass.
“No,” I said to Lena. “We can go home and just hit the hay.”
“We don’t have to do that,” she said. “I DVR’ed a Quentin Tarantino biography. I can make some coffee and popcorn to sober you up.”
Lena turned her vehicle into the driveway of the home that Josiah shared with me. But Josiah wasn’t here. That was starting to cause some serious emotional problems within me.
I knew I would never act on my feelings for Lena. And from the looks of it, Lena seemed to have no interest in me at all.
So far, so good.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lena and I both fell asleep on the couch while watching the Tarantino documentary. We were each on our respective sides. We each had a comforter and were snoozing. We had tried watching the documentary, but before I knew it, I was out for the count.
It was 4:30 a.m., and I heard a loud pounding. I woke up and jumped to my feet. I fell into a defensive stance, ready to fight, until I realized where the noise was coming from. It was the door. Someone was pounding on the door.
I made my way over to the front door and looked through the peephole. Yari stood there fidgeting uncomfortably. It was pre-dawn and there was plenty of time before the sun rose, but there was a look of pure panic on Yari’s face. I opened the door and she walked inside as if she owned the place.
She stepped into the living room and saw Lena. Yari glared at me and whispered, “What the hell is she doing here?”
“It’s not what it looks like. She came over and we watched a movie. It was late and she fell asleep on the couch.” I didn’t have to tell Yari that Lena had been here for the last couple of weeks. It wasn’t her business.
“Where did you fall you asleep?” Yari asked with one of her winged eyebrows raised.
“On the opposite side of the couch.”
Yari smiled. “Look, Tommy, you know I am not the jealous type, but I have to say this. You do realize that Josiah would probably lose his mind if he realized the two of you were here camping out and playing house.”