by Lisa Ladew
Charlene motioned to the back wall. “And what about those?”
“Something new the club is trying. Semi-private rooms. There is a private apartment upstairs for members, too.”
Charlene tried not to look surprised. “For…?”
Kerry nodded smugly. “Yes, for sex. And experimentation. I heard they have whips and chains and even a spanking bench up there.”
Charlene shivered, and she could not tell if it was in fear, antipathy, or excitement. Across the room, approximately 20 feet away, a man caught her eye. He was tall, as tall as Relic, but seemed broader through the chest and arms. He was dressed well, in a dark-blue, pinstripe suit. The mask he wore covered the entire right side of his face and both eyes, plus a good portion of his left cheek. He held his right hand behind his back, but in his left was a bottle of beer.
Charlene didn’t need to see the label to know it was a bottle of Corona. Her heart hurt and she tried to brush it away. Relic’s favorite beer.
She snuck tiny glances at the man, hoping he wouldn’t catch her. She just knew he was handsome under that mask, and she loved his hair cut. A high and tight, just like Relic wore.
Before she could even berate herself for thinking of Relic constantly, the man caught her eye, smiled and started towards her.
Charlene watched him come, scared, nervous, and thrilled. Maybe she could do it. Maybe she could get over Relic. Or at least stop thinking about him every waking moment.
Kerry bumped into her, making her stumble, then pulled her around towards the door, shrieking excitedly. “Look, it’s Ray and Danny! They made it and they got inside!”
Charlene pulled her hand out of her sister’s grasp and turned back to the man approaching her.
He was gone.
Chapter 5
Charlene downed the rest of her drink and watched her sister on the dance floor with Ray. To her left, Susan was giggling and touching the arm of a nice-looking man with olive-toned skin and dark hair next to her at the bar.
Charlene giggled at nothing and sought Danny’s attention again. He smiled at her and Charlene thought something was off about the smile but she couldn’t seem to care what it was. She had a story to tell him. “He wrote me every day, if he could, but he was in rough territory sometimes— secret missions, you know.”
She giggled again, then felt drunk tears threaten. No, back to giggling. “Sometimes he couldn’t but I didn’t care. I was grateful for every word. He was the one who gave me the courage to leave Wayne.” She laughed again, the laughter rising up from deep inside her. She pushed Danny’s shoulder. “You don’t know Wayne, do you? He’s my ex-husband. He was not a nice guy.” She leaned forward and fell onto Danny, and he caught her and placed her back on her feet.
He looked out at the crowd on the dance floor and seemed like maybe he wanted to head out there. Charlene grabbed his arm. “Oh no, there’s so much more to the story. You have to hear it. The last letter I got was schlong ago, I mean so long ago. Over a year. I don’t know where he is. The Army won’t tell me anything about him. He’s got two brothers in Westwood Harbor,” she squeezed Danny’s arm again and almost tripped even though she was standing still. Danny held up his hands to catch her again but she caught herself and held up a finger to let him know she was good. “Westwood Harbor. That’s in California. Where we live.” She giggled. “You know that.” She caught Danny’s face in her hands and stared into his eyes. “One of them wouldn’t even talk to me. He slammed the door my face. I don’t know why! The other one said he hadn’t talked to Relic in years and didn’t know where he was. He has two more brothers but they are both in the Army too. One in Germany and the other in Afghanistan. The Army won’t tell me where they are either.” She pouted. “Damn rules.”
Danny took a step backwards and Charlene grabbed for him again. “Kerry told me a long time ago I should’ve hired a private detective, and I did and he didn’t find anything except he assured me that Relic wasn’t dead. Several soldiers from his unit had died around the time he stopped writing to me, but not him. I had him check with a few army hospitals, but the going was very slow, and I just,” Charlene looked at the floor and it made her feel like puking so she looked back up quickly. “I don’t know. I gave up, I guess.”
Danny pointed to the dance floor. “You want to dance?”
Charlene shook her head. “No.”
Danny pulled away from her. “I’m going to.” He practically ran to the dance floor, right up to Kerry and Ray and began to dance with them. Kerry loved it, pulling him forward to grind on her even as she grinded on Ray.
Charlene watched them, wishing she could be more like her sister.
***
A half hour later, Charlene was still tipsy, but feeling less woozy, and a bit more in control. Kerry walked up, looking like she’d just rolled out of bed, her hair crazy.
“Where’s Ray?” Charlene asked.
“He and Danny went to the bathroom. They’ll be right back.” Kerry sighed. “I could marry that man.”
Charlene startled. “Who? Ray? I thought you were never going to get married?”
“I’m not. But if I did I could marry Raymond. I mean, a man who will let you suck off his best friend in front of him is pretty mellow, right? It’s got to extend to other areas.”
Charlene’s eyes widened and she dropped her voice. “Kerry, you didn’t.”
Kerry smiled and clasped her hands in front of her. “I’ll never say.”
Charlene couldn’t tell if Kerry had been joking or not. Kerry always talked about how she wanted to try a threesome, and maybe the environment had provided her with the motivation to finally do it? Or maybe she was just trying to get Charlene riled up. Charlene had enough presence of mind to try to stay calm. She eyed Kerry’s hairdo with distaste. She could just imagine Danny, or maybe Ray’s hand there, on the crown of her head, forcing her mouth farther down─
Charlene looked around for Susan, wanting to see if she had caught the conversation.
Kerry grabbed her arm. “Come on, I got a private room.”
“How?”
Kerry ignored her and grabbed Susan who latched onto the man she was talking to and pulled him with. They walked across the club, through the throngs of people, to one of the partitions in the back. A gauzy fabric served as a door.
Kerry pushed inside and directed them all to the comfortable chairs along the back wall. She stood near the door. “When the boys get here, tell them we’re going to play a game.” Before anyone could answer, she disappeared.
Charlene sat on the couch and tried to make the room stop spinning. As long as she breathed deeply, she was successful. A waitress in a skimpy bikini and a mask entered the room with drinks for all of them and what looked to be an empty bottle. She put everything down on a table and left. Charlene did not touch her drink but Susan and the guy she was with both grabbed theirs.
After a few moments, Kerry came back, a man on her arm. Charlene felt irritation rise in her when she saw it was Mr. tall, blonde, and mysterious with the almost full-face mask. Probably the only man in the club she herself might be interested in, and Kerry had gotten to him first.
Kerry stared at her, as if daring her to say anything. Charlene looked away.
Ray and Danny pushed in the door. “Cool,” Ray said and sat in the chair next to Charlene, not seeming to care that Kerry had ahold of another man.
Kerry looked around the room. “Okay, perfect. Now we’re even.”
Charlene didn’t think so, if she meant an even number of men and women. Three women and four men was not even, unless Kerry was counting two for herself.
“Everybody, this is Ronald,” Kerry announced. In a loud stage whisper, she said, “that’s his Mardi Gras name, not his real one. Were all using Mardi Gras names now.” She pointed at Charlene. “You are Chantel,” then she went around the room. “You are Selena, you are Damien, you are Raymundo, I am Caitlin, and you,” she said pointing to Susan’s guy. “I don’t know you.”
“I’m Andre,” he said, rolling his R deeply.
Kerry gave him a look. “Is that your real name or your Mardi Gras name?”
“Mardi Gras,” he said winking.
Kerry giggled. “I like him,” she told Susan.
“Yeah, well he’s mine, so back off, bitch.”
Kerry laughed merrily. “I knew you would have a good time, Selena, now we just need to work on Chantel.” She clapped and stood in the center of the room. “Okay everyone. Get in a big circle on the floor. This game is called Forty-Seven Minutes in Heaven.”
Charlene rolled her eyes. “High school games?”
Kerry glared at her. “Chantel, maybe you should put on your Mardi Gras personality. High school was fun. Besides, it’s either this or Naked Twister.”
Charlene saw that Ronald was watching her and she averted her eyes and quickly scrambled down to the floor, trying to keep her dress in place. Anything had to be better than Naked Twister. The rest of them knelt also and Charlene could clearly see that Kerry didn’t have any underwear on. She looked away quickly, not wanting to see that again.
Her eyes found Ronald and he smiled at her. Her heart stopped for a beat. His smile was gorgeous, but maybe distorted slightly on the right side?. His blue eyes glittered out of his mask but the right one looked different than the left in some fundamental way she couldn’t pin down with the mask in place. In some way, he reminded her of Relic. She clamped the lid on that feeling, even as she felt like she had been punched in the gut.
Kerry leaned over and whispered something in Ray’s ear and then leaned to the other side of her and whispered to Danny, then she addressed the group. “As I was saying, Ronald is a member here and he gets use of the room upstairs. He says we can all use it if we want. I say we do, for forty-seven minutes each, paired off boy-girl, boy-girl, or maybe even boy-girl-boy. She winked at Ray. “Nobody has to do anything they don’t want to, but it will be nice to get away from the music for a bit, and supposedly there is a kitchen up there with food and everything. So we are spinning the bottle to see who goes first.” She stared at Susan. “Agreed, Selena?”
Susan’s eyes narrowed, but Charlene could tell she was having fun and she wasn’t really mad at Kerry. This was a game they played often.
“Maybe, whore,” Susan said, smiling, but with narrowed eyes.
Kerry laughed. “Hey, people can pass if they want. Maybe you will get lucky and Andre won’t be enticed by anyone but you. Come on, where is your sense of adventure? Are you in?” Susan nodded and Kerry went around the circle checking with everyone. She saved Charlene till last. “Are you in, Chantel?”
Charlene nodded too.
“Good, then you’re first.”
Charlene leaned forward, knowing she was giving the men quite the show, but also knowing hers were probably the least interesting boobs in the club. Why would anyone even look? She spun the bottle and held her breath when it landed on Andre.
“Pass,” Andre said, reaching out to take Susan’s hand.
Kerry clapped. “Next person to your right then! Ronald and Chantel, we’ll see you in forty-seven minutes!”
Charlene stared straight ahead as her cheeks flooded with heat. Kerry had set her up as neatly and easily as she always did.
And for once, she didn’t mind.
Chapter 6
Charlene walked down the long hallway of the upper floor of the club, feeling the beat of the music downstairs through her high heels. Ronald walked in front of her and she took the opportunity to watch his ass. She wondered what he looked like under that suit. She bet he looked amazing, with a body to rival even that of Relic’s. Argh. She grimaced and hit herself on the forehead with the heel of her hand, wishing she could stop thinking of him just for a few moments.
Ronald turned to look at her inquisitively. She smiled and dropped her hand to her side. She still hadn’t even heard the man speak, and she was going into a private room with him at a sex club? Her heart beat like mad, but her body tingled in anticipation at the same time. She wanted to be there, and he struck her as a good man, even though she knew nothing about him. She hadn’t felt excitement like what was tingling through her at that moment since Relic had come home on leave for two too-short weeks, more than a year before. She missed feeling like that so badly. She craved excitement, closeness, a man’s body next to hers.
Ronald stopped at the door at the end of the hall and pulled a key card out of his pocket, swiping it to open the door. He pushed the door all the way open and quickly turned on a light. As she stepped over the threshold, she saw him wrestle with a large vase, moving it in front of the door to block it open.
She looked around at the large suite with a small kitchen on one end and the glass shower on the other. The back wall was lined with armoires and chests and the other side of the room with a couch and chairs. Everything was pointed at the massive bed that took up most of the space. Charlene half-expected to see restraints on the four posts that rose above the bed to curve in and meet at the center.
It was huge. Big enough to hold several people and Charlene had to wonder if it ever did. As she approached it, she saw there were indeed leather straps with buckles at the head of the bed. She swallowed hard and looked around for the rumored spanking bench, but didn’t see it, not that she knew what one looked like.
Ronald finished propping open the door and turned to look at her. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. You don’t know me, but I promise I’m not a bad guy.” His voice was raspy, thick and deep, delicious in its own way but she could tell it wasn’t natural. Something about it told a story of some sort of damage.
She smiled at him. “I can tell.”
He smiled back and walked to the refrigerator, opening it and rummaging around inside. Charlene watched him, again struck by the thought that maybe she could get over Relic after all. She froze and clutched her fingers into her palms anxiously. She couldn’t believe she was thinking that. She didn’t even know if he was alive or dead. Panic filled her.
Ronald turned to her. “Would you like a drink? Or some strawberries?”
His voice soothed her and she walked to one of the high-backed chairs to sit down. “Yes.”
He laughed. “Both then? You were drinking long island iced tea?”
Charlene nodded.
Ronald opened the cabinets for glasses and silverware like he knew where everything was and began to mix the drink. He made one for her quickly. She noticed that the ingredients for a long island iced tea were all sitting in a row on the counter, like someone had known she would be there. Her brow furrowed.
He brought the drink to her, holding it in his left hand, but for once his right hand was not hidden behind his back. She noticed the scars on his wrist first and then saw that his thumb and pointer finger were gone. She gasped.
“Sorry,” he mumbled and shoved his hand in his pocket, looking away.
Charlene felt horrible. “No, I’m sorry. I feel embarrassed at my reaction, but I didn’t realize you were missing two fingers.” She froze and tried again, grateful that some of the alcohol had worn off and she was able to choose her words. She stared at him hard. “That didn’t sound right. I guess I gasped because any accident that caused that much damage must’ve been awful.”
She couldn’t help examining him more. She saw scars more scars on the right side of his neck, but none on the left.
“It was,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, but he brought the hand back out of his pocket.
“So,” Charlene said, trying to cover the awkwardness of the moment. “What do you do?”
“I work here.”
“Here at the club?”
He nodded and Charlene thought she saw pain in his eyes. She wondered if he even wanted to be up there with her. She smiled gently at him. “Sorry about my sister. She’s pushy.” He smiled at that and Charlene thought it turned him from intriguing to gorgeous, even though she could see so little of his face around the mask.
“I imagine it can be a blessing and a curse, to have a sister like that.”
“Exactly,” she said smiling, feeling like he knew somehow, like maybe he had a sister or a friend like that, too.
On that feeling, she made a decision. She would not leave New York regretting anything, especially this. She was going to take a chance, see where it lead. She ate a strawberry, took a drink, and put both down on the counter. She stood and looked at the huge bed, decided that was too much, and headed for the couch. She sat in the middle of the couch, first tugging her dress down, then crossing her legs at the ankle and smiling at him.
She patted the seat next to her, and held her breath to see what he would do, if he liked her or not. She felt something between them, and she refused to pretend it wasn’t there.
Ronald smiled slowly as he watched her. The heat in the room increased 20° in an instant. She felt her breathing thicken as if the air itself became heated. Instead of crossing the room, he picked up a remote off the counter and pressed the buttons on it. The lights dropped, and music started. Something soft and instrumental. Ronald pressed the button several times until the music settled on a song he was happy with. Earned it, by The Weeknd.
Chills shot up and down her spine. She loved The Weeknd. Earned it had become her favorite since Relic had disappeared. She would listen to it and cry, imagining him singing it to her. She had no idea if he could sing, or even dance, and suddenly the thought of that was unbearable to her.
Charlene bit her lip and pushed Relic out of her mind. She focused on the man in front of her. He walked to her, blue eyes sultry, honing in on her, passion shining out of them.
He offered her his hand, his right. She took it without hesitation, noting the doubt on his face, even as she twined her five fingers with his three. He pulled her up against his body slowly, deliberately. They fit together beautifully, as if they were made for each other. They danced to the melody slowly, his body pressed against hers.
Some unidentifiable emotion overtook her. It felt good, right. He turned her slowly around the room, one hand on her hip, the remaining fingers on his right hand wrapped around hers. She stared into his eyes and smiled, then ran her thumb over the scars where his thumb and finger used to be. He shuddered, his whole body jerking, as his eyes drifted close.