Dana was taken aback by the home’s beauty. The vaulted wooden ceilings gave it a warm and homey feel, but the exquisite décor let Dana know that she wasn’t in just any home. The contrast between this home and Alexander’s slate gray, glass mansion – the only other home of equal glamour she had seen - was jarring.
William led the way through the great room, then the enormous kitchen, where a catering staff was bustling about, preparing large trays of hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. As they got closer to the back patio, Dana could hear the muffled sounds of people chattering and laughing.
William opened the door for her. Dana stepped onto the patio to the sight of several dozen sophisticated, attractive people sipping drinks and having a good time. Dana noticed that they were all dressed comparatively glamorously. She wondered if there was any such thing as casual apparel in the world of the rich, and wondered why she had thought a cotton polka-dot dress would be anything other than woefully out of place amid the one-shouldered mini dresses and Swarovski-bedazzled tank tops that most of the girls at the party were wearing.
Dana noticed several scantily clad women weaving through the crowd with serving platters. They wore ornately beaded fringe headbands, pin-thin stilettos, fishnet stockings, and skimpy satin boy shorts that left little to the imagination. Ever more revealing were the tasseled pasties each girl wore over her nipples. Their breasts bounced freely as they pranced around precariously, offering cocktails to party patrons who thanked them with an appreciative look-over. They matched the velvet shaded lamps, fringed tablecloths, and plush chaise-style couches that adorned the patio.
William noticed Dana staring at the women. “This is partly what I was talking about,” he whispered in her ear.
Dana smirked and nodded. “I like it!” she said sincerely. She felt her skin prickle. The presence of the beautiful women had heightened her senses. “What a lively scene.”
“We’re early. It’s only going to get more interesting.”
Dana continued to survey the scene. This was easily the wildest party she had ever been to, merely by virtue of the nearly-naked servers. One of them approached her with a tray of whiskey sours. Dana helped herself to one. She could feel William behind her.
“One last thing – don’t go to the west wing of the house if you get freaked out easily,” he whispered discreetly in her ear.
“Why?” Dana asked, in disbelief that her profession had indirectly led her to this moment, standing and schmoozing in a house large enough to have distinct wings. “What’s back there?”
“You’ll just have to see for yourself,” William replied, keeping his voice down.
Dana’s face puckered at the strength of her drink. I’d better watch myself with these; otherwise I’ll be comatose on the couch in an hour. She suddenly understood what the party could look like in a couple of hours.
William cleared his throat. “I see some friends of mine standing in the corner. You should come meet them.”
Dana obliged and followed William to the corner of the yard, where a group of well-dressed women and men were standing and laughing by a poolside waterfall.
William approached them and they all fawned over him as he greeted them one by one. He introduced them to Dana as childhood friends.
“We were in the same graduating class at Harvard-Westlake. Darren and I were on varsity crew together,” he said, pointing to a tall, lean man with broad shoulders.
“It’s nice to meet you all.”
They had barely begun to chitchat with William’s high school friends when a middle-aged man in a white blazer clasped William’s shoulder with a firm hand. William turned around and, upon recognizing him, gave the man a genteel hug.
“Chris! Nice to see you.”
“Likewise, William. Glad you could make it.” He seemed to ignore Dana.
William noticed Chris’ snub and introduced Dana as his guest.
“Chris, this is Dana Jacobs.”
“I’m so sorry,” Chris replied. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Dana is the new assistant staff photographer at SoCal Style. She’s the one who photographed us.”
Chris’ eyes widened as he gave Dana a once-over. “Oh, really? Wow. Seeing your work inspired me to get in touch with these guys. You did a great job on that shoot.”
“Thank you,” Dana replied politely.
Mr. Stone laughed uncomfortably. “It seems that you have come to the right party. Perhaps I’ll introduce you to some friends of mine later.” He sounded apologetic. “Make yourself at home. Have a look around if you’d like.”
William became engrossed in some small talk with Chris. Dana took the chance to stray away for a moment and take in the rest of the house. After deciding that she wasn’t ready to take on the west wing, she sauntered over to the east wing, drink in hand. There, she discovered the master suite. She enjoyed visualizing herself occupying the room: using the enormous closet to organize her oversized shoe collection, soaking in the Jacuzzi after a long day of shooting, sprawling out in the king size bed.
As she made her way back into the kitchen, she was greeted by Mr. Stone.
“Dana, how would you like to meet some of my colleagues?”
“I’d love to,” Dana said, sensing the guilt he still felt for snubbing her.
Chris ushered her out of the kitchen, past the busy caterers, and to a small table at the edge of the swimming pool. He accepted a martini from one of the servers before he sat down, handing Dana one as he did.
“Do you like Martinis?” he asked.
Dana nodded. “These drinks are so strong! I don’t know if I should.”
“Nonsense,” he replied. “You’ll probably be way better off later on than most of the lushes here.” He gave her a cheesy wink.
Mr. Stone moved closer to the table and got everyone’s attention. Dana noticed a familiar face among the group: Bela, the model she had enjoyed shooting earlier that week. She seemed to be enjoying herself, laughing loudly and speaking in a thicker accent than Dana remembered. Bela noticed her too.
“Oh my, it’s Dana!” she shouted loudly, before Mr. Stone had had a chance to introduce her to everyone else at the table. Bela stood and hopped over to Dana on her mountainous platform shoes, locking her in an embrace.
Dana smiled awkwardly but was endeared. She hugged her back.
“Everybody, this is Dana. I just shot with her last week and she is a wonderful, talented photographer.”
The men and women at the table smiled and nodded.
“Who do you shoot for?” an older man in glasses asked her.
“I’m the assistant staff photographer at SoCal Style.”
“For how long?” he continued.
“Since September.”
“And where were you before that?”
“It’s my first job?” Dana, unsure, responded as if she were asking a question.
“And you’ve already shot Bela Tarasova?”
Dana’s face reddened. Bela flashed a beaming grin.
“Fantastic,” the man in glasses exclaimed. “I’m Eddie Figueroa, fashion editor at Modern Man.” What brings you to this party, of all parties?” Eddie sipped a martini.
“Another one of my former models, William Levy, invited me.”
Eddie and the others raised their eyebrows slightly.
“That money guy? Crazy. Well – are you enjoying yourself?”
“Yes, quite. I can’t get over the serving staff,” Dana said with a playful tone.
“We fashion types like our parties a little wilder than average.”
“But don’t go back into the west wing unless you want a really crazy time.” A man in a tweed suit and tie chimed in.
“Yeah, avoid that if you’re not one for surprises,” Eddie agreed.
All of these people refusing to tell her what was going on at this ‘crazy’ second party only made Dana more curious.
“What could possibly be so crazy back there?” she asked. “If you guys think tha
t I didn’t try –” Dana lowered her voice. “…grass – in college, don’t fool yourself.”
The table burst out laughing. “Oh, it’s nothing like that,” tweed guy replied.
Dana was enjoying her conversation with Bela and her friends. When she saw that Mr. Stone had gone off to chat up a leggy blonde by the dessert table, Dana settled in and enjoyed another round of drinks with the table.
Later, Dana excused herself from the fashion table to find a bathroom. She looked around for William and saw him schmoozing with some older businessmen. She thought it best to leave him alone.
The only unoccupied bathroom was on the precipice of the house’s west wing. As Dana emerged, she noticed Bela heading toward the closed door at the end of the hallway. Feeling giddy, Dana called out to her.
Bela turned around. “Dana! Come with me.”
“I wonder what could really be so crazy back there. Do you know?”
Bela nodded. “You’ll see. Just come with me!”
“Okay,” Dana laughed and scampered toward Bela.
Bela shot Dana a cheeky grin as she opened the door. The two headed together down another long corridor. Dana could hear music and voices coming from another shut door on the right side of the hallway. As they got closer, the voices amplified. Dana heard a series of familiar but out-of-place noises.
Was that moaning she heard? But it sounded like more than two people!
Bela giggled as she opened the door. Dana’s jaw nearly hit the floor as she stifled a gasp.
In the large, dimly lit bedroom were another twenty people – including some of the girls she had seen serving drinks and hors d’oeuvres earlier – in various states of undress.
Dana cautiously followed Bela inside, soaking in the sight of people fucking roughly and sensuously all around her. There were several beds lining the room’s perimeter, each occupied by a couple or group. The two men on the bed closest to Dana were sucking each other off slowly and sensuously, while the group on the bed next to them was gently teasing each other with feathers.
Most of the room’s occupants were gathered in the middle of the room, standing around a central object. Dana went closer to their huddle and peeked her head in between the shoulders of two spectators.
What she saw shocked her. Two men were kneeling on an elevated mattress, ravaging one of the skimpily dressed waitresses. One was standing, thrusting his cock in and out of her mouth as she knelt over on the mattress. The other man fucked her from behind, pulling her hair and forcing her to arch her back as she pleasured the first man. Both men were completely nude, exposing their sculpted bodies to the spectators entirely.
The girl let out stifled whimpers as she continued to receive her partners’ lengths. The tassels on her breasts swayed like pendulums as she bounced around with no sense of control. Dana gazed at the people standing next to her, sipping drinks and touching each other erotically.
What am I doing here? she thought. I’ve seen enough. Feeling overwhelmed, Dana turned around and left the west wing.
An unusual feeling swelled up inside of Dana. Free from the bizarre scene she had just witnessed, she suddenly realized that William must have known exactly what was going on in the back. How could he have invited her to a party like this, and under the pretense of something that was for her professional benefit? Dana was livid. The liquid courage she had mustered compelled her back out to the patio and over to William, who was finishing a conversation on his cell phone. His smug expression turned to concern as he noticed Dana’s affect.
“You knew what was going on in the back! How could you bring me to a party like this?” Dana half whispered, half shouted at William.
“So you went to the west wing.”
“Yes! What the hell was that?”
William lowered his voice. “Chris has been throwing these parties for years. Most of the people here know what’s going on and choose not to participate!”
“That doesn’t answer my question as to why you brought me here.”
“I brought you because this is exactly the crowd you need to hang with if you want to move up in your profession. You don’t have to participate in the crazy stuff – you just need to accept that it exists and see these people for what they are: excellent people to have in your Rolodex.”
Dana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. These people?
“This is a reality of the world you chose to live in when you took your job,” William continued. “These people have ridiculous amounts of money and are constantly surrounded by the most beautiful people in the world. Of course they are going to engage in debauchery and things that the rest of the world finds unsavory.”
Dana’s eyes didn’t blink. She couldn’t believe that William was really saying that drunken orgies were as normal in the fashion world as a Sunday church service in Chico.
“If you were a rock star, you’d expect drinking and, um –” He struggled for the right word. “…unorthodox sex to be a part of your everyday life, right?”
Dana pondered this. “Well, yes.”
“The fashion world is not much different. Neither is any other major industry in this town.”
Dana wondered how she could have been so naïve.
“Welcome to LA. This is what it’s like in the big leagues.” William lowered his voice again. “You don’t have to participate in the seedier parts if that’s not your thing, but you will have to interact with and befriend people who do. Businesses like ours require a thick skin.”
“Wait – finance is like this, too?”
“Where there’s money, there’s debauchery.” William took a large sip of his Scotch.
Dana relaxed a little and decided that sometimes it was best not to indulge curiosity. Yet she couldn’t help but ask William’s take on it all.
“Would you ever do something like that?”
William blushed and changed the subject. “How are you feeling otherwise?”
“Um, good. A little tipsy. I think I may have had enough for tonight. Only so much a girl can take in one night, you know.”
“Yes, I understand. I can call you a car if you would like. I have some important business to discuss with the gentleman over there.” He pointed to one of the suited men he was talking to earlier. “I’m sorry that I can’t ride home with you. If you stay for another hour or so, we could leave together.”
“I’d rather not. I’m pretty exhausted.”
“I’ll have my car come by in a few minutes. Thank you for coming out with me. Perhaps we can do it again soon – in a tamer setting, if you’d prefer.” William hugged Dana and kissed her cordially on the check.
“Yes,” she said, drawing herself away and looking directly at William. “Until next time.” She smiled and made her way out to the front of the expansive house. As she waited for the cab, her phone lit up.
If you ever need anything, you can reach me at (310) 555-8753. Get home safe. – W.
***
Dana woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. To keep herself occupied until she needed to start getting ready for her date with Alexander, she continued sprucing up her apartment, giving it a thorough scrubdown and arranging some furniture she had ordered. The solitude gave her plenty of time to think.
She still hadn’t gotten over the shock of last night’s party. She understood that William had a point and was probably right, but she couldn’t quite let him off the hook. She had seen documentaries about swinger parties on late night HBO, but she never dreamed that she would find herself at one.
Besides, she should have known that was coming. William and Alexander both had wild reputations. Dana was a little disappointed in herself for failing to see a swinger party as a possibility. Despite this, she still had a nagging feeling that she was misinterpreting William’s intentions. Between the dinner incident, the sexy party, and the fact that he’d given her his phone number last night, Dana was becoming increasingly convinced that his intentions with her were more than just professional. Si
nce her affair with Alexander had begun, she found herself better able to suspend her disbelief that a rich, handsome man like William might be attracted to her. She’d noticed that since she had been with Alexander, more people had begun paying attention to her, complimenting her on her outfits, or simply commenting on the new bounce in her step.
Dana had been replaying her last night with Alexander over and over again in her mind. It was her new favorite fantasy to masturbate to. Yet she realized looking back that she was not only disappointed that she hadn’t had an orgasm by Alexander (then or ever), but she was also a little disappointed with how quick the ‘sex’ part of it actually was.
I guess that the first time isn’t always perfect. Dana’s thoughts were interrupted by the buzz of her iPhone.
Let’s meet at the Thirsty Scholar at 6. It’s Downtown.
“Alright, then,” Dana said to herself.
A few hours later, Dana began dressing up for her date. After a shower, she put on one of the dresses that Alexander had given her, hoping he would notice, and complemented its earthy tones with a subtle layer of neutral makeup. She left her hair down, allowing it to gently graze her shoulders. She gave herself a look of satisfaction in the mirror, knowing Alexander would approve. At 5:30, she headed out to her car.
Dana enjoyed watching the sun begin its descent as she drove Downtown. It seemed that the sun shone differently in LA. Its light was soft and glowing, enveloped in a warm haze. She parked her car near the bar and gave herself one last look over in the rear view mirror before she made her way inside the bar.
The room had a decent crowd for a Sunday night. It was dimly lit, made darker by the mahogany walls and bar. A pianist played jazz standards in the far corner. Alexander was sitting in a booth off to the side. He flashed a half smile at Dana, who made her way over to join him. He looked her up and down and expanded his grin.
“What a nice dress you have on.”
Dana smiled back at him. “Thank you,” she replied warmly. She felt happy to see him, almost relieved. She could tell immediately that his mood was different.
The Virgin and the Billionaires: The Complete Series Page 8