Ace of Clubs

The Night Before ( Part 1 of 2)

Flashback (2/3)

Ace of Clubs, the signage outside the bar said.

Risa loved the neon lights and signs in the streets of Hong Kong. It added to the feeling of being in a foreign place. She didn't understand the Chinese characters written on most of them, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

As soon as they got in, she felt a hand clutch her arm and pull her closer. She looked over at Leni who was wide-eyed and in awe. "Halatang hindi ka pa nakakapasok sa mga ganito," She teased.

"Nakapasok na ako dati. I was in college."

Now, Risa was the one with wide eyes as she stared at the shorter woman incredulously. The honorable, studious, ever-diligent Maria Leonor Gerona in a bar during her college years? How unbelievable.

"Weh," she replied and Leni smacked her arm lightly. "Kung ayaw mo maniwala, bahala ka. Basta I've been to bars before."

I wonder, Risa thought. What other secrets like this one was Leni hiding?

"Baka bar exam," Risa prodded on and was answered by Leni's menacing glare. "Joke, oo na nakapunta ka na sa mga bar dati."

They settled into one of the tables on the side then made their way to the bartender station on the farther part of the place. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. What can I get you?" The bartender asked.

"Hello," Kiko replied. "What drinks are popular here?"

"We serve a variety of beers including Lion Rock and Peach Sour, which are Hong Kong specialties. But if you want something stronger, we also offer a variety of cocktails. Personally, I recommend our house specialty, Ace of Clubs, named after this place."

Risa ordered the Ace of Clubs and so did Leni. "Strong drink daw 'yan, Lens. Kaya mo ba?"

"Risa, pwede ba. Stop policing me," She replied, with a firm tone but her eyes were full of excitement.

"Just checking. I don't want to have to drag you home if you can't carry your drinks."

Their conversations went on afterwards. First it was about how HK was such an exciting place and how they wished to visit it again, for fun next time. And then Risa felt the heat in her chest after she took another god-knows-how-many sip of her god-knows-how-many glass of the Ace of Clubs drink.

The pair, together with their companions, decided to drink shots before a few wanted to dance the night away on the dance floor. "Cheers," Mar raised his shot glass and they followed after him, downing their shots in one go. One shot became two, though. And then three.

God, Kiko really had to stop handing her shot glasses now.

The heat in her chest grew even hotter as Leni placed a hand on her bare thigh while conversing with one of their team members. They were seated closely now, shoulders bumped into each other, thighs brushing against the other. Of all the days she could have worn this short dress, did it really have to be tonight?

Risa felt her throat burn and her head spin. She felt her senses double as the music got louder, her vision blurry, and she had this sudden urge to reach out and caress Leni's hair.

"Okay ka lang, Ris?" Leni asked, facing her.

It was only then that she realized how beautiful Leni truly was up close. "Yeah, tipsy. You?"

"Ako rin."

"Ang sarap nitong Ace of Clubs na drink 'no?"

Leni continued to talk and Risa tried her hardest to listen. Believe it or not, she really tried. But her eyes drifted down to Leni's nose. Ang tangos ng ilong niya, she thought. And then they traveled to her lips. Gorgeous lips, she thought again.

Now her whole face was hot as she watched Leni's tongue dart out to lick her lips, part and then close as she talked. Her mind went haywire as she watched the other woman go on like that.

Magaling kaya humalik 'to? Ang ganda ng labi niya, Risa thought.

"You have a long dating history after Frank, right?" Leni said.

"Random. But yeah, I tried going out there." She looked right at Leni's eyes. Big mistake on her part, however, because she's sure she could drown in the darkness of the other woman's orbs.

"Hmm, what was it like?"

"Weird, at first, but it was fun."

"Did it make you feel alive?"

She shrugged in reply and she could swear that she saw Leni's gaze on her lips quite intensely. If she was dead focused on Leni's face a while ago, her attention was now on the exposed skin of Leni's neck and slightly her chest. Did it also have to be today that Leni wore a blouse with a neckline lower than what she usually wore?

"It looks like I'm going to be the one to drag you home because you can't carry your drinks," Leni laughed after she noticed that Risa was spacing out.

"Dance with me," Risa invited out of the blue.

Leni smiled graciously, her dimples and perfectly white teeth showing. "Why not?"

Risa offered her hand to Leni and she felt like she would overheat anytime. Hot, hot palm on her hands. They walked to the dance floor and she snaked her arms around the shorter woman's waist.

Risa resisted the urge to run her hands on the other woman's sides. Leni's slender arms embraced her neck and they swayed to the music, completely careless if any of their colleagues would see. It was dark and they were shit-faced drunk so they probably wouldn't anyway.

"Ris..." Leni let out softly.

"Hmm?"

"You're a really bad dancer."

She pulled back and feigned a hurt look, even placing her hand on her chest for a more dramatic effect. "Grabe na 'to."

Leni laughed loudly in response, throwing her head back and exposing the column of her neck. Risa confirmed she was absolutely drunk when she wanted nothing more than to kiss her skin. And it didn't help in the slightest when Leni pulled her closer, flushing their bodies tightly against each other.

Now, Risa wasn't sure if it was the alcohol controlling her body, or it was because she felt courageously reckless tonight that she pressed her forehead on Leni's and almost kissed her.

Almost.

Their lips grazed each other's and Risa had to pull back because what exactly was it she wanted to do here?

"Lens..." Risa said, her voice barely above a whisper. But it seemed like Leni heard her perfectly clear because in one swift move, Leni stood on her tiptoes and took hold of her face with both hands, trapping her lips in a quick and motionless kiss.

Simple but so, so intense that they pulled away, only for them to pull each other back in for one more. Properly, this time. The second kiss was deeper, more passionate. A kiss that felt like they've been wanting to do for a long time but they didn't know just yet.

Their lips moved in a foreign dance, in a foreign land, around foreign people. But somehow, everything felt so familiar and so right. Like it was meant to happen exactly where and when it did.

Risa felt goosebumps on her body as Leni held the back of her head to deepen the kiss. Sabi na eh, she thought. Magaling ngang humalik 'to. She felt her chest tighten and her body grow even hotter, fingers entwining themselves around the short and silky hair of the woman she was locked lips with.

"You..." Leni heaved as they slowly pulled away. "You make me feel alive, Ris."

She felt the same way. Every touch seemed to electrify her very being and she's never felt more alive in her life. Not when she's out on a date with someone, hell, not even when she's in the throes of pleasure.

Leni kissed her heatedly and intimately again. And Risa swears she truly has never felt this way before. Like she's a newly-lit match and the fire has started to spread within.

Their lips on each other and hands intertwined made all rational and sensible thoughts leave Risa's mind. So when the proposal left the Congresswoman's mouth, she threw all her inhibitions away.

"Let's get married."