What's a girl like that doing in a place like this? Charlie thinks to himself as he watches her from the high table he's standing at. She doesn't look like she belongs here at all.
"Hey, she's pretty cute? Huh, Charlie?" Brad sees him staring and pats him on the back. "You should go talk to her," Brad says through a grin.
"I don't know..." Charlie hesitates.
"Look, she's all alone in this noisy crowded club. And you're gonna' just stand here and watch her? She's probably begging for someone to talk to her. It wouldn't be very gentleman-like of you to just let her suffer."
"Yeah, but -"
"Nope. No buts, Charlie."
Brad slides his hand up to Charlie's shoulders and squeezes. Charlie flinches.
"I said you should go talk to her. And here." Brad places something in Charlie's hands. "Use this to loosen her up." He grins and gives Charlie a slight push away from the table.
Charlie looks down at his hands. In them is a small plastic baggie filled with white powder. He sighs and looks back at the girl.
She is standing next to the bar, flashing lights illuminate her pale face. Her hair is tied up into blonde pigtails and she is wearing a short black dress and platform black shoes. She sways side to side like she's listening to her own music, not this techno trash blasting through the speakers. When she turns, he can see that she is wearing a plastic backpack with a bat on it.
Is she a little kid or something? No way. She has to be over 21 to be here...
Charlie turns back to his table. Brad is glaring at him, his lips pursed and his fists clenched. He jerks his head, motioning toward the girl and Charlie understands that he needs to get his ass moving before he gets hazed again.
He turns back around and walks up to her.
"Hi, there. I noticed you were standing here all alone and I thought I'd give you some company," he says to her with a charming smile. Just like he practiced before.
She looks at him with a blank stare as if she doesn't understand what he is saying.
"I also noticed you don't have a drink in your hand," Charlie says, pointing down at her hands. "Could I buy you one?"
Her lips curl into a smile.
"Sure, honey," she says.
Charlie blushes. He didn't expect her voice to sound so sweet... almost like vanilla.
He immediately leans over the bar and grabs the attention of a bartender.
"Hey, listen. Let me get a gin and tonic and a..." Charlie turns to the girl, realizing he doesn't know her order. "What are you having?"
"I'll have a vanilla coke and rum," she says soothingly. She leans her back against the bar and waits.
Charlie turns back to the bartender. "Yeah, so, one gin and tonic and one vanilla coke and rum."
The bartender nods and a few seconds later the drinks are made and placed in front of him. Charlie pays and looks down at the drinks. He then looks down at the little baggie in the palm of his hand. He turns to the girl and frowns. She's staring out onto the dance floor, paying no attention to him; giving him such a perfect opportunity that he doesn't want to take. Charlie glances back at the table and sees Brad still watching him with an angry glare.
He doesn't allow himself a further second to think about it. Quickly, he takes the baggie, opens it, and pours it into the girls drink.
Just as he finishes shoving the empty baggie back into his pocket, the girl looks over at him.
"Ah! My drink! Thank you!" the girl says as she grabs the glass and takes a sip.
Charlie didn't even have the time to stop her if he wanted to. He tries to use that as an excuse to lift the blame off of himself but it's no use. He still feels the pang of regret but smiles through it. He's committed now.
"You're welcome," he says. He raises his glass. "Cheers!"
"Cheers!" she replies.
They clink glasses and each takes a gulp.
Charlie begins to sweat. Now, it is just a waiting game until she begins to stumble or slur her words. But nothing happens. Not for a while.
They have a casual conversation - actually, it's more Charlie endlessly talking to calm his nerves and the girl listening with patient eyes. She keeps her lips on the glass and doesn't take her eyes off of him as she continues to sip.
Charlie is nearly drenched in sweat now. What the hell? It's been thirty minutes and she's fine? How is that possible?
The girl grins at him and takes another gulp.
Does she know?! Charlie begins to get paranoid.
The girl sets her glass down. She takes off her backpack and zips it open. She reaches her hand in and pulls out a lollipop then zips her bag back up and puts it back on. She peels the wrapper off of the lollipop and dips it into her drink, using it as a stirrer. With a beckoning smile, she places the lollipop on her tongue and wraps her mouth around it, never looking away from Charlie. He can see the lollipop swish inside of her cheeks and watches her puckered lips suck.
She pops the lollipop out of her mouth and dips it back in her drink before using it to trace her lips. Charlie can see liquid sweetness dripping from her mouth.
"You want a taste?" she whispers.
He has no choice. She is already leaning into him without waiting for an answer. But he isn't going to complain.
She places the lollipop back in her mouth and brushes her lips against his. Her lips taste sweet and Charlie parts his mouth for hers.
They kiss for a while before he feels the lollipop slide into his mouth. The girl pulls back and smiles at him. He smiles back, rolling the sweet ball around with his tongue and sucking.
Dizziness hits him like a train. At first, he thought maybe he was lightheaded from all of the kissing, but it only grows worse. The girl's outline begins to fade and split into two. His lips feel so numb, he can't speak. He tries to say something but his jaw falls open. The lollipop spills out of his mouth and onto the floor. His knees collapse and he holds onto the bar ledge for support.
What the hell is happening?
He looks up at the girl who is grinning down at him. She grabs his hand and giggles.
"Are you okay?" she whispers.
Darkness clouds his vision until he is blind and loses sense of his body.
He is shivering. His skin is touching something cold. He must be touching ice!
He opens his eyes and sees a pattern of black squares directly in front of his face. He tries to sit up but his head hits something. There is a roof of black squares above him. He sticks his fingers through them and realizes that the black squares are made of metal. They're all around him, enclosing him into a tight little space.
Am I... am I in a cage?!
He barely has room to move his body. He looks down at his arms and legs and sees that they're bare. His clothes have been stripped off of him and he is in nothing but his boxer briefs.
He sees a heavy pink lock hanging from what he assumes is the door of the cage.
"What the hell!" he yells out, shaking the cage as hard as he can in panic. But no one responds.
He looks around for anything that can help him escape but he's in a bare concrete room. He notices something on the ground in front of him and reaches his hand through the cage to pick it up. It's a lollipop with a post-it note stuck on the back. He turns it over and reads the note:
Be a good boy until I return. Love, Vanilla.
