Silently Falling in Love: Race (THE EDITED VERSION)

Chapter 27 - Leave Your Hat On

Alex – September 1994

I came home late to an empty apartment, again; I dreaded being alone. I dropped my bag in the entrance of my apartment, slipped off my shoes and hung my jacked on the coat rack. I took a few steps and noticed arrows on the floor directing me inside. Following the trail it lead me to the armchair in my living room, which faced the side wall. A sign on the chair said, "Have a seat."

A small table next to the chair had a glass filled with Scotch. Intrigued, I sat down and sipped it. As soon as I took a sip, the lights dimmed, and my stereo system played a song. No one was near my stereo system. Turning my attention forward, I noticed a screen I had in the corner of my house in front of the wall.

After a few beats I recognized the song, Joe Cocker's, "You can leave your hat on!"

I heard noises from behind the screen and leaned forward, curious to see who had set this up. I hoped like hell it wasn't Ed and Sam playing a sick joke on me. Tired of my excuses for not going out with them after my breakup, it would be just like them to play a prank on me.

Except that thought was banished when I saw a sexy leg peer out from the screen in high heels. It would be a sick joke if it was one of them. The figure from behind kicked her leg and moved to the music, but the screen hid most of her. She added her arm and moved it around gracefully before placing her hand on the outside of the screen as if she was holding someone and moved down the screen.

I crossed my legs and sat back. It had been too long since I'd been with a woman. Ed and Sam were right, I needed to get out.

On her way up the screen, she held a hat in her hand as the chorus line belted out. I wanted to see more of the woman behind the screen. The responsible thing to do would be to get up and see who was behind the screen. I should worry if Ed and Sam had hired a random hooker and let her into my apartment, which I wouldn't put past them.

But at the moment I didn't feel responsible; instead I took another sip of Scotch. And the woman came out, with her back to me. She wore a business suit; a matching blazer and short skirt that landed above her knees. In the dimmed lights, the suit looked navy-blue. Her hair was tucked into the hat. She danced and swayed her hips to the beat. She turned around, but her face wasn't visible since the hat was pulled down low on her face.

She took a few steps forward, and I leaned forward to get a better view. I held my breath as she took her time to seductively unbutton the three buttons on her suit jacket. Once the jacket was unbuttoned, she turned around and slipped off the jacket and held it on the edge of her finger and swayed it before dropping it to the floor. She wore a white shirt and kept her back to me as she continued dancing. She lifted her hat and her black hair tumbled down and she put her hat back on.

I should be mad Ed and Sam hired a stripper to come to my apartment, but if I was mad, I'd get up to kick her out. I was glued to my chair. She unzipped her skirt, and it fell to the floor, and she kicked it to the side with her dark three-inch heels. She turned around, but I still couldn't make out her features.

She moved in sync to the beat and reached her hands above her head; she wore a garter belt to hold up her hose. Damn. She had long legs silkily coated by the sheer hose and high heels. She held onto the screen and slipped off the heels, the way I imagined I would have if I could touch her. Once the heels came off, she unbuttoned one button at a time from her white blouse revealing matching black lingerie, which contrasted with the white shirt and the tan legs.

Damn, she was beautiful; I was turned on, and thankfully alone. She slipped behind the screen again, leaving me with an empty feeling. The lights dimmed again and the music volume lowered. Was she ending the dance?