The club was the last place he wanted to be. If there was one thing Tony hated, it was too much people and loud music. He tried to pull himself back to avoid getting in any further but he could feel his friends pushing him in, urging and cheering him on until he finally found himself giving in.
"Just one hour." He told Victor, the really tall, not too skinny light skinned friend that had suggested the idea in the first place. Victor was the one pulling him from the front while the other miscreant behind him stood in his way to stop him from leaving.
"Two hours." Victor rose his brows. "Come on bro, when last did you flex like this?"
"This guy sef, your matter de tire person." He could feel an arm wrap itself around his shoulders as Sam rose his voice so Tony could hear him admist all that music, pulling him into the crowd as easy as he could. "It's just one night off. What's the worst that could happen?" He pulled him further inside. "Tonight is my birthday and all I want is to get wasted and get laid and you my brother, you're going to be with me all the way. Us three, since Rafael bailed."
He pulled Tony up the stairs and towards the VIP section, getting past the big body builded bodyguards that guarded the entrance. Tony gave a loud humph. It was no surprise they could get in easily without any ID. They were regulars at the club after all, especially since Victor owned the club. Club Milano, one of the biggest clubs the country had ever known.
"This way sirs."
He could hear one of the waitresses say to them as she hurriedly approached to lead them to the empty section. It was like she had recognized them that instant.
Tony took a long look around the huge room with red and blue lights, settling his gaze on the huge elevated section in the middle with a lot of poles and half naked ladies, strippers. He could count about three of them.
"Steph," he could hear Sam call the attention of the waitress as his eyes settled on the stripper with blonde weave in a shiny neon dancing top and bottoms. "I uh, I need you to fill this table with drinks please."
The lady took out her pen and paper so she could jot down.
Tony narrowed his gaze on the woman as everything else Victor was saying now was almost inaudible. He could barely hear anything anymore as Neyo's 'She knows' began to play. Not the noise, not the music. His entire attention was on the lady dancing on the silver pole. She was just graceful doing what she did, perfect. It was impossible for Tony to even get a glimpse of the face with all the distance between them and all that body movement.
"She's a beauty isn't she?" Sam's voice caught him off guard. "She's really good. Stephanie,"
Tony let out a soft sigh the moment he heard Sam call for the waitress's attention again as they all turned to him.
"The stripper in the neon outfit, the one dancing on the pole." He said as the woman gave him her attention. "I've never seen her dance before. Who is she?"
Tony slowly rose his head to the woman. He was anxious to know too. Anxious to know who she was. He saw the smile on Stephanie's face widen.
"Oh, that's one of king's ladies, from the newest recruit. I don't really know her name but the other girls here call her Skye. She only works three times a week and she only dances on the pole. She doesn't do any other special services." Stephanie answered.
By special services, Tony knew exactly what she meant.
"That's rubbish." Sam cut her off. "What stripper doesn't want more money?"
"What do you think Tony?" Victor leaned closer to him. "Do we invite her to our section for a special dance?"
Tony scoffed. In as much as he wanted to see more of that woman, he wasn't sure he was exactly in the mood to call the shots. He wasn't too crazy about it either.
"Steph," Victor continued. "Tell king to send her up to the VIP section. I'd personally like her to entertain my friend here." He gave Tony a big tap on his shoulder that almost made Tony shake out of his skin. The lady nodded and then walked away.
"Okay then," Sam reached for his pocket and then got out a bundle of Naira notes. He dropped it on the table. "Let's get this party started."
"Look guys, I appreciate what you guys are trying to do right now, but now is not the right time, trust me. There's a lot of things going on now that needs our attention, Rafael for instance and not this."
"Come on Tony," Victor slouched in his seat as some almost naked girls found their way to them "We'd go see Rafael tomorrow. I'm sure he won't mind us taking one night off to ourselves." Victor embraced the ladies that slowly threw themselves at him while the other two found their way to Tony and Sam.
"It's been months since you and that police woman broke up." Sam added. "You need to look outside the box now, explore. Chop life before life chop you."
Tony scoffed silently, stretching his hand to stop the woman that tried to approach him too.
"Okay your special order is here."
Victor's words got his attention back to the stairs as he watched the waitress climb up with the woman in the neon bottoms behind her, trying to adjust the ropes of her bikini top so it didn't fall off.
He could see her clearly now. Her face. A huge frown covered Tony's face as he watched them get closer, narrowing his eyes to make sure he was seeing correctly. His jaw almost dropped in surprise the moment they were standing right there with the woman still not looking up at them.
"Sir, this is Skye."
She slowly rose her head for the first time to scan the men sitting right in front of her,
"Amy?"
Amy shook the moment she heard someone call her name. She swallowed harder the moment her eyes met Tony's. She could feel her breathing slow down a bit as everyone around the table turned to look at them both in surprise. She could feel her legs shake as she glared at him.
She had never felt so surprised and embarrassed all at once. It was like her lungs were collapsing and falling apart. She could barely breathe.
"Hey, bro," She heard Sam lean closer to Tony like he was trying to understand what was wrong too. He had the most surprised look on his face. "You know her?"
Tony swallowed hard in disbelief. He was too shocked to even speak. Amy could feel her heart racing. She swallowed hard. She couldn't take it. She couldn't stand them looking at her like that. She couldn't stand him looking at her like that. Like he was ashamed for her and disgusted. Amy found her legs pulling her backward. She was so embarrassed. She gulped hard and then turned, she stormed out of the section as fast as she could.
"Amy, Wait!" Tony hurriedly got up too.
"Bro," Victor tried to stop him but then he pushed Victor's hand away and ran as fast as he could after her.