*_*
She looks quite stunning as she moves gracefully by Lax's side into the restaurant of the Masters Club. She wears a gown of gold fabric,the tremendous long trail of the skirt drifting about her like a sun-streaked cloud,the neck so low cut it clearly shows the tops of her lovely breasts. A pearl scattered gold velvet ribbon is tied intricately around her neck.
She trails a shawl of sheer, gold colored lace behind her like an Indian bride and Lax smiles, most gratified to see every head in the room turn to stare.
*_*
Songs for the chapter:
Girlie Oh - Patoranking ft Tiwa Savage
Falling - Alesso
Stay High - Tove Lo
Falling To Pieces - Sia
(What are your favourite club bangers? Comment below! and remember to vote.)
CARLA:
"She's here with her lover.Did I not tell you," Lax murmurs as a waiter hurries across to bow us to our table, "they are asking each other who the devil is that beauty with Lax,envying me, of course, so smile at me, my darling, and perhaps move a little closer as though you really cannot bear to be more than a whisper away from me. There, is that not splendid? They think you're some great society beauty being wicked with her lover and by now she knows I have done it again!"
"Done what again,Lax?" I ask as I obediently do as I am told, gazing up into her face with evident adoration, though my eyes are bright with mischief for really she is like a small girl who has the best doll on the playground and is this how she feels about me? I wonder.
Suddenly I realise what she has done and I laugh out loud, turning the two heads towards me again and I know it must seem to Lax's ex girlfriend and her lover that not only is Lax's companion beautiful but she is highly amused at something into the bargain.
"That's why you insisted on coming here and me dressing up in the best gown I own. You knew they'd be here! What a wicked witch you are!" I smile up at her,my arm tightly tucked under hers as we cross the dancing floor,reaching for the flight of stairs to the quiet private dining tables upstairs.
"Yes and you're so bewitching in that gown,my sweet. Your bonus mother definitely has great taste. Look how it's color is putting glints in your eyes making them shine like golden stars!" Lax chuckles,the aroma of good cigars and good brandy drifting about her,enveloping me in what I will always recognise, though I might not admit it, as her possessive, feminine strength.
I gulp rather nervously and move even closer to Lax as an already drunk couple bombards past us. Their bloodshot eyes and awkward grins make me feel nauseous and I am about to turn around when Lax holds my arm tightly.
"Come on,screw the anxiety my pet. I am here,you needn't fear.I promised your uncle I'd bring you back home without injury and that is what I intend to do." She leans down so that her lips are only inches from my ear and her minty breath fans my skin making a shiver burst through my body.
I nod and follow her through the dancefloor. We weave through the drunk loud crowd. It is so congested here I'm afraid I might suffocate. It reeks of the stench of beer and something too vile to name. I hold my nose up in a fruitless attempt to breath fresh air and I end up sniffing a man's sweaty armpit.
"Kinky!" The man winks and I battle to keep at bay the vomit forming at the pit my stomach. How disgusting! I cannot stand parties or crowded places so why Lax thinks I'll manage to keep my cool at a damned club,I have no idea.
"Your table,miss and...miss,or sir,is it?" The waiter says awkwardly when we reach upstairs and I laugh again,wholeheartedly,at how he doesn't know how to address us.
Lax is dressed in a tuxedo looking so delicious I fight my desire to kiss her lips every time I talk to her. She breaks her look with Balenciaga sneakers. Her hair is pulled away from her face in what looks like a man bun and she sure looks like a very pretty male. But for her pillowy breasts and round bosom, a stranger might identify her as male or rather,transgender.
"Whatever man,just bring up the menu,if you please?" Lax offers the waiter a polite smile.
It is so peaceful up here,almost like we are in another club altogether. There is soft laughter from a dozen female throats and the deeper sound of men's voices. The silent, sure-footed service of dozens of waiters,the chink of silver on fine china, the delicate aroma of expensive French perfume and Havana cigars,the lovely colours of exquisite evening gowns,many of them from famous designers. It is quite luxurious to dine here.
The waiter finds his way back,hands us the menus and stands back patiently,ready to take our orders.
"Now then,champagne, I think...oysters or red snapper fish? How about both..."and without asking me what I might care to eat,she orders my whole meal,taking it for granted that her choice will be mine!
"That is all." She looks at me now,a smile plastered on her face,her features relaxing more as the waiter walks away. "My golden lady...you're so breathtaking tonight!"
"I feel like some kind of a trophy girlfriend. Dressed in gold and I can't do a thing,even order a meal,oh how lucky I am to have you!" I remark sarcastically but my sarcasm is lost on her or perhaps she chooses to ignore it,preparing herself for the extreme enjoyment of the night.
"It does no harm to just sit down and be pretty my love. That is precisely your job tonight."
"To sit down and be pretty?"
"Of course. I'm here to show you off tonight for there is no harm to let others see what you have,especially when they can't have it. They know me for my fine taste in women and my wits. I make no bones about it and can see no reason for false modesty. I have you as my golden lady and by God,if that's not a sure sign of success then tell me what is." Her eyes are warm and approving as they rest on my creamy shoulders and bosom.
I eat my food with great enjoyment, leaving nothing on my plate as the well-bred ladies are supposed to. I see Lax study what I do with satisfying amusement as I use all the correct cutlery as if though all my life I have been used to sitting down at a snowy,damask covered table,to crystal goblets,out of season flowers and fruits, French wines and the admiring glances of every gentleman in the room.
Definitely not, but my bonus mother has always included all cutlery in every meal insisting on a lady eating with manners and who can dare break the heart in her caring breast?
I smile at Lax over the rim of my glass, my eyes warm and inviting under the candlelight, playing to perfection the part of an enchanted lover she has devised for me. I listen to whatever she has to say with fascinated interest,quite genuine since Lax is an exceptionally interesting lady. As the night goes on I find that I am enjoying myself enormously.
"Would you like to do something else?" She asks, lounging back in her chair, caressing my hand which lies on the table.
"We have already done that today, several times in fact." I battle a blush as my eyes gleam with impish humor.
"Aye,my sweet and we will do that again for you're a wickedly desirable girl but that is not what I had in mind, not just at the moment anyway."
"What then? " I lick my luscious lips.
"I feel lucky tonight so we shall go and have a flutter." She takes out a cigar,lights it and starts to draw on it quite smoothly.
"A flutter?"
"Yes,gambling. It is just through that door across into another hallway. Come on love."
Okay,this is it. I won't torture myself with loud drunkards tossing away the last pennies of their lives nor I'm I willing to continue with this madness of making Lorena, Lax's ex, jealous. I'd rather be curled up in my cozy bed.
"Carla,what is the matter? You look as though you have a seen a ghost,girl. Earth to,Carla." She snaps her fingers loudly as if to nudge me out of a trance.
She leans forward,places her cigar between her teeth and holds my hand in both of hers. Her face is surprisingly alarmed but at the same time there is a spark of impatience in her eyes and it echoes in her voice as she speaks.
"Loosen up,my pet. Or is it an ex lover you have seen behind me and you're plotting your escape to his arms instead? I can't compete with men,Carla and I know you desire them too. You're with me now and by God, I'll not have any woman of mine peering back over her shoulder to some chap she knew before me."
"The only one peering back into the past tonight is you. You did not bring us here for our own enjoyment but only for the sheer joy of annoying Lorena and I will not let you use me! And just to make things clear,I am not your woman nor anyone's!"
"I seem to remember you accepted to be my girlfriend. Is that not so? You're mine then, without reserve." She smiles,a flash of white teeth in her beautiful face,her good humour quite returned.
"You're coming with me. This has nothing to do with Lorena for that chap she calls lover has no penny to his name so they won't be gambling. Now come along! Don't you trust me,Carla?" Her hands are on my wrists now but she is still smiling, the smoke from the cigar which she clamps between her teeth blown out and she narrows her eyes. Good humour gone again,she looks dangerous.
"I trust only family,Lax. Not another woman nor man." I allow her to see it in my eyes and in the sharp bite in my voice.
"No,of course you shouldn't trust a man. They're a selfish breed,using women and anything else they can get their hands on for their own ends,that is true but women are modest. We keep our wits and hearts intact." Her grip tightens on my wrists and I find myself blaming the wine for her odd behavior as she forces me to my feet and off to God knows where with an innocent smile on her face.
Sweet but psycho!
• •• •••
My anger boils wildly, threatening to spill over as we enter the hidden large room filled with people, mostly men with very pretty young girls,hooked to their arms. My eyes dart about the room,trying to absorb a dozen sensations at once, very bright colours, the aroma of perfume mixing with weed and liquor to produce a nauseating stench, quick movement and obnoxious laughter,the sound of voices chanting strange and rhythmic words, men jeering at each other, the click and rattle of dice and the slap of playing cards.
My world starts to spiral down as my eyes seem to lose their focus and I grip Lax's arm firmly to steady myself. I pray that if I am to have another panic attack and fall here in this room then Lax will protect me from any harm and defend my virtue fiercely.
I regain my focus and become aware of the door at the far end of the room that is opened and closed from time to time and that through it men drift, always accompanied by one or two of the pretty girls.
"What's through there?" I ask Lax,inclined,now that we are here, to cling to her arm.
"Nothing to interest you, my sweet."She answers tartly leading me amongst the tables and I know from her attitude that if I were not here with her, she'd be going through the same doors accompanied by two or three of those girls for Lax is undoubtedly a lady of great sensual appetite.
I wonder if perhaps it is a good gesture for a lover to bring her introverted girlfriend to a sinister looking tavern,for that is no doubt what this place is,then I remember nothing Lax does is socially acceptable, at least not by a person with morals.
I have begged, beseeched,pleaded with her;trying my best to persuade her to let us stay in the restaurant or just go home to a peaceful sleep instead but Lax is too strong willed than I had previously thought and she listens to no one under the influence of alcohol and cigars.
We sit at a table with spinning wheels on which colourful cards are set out, where dice fall and is picked up and thrown again and again. It is a world of glint and velvet, of bright lights and shaded corners, of elegance and wealth but beneath the surface is a strange feeling of desperation. An excited,tense desperation to win.
My eyes look about me,carefully studying all the types of plays here. There is a hazarde, played with only two dice but with as many players who care to bet and they stand round the large table. There is also euchre with six players and thirty-two playing cards involved, chemin de fer with six packs of cards, and roulette where the wheel, it's forty pockets a blur of colour in the gaslight, never seems to stop spinning.
"The chef de partie is calling you to faites vos jeux." A man whispers to Lax.
"What does that mean?" I ask Lax.
"It means to 'make your games'. In other words to place your bets." Lax smiles excitedly.
She does not even count the banknotes she takes from her wallet. Lax merely piles the gaming chips she has exchanged for the money in neat piles in front of her. The pile doubles and triples word and word goes around that someone is making a killing on the roulette table. A crowd begins to gather, to gasp, even to applaud as her success grows and Lax looks as though she has never felt so exhilarated in her life.
She turns to kiss my cheek again and again,her eyes glowing as the sycophants gather in even greater numbers cheering and chanting in an obnoxiously.
I feel as though I have been uprooted from my self-inflicted solitude; as if I am watching the scene unfold from a window.
Time stops when for the first time in a long and nerve wrecking run her number,incredibly, lets her down but she is only momentarily taken aback.
"It will come again!" She announces confidently, her eyes sparkling, her fingers clinking the chips together in a fever of impatience as the croupier's cry rings out and she waits for wheel to spin.
"Don't worry,I shall have the next one." She says firmly to me after her third loss. Whether to reassure me or herself, I am not certain.
Rather than join the festivities and cheer her on and very probably watch her lose, I choose to wander away. She hardly notices me leave,too engrossed to bounce back. I find myself seated miserably in a dimly lit corner. The fact that I am here simply to make another woman sad makes me disappointed in myself.
Have I not a thought,perhaps a voice, of my own?
"You're a striking one." A voice rumbles in my ear.
I bristle and leap up from my seat,my head moving to scan the bunch of dark figures the voice rises from. A hand grabs my arm with biting, unkempt fingernails and I startle, lurch and curse a rebuke in incoherent noise.
I feel an arm snake around my waist as another hand tilts my head back and cups my chin so my eyes are forced to stare into the intruder's bloodied gaze. Scheming eyes traverse my frame, anxiety tightens around my nerves and I bolt to Lax's side.
"I'd love to sit here and watch your downfall but I am leaving. You're welcome to follow me or stay here and shamefully lose."I grip her hand urgently in mine and whisper in her ear hoping she can hear over the blasting music. The intruder stands behind me.
"Why in such a hurry to leave? I am about to win."I am awarded by the slow turning of Lax's head and a weak crooked smile.
"It is far too loud in here and you've had one drink too many." My reply is rushed as the intruder's figure looms over me casting a shadow over Lax's upturned face. Lax hoists herself onto the chair in front of her,standing a taller than everyone else.
"You're bound to lose." The intruder booms. A huge man with a prominent Adam's apple,a tattoo of a flaming eyeball on his bicep,another of a spider crawling up its web starting at the edge of his shoulder going up till it hits just below his jawline. A silver ring on his dark lower lip.
"Watch me win. Perhaps a bet to spice it all up?" Lax jumps down from the chair and moves to push the man,obviously overestimating her strength for she only manages to bump on the man and stumble back.
"What do you have to offer now that your money is going down the drain?" The man has a cruel smile,sucking on his lip ring.
"My virgin girlfriend!" Lax holds my hand and lifts it, proclaiming loudly to address the crowd that is attracted to the commotion. "Not the prettiest thing nor with exotic features,unfortunately...but very spirited and flexible. Too stubborn at times but a perfect pet when tamed,a sex toy for all your desires!"
My quivering fingers grope the back of her chair in fear as I attempt to steady myself. I cast her a petrified glance which only makes her quickly add heroically,"a night with her,that's my offer!"