6 seeing her
[Jackson]
I wish I never came here.
I never imagined that this was how I was going to spend my Friday night. I stare at the busted, glitching sign that says Russian roulette with a blonde pinup babe with nipple tassels.
How did they think a CEO of a company would look at a low-grade stripper bar?
Just outside the doors, people are lining up waiting to enter the broken down joint. As one wave leaves, another comes until the bouncer, a tall black guy, cuts off the flow.
"We've reached max capacity again folks. that's it for tonight." There is a murmur throughout the crowd and the disappointment is clear.
I guess this place is more popular than I thought.
I have half the mind to walk away and never talk to these shitheads again.
I should walk away...
Shaking my head, I back away from the place ready to leave before I can taste the chlamydia wafting in the air.
"Joey, my man, I thought you were going home to Gloria and the kids?" Before I could leave, I hear some gasps and excited chattering about a black rose.
"Ah, Helena, let me guess, suspension? Or did he finally decide to kick you?" I turn and my sight falls upon a head of dark hair and creamy shoulders. She tilts her head to the right as her shoulders shake in laughter.
"Come on Joey, you are supposed to be on my side." Joey the bouncer laughs along with her then lets her in.
Just as I am about to turn back to head away, my phone rings and it is a text from Dylan.
[I am coming out to meet you, are you there yet?]
I want to tell him that I changed my mind but I linger back to the moment I saw that girl. If I go in, I might see her.
At this time, I didn't know how much power just the thought of her had over me.
[I'm outside.]
And so I decided to wait.
About two minutes after, Dylan comes out and greets joey, probably telling him I'm with him. he notices me then gestures for me to come over.
"Jackson Kingsley, in the flesh." He slaps my back when I reach next to him and we head into the club.
The phrase "never judge a book by its cover" really applies to this club. Inside, the club is dripping with luxury and class. The hallway is filled with thumping music and the golden floor lights that line the corners match the bass of the song by flickering to the beat.
As we go down the hall, it opens out into a grand space and Dylan and I are at the top watching below. The only words to describe the space is golden ice.
There are two staircases winding into the area below the balcony and straight ahead was a golden dj mixing station where no one occupied.
Along the walls are comfortable looking seats where girls are giving their audiences a lap dance of their dreams and others are getting very drunk.
There are eleven pole scattered around the club and each but one was graced with a beautiful woman. the eleventh pole was standing proud at the end of a broad walkway extending forward from the dj station. it was also the only clear, diamond looking one. around each pole were silver tables with a crystal detail for support and and horny men and women throwing cash at the dancers in appreciation.
Where the ten poles are, are pathways leading back to the main walkway and from where i am standing, it forms a golden spider-like shape.
I am not the kind of guy who comes to strip clubs but this is an exception i don't mind.
The chandelier lights give off a golden hue above each section of clubbers making this place look like a feast for the greek gods.
Gold, naked women and good food.
Dylan yanks me out of my daze looking smug for my arrival and liking to the place. I smile at my friend , happy i came along for the night.
"Come jaxx, the black rose is going on in the next three minutes." He drags me over to the section my noisy posse is occupying and they all raise their shot glasses at my arrival.
"Look who it is, the prodigal son." Greg, my cousin greets me as if i was dead the whole time.
We saw each other all the time albeit it was in meetings when our companies would collaborate.
"Cut him some slack, he had to mourn the loss of good pussy." They never liked julia and when she cheated, they all poke the wound with a salt shard then called it a night.
Heath hums in agreement then puts in his two cents. "Well mourning is over, it's time for him to move on to bigger, better things."
I don't think it's a coincidence that as he says bigger and better a busty blonde is shaking what god, or dr. dubrow*, gave her.
Count on heath to draw words of encouragement from a blonde stripper as inspiration.
"All things aside, he is back in the game now. let's drink to that." They hand me a glass with what i presume is vodka then hold the drink they are nursing up in cheers.
I join them then we let out a shout of toast and drink. after we slam the cups down, the music slowly fades out and the dancers finish their routine and go back to the main walkway then disappear behind the dj's counter.
Right after, the music starts again and the crowd goes wild. Dylan who is sitting to my right slaps my arm in excitement but his eyes are pinned to the stage.
"It's starting, she is coming." who is coming? greg is rubbing his hands together in anticipation and even heath, who doesn't express much looks mesmerized by what or who is to come.
"I have been trying to book this place for months just to see her." Who is her they are talking about?
I am not left too long in the dark since the speakers announce someone called the black rose.
A single spotlight stops on a black chair that has all these black roses intertwined with it. In the shadows, i can see a woman walking through the crowd from my section close to the stage.
Wherever she walks, the crowd erupts in low cheers, too cautious about not ruining the show. Even i find it hard to catch my breath, unwittingly captured like the rest.
As she steps unto the stage and approach the light, the blunt, unkempt but sexy shoulder length hair becomes familiar.
The milky shoulders were familiar as well. as she reaches the chair in the spotlight, she stomps her leg down on the chair fiercely to the beat of the song. She then traces a line from her ankle to the inside of her thigh to her...
An orgasmic expression on her face.
I can hear the gulps and subconscious groans from the front row who witnessed this. Me included.
She juts her right shoulder in arrogance but she makes it look sexy then spins gracefully and sit in the chair to face everyone.
A knot forms in my throat as i lay eyes on the only thing near perfection.
It was the girl i was hoping to see.
She was the black rose.
