The Nightclub
"Alex, sweetie, you look fine!" Travis complimented me over the loud music. As usual, Travis was in his glamorous drag while I opted to dress plainly this time. He wanted so desperately to bring out Maxima again, but I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself had i worn all that heavy drag. "You didn't bring Jasper with you, right?"
"Yeah, just like you told me," I said, sitting next to him in his section. The club was pretty lively tonight and had a lot of affluent people walking around. "Why'd you want me to come here without him? Jasper is the gay one."
"It's your first gay bar and I don't want him to ruin it for us!" Travis gushed. Ah, I missed out on a lot, so I guess I never really got to scope out the bars like I should. This nightlife looked extremely fun.
"Hey beautiful!" A tall guy in a Balenciaga shirt called out. He had two drinks in his hand and stopped in front of me. Was he talking to me? "Haven't seen you around here, want to drink with me?"
"Back off! Can't you see he's already taken?" Travis snapped, showing him the ring on my finger. The guy shook his head but respectfully backed off from the table without a fight.
"He just wanted to have a drink, right?" I asked.
"Sweetie, that was wine. If anyone here gives you wine, they expect you to spend the entire night with them. I must protect your virtue, or else Jasper will kill me and whoever touches you," Travis explained.
"Don't kill the mood like that," I picked up Travis's drink and threw it back in one gulp. "Let's have fun and get drunk before we're forced to go back home."
"Okay, I'm going to go talk to the owner. You get out there and talk to some people. I'll join you again in a couple minutes." Travis said loudly over the music, patting me reassuringly on the shoulder and heading toward the manager's office.
I struggled to call Travis back and say that I would rather go with him and not be left on my own, or anything, but by the time I regained my voice, Travis had disappeared. I hated going to clubs and being ditched like this.
Walking up to the bar, where it was quieter, I stood next to the only person currently sitting there and cleared my throat. I might as well make some friends, right? "Excuse me, can I—uh—have a word with you?"
The man turned to face me and his eyes lit up. "Well. Forget one word, honey; you can have as many as you want," the man told me, smiling.
"Um—right—I—uh—I'm here looking for—uh—there's, um..." I quickly grew flustered under the sultry gaze the man was giving me. Why was this hard for me now? It's not like this guy was as handsome as Jasper. Maybe it was the risk? After all, how would Jasper take this scene were he to catch me at a gay bar? Am I doing the wrong thing?
"There's no need to be so shy. Tell me, what's a sweet thing like you doing here all by yourself?" the man asked.
"I, uh, actually I'm..." I tried to speak again.
"Why don't we start with names, sweetie? Mine's Terry, what's yours?" he asked, leaning in closer.
"Alex," I managed to say, feeling a bit more at ease. "I'm just here with a friend, but he left me to talk to the owner."
"Well, Alex, it's a pleasure to meet you," Terry said, his smile widening. "So, first time in a place like this?"
"Yeah, it is," I admitted. "It's... a lot to take in."
"OH, and what do you do for work, Alex?" Terry fluttered his lashes at me. He was much too girly for my tastes already.
"I'm the CEO of Todd Corporation," I said.
Terry spit out his drink in surprise and quickly scrambled to regain his composure. "Are all CEOs as cute as you?" he asked.
I downed the drink the bartender handed me and smiled. "I hope not; it'd be bad for business."
Terry giggled again. "Let me pour you a drink." He beckoned the bartender over and asked for a bottle of whiskey. Seizing the chance to show off a bit, I pulled out my debit card and asked for the top shelf whiskey. When the bartender returned, Terry poured us both a drink. "Is this your first time at a gay bar?"
"Yes, I don't go out much," I said.
"Any questions, honey?" Terry asked.
"Yeah, for my friend. How's that guy?" I pointed at a random man across the room. He was fairly muscular and clearly showing it off as his blazer was sleeveless. "He's pretty muscular."
"Oh honey, at first glance I can tell he's definitely a bottom," Terry said.
"You can tell just by looking? That's pretty cool. What about that guy in the suit?"
"He's definitely a top."
"The one with short hair over there?"
"Versatile for sure."
"Oh, you sure know a lot," I said, genuinely amazed. The longer we talked, the bigger the crowd of onlookers and eavesdroppers seemed to get. Was I that interesting?
"Alex! What the hell!" Travis shouted over the music. "Back off, Terrance, he's married! All of you stop lurking! He's not looking for a mistress!"
I turned around to see Lollipop dancing incredibly awkwardly with some drunkards.
"Is he in some kind of pain?" I asked, bewildered.
"Oh, I wish. This is him dancing. Let's dance and really charm everyone," he said, pulling me up with him. I felt a bit dizzy from standing up too fast, but once again, strong arms held me steady.
The theme of the night seemed to be 90s pop, and Travis began humming and shimmying. We avoided Lollipop completely. The guy looked like he was having fun by himself anyway.
The song changed, and the crowd began to roar as they recognized the song.
"It's Macarena time, bitches!" I could hear Lollipop calling loudly from somewhere far away.
"So, what should I do now?" I asked, facing Travis, trying to avoid the flailing arms.
"Now draw a circle with your hips. Now jump this way! That's right. Now, put the hands right back around your neck. There you go," Travis encouraged.
"This looks like some kind of bird's mating ritual. Are we mating, Travis?" I shouted over the music. A few people around us whistled at us.
"What? No? No way," Travis said, face flushing. "You little devil! You're not qualified to flirt with the queen!" Travis laughed as the music sped up. "I think we've attracted enough attention now; let's go sit down!"
As we made our way back to our section, I looked around and saw there were an absurd number of eyes on Travis and me. Maybe my dancing was really bad. Bad enough to stare at. It wasn't like I had much rhythm anyway, so I must've looked like a flailing chicken out there.
"Look who I found!" Lollipop came over to our table, dragging a plain-looking guy behind him.
"Jared Jameson?" Travis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What a coincidence, I didn't expect to see you guys here," Jared chuckled nervously.
"Why are you here, Jared?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"I'm part owner of this place," Jared admitted.
"That's so cool! Then you probably pick a different person to go home with each night since you're the owner," I joked, nudging him playfully.
"Well, if you're with me, I won't have to choose tonight," Jared joked back, his eyes twinkling.
"Not going to happen," I shook my head firmly.
"Why's that? Am I not handsome or wealthy enough?" Jared asked, a playful grin on his face.
"All of that," I laughed, feeling at ease in the banter.
"Ah, be more subtle!" Jared laughed along with me. "I'm quite the catch, you know!"
"On what planet?" Travis joined in the banter, making our exchange even more lighthearted.
"That's what I would like to know," a voice said from behind me, sending a chill down my spine.
I turned around slowly, my heart racing. The voice was calm but carried an edge that made my skin prickle. Standing there was a man with a commanding presence, his green eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that was hard to ignore.
"Jasper?" I whispered, my mind struggling to process his unexpected appearance. The loud music and the vibrant energy of the club seemed to fade into the background as I stared at him.
Fuck what do I do now? I was feeling a mix of guilt and defensiveness for being caught out, but it wasn't like I had gone and done something wrong. Ok, I flirted around a bit but that was literally to a non committal drink with another patron. And I didn't dance with anyone but Travis, so it wasn't like I was all over someone else.
Why do I feel like I was just caught cheating on him?