Dates and Proposals

CAMERON

She hadn't said a thing.

I knew I shouldn't have expected much, the attempt was clearly akin to shooting myself in the foot and she wasted no time in excusing herself from my presence.

Going to the strip club was completely not an option, I was a lot of things, but a stalker wasn't one of them.

"I know its been years since I last dated but if I'm not mistaken both parties are meant to talk in order for it to be a conversation," looking up from the menu to catch Lucy's watchful gaze, she wore a lop-sided grin and I inwardly chastised myself for being so absentminded. And suddenly I felt guilty, here I was on a date thinking about another woman. It was evident I needed to move on from someone who clearly wanted nothing to do with me.

"Sorry," I cleared my throat reaching up to adjust my tie slightly, "just have a lot on my mind."

"Work?"

"Yeah..." I chuckled nervously, glancing up at the sound of my name being called only to see Eliot's beaming face come into my line of vision. Even though we ran in the same social circles that led to us embarking on a possible business venture together, he was merely an acquaintance at best who had political aspirations. He was nearing his early sixties but when my eyes shifted to the woman on his arm, I concluded his age would never stop him from getting with women around his daughter's age.

Once he reached our table, I wasted no time in greeting him and introduced him to Lucy, whilst he didn't bother to say anything to the woman beside him.

"Hello," I waved awkwardly to the woman whose smile widened, "and you are?"

She opened her mouth to speak but was immediately cut off by Eliot who said, "Honey, why don't you go take a seat at our table. I'll join you in a minute."

Snapping her mouth shut she nodded her head to the request and something about that moment felt odd. 

"I'm glad I ran into you tonight, I was at the country club with your dad the other day and he mentioned he'd love to sponsor my campaign," he smiled causing me to tense in my seat.

"Well that's great, all the best with that."

"I'm throwing a party in a few weeks to make an official announcement, you should come," he offered, I would have refused if I wasn't more invested in having him leave the table. I didn't support some of his views nor the plans he had should he get elected as the mayor. When he dismissed himself, I had a feeling since he had my father's support, he was expecting the same from me.

"He seems interesting," Lucy chuckled.

Reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose I replied, "That's one way of describing him. But anyways uh... what were we talking about?"

She tilted her head to the side as her eyes observed me closely and pursed her lips,

"It's okay."

"What?"

"That you don't want to be on this date," she replied shrugging. 

"N-No I do."

She shook her head, chuckling lightly, a certain twinkle in her eye, "Ever since we arrived here, you've been distracted, and if I'm being honest, I didn't want to come for this date either."

Furrowing my brows, I couldn't help but say, "Then why -"

"Did I agree to it? My fathers kept suggesting it would be good for me and that if I had allowed them to set me up, I wouldn't be going through a divorce in the first place so to get them off my back here I am."

Chuckling at the honesty, I rubbed the back of my neck gently feeling my body relax, "And I thought I was the only one getting harassed by my parents."

"Trust me, you aren't and if dating wasn't so hard, I wouldn't have bothered listening to them," she chuckled shaking her head gently and observing her closely I noticed the hint of sadness in her features. 

"Yeah... I've been out of the dating scene for years and from what I've heard it's hard for everybody. And..." I paused taking a deep breath to cope with the emotion I felt, "I genuinely am sorry that I wasn't the best date."

She waved her hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it, it wasn't that bad and coming out tonight also proved that I'm not ready cause I still miss my ex."

"Ouch," I playfully mumbled reaching up to rub my chest causing her to snicker.

Although a part of me wished to have made more of an effort, for as long as my thoughts were still haunted by the dancer from the Den of Desires nothing else would satisfy me. 

Stepping out of the restaurant, the cold breeze whipped past me, and it felt oddly soothing against my skin. Moving towards my car, I began mentally going over what series to watch to fall asleep until I heard my phone buzzing alerting me, I had a notification. And what I saw caused me to immediately stop in my tracks.

Come to the Den - Anita

***

Ever since her message, I had been on autopilot, solely focused on doing one thing - coming to the club. 

Closing the door behind me, I had been convinced I would never step foot in this place but here I was once more. 

I was excited, nervous, confused and when I took a seat on the couch, I couldn't help rubbing soothing circles into my shaky hands. Tensing at the sound of the door opening, her heels clicked against the ground.

Wasting no time to take in her attire, the sight of her wearing lingerie was one that would never bore me. She moved silently around the room, and I began to wonder if she could hear how fast my heart was beating. Stopping right in front of me, without saying a word she reached up to remove the mask allowing me a chance to see her face. "Hi," she spoke softly, wearing a small smile.

"Hello..." I breathed keeping my eyes trained on her face, "I was surprised to see your message."

She bit her bottom lip, although the action was innocent it still beckoned me forward to shift in my seat, "Well I didn't like the way I just walked out without an explanation."

"It's okay, I know I must have made you feel uncomfortable by telling you al -"

"I'll let you touch me."

Stopping mid-sentence my brows furrowed and I grew stiff processing what was just said, "W-what did you just say?"

She shifted on her feet and reached up to play with one of her curls.

She was nervous.

I withheld the urge to smile at how cute she looked, she blew out a harsh breath and marched towards the couch to occupy the seat next to me, "I said I'll let you touch me."

The admission was soft, but it was enough to elicit a blush at knowing she didn't mind me invading her space, But, she held up her hand, "As much as I can admit I want you, I don't want a relationship, with the way my life is, I don't have time for that," she mumbled looking away briefly, "But I have a proposal for you."

Despite the dim lighting I could tell she was observing me, waiting for a reaction and when I didn't say a thing, she took my silence as a sign to continue, "I'm not the type to do this... I'm not the type to but..." she sighed making me grow anxious at how she began fidgeting and avoiding my gaze completely, "but what if we give each other what we want. I'll be there for you physically whilst you're there for me financially."

My eyes widened and my lips parted but nothing came out. Piecing her words together, my brain raked itself around her words only to respond with a weak, "Huh?"

"Never mind, forget it," she rushed out, her facial expression hardening and as she stood up my hand reached out to wrap itself around her arm stopping her. She glanced down at my hand before looking at me, her dark pools revealed nothing, but I had a feeling the wheels were turning in her head, wondering what I was going to

say. 

But I had never been in a situation like this before, so what else could I say except, "I-I don't know..."