On The Devil’s Menu

CHAPTER TWO Zia

Time to go find some man in black.

I sway from my the seat struggling slightly to keep my posture erect and my walking steps stable. Walking from one booth to another grabbing faces, scrutinizing dressings, looking for him...

Then my eyes catch on something.

A man in his sixties dressed in a black shirt and black pants, a cowboy kinda hat on him, two ladies with little or no clothings on them by his sides, dancing seductively for him with wads of cash sticking from their underwear.

I barge in completely and sit opposite him oblivious to the death stares the ladies are giving me right now

“Enjoying ourselves ain’t we?” I ask with a stupid grin I felt was so cocky and badass

Why isn’t he reacting?? Okay... let’s try this another way

“Hey old man are you some kind of investor?”

He runs his eyes all over me from my shabby hair, to my glasses, to my big pullover and sweatpants down to my slides. Twice or thrice he repeats this with his head bobbling up and down. And even in my drunken state, Nope! Semi-drunken state I notice him running a tongue over his lips.

Shame on you Zia! Only an old man in his sixties would look at you and find you attractive and that’s only because his sights probably are failing him. Phew! Here you are, gloating like you’ve won a medal. Cut me some slack! I scream to my inner devil a man is still a man regardless of his age.

Focus Zia! that ain’t why we’re here...

“Guess you didn’t grasp what I said earlier

So... let me repeat myself ...

Are you a business man? Ever thought about investing?”

I’m frustrated at this point, I scratch my head making a mess out of the mess it was before

“ I know this looks like an armature shitty presentation but trust me I know our numbers by heart” I clutch a folded hand to my chest, beating it lightly in a King Kong king of move.

“Is this some kind of joke?” The old man spits out

His sleeves ain’t folded Zia!!!! Clearly those sleeves have no rumples on them, straight like the surface of a table.

But to make sure my eyes ain’t playing tricks on me right now, I flatten myself on the table separating our sitting arrangements and grab his hands turning them sideways, examining them closely.

He withdraws his hands from my grasp forcefully and unannounced sending me mildly flying back into my seat.

Rude old man!!!

He’s turning red right before my face and switches to the ladies beside him

“What the f**k is the meaning of this!”

They both nonchalantly look the other way giving off looks of confusion as well.

“Hey chill old man you’re sleeves ain’t rolled up that’s what’s up

Sorry you ain’t my man”

I stand up to leave but slump back into my seat. I grab the bottle of wine in front of me grinning like a toothless child opening a Christmas gift.

“ this is for my time wasted” I stand up again, miss my step yet catches my footing on time.

I turn and begin to walk away and as an afterthought I turn back to the company of three flicking my pointy at the ladies

“Go gentle on him okay...wouldn’t want him having a heart attack now would we?” I give them my thumbs up as a parting gift then I turn to leave.

I think I’m tired at this point. I’ve checked out everyone here and no one matches the exact description I was given. I yawn loudly into my elbow craving sleep at this point.

And then an idea hits me

What if my mr mystery man isn’t in the common places? Maybe I should check out the VIP section of the club. He may be there I swerve to the VIP room. I see some bouncers guarding the door.

Shit! How am I gonna get through!!!!

I can’t even claim to be a stripper! I’m dressed in my usual baggy comfy hideous outfits. Not even suitable for clubbing.

Then I see the bouncer guarding the front twirl to the left, clutching a phone to his ears his eyes leaving the entrance to the VIP.

And I figure this to be my chance I shouldn’t miss. Without waiting to consider the consequences of me getting caught by him I sneak past him walking on tiptoes pausing occasionally at times when I felt he was about to turn back to the entrance and catch me dead in my tracks.

Finally I’m in. I breath in heavily as relief washes through my body. I feel like i just walked through the gates of hell right now outsmarting the Devil’s tiny guard at his gate of hell.

I see the back of his neck first before I notice his folded black sleeves and then his black pants. I think his legs are crossed and his head’s bent down to something. Seems his on his phone.

There’s this aura of confidence that’s oozing from him. You could tell he knew his worth and he definitely isn’t one to be tinkered with at all.

Well that’s his goddamn business. I’ve been instructed to pitch to him and that I would do.

I square my shoulders and tint my head forward and walk up to him fully prepared to give him my all.

I’m three steps away from him

I swerve and face him my eyes tightly shut

“God day sir.... Sir whatever is your name ummm... you see my name is....

I realize my eyes are still firmly shut! What kind of dumbass starts a pitch without even looking at who you’re pitching to?

I open my eyes

“ my name is Zi... holy f*****g cow!” Somebody please pinch me pleaseeee. Did I fall and hit my head? Am I in heaven? What do you do when you’re before a god? Do I bow.. kiss his feet? What!!!!

Cause this man before me definitely has to be a God! Never in my life have I ever seen a man so beautiful as this, a jawline as chiseled as his and those piercing gray eyes that feels as if he’s cutting daggers through my body.

Though his eyes, piercing and stupidly beautiful, they were running all over my body in a very bored manner.

I sat down, my body thumping hard on the chair which actually hurt my ass a little. I see there’s a glass of sparkling water in front of him and I find myself wondering who drinks water in a bar????

“Do you know how I’ve been looking like crazy for you all over this place?” I yawn loudly playing with the glass trying to compose my speech or whatever the f**k I was meant to say to him in my head

“Get out”

It was a calm command one I would have missed cause of how low he said it. But the chilly way those words slipped out of his slips was enough to open my cochlear.

My head snaps in quick reflex, my eyes boring into those cold and lifeless eyes. “I’m sorry sir, were you talking to me?. Cause it obviously can’t be me.. I haven’t even said anything about my company yet” He has to be an angry guy cause why’s he staring at me like that? Like he wants to kill me. Nope that’s an understatement. Like he wants to strangle me and watch the air leave my body with a sadistic smile on his face.

“So opium Technology is all about...

“You want me to f**k you” I hear myself being cut off abruptly leaving me gasping in doubt about what I just heard leave his mouth. Again with that subtle way of saying absurd things!

“Excuse me!” I cry out.

“That’s what this is about isn’t it? You come here acting all miss smarty pants when all you want is a good f**k to teach you some manners” he releases a throaty chuckle “unfortunately I don’t f**k ducklings dressed in trash bags so... Get out!”

“What a waste of time” I throw over my shoulders dragging myself out of his VIP room. Cussing myself outwardly for giving up on my show for this horrible experience of a night. I walk past the bouncer whose giving me this quizzical look perhaps wondering how I got past him or if I was with someone. Phew I shake my head clearly disappointed. All muscles and no brains at all . I turn back to look at him again puffing his overly big chest while still manning the entrance of the VIP and burst into laughter. One big and gullible... another beautiful and annoying...” I stop dead in my tracks abruptly fuming and ready to smash anything or anyone in my way. How dare he?!.

Next thing I know I’m whiling my way back into his VIP room. Like a charged bull. Seeing only red and ready to devour that annoying jerk

“You wanna know something! Even in my grave I’d never f**k you!” I yell not minding the bemused look on his face as he raised his head from his phone to look at me “you really think you’re all high and mighty, like you’re some big shots and we should all bow and worship Mr chilly eyes. I’m gonna tell you exactly what you are Mr chilly eyes!” I dump my body back into my seat, fold my sleeves to my elbows and rests my elbows on the table surface With my fingers intertwined. My eyes screaming murder fixated on his.

“You’re a piece of s**t stuffed into a man’s body. A beautiful and sexy man’s body but!..” I release my fingers. stretching my right hand towards him my fingers inches away from his face, my index and thumb fingers parallel to each other with a tiny gap in between. “ with a brain as tiny as this and you’d be a bad f**k anyways. You this sorry ass excuse of a man” I wobbly stand up and walk always shouting over my shoulders “who even want’s you in opium technology by the ways! Stupid”

Suddenly, something dawns on me. I strut back to him and bend over him my mouth close to his ears “I know why you’re this mad cause I drank your water. Tskk... my bad” I stick two fingers down my throat and grab the glass on the table and retched my guts into the glass. And with a triumphant smile that literally had my full teeth on display I sat the glass back on the table “here you go. Now stop being a grumpy grown baby” I grab his two cheeks in my hands wiggling them. His eyes dangerously furious right now.