Chapter 5
1768 Words
The doorbell rang at exactly 8pm sharp and I looked over at Jayden who laid on our bed observing me as I was getting ready.
“The sitter is early. For few more minutes I will be ready.”
He jumped out of bed and hurried out, pulling at his floral print Hawaiian shirt, trying hard to hide an erection as he headed downstairs.
I took a last glance in the mirror, then turned on my sparkling red heels. The edges of my tropical dancing dress flew up with the whirl, showing tops of my silk stockings. I was happy with my skillfulness on these heels, I hadn’t put on anything this steep in a longtime.
Tonight, was going to be fun.
Amelia’s plan was for us to come watch her boyfriend’s band. Seemingly, she was dating a Kenyan guy who was the lead in an Afro-Cuban group that was still underground but catching fire. Tonight, they were opening at a hole in the wall club on the east side of town. Amelia promised the music would even get Jayden, who had zero sense of rhythm, dancing to the beat.
That was it. That was her idea. It appeared benign enough. Why not?
We pulled up in our sensible Subaru station wagon to the abandoned industrial corner on the outskirts of downtown Lusaka. A queue of pretty hot young things stood in shiny dresses queueing to get past the grim bouncers at the entrance.
“Look at this queue! We’ll wait for a whole f*****g hour.” Jayden complained as the valet drove off with our car.
“We don’t have to queue, i***t! C’mon!”
I seized his hand and marched up to the bouncers dazzlingly smiling.
“We’re amongst the listed ones. We’re with Denrique.”
The two girls at the front of the queue appeared to be Denrique fans from how they threw a mean scrutiny at me. The bouncer parted the velvet ropes and in we strode.
“The power of a name, eh?” Jayden mumbled as yet another bouncer ushered us through the teemed club toward a VIP section.
The crowd parted before us, and I could notice the mean landing their eyes on me as I passed. I struggled to avoid locking eyes with any of them, trying hard to keep my face straight ahead like a good girl.
In my loose dress and high heels, I felt so on display. And so helpless. Jayden was with me but these men did not seem to give a fig about that.
The place was an ethnic mix of whites, blacks, Latinos. Their arms overcrowded with tattoos and bling bling. The women were equally hot, some dancing, mostly drinking.
“Amelia!” I squealed when we reached the table toward the main stage of the club. She was sitting alone in a VIP booth in a glittering silver dress. When she hopped up for hugs, I was delighted to see her dress showed off plenty of her gorgeous legs. I wasn’t the only half-naked chick at this table. Her tight hug felt really good. After running the gauntlet through all those ravaging eyes, I finally felt safe again.
In our seats, I tried to talk to Amelia over the club music by leaning into her ear.
“Where’s Denrique?”
“Soon. Eventually.”
Amelia leant back in her seat with that curious awareness smile covering her pretty face. Jayden who sat at my side put his hand in mine, seemingly in a possessive manner.
Her smile surprised me. Did she have something else in her mind besides dancing whole night. I gulped the anxiety and pressed Jayden’s hand harder in my own.
“You look stunning!” I yelled and she did. My friend Amelia is a gorgeous blue eyed, red haired girl with milky Irish skin. Her whiteness was exotic in this mostly ethnic scene.
“You too! I love the up-do!” She admired a lock of my jet-black hair that fell from the classy bun, showing off my bare neck and diamond earrings. “Classy! Sexy!”
Then she playfully snaked her arm around my shoulder and eyed Jayden. “You let your wife out of the house looking like this?”
“She’s her own woman,” Jayden responded. “But I have to admit, you two are way better than any of these girls.”
We cooed. Jayden’s satisfactorily said the right things. But then, the same ideal Jayden went ahead and let out of his mouth the wrong thing. Foot in mouth disease. That’s my Jayden.
“So is Denrique’s band any good?”
“What’s that intended to mean?” Amelia shot back. I glanced at Jayden because I wasn’t sure where he was going with this either.
“I mean his band is the opening act. And this club isn’t…” He tapped on the table with his right hand’s index finger. “Who are the headliners, even? Anyone we’ve heard of?”
Amelia wore a tight smile. Uh oh. Jayden was good at digging his own grave in any social situation. That’s why his career stalled in the legal world. My Jayden would never make a partnership, firm after firm, due to his unfitness at diplomacy.
“Are you trying to belittle my boyfriend? Because that’s funny.”
I kicked Jayden’s leg under the table. Amelia didn’t really like him. And he didn’t have to infuriate her. Jayden appeared apologetic as he tried to say a sorry but Amelia interrupted.
“He’s doing a short performance tonight because he wants to save his voice. The band is performing at the Latin Grammies in a few days.”
“That’s amazing.” I nodded pointedly at Jayden and let go of his hand. He looked properly punished.
The thrumming live amplified guitar disrupted everything going on in the club. We all stared up on the stage and saw standing there a man with a physique hewed straight from Pop Star Mountain. He had shaggy dark hair, broad shoulders, an expensively ratty t-shirt and jeans and a beat-up guitar. He looked young. Late twenties.
He looked up from his mop of hair and smiled at everyone. A dashing smile. The ideal smile that makes any girl hate him and love him at the same time.
“Say hello to Denrique,” Amelia uttered in a low snarl.
“Is that him?” I squealed.
“Mmm hmmm.”
“He’s a hunk!” I gushed. I couldn’t help myself despite Jayden being seated right there. Denrique for his part simply stood in the spotlight, letting all the girls in the club fill in the vacuum with jeers and wails.
“How old is he?” Jayden asked, pretending to be lacking interest.
“Twenty-eight.”
I slapped my thirty-five-year-old friend on the shoulder. “Depriving the infancy!” I accused. She threw her head back and laughed.
“It’s worth it. Believe me.”
Denrique brought his long fingers to the strings and ignited into an impossibly fast Spanish guitar solo. The audience started clapping right away. A spotlight landed on the other side of the club. We turned to see a female dancer standing on the bar. A flamenco artist.
She started gyrating her hips to the music, arms up over her head. He played hot and fast and she moved with him. His eyes bored into her as she danced for him. It was art. It was s*x. It was something every girl in the joint wanted in on that action.
The flamenco hit its climax and then the rest of Denrique’s band hopped onto the stage, taking to conga drums and keyboards. The band blasted us with a tidal wave of sound and the whole place burst into movement.
Amelia suddenly gripped my hand and whipped me out to the dance floor leaving a surprised Jayden behind to keep an eye on our seats. We were dancing practically at her boyfriend’s feet in a group of other pretty young things.
“My God, Amelia! Your boyfriend is a rock star!”
“I know!” Amelia broadly smiled.
“How do you keep him to yourself?”
“By keeping things fascinating.”
“And how do you do that?”
Amelia faced me with a grin the second time.
“How about you attend the after party and discover?”
*
A steel cube elevator lifted us up to the penthouse floor. Jayden and I were still holding hands. The warmth of his hand was the reassurance that dealt with the knot in my stomach. Attend the after party and discover. What were we going to discover?
The night so far had been amazing. I danced mostly with Amelia while Jayden lingered around, not far from our table. He was the appointed purse watcher for the night. I wondered now if he was about to become the appointed wife watcher.
On the dance floor men endeavored to dance with us but Amelia and I stuck to each other. It aided to keep the men away but it was also oddly arousing. Amelia was in excellent shape yet still curvaceous and I enjoyed pressing up against her more than I expected.
By the time we left the club, it was already midnight but both Jayden and I weren’t sleepy. Our babysitter was good until 2am. Back in our car, I plugged the after-party address into our navigator and saw it was merely right around the corner. We actually had zero excuses left.
The doors slid open straightly into the apartment. We strode into a tall ceilinged corridor, big enough for a chandelier.
Music played over hidden speakers.
Jazz music. Sexy, soothing.
Still holding hands, Jayden and I proceeded into the apartment and found a vast room with large floor pillows, deep couches, thick rugs. The lighting matched the music. Low, seductive.
Amelia marched out of a doorway that must have led to the kitchen holding some glasses and a bottle of red wine.
“Hey you guys! Come! Sit.”
We walked toward the comfy couches.
“Where is everybody?” Jayden asked for both of us.
“Oh, Denrique will be out in a minute. He’s taking a shower. He gets so sweaty after a performance.”
Amelia casually handed Jayden the bottle of wine and pointed to a corkscrew on the coffee table. Jayden took it. He didn’t seem to be asking any follow-up questions. Maybe his throat was drier than my own. So, I followed.
“Um, are there other people invited to this after party?”
Amelia kept a straight face. She scooted her skirt under her and sat down on the couch facing us.
“No. It’s just us.”
From somewhere in the apartment I could hear the sound of splashing water, then followed by that of a shower being switched off.
I stared at her in wonder. What are you up to, girl?
- Writer
