Walking into the bar was easy, even though the bouncer had to card her before letting her in. Sitting down and ordering was not.
The moment she entered the bar, eyes from the dark environs of the room became glued to her. It wasnât because she was pretty, even though she was obviously that, but there was an underlying innocence and youthness about her. She looked so out of place in the out-of-the-way bar as a lily white winter flower in the middle of the desert. Although she was dressed provocatively in a tight white shirt and very tight black jeans, there was something about her that shouted, VIRGIN!
âOh why, why why canât I turn down a dare?â she murmured under her breath as she looked around for a seat. The place embodied dank, smoky bar. Lots of dark corners, people muttering under their breaths and waitresses with too short skirts, complete with a forbidding-looking bartender.
Sarah does not usually go to bars. She was raised by a middle-class Catholic parents and has always stayed up till curfew and then dutifully go to sleep at the appointed time. Although some of her friends have invited her to go disco-dancing or at least just go to some late parties thrown by one friend or another, she has always refrained from imbibing too much and letting go.
She tried to remember why she was there. The night started out as just another one of her and her girlfriendsâ little get-togethers. Lots of food, a little bit of drinking and gossiping. It was part of their monthly ritual. Things were getting boring so one of them started a truth or dare game. At first, it was just mild stuff but as the alcohol started flowing, the questions and dares have become bolder and bolder to the point where Tina, her most outrageous friends dared her to go to the Liliana Bar at the wrong part of town. Nobody really expected her to accept the dare but some little imp inside her pushed her and now she was here, in this smelly bar, dressed in tight clothes with no underwear.
She tried bolstering her courage and sat on one of the small tables, trying to look like she belonged there. Her long black hair, wavy and half past her back, glinting red highlights in the dim lights, made it hard for her to look unobtrusive. Her face with the tilted cat-eyes, pert nose and full kissable lips made it even harder. The piece de resistance was her body. She was so small she could pass herself off as a twelve-year old but her breasts were incontestably adult-sized. On a regular-sized woman, it would look normal but on her size, it was a wonder she could stand.
A waitress came near the table.
âWhatcha havinâ?â the woman asked. She was wearing a tight crop top and a skirt that looked smaller than a plastic bandage.
âUmmmâŠ, â Sarah started. â Iâll have an iced tea, please.â
âIced tea, huh? Long Island?â the waitress cocked her head in question.
âUh, yeah! That.â Sarah nodded and the woman went away.
Glad to have gotten that over, she started looking around the bar. There were tables all around with some disreputable characters sitting around. A bar was on one side and a cleared area for dancing. There were lots of couples dancing to a slow grinding music coming from somewhere. She saw some men looking her way but avoided looking at them directly.
As she swept her gaze through the bar, her gaze caught on dark blue eyes at a dark corner. It was obviously a man although she couldnât see much of him other than that he seemed large. He sat at one of the tables at the darkest corner of the bar. She wouldnât have seen if not for his glinting blue eyes.
Those eyes. They were shining, showing so many complex emotions. Sarah could drown on those eyes. They were dark and liquid. So blue and mercurial. So deep.
âMiss, your drink,â a female voice startled her out of her preoccupation with the eyes in the darkness.