I began dressing myself for the masquerade ball. I donned a black button up shirt and an iridescent silver vest. I finished the outfit with a pair of polished black dress shoes. I grabbed the black cape with a white Phantom Of The Opera mask for design that the outfit came with, and tied it under the collar of my button up. As a finishing touch, I added my Phantom Of The Opera like mask on. It covered .my face from my hairline to the bridge of my nose. The left side of the mask swooped down my cheek and jaw line while the other side didn't. I checked myself over in the mirror, my long, wet, black hair swept back, my slightly tanned skin clear, and my 5 o'clock shadow adding to the outfit.
Walking to the kitchen, I made myself a drink of whiskey on the rocks and called a cabby to pick me up. I sipped at the drink, then shot the rest back as I heard the cab driver beep to announce his arrival.
I looked out the window and saw the cabby waiting outside. I walked to the cab, before hopping in, telling him my destination, which was across town, and giving him the money for the drive. He turned on some classical music which I appreciated, and I sat back, waiting to arrive at the ball.
Twenty minutes later, I thanked the cabby for the ride, and stepped onto the sidewalk of the house the ball was being held at. House was a bit of an understatement, as it held five stories, it's own bar, and a pool in the backyard. A mansion, more like.
This had been one of many times I had gone to this ball, as it was held every year. The location changed, but the guests were usually the same. It was a nice night to let yourself go without fear of being ridiculed, or something getting back to your boss.
I opened the large doors of the house and smiled as I saw the sight the mansion held. A crowd of masked strangers talked and danced, some dressed as burlesque performers, some as business men, but all having a great time.
A few people greeted me as I walked to the bar, and ordered myself a drink. Whiskey on the rocks, it was something I loved. The bartender smiled and nodded, grabbing an ice pick and breaking some ice chunks from the block they had in the open freezer, and poured me my drink. I thanked him and tipped him a twenty, as I knew the drinks were free. He smiled and thanked me, and I nodded at him and told him it was no problem.
The bartender tended to his other customers, and I sat at the bar, on the red and silver swiveling stool, and watched the crowd. I had always loved people watching, but it was even better when you didn't know who you were watching.
I noticed a woman who I hadn't seen there before, donned in a tight, sparkling, red dress. Accompanying the dress was a black garter belt, fishnet stockings, as well as a pair of impossibly long legs and red heels, but no mask.
The unnamed woman was chatting with two masked men. One of them stood behind her, pressing into her, holding her hips. The other pressed against her from the front, nibbling on her earlobe and whispering into her ear as she laughed.
I watched the throuple for a while. I saw that at some point she had a glass of red wine, while one man held a beer bottle, the other with a glass of clear liquid, probably vodka. I turned to the barkeeper and confirmed my suspicions, before paying him to get the same drinks. When the three's drinks had been drained, I asked the bartender to send them the drinks from me.
The bartender went into the back and brought out a silver tray with a red lace doily. Another barkeeper came out and tended to the other patrons, as the man put the drinks on the tray and slipped out of the bar, walking to the throuple.
He laid the tray on a table next to them and gave then each their drink. The bartender said something to the group, probably telling them who had given them the drinks, before picking up the tray and walking back. I nodded to him and thanked him, and turned back to the couple.
All three were looking in my direction, and whispering to themselves. I grabbed my drink and slowly sipped it, looking at other people at the bar.
A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my trance. I looked up to see the throuple standing in front of me.
The woman smiled and said with a French accent, "Oh, Phantom Of The Opera man. I like."
Her accent was thick, and I could tell she had most likely been born in France and migrated here, keeping her accent.
I chuckled in response, and one of the men, one with blonde hair, added, "Thank you for the drinks, sir."
I nodded and asked them to sit. They did. The man with blonde hair sat, the woman on his lap, and the other man, with dark brown hair peppered with gray stood behind them, leaning into the two.
I chatted with the two, while the man behind them stayed silent. I didn't push him to speak, as I knew that it was bad etiquette at these events to push someone to reveal anything, even their voice.
After a while of talking, the man finally spoke up during a lull in our conversation.
"We noticed that you were looking at us," he stated.
"I was," I simply replied.
The woman looked at me from her seat in the blonde man's lap, and asked, "Why was that? I saw you people watching for quite a while, but you seemed to take a liking to us."
I chuckled and looked at her specifically before replying, "Would you like to take a guess?"
She looked back with the same intensity, and the men around her seemed to be staring at me with an incredulous expression. I assumed she must have been a woman of power, and they were shocked that I spoke to her the way I did. But here, power meant nothing unless you captured it.
"Mm," the French woman responded, "Would you like to join us three, Mister?"
I smirked at her and looked at the other men.
I shook my head in response.
The men' eyes seemed almost pop out of their skulls in that moment when I turned the woman down, but I knew what I was doing in that moment.
The woman smirked at me and stood up. The blonde man under her did the same, and the two men stiff behind her. The woman's fingers danced down my elbow to my hand, and she scratched at my palm lightly, before walking away, her men in tow.
I watched her walk off, her thin body swaying away, her short curly blonde hair bouncing with her.
They went back to their original place, and the woman said something. The men replied looking a bit oddly at the woman. The blonde man seemed rather taken aback by whatever proposal the woman had asked. The woman, in all her glory, grabbed his striped tie, and pulled him into her. She bit his lip and sucked on it, before letting go and disappearing into a corridor. The men glanced at each other, before following.
I sat and finished my drink, before standing and mingling with a few other guests. Some were flirty, other friendly, but I kept the hall the throuple had walked down in my vision at all times.
Eventually, after about an hour of mingling with others, I walked away from the groups and down the hall. One of the doors was slightly, ajar. Through the gap, I saw the woman in the red dress, kneeling on the satin, burgundy covered bed. Her dress had been bunched around her waist, revealing her small breasts, and dark pink nipples, as well as some of her flat, pale white stomach. I stood there, savoring my first look at the woman's half-naked form.
