The club was nasty. Not just the lack of cleanliness or the barely camouflaged pornographic nature of the dΓ©cor, but the atmosphere permeating it. He was off the map and here there be monsters. There was a dark metallic thump to the music and it filtered in through not just his ears but his very pores. The predominant colour in the club was black; black hair, black clothes, black makeup, black walls and floors. The mood was black. Everything was dark and sinister and sexually charged. The dancers on the floor moved with serpentine motions that beckoned and exuded lust and disillusionment. Feet barely moving, the bodies were moving mostly from the waste up. Each dancer occupied his or her space and ignored those around them. It was as if each was in a room of their own, listening to music unheard by any other ears. William moved through this den of iniquity and felt, finally, at home. No one judged here, no one cared enough in fact to judge.
He moved to the bar and shouted at the bartender for a beer. The steady thump of music moved into his bones. The bartender placed the beer in front of him and William laid a five down. He picked up the beer and took a drink turning around to scan the crowd. Directly in front of him was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. She wasn't just pretty, not merely a "looker", but absolutely beautiful. She smiled at him with cranberry lips and showed him teeth, pearl white, her canines glinting in the low light of the club. Her hair was nothing less than jet, only about shoulder length, it was the texture he usually associated with Asian girls and it looked like heavy silk. It was all one length and he had to physically resist the urge to reach out and touch it, run his fingers through it, smell it. She had dark eyes, brown maybe even black and they were made that much darker by the black kohl she had lined them in and the black mascara sweeping her lashes. Her skin was pale, he guessed if the light had been better he'd have said almost translucent. She pouted her lips at him in a coquettish way and said,
"Care to buy a girl a drink"
It was such a strange thing to hear in a place like this. A pick-up was the last thing he expected. Possibly a mugging maybe a beating, never a come-on from a goddess. He lifted his beer to her in mock salute,
"Of course, what's the girl having?"
"Anything...on ice" and she made another pout with her full lips.
He turned from the bar with a vodka on ice and saw she had moved to a small table at the rear of the club. He moved through the throng of dancers and drinkers to her. She sat on a stool; her short plaid skirt revealing long longs. She was watching the crowd, absently and as he stepped up to her she dazzled him with a toothy smile.
"Your drink..." he placed the glass in front of her.
"Thanks" she said and reached for the glass, grazing his hand as he released it. A sizzle of electricity seemed to pass at the contact and he reflexively jerked his hand back. Laughing, slightly embarrassed, he sat down on a matching stool. He sat uncomfortably next to her. She sat silent and still, only her eyes moving. He felt forgotten.
"I've never seen you here before. My name is Catherine." She took a sip of the drink still scanning the club, watching the dancing.
"Yeah, never knew this place existed till tonight. My name is William." He started to reach his hand out, then thought better of it.
"Well, William, my place is an eight-minute cab ride from here. This place is terribly...noisey." She slid her eyes from the crowd towards him. They seemed to shift from brown to amber, the pupils huge and black, beneath them she smiled, like a Cheshire cat.
"Um...sure, I guess." The offer took him by surprise, and though his mind counciled caution his body said, "fuck yes!" Catherine stood gracefully from the stool and began walking towards the front of the club. William took a last quick drink of his beer and followed. The image of a puppy following its master popped into his head and he brushed it away with irritation.
When he stepped through the front doors he saw her talking to the doorman and then watched as a cab was hailed for her. The car pulled up and she climbed in, he followed.
"Where to?" the driver asked.
Catherine gave the address and settled back in her seat. Once again, William had the impression that she was not ignoring him so much as forgetting him.
True to her word, eight minutes later they pulled in front of a simple but nice apartment building and the car stopped. She opened the door and stepped out. The driver leaned back, hand held out. William smiled to himself, shaking his head. He pulled out his wallet and handed the cabby a $20,
"Keep the change."
"Thanks, Diamond Jim." The cab driver said, sarcastically.
William climbed out and slammed the door shut. He saw Catherine was waiting for him at the front doors, and walked up to her.
She keyed in the door code and opened the door, holding it for him. He followed her to the elevators and she pressed the up button. They stepped in and she pressed the button marked 13, the top floor.
"Thirteen, huh?" She turned her eyes away from the silver doors and looked up into his face. Suddenly the metal box felt very small and hot. He took an unconscious step back.
She smiled at him,
"Is that a problem?"