As I finish my drink, I put my empty pint glass down. I sway as I stand up from the table feeling a little tipsy. With my wife, Lucy away for the weekend, I decided to treat myself to a night in The Red Lion. Since retiring it's not often I've had the opportunity to catch up with the old boys at the local. As they slowly drift off one by one, making their excuses to get home, I decide to call it a night. I raise my hand as Dave the landlord gives me a nod and walk to the door. I draw a deep breath of the cold night and zip up my coat to the top. I start to make my way home with the crisp night air stinging my cheeks. There are a few younger revellers enjoying their drunken evening, getting into taxis or heading to the next pub. I head up the hill of the high street as I start my walk home.
I take my time. The few beers I've had are keeping me warm, but make the walk a little slower than usual. I pass by the dimly lit alleys to a few of the later drinking spots in town. I turn the corner at the market square and walk past the overbearing pink neon lighting of Pink Paradise, the towns lap dancing club. I nod at the bouncers as I walk past. It's been a while since I've walked past, and always avoided temptation. One of them gives me a puzzled look, but I keep walking, the warmth of my bed not long away.
As I get to the top of the road, and the hustle and bustle of the town centre is almost out of site, I turn my head to see the pink neon still visable. I stop for a moment to take a breath. Maybe it was the look from the bouncer, maybe it was a weekend of making my own decisions or maybe it was just the beer, but something strange within me makes me double back and head towards the doors of Pink Paradise.
As I approach the entrance, the familiar sound of thumping music and the pink glow of neon lights spill out onto the pavement. My heart is thumping with the music and my mouth drys. Having never been to anywhere like this, I am totally uncertain what to expect. My nerves almost get the better of me, as I go to walk past again, but a sudden surge of defiance propels me forward. I walk past the bouncers, keeping my eyes down and walking straight to the kiosk. I can feel the eyes of the bouncers burning into the back of my head as I pay the entrance fee. The friendly cashier explains where I can check my coat in and tells me the bar is through the curtain on the right. I step through the entrance, the smoke, music and dim lighting overwhelm my senses. I can feel the bass pulsating through the floor as I make my way towards the bar.
The club is a lot quieter than I imagined it to be, with a few seats taken up by customers and a few scantily clad dancers walking around trying to engage them in conversation. I find an empty stool at the bar and keep myself to myself.
I order a rum and coke from the barmaid. She looks bored and clearly not there to engage in conversation. In spite of this I keep facing forward, as I regret my decision to come in here.
I am aware of a couple of dancers floating around the bar chatting to some of the other customers. I try not to make eye contact, feeling uncomfortable with the whole situation. I notice that the dancers a very attractive when I'm able to take the odd subtle look, dressed in productive outfits, or skimpy underwear but are over tanned and too made up for my tastes. As I take a sip of my drink, I realise that coming here was a mistake.
As I get towards the end of my drink I turn in my swivel chair. As I do I am able to make out the silhouette through the dry ice of a slightly different looking girl. A more slender natural frame. Her stripper heels don't help her petite stature stand out, but her tight black dress hugs her porcelain skin. The length of her dress rides high revealing a suggestive amount of her tight round bum. She moves gracefully, her delicate features framed by her jet black fringed bob.
Like the others she is floating around the floor chatting to the odd customer but with this dancer, my eyes are fixed. The way she moves is captivating, drawing my attention as if by some magnetic force. She turns towards the bar, and suddenly my heart drops, I swivel back in my chair immediately and face the bar again trying to ignore the knot forming in the pit of my stomach.
"Oh my god it's Emily!" I say to myself.
Emily moved in next door with her parents, Amy and Luke, years ago, while in primary school. Lucy and I had built a close friendship with Amy and Luke, being able to offer guidance in those difficult family times, as well as enjoying barbecues in the garden and Christmas Eve drinks while dressed as Santa and Mrs Clause.
Emily became the daughter of friends. I never had a close relationship with her, but she was enjoyable to be around. Not bratty, and didn't seem to have the difficult teenage years other girls have.
There was a period when she got into baking, and would constantly ask Lucy for advice at every opportunity. She was a sweet girl, that always had a big smile on her face, she would stop to chat no matter what, to a point you couldn't get her to stop chatting.
Lucy and I would often see her in local pubs when she wasn't quite 18. Lucy would give her a friendly lecture on how to behave and promise not to tell her parents, while at the same time making me buy her a drink, so we can know she's behaving herself.
Now, here I am catching myself staring at her slender figure in the tightest dress that forms perfectly over her curves. I turn back to the bar quickly before standing up to head to the exit. As I do I hear in a loud familiar voice over the music,
"Bryan!!"
I turn my head to see a beaming smile, arms out wide, making a beeline straight for me. Emily gives me a tight hug, her enthusiasm infectious as she exclaims, "It's been absolutely ages, how've you been?" She says with giddy excitement.
Seemingly oblivious to the strangeness of our surroundings, she drags me into conversation, asking me about everything from work to family life without stopping for a breath.
"You're not going are you? Another drink to catch up?" Her big green eyes looking up right at me.
"Oh no, I better not." I responded nervously and urgently. "I just popped in on the way home from the Red Lion. I didn't realise what this place was." I lie unconvincingly, desperately finding an excuse to leave.
"Really?" Emily responds smiling, happily going along with my lie. "Well, it's still great to see you, Bryan," she says, still beaming. "What do you think of it?"
"Oh it's not really my scene." I say a lot more convincingly. I respond, trying to maintain a polite facade while mentally planning my escape from the awkward encounter, "Yeah, I think I'll head out soon, but it was really nice catching up with you, Emily." I say, also ignoring the strange surroundings we find ourselves in.
"Oh come on Bryan. Just one drink. I promise. Plleeaassee!" Emily tilts her head to the side and puts her hands together in a fake prayer, before bursting out into a fit of giggles. She puts her hands on my chest. Looking beyond her beaming smile and playful actions I start to notice the glitter in her bare pale shoulders, shimmering under the dim lights of the club, the way the top of her dress tightly hold in her her small pert breasts extenuating their perfect shape, while her nipples poke through her thin, stretched maternal. The dress clings tightly to the rest of her toned body before reaching the top of her glittered thighs, the darkness of her dress making her short but slender legs stand out before reaching her high platformed heels that are able to push her body up and elongate her legs.
I quickly snap out of my momentary trance to see Emily's bottom lip sticking out and her green eyes wide open in a fake sad puppy expression.
