"Alex! Vite...viens voir," the elegantly dressed blonde called out.
"What is it?" he asked, hobbling over to the window by the apartment's front door.
"Regard. Over there...on the corner of the block."
There was no missing the sparkling figure standing on the pavement.
"Wow...you don't see that every day..." he started.
But they were wasted words, the front door had already been opened and the pitter-patter of feet could be heard receding down the hallway. With a shrug of the shoulders he put on the other shoe, grabbed his wallet, called out a final good night, and headed towards the lifts. By the time he joined his wife on the street corner, the figure was nothing but a glow in the back of a yellow cab.
"You missed her. She was gorgeous and glamorous. All sequins and sparkles. A college senior heading to a 'glam' themed party."
"You knew her?"
"Non...non...we just spoke briefly. I asked her where she was going...and where she got the incredible dress."
Then Sophie paused, a thoughtful expression on her beautiful face.
"Remember what it was like being a student?" she sighed. "Those carefree days. No children. No babysitter logistics. No obligations. No 3am wake ups. Costume parties. Dancing into the night. Late mornings..."
And she drifted off, looking longingly at the taxi as it disappeared into the city's chaotic traffic.
-----------------
"Come on, where are we going?" she asked again, as excited as she was nervous.
Sophie knew they were in the upper-west side, and there was something vaguely familiar about the area, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, especially as it was already dark.
"You don't remember my old stomping ground?" Alex smiled, delighting in his planned surprise.
That was it, of course! And as they rounded a corner she did indeed recognize the beautiful old stone and brick campus buildings. Although it had been a decade since her last visit, accompanying her then boyfriend to his lab, it suddenly felt like only yesterday. When they were both poor students just starting out in life together. Except, now she looked anything but poor. In fact, sitting in the back of the UberBLACK she looked like a million dollars.
"Strange place for a trendy night club..." she thought out loud.
"...I never said anything about a trendy night club..."
"Quoi?" she huffed, turning to stare at her husband with narrowing, inquisitive eyes, "You told me if I bought this dress you would take me somewhere incredible to dance the night away, like when we were students."
"Exactly. And I am. But I never mentioned a night club," he said with a naughty twinkle in his eyes.
Sophie suddenly had a bad feeling.
"You better not make me regret wearing this," she warned, crossing her arms.
Scolding herself for having agreed to wear such a showy and flashy silver sequin dress without knowing the final destination. Cursing herself for having walked straight into one of her husband's crazy ideas.
"So where is this place?" she asked impatiently as they stopped on a quiet street, nothing notable in sight.
"Don't worry that pretty little head of yours," he winked, exiting the Mercedes and extending his hand to help her out.
A toned arm appeared first. Followed by strappy silver heels and bare long legs. And as the rest of her exited the luxury black sedan it was like watching a celebrity arrive at a movie premier, or the current 'it girl' that attended all the cool parties. The shimmering silver dress stopped mid-thigh, the top half of the back was missing, and only a thin strap across each shoulder kept it in place. And with her long blonde hair in a sleek side parting she looked like a Swedish super model. The only thing missing to complete her ensemble was a horde of paparazzi snapping away.
Alex led his scowling trophy down the street. Clicking heels and sparkles announcing her arrival, ensuring that everyone they passed found it impossible not to stare. Up ahead there was a terraced brownstone which seemed to be a hubbub of activity. Groups going in and out. A lively and jovial crowd milling out front, enjoying the warm summer night.
Getting closer, booming music could be heard, and Sophie could now see they were college students. Her free hand went instinctively to the short hemline to try and pull the dress further down. But to her surprise, instead of walking past the building, her escort stopped.
"My old residence!" he said triumphantly, raising his hands towards the brownstone. "It was before your time Sweetie, when I was a 'strapping undergrad bachelor'. We used to throw the best party at the end of the year...and I am glad to see they kept up the tradition. Of course, I did have a backup plan just in case..."
"Tu ne peux pas Γͺtre sΓ©rieux. You can't be serious!" She stammered. "A student...how do you call them...dorm party? Putain Alex, look how I am dressed!"
"Hang on..." he said defensively, "you are the one who said you wanted to go out like we were students again. You are the one who told me how much you wanted to wear that sparkling dress to go dancing like that college senior you saw the other night."
"Oui, oui, but..."
"Well, here we are," he said emphatically, "And this isn't just any old dorm party. It is THE dorm party. This used to be chez moi. Hallowed ground. I guarantee you'll love it. So, let's dance the night away like students, just like you wanted to. Look. No one knows us. No one will care if we crash...especially with you dressed like that. Hell, you still look like a college senior anyway, you'll fit right in. Me...I look like your lecherous old sugar daddy...but fuck it!"
"Seriously," she giggled, turning to leave, "joke's over, let's go."
But her husband refused to budge.
"Fine. We don't have to stay," he conceded. "But given we are here, let's go in for a minute and check it out. I'm curious to see if it has changed."
"Non," she replied, increasingly uneasy about all the staring eyes.
"OK, then stay here for a few minutes while I go in quickly and..."
"Quoi! You can't leave me here...alone."
"Then come in for pity's sake! We'll do a quick tour, and then we can go somewhere more... chic and cool."
"Urgh...promise?"
"Scouts honor."
She'd heard that before and should have known better.
"Bon, quickly then," she relented, allowing herself to be reluctantly pulled into the queue of people squeezing into the building. Taking care to avoid the bodies and empty plastic cups already littering the stairs. Her sexy black panties barely hidden beneath the short sparking dress as she navigated each step.
Alex led them inside and up a flight of equally crowded stairs, going deeper and deeper into the pulsing space. Their senses adjusting to the invasive atmosphere. The mass of people. The stench of sweat and alcohol. Until, rounding a corner, they found themselves in a dimly lit room full of heaving bodies.
Sophie stopped dead. The music, the smell, the crowd, everything about it triggered something. A repressed memory from her freshmen days. A night that she had never told anyone about. A night that had been expunged from her past. But now the flashes came rushing back. Too real to ignore. Confused and conflicting emotions surfacing as her body started to remember...