Her name was Angel. So misleading in its audible inference to a celestial being.
Her lavender eyes were his downfall. Lavender; like the flower. With a speckle of red. Like... the red of the violin shape on a black widow spider's back.
Oh, so apropos...
*******
She had been sitting at the far end of the bar of the hotel's lounge; sipping on a drink when he first saw her and... those eyes.
Besides the bartender himself, they were the only two in the bar at mid afternoon that chilly, but sunny April Thursday, as all the rest of the seminar's attendees were still in the conference center across the avenue. She sat somewhat astride of the plush backed bar stool; her long, shapely legs hosed in sheer stockings and crossed at the knees; a hematite anklet adorning her left ankle. She was dressed in a black business suit; black heels. All business in attire; demeanor. She appeared to be about thirty or so, but the all- business appearance may have tacked on a few as yet unlived years. Her deep red hair was pulled up into a French twist; wisps of the cherry wood color drifting down to either side of her face in faint tendrils. Something that looked like a key hanging from a chain around her long, swan-like neck was the only other jewelry visible. No wedding ring; no rings at all on her red lacquered nails; the hue of red nearly matching the deep mahogany of her hair. She seemed deeply engrossed in some legal binder's content, and he thought she was too into her notes to look up and realize that he was taking mental notes of her.
But... the spider was aware.
He casually walked up to the bar and sat on the stool two seats away from her; ordered a beer on tap, and pulled out his pack of cigarettes and his silver lighter from his suit pocket. As he lit a cigarette and deeply drew in the first of the nicotine, he glanced toward the lady in black, and caught her now watching him; almost studying him as she had been but moments before studying her notes; her red lips upturned at the corners ever so slightly, and with eyes the color of which he described to himself as "libido lavender". Her eyes; an instant turn on to him, were also an instant hard on to his cock. That had never happened before in all of his thirty two years of bachelor life. But as he felt the erection maximizing, he also sensed something else that had never happened before. He felt definite recoil of his balls; almost as if they were frightened at the sudden reaction of their excited associate.
A reaction worth remembering.
*** SAID THE SPIDER TO THE FLY***
"I see you found the seminar's speaker to be very motivating too" Lavender Eyes softly said; a tinge of sarcasm lacing the words. As she brought the last of her drink's content to her full, red lips, she did not take those exotic and erotic eyes off of him.
"Yeah, if I found him any more stimulating, I would have fallen asleep in my seat" he replied; matching his tone of sarcasm to hers.
"Actually, I think you did," she laughed, as she put her empty glass down. "As I was making my own hasty retreat, I passed someone whose chin was resting on his lapels. I believe that someone was you. Do you suppose the rest of the group have done just that? Fallen asleep, I mean? After all, it's only you and I that are here. Yet, I can't imagine why we are the only two sharing that opinion – and this bar," she remarked; as she glanced around the lounge. She was still holding the binder she had been viewing, but now closed it and put it on the bar to the other side of her.
"Well, maybe it's just that neither of us find any real value in the seminar for our own professional needs, and just happen to have realized it quicker than the others" he surmised. "Christ! Those eyes are two wet dreams in the making!" he thought to himself, as he swiveled in his seat to face her; his brown eyes now transfixed onto those which sexual fantasies were made.
"Miss, I'll have to go downstairs to get another bottle of Firewater for your drink. It will take me just a few minutes," the bartender explained as he cleared her empty glass from the bar. She nodded in acknowledgement with that same little smile as had been on her lips a few minutes ago.
"Firewater, huh? Isn't that stuff lethal? I mean, a couple of bottles of dark Heineken would rock me off this stool; let alone something made with liquid flames!" he laughed; in total astonishment; and with a total erection bouncing in his jockeys like it was on a trampoline. And, like before, his balls continued to tighten; almost cringe; as if forewarned of impending danger.
A warning he well should have heeded.
Lavender Eyes just continued to smile; shifting slightly in her chair to face him now. And he just continued to talk.
"My company paid a heavy chunk of change to send me here to listen to that guy. I didn't need to be here wasting their money - or my time. Instead of being at a worthless seminar for three days, I could have been working on one of our biggest accounts doing what I do best – selling an idea through illustrated presentation. But; no, the big guns at my agency decided that in order to put their best advertising artist on the cutting edge, I should come to this wimped out festival for overnight success hopefuls. What a joke! 'How to Sell Yourself through Innovative Advertising'. I don't need to sell myself – my talents as a commercial artist and the gift for gab sell it all. And to think there is yet one more day to deal with this boring drone! I couldn't even stick it out for the remainder of his presentation today, and obviously - neither could you."
He hadn't realized he had blurted so much about himself to this total stranger that had simply begun polite; but impersonal conversation with him. Not until he ground out his cigarette; now burned completely down to its filter. It was then that he realized he had only taken the first initial drag from it. And it was then he felt those eyes, once more, searching him; studying him.
"I guess I've just proven to you I wasn't exaggerating when I say I have the gift for gab," he confessed; somewhat apologetically, as the full impact of what, and just how much he babbled, hit him. "And I usually introduce myself before running off at the mouth, but hey; better late than never, right? My name is Doug- Doug Langley. I hail from California; born, raised and will most likely, die there too." He nodded his head once in confirmation with his belated formal introduction.
"My name is Angel", the sultry voice behind the red lips announced; also simply nodding her head of burgundy manes toward him.
Doug gathered she did not wish to offer her last name, and didn't think too much about it. She smiled that same; almost spellbinding smile as she had done twice before, and then continued her self introduction.
"I am here for the seminar, but chose to do so all of my very own accord" she began, as an afterthought of that little confession made both of them chuckle. "I am a freelance photographer and my business takes me to many places; for many clients and for many reasons. I live in Boston, but was actually born and schooled here in Chicago. I am not staying here in the hotel as are the rest of the people from the seminar, but at a friend's home on the outskirts of the city. She and her husband are in Spain for a month, and it conveniently coincided with both my registering for the seminar and working on a photo assignment for a new client. So, I house sit and get to use her car in exchange. Everything fell into place nice and neatly."
While Angel was telling him a little about her career and about her temporary living arrangements, Doug was telling himself that there was something behind the words; behind the full red lips and smile; behind the libido lavender eyes that she wasn't revealing. But then, why would he feel she was hiding something? After all, they were merely going through perfunctory introductions. He had neither reason nor right to feel she was concealing anything. He was more than interested; he was very intrigued and yes; very aroused by his new acquaintance. And although he didn't make it a habit to pick up a woman in a bar, this seemed different – she seemed different. He realized he had met her less than thirty minutes before, yet he found himself, strangely and uncontrollably, moving in very quickly on this mesmerizing vision; drawn to her much like a moth is to a flame.
Like a fly to a spider's web.
It was amazing to him that he didn't remember seeing this intoxicating woman in the seminar that day, but then again, the conference room was packed. And he had all to do to keep his eyes open when he fell out of interest {well, maybe he did nod off after all, as she said}; so he conceded it wouldn't have been too hard to have overlooked her. But now she was definitely noticed; very visible; sitting just two seats away from him; so close he could feel the inebriating sensuality emitting from her every pore.
"And thinking about amazed and hard... I'm amazed that my cock- as hard as it is- hasn't torn through the fly on these pants and taken a dive under her skirt! I wonder if she's the type that wears thongs... or maybe crotchless panties... or maybe... nothing at all beneath a black lace garter b... "
The bartender's return with the bottle of Firewater interrupted his undergarment guessing game fantasy and Doug's attention, for the first time since he walked into the hotel's lounge, was distracted from this seductive woman dressed in black {and maybe; just maybe, wearing a black lace garter belt, too} that called herself Angel. He lit another cigarette; intently watching the bartender concoct the potion; an infusion of Firewater, Tabasco, peppermint schnapps, and heaven only knows what else thrown in for good measure.
Heaven only knows? That cliché, in retrospect, would be a bad joke by the night's end.
