The bar was sweltering hot and the music was so loud you had to yell in your head to listen to your own thoughts. A multitude of people gyrated on the dance floor in a swaying chaos of motion and the mingled smells of human sweat, alcohol and smoke clung nauseatingly to the air.
Todd stood by the bar watching as the people bobbed about on the floor. The girls in their short skirts, showing as much leg as they could and their shirts cut low to show whatever cleavage they could. He really didn't take much notice of the men, other than to note that most of them were dressed in shirts and pants that were tight enough to show their wears to the ladies.
Truthfully, he had never really wanted to see the inside of the dance club, because he never liked to dance, but here he was. He could thank a couple friends from work for dragging him. He looked uncomfortable and out of place. His appearance of wire-framed glasses and short brown hair made him look like he was the type of man that was more at home behind a computer screen pounding away on code and tossing back a Mountain Dew.
Two ladies walked up next to him at the bar and looked him up and down. Taking in his thin muscular frame and boyish face that sought to be a man. "You're cute," One of the women told him. She was a decent looking woman with short blond hair, but wearing too much makeup and trying desperately to look younger than she really was.
Her friend a brunette gave him a smile and a wink. She was much prettier, but older than the one with too much makeup and both were at least twice his age.
"Evening ladies." Todd told them dipping his head.
"You looking for a friend?" The blond asked.
Not understanding, he looked toward the dance floor where his friends were gyrating with some women they had found. "No, I came with friends."
This won him some giggles. "No, we were wondering if you would like us to be your friends for the night." The blond stated forwardly.
His eyes widened, as he looked back at them his attention was entirely on the two women. They weren't that bad and they wanted him to go home with them. This sort of thing never happened to him. Women, especially, experienced women typically overlooked him. "Umm...uhh." Words would not leave his tongue.
The prettier friend smiled broadly. "So is that a yes?"
"No, he wouldn't." Another woman's voice said over a lull in the music. Is this really happening? Are women fighting over me?
Todd's eyes quickly moved from the two women to the newcomer. When he settled on her his mouth dropped open a little and he had to remember not to stare. She was a petite woman wearing a knee length dress that clung to her curves but not so tight that it looked painted to her body. She looked far too serious to be in the same bar as the other two women. Her wavy brown hair back was bound back in a conservative fashion by a barrette making her look like she belonged in control of an executive meeting instead of in a bar. She was breathtaking.
Her penetrating brown eyes bore into the blond. "Aressa!" The blond women breathed in shock. "I didn't know."
"Terribly sorry Aressa," said the brunette. They bowed their heads and melted away from Aressa and Todd.
Aressa watched them go, never loosing her façade of absolute control over everything and everyone. The bumping thick crowd seemed to part around her. Todd stood staring at her unsure what to say to her.
"Hello." She finally said to him.
"Ahdada...Hi!" His tongue was acting like it was too big for his mouth.
She smiled at him and then turned away. The mass of patrons parted for her as she walked through the club.
Realizing he had just blown it with the most incredible woman, he had ever seen in his life, Todd slumped onto a barstool. His eyes never left Aressa until she disappeared through a side door near the front door of the club. She must be a friend of the owner. He realized.
"Hey bud." A male voice said next to Todd bringing him out of his daze.
"Hey Carl." Todd returned looking at his friend, who had a lovely woman under his arm.
"I'm not going to be riding back with you guys." Carl informed him. "Nicole and I are going to her place."
"Okay man. Have a good night." This made him jealous of his friend, and he now mentally kicked himself again for fumbling with Aressa, and what about the other women. He could have had his dreams fulfilled if it were not for her stepping in, and then leaving like she did. He suddenly found himself cursing the strange woman. Why did she do that? He was going to have them both.
He slumped on his barstool for the rest of the night until his friend George came to him to say that he was heading out with a woman who was kissing his neck. Todd looked up at George and realized he was not offering him a ride home either. "Um George..." He tried to say as George turned away paying attention to the girl at his side.
It was time to call for a cab. Standing from his barstool, Todd headed to the back of the club where the restrooms and telephones were. There wasn't a phone book and he couldn't remember the number for the Cab Company.
"Is everything all right?" A woman asked him.
He turned and dropped the receiver he had picked up. Once again, the same feelings fell over him as he looked at Aressa. "I...I..."
"Were left by your friends." She told him.
This time Todd only nodded. He could not figure out why he could not speak when she was near. He did not even know her, but he so badly wanted to ask her if he could be the father to her children.
