Chapter 5: Saturday Night

‘Please stop.’ It was all she’d said. It wasn’t so much the words that were said, but the way she said it. Just once, soft and pained.

‘Please stop.’ The words echoed in Allison’s ears. Allison assumed Bethany was a lesbian, a full-fledged full-time lesbian who was part of this adventure. Now, it occurred to Allison that perhaps this wasn’t all play for Bethany. Maybe this was new for her too. Allison was still conflicted; more than she’d want to be or was willing to admit at the moment.

The silence was thick.

Some people have facial features that make them seem like children when they’re sad. They have big eyes and pouty lips, and when these people are hurt, the world hurts for them. Bethany was not one of those people—she was slender and angular with high cheekbones and clear confident eyes. She looked like someone who was working on a very difficult problem—focused while holding back frustration.

As the seconds passed, the shadow that had darkened her countenance passed. Bethany took a small breath and broke the silence, “I’ll bring you back to the loft. You can order dinner there.” Bethany picked up a terry cloth robe for herself, retrieved her clothes, and headed towards the exit.

Allison followed, too cowardly to try to make amends with her own heart and too unsure of how to make amends with Bethany. They arrived at the elevator in silence. As the doors opened Allison finally spoke up, “I’m sorry.”

Bethany looked back to her, saying nothing.

“I’m sorry I was such a bitch back there.”

Bethany smiled without warmth and dismissed it, “Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault. It’s nothing. Really.”

“Can you forgive me?” Allison asked with a rising intonation. She hoped to play the cute card for a quick fix.

Bethany kept her eyes fixed forward at the yellowed reflection of her own face and said blandly, “You’re forgiven.”

Silence.

The silence was just as maddening as it had been before. “I just don’t want to end this badly.”

Another pause dragged on. Bethany’s lips opened twice, and Allison had hoped to hear something, only to have the words swallowed. They arrived back at the loft and Bethany spoke, “This is your stop. I have some work to do, but food will be sent up as soon as you order it.”

Allison was cursing herself for freezing up with such a lame apology, but she was so conflicted that she couldn’t seem to muster anything more. She got off the elevator and looked back apologetically again. Bethany glanced at her, looking her over one more time before the elevator closed and she was gone. Allison felt like a prisoner who’d just watched the cell doors slam shut. Her feelings were not far off.

Bethany did have work to do. She returned to clothing storage, calling Carmen to make sure Allison’s dinner would be ready. Her next call was supposed to be to the boss, but she was dreading it. She was uncertain as to why, though. She closed her eyes and thought, picturing the last time they spoke. Every time she heard his voice it seemed to echo as “Truth” in her mind. It was something in his voice. She didn’t know if it was magical or some trick, but she was becoming aware of some kind of manipulation. The thought of calling and talking to him scared her to pieces. If nothing else, at least she needed to get the work out of the way before he got back.

She picked out one of the dancer’s outfits and, after a moment’s hesitation, grabbed Allison’s own outfit which was folded neatly alongside the other dancer outfits. Rummaging quickly, she found Allison’s shoes and two bags: one plastic and one small duffel bag. She stuffed Allison’s outfit into the plastic bag and the shoes and dancer’s outfit in the duffel bag, then stuffed the plastic bag in the duffel bag. If she was going to be walking around with Allison’s clothing she didn’t want it to be seen lest that raise any questions. She had no idea what she was planning or going to do, but she only knew that she had to do something.

Looking around she found a suit jacket, white button down pinstripe blouse, and matching trousers. They seemed familiar. She ditched the robe, stripped out of her bathing suit, and tried on the jacket quickly. It felt right somehow. She shoved those into the jacket into the duffel bag along with the shirt. She really felt the need to hurry, so she threw on her panties, put the pants back on and grabbed a black draping halter that tied around the neck with a deep plunging neckline. The top accentuated her smooth shoulders and left a lot of back exposed, not to mention the neckline that plunged only a few inches away from her navel. Perhaps this would keep people from noticing her trousers. She hurried back down to deliver Allison’s clothing. The boss would have been expecting her call by now. Frankly, she was surprised he hadn’t called her back yet.

Allison was sitting in front of the baby grand piano when she heard the elevator open up to the loft again. She glanced around it to try to see who was coming. Bethany strode in and right past her, it seemed as though she hadn’t even heard Allison’s weak, “Hi.”

Increasingly perturbed and a little freaked out, Allison got up, clutching her robe closed and headed after her stopping at the door, “Hey, wait a sec.”

Bethany was at the bed with a duffle bag in front of her. “Your clothes are...” she said, while digging through it, “here,” pulling out some sheer fabric, “here,” pulling out what seemed to be pants of some kind, “and here,” pulling out some accessories and padded dance shoes with grippy bottoms.

“Wait, those aren’t my clothes,” Allison complained, stepping into the bedroom.

Bethany zipped up the bag in a hurry, then turned back to face Allison, “This is what you’re wearing tonight.”

“What? Says who?”

“Says the boss,” she matter-of-factly replied.

“Hold on a sec, I want to talk to Sirius.”

Slightly nettled, Bethany peered at her sideways and said nothing.

“I’m ser- I’m not kidding, I want to talk to him right now,” Allison demanded.

This made Bethany pause for a second looking off to the side considering, she then smiled, reached into her pocket and offered, “Sure, use my phone.”

Bethany scrolled down recent calls looking for Sirius. When she hit ‘Boss’ she figured that was probably it.

A familiar voice came on at the other end, “Ah Miss Bethany, it’s about time. I was just putting the little one to bed.”

Allison’s face suddenly beamed as she heard Julian talking about what must be his child, she suddenly found herself seeing him in a new light, imagining him as a kind and loving father tucking in his little girl. She stammered out, “Oh, no hi Sirius, it’s me, I’m on her phone.”

“Ah yes, miss...” his voice trailed off, and her heart sank.

“Me, Allison—your date tonight, but you never —”

“No, yes, I know, Miss ... Allison Remy, of course, I’m sure you’re quite excited about tonight’s opportunity.”

Allison jolted for a moment at his use of the word ‘opportunity’. She pressed on with her first thought, “You never told me you had kids.”

Pause. “Kids? Oh ah yes, well, comes as a bit of a shock to me too sometimes.”

“So did you have a nice day with them?”

“Yes, well I had a wonderful day with this one, but he’s quite tuckered out at the moment.” Alone, it was a true statement. “What about you, love, I’m hoping you’re feeling relaxed, did Bethany work you over well?”

Allison bit her lip at this. It was her turn to pause, “Yes, well she’s a wonderful masseuse.”

“Excellent, very well, please eat well, and be ready when I arrive, which should be in a few hours. I’m making certain the guests will be taken care of when they arrive.”

“Wait, guests? We’re having a dance party?”

“Of sorts, you see I have many friends who are club owners, fashion designers, theater owners, and a variety of other wealthy gentlemen and women. I’m having some of them over tonight, and I was hoping to showcase you. Perhaps you might find this a wonderful opportunity if someone finds you compelling.”

“Oh ... right, of course,” she replied, suddenly rather confused.

She was only half listening when he said, “I’m expecting a delightful show after last night. Oh, and can you put Bethany on?”

She handed the phone to Bethany, who took it, along with the zipped up duffel bag and walked out of the bed room, “Yes sir?”

Allison wasn’t listening anymore, she was just trying to adjust her expectations. She wasn’t his date tonight. She was the entertainment. But he was right, it was a great opportunity. It was something she’d dreamed of doing, but hadn’t in favor of office work and a steady paycheck. Now here she was with the chance to be her dream, and she was all muddled in sex and confusion.

Bethany was dreading the prospect of listening, but she brought the phone to her ear and waited for it. His voice had venom. He reminded her that she knew she shouldn’t ever let someone else use her phone to call him without asking him first. At least she’d been successful in her duty to seduce Allison on the massage table. “One more thing, do you have the necklace?”

“No, sir,” she droned.

“Well then make sure you get it and bring it to me at the party.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bethany left a confounded Allison in the loft to pursue her duties. The first duty was the necklace, and the first place to look was the massage room. She spotted it on the floor by the table. Bethany picked up the pearl necklace that had been abandoned. She held the poison baubles in her hand, looking over them for a tortured moment. Her lip curled in resignation as she balled up the trinket and shoved it into the pocket of her trousers. A few thoughts flashed through her head, stalling her for just a moment before she headed out.

Julian was quite pleased with the number of guests that would be arriving tonight. There’d be plenty of people to appreciate a partial sampling of Miss Remy’s assets. He allowed Bethany and Carmen to finish preparations in the white room. They oversaw a few men who placed a false wood panels over the sunken pillowed floor creating a temporary dance floor. Long before the guests were to arrive, they made certain that champagne and hors d’œuvres were prepared.

Allison was feeling a bit neglected in the loft. She had the outfit, she had dinner, and now she had about an hour of stretching and waiting for ‘Sirius’ to come get her. ‘Oh who was I kidding, I’m not the date I’m the entertainment. At least the outfit makes me feel like a dancer. It’s almost like getting ready for those dance recitals, only this time there’s no choreography to fuck up.’ The wine red camisole top was form fitting and sheer. Most of the fabric was translucent, so she was quite pleased with the flesh toned lining. The pants were loose enough in the legs to flared out when she spun and cuffed at the bottom like harem pants. They also had a flesh tone lining and since she only had a pair of swim trunks for underwear, she decided it would have to do for the time being. The pants had small thin drawstrings on each side which she tied so that they’d sit snug on her hips, and double-knotted to prevent any embarrassing accidents. Her arms bore sheer cloth bracers made of the same wine red material. She tried some liquids, rolling her hands through figures and noticed how the bracers isolated and accentuated her hands. It really was a pretty good dancer’s outfit.

She sat on the ground trying to do front splits and thought, ‘Crap, I’ve lost so much flexibility. Well, at least I look the part.’ A wry smile then played on her lips, ‘You know, I kinda look like a superhero, all I need is the mask.’ About half an hour after her nerves had turned to boredom, Allison’s ears perked up to the sound of the elevator opening up. She shot up and padded over to it.

‘Sirius’ greeted her with a smile and flowers—orchids and jasmine. “At last, Miss Remy, you look stunning.”

“Well it’s about time, you know, for a first date I have to say I’m a little underwhelmed, bucko.” She felt a little pathetic saying it, but she hoped that it was still a date. If it wasn’t, then this was his chance to correct her.

While his tardiness left something to be desired, his look was casual and elegant. A suit jacket and pants with a mock turtleneck shirt gave him a boss on casual Friday kind of look. “It has been a hectic day, with preparations and such, I trust I didn’t leave you too long, but if I did, perhaps I could win your forgiveness with these and my undivided attention.”

She smiled as her complaints melted in the face of flowers and charm. For the time being his ambiguity was enough. “Maybe ... it’s a start.” She took the flowers and hugged him. “Okay so wait, I have so many questions, okay, first, how was your son, you didn’t tell me his name.”

“Of course, my son is asleep and, oh do come with me, the guests are starting to arrive.” He pulled her into the elevator, “You know, I believe I can say with certainty, that I’ll be inspiring envy by walking into the soiree with you on my arm.”

“Ah, so I’ll be your hood ornament.” She took a mental note, apparently he didn’t want to talk about his son.

He regarded her with a bit of surprise, “You aren’t going to make this easy on me are you?”

Her wry smile spread and her voice lowered as the elevator door opened up to the white room, “Oh, so you only like easy women then?”

He flashed her a smiling growl, then turned to the opened doors and took her arm in his, “Ah hello Mister Gardner, Traci, so good to see you again.” He instantly took on the demeanor of the amiable host, and she was his lady.

Not many people had arrived, just four guests, who she quickly met. The first was a couple, Alaric Gardner, a business owner of some sort, and his date Traci. She noted quickly that Traci was wearing a wedding ring, but Alaric wasn’t and they were quite friendly with each other. ‘Interesting friends,’ she mused.

There was, a middle aged diminutive Asian man who told her to call him “Tyrone”. He was involved in some kind of transactional finance and he rattled off to Sirius about something in Mandarin or possibly Thai. It was odd, but he referred to Sirius as “the river man”. An interesting nickname, but unfortunately this left her without her escort.

Standing there with flowers in her arms, she met the remaining man who was seated at the bar. Two days worth of facial hair, dark shades, and a bird’s nest of curled locks atop his head gave him a definite bohemian look that didn’t match his suit. “Are you going to be carrying those during your performance?”

“Hmm? Oh no, these were from Sirius. They—yeah.” She was about to explain about the tardiness but didn’t want to go into it, then she was about to ask about how he knew she’d be performing but of course there was the outfit and she was sure Sirius had told them, so instead she just dropped it.

“Give them here.” He took the flowers, then took a vase which contained an intricate metal design that seemed to look like a flower—but entirely in right angles—and dumped it out into the garbage behind the bar. Satisfied, he stuck the flowers in the vase, and filled it up with apparently water and club soda from the fountain. “There we go, much better.”

She just stared at him in shock. As it turns out he was an artist of some kind. He didn’t go into any details of what he did or how he knew Sirius, though she hoped that it was his artwork that he’d dumped into the trash and not someone else’s.

One by one and two by two, more guests started arriving, and the more that did, the more Allison felt out of place. Many of the women wearing either gorgeous gowns or smart suits, and the men’s suits seemed quite expensive as well. She felt a bit less like a superhero and a bit more like a girl at a Halloween party had turned out not to be a costume party.

Still, Sirius would introduce her here and there to various people. Some of the men were openly appraising her body, even those who had women who doted on them absolutely. She tried picturing herself being one of those women. A kept woman who doted on her man’s every move. She shuddered a bit to herself as she was watching one girl—probably younger than her, doting on an old coot who could have been her grandfather. She was rubbing herself along his side and giggling at every little thing he said. It was kind of pathetic.

While she was watching that spectacle, Bethany arrived from the elevator. She smoothed out her daring top and approached her master, slipping the ‘pearl necklace’ into his hand. He nodded and pulled her in giving her a few instructions and pointing to the lighting control panel. Bethany nodded and left, making her way to a corner and staying mostly out of view.

Allison’s nerves were rising. The more out of place she felt, the more she felt like she needed a drink. Some of the looks and knowing grins were starting to unnerve her a little as well. She was considering partaking of the champagne when her eyes lit up as Sirius approached her again.

“You know, Miss Remy, I’m surprised you haven’t asked me about the dancing you’ll be doing tonight.”

“Oh, well I didn’t want to bother you, everyone seems to need you for something or other—”

“True, but I won’t have you going into this completely blind. Keep mingling, I’d say you’re making good impressions, though I’d avoid eating too much if I were you. In about an hour, the lights will dim and you’ll dance your first set. The music will be a bit of a funk staccato number. Hip-hop instrumental. It’ll be a long number so make sure you don’t run out of steam too early.”

She nodded, falling out of a dating frame of mind as quickly as she’d gotten into it. Her lip curled and she studied his shoes as he continued.

“The second song is going to be a bit more of an American Blues song. I chose Michael Bublé’s version of ‘Feelin’ Good’, it is passionate, intense, and lyrical, I’m looking forward to seeing your interpretation of the song. Would you like to hear it first?”