"Damn."
Damn, indeed.
The exterior of LowiSe is as dope as its interior. It looks like a shopping complex, but in this case... A club-like complex.
It didn't have its name glaring in neon lights.
The exterior is wide and... Wide. The parking space took almost half of the compound-like area, the other side of the area being the booking center, the drive through and the mini lounge.
It didn't look like a club, honestly. It, more or less, took the structure of a five-star hotel. It was two storey with glass as walls and half-naked sculpted mannequins as pillars.
The fact that it is Monday didn't stop the club from being packed both inside or outside. The, surprisingly, organized crowd switches the black woman's anxiety up a notch.
She feels more self-conscious than she'd ever been. She wants nothing more than to jump into her kitten paws pajamas and run back to Joel's apartment and beg him to take her back... That's what she wants, not need.
Shaking her head slightly, she turns to look at her cousin, who wore a bored look and was clutching a card. More like a gate pass. Natalie gasps as Polly cuts the line and walks up to the bulky bouncer. The bouncer, who had a stony look on his face, nods in acknowledgement at Polly and moves the steel door open. Polly hands him the card and walks in.
"Stop there!"
Natalie's eyes widens.
Don't look back. Don't look back. Don't look back.
She looks back either way. Various eyes were watching the slight commotion. Natalie gulps as the bouncer stares hard at her.
"Card pass?"
Don't faint. Don't faint. Don't fai—
"Chill out, Danny. She's with me." Polly's voice chirps in next to hers. Her tone is laced with irritation towards the black woman.
The bouncer—Danny—grunts lowly as he nods back at Polly, "Keep that one close. She's got a pretty big ass, men love big asses." He adds and squints his eyes at Polly, "and don't call me Danny no more."
Polly rolls her eyes and pulls Natalie close to her this time as the walk further inside. At this point, Natalie was two breaths from kissing Polly out of appreciation.
*That man could have squashed me like a bedbug and hide my body in a cave in Alaska,* Natalie thinks wearily as she shudders for the fifth time today.
They both walk in with different demeanors.
Polly; who wore a bra-like crop top and bottom shorts, had a confident smirk plastered on her face. She had every right to be confident. Her heels added a few inches to her height and as well, her ego.
She received compliments like;
"Hey, Polly!"
"Digging those earrings, baby!"
"That ass ain't looking no smaller!"
"C'mon lemme tap 'em!"
Natalie? That is a totally different case.
She looks hot. Smoking, hot chocolate, hot. Her thick curvy body is clad in the black shiny knee-length dress she'd borrowed from Polly, seeing as she couldn't own anything as skimpy as that.
The back of the dress is wide open and oval in shape; the width stopped just at the middle of her back, successfully showing off the creamy chocolate skin that used to be hidden in sweatshirts and hoodies.
"Hey, Nat! I'm gonna go hang out with some peeps! Don't get lost," Polly yells over the loud noisy music, "Oh, and if you need to go home, suck it up 'cos I've got work and I don't leave till 2 am."
Before Natalie could respond, Polly is already strutting away, trailing her fingers on the chests of hungry 40-year olds just build up the tension.
Natalie groans. Polly had just left her all alone in the midst of wolves... All alone. She grips the strap of her purse tightly to steady her breathing before she walks away from what looks like the dance floor. She stands behind a short rail that separated the lounge area from the dance floor.
After securing a safe spot for her to wait for Polly and observe, she does just that... Wait.
"Hmm. That is big!"
Natalie jumps and turns back immediately. A small blush coats her cheeks as a short woman—lady—checks her out.
"Hi,"
"Oh, hey. You got me lost there," the woman smirks as she points as Nat's behind.
"Oh." The black woman squeaks as she bites her lip.
"I'm sorry, my manners! I'm Kaller. No one calls me Kaller though, just call me Kally." She stretches her hand for a handshake which Natalie accepts.
"Natalie. Everyone calls me Natalie, but you can call me Nat." Natalie chips in as Kaller—Kally—releases her hand from the handshake.
Kally nods in apprehension, "So, first time here?"
"Yes. Well, actually, I'm here with my cousin. We were supposed to go job hunting, but I don't know why we're at a club." Natalie shrugs and Kally gives her a look before chuckling lightly. "What about you?"
"Oh, me? I'm a worker here," Just as she says, Natalie finally notices the empty tray that was between her forearm and her underarm. "I serve and bartend sometimes, you know, Boring stuff."
"Oh, cool! I guess?" Natalie passes an awkward smile before rubbing her wrists slightly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I've been meaning to ask, is that a wig?" Kally points to Natalie's hair that was pulled in a half ponytail; the first half of her hair was pulled in a ponytail while the remaining half fell loosely on her back.
"It's not a wig, I promise."
Kally blinks once then twice before grinning widely, "Oh my God, I love your curls! It looks so... Fresh, unlike mine that looks like chopsticks."
Natalie laughs for a moment, "Thank you."
"Kally! Table 19 needs a refill!" A tiny, yet loud, voice interrupts their conversation. Natalie traces the voice to a tall woman with a stressed look etched on her face.
Kally rolls her eyes. She turns to Natalie and smiles apologetically, "Duty calls. If you're bored, come over to the fifth counter, I might even give you a free lollipop." She winks suggestively and Natalie giggles before waving at an already retreating Kally.
The first hour passes, then the next. Then the next. Natalie is bored. She kept wondering how people loved clubbing and partying so much, especially her former college roommates. They were party animals. She won't be so surprised if she bumps into one of them during the course of the night.
LowiSe, to her, is honourably uneventful. The dance floor is still packed with sweaty bodies and sexually frustrated adults trying to dry hump themselves into the next century.
The dim lighting gives off the whole steamy vibe. The bar area that Kally had talked about was at the far left hand side of the spacious room. Another lounge area is located at the right, the dance floor occupied the center.
The next hour is still uneventful, till Natalie notices something. Someone is staring at her. Not the 'shy-peek-and-admire' kind of stare. No. It is more of a 'smirk-filled-full-on' type of stare.
It made Natalie uncomfortable.
"No drink?" A new voice yells beside her. It was the man that was staring few minutes ago.
Natalie shifts uncomfortably. The cold from the air-conditioning hit her back full force. This made her shiver.
"Um... No, I'm not really here to drink." She murmurs carefully.
The man raises his brow. That was far most the funniest thing he's heard since the course of the night, and trust me when I say he's heard so many things... So so many.
"You know you're in a club, right? Not a fucking church," he turns away from her and yells, "Susan! I need drinks here!"
Natalie is about to speak but the man is already staring at something so intently. She traces his gaze to someone's ass.
Shameless, She deduces.
Susan finally brings the drink. Drinks. A whole tray of shots and bottled drinks. Natalie's eyes widens as the man—who she still doesn't know his name—led her to one of the Lounge.
"So what's your name, chico?"
German. That is his accent. It is laced with a tinge of Hispanic but nothing to noticeable. Natalie wouldn't have noticed this too if she wasn't paying so much attention to the little details of him. Like the tiny mole beside his left eyebrow or the way his lips quirked into a smirk when any girl winks at him.
"What is your name?" Natalie bites back, her eyes widening when she realized she's just spoke back. She is on her way to apologise when the man barked out a belly laugh.
"Feisty, yeah?"
"Not really." Natalie mumbles to herself as a blush coats her cheeks.
"Tony. Call me Tony."
Natalie doesn't respond.
Tony frowns lightly, "Take a shot."
Natalie lowers her head, "I'm not here to drink." She repeats.
"Then what are you here for?"
"A... A job?"
"You're not sure?" Tony chuckles before taking a sip from the bottle in his grasp. Natalie couldn't tell what flavor it was. The beer, she means. All she can deduce is that it's in a brown bottle.
"My cousin Polly brought me here when I told her I was looking for a job."
"Do you want a job here?"
Natalie shrugs, playing with the purse strap, "I don't know, I guess? If they pay well..." She trailed.
"Do you know what this place is?"
Natalie raises a brow, "A club..." She trailed off, unsure.
Tony hums with a smirk, "You're hired."