"Why the fuck am I still waiting here? If it was just me, fine, but you asked Ella to come. It's getting late for her!" A beautiful but fierce-looking woman was holding David by the collar. Her irritated expression said a lot about her not wanting to be there.
They were talking in a more private corner of the club, on the first floor, away from the innocent eyes of a young, pretty girl who was downstairs. She was surrounded by a few female friends her own age, who looked just as innocent and excited as she was.
Both were true beauties, but the woman David was talking to had reached another level thanks to her mature beauty. She was a little tall, almost 1,78m, with a voluptuous body and truly beautiful to look at. She was facially similar to her sister, but they had very different bodies.
"Can't you wait a little longer? I swear it will be worth it..." Cold sweat trickled down David's face and back, and he didn't even dare think impure thoughts about this woman, as her voracity killed anyone. And also because she had a certain special status...
"Are you hiding something from me?" The woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She and her sister came because they were long acquaintances of David and had been through a lot together. He helped her when she needed it, but since the group broke up, they each took on different responsibilities. That's why it didn't hurt to come, but staying too long would be bad for Ella.
"Just wait a little longer, Clarice. You won't even see the time pass..." With a flattering smile, David was trying to escape a beating. He looked quite different from his bossy boss who was tough on his subordinates. Of course, he did it out of necessity, not because he was a bad person.
"Hmmph! I will wait 30 minutes. Then I'm leaving!" She released David with a huff and walked back to the bar.
Her drink was there waiting for her. With one sip, she finished the glass. The noisy surroundings invaded her mind along with the effect of alcohol and made her think of a certain figure who was always in her happiest and most painful memories...
***
"We asked to keep an eye on your car too. The guards were armed, so I don't think there's going to be any pranksters wanting to rob him." Ezekiel, the tall, thin, as well as hairy security guard, was entering along with Arthur.
The fat, bald security guard, Bart, at his side, was silent and didn't say much. It looked like the roles had been switched, but that was because he was a little emotional to speak. His eyes darted from time to time to Arthur, trying to compare it with that skinny, weak of old.
"Man, you've grown up like hell, haven't you? Not to mention you got muscle as fuck... robbed a bank to get that car??" Ezekiel seemed to be the one to talk the most when he was excited or emotional.
"Dude, don't even start. Then I'll talk when you're all together. But don't even expect me to say much. Shall we say it was a miracle?" Arthur waved his hand for him to stop pestering. From what he knew of these two, they made a good conversational pair.
"Why did you decide to come back?" Bart asked suddenly. He was looking at Arthur, not knowing what to feel. It would be weird to get excited about something that might not happen.
But all he got was silence until the loud music from the club covered everything. They had officially entered and you couldn't talk so well from afar. But they could tell from Arthur's nervous and slightly desolate look that this wasn't something he wanted to talk about.
"We understand, man. If it doesn't work out, we get together every weekend to play dominoes, just like before!" Ezekiel slapped Arthur on the back, urging him to come in.
The organization of the nightclub was very common, with a dance floor in the middle, DJ on top of a platform and everything very well prepared and USA style. There were some sofas and tables downstairs, with a small bar, but there was no one there right now. That mini bar was just the outlet for some simpler and more energetic drinks for those who were enjoying the music on the ground floor. The sofas were for people who were tired and wanted to rest. These tables were along the edges of the huge dance floor, almost touching the walls of the place.
At the entrance it was possible to see practically everything, since it was necessary to go down a little to reach the dance floor.
There was a staircase near the entrance, which led up to the second floor, which was relatively quieter. There were even more luxurious tables and sofas there, and they seemed to be for VIP customers or those with more conditions to pay for it. This is where the bar was officially located and you could order a wider variety of drinks. There were bathrooms on both floors, but the differences between the downstairs and first floor bathrooms were like heaven and earth.
There were a lot of employees, mainly some attendants on the first floor. The ground floor was more for fun so take what you want, don't expect to be served.
"Hello, good night!" A very pretty and cute attendant greeted Arthur at the door. But she soon noticed the two security chiefs accompanying him and got a little startled.
"Good night!" Arthur just waved, not even looking at her. His gaze was running all over the place as he tried to drown out his headache from the loud music and at the same time filter out the voices etc.
Ezekiel gave a signal to the attendant, who soon apologized and left. She didn't feel she was wronged or anything, as her job was to find potential customers to go to the first floor and enjoy a better, more expensive service. And no, it wasn't prostitution.
"Are you guys letting the drug trade happen here?" Arthur suddenly asked the two of them. His voice was nonchalant.
"How did you know?" Bart couldn't help but be impressed. There were a lot of people and the music, lighting and everything got in the way of the view from here. Unless he already knows in advance, it is impossible to see from afar. This was also a strategy in case the police invaded.
'Looks like David didn't say I was the one who gave the orders. But everything seems normal... it even has a hospital room...' Arthur waved his hand to let it go. His vision also clashed with one room in particular, which was white and easy to identify.
The drugs used, from what he was hearing, were under strict control and were those where the treatments were controllable and would not affect the person's health. Of course, if anyone wanted to get out of the club to use some harder drugs, that would be their problem. The nightclub had even hired an emergency nurse and the hospital contact was a dial-up, with even a special car for that. The odds of some shit happening here about it were pretty low.
"Where are the others?" Arthur asked.
"Douglas is waiting for you with David there in the room we prepared, while Santino is working now. Look at him there!" Bart spoke very closely, over the loud music, and it was just as someone appeared in the ground floor mini bar. He pointed at this person, who was talking to a girl now.
Seeing the girl's figure, Arthur's body moved before his thoughts. His eyes were shining and he was looking forward to it.
***
"Come oooon, make me a drink with alcohol. I'm tired of drinking these sweet juices!" A young girl, but already showing signs of her potent growth, was pouting as she threatened to cry over the counter.
"Your sister will kill me if she finds out I did this..." A dark-skinned, half-Asian-looking man had a complicated smile on his face as he denied it.
"Will you speak? I won't!" The girl seems to have seen a glimmer of hope and leaned on her friends, who were standing next to her. They laughed a little at her performance.
They were currently at the mini bar without a lot of people around. After all, unbeknownst to her, the security guards, in addition to guarding people at the party, also did the job of guarding them. Just for them to remember the amount of threats they suffered if anything happened to this girl, they wouldn't even let a fly get close to her.
"You're still a minor, you can't drink. Go back to your table, I have to go to work..." Even if they didn't do it on purpose, their presence there got in the way of business, since no one else could buy anything.
"I'm only leaving here when you give me a drink with alcohol! This is my final definition and no one will take me away!" She tried to look intimidating as she slammed her hand down on the table with conviction, but the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes proved she'd taken it too far.
"Come on, Santino! Give the girl a drink! It's on me this time!" A loud voice rang out and they listened very well, regardless of the loud music.
"Exactly, someone who is supporting me!... Who are you?" The girl seemed to have gained a new spirit, but when she turned and looked at the tall, handsome guy behind her, she felt a little intimidated.
"I'm the guy who wants to buy you a drink. Why can't I?" Arthur had already waved in a way that only Santino knew and, with a shocked and very happy look, he smiled and went to prepare the drink. He wasn't going to put in any alcohol, but it was easy to fool a teenager.
"In fact, never mind... I've had too much to drink and I'm full. Thank you for the kindness..." The girl seemed to feel bad that this guy was too close and had already taken her friends' wrists to leave.
"Hold on!" Arthur grabbed her and blocked her way. This was received very negatively by them.
"Hey, get your hand off my friend, you pervert!" One of her friends jumped to her defense and stood in front.
"We can get you kicked out of here! Where's the security?" The other friend was a little more aggressive and wanted to kick him out of the nightclub.
Arthur flashed a warm smile the moment he saw how much the girl's friends tended to protect her. Then he turned his body and made room for them to leave.
The girl was silent until now because her mind caught some things she didn't understand. Things like: why did this guy know Santino's name? And why didn't Santino say anything and only left when he waved? Why his voice sounded strangely familiar, but at the same time very different... And those eyes... Why did they look so much like his?
But when her friends pulled her away, the guy said something that made her body freeze and tears really wanted to come out of her eyes.
"Looks like my little Cinderella doesn't recognize me anymore, huh? I'm going to cry bitterly over the bridge now..." Arthur stood still as he smiled at her.
The loud music seemed to have done nothing to stop his voice from reaching her ears. With that phrase, with that nickname that she loved so much to be called by that person who was never present again, the distant memories that her sister wanted to keep her from touching... It was all back when she looked at that figure with bright green eyes, with open arms and a pure smile.
"Hey, what are you doing?" To her friends' surprise, the girl quickly freed herself from their hands and ran back to that guy. They didn't understand a shred of anything.
"Aarthuurr!!" Ella was already in tears as she hugged Arthur tightly, throwing her whole body at him. She grabbed him with both hands, as if she didn't want to let him go… ever again. "Is that really you?" She looked at him as she sniffled and asked, shakily.
"It's all right now, my princess! I'm not going out anymore..." Arthur wiped her tears away as his arms made a safe haven for her.
___
Author Note: I'm starting to think I'm going to use the notes to talk about my daily life... so that's good!
I didn't post yesterday for the simple fact that I got all screwed up just because of a military discharge document. It was so much trouble that I ended up with blood blisters on my foot. To get the document, I had to have another one that I lost along the way. I went back to my house and retraced the same path, I found it and it's all sorted out, but it was still a hell of a walk!
Anyway... happy reading!