Three suit clad men sat in the darkest part of the noisy club, a cloud of smoke surrounded them and the bass of the music playing too loud but they looked completely relaxed.
"Why the fuck did Jamie pick this shitty place?" The darker one of the group spoke, he took the cup of brandy to his lips.
He looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties with dark curly hair and dark brown eyes. Even seated you can see how built he is, the suit straining against his muscles arm muscles and fitting his broad shoulders snugly.
"We'll know that only when he shows up-" The man to his right spoke looking between them, "–speaking of which, where is he?" He asked looking around the crowded bar.
Sweaty bodies moved against each other, disgusting he thought.
He also looked to be the same age with the first one except he had lighter skin, a little tanned which showed his Italian roots, he had black hair that was slicked back, and like the first man, he was also tall and built though not as built since he was more on the lean side. He was dangerously handsome and had an ego to match.
"Walton?" He turned to the person at the farthest part of the circle. His dark eyes that were almost black settled on the green eyed man who was pushing the black locks which were falling on his forehead some touching his eyes, "what's got your attention?"
"Nothing,"
The table was silent for more than ten minutes, the green eyed man stood up with a groan and more complaints poured from his lips.
"I'm going to get another bottle, do you need anything?" The green eyed, black haired man asked standing up.
"Elijah," A sultry voice spoke before any of them had a chance to answer him.
"Jacqueline," the man with dark eyes acknowledged then turned like she wasn't there.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, her maroon painted lips twisting into a grimace seeing how coldly he replied.
He didn't get to reply saved by the crowd's excited screams, a soft rhythm started playing gradually picking up speed.
"What's happening?" Richard Petrakis, the man with the black hair asked already standing up, the Lanvin suit relaxed against his broad body.
The stage could be well seen from their position since they were on a higher part of the room. Richard took his seat and relaxed his back against the soft leather seats, his first thought had been they were mismatched in the club.
Red curtains opened up the faster the music went, two poles were positioned in the middle of the stage, a woman with a mask gradually going down, in a snake like manner, he wondered how her body could twist around the pole like that.
Hypnotized, they all watched as she danced against the pole like it was her partner, removing more article of clothing the closer she got to the ground.
She was down to a crop top and biker shorts that were more or less net leaving very little to the imagination, she might as well have been naked, save for the bikini inside.
"Dear lord," Zedd, the dark man that spoke at first muttered loudly when she hooked her legs around the pole upside down, successfully flashing more than the hundred people in the club as she did a 360 around it.
No one said anything after that, even when the curtains went back up and the crowd went crazy with applause. Five similar dressed women, not as exotic as the first had been stepped on the stage and the music stopped, each wearing a mask, all the masks were the same, only the color differed.
"Sorry I'm late," A voice spoke above the cheers, a man well over six foot announced sitting on the available spot next to Richard who successfully got Jacqueline to give them space.
"Why the fuck are we here?" Zedd Page, the first man and also the most impatient asked.
"Because this place is a discovery, just look around," they all did as he said and turned back with uninterested looks, he sighed irritably, "Don't you see how much people come to this shitty place for cheap entertainment," he looked around their small circle then added, "Not exactly when you see the dancers," he placed both his palms on the table, "I see an opportunity here,"
"It will burn to the ground Jamie, why is it of so much interest? One hell of a pole dancer won't make people just drop billions." Elijah spoke after Jamie explained how he thought investing there would be good.
"Just watch the last show, if it doesn't change your mind, then that's it." He nodded uninterestedly.
A soft indian beat started and a woman basically bathed in red walked up the stage, her whole aura screaming confidence.
She took her position in the middle of the stage and the red robe she had on falls to the ground in a pool at her feet, the whole place went dead quiet and you could hear when a man or multiple men released wanton sighs.
As though hypnotized, no one said a thing after she got on the stage and they quietly watched the last show.
*****
"Three thousand dollars," the words were repeated thrice, "Sold for three thousand dollars," cheers rang out around the club and if possible annoying Elijah more, he was tired of everything and whatever business opportunity Jamie saw, he certainly didn't see anything, except sweaty bodies, and that red....no that woman in red was actually good, but still not enough to make him change his mind.
"How about this, Rick," Jamie said referring to Richard whom they all call Rick, "The charity event you do annually, we throw it here and instead of just giving out donations, what do you say we bid," Richard made to interrupt but he holds a hand up, "All the money goes to charity of course, and the highest bidder gets the masked angel," he explained further, they had to agree.
"No one will come," Zedd spoke with certainty.
"They will, they will come and they will pay, they just have to meet the angel," He assured.
"Who is the angel?" That was Elijah, a little bit interested in the topic, all his mind could comprehend was red.
Jamie smirked seeing an opportunity in his friend's interest, "The lady in red"