HARU
How I manage to do it is so beyond my knowledge, high or sober, that I question whether or not I've fallen into dreamland. Sedah's following my lead as I meander back over to the table, her soft hand comfortably rests in my slightly calloused one.
We reach the guys and I toss Leon his lighter. Sedah squeezes my hand for a second until I look down at her, "I'm going to go grab my coat, can't exactly leave like this, can I?"
I wordlessly squeeze her small hand back and she leaves to gather up whatever she needs. I'm not entirely sure what's happening, but I know enough to be sure that I'm being lulled into the vixen's trap as she walks away with a small sway in her hips.
When I looked back around at my friends, I can't say everyone looks pleased for me. Alek has a face like a slapped arse, though Naksh and Leon seem rather glad that I'm taking an interest in someone else.
Leon shoves Alek's elbow, making it fall off the side of the table, "C'mon Al, lighten up. Like you had a chance anyway."
"Might've if pretty boy here didn't exist." Alek grumbles, giving me a reluctant thumbs up to let me know he isn't genuinely annoyed with me. He's always been a sore loser, though. The guy doesn't take rejection well, either.
Naksh lets out a low whistle, "You've bagged a sweet one there, Haru."
"Yeah?" I grin, making sure I have my phone, keys and wallet on hand, "She seems cool."
"She seems hot." Leon slots in, "But more importantly, she seems unmarried."
"Deal breaker." I chuckle, now ready to go and waiting for Sedah to come back. A moment later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Expecting to see Sedah when I turn around, you can imagine my surprise when I see Sandra Pooles' big, blue eyes fluttering up at me instead.
"Hello, you handsome men!" She gives me a quick hug before doing the rounds-- Alek's bruised ego seems to fix itself a tad when she chooses his lap to settle on. Sandra is a teeny, tiny woman with the biggest fake breasts I've ever seen. She has pin straight ginger hair and freckled skin, huge lips and a waist so small I'm almost certain she's had a rib or two removed.
"Hi, Sand." I softly smile, she's always fun to be around and I appreciate how platonic she keeps things between us. She's actually one of the only female friends I have that hasn't ever made a pass at me, "How's things?"
"As long as the money's coming in and I'm staying out, life is good." She wraps her arms around Alek's neck and squeezes him tightly, "I haven't seen you in forever, Buzz!"
"I'm just going to grow my hair out, it's such a shit nickname." He isn't happy.
"My little Buzz Lightyear." Sandra taunts, allowing Alek to take a breath from in between her tits. He looks totally blissed out, more than happy to be near-motorboating her.
"Shut it, Ging." He scoffs, eyes half-lidded. My friend is as easy as pie.
Sand brushes off his sly comment, turning to the group as a whole. She's dressed in... Well, hardly anything, actually. A tiny, spaghetti strap top and a belt-- I mean, skirt-- is all she's decided to wear. Natural or not, the girl has an incredible body.
"Who're you here with, Sandra?" Naksh wonders, finished with his drink. He's unaware of Sandra's endeavours and profession, we never told him because of how innocent he is. Leon nearly choked on air when Naksh had admitted to not being a virgin, we'd been 19 at the time.
"I work here now!" She beams, the brightest of smiles on those pumped up lips of hers, "I'm a stripper!"
"Ah, sorry, must've slipped my mind." Naksh murmurs, scratching the back of his neck and glaring at us for keeping him out of the loop. Leon snickers. He's a respectful man, but I know Sandra is more than happy to talk about her career in great detail to just about anyone.
"You got a show on tonight then?" Leon wonders, on his third JD and Coke of the evening.
"I do!" Sand nods, "You guys staying to watch, or?"
"Absolutely." Alek bobs his head like one of those figurines you find on a car dashboard, "Haru isn't, though."
"Awh!" She pouts, "Why not? You got Kai at home?"
"You think I'd leave my son at home, alone?" I raise my eyebrows at her, what an insane thing to say. Though, Sandra has never been the brightest of bulbs.
"That's what my mum and dad did." She shrugs.
"He's four, Sandra." I deadpan.
"Oh, right! You're right, you're right."
Of course I'm right, I'm his father. What sort of dad forgets the age of their only child? I like to think I'm a little more competent than that when it comes to parenting.
"I should've had him tonight, though." I sigh, rubbing a hand down my face, "It's Father's Day."
"Why haven't you then?" Sandra frowns, "Is Harper being a cow again?"
"Moo." I say.
Sandra bursts out laughing, slapping her hand against Alek's chest a few times and making him stifle a wheeze. Before she can actually say anything, someone slips their hand into mine and stands beside me. I feel a small, recognisable squeeze.
"You ready?" Sedah asks, now dressed in a long, black coat that has a belt tied around the front. The strap of her handbag is draped off her shoulder and I think she's put on smaller heels. I feel taller.
"Ready."
"Sedah!" Sandra yells, making me wince, "I didn't know you knew Haru-poo!"
"Haru-poo..?" She smirks, "How fond you must be of him."
"I am!" The ginger woman chuckles, "Are you going home?"
"Something like that." She replies.
The penny quickly drops for Sandra, for she is a dumb crumb at the best of times but has a PhD in anything sex related, "You..! And you..!"
I grimace, tugging on Sedah's hand, "Can we go?"
"Yeah--"
"Well, I never thought I'd see the day..." Sand mutters to herself, "Sedah and Haru? How unlikely."
"Why?" Leon snickers, "She married?"
"Fuck off." I sigh, not prepared to stand here and listen to a list of reasons as to why this is or isn't a good idea, "Let's go."
Sedah and I meander our way out of the bar, dodging the people that recognise her and the countless men trying to intercept us.
I'm hoping her company is going to turn a drab night, into a fervid one. It's been a long time since I've had a one night stand, a long time. But there's something appealing about having good sex and then never seeing the person again. It suits me well, I'm at a point in my life where a relationship won't benefit me. I'm too fucked up for that and I have a kid to take responsibility for, not to mention a clingy ex-girlfriend that can't take 'no' for an answer.
When we eventually make it out the front doors of Lady Ophelia's, which I quickly realise is an exclusive, in-demand club when I see the forty-person long cue outside, a cool breeze hits my face. I hadn't noticed how warm it was inside the club, but the summer air is contrastingly nippy tonight.
"Lead the way." Sedah says, linking her arm with my own. I glance at the white streak of hair running down the front, left side of her head as we walk. She moves with grace, elegance and poise; everything I expect from a celebrated pole dancer.
"Is that dyed?"
"Nah, just one of my many genetic faults." She shrugs. The hell does that mean?
"Do you enjoy your job?" I wonder, weaving us in and out of stumbling drunks on the high street.
She falters in her steps for a moment, "What sort of question is that?"
"I don't..? What? A genuine one?"
"Are you still high or are you always so nosey?"
"Right, so no small talk. Got it." I thin my lips with a curt nod. Clearly she's a very private woman, unwilling to give away any information that doesn't meet the eye. I can understand that, there are things I want to protect and shield, too.
We walk in silence for another few minutes, "... Where'd you live, by the way?"
"About ten minutes away, in the Southern Lakin Tower."
"That's a nice area, you so certain I won't rob you blind?" Sedah teases, nudging me gently.
"You don't seem like the type." I softly smile to myself. There isn't much of merit in my minimalist apartment anyway. There's my work laptop. A camera and tripod. A few Jade figurines my mother gave me after a trip to Hong Kong, but aside from that hardly anything. Unless Sedah thinks she can scrape some value from the Thomas the Tank Engine or Lego playsets scattered around the floors, she'll be deeply disappointed.
"Why?" She continues with her taunts, "Is a pretty face all it takes to deceive you?"
"Yes." I joke, crossing the road with her and taking a right turn onto the quieter streets away from the hustle and bustle of the city's nightlife. After a minute, my building comes into view. It's a large, grey and industrial looking apartment block with glass window-walls lining an entire side of it.
"What'd you say you do for a living again?" She asks me, staring up at the huge scale of the building in awe. I use my knuckles to punch a code into the underground carpark's gate.
"Are you always so nosey?" I use her own words against her, earning a quiet scoff and a playful glare. Her green eyes goad me into giving an honest answer anyway, "I'm a writer."
"Like a journalist?"
"No, like a writer."
"Smartarse." Sedah grumbles, sticking close to me as the gate slowly lifts upwards. She seems to trust me, attached to my hip even inside the car park, "You have a car?"
"Nu-uh," I shake my head, "who needs a car in central London? I just get the tube or walk."
"Same here." She half-smiles. We walk past all the vehicles, some swanky and saloon style, others company vans or mopeds. A wide array of people live in my apartment block, the general rule seems to be: the higher the floor you reside on, the richer you are. I'm smack bang in the middle: floor 10.
The elevator ride up is spent in a comfortable silence, but I feel a distinct shift in Sedah's aura. The air I'm breathing begins to feel heavy and hot, I think she can sense it, too. Her posture straightens, I have to remind myself why we're here in the first place. For sex. Nothing more, nothing less. The easy company she's provided me with has temporarily made me forget that simple fact.
Now, I'm more than ready for this: for her.
"C'mon." I mutter, pulling her along with me as soon as I hear a ding and see the doors slide open. We reach a door labelled with the metal numbers 5 and 2.
Before I can twist the key in the lock and get us both inside, I feel a soft pair of lips press against the vein running up my neck. The visible shiver that runs up and down my spine makes me feel somewhat embarrassed. I haven't had even a remotely sexual experience in a long time. In fact, it's been nearly half a year and I'd been so high on coke that night that I hardly remember a thing; I know it was with a guy, though.
"Sedah." I sigh out, the feeling of her long nails scratching the nape of my neck scrambles my mind, "I need to... Let me just..."
She listens, pulling away long enough for me to recollect my composure and push the door open. The woman casually sways past me, unabashedly walking into my home like she's an old friend that frequently visits. When I shut the door and turn around, her lips are on mine before I have a chance to grab her myself.
A fire seems to ignite within me, one that's been low-burning for a while but has rekindled all of a sudden. Everything feels hot and I'm acutely aware of every area of skin she touches, sliding her hands underneath my plain t-shirt and running her palms along my tense stomach.
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her flush against my front and deepening the kiss. Sedah tastes faintly of the lemon water she'd been sipping on at the club, underneath that is a vanilla scent I'm already craving more of. My teeth gently bite down on her bottom lip when things turn slow and passionate, pulling a whimper from the back of her throat that makes my cock stir. She's absolutely beautiful to look at, in my eyes the correct word would be flawless.
"Haru..." She moans when my hands become explorative, squeezing her sides and travelling even lower, "Bed."
"Use your words, darling." I chuckle, working on her neck so she can at least try to string a sentence together.
The woman's breathing gets shallower when I suck on a particularly sensitive patch of skin, branding her alabaster complexion with a dark hickey, "Can we... Go to your bed? Please, Haru?"
I smirk against the bend of her neck, "Good girl. You even asked politely."
Not ready to break away from her lips just yet, I walk us backwards further into the apartment.
"You know how many men back there wished they were me?" I chuckle, pressing our mouths together again.
She chuckles in between kisses, "Who cares, love?"
"I'm ju—"
'Happy Birthday, Kai. Daddy loves you so much, he hopes you have the most amazing day. You're my world, buddy.'
Sedah jerks away from me, snapping her eyes down to her heels which are stood on a tatty, brown teddy bear. She quickly moves her feet, no longer impaling Mr Charles' voicebox.
"What the fuck?" Sedah exhales, a hand over her heart, "What was that?"
I bend down to pick up the teddy and gently toss it onto my sofa, "The voice message I recorded when I bought Mr Charles."
"Mr Charles?"
"It's my kid's favourite teddy bear." I shrug, flicking on a floor lamp and softly illuminating the spacious apartment. It has two bedroom's, an en-suite, a box toilet and an open-planned living room, kitchen and dining space.
"Your kid? You have a kid?" She exclaims, "Is it here?"
"It?" I frown.
"He..? She? I don't know, do I?"
"He's at his mum's place tonight." I raise an eyebrow at her with an amused smile. Sedah clearly lacks in maternal instincts, either that or she's had close to zero experience with children.
The woman takes a second to look around the apartment whilst nodding to herself. Her eyes flicker from the toy trains to the box of lego, the red fireman blanket and then a trio of My Little Pony figures. I smile, Kai thinks Apple Jack is so fucking cool.
"... So, you're a dad?"
"It would seem so." I quietly laugh, walking a few short steps to reach Sedah and encircle her waist with my hands. I gaze down at her with fondness, "Is that such an issue for a one night stand?"
"Well, no, but you could've told me."
I shrug, "You said no small talk, darling."
"Dammit. I did, didn't I?"
"You did."
The humour that dances behind her green eyes is gone within a second, instead a confused frown etches its way onto her face, "... It's Father's Day."
I check my watch: 00:23.
"It was Father's Day."
"Did you— get to see him?" Sedah tiptoes through the subject, linking her arms around my neck. I'm happy she's still up for this despite the curveball I've thrown her way.
"... No small talk, sweetheart. Remember?" I smile, though my heart's breaking a little.
She doesn't pry, I'm glad for it. It stops me from giving an answer I don't want to give as I lead her to my bedroom.