Seduction (11 page)

TERRA HADN'T
heard from Sage in over a week, and was getting paranoid. Maybe he had seen her picture on “Page Six,” and assumed that she was dating Mason, or maybe he was interested in someone else now. She didn't want to come right out and ask him if he'd seen the picture, just in case he hadn't, so she decided to call and ask about his father instead, and during the conversation she would hint around to find out exactly what he knew.

“Hey there, stranger, I was calling to ask how your dad is feeling,” she said after his secretary put her through to his private line.

“Hey, yourself. He's doing fine,” Sage answered, totally forgetting his lie.

“So why was he taken to the emergency room?” she asked with concern in her voice.

As soon as she mentioned “emergency room,” he remembered running out on her at dinner claiming that his dad had been rushed to the hospital. “Uh, he had a mild case of food poisoning,” he said.

“I'm glad it wasn't anything serious.” Terra genuinely liked Mr. Hirschfield, and was relieved to hear that it was something minor.

“Me too. He's fully recovered now and back to his old self. So, where have you been hiding?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.

From that comment, Terra assumed that he hadn't seen her picture plastered on “Page Six,” but she still wasn't sure, so she decided to probe. “I haven't been hiding. I've been out and about. What about you? What have you been up to?”

“Nothing much. Just working like an indentured servant.” He chuckled.

“Oh, poor thing. With all that work, I'm sure you don't even have time to read the paper or party,” she said, continuing her fishing expedition.

“You're right. I barely have time to read the status reports that come across my desk, let alone the newspaper. Well, I take that back. I do read
The Wall Street Journal
and
The Times
every morning, but the other papers just get chucked in the garbage.”

This was just what Terra wanted to hear, and she silently breathed a sigh of relief. But the relief was short-lived, because if he hadn't seen the picture, why hadn't he called her? she wondered. Terra dismissed the notion of him dating someone else and decided to focus on her goal. “I have a great idea. Come over to my place after work, and I'll call my personal masseuse and have her ease your tired muscles. Doesn't that sound heavenly?”

“Yes, that does sound great, but I can't. I'm up to my eyeballs in work. How about a rain check?” he asked, sounding distracted.

She didn't expect him to say that. Normally, he would have leaped at the chance to be with her. The tables had suddenly shifted, and now she was the one hunting Sage down for a date instead of the other way around. “Okay, just say the word and my masseuse is all yours,” she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

“I'll give you a call next week and we can set something up. I hate to run, but I'm late for a meeting,” he said, rushing her off the telephone.

Terra barely got out the word “good-bye,” before she heard the dial tone in her ear. She hung up the phone and walked over to the living-room picture window that overlooked the Hudson River. As she gazed into the moving body of water, she began to assess the situation.
He must be getting laid. Otherwise he'd be trying to get in my panties, like so many times before,
she thought. She knew men, and if they were not pressing you for sex, that was only because they were getting it from someone else. And the way Sage was acting, all cool and collected, she had no doubt that he was being sexed up by somebody. Her seduction scheme was losing steam faster than a vintage locomotive, and she needed to hatch plan B, before he cast another actress as the lead in his first production. Terra paced back and forth trying to think of another angle, but she was fresh out of ideas. Frustrated, she moped over to the sofa and plopped down. As she was racking her brain for ideas, the telephone rang.

“Hello?” she said dryly.

“Hey, Girl. What's wrong with you?” Lexi asked, picking up on the sour tone.

“I just hung up with Sage, and he could care less about seeing me. I invited him over tonight for a massage, and he turned me down flat, then said that he would call me next week!” she shrieked into the receiver. “Can you believe that? He's never declined an opportunity to see me.”

“Maybe he saw the picture of you on ‘Page Six,' and thinks that you're involved with Mason,” Lexi said.

“No, he didn't. I hinted around and he said that he only reads
The Times
and
The Journal
. I honestly think that he just isn't interested anymore,” she said, sounding like a wounded puppy.

“Well, fuck him. It's not like he's the only movie producer in the world. Why don't you have your agent line up a few screen tests? That way you won't have to depend on Sage for your big break,” Lexi suggested.

“Yeah, I could do that, but it'll be much easier to deal with Sage. At least he knows me and I wouldn't have to compete with other actresses for the best role. I just have to find another approach, because obviously the seduction routine isn't working. Lexi, you've got to help me come up with a new plan of attack,” she said, sounding desperate.

“Don't worry, between the two of us we'll think of something clever. But in the meantime, I know just what you need to lift your spirits.” In contrast to Terra's somber mood, Lexi's was bright and bubbly. She'd found the perfect stress-buster and couldn't wait to tell Terra all about it.

“I'm not in the mood for shopping,” Terra said, knowing that Lexi's ultimate cure-all was a romp down Fifth Avenue.

“Neither am I. What I have in mind is so much better than shopping! You won't believe what I've discovered,” she said, suddenly sounding mysterious.

“What?” Terra asked unenthusiastically.

“A club exclusively for women!” she said excitedly, like she'd just discovered the cure to some dreaded disease.

“I don't feel like working out either,” Terra said, misinterpreting what Lexi was saying.

“Good, because I'm not talking about a gym. This club is called the Black Door and it's an erotic playground just for women. Men can't be members, they can only work there,” she said, giving Terra the lowdown.

“What? Are you kidding? How did you find out about this place?” Terra asked, with her mood gradually lifting.

“Last week when I was at Barneys, I ran into an old classmate from NYU, who was a party promoter back in school. Between picking out Marc Jacobs bags, I asked her if there were any new hot clubs not on the radar yet, and she gave me the scoop about the Black Door. She said it's for members only and is off the chain. She told me that there are several rooms where you can get your freak on, dance, play pool, or eat aphrodisiacs. So put your party shoes on, because we're going to check out every single room tonight!” Lexi said excitedly, sounding like a kid who had just discovered a new candy.

“How are we going to the club if it's for members only?”

“Because I joined a few days ago, that's how!” She smiled into the receiver, and then went on to explain. “I met with the owner, Trey Curtis, who is fine as hell, I might add, at the main club uptown, and after going through an extensive interview process, he approved my membership and personally designed a mask for me.”

Terra had never heard of anything like this and was full of questions. “What's the mask for?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, all the members and the servers wear masks, so you're free to get your freak on without anyone knowing your true identity.”

“I like the sound of that, but what about me? I'm not a member, so how am I supposed to get into the club?” Hearing about the details of the Black Door had Terra totally intrigued and she'd forgotten about her dilemma with Sage.

“I borrowed my friend's mask for the evening, and if you like what you see tonight, then you can join too.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Terra's dark mood was completely lifted now, and she was eager to experience something different. Professor Langston had taught her in acting class to always seek out new adventures and store them in your memory bank to use when needed. “Instead of having Leroy drive us, let's take a taxi. I don't want him in my business.”

“Since I live on the way, why don't you pick me up in an hour?”

“Okay, see you then,” Terra said, and hung up.

Terra was so caught up in the excitement of hearing about such a decadent club that she agreed to go without giving it a second thought. But now that she had gotten off the phone and had a minute to digest all the information, she began to feel a bit hesitant. What if a nosy photographer snapped her picture going into or coming out of the club? It was one thing being seen leaving a lounge, but the press would have a field day if they caught wind of her partying at a place like the Black Door. She picked up the phone to call Lexi back, and tell her that she wasn't going, but hung up before completing the call. With a mask concealing her identity, she rationalized that even if photographers were lurking around, they wouldn't have a clue that she was the woman behind the mask. Besides, checking out the club would take her mind off of Sage, and she definitely needed a momentary distraction.

Terra went into her bedroom closet to decide what to wear. Since they were going to a sex club, she chose a black leather halter top with matching miniskirt, fishnets, and a pair of red four-inch Rene Caovilla sandals with a faceted jeweled ankle strap. Instead of wearing her hair curly, she blew it straight for that long flowing look. She sprayed her neck and wrists with L'Heure Magique before putting on a white Andrew Marc raincoat to conceal her outfit from the nosy doorman, and headed out the door.

Lexi was waiting outside of her building when the taxi pulled up. She was also wearing a trench coat, and laughed once she got inside the cab and saw Terra's. “I see great minds think alike.”

“I didn't feel like dealing with a million and two questions from my doorman. He's used to seeing me suited up. Probably thinks I'm some type of prude and I want to keep it that way. The last thing I need is for him to call one of those tabloids and tell them that Terra Benson is hooking at night.” She'd read too many articles about a celebrity assistant or someone close to their camp selling stories and pictures for thousands of dollars to the rags. Terra didn't think her doorman would betray her privacy, but it paid to be cautious nonetheless.

“You don't look like a ho.” Lexi surveyed her outfit. “Well, maybe a little.” She laughed.

“Who you calling a ho? Let's see what you have on.”

Lexi untied her belt, revealing a hot pink, see-through blouse, but you couldn't see her nipples because she wore pink pasties to conceal her breasts. Her pants were crocheted, revealing her skin through the pink yarn. And she had on a pair of silver Giuseppe Zanotti jeweled T-strap sandals to complete the outfit. “Thought I'd wear pink to match my mask,” she said, removing a pink mask with silver rhinestones around the eyes from a brown paper bag.

“Wow, that's beautiful,” Terra said, touching the delicate half mask. “Where's mine?”

Lexi then took out a burnt orange mask covered with multicolored faceted stones and handed it to Terra. “Here, and be careful because I have to return it tomorrow.”

“No problem,” she said, tying the mask around her eyes. Terra took out her compact and looked in the mirror. “This is so exciting. You can't even tell it's me,” she said after seeing her reflection.

“I know. It feels like we're going to a masquerade ball, except instead of an engraved invitation, you need a password to get in. Your password is ‘Unadulterated Lust,' and mine is ‘Lick My Clit,'” Lexi said, securing her mask.

“I like your password better. Mine is a little tame.”

“Well, if you decide to become a member, you can choose your own password. One more thing, there's a greeter to welcome us before we enter the club.”

“A greeter? You mean like a welcoming committee?” Terra asked.

“Not exactly.” Lexi raised her eyebrows. “Actually, it's only one man, and his job is to get you all juiced up and ready for the club,” Lexi said, taking a tube of pink lipstick out of her purse and applying a layer.

“What do you mean ‘all juiced up'?”

“I mean he grabs you from behind, rubs your ass, and if you're willing, massages your clit until you're on the verge of climaxing,” Lexi said, closing her eyes for a second, remembering her last encounter with the greeter.

The expression on Terra's face registered shock; this club was sounding more and more seductive by the second. “Are you serious?”

“As serious as Dick Cheney at a gay rally.” She laughed.

On the way downtown, Lexi told Terra about the various chambers and what to expect so she wouldn't be shocked by some of the lewd activities. And just as she finished her mini tutorial, the taxi was pulling up in front of a nondescript building in the Meat-Packing District.