The Touch Series: Initiation (6 page)

              I quickly helped myself to a glass of champagne. This
really
was going to be a long night.

              For the remainder of the night, I found myself near a corner far from the dance floor, the other guests and, most importantly, Gwen. I noticed how some of the girls danced and mingled with the other male guests. Some of the dancing looked like it needed the words “Parental Advisory” flashing somewhere. I wasn't sure how that wasn't going against the rules.

              At one point, Artie came to me to explain that the guests were new business clients of Josef's from Asia and wanted to have a party before they went back home. Then we started talking about other things which made me feel better about the night until a pretty waitress caught his eye. I allowed for him to excuse himself, knowing well that Artie had a severe weakness when it came to the opposite sex.

              I took another glass of champagne from another waitress and began to sip when I noticed Josef heading my way. I slowly turned around to see if there was someone behind me he was going towards.

There was no one there. My heart felt like it dropped. He stopped right in front of me, blocking my view of the others.

              “Am I going to get a lecture?” That had to be the reason he came to me. Why would he waste his time on me when he had other, more entertaining, guests.

              He cocked his head to one side. “Do you want one?”

              I shook my head. “No. I'm good. Thanks.”

              His lips were pressed into a line. “You don't socialize well, do you?”

              Was it that obvious? “Well it's hard when no one likes you.” I took another sip of champagne as I looked away to stare at the other girls who were having a good time with one another. “I thought I graduated from high school. But apparently not.” I rolled my eyes before I took another sip.

              “Try to make an effort. I want all of the girls in the group to get along and have fun.”

              Was he serious? I looked at him. His eyes were slightly sympathetic. And I actually couldn’t be angry with him.

              “Is work always like this for you, fun and games?”

              He stepped closer to me and I wasn't sure if I was completely okay with it. I didn't think that my heart could flutter any more than it already was. And I was nervous about what the mix of alcohol would do to my system as I was internally melting simply by being in his presence.

              “It's what the client usually wants. Landing business deals and making money makes people happy but getting drunk with beautiful women is a pleasure in its own class.”

              “But we're not supposed to get drunk, right?”

              He shook his head. “No.”

              “I see.” I looked towards the dance floor for a few seconds before turning back to Josef who was smirking as he looked at me. “What? You're making me nervous.”

              “Good.”

              I took another sip of champagne. It was the only way from keeping him from seeing my grin after his very honest response. “Are you going to ask me to dance, Sir?”             

              He titled his head back and sighed. “I don't dance.”

              “So you said. But we have a dance floor and you have access to a trained professional who can show you some moves.”

              He laughed softly. “'Access'?”

              I blushed and felt flustered again. I really needed to think before I spoke. “Excuse my dirty mind. It doesn't bother you, does it?” Somewhere, deep down inside, I felt as if perhaps I could control the conversation, even if just a little.

              “I usually don't.”

              “So, it's still a 'no' to the dancing?” I started grooving to the music from side to side in hopes to persuade him to change his mind or at least lighten up, especially after the cold conversation we had when I first arrived here. “Oh, come on. I know you want to.” Teasing him wasn't hard. It was intimidating, if a little scary but it wasn't as difficult as I had found it to be with other guys.

              He shook his head but he wasn't angry in any way. If something, he looked rather amused. He continued to smile as I was making a bit of a fool of myself dancing alone but before he could answer Jacob called him over from a few feet away. Josef turned his body slightly as he began to walk away. He kept his face on mine. He quickly ran a hand across his mouth as he looked at me. “Next time I see you, dress how you would dress.” He raised his eyebrows and looked at me to see if I understood what he was saying. I slowly nodded. “And don't wear any of that.” He made a circling gesture around his face with his hand. “I want to see your face.” He turned quickly and began to walk away.

              “You didn't answer my question?”

              He turned again, this time with his whole body turned towards me, and put his hands in his pant pockets. “I think I'll hold off that answer as a way to punish you for your tardiness. It's only fair.” His smirk had an air of self-satisfaction which should have turned me off more than anything but that wasn't the case here. I'm sure he got away with his cockiness and smugness with every girl he ever met. He was surely getting away with it with me.

              When he left, I emptied whatever remained in my glass in one gulp and headed to the restroom.               After nearly stumbling into a waiter, my shaky legs made it to the restroom. I felt like a fool. I looked in the mirror and wanted to wipe off everything. It was too much. And it wasn't me. He was right. I tried way too hard to impress and it backfired on me.

              My self-loathing thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone coming in.

              It was Janel, one of the other girls. She was tall, dark and beautiful. According to Artie, she was doing this to be able to pay for college and law school afterwards. She came up to the mirror and opened her makeup bag. She pulled out a lipstick and reapplied it on her lips.

              I stopped staring at her and started going through my bag to try to find a hair tie to put my hair up.

              “Are you hating tonight as much as I?” Janel was staring at me through the mirror. She looked beyond bored.

              Wow, one of them was actually being decent around me. “Pretty much. The club scene was never my thing.”

              She nodded her head in agreement. “I know what you mean.”

              There was a moment of silence between us and I thought our conversation had ended before she turned to face me. “Do you want to go out and drink in the courtyard?”

              “Oh, yeah!”

              She smiled and I followed her out. Maybe tonight wasn't going to end up a total disaster.

                                                                                                  ***

              The back of the club had a door that led to the hotel's courtyard and garden. The two of us, with cocktails in our hands, sat on a tall concrete ledge that separated the patio from the garden.

              Janel started the conversation while sipping her drink. “So, let's get the basics out. Where are you from? Why are you here? Favorite sex position?, etc.” We both laughed. She was blunt and I liked that.

              I blew out a breathe before I began spilling out my ever-so-boring life story. “Well, I'm from here, Richmond. Just graduated from high school and I am currently taking my gen ed's at a nearby community college. I'm deferring until I figure out exactly where I want to go for university.” I paused for a few seconds to think about what I was going to say next. “And... I'm here because my family desperately needs to somehow pay for my little brother's trauma therapy. Last year, he and his friends got lost in the woods near our house and they were gone for an entire day. The police found them hiding in an old shed. They were terrified and they couldn't speak of what happened for a long time. My brother to this day doesn't speak.” I looked up to see a very sympathetic look from Janel. “My parents work at the town's center as youth workers. They don't make much... Okay, now it's your turn.”

              She gave me a warm smile before she started speaking. “I'm from Detroit. I'm currently doing my undergrad in pre-law. Hoping to one day go to law school. My aunt became friends with Gwen a few months back, we got introduced and she told me about this whole thing. She was pretty persuasive.”  She shrugged her shoulders before she sipped on her cocktail.

              “So what do you think of him?” I hoped she didn't see me blush. I didn't want to give anything away. But I wanted to know how someone else in the club felt, particularly about Josef. Did he effect everyone else in the same way?

              She looked at me in surprise. “What do you mean?”

              “I don't know.” All of a sudden I became uncomfortable with my own question. “Do you like think he's cute or something?”

              She looked even more surprised. And slightly shocked. “Do you?”

              “I...uh...well, he's not bad looking, exactly...”

              “Oh, girl. The guy has great looks that's for sure. But that's not why we are here. And trust me, according to some rumors about him, you don't want to go there. It's best to leave this thing completely casual and without any type of feelings.” She raised her glass up in the air before finishing what was left in it.

              What rumors? I was about to say something when, all of a sudden, I heard the club door open and Artie, Josef and Jacob came out laughing about something. I blushed. I really hoped that they wouldn't notice us. I looked down below where we sat to see how far down the lawn was from the ledge. Maybe we could jump.

              Unfortunately, today was the day the world was against me. Artie saw us and came towards us as Josef and Jacob followed. I noticed Janel shift uncomfortably.

              “Ladies!” Artie danced as he walked the last few feet towards us. He was definitely a free-spirit which always made me smile. He came to a halt right before us and introduced us to Jacob. The Jacob who apparently didn't like me. He was tall. Not as tall as Josef but taller than Artie. Wavy dark brown hair with gray eyes. He had a bad boy presence that I couldn't really explain. He smirked when he saw me. Josef stood there looking down while trying to suppress a smile as if there was some sort of inside joke between them. A joke most likely about me.  That definitely didn't make me feel better.

              Artie's attention was fully on Janel. “So, how is pre-law treating you?”

              She was surprised by the question. “It's fine. It's definitely kicking my ass. There's a lot of reading.”

              “Oh man, trust me, I know. I went through pre-law and then law school myself. You will always have your face in a book.” Artie winked at her before taking a sip from his bottle of beer.

              She looked at him in surprise. “Good to know.”

              Jacob looked bored with the conversation. “I hate reading. I always majored in something that didn't have to deal with that crap.”

              Artie shook his head in disapproval. “Dude, when was the last time you picked up a book? Because you're missing out on some great contemporary works right now.” He then turned to me. “Speaking of which, I got some British Lit picks for you if you end up liking your class.”

              I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Yeah no, I was recently recommended a Victorian novel by someone and it was awful.” I looked at Josef who was stroking his chin while his eyes shot up in surprised.              

              Artie was curious to find out more. “What book?”

              “You don't want to know. It was highly inappropriate – not in a good way! –  and was actually in the restricted area of the local library.” My face never left Josef's, who was now grinning mischievously. “So, yeah. I'm not taking people's advice on books anymore. No offense.”

              Artie shrugged.

              “Artie, what happened to that cute waitress?”

              He leaned against a pillar and answered coolly, “Oh her. Turns out we hooked up once. She was working at a club in Chicago a few weeks ago. I knew she looked familiar.” He chuckled to himself.

              “That's...awesome.” I really liked Artie. He was one of my best friends but he certainly made poor choices. I once wondered if vampires could get STD's and I never found out. It's not something I was ever comfortable with googling.

              Surprisingly, Jacob turned his attention to me. “So what's there to do in Richmond? Any good hot spots?”

              “Not really. It's a small town. We mostly have charity events and small things like community plays and bake sales every month.” It was difficult to think about what to do in Richmond. Apart from the occasional kooky events, it was pretty dead.

              Jacob rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “How can you live here? I would lose my mind.”