Page 5 of Stroked
Momentarily, I stopped engaging with my blonde beauty as I tried to piece together if I was seeing what I thought.WhoI thought.
Then she turned. The black silk hair bounced from her shoulder, down her back as she turned quickly, and I saw her face. It was her.Valentina.
“Hey, you okay?” Julie asked as she guided my face to her with her fingertips.
“Yeah, sorry, thought I saw an old friend. But it’s not her,” I lied, which was not like me. “Ready to head to your place?”
She nodded but put her hand up to grab her friends’ attention. I turned in their direction, not wanting Valentina to see me with her.
Why? What difference does it make?
I just met her for the first time ever tonight and the chances of her knowing Julie were slim. So, why did I care?
“Let’s go,” Julie said excitedly, with fire in her pretty blue eyes.
We turned to leave, so I walked on the left side of Julie, hoping to avoid Valentina’s eyes. I looked up briefly as we walked to the door and didn’t see her. Maybe she had gone to the ladies’ room. Good.
We almost made it to the door, and suddenly, there she was, right out of the corner of my eye. Like she teleported there. As I pulled the door for Julie, she saw me, and I saw her.
Eye contact.
She had the same expressionless look, but she was looking dead at me. She was motionless, but Julie had my hand, tugging me out the door. I broke the stare and left; my heart sped up.
Julie was blabbering the whole way to her apartment, about her roommates, how far it was, where she worked. I tried to follow along as we walked, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened at the door of The Lounge.
I should have smiled or nodded. Anything. I did nothing. And just because she was there didn’t mean she was looking for a lady. It was the ‘unofficial’ gay club in town, and there were other ‘official’ gay clubs.
But I didn’t see anyone with her. Although I dodged her and wasn’t there long enough to see if she was meeting someone.
I needed to stop. Even if she was gay, she didn’t seem interested when I flung my body at her earlier and she didn’t appear at all interested as I left The Lounge.
I had to get her off my brain; I was with Julie. And even though I was honest about not wanting anything special, I still owed it to her to be present with her now. I looked over at her, still talking as we held hands along the walk. I looked down and imagined her breasts in my mouth, soon. Yeah, I could be present with her for a while. I squeezed her hand and grinned, which elicited a slower pace to her gait; she bit her lip as she flashed her sexy eyes at me.
Yeah, this was where I needed to be.
Chapter 4
Valentina
I stood briefly near the door once she left, before making my way to the bar.Amy. I had my suspicions about her when we met earlier. Those were confirmed once I saw her here. It was only my second time at this establishment, and I’d only discovered it by accident.
As a talent manager, I was always looking at new clubs, and it was best to canvas them myself to ensure it was the appropriate place for the band or entertainer I was promoting. The last time I was here, it was much earlier, but still fairly crowded. After sitting alone at the bar for only several minutes before being approached by a woman, I started to pay more attention to the dance floor and tables. With the exception of very few groups or couples, all seemed to be same sex couples.
I chatted with that woman for a while, but eventually decided it was best to leave. Plus, there wasn’t much for me there, business-wise. I scanned the chalkboard, and it didn’t appear there were any live bands or singers for the week, so no need to speak to the manager or owner, for now, anyway. Even though the woman seemed attentive and quite lovely, I was nervous to be there.
It was certainly nowhere near my apartment, and I had no connections to the area besides the one I had just made with the talent scout at the dive-bar a short drive away. Still, it was a bustling town, and I could easily see people visiting for some of the restaurants or things to do. It wasn’t worth risking being seen at a club where everyone was gay.
But tonight, it was late. The crowds in the shops and restaurants had all died down before I made my way over. I saw the band off after the show and my curiosity got the best of me. So, I drove back to The Lounge, just to check it out. The chances of anyone I knew seeing me at this time in this town were now slim.
I sat at the bar, nursing my vodka and cran, as I replayed the events when I entered. I even allowed myself to imagine seeing her on the way here but figured that was a silly daydream. Though, she did seem to show some appreciation of my outfit, if I wasn’t mistaken. It was hot and sticky outside, but I insisted on keeping my business attire on when I worked. I was quick to remove it once in my car. But my suits all fit like a glove, which often helped during business meetings with the opposite sex.
My experience with women was not extensive, so they could be hard to read at times. But it was also nice to think I could maybe, at least, make a few new friends, since this was a bit of a drive from my apartment downtown. It felt a little safer inside the confines of the club I now knew was the place in this town where same sex couples hung or met up. Strange, because I had looked up places and this was not listed on their site as such. Another in town was. I had gone there once, and it appeared to be geared more to men of the same-sex persuasion and it was very loud and dark.
When I walked into The Lounge and saw her, my stomach fluttered briefly before I noticed she was not alone. Then the flutters turned to knots. I should have realized, even if she was gay, that she would not be alone. Still, I went there with the intent to… well, I wasn’t really sure. But I only half-hoped she would be there. I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit I was a little disappointed to find her there, only to see her leaving with someone.
“Can I get you another drink?” the lovely brunette asked from across the bar.
“No, thank you. But I do have a question, if that is alright,” I said as I slipped a twenty-dollar bill across the bar when the drink was only eight dollars. The bartender nodded and smiled as she waited, not yet reaching for the cash. “Do you know of a woman named Amy? She was here just a few minutes ago. Fairly tall, slender, brown hair.”
