It’s a red mesh material, which allows her black lace bra to stand out in the ensemble. It stops in the middle of her stomach, about an inch above where her skirt begins. The elastic hem of her fishnets barely meets the bottom of the red lace.
“You’re killing me here, Sweetheart.” Viewing her stories is just erotic torture, although I continue to feast my eyes on the temptress in front of me.
She shows her drink in the next story. It doesn’t look like the glasses at The Neon Rose.No, these are different.
The shape around the rim is more square, and the red light from a nearby sign reflects off the glass. She must be out on the town.
“Where are you, Thalia?”
Needless to say, she answers me in another one of her stories.It’s almost too easy.
It’s another picture of her outfit, just in a new setting. Her skirt looks shorter from this angle. The way it sits higher up her thigh has me fucking drooling. The small amount of black material contrasts against the wine-colored wallpaper. She leans her hand on the black porcelain sink, and the other holds her phone towards the mirror.
Iknowthat bathroom, I’ve been there several times before. I toss my phone down on my black sheets and move towards my closet to pick out my outfit for what’s left of the night. It looks like I’ve got plans tonight.
A dim red lighting fills the bar. Tacky neon signs hang on the badly wallpapered walls. The building is mostly empty with black round tables and matching suede booths. Only a few other patrons are sitting in the high bar stools towards the end of the bar. Business seems slow, but it’s the middle of the week, so no surprise there. The bartender happily calls out my name when he spots me coming in the front door.
“Lee, what’s up, man?” Mike from behind the bar waves me over. His long blonde hair hangs over his shoulders in waves. His black and white striped shirt glows purple under the black light above the bar. It hangs loosely over his thin torso. He’s a skinny motherfucker and comes off cocky once in a while, but he’s charming as hell. He takes out a glass and pours me a drink before I sit down. He knows what I like, probably a sign that I come in here a lot. Besides, this bar sells my product, along with a few others.
“What’s up, man? How’s the night going?” I ask, standing between two bar stools.
“Slow as shit.” His blonde mustache curls just slightly as he smiles. “What brings you in?” He gently slides my drink in front of me.
“Oh, you know, just making my rounds.” I take a sip from the glass.
“So you had nothing to do tonight?” He laughs and takes a rag from behind the bar to begin cleaning a few whiskey glasses in front of him.
“Yeah, basically,” I answer, voice muffled by the glass on my lips. He chuckles again and shakes his head. He grabs the clean glasses and stores them on the shelf underthe bar.
I like Mike; his chill attitude is refreshing in this city. Maybe it’s because he’s easy going, or it’s because he gets high as fuck before he comes into work. Either way, it works for him, and it makes him a pleasure to be around.
“Anything interesting happen tonight?Anybodyinteresting?” I ask, setting the glass gently on the black slate bar.Way to be an inconspicuous asshole.
“Hey, man, everyone is interesting to me.” Mike’s smile goes wide. That’s an understatement. I’ve seen Mike leave with all kinds of different people—men, women, non-binary, sometimes more than one at a time. As long as he’s having a good time, Mike doesn’t give a fuck.
“If you’re thinking about yourself, you may want to direct your eyes inthatdirection.” He looks toward the back of the room.
Jace’s pink hair is easily recognizable anywhere. It glows bright under the red neon sign, with the word “SHOTS” reflecting off his purple sunglasses. He sits still in the booth, looking down at his phone screen. If he’s here, Thalia must not be too far away.
I scan the area looking for her. My searching stops when I see her walking towards Jace. She’s staring down at her phone, probably checking her views and likes on Instagram. By now, she must know that I’ve watched every one of her stories. I wonder if she would even notice that I’m in the same bar since she’s always staring at her phone screen.
“Someone you know?” Mike teases. He must notice my continued gape at the redhead bombshell in the corner of the room. You couldn't pay me a million bucks to look away from that perfect body of hers.
“Yeah.” I take another drink from my glass and set it gently on the table. I take note of the way Thalia sways in her black thigh-high boots and short skirt. The heels make a muffled sound on the dark red carpet.What is it about these boots that makes men think worse thoughts than we already do?The things we already picture should be deemed unethical, but when a broad puts on those boots, I instantly think about how I wish my face were in between them.
She picks up her nearly empty glass and tips back the rest of her drink. I can’t make out what she tells Jace under the loud music playing in the bar, but they aren’t hard to figure out with her smile and her body moving towards me.Fuck. I turn and face Mike and take another sip of my drink.
“Yeah, she works at another bar I supply.” My voice is steady, but on the inside, I am nervous.Nervous, I never get fucking nervous.
“Well, you gonna talk to her?” He asks, refilling my glass. “Because here’s your fucking chance.” He leans in closer. He murmurs as she gets closer to the bar, and the muffled sound of her heels increases.
“Another rum and coke?” Mike asks, putting on his bartender charm. She hands him her empty glass and nods.She’s next to me, so fucking close that I could touch her. She smells fucking delicious. What is that, cookies? God, I would love to taste her. I bet she would taste better than the baked goods she smells like. She would be like my own delicacy that I would happily eat over and over again.I turn my head just past my right shoulder, just enough so she can see that it’s me.
“Hey, Sweetheart.” My eyes meet hers while I lick bourbon off my bottomlip.
“Lee?!” The pitch in her voice rises, and if you could believe it, her eyes lighten.Did my heart just skip a beat, or did this drink give me indigestion?“What are you doing here?”
“Just doing his rounds,” Mike chimes in, handing Thalia her drink. He smiles again, like it’s a permanent fixture on his face.
