Jacki's plan to go out and drink 'till Kate forgot her troubles had been well-intentioned, but Kate just wasn't feeling it. Her head was pounding. She'd had two glasses of wine, and that was hours ago with dinner, before the karaoke and the few tense moments with the abusive ex who showed up in the same bar. Still, she didn't want to drive the 40 minutes home. Jacki had been going to get her home safely, but since Kate wasn't drunk, and Jacki met that cute guy, it made sense to part ways and drive separately.
After linking her earpiece and dialing, Kate fastened her seatbelt, turned the ignition, and flicked the blinker knob. No sense getting pulled over in front of a bar for something dumb when she was certainly below any legal intoxication limits, right?
James picked up, obviously not home in bed. Kate just hoped he wasn't on a date or something. Their on-again-off-again physical relationship hadn't included the whole "relationship talk" to this point.
"Hey. I'm at the wharf. I really don't want to drive home. I was hoping I could maybe hook up with you and crash at your place. But if you're busy, I don't want to intrude."
James answered, sounding infinitely more interested than he had when he first picked up. "I'm just at the Junkyard. I'll be home by the time you get there."
As Kate turned to go through the tunnel and drive the two short miles to James' apartment, she once again found the name "Junkyard" to be curious. In reality, the split-entrance casual dining restaurant and sports bar had an inventive menu, friendly staff, and a locally-high-powered clientele. She'd been there many times, but only once with James, even though he lived just two blocks away. Neither James nor Kate had ever really suggested going on a "date" out in public. The relationship had started as one-night cure for the lonely Kate felt whenever she didn't have her kids overnight. It had developed into a shallow and fleeting part-time affection. A comfortable convenience she could use when she needed a bed to crawl into - on those nights when she would otherwise fall asleep on the sofa with the TV on, waking up periodically with the belief that her children were home. If she slept with him in exchange for the momentary comfort, Kate thought of it like any other relationship: Women sleep with men to get all kinds of things, from attention to zirconium. Some women are subtle, like the kind who turned up the heat in the bedroom after their husbands did the dishes. Others are more forward - picture the beginning scenes of "Pretty Woman" here. Society draws an arbitrary line delineating wrong from right. Kate was no hooker, but she also saw sex as something she could exchange for what she needed. Most of the time she needed companionship. Sometimes she needed a place to hide and some good conversation. Once, she'd done it for a night on the town in style on her birthday. Oh, no, it wasn't an agreed-upon bargain, but she certainly wouldn't have slept with Dr.-whats-his-face if she hadn't felt like he deserved it after the sushi, exclusive nightclub, and posh hotel suite. She shivered at the memory of that night.
They had met on one of those dating sites. The three-hour drive made traditional dating difficult, but once he had made the drive to take her to dinner. They'd shagged on the living room carpet, never even making it to the bedroom before he left. Kate had gotten the feeling that he "got what he came for" - or would that be "came for what he got? - and had been surprised when he called late the next day. Two weeks later, on her birthday, she had driven to see him. It was a beautiful evening in the city. The hotel was currently occupied by both rock stars and sports heroes, and Kate had even ridden the elevator with one of the Baldric brothers, she was sure of it. She was impressed, though she wasn't fooled into believing it meant anything more than that. Men liked to impress women because women responded to being wowed. Since the beginning of time, or at least since the discovery of diamonds.
Dr.-whats-his-face had spent the rest of the evening and a good deal of money wowing her. First they had hit an upscale sushi restaurant where Kate experienced her first tastes of the raw fish delicacy and it's counterpart, sake. Then it was off to Undercover, a club so exclusive it had a false entrance where those who weren't "in the know" could walk into a perfectly fine bar and have a drink. For those with the password, however, there was a different door, with a far different world behind it.
A bit stunned at the sudden appearance of an elevator from a place that moments before had clearly been a brick wall, Kate blindly followed the Doc both onto the elevator and back off. A little disoriented, she allowed him to lead her to a cozy leather sofa just across from a gas fireplace with a beautiful glow. The wall to their right was illuminated with tiny white lights that seemed to twinkle rather than shine. The whole room was like that, as far as Kate could tell. It had been one large room, with brick columns for support. Someone had connected a few of the columns with one another, or with walls, to form a structure similar to a maze, but still open. This design created cozy, dimly-lit spaces that had been furnished with sofas and large leather ottomans alongside ornate oak coffee tables, some square, some curving with the lines of sectional sofas. Kate had never been anyplace quite like this, and though it didn't seem to fit with what she had assumed would be a spy or double-agent theme in such a bar, it was romantic and sexy and she was again duly impressed.
The waiter stopped and set drinks on the table. He chatted briefly with the Doc, in a way that led Kate to believe Doc had been here before. Kate sipped her vodka martini and tried not to eavesdrop. She stared into the fire, appreciating the icy drink as she swallowed another sip. She felt the Doc's hand on her thigh as she noticed a couple who had come in with a small group and sat on a sectional sofa on the other side of the fireplace. These two needed to get a room! Kate was almost embarrassed by them, but the alcohol and the atmosphere had dulled her inhibitions and she just giggled as she turned to the Doc.
"Those two need to get a room. He practically has her shirt off right here in the bar."
"Yeah. There shouldn't be any real nudity in here. Sometimes people get a little out of hand, I guess. To each his own, but I don't mind when people bend the rules a little."
As the Doc answered, Kate realized she was nervously chewing her olive after having nervously swallowed the last of her martini. She didn't remember having that many sips. Maybe her sips had gotten bigger with his hand on her thigh and this air of sex and romance. The waiter had apparently noticed the heightened sippage and subtly removed her class as he set a fresh one in front of her. The Doc smiled at his friend, then turned and looked into her eyes. As his lips met hers, she felt the added intoxication that comes from being kissed by someone who knows how to kiss. Make that someone who knows how to kiss well. When he deepened the kiss, his tongue felt hot and rough against hers. His hands wandered to her waist and neck as her mind wandered to the other things that tongue might be capable of.
He gently eased her back into the cushion, and for a moment Kate thought she just might lie back and let him do with her as he wished, right then and there. But of course it was just a moment, like when the delivery man comes to the office and you have a moment where you picture him under you on your desk. Then you sign his thingamajig and get back to looking busy. A moment. Not like the girl from across the room who had since walked further into the maze of cubbies and semi-private areas. She didn't understand the meaning of fantasizing about something you don't actually do. Or maybe she was just drunk and needed to take her top off and the fireplaces kept her warm... whatever.
As Kate's mind left the girl and focused back on her own lips, she broke the kiss. Giggling, she said, "If we're going to take it that far, shouldn't we go back to the room?"
"Before we leave, why don't we see if we can find someplace a little more private. That way we can talk or make out or whatever", the Doc said. And to Kate's sake- and vodka- enlightened mind, that sounded like a perfect plan. She grabbed her drink as he grabbed her hand and led her back into the maze. As she passed one space draped with a thin veil of fabric, she could have sworn she saw a girl who was completely nude. Her eyes were playing tricks on her already.
Not seeing a spot to his liking, the Doc had led her back further, to another elevator. He set her drink on a nearby sideboard table and taking her hand, he turned her around. Trapping her body against the wall with his, he kissed her lips. Again and again he teased her lips with his, then he pulled away to kiss her neck, then her shoulder. He had one hand on the wall behind Kate, and the other at the nape of her neck in a gesture that was slightly aggressive but tender and sensual. After nibbling on her earlobe, he nuzzled his lips against her ear.
"This is a special kind of club. We can continue this upstairs. They have plenty of room, and we could even let people watch if you wanted to..."
"Oh, crap", Kate had thought to herself. "Oh fuck. Now what?"
Not wanting to overreact, Kate took a breath, then smiled. "I don't think I'm quite ready for that." She giggled as she spoke, hoping it would ease the tension she was feeling and let him see how nervous she was.
To his credit, which was dwindling quickly in Kate's opinion, the Doc hadn't tried to pressure her into staying. He led her back out the way they had come in. He sat their drinks back on the coffee table and sat down.
"How about we finish our drinks, the go back to the hotel? There's a bar there if we want to keep drinking, or we can go upstairs and see where the night takes us."
"Can I have 'Corny Pick-up Lines' for $1,000 please, Alex? 'See where the night takes us', he said. Did he really think she didn't understand what he wanted out of the night at this point?"
"Sounds good" she said aloud, thankful he couldn't hear her thoughts. She had discovered that dates didn't end well if the other person didn't get her particular brand of humor. And a lot of people didn't quite get Kate as it was, so she'd learned to control her rapier wit when necessary. Usually. Ok, sometimes. She was working on it, at least.
The two finished their drinks and hailed a cab. On the way to the hotel, he toyed with the hemline of her skirt, inching it up to nearly indecent levels in the back seat. His kisses remained passionate and heated as his hands wandered above her waist, once even pulling her sweater up far enough to fondle her nipple through her lace bra without interference. Kate had all but forgiven him the bizarre second-date sex club incident since he had let the issue drop so easily and still seemed interested in having good, old-fashioned hot, steamy just-met-this-guy sex like a civilized gentleman.
As the Doc paid the Cabbie, Kate opened the door and waited in the cool night air. The Doc strolled around the car and took her hand. As they walked into the lobby, he whispered in her ear once again.
"Our room has a large window facing the atrium and pool. There are tons of people staying at this hotel because of the concert and the game. What do you say we open the curtains and I fuck you against the window so people can watch?"
"This seriously isn't happening to me today. Aren't you supposed to wait until at least the third date to start showing your kinks? We all have a wild side, and this might have been fun, but this shit is date five information, at least. Really."
