Luscious

4. Name Cards

Song: Choke - Royal & the Serpent

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Luscious

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Before I turned away, I did something completely out of character.

I winked at him.

I winked at him and then I became another nameless face amongst the ever flowing stream of people.

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I rushed inside the small club, revelling at the inside warmth.

I blew on my hands as I took off my raggedy coat and made my way into down the hallway and into the main room. 

I toured the area, surprised at how much had changed in only a night.

All the tables, chairs and sofas had been replaced with deep reds, all done in modern taste. The bloodstained carpet from yesterday had been replaced with a dark, fluffy kind which hugged the entire room. 

Instead of a stage in the middle of the room, there were smaller stages dotted around, each with their own poles and the tables had been placed around them, but the icing on the cake wasn't the new red aesthetic or the new stages, it was the grand piano placed in the middle of the room. 

The mere sleekness of the instrument took my breath away. 

I slowly approached it, as if under a spell, and gingerly touched the smooth wood, my fingers eventually finding their way to the cover. 

I lifted it up, met with the familiar white and black keys. 

Still entranced by its beauty, I dragged my finger over the keys, finding the middle C and pushing it down, letting a lone note ring out in the empty room. 

"Do you play?" A voice shook me out of my entranced stupor. 

I looked up, met with those dangerous eyes from across the room. 

If I thought he looked good yesterday, he definitely looked better today. He donned a three piece suit which seemed to be tailor made for him and hugged his entire figure, showing off his muscles in the most artful way possible. His hair was pushed back and to top it all off, he leaned dangerously on the doorway.

As if the keys had suddenly turned blazing hot, I snatched my hand away and closed the cover.

Adjusting my hood, I stood to my full height, letting my eyes roam the room a second time, no longer entranced by the aesthetics and picking out the flaws I would have to fix. 

"Sometimes."

I kept my answer vague, he was already asking more questions than the old boss and I couldn't say I liked it. 

I liked to keep my affairs private. 

He hummed, pushing himself off the doorway and looking around the room as if it was the greatest thing in the world. 

"What do you think of the transformation?"

My eyes snapped to his, not wanting to tell him that I thought he did a nice job.

"Good luck getting spilled drinks out of this carpet," I said making my exit, not looking at him once as I strutted out of the room and into the hallway. 

I barged into the main dressing room, immediately noticing another change to the regime. 

Outfits rested innocently on the large daybed in the middle of the room, each with a name tag lying innocently on top.