Spicy Short Stories

A New Year's Eve

 The chatters of other guests swarmed me as I hand over my well-worn red suede jacket to the beautiful Coat-Check women and was handed a small matte black ticket with a number in return. I had arrived shortly after eleven for the Grande Opening of Club Onyx, the new nightclub causing a unique buzz in the streets of Vancouver. Put the ticket in my black clutch, I followed the other guests down a stretched hallway on a black and gold runway carpet. The music within the club slowly became more clear as we reached the end and entered through two large walnut wood doors, there we were greeted by large well groomed men in black three-piece suits checking our customized gold invites.

Giant bronze chandeliers shimmered down upon a vast dance floor as well as a seating area, waitresses uniformed in short all gold dresses carried round bronze trays which held flutes of champagne for the guests. Taking a flute which was then offered to me and I made my way over to an spot where I had a clear point of view so that I could begin taking in the stunning design of the interior. Along with the bronze and gold details throughout, I noticed that the floors, walls, bases of the furniture and such was all of either black chrome, marble or paint, sticking to a distinct theme of Geometric Art Deco. There were two levels for the guests to venture around, with two bars on the main level and one for the upper level which was for VIP's only. The men behind the bars were uniformed in classic black and gold pin strips with black trousers and fedoras. Before I knew it, I had already finished off my champagne so I decided now would be a great opportunity to check out how well those bartenders served their guests as I swayed through the growing crowd of men and women.

Tonight was a special one for me, it was my first night out in months so I wanted to enjoy every inch of this place, and tonight was particularly important to everyone since it was also New Year's Eve. I made my way to the one bar where a young man, no more than thirty, was already tossing drinks and having the ladies all gushing over his looks and skills. Beside him was a gentleman who was most likely in his forties whipping up more classic drinks such as scotch on the rocks, whiskey sours and old fashions. With a drink in mind, I waited till the older gentlemen noticed me and asked for my drink order.

"What may I get you Miss?" His polite demeanor brought a smile as I leaned in to speak over the music.

"Blackberry whiskey lemonade?" I asked, knowing that it was a special cocktail the Onyx only served for certain guests.

The man smiled and tipped his fedora towards me acknowledging the special request and began by tossing a small handful of blackberries and a leaf of mint into a bronze mixer. After muddling the berries and mint together ice was poured in on top, followed by a double shot of an expensive whiskey and a few shots of lemonade. The sound of ice rasped inside the shaker as he rocked the shaker up and down along with the rhythm of the music, when that was finished he pulled out a tall glass chilled and poured the contents into it. Tossing the finishing touches with more ice and lemon soda into the glass followed by a mint leaf and blackberry garish to top it off. In a blink of an eye, the glass was placed before me along with a black napkin.

"Your Blackberry whiskey lemonade Miss, do hope you enjoy it." His voice chimed over the sound of the crowd and music, followed by another tip of his hat.

"Thank you." I replied, taking the beautiful drink from its place and throwing him a smile before turning around and heading for another good spot to stand.

Taking a few savouring-sips of the cocktail as I made my way through the crowd once again until finally I had reached another perfect spot. From where I now stood I could see every where except for the full upper level, I could only catch a glimpse of the top of the stairs and a few groups of people. I watched as more people made their way through the front door where they were having their customized gold invitations checked before continuing through.