Pounding music filled my ears as Liv, Jenny, Lana and I entered the club. Blue and red strobe lights illuminated my surroundings, flashes of faces appearing as the lights went on and off. Pairs of people inappropriately gyrating against one another littered the dance floor, and I inhaled the aura of alcohol that made my lungs feel heavy. We maneuvered through the crowd, getting a few lustful stares from the guys that passed.
"Keep walking," Liv said to a guy who was prepared to dish out a cheesy pick-up line. I smiled at her amusing attitude.
We made our way to the bar, sitting on the rotating cushioned stools. Lana sat to the right of me, and Liv and Jenny sat to the left.
A bartender with a large build and a hard face approached us. "What can I get you?" he asked, leaning on the counter.
"A scotch on the rocks with a twist and three martinis with a bleu cheese olive in each," Liv replied quickly.
"Coming right up," he said before turning away to the shelves of drinks behind him.
"He's cute!" Lana exclaimed. We turned to her, giving expressions of disgust.
"What?" she asked innocently.
"I'm gonna take you an eye doctor when we get back, okay?" Jenny joked. Liv and I laughed as Lana rolled her eyes.
"Whatever."
"Here you go, ladies," the bartender called, sliding our drinks across the counter.
"Thank you," Lana chirped, staring at him.
"No problem," he replied, coquettish grin etched onto his face before turning away to attend to another group of people.
Lana continued to stare at him, playing with the straw that was in her glass. I snapped my fingers in front of her face, and she jumped out of her haze.
"You have a problem," I chuckled.
"Says the one who didn't wanna come out of her room," Lana retorted.
"Hey, I got out, didn't I?" I took the small glass containing my scotch with ice and a twisted lemon peel, downed it, and placed it back on the counter. "And now I drank, I had fun, can we go home now?" I began to get up from my seat to exit, but Liv quickly grabbed my forearm, pulling me back down and pinning me to my seat.
"No, because we're gonna make sure you get off your sorry ass and have some fun tonight," Liv said. "We're in England, we're in a club, surrounded by a bunch of hot British guys. And nonetheless, we're American! British guys eat that shit up! It doesn't get better than this, El," Liv yelled.
"First of all, you're talking way too loud," I said between clenched teeth. "Second, need I remind you, we're in England for photography."
"Which is a hypothetical vacation," Jenny chimed in.
"No, it's not," I argued. "Third, since when does a girl being American matter in a foreign country?"
"Uh, since always," Lana commented.
"Oh, I didn't get the memo," I said sarcastically.
"Look, Ella, in all seriousness," Liv began, giving me a sympathetic stare. "You've been with him for two years. You forgot how to have fun. So just humor me and have fun now."
I took in her somewhat harsh words. I guess it was true, maybe I had forgotten how to have fun in those two years I was with Jake, who had decided to break up with me just a mere hour ago.
I let out a prolonged sigh. "Fine," I huffed.
They all gave claps and small cheers.
"Bartender!" Liv shouted. "Can we have a bottle of Long Island Iced Tea, please?"
"Sure," he called back.
"Liv, I hope you realize I'm not planning on getting drunk tonight," I chuckled.
"I know," she winked.
___________________
I stood on the counter, an encouraging crowd in front of me as I pranced around, acting as if the counter was a runway. Although I was no model. I swayed my body back and forth to the beat of the music, occasionally taking sips from the bottle of Long Island Iced Tea that I held.
The music came to an end, and I jumped down from the counter with the help of two men that offered me a hand to hold on to as I came down. I shot my hands to the sky as a sign of victory as the crowd gave me one last brooding cheer.
The crowd scattered around the dance floor as a new song began to play. Jenny, Lana, Liv greeted me in laughs, commending me on my wildly unusual courage and ability to enjoy myself.
"Now, to complete the cleansing process," Jenny began. "You have to hook up with a guy," she grimaced.
"Oh, no, no, no," I chuckled. "I can do a little dancing on a counter, but going home with a random guy from a club is pushing it."
"Oh, c'mon!" Liv encouraged. "We already found a guy for you."
"What?"
"Well, not 'found' exactly," Lana informed me. "There's this guy who's been checking you out since the moment you walked in."
"I doubt it," I scoffed.
"Oh, really? Two o'clock." Liv flicked her head in the implied direction.
I looked over to where she was insinuating. A pair of mesmerizing, bright emerald green eyes caught my gaze. His hair went in up curls and small ringlets that seemed as if they were wind-swept. A smirk played on his bubblegum pink full lips, dimple indented in his cheek. He brought the glass containing a liquid up to his mouth, drinking from the glass, and swished around the ice that it held as he brought it back down to the table. His tongue ran over his lips, wetting them as he continued to stare at me.
I turned back to Liv, who looked overly excited.
"Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know how to just walk over there and be...sexy or whatever," I shrugged, placing the bottle that I held on the counter. Men that made it known that they were attracted to me made me feel uncomfortable, versus other women, whose ego's were only inflated. And knowing a stranger, nonetheless, was gawking at me made me antsy, to say the least
"Are you kidding me?" Jenny questioned rhetorically. "You just danced on a counter looking like a part-time stripper and had every guy in here drooling over you."
I scrunched my eyebrows, wondering if I was supposed to consider that a beneficial thing. "Thanks," I chuckled.
"It was a compliment," she corrected. "My point is, you know what you're doing now. Put your new talent to use."
I gave it thought, quickly glancing over to the guy, who hadn't taken his eyes off me yet.
I was hesitant, but finally answered. "Alright, alright. But we're doing it my way."
"Whatever gets you going," Jenny smiled.
"Someone give me their pick," I demanded. Lana voluntarily gave me her pick from out of her martini glass that held a bleu cheese olive. I took it out of the glass as it dripped with Vodka. "Pretend we're talking."
They quickly made small conversation, as I made eye contact with the guy once again. I brought the pick to my mouth, engulfing the olive, and biting the pick with my teeth as I slid the olive off. I purposely took my time, making sure he was paying close attention to my actions. Using my tongue, I brought the olive in between my teeth, holding it as I bit into it with my incisor teeth. The absorbed fluid in the olive squirted into my mouth, and I put the olive back into my mouth just as I had taken it out. I normally chewed, licking my lips and swallowed, finishing my attempt.
"El!" Jenny laughed, surprised. "I didn't know you had it in you!"
"What'd she do?" Liv asked.
"Doesn't matter. What she did worked," Jenny said while turning her head. "Here he comes."
- AUTHORS NOTE -
hello hello :-) this is my first time writing so hopefully it doesn't suck too much lol but feedback is appreciated!
