M e t a l l i c

Smoke.

The new year began as it ended, metallic magnet lipstick smears all over a stranger's face. Well okay, maybe not quite a stranger the second time around; the lips weren't foreign. However the soul inhibiting the lips had changed over the course of the long year.

Smoke, illegal or not, filled the bar exactly one year ago. Scents of Camel, marijuana, and strangely watermelon plugged my senses. I walked across the greasy floor, trying not to fall in my six-inch, jet black heels. Any misstep and this dress would split in two along with the heel of the stilletto. Wolf like eyes found mine in one of the darkest of the cursed place's corners. Magenta tones from the overhead lights flashed in his hungry eyes. My focus quickly switched from his body language to the nearby bar seats.

Sitting in one, I made my fifth drink order of the night. Probably five too many, my clouded conscious told itself, better have another to ward off this asshole who insists upon hounding me. Heavenly Haze burned down my throat, feeling like the gates of hell themselves slithering down my gullet.

"Vodka? I never would have thought that a lady like yourself would drink such a thing," the wolf snarled with a smirk dancing on his lips.

"Buzz off buddy. I'm not no lady, I run a business here okay? I have no time for cheap ass boys who are trying to knock things off their bucket lists," my intoxicated words snapped at him.

His grin did nothing for my impaled judgement. Smirking still, he shot back, "Hey honey chill. I just wanted to meet the mastermind behind the beauty."

I felt my eyes roll over themselves at that line. As if he could woe me with that shit, I blubbered to myself once again. I did not feel like a beauty earlier in the day, pre-makeup with my girls. All of our "war paint" was different, with the exception of the magnet colored liquid lipstick. All of my sisters, five of them total, are in the same business, and according to Anastasia, who was the oldest, the darker the makeup, the less likely a man would be able to remember your face after the party. Being the self conscious ass I am, I jumped at that open door to wear my darkest shadows. However, the shadows used in powder form were not as dark as the corner the wolf saw me in; nothing could be as menacing.

Escaping from my reverie, I remembered the task at hand. Right, I reminded myself, get in the man's wallet, but his heart first. Putting on a fake seductive smile, that hopefully wasn't too lopsided in my drunkenness, I approached the wolf once again; this time with an objective. I could see his ebony dark eyes tear away my little clothing I had on in his mind, the boyish grin never leaving. I stepped deliberately towards him, heels making a distinct clicking sound against the bar noise.

"Okay, let me put it this way; to see your little fantasy I can spy in your hellishly sexy eyes, you have to pay up first," my driven drunken side bargained.

The wolf, with his eyes never leaving my nearing body, slowly reached for his back pocket. Between his fingers I saw an alligator wallet. Ah hah, so he does have the dough, my satisfied mind thought. I continued my little walk towards him, inch by inch closer to his tall, lanky build. As he pulled out the cash, I could smell the essence of the gods; _____ cologne. A sigh escaped my throat and I could sense his body heat rising with mine. Placing the cash with me, I slid it away and did what I do best.

I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled it down to mine. He instinctively grabbed my waist and pulled me flush to him. My lips did the talking from there. The sweet, warm feeling of new lips against mine drew my mind in. He slid his tongue seductively against the inside edge of my lips. Tilting my chin up, he deepened the kiss, gently, down my throat. A slow and almost mournful groan left me again.

Deliberately, he snapped away from me. In that moment I realized what time it was. Midnight. The new year had come once again, whether I wanted it to or not. I looked back at him to see a smear of magnet colored lipstick across his juicy lips. He gave me one last grin and walked past my right shoulder.

"Spend it on something nice," were the last words the wolf said to my dumbfounded, drunk self.

Mind whirring, I located the wad of cash he gave me. Like a cat inspecting his prey, I fingered through the bills. Tear welling in my eyes, I threw the immense amount to the floor. I don't deserve this shit happening to me, please no... I thought, frantically trying to get my whore ass together. Touching my upper lip, I felt the sticky remnants of my metallic lipstick transfer to my skin, the remnants of a night I would forget most of the next dawn.
Happy New Year to me.