ROULETTE OF THE DAMNED 4: Magical Mystery Ride

Bukunmi hopped off the barstool. Perfectly shaved legs, a teasing smile, dark eyes that lit up beneath long dark lashes… That was Bukunmi. She not only turned heads, she stopped men in their tracks and left them drooling and speechless.

“Let’s dance,” she said.

Edirin slipped off her stool and grabbed Abbey’s hand. “I love this song. Let’s go dance.”

“Not yet,” Abbey said. “You guys go ahead.”

Bukunmi sighed.  “I thought you came out to have fun, Abbey. I know it’s been a while since you went out, but I’m pretty sure you know that sitting down and staring at other people in a club is not my idea of fun. You can’t keep being so uptight just because you and Jiro have issues. Things happen…you just need to rise above it.”

Abbey managed a smile. “Thanks, BK. I promise I’m fine. I’ll get up and dance soon. I’m just waiting till I hear a song I like. When that happens, I’ll dance. But don’t let me stop you guys from having fun. I’ll join you guys in a few minutes.”

With a shrug, Bukunmi let Abbey have her way. Abbey watched as her two friends disappeared into the crowded dance floor. The DJ kept the crowd moving with a funky mix of songs. Edirin glowed under the flashing lights and weaved her way through the crowd like the professional dancer she was. More than a few men’s heads turned in their direction. Abbey looked away. Bukunmi was right. She had come out to have fun and not act like an old woman sitting at home waiting for something spectacular to happen. So far, she wasn’t doing a good job of having fun.

She looked at her wrist watch. It was ten minutes to midnight. Once the clock struck midnight, it would officially mark exactly four months that Jiro had proposed to her. It would also mark four months of consistently asking Jiro to make out time to contribute ideas to the planning of their wedding…time he never seemed to have. During weekdays, he claimed he was swamped with work – getting home really late and leaving home really early. His weekends were always spent with Andrew playing stupid video games, having a laugh, and having that silly hangout of theirs at the expense of her wedding planning time. The worst part was that every time she tried to call Jiro at nights to discuss some of the ideas she had for the wedding, his landline was always engaged because he was talking to Andrew. Many times, she would call his mobile phone but he never seemed to give her his full attention, not completely, and she could easily guess why: Andrew was probably on hold on the landline. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t heard anything from Andrew either. Maybe she hadn’t heard from Andrew since the last time they spoke because he was mad at her for insinuating that he and Jiro were attracted to each other.

Maybe I should just go and apologise to Andrew for the things I said. He’s been a great friend and I should not have let my friendship with Andrew suffer just because my relationship with Jiro has hit the rocks. She sighed. None of this was Andrew’s fault. He had done nothing wrong except be a friend to a guy that had taken her for granted on several occasions. The only person to be blamed in all of this was Jiro.

Everyone – even Andrew – thought they were a perfect couple. Nobody would have suspected that Jiro had proposed to her only after she complained that he was making her constantly compete for his time and affection. Once he had proposed however, she had been so excited to finally be engaged, she hadn’t cared too much about why he had proposed. The fact was, he had finally proposed.

In the last year however, their relationship had suffered drastically. Abbey remembered confronting Jiro about how his behaviour was making their relationship suffer. He’d insisted she was overreacting. Although he agreed with her that their relationship had gone stale in the last year, he had insisted that it was both their faults; and he wouldn’t blame her if she just wanted to move on. After he had uttered those words, Abbey just wasn’t 100% sure she wanted to marry him anymore. Knowing that Jiro never really had time for her now that they were engaged made things even worse. Since that was so now, how would he be when they got married?

After the argument with Jiro, Abbey had thrown his engagement ring at him and told him to come back to her when he was serious about marrying her. After walking out, Abbey had felt liberated…free! So far, Jiro had called, texted, begged, and sent flowers and chocolates to her office every day in the past week. Abbey had ignored all his messages and thrown all the flowers into the bin. What did she need flowers for? Nothing! Not a damn thing! The chocolates however she had eaten. No point in wasting perfectly good boxes of chocolates!

Around her, sexy young women in tiny skirts were submerged with attention by hopeful young men. They were all so at ease. Abbey, on the other hand, just wanted to go home.

The guy two stools away from her was slowly leaning closer to her. The heavy scent of his spicy cologne stung her nostrils. She sensed his come-on before he spoke.

“Hello. How are you this evening?”

Abbey mustered a smile. “I’m fine thanks. You?”

“Doing great,” he replied through a toothy grin. “Even better since you got here.”

Nothing original about this guy, Abbey thought. He wore a baggy designer t-shirt and baggy faded jeans. His pick-up line was dull and extremely unimpressive. Abbey turned toward the dance floor in search of her friends.

“Can I buy you a drink?” the guy asked. His eyes remained fixed on Abbey’s breasts.

“I’m good with the drink I have. Thanks anyway.”

He motioned to the empty spot on the bar in front of her. “Where’s the drink you say you are drinking?”

“I finished it.”

“Let me buy you another then.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t want another drink. I’m driving,” she lied. She hadn’t brought her car because Edirin had driven her to the club; but this guy didn’t need to know that.

“But the night is young,” he implored. “One more drink wouldn’t hurt you. I’m sure you can drive even if you had one more drink.”

His voice had a cocky edge. It irritated her. Abbey shook her head and fake-smiled. “No, I’d rather not.”

He shrugged. “My name is Nnamdi.”

“My name is Esther.” Abbey averted his eyes, picked her iPhone and randomly checked what was happening on Instagram. Will Bukunmi and Edirin ever come back or am I destined to spend the entire evening with this Nnamdi dude leering over her shoulder, she wondered.

“Do you want to go someplace quiet?” Nnamdi asked.

Abbey would have laughed out loud, had the irony of her situation not hit her square in the gut. She had spent four years with Jiro and had thought it was leading to her happily-ever-after, but after the argument they had, she wasn’t so sure anymore. In an effort to take her mind off  the troubles in her love life, her friends had taken her out on a girls-only night-out but had abandoned her to mingle with guys on the dance floor. Now, this guy had come from nowhere, was staring at her breasts while chatting her up, and was insistently offering to buy her a drink. Did he really think she’d be flattered and fall right into bed with him? She knew a few women probably would have done exactly that, but she couldn’t imagine why.

In a futile effort to hide her disgust, Abbey’s fake smile wavered. “I’m sorry, I cannot go anywhere with you…I’m here with friends.”

“Yeah? Where are they?” Nnamdi asked, not believing her.

“On the dance floor.”

“Want to join them, Esther?”

“No thanks.”

Nnamdi shrugged. “Your loss.”

Abbey ignored his sudden look of disdain. She turned her attention to the music and the people dancing. The DJ had switched to hip hop but the beat hadn’t changed much. A lot of Nigerian songs had very similar beats, but you’d always bob your head and move your body to its rhythm, she mused.  Abbey spotted Bukunmi gyrating in the middle of two guys whose tongues practically hung to the floor in open admiration of her. No sign of Edirin.

Already on the hunt for another prey, Nnamdi cast a sideways glance, got up, and walked away. He repositioned himself toward the end of the bar, beside a cheap-looking girl with big boobs shooting out of her short dress. Her breasts were so big, it looked like God had meshed three water melons together to create one breast – six water melons in total to create the pair of her breasts. Abbey was glad to be rid of him.

Abbey looked towards the dance floor in another attempt to find Bukunmi and Edirin. Maybe it was time she swallowed her nerves and got on the dance floor with the rest of the crowd. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t dance. She did it all the time in her bedroom, when no one was watching. But it took her a while to work up the nerve to dance in public. Still, the night was young and the people here were drunk enough to ignore if she missed a few steps here and there.

She turned away from the dance floor and surveyed the crowd not dancing. She spotted him instantly. He was tall and muscular and unbelievably sexy. And he was staring right at her.

Abbey quickly looked away. Her breath caught in her throat and heat rose to her cheeks. She tried to concentrate on the music but, even with her back to him, she felt his eyes burning into her. Why had he been staring? Was he still staring? Why did she want the answer to be yes?

She turned her head slightly to catch a glimpse of the mysterious stranger staring at her. He was still standing by the pole, still staring at her! His face was without expression, his stance casual. He made no move toward her, yet she felt overpowered by his presence.

Turning away swiftly like a child caught doing something wrong, Abbey rubbed the goose bumps that had formed on her arms and got the bartender’s attention. “Could I have a shot of tequila please?”

The two minutes the bartender took to pour her drink felt like an eternity. Abbey shifted her weight on the barstool, afraid to turn back toward the man by the pole. Was it the fact that he’d been looking at her that was making her uncomfortable? She wasn’t sure if her sixth sense was telling her that she was attracted to him, or warning her to be careful of him.

Had she been more like Edirin or Bukunmi, she would have ordered a second drink and have it sent to the guy or boldly walked over and introduced herself; but she was not like them. For many reasons, she lacked that kind of confidence, not to mention the minor issue of her total lack of trust where strangers were concerned.

The bartender brought the glass of tequila and Abbey swallowed the shot in one gulp. Her throat burned. Good. Maybe it would relax her and give her the required courage boost.

She sensed his closeness before she turned. His erotic scent filled the air. Her palms began to sweat and the shot of tequila had run right down to her legs, making them wobbly. Glad she was sitting down, Abbey took a deep breath and turned to face him. His eyes caught her off guard. He met her eyes and he didn’t blink, but she was not as skilled as he was, so she had to look away.

“I’m sorry for staring,” he said. “Well, no, I’m really not. I’m just sorry for being so blatant about it.”

Abbey chuckled at the man’s honesty. His voice was every bit as erotic as his physical appearance. He smiled an easy relaxed smile, radiating a confidence that somehow managed to lack arrogance. Abbey’s skin grew warmer, silently cursing the stupid smile on her face that she couldn’t control.

“Are you waiting for someone?” he asked.

“No.” Abbey looked to the dance floor. “I’m here with some friends.”

He touched the stool beside her. “Then can I sit here and buy you a drink?”

Abbey hesitated, her mental battle of whether or not to let him sit down evident on her face.

He grinned and said, “One drink? Then if you want me to get lost, I promise I will.”

Abbey couldn’t help but smile. “You’ve got a deal.”

He slid onto the stool. “My name is Mofe.”

“My name is Esth – uh… I mean I’m Abbey.” For some reason, she didn’t want to lie to this man.

The bartender approached and said “Can I get you two something?”

Mofe held her eyes. “What are you drinking?”

“Rum and Red bull,” she said.

“…And a run and coke for me, please.” Mofe said to the bartender, his eyes never leaving Abbey’s.

The bartender returned, placing the drinks in front of them and left. Abbey felt smothered as the guy continued staring at her. It felt weird…it felt good!

I should say something…I shouldn’t just sit here quietly like a fool. “So…” As she turned her neck, thinking of what to say to him, she spotted ‘Crazy and Crazier’ coming over to her corner. “Beware, my lunatic friends are coming over.” she said.

Bukunmi collapsed on the stool on the other side of Mofe, “Hello handsome,” she said.

Mofe smiled. “Hi.”

“And you are?”

“My name is Mofe.”

Bukunmi’s ruby red lips turned upward into a dazzling smile. “I’m Bukunmi. And you are stunning!”

Mofe simply smiled. Edirin rolled her eyes as she slipped onto the stool beside Abbey. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Edirin.”

“Hi Edirin. It’s nice to meet you both.”

“Great club,” Bukunmi said. “We’ve never been here before. I love the atmosphere.” As she spoke, she twirled a lock of her long dark natural hair in her finger.

Abbey bit her bottom lip, suddenly feeling small and a little inadequate. I knew I should have taken more time to style my hair and do my make-up. Damn it!

Mofe nodded. “Yeah, it’s not a bad place.” He turned his attention to Abbey, locking his eyes with hers. “And I’m definitely liking the atmosphere.”

Abbey grew warm all over. She sipped her drink, not trusting herself to speak.

“Are you here alone?” Bukunmi asked Mofe.

His eyes still locked on Abbey, Mofe said, “I was. But I hope I’m not anymore.” He flicked a glance at Bukunmi and added, “I’m on probation till Abbey finishes her drink.”

Abbey laughed, relaxing despite herself. “Probation is over.”

Mofe gave her a boyish grin. “And I’m allowed to stay?”

“Yes, you are,” Abbey replied, grinning as well.

Mofe leaned close to Abbey, his mouth inches from her ear. “Dance with me,” he murmured.

Abbey was suddenly aware of the seductive beat of the music. A lump formed in her throat. His words had been more a gentle command than a question. His breath was hot against her neck. Every logical bone in Abbey’s body told her to say ‘No’ but as she swallowed the lump in her throat, she opened her mouth and found herself saying “Okay.”

***

1 am.

Judging by the noises coming from the kitchen, it was evident that Jiro was still awake. Wondering when his door would open and Jiro’s head would appear through the crack and ask him to leave his house in the dead of the night, Andrew rolled on his side and tried his hardest to fall asleep so he wouldn’t have to do the walk of shame he was already dreading. He knew that in the morning, the walk of shame would be inevitable. At the moment however, the guest bedroom served as his safe haven and he preferred it that way. As he forced himself to get some shut-eye, he tried to think of something else besides Jiro and the unremitting pull his best friend had on his every thought.

The microwave beeped from the kitchen and Andrew knew instantly that Jiro was grabbing something to eat. It dawned on him that Jiro hadn’t actually eaten any of the chicken wings from earlier. Even though Andrew had eaten four or five chicken wings, his stomach still grumbled for food. Unfortunately, he knew he wouldn’t be satisfying that craving tonight. He wasn’t ready to face Jiro anytime soon. I’d rather have bamboo splinters shoved under my nails than have another confrontation with Jiro again tonight, Andrew decided within himself.

1am had a sneaky way of making the truth jump right out and bite you in the ass. Fine, Jiro has one heck of a good reason to be mad at me, he thought. I crossed a line that should never have been crossed. I just thought there was a connection between us when we kissed. I guess I was wrong. There’s nothing I can do about it now though. How do you force yourself not to want someone? Not ache to touch them or burn to feel their touch in return? Andrew wondered as he put his left hand on his head. If there was a way, there’d already be a drug for it and he would have already bought shares in the damn company.

He thought back to the times he’d had sex in the past. One after another, he had taken several women to bed. Only a few had been more serious, but that was times when he’d been determined to just find someone who would accept him for who he was – for all of who he was. He had figured if he couldn’t find that, he would settle for someone to distract him… Distract him from what though? He didn’t even want to consider what the answer was.

The best thing I can do is apologise again in the morning, try to explain myself as best as I can and pray I don’t get another punch in my other eye or worse.

With his decision made and his guilt-derisive demons strangely falling into silent mode, Andrew felt himself drifting back toward sleep.

***

2 am.

His door opened, the light from the crack in the door nailing him in his bruised left eye. Yeah, the punch from earlier was definitely going to leave a mark in the morning. Leaving the door ajar out of sheer meanness, Jiro entered. The last couple of minutes, Andrew had heard him stand outside the door, grunt derisively, and leave. This time, he actually came in.

Andrew turned from the pillow and opened his sleepy eyes.

Jiro had his hands crossed over his chest. His legs were slightly spread, his stance hostile.

Yeah, he was definitely still on the war-path tonight, Andrew thought.

“Is everything okay, Jiro?”

“No,” Jiro growled.

“What’s on your mind, then?” Andrew didn’t want to ask but he was curious as to what the answer would be.

“You are a sicko!” Jiro cursed under his breath. Then he spun on his heel, left the room, and slammed the door with a resounding thump.

That went well.  Sicko – Jiro’s definition of my affinity for men. Talk about progress. Any psychiatrist would be thrilled with that shiny new development, not that Jiro would see one, he thought dryly.

Shoving the duvet off his body, Andrew lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling until he fell asleep.

Written by The Controvert