Drawing the Line

Chapter 4

"Oh my god my legs hurt, and we're not even at the club yet!" Emilia sighed as she circled her feet to relieve her ankles.

"We would've been in by now if it was the usual bouncer, but I think Terry took the day off. Damn him," Rylie muttered with crossed arms.

"Yeah yeah, you should be glad I'm still here. Look, even those guys get to go in before we do! Do you think the bouncer's gay?"

"Too bad for us if he is," Rylie stretched her neck to see up front.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Mickey casually made his way up to the Club Isis doors with James not far behind.

"Dan, my man, is that you?" The muscular man in all black looked up from his clipboard and stared blankly at Mickey. His face lit up when he realized who it was.

"Yo, Mick! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. The real question is, what are YOU doing here? Aren't you usually at Mirage?"

"Well, their usual guy got into a scrap and he's beat up pretty bad so I'm just filling in until he can stand again."

"Nice. Well, this is my buddy James. I'm here to show him a good time since he doesn't know how to."

"Dude's got a head start with his looks but he looks like a hermit. Better get started if you still want to salvage the night," Dan unclipped the red velvet rope and ushered them inside.

James wasn't sure if he was supposed to take that last part as a compliment or an insult. He just nodded as acknowledgement and followed.

------------------------------------------------------------

After another hour of standing outside in the crisp night air, the girls finally made it inside.

Emilia took a deep breath and immediately coughed profusely. The air was drenched with others' sweat and smoke; there were wafts of perfume and cologne masking a sourness in the air.

Those that weren't smoking were either on the dance floor or drinking up a storm.

Before she could decide on which direction to head in first, Rylie grabbed her by the wrist and started dragging her towards the floor. They squeezed their way into the crowd and started moving to the beat of the music.

Fifty minutes had passed and Emilia was exhausted. She was starting to feel uncomfortable with the amount of sweat that was pooling on various parts of her body. She turned around expecting Rylie to be there but she was nowhere in sight.

"Damn it, I knew this would happen!" She cursed under her breath and made her way to the bar. She sat on one of the stools and ordered a gin and tonic. She tried to call Rylie but she probably couldn't hear because of the music. She gave up and took a long sip from her glass. A man squeezed himself next to her frustrated as well with his head in his hands and elbow on the counter.

"Fucking Mickey, I told him clubs weren't my thing but he still drags me to one. Stupid me went along with it knowing he'll ditch me for a girl like he always does. If I wanted to meet a decent girl, I wouldn't do it here. These girls only want to hook up!"

"You know," Rylie interrupted his rant while finishing her drink, "Not all the girls in this club are what you think. Some of us just want to have a good time and maybe we got dragged here by our friends too. Maybe we'd rather be doing something else."

James sighed heavily and realized what he said.

"I'm sorry, I was just frustrated because this happens every time I go with my friend. I think I'm just going to stop going to places with him."