The booming music echoed throughout the large room where people all around were dancing, drinking, and talking about the latest gossip that passed their ears. In all honesty, it was more frustrating than entertaining, especially when the music nowadays was more about show than meaning, drinking was overrated, and gossip was inconsiderate to those it involved and those who heard it.
“I’m sorry. I know you would like to hangout, but I am here with someone,” I said to the young woman aside of me, who asked if we could dance. I felt ashamed, but I really wanted to leave. I left her with a smile on my lips by the DJ booth, where there were a couple of individuals singing along to the score.
I headed over to another young woman sitting on a tall stool at the bar table some distance before me. She was absorbed in a conversation she was having with another club goer, a young man seemingly in his late twenties or early thirties. She laughed as he spoke to her; covering her lips with her fingers. I took the small cocktail in her hands as I stood behind her, alerting both him and her to my presence. She spun around, reaching out to me in attempts to get the alcoholic beverage, only to stumble forward. I shook my head, placing the cocktail on the counter as quickly as I caught her.
“She seems drunk?” the man questioned in obvious amusement.
I released an audible sigh, causing him to roll his eyes before leaving his seat. I placed Jasmine in the chair, allowing her to recollect herself before speaking to me.
“Why you do that?” she asked me in a soft, cutesy tone. Her eyes were reddening and her face, along with the rest of her body, looked pale as well as dry. I bit my tongue in annoyance at the thought that the woman would allow herself to get like this. A few seconds passed before she sighed, raising her hand to the bartender at the other end of the table. On impulse, I knocked it down, forcing her to spit an unintelligible, garbled insult at me.
“Sorry!” I quickly apologized, only for her to speak the garble once more.
“You need to go home,” I said slowly.
“Sh-Sh-Shut up Andrew!” she slurred, her eye contact leaving me in the dark as to whether she wanted to be fetching or angry.
“If I want to drink, let me drink. If your antisocial behind wants to leave, then leave, but don’t take me along with you.” I sucked my teeth at her ignorance, before walking off.
“Try not to get taken advantage of Jasmine. You still got work in the morning,” I mumbled. Her mockery of a laugh towards my comment filled my ears when she headed off, possibly to find that man she was just talking with. My progression towards the corner faltered upon realizing that my comment may not have been far-fetched as she might have thought. I gripped my fist, considering that it would be best for me to retrieve her, even if she did hated me in the morning.
As I turned around, I saw him once again. His stout form stood near a large pillar positioned in the center of the club, wearing a dark, fine striped suit with cuffed pants. Though his eyes never seemed to be on us when observing his presence, I was confident he was watching us. Ever since Jasmine and I entered the club a couple of hours ago, he kept a “close yet far” distance. Though I thought it was a bit strange, I did not think anything of it to begin with. Most people in New York City could be a bit strange after all. The vicinity near him made my stomach churn and my body tremble and sweat. For that, he was the main reason I wanted to go.
I walked past our pursuer, keeping my peripherals on him while doing so. Jasmine was now in the company of the same man she encountered before, along with a couple of other men who were probably his friends. She was dancing very provocatively with the man, grinding slowly between his open legs, causing those around them to howl like dogs. Upon approaching, the man noticed me and sent one of his friends in my direction.
