The Etiquette of Smoking

Like the Bait That I Am

Niki helped me with my makeup which was the only way I could've gotten the smokey eye and winged liner combo I had always wanted and consistently failed at. She did her hair and makeup beside me in the bathroom while we chatted about work, the guys, her family and mine. I learned that she was born in Indonesia and that her parents still lived there so a couple of times a year she would fly back home to see them. I thought that was really nice, but it made me think about my own parents...how I hadn't seen or even spoken to them in years. Not that it would do me any good now.

When we were finished in the bathroom Niki and I had a fight in the bedroom regarding our clothing for the night. I was already completely dressed, but still she debated with me why I should wear something sexier tonight.

"Why though? It's Wednesday, it's not like there will even be anyone there to see." I argued back while she dug through my closet in search of something she deemed more suitable.

"Exactly!" She chimed from inside. "So why not, right? No one will see you..." She pulled a low-cut blouse out from the hanger before putting it back. She stepped out of the closet with a finger tapping her lips.

"Maybe I just don't want to?" I sat on the bed cross-legged while I watched her make her way to my dresser and begin rifling through it. She pulled open the top drawer, the delicates drawer, and looked over her shoulder with an evil grin on her face.

"Why don't you wear this? It's so cute!" She pulled her hand out of the drawer and held up a piece of black lace so tiny you could barely see it.

"No." I huffed back at her. She pulled on the strings and shot the fabric at me, hitting me in the forehead. I watched her turn back around to continue her search, pulling every bra out she could find but deciding they were not what she was looking for. Finally, she turned back to me where I had been slingshotting the underwear up into the air and catching it in my boredom.

"Where is the lingerie we bought together?" She pondered, looking around my bedroom.

"No." I stated again. Niki ran to me, slapping her hands down hard on my thighs. "Ow!"

"Oh, come on I'm wearing mine tonight! We'll match!" She squealed as if knowing that I would be just as half naked as her was supposed to make me feel better somehow. I pushed her hands off of my thighs to expose the little red handprints she left on me and grimaced.

"Absolutely not, no."

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I don't want to talk about how I ended up in the passenger seat of Niki's car wearing the lacey pink corset I'd bought with her but never worn. Or how, despite my pouting and arm crossing, she still managed to make me crack a smile so I would forgive her.

"Trust me," She'd said just before she got out of the car. "It'll be great."

I rolled my eyes at her even though she couldn't see and took a deep breath before entering the club with her. Chad greeted us at the door with lingering eyes. I was already deeply regretting everything tonight.

Inside was still relatively dead. No one was really here except a couple of customers already having drinks at the bar, and our coworkers of course. The lights were down, setting the room in a deep indigo ocean. Hip hop music rang out, although it was not nearly as thunderous as it normally was.

"Ian's probably back on his bullshit." Niki joked as we made our way to the backroom to store our bags. I felt the fabric of my "top" with my fingers. The see-through lace on my stomach covered only by slightly less transparent rose patterns all the way up to the mesh covered cups that pushed my breasts up just enough to give them noticeable cleavage. I sighed. At least my outfit wasn't nearly as explicit as Niki's, which consisted of 2 red latex straps that came over her shoulders and down over her breasts with some extra, smaller red straps in between.