Disclaimers and others: The story is not set in any particular known city, the city, as well as characters, are all fictional, though some real-life events might be taken purely for inspiration, but characters are still fictional, as is the storyline. Please let me know how you feel about the direction of the story, critiques, etc., along with any other things you might want to tell about, I am open to almost everything.
Chapter 1
`It is that time of the day again', Steve thought as he entered a dimly lit room.
"Card!", the lady from the counter spoke.
"You should know by now that I am a regular"
"I know, but no card no entry", she said emphasizing the leaflet stuck in the window.
"Here!", Steve put the card irritatingly in the window and waited for the woman to swipe it in her machine. She lit another cigarette and waited for the machine to pass her the details. Some beep sound came when she looked at Steven and gave his card back, "Thank you", she added.
The rocking jazz from the adjoining room kept buzzing the air the entire time.
Steve resumed his normal spot by the bar and ordered his usual "Martini" while he enjoyed the music and the dance show put on by several men and women on the dance floor. He looked in his phone and rechecked the time. It is still early to have this much crowd", he thought while sipping his drink, maybe it will be a busy night tonight, oh yeah I forgot, it is the start of the weekend tomorrow'. He was busy enjoying the music when his gaze fell on a rather unfamiliar face sitting beside him.
"Well, hello there", he said to the man sitting beside him.
Dressed rather formally for a night out at a club, Brian stood out from the rest, and add to it that he was visiting the city for the first time, he was going to be an eye-catcher for sure. And when he heard Steve calling him, he looked at a rather thin man with light brown hair wearing a shirt and jeans that were probably way outworn. `Hmmm.. not a good first impression' he thought.
`Hi', he responded rather tepidly.
`Steve, never saw you here before', Steve said extending a hand
Brian, nice to meet you', Brian shook the offered hand rather cautiously thinking, Hey, don't judge a book by its cover'
`So, you new in the town?'
I am; kind of... Visiting for business', Brian said taking a long sip and looking at Steve who stared intently at him. It was not making him uncomfortable though. Music changed to a more slow one and he relaxed letting his guard down a bit. Staring back at Steve and looking around, he said You seem to know everyone here?'
`Yeah, all regulars here, including me' Steve said, laughing at his own little joke then looking at Brian
`You don't believe me do you?'
`No... No, I do!'
`You don't. Well then, why don't we play a game?'
`Game?'
`It is pretty simple, you just point a person in this room, and I will tell you something about that person.'
Brian laughed a little, bemused at the prospect of what Steve was suggesting.
`Ok, I am in. So why don't we start with that woman sitting at the corner there', Steve said pointing at a rather dull and nearly empty corner in the room.
`Ah! You mean the lady with glasses right?'
`Yep, tell me about her'
`Man, you couldn't have chosen any worse than her, trust me'
`Why? Did something bad happen to her?'
You asked for it. Her name is Donna, well, that is what I have heard anyway. Rumors go around that she has been coming here since she lost her husband James and her son Robert in car wreckage', Steve took a sip of his glass looking at the ice cubes in it, A rather misfortunate accident. You see, she and James had a fight that day earlier over something trivial. And then James had to go pick up their son from school, and that is...'
`When it happened?', Brian interjected
`Yeah!, it was an ugly sight. Was on the news for days.'
`And she is blaming herself for it all isn't she?'
`Who knows? I mean it has been fifteen years since she started coming around this place'
`That long? And why does nobody talk to her? It wasn't her fault..'
`A guy tried once, some years back. He went with a broken head after it. Too bad I wasn't here then to witness it, I mean she seems pretty calm don't you think?'
`I guess', Brian said, shivering at the thought of it.
But here comes the more vague part of the story, and to be frank I don't know if it is true or not', Steve said in a more serious tone, But the other part of the story is that she and James used to come here a lot when they were young, some twenty years back. It is said that they met here first and their relationship grew from their'
`You mean, it is her way of redemption of sorts'
Who knows? What can you tell goes on in her mind sitting here? What do those eyes see staring at all these young people having their time of life?', Steve ordered another drink and continued, So, let us not forget about the game, who is next?', Steve asked
Brian wasn't too sure to continue, but he relented. It was no harm in playing around for a bit he thought, and add to it, he was finding himself enjoying this.
Ok, you see that mystery girl there', he said pointing to a seat not too far from theirs. Tell me about her'
Interesting choice', Steve said, Her name is Katie, or Kat whatever you prefer. Young thing. Probably 20ish, and believe it or not, she is trying to find a boyfriend for her. Here!'
`You are kidding, right? Finding a guy at this place? She had better chances using Grindr or something.. I don't know, she goes to college right? Why not try it there?'
`Well, the thing with Katie is, uh... I don't know where to begin this from. She was once caught by the fire in her school, from some chemistry experiment they were told to do. Fortunately, she escaped the fire, but not before it took half her face. Hence the garb around her neck'
`Jesus!, that is pretty bad, but still..'
`Probably yeah... but the accident took its toll on her self esteem. She attended home school when all her peers were in high school. Didn't have much of a social life after all that and once her mother enrolled her into college, that is when she found herself here, at this place, in an attempt to restore some of her social life, though she is still pretty reclusive. Her thinking is pretty rational too, as a guy approaching her would already know about her, through grapevine that is, and that would potentially clear most of the guys wanting to approach her. Saves her from explaining and the disappointment'
`I see', Brian took a long swig of his whiskey and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
The music was back to being loud again, and the crowd was getting both a bit tipsy and antsy.
`Enough about this place, you said you were in the business right? What business do you do?', Steve asked with a renewed vigor.
Brian thought about it for a moment but decided to tell a bit about himself, thinking that there was no harm. `To make it as simple for you, you can say I am a psychology assistant of sorts'
`Interesting!, I am sure I have never heard of that before'
Most people I meet have the same thing to say, so let me explain. I guess you know who a psychologist is right?', he looked at Steve who nodded before he continued, Well, I work under one of them and assist in their work with long-distance patients'
`And what do you do exactly? I am sorry, but I am curious', Steve looked with a shine in his eyes that matched well with the Martini he was drinking
`Put it simply, I go visit the patients, give them the medicines and other things that the psychologist prescribes. Now, you know that they can get medics from any pharmacy, but our org manufactures these specifically for themselves, and doctors are allowed to only prescribe that. They don't distribute them widely and hence the availability is pretty scarce. That is one reason why I am here'
`And.. what is the other reason?'
Brian thought, `oh well, here it goes..', but he decided to lay out the truth, thinking what is the harm, besides he wasn't doing anything illegal so why tell lie?
`The medicines, as I mentioned earlier, are the second reason why I am here. The primary reason I am here is that my client wants someone to have intimate contact with... physically'
Steve stifled a laugh at that, `Spoken like a true doctor, you mean you are here for sex?'
Brian too stifled away a laugh and continued, `I would rather not put it that crudely if you understand where I am coming from. You see, from what I have seen, and you must remember that I have seen a lot, these patients are not so much diseased in the brain, then they are hurt emotionally. That is not to say we don't have patients going through multi-personality or bipolar, but most of the cases are just normal people with depression and likes, they are otherwise completely fit, and to plug their wounds; well, that is where I come'
`You mean, that intimate thing?'
`Part of it, yes, some patients do need a physical partner to help them cope, but others are content just having someone to talk to, to understand them, and to really feel them. And believe me, there are many of them, and some are already doing much better socially after their therapies'
Steve thought for a while and then it clicked it to him, `Wait, you say that physical sex is something you do with people, does that include men too?'
Part of a job I guess, but I wouldn't do it if I weren't comfortable', Brian said and looked at his phone, Still an hour to go, guess I would hang out a bit'
`An hour for your meeting?'
`Yeah, this is my second time visiting her'
Steve nodded and looked at the dancing crowd before him. His eyes lost somewhere when Brian nudged him, Hey.. you still game?', Steve looked a bit lost when Brian reminded him, You know the game?'
`Oh yeah! That, shit I forgot all about it. Who you wanna know about?'
`You'
`Me?'
`Yeah, I wanna know about you, what is your story?'
`You would be bored'
`Oh come on! I told you about me, it is only fair', Brian said and looked hard at Steve. Not being used to such stares he broke and relented.
Ok fine! I guess I am still figuring out what to do in my life, and the crowd here', he said pointing out, helps me take my mind off things, vent it out a bit you know'
`I see', Brian said, somehow he sensed that Steve wasn't too keen to tell about himself., so he left it at that. There was a small lull in the conversation which was busted as Katie jumped right in.
`Hey!', she said to Steve
Hey Kate', Steve got up and hugged her, What you doing here?'
`Looking out for you of course'
`Well, thank you', he said, sensing mischief in her tone, and then he realized she was staring at Brian.
`Katie, meet Brian... Brian... She is other Katie, a friend of mine'
`Nice to meet you', Brian said, slightly flushed by her appearance.
`Other Katie?', Katie asked bemused
`I was telling Brian about her, you know', he said pointing to the chair which was empty now.
`I see, you telling Brian about regulars?'
`Kinda'
Brian was constantly looking at Katie. How could he not, she was dressed in a very short skirt and her tits were half visible in the outfit she was wearing. She was not her type, but he was still all man.
`You new here Brian?'
`Yeah, was killing some time before I had to go'
`When do you leave?'
`Forty-five minutes'
That is plenty I guess', she said moving seductively in the chair, Care for a dance?' she whispered.
`I don't see why not?'
`Come', Katie said holding his hand taking him to the floor, Brian simply followed her and they began dancing to the beat of the music, sometimes slow sometimes fast. Steve looked at the crowd and looked to see if he could find either of them, but he couldn't. The blaring music pumped on relentlessly, as Steve just looked at the crowd, and John, the bartender approached him.
`Looks like Kate has made her move'
`Who could blame her?'
`I suppose, would you like another Martini?'
`No.. guess I am done for today'
`It is still early'
`Yeah, but I have some things to take care of... Will see you later'
`Ok man, drive safe', John said as Steve picked up his hat and went out.