Charlie Bigg's big black right hand gently pushed on the small of Kiki's little back, bared in the revealing satin dress, as he guided her through the evening crowd around the dance floor and toward the door to the VIP rooms. Charlie looked natty, in a very expensive, very dark green suit that perfectly suited his deep coffee complexion and a pink shirt that provided the perfect backdrop for an elegant silk tie. He was a big man and he carried himself with complete confidence, even a touch of arrogance. Kiki, of course, was less than half his size, on the small side even though she was not really petite, and looking even smaller because of her delicate features. In the flashing lights of the disco ball and dance floor, her blond hair and very fair skin shown like a brilliant light next to Charlie's dark elegance.
On the dance floor people were moving their bodies to ear-splittingly loud music. Just music β no band. This was Thursday, not Saturday. Charlie leaned over and had to yell for her to hear him. "Do you want to dance before we go inside?" Kiki shook her head. The loose bodice of her dress under the spaghetti straps covered her areola but not the tops of her luscious, creamy breasts.
It was a weeknight and although this was the only upscale nightspot in a basically struggling blue-collar medium-sized town, too close to the real city to be important and too far away to be a suburb. If it wasn't for the College being here, and the boost it gave the economy, there wouldn't be more than a couple dozen flashy big-spending people around here who would support a place like this. This was a townie club, too expensive for the students, so there wasn't really much of a crowd.
They came to the oak doors with brass handles and the bouncer nodded and opened the door for them. Charlie felt at home here β the staff knew him well. He had only brought Kiki here once or twice before but she had the kind of looks that would gotten her into anyplace, even in the big city.
They were greeted by a hostess in a low-cut white uniform who took them down a corridor lit by pink and blue mood lights to a room on the left, on the side of the dance floor. Kiki noticed a tiny green light, so small it looked like a mere glowing pinpoint on the darkly-painted wall, just to the left of the door. The door had a framed picture mounted on it. In a couple of seconds, after her eyes adjusted, Kiki could see that there were five doors and each had a picture of a different character from the movie "Watchmen". The hostess took them to the door with the Laurie Jupiter character on it.
Inside, they could feel the thump-thump-thump of the bass through the wall and the even the curtained window, which was double paned to keep the noise way down, so people could hear themselves talk. Through the window they could see the dance floor, which was taken up at the moment by one flashy couple doing a retro routine from the days of disco.
The VIP rooms were furnished with cushy sofas, armchairs, and loveseats (well named) and low tables and champagne buckets. The hostess made eye contact with Charlie while she flipped a switch on a small phone console next to the sofa. Charlie nodded, to indicate that he knew how it worked. A green light turned off and an amber light went on. There was a third position and from the glint off the console in the dim light Kiki could see that it was red and she easily guessed that that meant strict privacy. She couldn't see the fourth position light, which was yellow, that called the hostess back when the guests wanted the hostess to come back, maybe to order something. Or he could use the house phone for that. Everything was geared to meeting the guests' desires with complete privacy and discretion. Some guests didn't even feel the need to zip up or pull their clothes back down when the hostess came back into the room.
Kiki noticed, with her eye for detail, that the sofa, loveseat, and armchair had matching covers on them that could be stripped and washed. In a corner there was a wash basin and pitcher of water (how old fashioned!) and some towels and washcloths. Next to them was a basket of wet wipes in little foil packages. The club must expect that their guests were going to make a mess, she thought.
A big-screen monitor on one wall showed the dance floor from three views, in rotation, if the occupants kept the window curtains closed. Or the channel could be changed to get BET or a music channel. It was certainly possible to find a cable channel or two or more or many with adult entertainment, of every variety except the overtly illegal. It was even possible to switch to an uncensored satellite feed β some of those stations had stuff you wouldn't believe.
The drink menu pushed Cristal, at $300 a bottle. Charlie got some for himself and for who was coming. Kiki ordered an Alize. The food menu pushed tapas. Charlie asked Kiki if she was hungry but she wasn't. Even so, Charlie ordered the little toast triangles with caviar for her. He wanted her to be very comfortable, physically and mentally, for the night ahead. Smoking was allowed but only the most expensive cigars and cigarettes, which had to be bought from the club. Charlie got one, a cigar that was supposed to be Cuban. Kiki didn't mind cigar smoke and for herself she got a pack of elegant Nat Shermans, in designer colors.
This was a place where a party could last all night. It was also a place where a party could consist of a dozen or so friends (more seating was available if the girls sat on the men's laps!) or it could consist of a man and a woman. The room was available for a minimum of two hours but most people who enjoyed it stayed until the early hours of the morning, when the club had to close. Kiki wondered for a moment if she would be there that long, but decided that it didn't matter. Anyway, the restrooms were down the hall β the hostess had pointed them out.
The closing time for the club had been one of Charlie's few failures during his highly successful career as city manager for the town. The good citizens of the town were solidly against having a nightclub operating all through the night. A quick sounding of the town council members and it was clear that the bylaw couldn't get changed without attracting a lot of opposition. In the end Charlie didn't try: he could see that he would probably lose and forcing the issue would take too much juice. Even so, Charlie got to know the owner well. When the club opened, Charlie had still been city manager. The owner ran into a lot of problems, everything from zoning to moonlighting off-duty police working as bouncers who turned out to be on-duty. Charlie had fixed the problems because he could, and because it was to his advantage to fix things for people who mattered in the town.