I paused nervously at the top of the stairs leading down into the club. The air was smoky and the room dimly lit. The heavy bass of the speakers seemed to clutch at the pit of my belly. Slowly I moved down the staircase, descending into a maelstrom of sound and smoke. Every step made me more nervous as I went further down. I silently cursed my sister's boyfriend, Max. This had been his idea of a dare for my twenty-first birthday. I never knew how, but he always seemed able to goad me into rising to his challenges. This time he had challenged me to do something completely wild and out of character. I had claimed to be open-minded and ready for anything he might suggest. Then he had thought up this. He had challenged me to go to a club of his choice and allow a regular of the club to pick me up. I had agreed, thinking he would send me to one of the local clubs where older women went in search of younger guys.
Max had named this club, one I had never even heard of. I had imagined some drunken ageing slut, raddled and reeking of drink, and almost thought to back out from the challenge,. The thought of Max mocking me spurred me on and I ducked into the gloom and swirling smoke. I made my way over to the bar and ordered a very large scotch. I gulped the first mouthful and felt my eyes water as it burned into my belly, then looked around.
Something did not gel quite rightly in my mind and I looked more closely at the couples in the booths lining the small dance floor. Slowly, despite the dim light, I realised that the couples were all either guy-guy or girl-girl. Almost all of them were touching, holding hands, and some were openly French kissing. I almost fell from the barstool as I realised that Max had sent me into a gay club. I swallowed the rest of the scotch in a single gulp and weighed my options. Did I really think it would be worth Max's scorn by getting up and fleeing right now?
I had not noticed the bartender jerk his head at the guy on his own, at a corner table so, when a tall distinguished older guy slid onto the tool next to mine, I could not help jumping a little in surprise. He lifted a finger in signal to the barman and then turned towards me.
"I hope you don't mind, but you looked as though you could use another drink," he said in a deep, velvety, voice, "by the way, my name is Alex and my friend behind the bar is Robert."
Robert placed another large Scotch on the marble top of the bar and Alex handed over a couple of notes, waving away the loose coins that Robert brought back as his change.
"Hello, Robert, Alex. My friends call me James," I replied, "and, yes, I could do with a drink, thank you."
Alex smiled and leaned a little closer. "You're a new face in here and I should know, I've been coming here for a number of years now. Ask Robert there."
Robert smiled as he leaned over the bar; "Alex has been coming here for nearly ten years, ever since his thirtieth birthday. He doesn't always stay long, but he usually has a drink at the bar three or four nights a week."
"Oh and how do you decide how long to stay, Alex?" I asked.
"That depends on the company. If there's no one interesting I stay for a while and go home. If the company is, conducive, shall we say, I may not stay very long at all." Alex replied.