It was with a heavy heartâalas, with guilty enthrallment, tooâMarlene had accepted her friend's Jennie's invitation for a Saturday night out in the city. It'd been nearly seven years since she last went outânamely, since she entered her second trimester with Ricky.
"Jon'll be fine!" Jennie tried to cheer her up, as they drove through the heavily trafficked streets, heading to a recently opened fancy nightclub.
"I know," Marlene sighed, her eyes glued to the window observing in fascination, and inner sadness, all the young couples and groups of friends walking on the streets, talking and guffawingâseeing in them the youthful life she never had.
"You should try to relax a bit, honey," Jennie said. "I mean," she giggled, "people'll think I've kidnapped you, or something!"
"Fine, fine," she shook her head, with a smile. "It's just...I've
never
left Ricky alone for a whole night."
"It was nigh time, if you ask me," Jennie reprimanded her, "you did. I mean...Jon has had his outings, right? He's had the chance to go out for a couple of beers, stay out late, all that.
"Why shouldn't
you
?"
"You're right," Marlene groaned. "It' just...I don't know; you'll get it, when
you
become a mother, too."
"Maybe I will," Jennie shrugged. "However, motherhood's
not
in my plans!"
"Neither was it in mine," Marlene reminded her with a sly smirk, "and yet, here I am, a mother to a six-year old!"
"Kinda your fault, though...I mean, we do live in the 21
st
century, baby girl, there are means to ensure you don't get pregnant without you wanting it...just saying!"
"Yeah, yeah," Marlene dismissed her with a sigh. "Are we getting there?"
"Almost there," Jennie reassured her. "If you see a parking spot, let me know."
It took them nearly twenty minutes to park; and it was a ten-minute walk away from the nightclub.
"Don't walk that fast!" Marlene protested, limping on her sky-high heels.
"Forgot how to walk on them, huh?" Jennie chuckled and put her arm around her friend's waist.
"Why did we have to dress like this, again?" Marlene asked, as she caught a glimpse of their reflection on the large window of a closed butcher shopâboth in their short, tight dresses, their heavy makeup, their fixed hair, their high heels; looking, admittedly, hot, yet it all felt quite inappropriate to Marlene.
"The nightclub has a policy of offering free drinks, and special treatment, to all hot, attractive women. I guess, they realize the more hot women there are in the club, the more the guys will be willing to spend."
"Fair enough," Marlene rolled her eyes. "I'm glad to see the four years you spent on women studies didn't go to waste."
"I'm still fighting for equality," Jennie shrugged, her red lips twitching widely. "That doesn't mean I'm going magically to change the way the world works."
"I just hope it's a nice club," Marlene said.
"From what I've been told, it's pretty damn great."
A group of four young men walked past them and a fire was lit inside Marlene's body, when she felt all their gazes falling upon her; she turned back and caught them all staring, quite openly, at them, their glances visibly falling on their barely covered buttocks.
"Not very discreet, huh?" Jennie giggled, as she offered a faint smile at the men continuing on their way.
"Not really, no," Marlene agreed with a chuckle; it did feel good being the recipient of such lustful stares and in general being in an environment that did not revolve around a childâthough, guilt once more overwhelmed her as soon as she felt grateful for being away from home and playgrounds, namely the only two places she had frequented for the past seven years.
The line in front of the club's entrance was long enough to block half the street and every time a car had to come through a commotion was caused, as the partygoers had to scatter to let it through, then arguments would immediately break off, as people tried to take advantage of the situation and skip (part of) the line.
"We'll never get in!" Marlene said, as she stared in awe at the sea of humanity.
"Don't worry," Jennie patted her on her naked shoulder. "I told you, we'll get special treatment."
Jennie walked confidently to the door and smiled at the nearly two-meter black man wearing black clothes and sunglasses (despite it being past midnight); the man, his stern expression seemingly frozen on his face, let them through, to the wild protests of several young guys, who probably had stood in line for a long time.
"See?" Jennie pressed her finger on her temple. "I told you."
"There were women in the line, too," Marlene pursued.
"Yeah, well," Jennie shrugged, "either they're accompanied by the boyfriends,
or
, they're not dressed
appropriately
to skip the line. Or, they just don't know they can skip the line."
They walked through the short, carpeted hallway and a smiling long-haired man opened the thick, soundproofed doorâinstantly, the loud music blasted through the club's lobby and Marlene felt as if she had gone deaf.
The club was already crowded, with people crammed together in the impressively large floorâMarlene grabbed Jennie's hand firmly, suddenly horrified she'd get lost in the raucous crowd.
"Don't worry!" Jennie screamedâyet to Marlene, her voice was as inaudible as a late night whisper. "We won't get lost! Just have some fun!"
Marlene followed Jennie sheepishly to the large, round bar in the middle, where the three bartendersâtwo scantily clad women and a very fit manâwere running around, taking and filling orders.
Jennie ordered two gin and tonics, skipping yet another line, as the male bartender blatantly ignored three guys doing everything in their power to place an order.
"So easy," Jennie smiled and handed Marlene her drink. "All you've got to do is show some tits and you're game!"
"Thanks," Marlene shouted, hardly having heard Jennie.
The first sip was, indeed, rejuvenating. It wasn't so much the taste of the drink per seâthe gin was of the cheapest brand and even the tonic had a funny tasteâthat did the trick, but, instead, the simple fact she was out and among people that didn't constantly talk about their children.
It didn't take long for them to be approached by a group of five well-dressed guys, all of them in their mid-forties, who, after some pleasant introductions and meaningless chitchat, invited them up to the VIP sectionâa restricted area on the club's first floor, overlooking the dancefloor, and where the music was much mellower, thus allowing for conversations that didn't require straining one's vocal chords.
"So, it's your first time here, huh?" One of the menâa handsome blonde man with a stubble, whose muscles were easily discernible underneath his light-grey, tight-fitting shirtâsaid to Marlene, sitting next to her in the corner booth.
"Yes, it's..." She mumbled, still marveling at the lavish room with the expensive furniture and tons of exclusive bottles scattered about in the tables.
"How do you like it, then?" He insisted, momentarily letting his hand drop on her knee.
"It's really nice," she cleared her throat and crossed her legs tighter.
"I actually designed it," the man said, with a smile reeking of pride.