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The three women at the table gleamed like gems in the dusky light of the club.  They resembled each other in only two regards: they were female and they were gorgeous.  A redhead with sweet cream skin and a necklace that dripped real diamonds grinned at him, leaning forward on her elbows and flipping her hair over a bare shoulder.  “How’s your evening treating you?,” she asked.  “Pretty good so far,” Adolpho managed to reply; with a supreme effort he tore his eyes from hers to see what the others at the table made of the situation. 

A woman with dark skin, limpid eyes and phenomenal muscle tone seemed to be trying to restrain a smile, with only partial success.  She whispered, “Hi,” in a voice that sounded the way cardamom smells, and lowered her eyes to her drink.  She glanced back to him, giggled just a little, and shrugged coyly.  The woman standing next to her had hair that was streaked blonde and black; she was tanned and shapely, with a regal bearing.  She leaned over to the darkskinned one to whisper something in her ear, looking over Adolpho with mint green eyes, bemusement playing across her brow.  The dark one started nodding, wrapped long slim fingers around the other’s forearm and replied in another brief whisper, blushing but smiling openly.  The tan woman nodded briefly, straightened up and pouted her lips slightly before saying, “I’m Amanda. This is Luz, and this is Claire.  Did you already meet Tressa?”

Tressa returned from the bar with Adolpho’s lager and a cocktail for herself.  “Yes he did,” she replied, placing his beer in front of him and draping an arm around his waist.  She pressed against him, conforming to his posture and radiating a wild heat into him.  “Here’s your beer.  What have they been telling you about me?” Adolpho almost opened his mouth to reply, but he held back.  He knew he had to take his time - one wrong word, he thought, and he’d just wake up in his own bed and all of them would be gone, irretrievably lost among all the dreams he wished he could redream. 

Claire relieved him of this anxiety by speaking first.  “Nothing, darling,” she said with a grin.  “Why should I talk about you when I’m so much more interesting?” Tressa playfully pushed Clair’s shoulder, her fingers lingering just a moment against that impossibly velvety skin.  The slight force of that gesture pushed Tressa more firmly against Adolpho, and her hand, wrapped around his hip, gave him a barely perceptible squeeze.  Claire continued, looking deeply into Adolpho’s eyes, “Just because she saw you first doesn’t mean anything.  I think you’d be smart to play the field.” Adolpho looked back to Luz and Amanda. 

Luz licked her lips with a subtle yet compelling flick of her tongue.  “Thank you for joining us,” she said.  Her voice was low and rich.  “I hope you aren’t too busy to spend a few minutes.” “No,” Adolpho managed to reply, “I have a few minutes.  Oh, and thanks for the beer,” he continued, tearing himself away from Luz to speak to Tressa, who was leaning ever closer to his face.  Her breath warmed his neck.  He was becoming distracted; he felt the others looking at him as he looked at Tressa.  The ball was in his court.  He turned back to Luz, “But are you sure a few minutes will be enough?” Her eyes brightened and she laughed, bouncing a bit on her toes. “I’m sure it would be better if you took your time,” she said, and the smile faded on her lips as her eyes drilled into his. 

A woman with jet black hair and fair skin strode purposefully to the table, staking a claim to the spot between Luz and Claire.  She wore sheer slacks that shimmered with her every movement, and her bare midriff was flat and muscular.  Like her friends, she was an exceptional specimen.  “I thought I told you not to get started till I got back,” she told Claire in a stage whisper.  “Damn, I take five minutes in the ladies room and I miss all the fun.” Claire remonstrated, “We haven’t even started yet.  You’ll have your chance.” The new woman grinned and extended an elegant hand to Adolpho in greeting.  “I’m Jasmine,” she announced to him.  “So very glad to meet you,” he replied.  “The pleasure is mutual,” she responded, her broad smile relaxing as she gave his hand a demure squeeze that sent an electrical charge right up his arm and through his whole body.  “Anyway, I’m sure it will be,” she added softly.  Adolpho grabbed his beer and drank about half the pint in a few swallows, hoping the cold crisp liquid would ground him, keep him cool. 

Claire had been quietly watching the others exchanging glances and pleasantries and reached across the table to put her hand over the hand with which Adolpho held his beer.  “Actually, I’m a little dry.  May I have a sip of your beer?” He smiled his assent and together they raised the glass to her mouth.  As she drank deeply, she looked at him with such intensity he was sure she was reading his mind - and, incredibly, was endorsing the lewd fantasies that were now arising unbidden from his libido.  Her hand was warm and her fingers interlaced among his as they put the glass back on the table.  “Mmmmm,” she sighed, and he felt the vibrations of her voice through their joined hands.  She continued, “You know, I wasn’t sure about coming here tonight but they told me I’d have a good time.  Sometimes you’ve just got to go with your instincts, you know?  Sometimes you really need to separate yourself from what you’re doing and let life take over.  It’s been so hard to hold myself back these past months - we’ve all been working so hard, always on the road, always having to put ourselves second so we can be perfect for someone else.  What a pleasure to be in the present moment, to really feel things.  To enjoy myself for a few minutes, just for the sheer pleasure of being alive.” The others nodded and murmured their agreement.

Amanda unwrapped her arm from his waist and leaned into the table.  “Girls, you know we can’t stay here all night.  Let’s finish our drinks and take the limo back to the suite.  We can have more fun if we have more room.” Adolpho looked for confirmation to the others, who seemed to shimmer with enthusiastic anticipation.  Luz spoke first: “Go on, finish your beer.  We have all night.  Don’t let her rush you.” “I’m not rushing,” he replied as he gulped what was left of his pint.  “I’m ready when you are.” As they grouped around him and escorted him from the club, a stretch Escalade pulled up to the front door; a statuesque woman in a grey hat and tight dark business suit stepped out efficiently to open the car door for them.  “Okay,” he though to himself, “now things are getting really interesting....”

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�What the hell brought you back here?� the standard sized suit asked.  His voice was flat and rather quiet, but cut through the music and the throbbing in Adolpho�s ears like a cleaver through a chicken�s neck.  �We explained the rules.  You can’t just disrespect us like this.  You know what happens next.� Adolpho tried to speak but his tongue had filled his mouth and there was no air getting into or out of his lungs.  The scar clucked a slow disappointment, shaking his head, his eyes fastened to Adolpho�s with cold intensity. 

The husky man reached into his suit and pulled out a cell phone, asking �Should we tell the captain?� �Sure,� replied the flat-voiced man, �and Cliff, you can let him breathe, but don�t let him slip away.  We know this guy can run.� The bratwurst fingers relaxed a micron or two and air poured into Adolpho�s straining lungs.  Beer dribbled from his lips and his eyes were wide and frightened.  �I�ve never been here before!,� he gasped.  �Who are you?� The husky one pointed a finger at Adolpho, and Adolpho stared at it.  With shocking suddenness, he lashed out a kick against Adolpho�s knee, the heavy leather shoe smashing his patella.  As Adolpho fell forward and a scream welled up in his throat, the flat-voiced one locked him in a chokehold that killed the cry.  �We�re leaving now,� he gravely intoned.  �Make the call outside.�

Outside, the air was crisp and the sky was dark.  Husky still had the phone in his hand and pressed a speed dial code.  As he brought the phone to his ear, however, he toppled backwards with a choking sound.  Six enormous men who’d been loitering on the sidewalk outside had swarmed into a tight half-circle around them; one of them had stepped behind husky and pulled a wire garotte from his sleeve, with which he was cutting through the flesh of Husky�s throat.  Scar stepped quickly to the side, reaching into his jacket.  One of the other six men thrust a dark cylindrical object toward Scar, and a sound that Adolpho had never heard in person � but which he recognized from movies - repeated several times: the sharp hard rasp of a silencer on a handgun.  Scar�s body spun in a quick pirouette and he fell to the cracked pavement. 

The garotter let the now-motionless Husky fall next to him, and their blood mingled as it flowed into the gutter.  Flatvoice, with a strange calmness, smiled with his lips and held his hands out to the sides - �Now look, we only need to talk to him, no one needs to take this any further - �

A man from the new crew took hold of one of Flatvoice�s outstretched arms with one hand and, with the other, pulled a huge and heavy blade from beneath his coat, more of a sabre than a knife.  With a single fluid motion he sliced through his forearm, let the dismembered hand fall to the sidewalk, let Flatvoice collapse to his knees, gazing in disbelief for a moment at what had happened.  The manmountain who�d been strangling Adolpho threw himself to the sidewalk with surprising agility, rolling and pulling out a sidearm.  Shots rang out, not silenced, and one of the new crew flew backwards.  Gore spattered the outer wall of the club.  Three others pulled their weapons and dispatched the giant and what was left of the man with the flat voice. 

Adolpho shook with fear and nausea.  The men who now surrounded him were heavily muscled and hardlooking, but looked on him with wry approval.  �Way to go, kid.  They said you wouldn�t have the balls.  Now let�s get back to the office - we have a surprise for you.  We think you�re gonna like it.� �Okay,� Adolpho gasped, casting a glance over the carnage sprawled across the sidewalk, five corpses like so many bags of garbage left for city clean-up crews.  He saw no option but to accompany these men who’d saved his life, wherever they were going.  He thought to himself, �now things are getting interesting...�

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They were seven in number at that cloistered corner of the unfamiliar venue - three women and four men, six each with a scant wedge of the table and Adolpho a pace or two to the side.  He wore a black cap with a black brim, a loose jacket and sturdy trousers.  His dark hair shone against the olive skin of his face; his dark eyes were half-hidden by drooping lids; he nodded his head, barely perceptibly, to the music. 

The others with whom he’d arrived that evening formed a disparate group of old friends, new friends, and virtual strangers, newly arrived in town for a conference.  As with any random handful of people, they found they shared certain common traits and tastes, the discovery and celebration of which occupied their full attention.  Each strained to hear and share the others’ contributions, eager for that tidbit which would reflect their own experience, that would reinforce their nascent affiliation.  Their drinks were sweating on the table and their foreheads nearly touched as they leaned to glean the gems of conversation each was casting, thirsty for every word that could be heard above the pulsing beat. 

One, who stood with her back to the dj, glanced up, then stood and looked around, surprised.  The room was not so crowded as it had been just moments earlier.  “What happened to Adolpho?,” she inquired.  The others set aside their conversation and joined her as she peered into the murky corners of the club.  “Where’s Adolpho?,” was their joint refrain.

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