Chapter two

"No way!"

He said, for the millionth time in two hours comfortably seated on his black high back PU leather office chair rotating in semi circles.

His right hand decorated the chair's arm as he pinched his nose bridge in annoyance.

"Dude, listen, you need to chill a little...I mean look at you, working your ass out twenty-four, seven and almost three hundred and sixty-five, twelve Sundays exclusive. You are no different from a slave you know."

Josh, his childhood best friend recited in one breathe, seated on the other side of the large perfectly polished U-shaped mahogany office desk. He was in a grey suit and his jet black hair in a little mess which kept Marley wondering what he had been up to lately with the receptionist.

"I totally concur with Josh. You haven't been hanging out with us like before. It's closed to a year. We miss you, man."

Kennedy--Ken preferably, butted in. Just like Marley he had coffee brown hair and unlike Marley he had a pretty broad chest. Ken had both hands of his pastel blue shirt folded to the elbows on black pants. He was the most composed and Josh the craziest.

"No way, for the millionth and one time." he deadpanned as he sighted his desk for distraction.

He totally appreciated their tricky efforts in getting his old life back for the past ten months and one week to be precise; drinking to stupor, buzzing around any goddess who flicked him 'hi' until he obtained what he wanted and much more. He had forgotten about such reckless way of existence since Amanda came into his life. 

They were so much in love...or rather, he was so much in love. Now what didn't he give her? 

A trip around the world? Eyeballing celebrities of her choice? jewellery, designers and car bargain had become his hobby. Not just that, he gave her all the care and attention that a lady could ever dream of for a year and eight months yet, she wasn't gratified! Where did he go wrong?

That day finally showed up, the day she almost killed him, the day she deserted him. He was no better than a walking dead and was thankful to his family and friends for keeping him alive although for some reasons, he really did want to die.

She had wormed herself so deep that he couldn't see himself living a day without her.

"Look at you dude, killing and starving yourself from life's marvels just because of a girl who I bet is in Peru right now with her one-year-old son and fucking her 'oh so perfect' husband every single hour of the dayy without your sorry ass in mind." 

Josh's voice rose making Marley flinch at his choice of words. He was right. He created an embargo between sociality and himself since he lost Amanda. 

He spent less time with friends and more time at work, the only thing he believed could divert his thoughts from Amanda.

Young, rich and handsome was a brief description of Marley Woods before he decided to become old, miserable and ugly.

He sighed and shut his laptop, kept his pen in its case and stood up, he straightened his coal black suit, glanced at his conspicuous Rolex watch on his cuffs until his brows creased.

Twenty minutes to six.

Time really waited for no one. If not of these crazy fellas of he's, he would've been home probably doing some more work in his office. Marley walked to the door, before his right hand reached the knob he heard ken mumble,

"Man, you are lifeless."

He chuckled, "Now, hurry up you idiots, before I change my mind."

**

A club? Well, he hadn't seen that coming. He thought they'll just walk to a local bar, grab some two or three bottles of beer before heading back home--He had planned on drinking less in order to reach home in one piece--but how wrong...how very wrong. 

Marley detested clubs, he hadn't truly been to one before but what he saw and heard about it was satisfying. He left his coat and tie in his car and decided to follow Ken's dressing code; rolled up shirt sleeves to elbow level. Josh did same and together they walked in.

The first thing which hit him was the pungent smell of cigarettes, sweat, and alcohol and boy, he didn't like that. He swiped his finger below his nose at the awful tickling sensation it caused beneath it and to make it get used to the new air he'll be holding on for dear life as long as possible.

The crowd and crazy light mixtures too were things he didn't like: the lights made it hard for one to make out another's face...a little mixture of blue, red and yellow.

A bar stood on his right with a couple of men surrounding it, sending puffs of smoke into the already contaminated air while emptying their glasses. At some end was a VIP section which contained mostly men and a dotted number of women buzzing around them. Based on his observations, the club was one for men. 

A stage was positioned on his left and below it were a couple of chairs and tables with--men...wait, a stage? It never knocked upon his knowledge of a stage in a club. 

He turned to Ken who just finished discussing with a slender lady, he couldn't make out her face and was rather confused on the color of her hair and dress. Damn lights.

"Are there usually stages with poles in clubs?" Marley demanded in his ear through the deafening music.

"Special ones." ken smiled and nodded his head to the rhythm of the song currently playing.

Everyone in there had the wealthy look on their faces--he knew that because he mostly mingled with such people almost all his life and that made him guess the club was a private one and to confirm it were the pricey drinks. Unlike the local bars, the less privileged couldn't afford for a can of beer which appeared to be the cheapest beverage in there.

The more he drank the less sober he got, he promised himself not to consume so much but Josh and Ken weren't helping him stick to it so he decided to push the damn promise at the back of his mind, besides the day was a special one. The day he would break the walls of loneliness and madness over Amanda once and for all.

After what seemed like an hour, three girls appeared on stage half-naked; fancy lacy bras and pants with just nipple pads shading their tits, the one in the middle had blonde hair and cat-eared hairband above it while the other two had butterfly antenna hairbands.

They began dancing and taking off their clothes. Well now, he expected a crazy going crowd but to his surprise, they weren't really smitten by the girls striptease. He could tell they were just watching them to feed their eyes. 

Marley on the other hand, well, they weren't very much sexy even when they weren't in clothes. Hadn't seen any of those in over a year since Ama...

Jesus! Snap out of even her name.

Since his ex deprived him of nudes two months before their end. He thought the little boy was going to be awake on seeing the girls demonstrating on stage, to his greatest surprise it didn't budge.

I hope it's alive.

Marley sighed and glanced at his watch with squinted eyes. Damn lights! They were straining his eyes yet again but he managed to figure out the digits anyway.

Thirty minutes into midnight. It read.

Drinking had gotten boring, the entertainment wasn't helping matters either. All in all, he crowned the club a no go zone.

"I ought to get out of here," he whispered to Josh who was being entertained with a bimbo on his legs.

"Man, chill, we haven't even dropped into the real thing,"

Again, Marley sunk into his chair and gulped more glasses of vodka. His head had begun to throb and his eyes droopy. Some seconds or so after the strippers departure, came this lady in a lilac overcoat, extremely high red heels and pastel pink hair. Unlike the prior girls, she had a rabbit-eared hairband and in hand a pair of handcuffs. 

He was taken aback by the sudden outburst from the crowd, some cheered while others whistled.

She removed her overcoat when the music began, exposing a black pair of bra and pants. 

Shapy.

She smiled back to the crowd after cuffing her pants with a pair of fluffy cuffs before holding the pole. She did some mind-blowing flips and turns on the pole. Truth be told he was aghast.

Acrobatic.

She did it with passion like her life depended on it and he liked that. The worth melting smile she revealed was dashing. Damn, she's sexy. Now he could see why she was loved.

She got down the stage into the crowd, her waist gently swirling to the rhythm of the song. She walked past a young a man slightly older than he was caressing his chin, still with the same gracious moves, she stood before a huge man, grabbed his hand,s and rested them on her hips. He watched her intently as she bent over him whispering god knows what into his ear. 

Teasing.

He swore, his heart stopped beating for a split second when she graciously walked towards him, his body went numb and he began to quiver. He supposed he died when she put her heels on the little chair space between his legs, her slender index finger traveled from his forehead down to his lips. He probably resurrected when she walked behind him and slipped her hands down his chest straight to his groin. 

His heart began beating frantically. 

No girl ever made him hard since Ama... Well, since his ex left, probably because he didn't mingle and never let any girl get an inch closer to him...but this one? Damn! She just blew off his boy.

The next thing he realized was her pink fluffy handcuffs circling his left hand and a melodious voice whispering into his ear, 

"Get the keys in room 95." 

With that, she winked and retreated.