“Hey man!” Griffin clapped me on the shoulder before sliding into the booth across from me. “You ready to get this party started?”
I smiled at his enthusiasm. This was supposed to be my bachelor party, yet the guys were far more excited about it than me. I would much rather be out with Mimi or sitting at home watching a movie like we often did. However, Griffin and Bryant insisted it was absolutely necessary to kiss the single life goodbye with a blow-out. Mimi’s friends had similar plans for her, which she was much keener about than I was. I had no idea what they intended to get up to, which was probably for the best. One of her best friends, Grace, had overseen the planning, which meant it was likely to be wild. I only hoped her marriage to Ike had settled her down some.
I’d never been an overly jealous man, but I had my limits. If they were spending the evening getting cozy with some beefy dudes, it was best I remain ignorant. Besides, I didn’t want to be a hypocrite. After all, the guys were taking me to The Hot Spot. It was a strip bar, widely known for their high-quality dancers with movie-star looks. Mimi had also declined to know what we were doing. Her one rule was not to cheat on her, as if that was even a possibility. I was hers, heart and soul. No one else could compare, so who was I to object?
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” I finally replied. “You know this night is more for you and Bryant than it is for me.”
“Yeah, I know. That doesn’t mean you won’t have a stellar time. You just need to relax and unwind before we head out. We came to Rosie’s Bar first for that reason. Have a shot of whisky or two and you’ll be ready to rock out with your cock out,” he said with a playful bobbing of his head.
Of course, I laughed. “Dude, if my dick even sees the light of day, Mimi will cut it off.”
“Good thing it’s nighttime!” he exclaimed as he reached over and gave a me soft punch to my shoulder and a devilish grin. I knew he was just being light-hearted. He and Bryant were my closest friends. They knew me well enough to know that once I committed to a woman, I was strictly devoted to her and her alone.
Just then our waitress appeared to see if we needed anything. Griffin was right. It wouldn’t hurt me to unwind a little bit. I followed his suggestion and ordered three shots of Jack and a beer chaser.
Bryant showed up as we were waiting for our order. He dropped into the booth next to Griffin, a beer already in his hand.
“Where the fuck have you been, man?” Griffin asked.
“Ugh,” Bryant grunted. “I had to do some mandatory overtime at the office. Working on Saturday sucks!”
“Just what is it you do again?” Griffin queried.
Bryant took an obviously annoyed breath, readying himself to explain his boring-ass job for the umpteenth time.
“You know better than to ask that,” I lightly admonished Griffin. “You get him started on that again, and we’ll be here all night, coming away no more informed than we were before.”
“Fuck you, Sever,” Bryant grumbled while Griffin and I snickered. No one could ever remember what he did for a living no matter how many times he tried to tell us.
“The night is wasting away, anyway,” Griffin said as he raised his bottle. “Drink up, you two.”
We all quickly knocked our drinks back. Bryant was the first on his feet, of course, ready to spend the night with half-clad and naked women. Knowing him and the amount of cash he usually dropped at these kinds of places, they’d be nude and, in our laps, before we’d even been there ten minutes.
We walked into the dim lighting of The Hot Spot, greeted by the loud blaring of an old Rob Zombie song, Living Dead Girl. I hoped it didn’t portend a decline in the quality of girls working there. Not that I planned on getting up close with any of them, but it would be good to have ones that were nice to look at.
Bryant immediately ushered us to the VIP room, where we were seated in a horseshoe-shaped booth with a short, round table in the center. In no time, a voluptuous girl with very long black hair climbed up on it and started gyrating to the hard-hitting music. She had dark skin and luminous green eyes. She was a knock-out, but I found myself comparing her to Mimi. Nevertheless, I leaned back in the booth, stretching my legs out in front of me to watch the show.
Before I knew it, two other girls joined us in a cloud of watermelon-kiwi scented body spray: a redhead who looked like a young Ashley Judd and a pretty blonde with big brown eyes. My money was on her not being a natural blonde, but even with the skimpy lingerie she was wearing, it was impossible to tell. Not that I was looking or anything. She was probably shaved or waxed anyway.
The girls immediately jumped in Bryant and Griffin’s laps. The girl on the table moved to step down, but I motioned for her to continue.
Bryant, who was sitting on the other side of Griffin, leaned over toward me, nearly squishing the blonde and shouted over the music, “Dude! Let that one sit in your lap. That’s why we’re here!”
“Nah man, I’m good watching her dance.”
“That’s my ‘friend’ Savannah. She’s the one who hooked us up with the VIP entrance. Gratis, I’ll have you know. She went to a lot of trouble to make sure you have a good time.”
“You mean to make sure you have a good time. Don’t worry, man. I’m still gonna tip well. That’s all they really care about anyway.”
Savannah winked at me and flashed me a discreet “thumbs up”, along with a wide smile. Just for that, I pulled out my wad of fives and singles, putting a few of each on the table in front of her. She put a little more “oomph” into her performance and I just sat back, returning her grin. I sipped on the flat soda some unnoticed waitress had brought me. I longed for another shot, but alcoholic beverages were not allowed in strip clubs in California. Oh, well. I had a decent buzz from before. Once it wore off, I’d try to make a quick exit and go home.
An hour passed with the guys and I alternating between joking with each other, and the strippers grinding themselves on the other guys’ laps until they got their attention back. I continued watching Savannah shake her ample ass at me, but I couldn’t help feeling something was missing. No, not something, someone. Vance should be here celebrating with us. The irony of it was my soon-to-be bride had been his wife, but I brushed that detail aside. I’d like to think he was smiling down from above, happy for us both.
My thoughts started to drift, the view of the club growing dimmer, until my vision was filled with days long ago…