Five

There was a certain ambience to the evening as Antonio drove through downtown to Raymond's Pizzeria. A mixture of families, young couples, and party-goers roamed the streets. It was busier than usual due to the hockey game at the arena and traffic stretched for blocks as a mass of fans in their team jerseys filled the pathways.

Antonio dropped me off at the pizzeria while he tried to find a place to park for the night. I entered the building and found Catherine sitting in a booth across from an old high school classmate. She waved me over when she noticed me and I slid onto the bench beside her.

"Cute dress," Maya complimented. I had changed out of my baggy clothes in Antonio's car and replaced my boots for heels I had left in his backseat. The walk to the club would be cold but, once inside, I would forgive myself for not wearing layers.

"Thanks, I picked it out," Catherine replied with a grin. True to her word, I had bought the dress the last time we shopped together. Similarly, she was dressed in a ruched satin dress of a similar length that hugged her curves, also bought on the same day as mine. The gold color complimented her tan skin and camo green eyes. She looked like a goddess. "Maya, you remember Audrey, right?"

"Of course. She was my biology partner in freshman year," Maya grinned. Her hair was curled and pinned up in a bun. She wore a white floral lace bodysuit under a pair of acid-wash jeans. "I would not have passed without her."

Catherine huffed. "I wish I had Audrey as my biology partner."

Maya laughed. "I don't think even Audrey could have saved you from Mr. Harrison."

The bell on the door rang as Antonio walked in. He smiled when he saw us and began to walk over before someone waved him over to their table.

"You really lucked out with him," Maya sighed, dramatically fanning herself with her hand.

I smiled, embarrassed, but Catherine flicked her eyes over me appreciatively. "I don't think luck had anything to do with it, baby."

Antonio continued walking over to us and kissed me on the head. Catherine ducked under the table and appeared on the other side to give Antonio space beside me. We introduced him to Maya and she fluttered her eyes as she shook his hand, causing Catherine and I to laugh.

We continued talking about odd stories from high school and ordered our pizzas, taking our time as we waited for the club to open.

"It's amazing," Catherine was explaining as I chewed on a slice. "And it's pretty popular considering the place is supposed to be really underground and exclusive. Apparently people come from all over the world to check it out."

"As long as we aren't partying in an abandoned factory again, I don't care," Maya said. She turned to me and explained, "Someone fell from the catwalk. They had to call the police and would not let us leave. We ended up getting carded and fined. It sucked."

"You can't hold that against the club," Catherine complained.

"Letting drunk boys up onto a catwalk is a horrible idea in the first place," Maya sniffed. "I was grounded for a month."

"That never stopped you before."

Maya grinned slyly in response.

"I will have to leave around eleven," Antonio said in a low voice, speaking to me. His arm was around my shoulders and he played with the sleeve of my dress as he talked. "But I can be back to pick you up by three."

I was somewhat disappointed that he would not stay with me for the full night but it would allow me to spend more time with Catherine and Maya. I tilted my head up and let him give me a swift kiss before I reinserted myself into the conversation between Catherine and Maya.

It was eight when we left the pizzeria. Antonio placed his jacket over my shoulders and hugged me close as we walked. I had not walked in heels for a couple of months and he helped me keep my balance while I grew used to them again. Catherine led the way with Maya's arm hooked through hers. We passed the arena and continued along the waterfront until we reached an unassuming apartment building with a bank on the right and a multi-level carpark on the left. The buildings were tucked flush against each other, leaving no room for an alleyway. The smell of coffee drifted from the open-late Starbucks across the road.

A few groups were gathered around the building, either smoking or talking.

Bouncers standing outside the apartment building were the only affirmation that a nightclub existed inside. No music could be heard from the streets, and no lights shone through the windows. The bouncers checked our ID's and let us enter, placing us in a line that ran through a refurbished lobby. Another bouncer stood at the base of dark stairs, watching while a woman took payment and stamped the back of hands.

The line that snaked through the lobby, bordered by a fence of red rope. As we queued, I was allowed a chance to admire the modernization of the old art-deco style building. The floors were marble and strip lights lit up the high ceiling, following the original geometric designs in blue neon.

"Once you are inside, feel free to look around," Catherine explained. "The top floor is off limits but everywhere else was converted to a club. Nobody is allowed on the mezzanine and every floor has a different DJ. That should be all... am I forgetting anything?"

Catherine glanced at Maya but she shook her head.

"Great," she said. "I like the main floor best so if you need me I'll be there. Have a look around; you can find some cool spots."

We shuffled forward in the line. The bass of music could be heard in the distance but otherwise the lobby was mainly a clamor of voices. Catherine and Maya laughed together and I leaned into Antonio, resting my head comfortably on his shoulder.

Suddenly he stiffened and I looked up, catching sight of the curly mass of hair that was the cause for his attention. Connor spotted Catherine and weaved through the line, placing a kiss on her lips as he arrived.

"Long time no see, Audrey," he said with a cute grin. "And Tony."

"I thought you said you wouldn't be able to come," Catherine said.

"I can't stay but I can at least get you through this line," he responded and ducked underneath the barrier. He held up the rope for us and led us towards the stairs and the awaiting bouncer. The bouncer glanced once at Connor then gestured towards the woman. She stamped each of our hands and placed a wristband on us.

"Free drinks," the woman said, noticing my expression. "Welcome to La Vue."

On the stairs, Connor said goodbye to Catherine and began walking back. When I began to pass him, he placed a hand on my shoulder as the darkness ate everyone else.

"Hey, I heard you were in an accident," he said. Antonio stopped a few steps ahead of us, eyes narrowed.

"It's no big deal," I replied. "I was barely injured."

I did not catch the emotion that flickered over his face. "Well, that's good. I'm glad to see that you are okay. Enjoy La Vue, Audrey."

His words left him in one breath. He jumped over the barrier and waved goodbye and I watched with a creased brow as he walked away from the line and towards an elevator I had not noticed before. A bouncer was waiting outside of it with another, taller man who lifted his head from his phone once Connor arrived.

Antonio led me up the stairs before I could see them enter the elevator.

"How did Connor know you were in an accident?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Connor always seems to know random shit," I replied. "Don't give yourself a headache thinking about it."

Antonio did not comment further. He placed a hand on my lower back and led me up the dark stairs, the path lit only by strips of blue LED lights. The dim light gave way to more blue light at the top of the stairs. The stamp on my hand glowed underneath the artificial glow of ultraviolet light and we rejoined Catherine and Maya as they took a photo in the blindingly blue hallway. I shuffled into the picture, grinning in the middle of them as Catherine snapped the photo. We continued through and pushed through the door at the end of the hall, opening onto a platform that overlooked a dance floor. Lights glanced off glitter, sequins, and neon paint that covered the writhing mass of bodies. The windows, tall and arched, were blacked out. Despite the club's name, ironically it was without a view – unless one counted the dazzle of the dance floor.

Bass filled techno thrummed through my veins and my heart sped up to match the tempo. Another staircase to my left and right led upstairs and, across from the entrance, was the mezzanine Catherine had mentioned, hanging above the DJ booth. Stairs up to the mezzanine shadowed the couches beneath it.

"See you later!" Catherine shouted above the music and tugged Maya into the crowd. I did not think that there would be space for them within the crowded mass but I was wrong. They were swallowed up as if they had never existed, lost even from the slight vantage point of the platform Antonio and I still stood on.

He glanced at me and I grinned, pulling him up the stairs to the second floor. I wanted to see every place this building had to offer. I wanted to get lost and emerge as someone new, as if the club was the warm interior of a cocoon.

Once again the music from below was muffled in the stairwell up to the next floor. It faded into a new, although equally bass-heavy, sound. The music on the second floor seemed rougher; edgier. The bar was tucked against the back wall and Antonio and I weaved through the crowd to grab a drink. Then we continued exploring the levels, plastic cups in our hands.

The third level played throwback music and the fourth floor felt much more languid. The fourth floor was also the most apartment-like, with the main dance floor in the center and small, refurbished apartments on the perimeter. Their doorways were the dark maw of a beast against the lightshow occurring in the center of the floor. Each of the rooms were small apartments that contained couches, bathtubs filled with plastic pink balls, and projectors that featured silent black-and-white movies.

"I never could have imagined something like this existing in Minnesota," I said to Antonio as we settled onto an emerald chaise lounge in an empty apartment. The music was just loud enough that we had to shout but quiet enough for us to enjoy a moment together.

"It is in the most unlikely of places that you find a bathtub ball pit," he joked, leaning in close. I closed the distance, gently parting his lips with my tongue. He responded by wrapping his arms around me, pushing me into the lounge. My heart pounded fiercely as Antonio pressed himself into me, one leg between my thighs. I could feel him against my other leg and my heart skipped so high up my throat I believed Antonio could taste it. His whole body seemed to mesh into mine, our hearts beating in a combined rhythm that matched the bass pounding through the floor.

"Are you going to be alright when I leave?" Antonio asked, reminding me of his eventual departure.

I traced my finger down his jaw. "That depends on whether I'm going home tonight or not."

A sly grin crossed his face. He leaned back into me, his teeth nipping my jaw. "Well, I want you to be alright."

"Then I will tell my aunt to not wait up," I replied, mischief dancing in my eyes. His lips rejoined mine, chest pressing against mine. One of his hands caught in my hair and the other caressed my breast. I rubbed my thigh against him, feeling every inch of him.

"Audrey," he admonished playfully, gently biting my lip. Then, suddenly, he pulled away. I sat up on my elbows as he withdrew the ringing phone from his pocket, stamping down the disappointment. He hung up the call but began swiftly typing messages. After a minute he said, "Sorry, I have to go now."

"It's only ten," I replied, glancing at my own phone.

"I'm sorry," he said and sounded genuine. "I love you. We'll continue this later."

He helped me to my feet and pressed kissed me in farewell, deeply and deliciously. "Do you want me to walk down with you?"

I entwined my hand with his and let him lead me back through all the stairwells until we returned to the ground floor where we parted ways with another lingering kiss. I passed him his jacket and he disappeared back into the blue hallway. When the door closed between us, I turned back towards the club. Across the room, I spotted Catherine sitting on a couch beneath the mezzanine. She saw me and waved, waiting until I dropped down beside her to accept the shot she wordlessly passed into my hand.