The doorman wasn’t a large man but he had two large assistants standing on either side of the front door. He was talking on his earpiece when he glanced over at the approaching group. His eyes passed over the women and Ben could see him dismiss them immediately. Ben didn’t like that and his smile slipped from his face as they got close. The doorman’s eyes looked up at Ben and a series of expressions flashed across his face. Interest, recognition, shock, and finally excitement burst across his pale features. Ben thought he needed to get outside in the daylight a little more.
“Mr. Shepherd! It is such an honor to have you at our club!” the man gushed as he took Ben’s hand and pumped it rapidly. The doorman couldn’t stop looking at the scar across his face which made Ben a little uncomfortable. He’d play along if it meant he could get the girls inside without standing in the line.
“Thank you. It’s our first visit,” Ben replied.
“Then we will pull out the stops to ensure you visit again! My name is Damien, Damien Delacroix! If you need anything please ask for me and I will make it happen!”
“Thank you Damien. That’s very kind.” Ben was starting to feel a little uncomfortable about how the man wasn’t releasing his hand, since they’d stopped shaking. He looked at his hand and Damien caught on and released it. A flush bloomed over the man’s face. Damien gestured for him to enter. Ben allowed the ladies to enter before him.
Damien had been so polite curiosity got the better of Ben and he leaned closer to the doorman. “May I ask how you recognized me?”
The man’s face lit up with a broad smile. “I’ve been following you in the press ever since my parents in Paris sent me the article about your rescuing the women from the slavers…” Damien’s eyes went wide as he leaned back to see Karen and Penny stepping inside. He looked back at Ben with a shocked look.
“I adopted them as my daughters,” Ben said to lead off any questions of impropriety. Unfortunately this just increased Damien’s awe.
“And, of course, the bronze statue…” the doorman murmured.
Ben winced and turned to head inside.
“HEY! Why does the fossil and his skanky bitches get preferred treatment?”
Ben looked with a scowl to the front of the line where a young man stood with his date. Both looked… baked. Bloodshot eyes, sleepy expressions. The girl was worse off. He looked closer. She didn’t look good at all. Before Damien could act Ben walked over to the young man who tried to appear unintimidated by Ben’s size and fierce gaze.
“I don’t give a shit what you think of me but you should think twice about being rude to the ladies,” he said then looked closer at the young woman. Ben realized that’s exactly what she was, young. She was made up to look older but he was sure she was underage. Ben snapped his fingers in front of the girl’s eyes and she didn’t blink.
“Damien, could you call an ambulance for this young lady?”
“Hand’s off my bitch grandpa!” the rude man barked and made the mistake of grabbing Ben’s jacket.
Moments later Ben lifted the velvet rope and gently guided the drugged girl over her wheezing ‘date’ who was curled up on the sidewalk clutching his stomach.
“And call the police for this man. His date is underage and drugged.”
Damien was busy dialing and took charge of the young woman as his assistants collected the man from the ground.
Ben walked inside and found the four women at the coat check. He checked his as well and followed them to the entrance of the main room where they were met by another slim man in a tailored suit wearing an earpiece.
“Hello Mr. Shepherd! I am Stephane Guillotte, manager of Asylum. Damien let me know you were on your way in. It would be my pleasure to show you to an area we reserve for special guests. House bottle service is complementary, of course!”
Ben was going to protest the extra attention but his ‘dates’ were smiling from ear to ear. “That’s most gracious of you. Thank you,” he said instead.
Stephane smiled and bowed slightly. He guided them around the dancefloor on a raised seating area and Ben’s group looked everywhere at once trying to absorb the incredible lightshow on the dancefloor below them. Enormous walls of LED’s rippled with colored light and the floor itself pulsed with color. The twins were grinning like mad. Karen and Penny were in awe. They’d been in a lot of clubs in their time but they were never allowed to enjoy any of them and none of them had been this grand.
Once they reached the roped off section the bouncers positioned there quickly memorized their faces so they could come and go freely. Stephane introduced them to Yvonne who would be their personal server for their stay. Stephane mentioned a few of the different rooms in the club which apparently had unique themes. He gave Ben an admiring look and recommended the Steam Room. Then he left them.
Yvonne served them some champagne and explained how the House bottle service worked. They would get two bottles of house champagne which normally cost $140 but for them was free. If they wanted mixed drinks or shooters they could select from a group of different bottle service packages. Ben looked over the menu with the ladies and the twins pointed to one they wanted. He was a little surprised at the cost but he nodded and paid Yvonne $500. The woman was all smiles and left to bring them their first round of shooters. Ben had made sure she understood he wasn’t participating.
There was a bottle of spring water included so Ben had some of that while the ladies raised a toast with the champagne. They weren’t that impressed with the taste of the bubbly stuff so when the shooters arrived they sucked them back and stood up to drag Ben out onto the dancefloor.
Ben was seriously impressed with the acoustics of the dance club. The real volume of the music didn’t peak until you were on the dancefloor. This meant conversations were actually possible at the tables in the seating area yet the music saturated your body once you were dancing. His engineering radar was going off like crazy as he looked for the sound dampeners and baffles.
Lisa noticed his distraction and danced right up against his body. That got his attention. He apologized and kept his eyes on them when they weren’t mesmerized by the lightshow around them and at their feet. At times it gave Ben the feeling of flying as the lights raced from one side of the dancefloor to the other. The floor was busy but they weren’t jammed together. The occasional bump wasn’t too bad as everyone was in good spirits.
Ben kept an eye on his daughters as they were attracting a lot of male attention. Lisa and Lori were demonstrating how to dance without inviting unwanted attention and Penny picked it up very quickly. Karen was more submissive and her sister had to steer some Lotharios away as she danced with her sister.
The DJ was excellent and kept them moving so they didn’t realize they’d been on their feet for almost an hour. Lori pointed back to the tables and mimed drinking so they made their way back to their table. Yvonne was immediately at their sides taking the next order of shooters and arranging for one of the premium bottles in their service plan. Lisa chose a top end vodka for mixing with a fruit flavored energy drink. Ben just shook his head with a smile. Yvonne asked him with a smile if he was reconsidering and he just shook his head and picked up a bottle of chilled water from the ice bucket by their table. She gave him a little pout and left to get their order.
“Are you flirting with our server Ben?” Lori asked with a wicked grin.
“What? No, of course not!” he looked back at her and saw she was teasing. He glowered playfully at the young woman.
“Should we try out that Steam Room? It sounds so amazing!” Penny gushed. She passed the pamphlet from the table over to Ben’s outstretched hand and he took a look. The room was actually filled with steam!
“It’s a steam room! With a DJ?!?” he exclaimed. Lisa and Lori giggled at his surprise.
“You’re expected to change into bathing suits which they supply. It says fifteen minute maximum dancing in that room due to the heat. Then it’s off to the co-ed showers which has its own DJ. You get another fifteen minutes then you go to the locker rooms, non-co-ed this time, and you get your clothes back. Is this a dance club or a spa?”
“Ben, today it’s all about mixing experiences! There is a premium charge to dance there,” Lisa explained.
He looked at the brochure again and sure enough there was a fee. $25 a person. “How popular could this be?”
“The DJ’s that work those rooms are cutting edge! Why don’t we stick with the regular dance floor for a few more sets and see how we feel. I think it might be fun!” Lori suggested.
“I’d love to try it,” Karen smiled. Penny just grinned at her sister and shook her head. “What? Lori wants to try it too!” Karen said with a pout. Ben grinned at Karen because she looked so sweet! She caught Ben and smiled back at him. “See! Ben wants to try it too!” She poked her sister in the shoulder.
“He does not!” Penny said poking back.
“Ladies! Are we here to argue or are we here to dance?” Ben said with a raised eyebrow.
“DANCE!” they all cheered. Yvonne arrived with the shots and the ladies slammed them back on the count of three. Karen and Penny gasped and coughed but Lisa and Lori just closed their eyes and savored the burn.
“So you’re off on a trip tomorrow?” Lisa asked.
“Yeah, I was told to stay away from my own renovation project to give my finger time to heal. Rochelle recommended a holiday so I asked her to come with me. Trish is coming too.”
“If you are looking for travelling companions we’d travel anywhere with you Ben!” Lori said with a sultry look in her eyes.
Ben felt that look right down to his groin and he shifted on his chair to give himself more room in his pants. The twins both saw this and they smiled at each other.