LUCA.
I arrived at the club at exactly seven minutes past nine in the evening. The whole place was busy and buzzing with loud music as strippers were dancing here and there on the dance floor while some men were dancing with them and spraying them currency notes.
I sat on my seat checking everyone out one after the other while sipping the drink I had gone to the bartender to collect some minutes back. I was alone at the table because I came with no one, but I was sure a lady would join me soon when I’m seen alone.
I was here for Tony. Tony was fast with knowing and remembering things despite seeing them once, so it was no surprise to me when he read out the number of the person that had sent the text he told me saw on Lara’s phone. He had called out the number to me, and I had made my findings about where the number was sent from and who had sent it.
From the information I got, everything pointed to a young man about my brother’s age named Damien, but the little I found out about him was that he frequented the bar. So I was here to find out who this so-called Damien is and to know why he was trying to blackmail my brother’s girlfriend.
“And who do we have here?” A young lady said to me as she walked up to my table. She stood beside the table and placed her hand on one of the chairs seductively.
I flashed her a smile and I saw how much she blushed. Someone is about to get tricked, I thought. “Hello, beautiful,” I said to her and she flashed her teeth widely. “Have your seat, will you?” I said to her.
She dragged out the chair her hand was on and sat on it. “I’m Rita,” she introduced herself.
“You look good, Rita.”
She flashed her teeth to me once again, her smile very wide. She seemed to be lost in the beauty of my face that she kept on staring at me like she was about to devour me. But there was only one thing I needed from her.
I needed to know how long she had been visiting the club, to know if she could have the information I needed or not, but I didn’t want to be too forward about the questioning. So I decided to take it slowly.
“I know,” she said and chuckled. She then adjusted her gown, making her cleavage come into view more easily. No one needed to tell me what she was trying to do, but I had to play her game too to get what I wanted.
“So, tell me, I don’t think I’ve seen this face before around here. Are you new in town?” I started.
She smiled again before replying. “Uhm, I’m not. The question should be directed to you. I come here a lot and I know virtually every face here. That was why I got drawn to you because I barely know you and I don’t think I’ve seen this handsome face of yours in this environment before, this club precisely. So, I guess you must be new in town.” She explained.
“Oh, yeah, I’m a bit new in town. Then, I don’t party as much as to come to the club. I love being indoors,” I replied.
That was a first. She said she knew most of the people here. That meant there was a high probability of her knowing the person I came in search of. I just had to take things slow so she wouldn’t get suspicious of me.
“Oh, that’s cool. So, you have no friends around here that come to this place?” She asked with raised eyebrows. “Well,” she said and shrugged. “Seeing how you’re here alone, means you don’t.” She added. Then, she cleared her throat. The noise and music had gotten louder by now, so for me to hear her words well, she increased the volume of her voice. “But hey! I can help you make friends,” she said and winked at me.
I chuckled lightly and said, “it’s fine actually. But then, I have a friend. Although, I haven’t seen him around now. But since you said you know so much about people here, maybe you’d know him too.”
“Oh?” Her eyes went wide open. “You know a person here? Wow. Thought you were very new and knew nobody. Who is it though? Anthony?”
I chuckled. Almost everyone here knew Tony. He did tell me he was popular here and that he knew virtually everyone. That was why I hadn’t told him that the person that sent the text frequents the club a lot. There was a high probability he would know the person. And being someone most people feared in the club, I felt it was because the said person couldn’t do anything to him, that was why he was trying to blackmail his girlfriend.
Besides, Tony told me he was always the lucky one in the club who got the better girls, so the other young men his age were envious of him. That alone explains why he was prone to have a lot of enemies in the club.
Lara on the other hand was a beautiful lady too, and any man who had eyes for good ladies would admire her beauty upon seeing her. And now that both Tony and Lara are together, it’ll only bring more enemies to them.
“Damien,” I said as I stared at her, silently praying she would say something about him.
“Oh, Damien,” she said and rolled her eyes. That meant one thing; she knew who he was. That was a great first step and a lead to my findings. I was sure it was going to go well now. I just needed to ask her a few more questions.
I let out a burst of fake laughter and said when I was done laughing. “Why that expression? You don’t like him?”
“Well, he’s your friend, so I can’t say that about him to you.” She simply said and poured herself a cup of wine from the bottle in the middle of the table.
“Nah, just let me know. I’m here to have fun. Did he ditch you?” I asked her with a smirk on my face. “Since that’s what most of you girls mostly hate we guys for.”
“Ew. That thing? Dump me? Nah. I wouldn’t even date such a thing.” She said and gulped down the drink, then placed the cup on the table. “I used to like him but he went for some new girl that started coming to this club. It was so annoying then because all his attention went to this girl I’m talking about. There isn’t even anything special about her.” She said and hissed.
I chuckled at how pained she sounded. “So, you were jealous?”
“Ew. Why would I be jealous of that Lara girl? She isn’t even all that. I wonder why guys give her that much attention anyway,” she rolled her eyes once again. Judging by the number of times she had rolled her eyes that evening, I could bet that those eyes should be hurting her by now.
My mind went back to what she had just said, and my eyes went wide open. That was another lead. Damien knows Lara. “The girl’s name is Lara?” I asked.
“Yeah, duh. She took my crush from me. Bitch,” she scoffed.
I just needed her to open up more, and I’d get what I needed. “Sounds interesting. Tell me more about how the Lara girl took him from you.” I said, smiling at her.