Nameless

The air inside of the club was hot and moist and it smelt of booze, smoke and even puke especially when you stood or passed by the rest rooms but despite this the music was loud and great and there were a lot of hot gals especially since Josh’s, the guitarist of a band we’re touring with, girlfriend, Steffi, was celebrating her birthday tonight and she invited about a double dozen of her hot girl friends.

I was about to go dance with the eighth girl I’ve sweet talked tonight when someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned around to find the birthday girl herself, pouting at me.

“Oh hey, Steff,” I smiled at her.

She gave me a nod and then a toothy smile, “Halv, can you do me a favor pretty please?” she asked, her words slurred.

“Aww, I know what this is,” I said jokingly, “You want to go on the dance floor with me too? I’m afraid it’s a no can do, Steff. I don’t want Josh killing me. But maybe next time, when he’s not around, I’ll spin you around a bit.”

She laughed as she punched me on the shoulder, “Good God, Halvo, even when I’m drunk I still find you sick. But anyway, I need you to go dance with my friend there,” she jerked the thumb of her hand that didn’t hold a cocktail glass to the direction of a girl sitting on our booth, playing with the olive of her drink.

I turned my attention to Steffi, “Okay. What’s in it for me though?”

“Ugh!” she punched me again but a whole lot harder while chuckling, “Do it at least as my birthday present, you asshole.”

I laughed while rubbing the area that she punched, “I was just kidding, Steff. Okay, as your birthday present – she’s hot anyways.”

Her eyes widen, “Only dance with her, okay? Only dance. I swear if you ever… do things to her, I will personally castrate you, Halvorsen.”

I let a playful smile linger on my lips as I said, “I can’t promise you that.” And then quickly turned around to fish tale my way through the crowd and to our booth, leaving Steffi and her threats, beside her the girl I sweet talked earlier with an irritated expression on her makeup caked face.

She looked up for a while as I slid into the leather black chair - my legs finally feeling the exhaustion from dancing- but then once I settled in, she went back to texting and playing with the olive in her drink.

“Aren’t you going to eat that?” I asked her, shouting over the music so she could hear me - trying to make small talk before charming my way into a dance.

She shook her head, “I don’t like olives very much, they taste awful to me,” she shouted as well but I pretended not to hear so I could use it as an excuse to scoot closer.

“What?” I asked again loudly.

“I said,” she shouted over the music louder now with her head up, facing me, “I don’t like Olives.”

I studied her for a second – full lips, cute nose, brown eyes and wavy, bust length, black hair. I found her prettier up close than earlier from afar. A whole lot prettier. “I’m sorry, I really can’t hear you,” I shouted back, “Do you mind if I scoot a little closer, so I could?” I asked.

She nodded lightly and I scooted closer with just a few inches setting us apart. I leaned closer to her, “So, what were you saying?”

She leaned closer as well, she inched her mouth closer to my ear. I felt goose bumps forming on my skin as I felt her breath as she said, “I said I don’t eat olives.”

I leaned back and smiled and looked at her, “Why?”

She shrugged, “I just don’t like how they taste, is all.”

“Yeah, me either.”

She chuckled. I found her even more attractive when she laughed. I couldn’t help but grin back.

“So did, uh, Steffi send you over here to keep me company or something?” she asked me, a small smile on her lips as she nodded to the direction where Steffi was grinding on the dance floor with Josh – real hot and heavy.

I turned around and faced her again and shook my head, “No. Why would you think that?” I let my smile stretch, “Why would a guy need to be told by a girl as beautiful as you’s friend just so he would talk to you?”

I don’t know if it was just the club’s lights or if she really was blushing, either which I found it really cute. “Gee, thanks,” she said shyly, “It’s just that I saw Steffi talking to you earlier before you headed over here.”

“Oh, that was just Steffi begging me to dance with her,” I joked, “Sadly I don’t dance with ladies with boyfriends.”

She laughed, “Seriously?”

I shook my head, “Nah, I would dance with anyone regardless.” I chuckled, “Nah, I’m just kidding, about her begging me to dance with her and all, she was just asking me for her birthday present which sadly I don’t have. But anyway, do you want to dance? You are single right?” I asked grinning, my thumb jerked at the dance floor.

She laughed some more which only made me grin some more, “Yes, very much single but no, I don’t really dance.”

“Aww, come on,” I said, “Everyone can dance.”

She laughed shyly, “Well, I really can’t.”

I grabbed her hand from under the table and tugged on it as I stood up, “Non-sense, my dear.” It felt soft and small in mine and I felt like I never wanted to let go.

“No, I really can’t,” she tugged her hand back but I wouldn’t let go.

“Come on, I’ll teach you. For Steffi, okay? Just this one time for her birthday,” I told her.

“uhmm, fine.”

“Yey!” I shouted, acting like a kid which made her giggle. She slid out of the booth and I kept my hand on the small of her back, guiding her as we go through the crowd on the dance floor, looking for a good spot.

We positioned ourselves a few feet away from our friends, since she wanted to be close to them so that she wouldn’t feel lost but not close enough that they could see her so call “make a fool of herself” while she danced.

“So, how does this work?” she asked shouting over the music, her head hovering over my shoulder as our bodies were being forced to be really close by the compactness of the people on the dance floor. Well, not that I minded at all.

I put my hands up in the air in fists and started moving them, “Put your hands up and sort of like, pump them or something, like this,” I told her, “and then just move your body around.”

She pouted, “I really don’t know how to do that.”

I grabbed both of her hands and pulled them up, “Here, you ju-“ before I could complete my sentence the music cut off and everyone turned around to face the dj. Some of the people were cursing and shouting.

“Calm down, all of ya’ll,” he spoke through the mic, “We’ve got a newlywed couple here and they’ve requested for a slow song, so if ya’ll guys don’t mind, can we mellow it down for just a couple of minutes?” he asked the crowd.

The crowd was a mix of yeahs and hell nos but mostly the yeahs over powered the nos and the upbeat song that was playing earlier was replaced with The Scripts “For The First Time”. Some people walked out of the dance floor scowling but most stayed, looked for a partner and danced to the song, slowly and feeling the lyrics.

We just sort of stood there, she really didn’t know how to dance and this was really making her nervous and I thought it was really cute how she chewed on her lower lip. I wrapped my hands over hers and snaked them around my neck. “This one will be easy to dance, I promise.” I said looking down at her, “Can I place my hands here?” I asked as I cautiously put them on the side of her hips.

She nodded, “I suppose. Now what?” she asked me.

I smiled lightly, “Now all you have to do is follow the sway of the music, okay?”

She nodded, “Okay.”

I watched her as she tried to sway. At first, she felt stiff and tense but then after telling her to just relax she loosened up and swayed along the music - her eyes closing and a smile creeping up her lips.

At that very moment, I don’t know if it was the booze or what but I really wanted to lean down and press my lips on hers but I didn’t. She didn’t seem like the type of girl I could just make out with, she seemed more than that.

I didn’t even notice that the song was already over and was replaced with G6 because I was so deep in thought about her. I would’ve looked like a glazed out fool if she hadn’t poked my chest.

“Ow,” I said chuckling.

She chuckled as well, “I think I’m done dancing for the night.”

I nodded and smiled down at her, “Yeah, me too. Want to get drunk?”

She grinned, “Sounds like a good idea to me.”

We spend the next hour buying each other drinks at the bar and inching closer to pure drunkenness. We were in a middle of a conversation about which Mountain Dew flavor was best when the club suddenly went quiet and the dj spoke once more through his mic.

“Okay ya’ll, sorry again to interrupt,” he said smiling, “But it’s a few seconds or so until midnight and we’d like to have a countdown for that young, fine looking lady right there sitting by the fifth booth from the door. The one in that hot red, cocktail dress.”

His co-dj wolf whistled through the mic, “Dang, she is fine.” And everyone cheered and laughed in the crowd as they turned their attention from Steffi to the djs.

The other dj laughed, “Damn right she is; now as I was saying, we’d like to have a countdown for her because it will be her birthday!”

“Now, everybody…” started his co-dj, “10, 9, 8...”

The crowd shouted along, counting down as we walked through the crowd as fast as we could to our booth. We made it just as they cheered number “3”. That was pretty fucking quick for two tipsy kids trying to hurry somewhere.

At two we both looked at each other grinning and at one we all jumped in and hugged Steffi while singing a loud and sloppy chorus of “Happy Birthday”. A few seconds later, the music went up again and everyone drank harder and returned back to the dance floor.

The both of us were already fucking smashed – well, at least, she was. She wasn’t even sitting straight; she kept swaying from side to side. I held her by the shoulders, afraid that she might fall over. She grinned at my gesture and started fanning herself. “It is so hot in here.” She shouted, complaining.

“Yeah,” I agreed as I could feel my plaid button down’s cloth sticking to my skin. “Want to get out of here?” I asked her.

She nodded, “Definitely. Just one more shot, okay?” she said.

I nodded and we made our way to the bar again. I had to make sure both of us didn’t topple over, shaking off the buzzing in my head.

She slammed a bill on the counter and the bartender gave her a shot glass filled with auburn liquid to the brim. She laced her elegant fingers around the glass and tipped it to her mouth. Her nose squinching as she put down the empty glass. “Okay, let, uh, go,” she said her words even more slurred.

We walked out of the club, and sat on an empty sidewalk by the club– letting the cool air hit us. I took a deep breath of the cool air and exhaled. I felt a lot better then. I turned to my side to check on her.

She leaned back; her stretched arms supporting her, her long legs stretched out into the street and crossed by the ankles. She closed her eyes and whiffed up deep breaths too. I couldn’t help but stare at her bare neck – specifically the circular part of her collar bone and the skin that was showed as her short black dress rode up her thighs. So many thoughts that Steffi would not approve of ran through my mind then but I shook them off and cautiously pulled down the end of her dress, covering the showing skin.

“Do you know what I was really looking forward to when I came here for Steffi’s party other than seeing her?” she asked said, her eyes still close and a smile lingered by her soft looking lips.

I shook my head, “No, what?”

She opened her eyes and stared out at the night sky, “I wanted to see the night scenery of this city, you know? It is Las Vegas after all, all bright and pretty. Too bad I leave tomorrow and our hotel room didn’t have a balcony and the only view the window looked out into was an alley.”

Right as she said this, my eyes spot metal stairs from the side of a building up a head, my gaze follows it up and I see that it leads to a rooftop.

I grinned, “Well it isn’t too late now.” I grabbed her hand as I stood up and pulled her to her feet.

“Huh? What’re you talking about?” She asked confused.

“Just follow me,” I told her as I leaded her up the street to the building. I found her grinning at me as we stopped at the bottom of the metal stairs.

We run up, stumbling a few times – my hand still locked in hers – which resulted in me grinning like a kid on Christmas day. Half way up the stairs, I got pulled back as she stopped and let go of my hand to bend down. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

She stood up again with her heels hanging from her right hand, “It’d be easier barefoot.” She smiled and linked her left hand with mine again and we continued our way up.

Once we got there, she grasped for breath but not out of the running but out of the sight that was before her. She dropped her heels and walked over to the edge.

I watched her from the top of the stairs as she admired the scene before her; the city was alive with lights and movement. “It’s so beautiful.” She said. She turned around and smiled widely, “Aren’t you going to come here? Have a look closer?”

“Oh, right,” I said, I picked up her heels and walked over as she sat on the edge, her feet dangling off. I sat beside her and she scooted closer.

“Thanks for bringing me up here,” she said smiling.

I smiled back, “Oh, it’s no big deal.”

She shook her head, grinning, “No really, I have to thank you so much. You’ve made this night – this trip amazing.”

Her face was just a few inches away from mine and I was guessing this was a right moment and so I inched closer as well, “I’m glad I did” I kept shifting my gaze from her lips to her eyes and I can see that she has noticed and that she knows what I’m up to and she’s okay with it.

So I slide my hand to her face, cupping her cheek and when her eyes start to close I move in to close the small gap between us.

But then…

“There they are!” we heard Justin’s loud, slurred shout from below. “Nick, Nick, there they are!” he shouted again, his index finger pointing up to us.

I could see Nick squint as the street light hit his face as he stared up and grinned, “Come on, Justin,” he said –his voice even more slurred than Justin’s - as he swung an arm around Justin’s shoulder, making both of them stumble a bit, “Let’s go tell Steffi what are band mate's been doing with her best friend.”

“Oh, yeah!” Justin cheered and they both ran around the corner.

We both laughed awkwardly. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, “I guess we better get down there, huh?”

She nodded, chuckling lightly, “Yeah.”

I carried her heels as I stood up and grabbed her out stretched hand and pulled her up to her feet, “Careful now.”

“Thanks,” she said and we walked silently down the stairs, our hands however never separating – fingers intertwined and all.

As we cross the street to the corner where Nick and Justin ran to, we could hear Steffi’s slurred threats about cutting my balls off with what sounded like Nick, Justin and Stephen’s giggles following behind her.

I pulled her back as she tried to round the corner, “Wait, before your best friend disables any chance for me to have children someday, I just want to thank you too for tonight and that I think you’re really amazing and that I still don’t know your name.”

She bit her lip as her smile widened, “It’s L-“

“You!” shouted Steffi as she appeared in front of us while Stephen, Nick and Justin peeked from the side of the building wall from the corner having drunken giggling faces on. Her index finger pointed straight at me and she came charging, “What the hell were you doing to her up there!? I told you to just dance with her!”

I sneaked a kiss on her cheek as I handed her, her heels before running, rounding the corner grabbing Nick and the guys with me as I did, “Bye! I hope to see you around soon!”

Steffi raced after me but we already got in a cab and Nick practically shouted the cab driver’s ear off saying, “Go already!” repeatedly even when the driver was already driving. I looked back through the window to watch her assist Steffi into their cab followed by her then Josh and Jess and one of Steffi’s friends. I even watched as their cab and ours went their different routes since their hotel was all the way across the city from ours.

I still didn’t know her name. I turned to Stephen, “Hey, Steph? Do you know what her name was?”

“Hm?” he whipped his head away from the view of his shoes and looked at me, “Uh, no, Steffi had so many bitches- I mean, friends- so hard to keep track which one is which. Which one is Sarah or Kacy. So many names in this world, it’s all so confusing, bro.”

He was definitely drunk and so were Nick and Justin who were playing with each other’s bangs and slapping each other. Half way to our hotel, we had to stop because Justin had to puke and he did, a lot and by the time we got to our hotel, Jess and Josh and the other bands were already there but were all asleep on their beds.

As I kicked off my shoes, I felt the exhaustion from all of the activities tonight but did not regret any of them. I felt my eyes flutter close as I plopped down my soft bed. The last thing I saw before I dozed off was her image laughing.