This Is War - Chapter 7 – The Dress Check
“Good evening, ladies,” said the liftman as we stepped onto the elevator. It was the same one as the other night - the one who probably had tats all over his naked body. Alas, tonight he was fully clothed in a crisp green uniform. His nametag identified him as Cole.
“Club Onyx, please,” said Chastity.
“My pleasure.” Cole hit a button on his little keypad and the elevator took off.
Well that was easy.
“So…” Cole looked us up and down. “First time at Club Onyx?”
“How’d you know?” I asked. Oh no. Did I do something weird?
I reached up to make sure my black wig hadn’t gotten caught in the elevator doors.
And then I looked down to make sure my boobs weren’t out.
Everything seemed to be in place. Thank God.
I couldn’t have dealt with another awkward naked elevator encounter.
Incident #3 still haunted me. I pressed my lips together to make sure I wouldn’t strip, curtsey, or say, “Top of the morning, good sir,” by accident.
“Most members know to ask for floor 62. It’s always good to be discrete when you’re running a secret sex club. Especially since we share the building with the Caldwell Hotel.”
“Oh.” Oops.
“And then there’s the fact that you guys have tried to sneak in at least five times in the past couple months. Clearly you weren’t members yet, or that wouldn’t have happened.”
He remembers that? I remembered parts of it, but we’d been pretty freaking drunk. I was sure we’d made fools of ourselves.
“But most importantly,” he continued, “it would be impossible for me to forget a girl like you.”
Was he talking to me? Or Chastity? And what did he mean by that? Was he calling us hot or awkward?
“Oh, one other word of advice. Make sure you always use this elevator. The others can’t go above Floor 61.”
“Good to know,” I said as the doors dinged open.
“Welcome to Club Onyx,” said Cole.
A group of handsome men in expensive tuxedos politely waited for us to exit before taking our place on the elevator. I tried not to stare at them.
A doorman dressed just like Cole greeted us. “Good evening, ladies. May I take your dresses?”
“Excuse me?” I said. Did he just offer to take my dress?
“They’re new,” said Cole.
The doorman nodded. “Ah, then it will be my pleasure to give you a tour…”
“Actually,” said Cole. “You take over the elevator. I’ll take care of our lovely guests here.”
“Very good, sir.”
Cole swapped positions with the doorman. “Looks like I’ll be your tour guide this evening, Miss…?”
“Morgan,” said Chastity. “Chastity Morgan. And this is Raven.”
Ah, how I loved hanging out with Chastity. I hated introducing myself.
“Pleasure to meet you both. Now, where were we? Ah, right. I’ll need your dresses.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “But are you asking me to…you know…”
“Take off your dress, yes,” said Cole as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
“And why in the world would I do that?”
“Because it’s a Friday night. Which means the dress code is black tie lingerie.”
“Great,” I said. “I think this cocktail dress qualifies as black tie.”
“The black tie is for the men.”
“Well that’s very unclear. How was I to know that the lingerie part applied to women?”
“What did you expect? For all the guys here to be wearing lacy thongs?”
“Hey man, I don’t know what you’re into. Don’t ask, don’t tell. That’s a thing, right?”
Cole looked at me like I was crazy. “I’m pretty sure that applies to gay guys in the army.”
I shrugged. “Gay guys in the army, lingerie-clad men at sex clubs. Potato, potahto.”
“She has a point,” added Chastity. “Those two things seem closely related.”
Cole sighed. “Look around. Everyone else understands the dress code.” He gestured to a group of women walking down the grand staircase wearing nothing but lingerie and heels.
And the men with them were dressed to the nines.
“If you’re not wearing appropriate undergarments, I can have someone escort you to the boutique in the Ladies’ Lounge.
They’ll fix you up with some great lingerie. ”
I shook my head. “I’m not taking my dress off.”
Cole frowned. “I assure you, our dress check is first rate. Your clothes will be safe with us.”
“I was more concerned with the whole being naked thing.”
He gave me the up-down. “Are you not wearing any underwear?”
“What? Of course I am!”
“I don’t know…it sure seems like you’re not. Like I said, the boutique has plenty…”
“You’re ridiculous.” I was about to turn around and get back on the elevator. But then I remembered my new mantra. Say yes. It was time for me to start living.
Would it really be so bad to walk around Club Onyx in my underwear?
All the other girls were doing it.
And at Chastity’s insistence, I’d worn a super sexy set of strappy lingerie, complete with a garter belt and stockings. I’d told her that I wasn’t going to sleep with anyone tonight, but she said it was always good to be prepared just in case. She was indeed correct.
And if that wasn’t enough, I’d also just gotten a fresh wax at the spa yesterday. That was the one link to the Society that hadn’t disappeared along with Tanner. But everyone at the Shifting Sands Spa had gotten mysteriously worse at English this summer.
Anyway, I really couldn’t have been any better prepared to strip down.
But I didn’t do stuff like this. I was sweet, innocent Ashley Cooper. I was the girl who had saved myself for marriage and never drank at parties until I was 21. Except I wasn’t her. Because an hour ago, I’d put on my black wig and transformed into Raven Black. And Raven Black was fearless.
“Of course I’m wearing underwear,” I said as I pulled my dress over my head and tossed it at Cole’s face. “See?” I put my hand on my hip for some added sass. Take that.
Chastity looked like she was about to faint. She had definitely not been expecting me to strip down.
That’s right, bitch! I said yes! Raven Black was the kind of woman who got down on her knees and blew fancy paintings in museums. She could definitely strip down to her lingerie at a sex club.
#SexClubReady. I’d also gotten surprisingly good at hashtags in my free time this summer.
Tanner was missing out on so much. Loser.
Cole’s eyes feasted on my half-naked body. “I stand corrected.”
Chastity handed me her gigantic purse and then slid out of her dress. Her striptease was way more graceful than mine, but it didn’t matter. Cole’s eyes stayed glued on me.
“Give me one moment please,” said Cole. He ran our dresses over to the dress check. Since apparently that was a thing at Club Onyx.
“Cole is so hot!” whispered Chastity. “And he’s totally into you. I think he’s the one.”
“The one?” I asked.
“Yeah. The one you’re gonna sleep with to get over Tanner.”
“I’m not gonna do that.” Right? I gulped. This was a sex club. And I was supposed to be saying yes to everything…
“I dunno, he got you out of the dress pretty easily. I wonder how long it’ll take him to get you naked.”
“I’m not…” I stopped mid-sentence, all my confidence vanishing when I remembered that I was wearing a thong.
A thong! I turned to prevent a nearby group of men from being able to see my bare ass.
Oh my God. Why did I take off my dress?!
I’d been working out a lot, but still. My ass wasn’t ready for public viewing, and it never would be. “We should go. This was a mistake.”
“You really want to walk home in your underwear?” asked Chastity.
I glared at her. Of course I didn’t want to walk home in my underwear!
“Your tickets, ladies,” said Cole. He’d snuck up behind us. Which meant he’d just seen my ass. Fuck my life.
I reached for my ticket, but Chastity snagged both hers and mine and put them in her purse. I was officially stuck here at her mercy.
“Now that you’re properly attired, we can begin orientation.
Please follow me.” Cole stuck out an arm for each of us.
I reluctantly looped my arm through his as we walked up the grand staircase.
I was already half naked - I didn’t want to further embarrass myself with a tumble down the stairs.
It had nothing to do with wanting to feel his arms. I think.
But God was he strong. I held on to him a little tighter.
The velvety red carpet on the grand staircase muffled the noise of my heels, but I was more focused on the group of models passing us.
They were all ridiculously tall and skinny and tan.
Them strutting around in lingerie just made sense.
I expected Cole to stare at them, but when I looked up at him, he was staring at me.
My boobs, to be precise. Which did kind of look amazing in my push-up bra.
The door at the top of the stairs opened right into the heart of the club.
Just like the foyer, everything was gold and leather and wood.
The whole place oozed class. And the men…
damn. I had never seen so many fine men in one place.
Maybe it was a trick of the dim lights, but every guy was well-groomed, well-built, and handsome AF.
I thought for sure they’d all be acting like assholes and staring at every girl who passed, but they were actually quite respectful.
“Care for a drink?” asked Cole.
“Yes please.” God yes. I desperately needed a drink. Or ten.
“What can I get for you?”
“Tequila shots,” said Chastity.
Cole nodded approvingly. “Tequila shots it is. While I get those, please turn your attention to our wall of fame.” He gestured to a wall of paintings. Each one was a hand-painted portrait of a couple. “Those are all of the happy couples that the Society has brought together.”
I crinkled my nose. “Ew. They paint you every time you bang someone?”
Cole laughed. “No. These are couples that have gotten married. The Society is quite good at creating lasting relationships.”
“Aw,” said Chastity. “That’s so cute! Maybe my picture will be up there soon.”
Give me a break. Was Chastity actually buying this nonsense?
At one point Tanner had almost convinced me that the Society was about love.
But then I’d told him I loved him, and he’d responded by faking an elaborate kidnapping just to get away from me.
There was no way this place was about true love.
If it was, they wouldn’t have had us parading around in lingerie.
“You really believe that?” I asked.
“Of course,” said Cole. “The proof is in the paintings.”
And then a horrible thought occurred to me. What if one of the paintings was of Tanner and whatever girl he undoubtedly met after leaving me? I looked for his picture while Cole went off to get our drinks from the ridiculously well-stocked bar.
“I wonder what’s up there,” said Chastity, pointing to a second story section. “That’s probably where people go to bang.”
I turned my attention away from the pictures. Much to my relief, none of them had been of Tanner. “Oh, maybe.”
“Wanna check it out?” she asked.
I laughed, but I wasn’t sure she’d been joking. I was busy trying to get a better look at the second story when I saw someone out of the corner of my eye in a bright blue suit and a man bun. My heart started racing. “Is that Tanner?” I muttered. If that asshole was here…
“Where?” asked Chastity.
“Three o’clock.” But when I looked back to where I’d seen him, he was gone. “Just kidding. False alarm.” Thank God. If one thing could ruin this night, it was running into Tanner.
“Three tequila shots,” said Cole, handing us each a shot glass.
Usually I avoided tequila at all costs, but tonight called for drastic measures. Especially if I was going to have to face Tanner.
I downed the shot and tried not to cough as the liquid seared my throat. Then I grabbed another and downed it too, just for good measure. All the alcohol in the world wouldn’t be enough to make me feel comfortable running around in my underwear. But two tequila shots was a good start.
“So where were we?” asked Cole.
“You showed us the wall of fame. And that was about it.”
“Ah, right. This is the main bar. It’s open every night from 5 to 2. And the restaurant has the same hours.” Cole gestured to a set of double doors with a hostess standing out front.
“Restaurant?” asked Chastity. “Is that Society slang for the sex dungeon?”
Cole laughed. “Nope. Not a sex dungeon. Just a normal restaurant. In fact, having sex there would be a great way to get thrown out of the club.”
“Say what?” Chastity looked personally offended. “What kind of sex club doesn’t let you have sex?”
“Oh, you can have plenty of sex at Club Onyx. Just not by the bar or in the restaurant…at least not tonight.”
“Up on the sex balcony then?” asked Chastity.
Cole shook his head. “That’s part of the bar. And so is the roof deck. See those blue lights? That means this is a sex-free zone.”
“Then where can you have sex?”
Cole gave us a mischievous grin. “Follow me.”