Jake's POV

I hated how clubs were always so crowded, especially on Fridays, yet here I was. Not that I had a choice in the matter. Cameron, my best friend and partner, was celebrating the club’s third birthday and I had to come.

When Cam came to me three years ago with a business plan for this establishment, I thought he was crazy to think I would want to be part of a night club. After purchasing the building upstairs, which he originally wanted as a club, the owner told him about the vacant space downstairs, which made Cam's partnership deal more appealing to me and I invested money in the club provided I stayed a silent partner.

I decided it made good business sense to have a fast food joint. The foot traffic was incredible, and more so with hungry people in the club in need of greasy food. It took us about six months before we could open, doing inspections and renovations.

As I watched the dancing crowd from Cam’s office on the upper floor, I wondered how he deals with this almost everyday; the crowd, drunk people and the noise. It was too much for me. .

"Mate! I'm glad you made it, but the party is down there, not here," Cameron said excitedly as he walked into his office.

"Why do I have to attend these yearly parties?" 

"Isn't it obvious?” He threw his arms out wide, gesturing to the space around us. “This is our first baby together, we have  to celebrate her.” 

"You mean the only baby we will ever share, right?" I played along.

He pouted as he crossed the room. "You are such a party pooper. Why can't we have at least two?" Giving me his signature puppy dog eyes he’s known for when he wants to get his way.

"That shit might work on girls, but not me. Let's go to the party, but I'm not staying long." 

When we reached downstairs, we weaved our way through the mass of dancers,  it looked like the club was getting more crowded with each minute. We walked toward the VIP area where some of Cam's friends were seated and greeted everyone before sitting down on the black big couch.

Getting comfortable I scanned the venue, hoping time would fly by so I could get out of here. This was not the place to come to relax and think, which was what I needed right now.

After ten minutes of torture, the music stopped making people groan, and the Dj’s voice filled the club.

"I know, I know. But we gotta do this night right.” He shields his eyes with one hand, looking in our direction. “Cameron, where you at? . Come on up here, brother.  It’s time to get his party started!" He said in a singsong.

Cam stood and approached the stage. A spotlight shone over him, following his confident strides through the dance floor as the people parted like the red sea. 

He was born for this, come to think of it, it truly was his calling. Since freshman year, Cam was always looking for any function to host or attend. A few times I was dragged out of my house to go with him.

"What's up everybody? Having a good time?" He shouted over the mic and girls went fanatic. 

"I won’t bore you with long speeches, but I just want to thank you for the continued support. Three years ago today, I opened this club, not knowing if it would succeed. All I ever wanted was to entertain people and here we are today. Let's raise our glasses,” he said and everybody followed suit.

"Here's to Red Stilettos, and to three more years." The crowd cheered along. "Mr. DJ, do your thing." Cam said and got off stage.

After giving patrons hugs—most of them women— along the way, Cam finally came back looking like a kid on Christmas. He sat down next to me and patted my back. One of his servers came with  bottles of Scotch, Whiskey and glasses for the entire table. I limited myself since I still had to oversee  the restaurant and drive home later. 

A skimpy dressed waitress poured me whiskey and helped the guys before leaving. I took a sip and felt the burning of the drink down my throat when I saw three girls walking to the bar.

Something about the one in the red dress awoke something inside of me. Maybe it was the way the dress hugged her curves, or maybe it was the exposed back and neck that called to me. She walked with poise I had never seen any woman possess.

As the bartender turned to serve them, he paused, mesmerized as I was or any man who looked their way in the club. While I don't come here much, they didn’t look like they were regulars. I was hoping to see her face, but the girl in the group wearing a pink dress walked ahead..

They walked in our direction and sat at one of the empty stool tables not far from the VIP. As they took their seats, I could finally see the faces of one of the girls. 

Sophie?

“Fuck! If I knew you had girls like that coming in here, Cameron, I would have come here a long time ago." One of Cam's friends said above the music making me clench my jaw.

If Sophia was here, it meant the girl in red was…Fuck, I'm screwed. I knew those chef uniforms were hiding a lot, I just didn't think this much. I took the glass in front of me and downed the burning liquid in one go, making the guys whistle.

         ~~~~~~~~~~🥃🍸~~~~~~~~~~

It was impossible to take my eyes off their table. No matter how much I tried to pretend they weren’t there, my eyes were constantly dragged to the trio sitting near us. 

The tall brunette of the group stood and walked to the bar, giving me a perfect view of Amara. Her lips were painted red as sin, and when she took a sip of her drink I wished to be that straw between her lips. Blood rushed to places it had no business being in a nightclub filled with people. My pants were growing uncomfortably tight as I continued watching her.

The tall woman returned with shots and they downed them in seconds, before moving to the dance floor. Amara looked so carefree, laughing and dancing with her friends not caring about her surroundings and how almost every man in here was lusting after her.

"I haven’t seen you so worked up over a woman in a very long time," Cam spoke over the music, pulling my attention.

"What are you talking about?" 

"I'm not sure which has your attention like this, but I say go for it before they steal her." 

As though the universe was in cahoots with him, a few guys approached them and my hopes were shattered when the girls danced with them. Cam offered me another drink and I gulped it all in seconds.

Before I knew what was happening,  I stood  and walked toward the girls. What I was about to do was something out of character for me, but at this point I could give two shits. I tapped the shoulder of the guy dancing with Amara and he said, "Sorry dude, I didn't know she was taken."

His words brought a smile to my face, as I took his place behind Amara who was moving her hips to the beat of the music. I craved to touch her and bring her closer, but my mother raised me better than that. The song came to an end, and  Amara froze when she realized who was dancing behind her. The DJ changed and played a slow song and I took a chance to ask her to dance with me.

"Can I have this dance, my lady?" 

Even in heels she was still a few inches shorter. I gazed at her awaiting a reply. She tilted her head, analyzing me— her eyes searching my own, the gears in her head working overtime, assessing the situation.

"It would be my pleasure, great sir." She was playing along.

I closed the distance , but did not overcrowd her and put my hands on her tiny waist. Amara preceded by looping her hands behind my neck and for a while we just swayed to the music. My gaze was fixated on her green eyes, getting lost in them as her sweet perfume filled my senses. 

"I never thought I’d see you in such an establishment." She uttered softly.

"Why?" I asked her, loving the sound of her voice.

"You look like one of those non-nonsense gentlemen, who picks the newspaper and reads it over breakfast. Very straight faced" 

She hit the bullseye, except I read news on my ipad and not an actual paper. That was for me to know though, I wasn't about to admit that to her, so I told her the real reason I was here.

"My friend owns the club, so I had to come celebrate with him."

"Okay. Why Red Stilettos though?" Amara asked with a laugh and I joined in when I thought about it.

"Long story short, he fell in love with a woman wearing Red Stilettos and that was the only trace that she was actually real and not a hallucination." 

I shook my head remembering Cam complaining about a woman who walked out on him after a night of passion, leaving her red stilettos behind. This happened just months before we opened this place.

Amara stopped dancing upon hearing how the name came about and I followed suit, taken aback by the look on her face and her reaction to the news. Was she the owner of the stilettos?

"Are you okay?" I asked, walking her to their table that was still thankfully vacant.

"Yeah. The story just reminded me how cruel people can be?" 

"If you ask me, it's karma for all the women he's played with. It was a one night stand and Cameron was convinced she was his soulmate. The only problem is that his ego got crushed when he woke up in an empty bed the next morning."

From the glimpse I got yesterday, I was convinced that the boy she was with was her ex boyfriend and probably broke her heart. I felt my heart tug at the thought of her getting hurt, I wanted to take all her pain away and heal her wounds. But who was I kidding, things couldn’t work out between us. 

"Chef Jake! I did think it was you, what are you doing here?" Sophia asked, looking between Amara and I.

In that moment I wished I could just be Jake.