Chapter Ten - 'Behind Closed Doors'

There’s something about midnight drinks in a first rate hotel bar that make you feel like you’re part of an elite, nocturnal class all of its own. With the luxuriously sleek décor and seductive ambience, your fellow drinking companions could be anyone; from criminal masterminds to Members of Parliament, the cast of a nearby theatre who’ve just finished a show, minor European royals, ladies of the night, out of town business people looking for a good time to couples with only one thing on their mind – each other… It’s an intriguing and mysterious world to enter into – albeit briefly as like vampires these people are never to be seen during sunlit hours. As the cab pulled up at the hotel and they walked up the velvet carpet, into the lobby and then descended into the private bar below, it’s neon sign naughtily hinting at suggestive goings on – she felt a sense of adventure, daring and a completely different sense of self to her usual daytime existence manifesting in her. She was the seducer now and she hadn’t completely decided what was in store for her and her date. First things first, she decided as they each pulled up a velvet stool at the bar. ‘Single malt?’ she enquired as he nodded, seemingly impressed by her lead. The bartender poured the liquor into two perfectly cut and glistening crystal glasses with satisfyingly heavy bases.  ‘To midnight’ she said raising her glass and looking at him with a wry smile and a cheeky glint in her eye, ‘and the hours that follow’ he replied returning the smile and ever so slowly sliding his hand along her knee and up her thigh.