Murderer in Little Black Dress

I never did like clubs, or pubs. I was always dragged to them with promised fun, which I never got. It was the same routine for me, Sit, stare around, drink. I didn't dance, neither did I hit on anyone nor did anyone hit on me.

It wasn't because I was ugly or something. But I wasn't Douglas Booth, either. The guy my ex girlfriend couldn't stop prattling about.

I searched him up on Google. That guy was 'indeed beautiful', as per my sister's opinion. I didn't know what she was talking about. He had a pair of eyes, a set of ears, single nose, fair skin and lipsticked lips. I'm embarrassed to admit that I checked out a guy for too long, but I couldn't understand what it was in him that I was lacking.

I wasn't bitter about our breakup. I knew, I wasn't going to settle down for her. Fairly, Stella didn't seem like she wanted to settle down either. But, she talked so much about these models, actors and worse, worse, worse of all, One Direction, that it got pretty boring, pretty quick.

Anyway, that was months ago. And, I hadn't gone out with anyone since. I don't know, I'd just lost interest, I guess.

Its not like I didn't get anyone. As soon as the word got out that I was on the market again, texts, IMs, tweets all flooded my feed and kept my phone beeping that I was on the verge of moving away and roasting marshmallows on some mountain somewhere.

Anyway, it was our final year at Princeton and my friends decided to have a list of things we'd like to do or have experienced before we parted ways and sat in a cubicle for twelve hours a week.

Basically, a bucket list.

Most of the list was made by Matthew Carter, hence of course it was full of things he'd never done but an average boy goes through in their teens. But then again, all his teenage year Matt had been studying his ass off to top the SATs only to turn down Harvard when the time came, leaving his family and all the Harvardians in his life slack jawed.

Being my roommate, he reminded me of this approximately seventeen times a week, so I had it down to the pat.

Anyway, so that was how I found myself sitting in a pub, one Friday night in October.

The place was fancy with corner booths, a few tables around for couples and friends, there was a bar counter with stools of the revolving kind and the dancefloor was smack in the middle of all of these. The lighting system was dull and reddish in color with blue strobe lights and the music was a bit gitchy for my taste. Even though they had a guest DJ playing that night. The bar was at an elevated platform than the rest of the floor and so you could get a full view to the dancefloor.

However, we weren't sitting at the bar but at one of the friend's table bored out of our minds. Reece, the sensible one of our group who always liked to say 'I told you so' had his eye over all of us like a freaking surveillance camera. It was hard not to feel like we were being babysat by him. Thankfully, his eyes were mostly on Matt - who was gazing around with shining eyes like that kid Charlie while he was touring Willy Wonka's chocolate factory - and Arthur, the most eligible bachelor and according to Stella looked like some Italian model whose last name reminded me of Loch ness monster). But mostly Matt because Arthur didn't seem like he was going to get into much trouble today as he was on his PMS: grumpy and complaining about anything and everything.

I, however, was going to fall off my seat and pass out right there.

"These drinks are bland," Arthur gagged over the music. "And the music? When you said we were going to some classy pub - I thought at least we'd get to drink something good. But these are making me miss milk."

First drinks, then lights, then music, then the crowd. The list kept growing.

"Man," Matt sighed, all dreamy eyed, "look at that chic in red."

All of us followed his gaze and located two girls awkwardly moving about on the floor. One of them, the curvy brunette in red, looked like she was trying to stomp on a spider that was too fast. The other one - taller, lanky and too willowy, like, Taylor Swift would look had she gone on a diet and eaten nothing but a single carrot all year - looked like a live wire swinging about.

All of us began rating the two on the basis of shots we'd need to sleep with them. Unfortunately, ten was the highest each of us could go. The smaller one was fairly a ten in my opinion. The other girl needed to eat more, though. She was at par with the other.

"I'd give her a two," Matt sighed with that stupid grin of his.

I snorted. "The way you're drooling right now, I think you won't even need one."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Even I wouldn't need One because sleeping with her would be more interesting than being here."

"Six at least."

All of us whipped our heads in Reece's direction with narrowed eyes and disapproving looks.

"You don't get to rate," I threatened, narrowing my eyes dangerously. "You already have a zero."

"Yeah," Arthur glared, too, "you have a fantastic girl and respect her."

We all met Evie when she came over to spend her holidays with Reece here in New Jersey which is quite close to where she's staying in New York. It was a fascinating time for all of us, the first time round.

Whenever she came, it meant Reece would be busy all day, which is understandable, and I was left in charge of everyone. Evie was the nicest person I'd met. She was everything I found was cute in a girl. She shy but with a bit of attitude, bubbly, compassionate and most of all she was loyal which was why Reece was a lucky bastard. Not that he wasn't loyal or anything. For the three years that I've lived with him, apart from the things that annoyed the shit out of me, I could see what Evie saw in him. His heart.

Reece rolled his eyes. "Looking isn't hooking."

"Thinking about needing nine vodka in order to sleep with some chick is though," Arthur challenged.

I regarded Reece with a grimace. "Six, seriously? When did your standards get so low?"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, fuck off, you two."

After a moment, I turned to Arthur and went, "hey, you wanna hit the bar?"

He turned his head to me and deadpanned, "the bar? No thanks I -"

Okay, he really had started acting like one of my high school girlfriends, Brianna Hemsworth. She must've been our school's most popular girl, with a passive-aggressive nature, but she was also quite a complainer. It was her favorite pass-time, when she was not harassing other girls around her.

Rolling my eyes, I got up and hauled Arthur up with me by the collar of his shirt and despite his complains, dragged his sorry ass to the bar.

"Hey, man," he griped, annoyed, "its Hugo boss."

"Like, I give a shit."

I rolled my eyes, turning to the bar and slipping on one of the empty stools while he straightened his shirt and blazer.

"This place is such a departure," he sighed, in pure dismay. Slapping my chest, he went, "I have a plan! Let's get out of here and go to that Lion's club a few streets down."

"A beer," I told to the bartender before regarding my friend with an unimpressed look. "We're not going anywhere. This is Matt's night."

"Matthew Carter," he grumbled, but didn't push any further.

You must be wondering why. It was because, this guy, while a total goon, was a fucking genius and owed each one of us a big time. He never asked for anything, but had asked for this today. Even if he wouldn't have, I think the four years the four of us had spent together were enough to make us do this for him.

Arthur ordered some G&T for himself and we sipped our drinks in silence for a few seconds before two girls walked up to the bar and occupied the stools beside him. I didn't give either of them even a first glance. Considering the crowd, I wasn't interested in talking to anyone right now.

Arthur being Arthur, though, began instantly flirting with both of them. I could hear one of them giggling and even slapping his arm at something he said. He was making an effort. He never made an effort when a girl was at least a ten on Shot-rate. They talked for a while before he asked her to dance with him. She agreed, obviously and Arthur slipped off the stool and followed her after giving me a wink.

Was I impressed? It had lost its charm the first few times we'd hung out at bars. So, no I wasn't.

Still, the curiosity was biting at me, so I let my eyes follow him till he was down. He'd charmed an eight on the scale of hotness I don't think he'd need even one shot in order to sleep with her.

Now, was I impressed?

I was amazed. I hadn't thought there would be such girls here. That lucky son of a bitch.

As I was returning to my drink, bringing my eyes back to monotonously stare at the display of bottles at the wall directly in front of me, my eyes caught the sight of the other girl.

She looked an eight on the sexy-scale, zero on shot-rate : with that olive toned skin, what seemed to be dark eyes, dark hair and from what I could see she had curves, she'd definitely caught my attention. But the fact that she was dressed in an elegantly sexy manner bumped her up to a nine. She was sipping on her margarita, and just like I'd have been doing all this time - staring at the wall ahead.

I couldn't stop staring.

And, I guess, she felt my stare, hence her eyes flicked over to me.

I wasn't the love at first sight kind of guy, I was the dating type, through and through, either. But when she looked over at me, I couldn't help but feel as if the air had been sucked out of the room and I was underwater. Everything else - the sounds, the lights, the crowd - just faded out, till there was nothing but her.

She raised her brow with her tired eyes running over me.

Let me tell you, I wasn't bad looking; at least, according to all those novels my sister read on wattpad. My hair color was pretty desirable, i.e., a chocolate brown and I always had them up since having them down made my head look weird; my eyes were...fine brown, and I played volleyball on the beach every other day with the guys so I knew I was in a pretty good shape too and a had a fair tan, too. But for the moment she checked me out, I couldn't help feel a bit self conscious - something I'd never felt before.

But gathering my wits somehow, by the time she finished her survey, I quirked my lips up in a smile, biting down on being cocky by asking her if she liked what she saw. I was awfully anxious to find that out though.

She smiled back and I felt like a live wire had just electrocuted my chest, stunning me.

She was more beautiful when she smiled. Damn, she was a ten! That's the highest anyone had ever gotten on my date scale. Even my ex girlfriends used to be not more than a five. Even, Evie had managed just an eight.

The girl infront of me turned her head away and began gazing at the wall again, leaving me to wonder what the hell had just happened.

My head was buzzing and I don't think it was the beer. This was a bit confusing for me. Was I being charmed? Was this what girls felt like when I unleashed my charms on them? Was she even aware what she was doing to me?

Sipping her drink, she looked least but concerned. I soon realized I was staring, again. Not wanting to creep her out and ruin my chances at anything, I turned my head away. Mimicking what were originally to be my actions but she was mimicking and so now I had to mimick.

I mentally slapped myself. I wasn't making sense even to my own self.

Come on, Clyde. Come on, buddy, get your shit together.

"Cool place, huh?" I said and then wished I could unsay it. That was the lamest thing I could've asked. Could I have been more pathetic? Cool place? Why didn't I just choke on my drink and die before that?

Great, now she was going to think of me as a dork. Wait, since when did that worry me what anyone thought of me?

The girl just shrugged. "Not really."

I watched her gulp down the entire margarita in one go and felt a side of my lips pull up in a small smile.

At least, I noted one trait of hers. Honesty.

She chucked the olive aside and I found myself thinking how I didn't like that evil fruit myself. At least, that was one thing we had in common.

Suddenly, I was itching to know more about her. But this time, I decided to not rush it. I thought about what I was going to say hard. My mind was still buzzing, but I decided to go with asking her for dance.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth and went, "do you-" but in that moment, she turned to me and cut me off by placing her finger against my lips.

"Dance with me," she ordered with such an authority that there was no questioning her words.

Being the rebel I was, I did anyway.

"B-bwat?" I muttered against her finger which was removed from my lips the next minute and her hand trailed down my arm, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake which made my muscles tense, and down to my palm.

All this while, she kept her eyes fixed on mine, making it hard for me to breathe and causing a turmoil of feelings inside me. There was a time when my older cousins and I used to wrestle each other. I was lanky. And they were all healthy and fit, hitting gym everyday. What I was feeling right now, was something akin to the breathless feeling I got when one of my cousin had me in a lock and was sitting on my chest.

Something in my chest ached...but it wasn't bad - ER one. It was rather the kind I was actually liked, for once.

I gulped and only then realized how dry my mouth was.

The mystery girl locked her fingers with mine and began pulling me off my stool. Setting aside my drink, I slid off and followed her down to the floor; more like let her drag myself down to the floor.

She had me in a trance. Seriously, I felt like my entire mental faculty had deserted me and I was only a dummy being controlled by this goddess. I was a puppet in her hands and she was controlling me without actually doing anything.

She didn't say a word when we got to the floor, she didn't join Arthur and her friend who were grinding at a distance from us. But when we were amongst that crowd, she stepped closer making my eyes go wide in slight surprise and admiration for the fluidity of her moves. I could feel the heat rise up my neck, splaying across my cheeks and burning up my ears.

No, I wasn't blushing. It was just really hot there.

Placing both her hands on my chest, she began moving her body in a very attractively impressive manner. She was flowing, like a liquid. And, man was I amazed!

I was captivated, half inclined to place my hands on her waist and match her flow. But then, the fact that I could only waltz, hit me like a glass wall you suddenly run into sometimes. For a considerable portion of my life, I studied in a boarding school where they held waltzing classes as a part of your curriculum. But I couldn't do that here. If I did, I'd not only be laughed at but also this girl probably won't want to see me again. And, I couldn't let that happen.

The girl took my hands again and guided them to her waist with a smirk, never breaking the flow of her moves. When she placed her hands on my chest this time, I felt my heart jump a mile. I knew she felt it too, the abnormally high and loud pace of my heart, because her smirk got wider and a shock racked my heart.

It was a sweet torture when she stepped even closer. Our bodies just hairsbreadth apart and the heat between us growing, starting to feel like a sun had been trapped between us.

She was a murderer in Little Black Dress, killing me. And, I was letting her.

Involuntarily, my body started moving on its own accord. I was quite surprised at myself when I began synching with her moves without a problem at all. I didn't know I had it in me. Until Then, that is.

She turned around, then, pressing her back against my chest and moving. My face was in her hair, and I could smell the tangy, sweet, fruity fragrance from her hair which mixed with her flowery perfume was literally enchanting. The drunken high wasn't anything compared to this.

It was lethally addictive. I could smell it all night long and not get sick of it.

Would it be too weird if I asked her right now what conditioner she used? And, also perfume?

Yeah, it was best to keep my mouth shut. Not that anything coherent would've come out anyway.

But more than that, more than anything else right now, I wanted to bend down and kiss her ear, her neck, her shoulder blade. I wanted to feel how silky smoothness of her skin against my lips. I wanted to feel her pulse jump when I kissed her neck.

God, it was getting harder, and harder to ignore that scalding heat between us. She wasn't helping either.

Her hand came up to my curl around the back of my neck, both my hands held her waist, her other hand on one of mine. I was tingling all over. Jesus! This girl was killing me!

I swear, I was reduced to such a state by this enchantress, that if she asked me to jump off a cliff right now, I would do it. No questions asked.

I hadn't felt so out of control ever before. Usually, I wasn't the one making girls weak in their knees. Being on the receiving end, while alluring, wasn't that fun at all.

The enchantress turned around moments later, this time draping her arms around my neck and holding herself so close to me that not even a paper could be inserted between us. Her breath fanned my face, her lips parted. In order to preserve my sanity and not give into the temptation of kissing her, right then, I dragged my eyes up to meet hers.

Another bolt of current made my heart jump when I realized that her eyes were transfixed on my lips. The spiders began scuttling about, all over inside me when she lifted them up to meet my gaze.

If I thought the color of her eyes was dark before, it was even darker now. I'd seen that look a lot of times before, but it had never been this bewitching. I was spellbound.

How the fuck was she doing this?

She rested her forehead against mine and let her eyes flutter to a close. The air around me felt charged, and I was wondering if it was only me, when I saw her tilting her head upwards, her hand on my nape gently pulling me close.

My heart sped up, lips tingled in anticipation and I was afraid the agitated spiders inside me were going to crawl out of my mouth if I were to kiss her right now. It was a weird torment, to kiss her and to not kiss her.

But tonight, she was controlling me. And, I was Letting her. So, even before I knew it, my eyes were closing, too. I inched closer and almost felt her lips against mine, the light brush of them, that had me craving for all of it. But before I could have it, she backed away eliciting a groan out of me.

I hate getting teased.

Little did I know, she wasn't teasing me because when I opened my eyes in a futile attempt to glare at her, I saw the mystery girl's eyes open wide like soccer balls as she slipped out of my hands, being pulled away by her friend, who seemed to be in a hurry to get out. Stupefied, I just stared after them as they pushed their way through the crowd and off the dance floor.

When I got sense knocked back into me, I rushed, jostling past people making them glare in my direction for ruining their time. It was a little to late for me to start, but honestly, how far could girls go in those Empire-State-high heels?

Once off the dancefloor, my eyes sweeped the place for her, checked every table, every nook and corner and even the ladies room. I combed the entire place but it was like she just vanished.

Running a hand through my hair, I casted a swift glance around once more in hopes of spotting her somewhere but when I couldn't find her, my mind decided to check outside but not give up.

My chest was buzzing with hope and my legs began moving on their own, eyes looking for the illuminated exit sign all the while scanning every face it saw for hers.

The air outside was chilly and immediately pricked at my cheeks and ears. The sky was clear, the moon shining like a CFL bulb up above with the stars scattered around it like a thousand smithereens of shattered glass. I would've waited and admired the beauty of it, and maybe whipped out my Lumia and snapped a few shots too, but I had something very, very important to take care of.

To my left, against the wall by the exit was a couple that was kissing the living nightlights out of each other, beyond them was deserted lot, to my right was a group of girls stumbling and giggling towards their car, most of them wearing silver and gold...but none wearing the little black dress that had struck a chord in my heart.

I sprinted forward in their direction anyway. Not to ask them if they knew any girl like the one that I'd met just a while ago, but to see if she was strutting about with her friend towards their car or whatever ride they came in. I looked through every car in the lot, circled the place and came back to the couple who were getting a little frisky but I couldn't find her.

Anywhere.

Panting, I ran my hand through my hair again in despair. How could she just vanish? Especially in those heels of her? Amy could never pull off one. But then again, my fifteen year old sister didn't much prefer heels. She mostly wore her red converse.

I let my heart sink, the hope all but evaporated. I was still waiting for some kind of a miracle on this magical night. But all I got was that couple, that looked like they needed a room real quick.

"Alright, I'll call you tomorrow morning then, okay?" I heard a familiar voice chuckle somewhere near the cars. Scanning the place, I noticed Reece's black hair, then him sauntering towards our jeep. He opened the door and climbed up into the seat.

"Yeah, babe, I've taken it. Go sleep yourself." He chuckled again. "Okay. I love you."

I rolled my eyes. He was definitely talking to Evie, again. They talked to each other twenty four seven and yet how they never got bored of each other was a mystery to me. For some reason, it was sort of frustrating tonight.

Sulkily, I headed towards the jeep and got in while he kept chuckling and speaking into the phone not wanting to end the call.

"I thought people hung up right after 'goodnight, I love you'," I grumbled and my voice had taken Reece by such a surprise that he jumped letting out a very girlish yelp.

"Shit," he cursed when his phone landed on the floor of the car with a soft thud. "My phone. Geez, Clyde! Could you be more Edward Cullen, right now? Appearing out of thin air?"

I rolled my eyes. "Could you be more gay?"

He glowered at me. But then the anger vanished and all there was left was a frown and puzzled eyes. "What's wrong? You seem upset."

I sighed. "I want to go home. I'm tired of this place."

He nodded, slowly. "Okay, let's get the others and leave, then."

"No!" I whined and instantly felt like a five year old throwing a tantrum.

Reece looked stupefied. After him, I was the sensible one - the one guy he always left in charge of the others whenever he wasn't there to do his job. Throwing a tantrum like this wasn't me.

Clearing my throat, I composed myself, pushing my five year old side aside and said, in a more mature way, "just drop me back home. They can be on their own for a while." He raised a brow at me but before he could say anything, I went, "just drive."

"Okay." He nodded and put the key in ignition, bringing the jeep to life.

•••

Nathaniel Buzolic - Clyde

Bianca Santos- The Girl in Black Dress (Luna Posada)