Cirque: The Prelude

Harper slowed her stride before coming to a complete halt on the stairs. The tall windows of the lobby had revealed a torentual afternoon storm had soaked the pavement outside. The downpour had subsided to a heavy drizzle spawning an opaque mist. She grimaced and then checked her watch- 5:38 pm. A sigh escaped her lips as she resumed her trek down the stairs, pulling her coat tighter around herself before approaching the front doors. She had seven minutes to make it to her dinner date. There wasn't time to hail a taxi and hope it would make it through the traffic; walking would simply be the quickest way.

The doorman gave a sympathetic nod as he pulled the tall door open. Harper offered a quick smile as thanks, darting into the wet and ever darkening world beyond her office building. She watched her own feet, ever mindful that a deep puddle didn’t splash her dress pants. Ten blocks to the fashionable sushi restaurant her Tinder date had selected for them. The miserable weather did its best to dishevel her neatly coiffed hair while testing the endurance of her mascara. She arrived at her destination, taking a moment under the awning to smooth her stray hairs before stepping into the restaurant. Her watch read 5:47 pm- she was late.

A young woman with a minimalist uniform greeted her and asked for her name. Harper smiled, explained that she was here to meet her date, a man by the name of Derrick Stern. The hostess tapped on the smudged screen of an ipad.

“We have a reservation for a Mr. Stern at 5:45pm. He has not yet arrived. Would you prefer to be seated or wait here for him? The table must be occupied by six o’clock or the reservation is forfeit.” Her words were brisk but professional. It made Harper feel a bit better that her date had not yet arrived.

She considered her options for a moment. “I’d like to be seated please.”

The young woman gave Harper a curt nod and guided her to a corner booth.
“Your table miss. Andrea will be your server tonight.”

Andrea, a fit middle aged woman with fair features, arrived within the next moment. She gave Harper a warm smile.

“Good Evening. Welcome to our establishment. I see we are waiting on one more, may I bring you a drink while you wait?”

Harper ordered a gin martini on the rocks, and asked Hannah for directions to the ladies' room, to which she hastily made use of. She took a moment to smooth a few flyaways, and tidied her makeup again. A neat first impression was important to her. Finally, she unbuttoned the top three pearl buttons on her blouse, allowing tasteful amount of cleavage to be revealed. A spritz of perfume and Harper felt ready to meet the sexy man with whom she had been flirting the last week.

Andrea set the martini down on the table as Harper settled into her seat, checking her watch 5:58pm. She thanked her waitress, and asked for a menu; attempting to keep her racing thoughts focused on a proper meal. She found herself replaying all the steamy exchanges she’d had with her date and anticipated a more carnal dessert option than the green tea ice cream pictured in the menu. Harper found herself checking her phone every minute or two, watching as six turned to 6:10 pm. She decided to text her Derrick, allowing him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps the rain had held him up. Andrea brought another martini to the table.

Half way into the second martini, Harper’s phone gave a quiet little buzz and the screen lit up.

“Sorry Gorgeous. There has been an emergency at work. I won’t be able to make it. I apologize for not messaging you earlier. Rain check?”

Harper grimaced and let out a disappointed sigh. This date was just another misadventure in the quest for a fun sexual partner. It vexed her that romance was off the table and she still couldn’t manage to find a suitable playmate. Harper squirmed a bit. She had really needed the release tonight after all the build up.

“Sure Derrick. Rain check. I get dinner, sex, and breakfast though. You owe me after all the wind up.”

Plans ruined, Harper flagged Andrea over and placed her order. A good meal met at least one base need and that could be done without a partner.

****

Harper stepped out of the restaurant satisfied with her meal and pleasantly warm from her drinks. The rain had stopped but the mist had stayed. It curled in the dark where the cool water formed steam on the hot pavement. There were no taxis in sight and Uber was often a bust in Harper’s opinion. She opted to walk a couple blocks down to the subway station.

Tall street lights lined the way, looming in the mist like skeletal giants with pseudo moon heads glowing in the opaque fog. The foot traffic had shifted from hurried commuters to garishly attired co-eds eagerly darting into the bars. It was less a density of bodies and more a thickness of excited tension. Friday night always has potential in a big city. It seemed cosmically unfair that the ease of a one night stand did not also come with the caliber of lover Harper preferred. A hurried but lusty quickie simply wouldn't do anymore.

Harper picked up her pace. She was keen to be home, out of the mist and into a hot shower. There was some small relief to be found with her toy box. She considered what porno would best help her achieve the release she desired. It needed to be hot and she needed to cum hard. The tension of the work week and all the frustrated build up from Derrick was more than she could tolerate for much longer.

A profusion of explicit and carnal thoughts flitted through her mind, distracting her from her trek until she found herself abruptly in darkness. The familiar streetlights in front of her had gone out, plunging the street into deep shadow spotted only with the neon lights from the shop fronts. Harper stopped and looked around. The few other pedestrians out made their way into the nearby bars, and no cars ventured this way.

An eerily loud electric hum drew Harper’s attention to the right, when a street light down an old alleyway suddenly came back on. The light cast a warm glow onto the nearby walls and acted as a spot light to a single figure.

She stood still, staring at Harper with a look of knowing. Harper wasn’t sure what she knew, but she was sure of the look. The woman was not imposing and did not insight any feelings of unease. It could have been her provocative vintage costume, bedazzled in a deep red and trimmed in black fringe, or something in her countenance, that intrigued Harper. She watched as the woman struck a seductive pose, beconned to Harper and turned. She advanced into the unlit gloom of the alleyway, where one after another the street lights flicked back on to illuminate a path to some remote section of the sprawling cityscape. Harper found herself following the woman into the light, while each street lamp extinguished itself behind her. There was no use going back into the darkness, not while this stranger lead her to some brilliant unknown.