Chapter 25
"Lauren, I can't do this."
The challenge was tomorrow and they have been up until dawn rehearsing and learning the dance moves under the severity of Lauren and the authoritative Shane. Lauren was going over the limit with the contest and intended to put on a good show for her husband.
"Stand up lazies! This is no time to be slaking." Lauren pulls Karma up on her feet with full strength.
It was Karma, Reagan, Lauren and two other girls that were able to save the last two spots for this challenge. The choreography in the video had five girls and well, they only needed five. They have been up bright and early trying to perfect the moves. Shane and Lauren have both been breathing down their necks.
"Lauren, tell me why we are even doing this again?" Karma whines, unable to support herself up on her own two legs. She has been dancing all morning and she has neither the will nor the stamina to keep up with anyone else in here. Especially since everyone else is a bit more mature and more out there than her. Reagan was a quick learner and managed to learn the choreography after their first two practices.
"Karma, we are doing this to have fun and make memories. Do we need a reason to do anything?" Lauren smiles, "Now, let's take it again from the top!"
Everyone puffs out a loud groan as Shane replays the song from the beginning and everyone takes their place. Karma takes her place right next to Lauren who was, of course, going to be in the middle and be Beyoncé. Karma was going to be her best dancer Ashley. They go through the dance and Lauren watches all of them going through the moves as the song moves along. They do every step well so far but, they still needed a bit more practice. Karma keeps hesitating to do a move that required her to sensually move her hips; her walk is out of touch with her sexiness. When they leans down on the stool and lifts their rear back up to slowly turn it around in circles as they bend, she did it with such stiffness that Lauren had to stop the practice. Karma was as stiff as a board.
"Karma, what are you doing?" Lauren turns to face Karma still bent down, her rear pointing up.
Karma looks up at the petite figure, grinning, "I'm putting my body on your body, boy I like it when you watch me…" Karma sings as she does the move with just as much stiffness.
Lauren face palms herself, "Girl, if you keep moving like that; you'll be laughed at by everyone at the restaurant."
"You see, I can't do this Lauren. I knew I shouldn't have gone along with this." Amy's victorious grin flashes in her mind, "That wench!"
"You see, if you keep thinking like this, then you'll prove Amy right." Lauren says.
All that kept going through Amy's mind right now was Amy's taunting voice singing "I told you so…"
"Lauren, I think I might know what to do." Shane walks over to Karma and pulls her aside. "Babe, what's the problem?"
"I can't dance Shane." Karma cries, "Why did I even agree to do this?"
"The same reason that each and every one of these agreed to do it. To have fun and please their lovers." Shane points out to the small crew, "And you see Reagan, if you don't do something, she'll suck up all of Amy's attention away from you."
Karma looks back at Reagan who was jugging down a bottle of water. She never knew that Reagan could even move like that, "Who says that I am doing to gain Amy's attention?"
"Isn't that why you agreed to do this in the first place? To shut her up and prove her wrong."
Karma blinks her eyes, "No, that's not true."
"Karms, we all know that you did it because of that. And frankly, I'd like for you to shut her up too."
"But Shane…"
"Listen Karma," He puts his hands on her shoulders and lowers his head to gaze within her uncertain sight, "All you need is a little bit of confidence. That's all you need. And when you go up there, imagine her watching you. Not Liam, not anybody else but her because it is for her that you are going to dance tonight. You will dance for her and shut her right up."
Lauren shortly advances towards the both of them. She had heard Shane's last phrases, "I'm with Shane on that one. The person you will be dancing for tonight is Amy. And I too would like to shut her up. Girl, you got to go on that stage and show her what she's missing."
"Isn't Reagan the one dancing for her?" Karma asks, looking at Reagan repeating a few of the moves.
"Forget Reagan and focus on you! You will kill it, not her." Lauren grabs her hands and moves her back to her place, "Let's do this Karma. Hit it Shane!" Everyone take their position and Shane hits on replay.
As the song starts, Karma looks at the mirror and envisions Amy sitting in front of her. She repeats her steps with much more sensuality and confidence that instantly impressed the rest of the girls. Karma did not notice anyone by her side and mimics the dance moves perfectly just because all she sees is an Amy that she wants to prove wrong. She wants Amy to look at her and only her, not Reagan. And when they reach the part where she had to move her rear in circular motion as she bends, she keeps her gaze fixated on the apparition of Amy in her mind through the glass. Yes, Amy has to look at her and only her. And when Beyoncé was saying "While I'm grinding on you, this is beyond sex…" she did it with such intensity and passion that unmatched with the other girls' efforts.
"…Whoa!" Lauren props as she keeps her eyes on the evolved Karma next to her.
They keep dancing until the song finally reached its end. Both Lauren and Shane look at the different Karma in amazement. They expected her to loosen up a bit but not to that extent. It wasn't the Karma that they knew, she just transformed into a completely different person up there; a confident, sexy, different Karma who was ready to kill it on that stage tomorrow night.
Lauren blinks at her, "Whoa!"
"I know…" she breathes, "Let's go at it again."
Lauren nods fast, "Oh heck yeah!" She signals for Shane to hit replay and he did. He was starting to like that new side of Karma and can't wait to look at Amy's stun expression.
"Are you ready?" Lauren asks a nervous Karma.
The night of the contest is here and they are waiting to go on stage and starts dancing. She couldn't calm her breathing down because the many people in the audience and Amy; oh Amy is going to be watching too. She wants to puke.
Karma shakes her head no multiple times at once, "No Lauren, I'm not." She breathes in the air bag that Shane had brought to her recently.
"Karma, we've practiced this and you were amazing. You were amazing and I am dead sure that you are going to kill it tonight." Lauren tries to reassure her but it seems to be failing.
"Lauren is right Karma. Shit! After how I saw you dance at the studio, I would have gone straight for you." Shane takes the girl in his arms. That was his baby and he loved her a lot, "You need to stun Amy and you will. Get that confidence in the studio back."
"Girl, go on that stage and show Amy what she's missing." Lauren nudges her shoulder playfully.
Karma takes a long breather and nods at both of them. Yes, she will do this. She will go up there, dance for Amy and stun the shit out of her. She will shut her right up.
"Alright, I want each and every one of the girls' lovers to come up on that stage and sit on a chair." The owner of the restaurant has his crew places a set of five chairs facing the audience. Theo, Liam, and Amy along with two other people, a guy and a girl mount on stage and take a sit. Amy was feeling amused. She knows Karma will probably mess up and look just as stiff as a board. She knows how shy Karma is; there's no way she will be able to surprise her. She crosses her arms above her chest and looks confident.
"How do you think Karma will do?" Liam leans his head slightly towards Amy.
Amy scoffs, "Please… that's not Karma's thing at all."
Liam raises an eyebrow, "You sure about that?" He walked by the girls' studio several times to check up on them and from what he saw; Karma was by far the best of them all.
"Too sure…" Amy smirks.
Even Theo saw them practice, "Hold on there, Amy. You might be stunned." Liam gives Theo a fist bump.
The owner of the restaurant turns to face them, "You will not know who is dancing for you. They will all be wearing a white mask along with a trilby hat that covers their hair length and color." The man grins, "You will try to guess the girl dancing in front of you. Let's see how much you know your women guys!" he looks up and slightly nods then the lights dim low and the song starts playing a few seconds later with all of the girls, all of them dressed in only a red oversized buttoned up-shirt with sleeves rolled up and pale stockings, slowly walk on stage and stands in front of them.
And stunned was not the right word to describe Amy's state right now.
The night of the challenge couldn't have come quick enough. All she kept thinking about was how Karma was going to up on that stage and dance. And boy! Although she couldn't tell who was dancing for her, she knew, she had a feeling that it was Karma. She was too sure.
She knows it is Karma.
She kept her eyes on the girl in front of her. She only looked at her and nobody else but her. The girl was moving so skillfully and with such sensuality that she almost did not recognize Karma at all. She feels her throat going super dry and the air around her was almost nonexistent. Amy was leaning forward, as if being pulled by the force of attraction. She didn't notice how close she was now from falling off the edge of her sit.
And as the bridge of the song comes, the girls walk around in between them and sit on them, grinding sensually on their front before getting up and walking back to their stool. The fact that Karma got off her at all was enough to make feel like life was taken away from her. She sticks out her hand to grasp the figure to keep it from walking away but it slipped through her fingers like the douce silky substance of pure natural water.
She didn't just look at her, she venerated her. Her eyes revered as she hallucinated; forever immortalizing her in marble with only her adoring gape. She contemplates her as if she was a non-human creature but an immortal goddess. And she gazes at Karma as the veneration with which she did just wasn't enough to grant to the Aphrodite that was in merit of much more than just a simple gaze. She carved out each of her carnal moves with an obsequious glance as a sculptor perpetuates immortality in the unbound magnificence of a sculpture.
And when the sound of the guitar riff and the instrumental comes on, she deliberately gets off her chair and walks to the girl that was dancing for her. She stood facing her, and then slowly takes off the trilby hat to let crimson hair falls down in the prefect small waves on her shoulders. With a shaky hand, she then gradually lifts the girl's mask off as her breath starts pacing unevenly; her heart races as the mysterious figure hidden by the full face mask reveals a panting Karma gazing at her.
She was right all along.
Amy's hands started going through violent spasms as the hat slides in between her fingers down to the floor. Amy's hands no longer had the strength to hold on to something as light as just a hat. Her every membrane had lost feelings and strength but somehow managed to stand in front of Karma ready to put her on a pedestal. This is one of the moments that make her glad that she's gay.
"Alright guys! Give those girls a round of applause!" The audience roars to life with their loud appraisal and exclamations.
They had done a great job. Although some of the girls were mad that their own lover couldn't distinguish them. Theo had no problem walking to Lauren because; she was the shortest of them all. Liam only realized that he had walked to the wrong girl when he sees Amy taking off Karma's mask. Liam didn't even bother taking off his girl's mask and walks right over to where Karma was and pulls her to him. He glares at Amy then walks off the stage with Karma in his hands.
And Amy, stuck in place due to lack of strength, watched as Prince Charming runs away with her marble piece of art.
"Liam, where are you taking me?" Karma looks at the back of Liam's head, "Where are you taking me?" She stops him in his tracks and pulls her wrists away from his grip.
Liam stops and looks down within his grip to find an absent wrist, "Karma?"
"Liam, where are you taking me?" Karma asks.
"Fine, I'm taking you up to my room." He says, slowly stepping towards her. "I want you." He pulls her closer to him and starts nibbling on her neck.
The contact provoked nothing within Karma's body. She felt casual, having no desire to go up in Liam's room to do dirty deedoo. But when Amy was watching her dance, all types of good feeling sensation rose up from within to act out on her every moves. It was not because she knew the dance to perfection but because the way that Amy was looking at her, made her want to be sexy and sensual. Amy was making love to her with her eyes and each amatory gaze was a caress that sends Karma up in frenzy.
"Liam, what about the others? They'll be wondering about us." Karma says, as Liam keeps on running his lips all over her collarbone. All of his cajoling and caress made her feel inhuman and lifeless.
"Let them wonder. I have to have you tonight." Liam lifts his gaze to press his lips on Karma. She reticently kisses back as she grants him entrance in her mouth. Liam puffs out a grunt, pushing Karma against the wall in the hotel lobby. "Let's go up to my room."
"Liam this is the hotel lobby." Karma looks around. It might have been empty because at this time of night, everyone was either gone to bed or off to a nightclub or strolling but that doesn't mean someone wouldn't walk in here. "Liam…"
Liam stops and steps back, "Fine…so, what do you say? You want to go up to my room." Liam places his forehead on Karma's, breathing in her air, "I want you so bad baby. I have to have you tonight. Let me make love to you." He breathes.
And how is Karma going to get out of this one? They have been dating for quite a while now. She can't come up with any more excuses. She sighs, "Yes, I'll go up to your room." She breathes.
A wide grin spreads on Liam's face, "Then, let's goes."
"Why don't you go warm up the bed for me? I'll go change into something more revealing."
"No, you are fine like that." He smiles.
"Alright, then let me go freshen up a bit more and then I'll join you shortly." Karma teases Liam as she brushes past the mere rims of her lips on his.
Liam couldn't take any more of the teasing, grabs Karma's receding lips on his, and then he pulls back, his breath leaving him stranded, "Alright, I'll go wait for you. Don't take too long."
He steps back and then runs to the elevator to go ready up his bed and cleans around the room that he managed to mess up. The room had clothes scattered around everywhere. He shared the room with Shane and none of them bothered to clean up after the other. So they left it like that.
Karma contemplates ditching Liam and fake a stomachache but she already did that before. She dejectedly shrugs, realizing that there's no way out of this and starts making her way up to the elevator to only be grabbed from behind. The person who grabbed her pushed her in the elevator and presses a button to go up the last floor. A few minutes in, the elevator stops abruptly on its own.
"Shit! It's broken." The figure curses.
"Amy, what the fuck?" Karma pushes Amy out of the way and starts to repetitively press the emergency button that seemed to also be not working. "You fucking broke it. Now, we're stuck."
"It's not like you wanted to reach your destination either. So why the angry attitude?"
"Oh what makes you think that I didn't want to go? And where do you think that I was going?" Karma spat.
"I heard you and Liam speak. After he ran off with you, I followed you both."
"I forgot that you were a stalker and an eavesdropper. Good Jesus! An abductor too." She hits Amy's chest, pushing her off balance, "You have got to stop kidnapping me like that. It's getting old."
Amy frowns, feeling slightly amused, "Kidnap you? Bugbear, I merely stole you away from prince charming. I did not kidnap you."
Karma runs her hands through her wavy locks obsessively and screams out in frustration, "Jesus! You are a pain in the neck!"
"Am I though? It's a gift. What can I say?" She shrugs.
Two hours later
"No one has come yet." Karma was sitting on one side of the elevator and Amy sat facing her. The elevator's AC was also not working so the heat quickly rose up, making them feel like they were in a sauna.
"I think we might have to spend the night in here." Amy leans her head back, the heat mounting in her head making her feel dizzy. Both of were perspiring through their clothes.
"Fuck, it's hot!" Karma breathes, "I can't take it anymore."
"Take off your shirt then," Amy grins.
Karma rolls her eyes, "I hate you."
Amy lightly chuckles, "I know."
Liam, thinking that Karma had once again backed out on him, fell asleep waiting for her. No one else bothered looking for Amy or Karma because; they know they were with each other. Except Liam of course. Though it pained Reagan, she knows that everything with Amy is done and over.