It's the middle of February. While doing some renovations on the venue, the crew found some bad piping in the building. It could potentially cause a flood which would lead to more expenses and trouble, so we had no other choice but to have it fixed.
It's now late in the afternoon. Alastor is reading through some paperwork as he sits on the leather sofa in Vox's living room. Vox is sitting on the sofa across from him, also reading through some paperwork.
"Your business is doing well," Alastor finishes reading through the paperwork. "I see no issues in your finances."
"That's a relief!" Vox exclaims. "Thanks for looking through the numbers for me."
"Not a problem," Alastor sets the papers down on the coffee table.
"How's that venue turning out?" Vox takes out a cigar from his suit jacket and lights it up.
"The construction crew ran into some piping trouble. It can potentially cause a flood so it's waiting to undergo repair."
"That's gonna set you back a good amount of time."
"I'll be going over the logistics today with my partner."
"Speaking of which, do you plan on doing anything special tonight?"
"I don't see any reason to."
"Not even for today's occasion?"
"What is it?" Alastor raises a brow.
"It's Valentine's Day!"
Alastor gives him a questionable stare.
"Oh, you wouldn't know about it," Vox shakes his head.
"What are the typical activities for such occasion?" Alastor asks.
"It's typically for couples to celebrate their romance. Bouquets of roses and boxes of chocolate are popular to gift. Romantic dinners, serenades, and love notes are also good. And of course, there's the lovemaking…" Vox smirks to himself.
"I take it you'll be participating?"
"I've got no romantic interest," Vox exhales smoke. "But the lovemaking is definitely on my schedule."
"It comes as no surprise."
"So do you plan on giving your business partner anything?"
"Why would I do that?"
"You obviously have a close relationship. Why not gift her with a little something?"
"I don't see the point in that if there's no romantic interest."
"It still wouldn't be a bad idea to at least gift a rose."
Alastor stares down in thought.
"It's just an idea," Vox shrugs before smoking another hit.
Alastor continues to contemplate on the idea in silence.
I arrive at Alastor's estate early in the evening. After parking my car, I head toward the front steps and wait at the front double doors. I adjust the black messenger bag strap over my right shoulder as I wait. After a moment, Alastor finally opens one door and allows me to enter.
"Good evening," Alastor greets.
"What's up?" I greet.
He closes the door as I dig into my bag and pull out a notebook.
"So I've started to run through some numbers," I open the notebook and flip through the pages. "We'll need to figure out how much the piping repair is gonna cost us, as well as the amount of time it will set us back."
Alastor then pulls out a bouquet of six roses and holds them out to me. I stare at the bouquet in surprise.
"What are those for?" I ask.
"It's for Valentine's Day," Alastor replies.
"Valentine's Day? Huh. I completely forgot it's today."
"I figured I'd gift you this bouquet of roses. I hope it doesn't remind you of your former lover."
"I guess that's why I mentally blocked it away," I lightly laugh as I take the bouquet.
"If this occasion brings back painful memories, don't hesitate to take a break from our business dealing."
"Nah. I'm starting to get over my past with my ex…" I shrug as I gaze down.
"I'm glad to hear you're not hurting as much."
"I have you and Angel to thank for that."
I stare at the roses for a bit.
"Thank you, Alastor," I finally smile up at him. "I really appreciate this. These roses are beautiful."
Alastor stares at my smile, feeling a sense of warmth and happiness.
"Sorry I didn't get you anything…" I shyly look down as I rub my neck. "I've been so busy that I completely forgot about Valentine's Day."
"No need to worry," Alastor reassures me as he puts his arm over my shoulder and leads me to the living area. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"
It's much later in the evening now. Alastor and I have calculated the amount of time and expense it would take for the piping repairs of the venue. We're sitting on the red sofa of his while he sits a few feet to my left. A pile of papers sits between us. Two cups of tea on a silver platter sit on the coffee table with the bouquet of roses nearby.
"We're looking at a $4000 repair," I punch in some numbers on my phone's calculator. "This sets us back a couple of months from our projected finish date," I let out a heavy sigh.
"That's not so bad," Alastor drinks from his tea. "It could be worse."
"True. I guess there's no getting around it," I set my phone down on the coffee table. "Whatever it takes to open up the venue!"
"Exactly the attitude needed!"
I take a sip from my tea and feel the urge to pee.
"Gotta use the restroom," I stand up. "Be right back!"
Alastor nods as he continues to read through some papers after I leave the living area. He's reading through some logistics when my phone vibrates. His attention turns to it on the coffee table. I've received some texts. Curious, Alastor grabs my phone and sees the texts are from Angel. He can't unlock the phone but can see the text banners on the screen.
"How's it goin with Smiles?" A text reads. "You guys bang yet?" The second text reads.
Alastor raises a brow at the second text. He hears the toilet flush and quickly puts my phone back on the table.
"I'm pretty burned out," I return and slouch on the sofa with my head tilted back.
"We have been working straight for two hours…" Alastor keeps his gaze on a paper as he adjusts the tall collar of his dress shirt.
My phone buzzes again. I grab my cup of tea and take a sip as I unlock my phone. Alastor raises his eyes to me while his head is still down toward the paper to see my reaction. After reading the texts from Angel, I have to spit the tea back into the cup, causing Alastor to smirk to himself more.
"Interesting news?" Alastor asks.
"Just texts– from Angel," I cough and pat my chest to clear my throat. "He's such an idiot…" I face palm.
"I can only imagine the type of messages he sends."
"You don't want to imagine," I shake my head.
I open the music app on my phone and pull out my speaker from my bag. After connecting the bluetooth, I press shuffle. Dynamite by Taio Cruz comes on.
"Oh, this song is fun," I sit up.
I dance in my seat as the song continues. Alastor can't help but watch and puts his papers down.
"I throw my hands up in the air sometimes!" I raise my arms and sing along. "Saying hey oh! Gotta let go! I wanna celebrate and live my life! Saying hey oh! Baby let's go!"
I get to my feet and continue to dance to the song, pulling Alastor to his feet as well.
"Do you know how to dance to music like this?" I ask.
"Never tried it," he replies.
"Since you taught me some dances, I'll teach you some moves too!"
We walk around the coffee table in front of the fireplace where there's more space.
"Dancing is very much like singing," I explain. "Instead of expressing yourself through your voice, you're doing it with your body. When it comes to this kind of music, you just gotta feel the beat and dance to it."
He watches me sway my hips and move my arms to the music, recalling when he saw me dancing at the nightclub with Angel.
"You try!" I encourage him.
He's a bit unsure but begins to follow my movements.
"That's it!" I'm excited. "You're getting it!"
I smoothly spin and move my body in waves with my feet planted and he does the same.
"I throw my hands up in the air sometimes!" I raise my arms and sing along, Alastor also raising his arms with me as we dance. "Saying hey oh! Gotta let go! I wanna celebrate and live my life! Saying hey oh! Baby let's go!"
I proceed to do a bit of the running man with the bass beats and Alastor does so as well.
"You catch on pretty fast!" I smile. "You're a natural."
"Are there any other dance steps?" He asks as we continue to dance.
"You just gotta feel the music and let your body interpret the beat," I shrug.
The next song that plays is Vaina Loca by Ozuna, one of my favorite reggaetón songs.
"Es que me gustas tú na' má'
No me importan las demás
Una vaina loca que me da
Que por más que intento no se va
Me gustas tú na' má'
No importan las demás
Una vaina loca que me da
Que por más que intento no se va"
I change my style in dancing to more sensuous moves. Alastor sees how lost I am in the beat of the music, my moves becoming practically ritualistic. He's hypnotized at my dancing and gradually moves closer to me. Completely lost and into the music, I move myself closer to Alastor, my back now facing him. I press my body against his, my butt grinding against his crotch. He instinctively grabs at my hips, moving his body with mine. My body moves in waves against his. I lean my head back toward his head and he responds by leaning his head next to mine. We're able to gaze into each other's eyes, still completely lost in the music. I reach for his neck with my right hand as I continue to grind smoothly on him, dropping my body low and rising back up. Alastor is so intrigued by my movements and keeps moving his body against mine with the music. The song is ending which snaps me out of my dancing trance. I realize what I'm doing and quickly push myself away from Alastor.
"I'm-I'm sorry!" I say in a panic. "I didn't respect your space…I just got carried away…"
"It's fine," Alastor reassures me. "I was enjoying it, actually."
"I hope you're learning at least…" I blush a bit at seeing his gaze at me.
"You're teaching me well," he comes closer.
I see he's coming closer to me and I panic. I turn and walk to my speaker.
"It's getting late," I quickly turn the speaker off and toss it into my bag. "I'm pretty tired. It's been a long day and I need some rest."
Alastor watches me quickly gather my things into my bag and head for the door.
"What's the matter?" He blocks the door a bit with a slight smirk.
"I just...need to sleep," I'm nervous. "I've got a meeting with my father early in the morning. I just remembered!"
I slip past him and scurry down the stone steps to my car. I toss my bag in the passenger seat with the bouquet and quickly start my car. Alastor watches me drive off, leaning against the door frame.
"Just what is her deal?" He wonders. "And why am I feeling these new reactions of my body?"
He still feels his ears are warm from getting heated when I was grinding on him.
"Just get it together, Alastor," he closes the door after heading back inside.
My parents are already in bed by the time I make it home. I make it to my room, putting my stuff away at my desk. A black translucent vase with a dead plant in it sits at my desk. I pull the dead plant out and toss it into the garbage bin. After separating the roses from the bouquet, I place the six roses in the vase and set it back on my desk. I stare at the roses in admiration as I'm in deep thought.
'He's so thoughtful,' I think to myself.
I then recall our dancing at Alastor's estate.
"Ugh, I really embarrassed myself…" I facepalm. "I hope he doesn't think I'm sex crazed or something based on my dancing…"
I then remember his reaction to my sensual dancing.
'He didn't pull away…' I think to myself. 'In fact...he danced with me. He went along with it.'
I continue to think for a moment.
'It's as if…he liked it,' I continue to think.
I remember the way his body felt against mine as we sensually danced together.
"I really get carried away sometimes," I sigh.
I brush my fingers along the petals of a rose.
"Well, at least the feeling was mutual, right?" I ask.
Alastor tosses a bit in his sleep. In his sleep, images of me play in his head. I'm laying on his bed, the maroon bed sheets under me. The blue satin nightgown hugs my curves as I bend my right leg slightly up, exposing more of my thighs. The thin straps fall to the sides, completely exposing my bare shoulders and collar area and cleavage. My long locks of hair lay messily on the bed as I lay my arms above my head. A sultry look in my eyes makes me all the more alluring. Alastor then wakes up, his body heated at the dream. He sits up in his bed, rubbing his face as he wonders about the dream.
'She's even in my dreams…' he thinks to himself.