Wild Wild Celeste

I swung my hips like I was in a trance and I felt his eyes on me. I felt his gaze dig a scalding hole in my back as I moved side to side to the rhythm of Burna Boy’s ‘Ye.’ If I cared, nobody could tell. I was lost in the music. I had my eyes closed and the only thing I could hear was the deep timbres and bass in my favorite song. This is what good music does to me. It gets so deep in my head that I feel like I’m in a sort of spiritual communion with my ancestors from ages past.

Right after the song ended, they moved on to one of those solemn songs I didn’t care for. A poor successor to Ye if you ask me. I used that opportunity to go get myself a drink and fish for beautiful boys.

I looked around for the guy I knew was watching me. Trust me, even if I didn’t see him watching, I knew someone was. I looked around, hoping to catch his gaze and probably have a conversation, but everybody I saw was either chugging cheap beer down their throats or simply exchanging body fluids. Not one person looked my way. Guess he was playing hard to get. Well, some other time then!

Another one of my songs came on and I jumped to my feet. I was wearing pink biker shorts made with the lightest stretchy material that hugged my curves and made me feel more voluptuous than I am. On the top, I wore a white crop top that had ‘Shop’s Closed’ written boldly across the chest area. I wore crazy hand-me-down black boots that had seen better days but I was not fazed. With my white-tipped tangled weave and uneven eyebrows, I probably wasn’t the hottest girl in the club that night. I didn’t even come close to the top 10. 50, even. But still, I was determined to make the most of my one day off and have the absolute best day of my life.

“Hi, are you alone?”

I turned to see the most beautiful male human I’ve seen in a long time. Don’t mind me. I just turned 18 and I got a free day out from the orphanage to have some fun and enjoy some freedom. Don’t blame me if I literally have nothing to compare him to except the male protagonists in the romance novels I’ve been devouring since I was 9. With the way he looked at me, I was certain he was the one that had been watching me.

“I was looking for you,” I said, trying to hide my anxiety.

“Me?” he asked, bewildered.

“Yes, you. Did you like watching me dance?” Although I had my heart in my throat, fearing that I may be accusing a totally innocent man of staring creepily, I looked him straight in the eyes. With a huge smile on my face.

“I…” I saw him shift his gaze and that was when I knew that he was the guy I was looking for. I’ve seen that gaze one too many times from when the smaller kids lied to me about taking more snacks than they were permitted.

“It’s fine. I don’t bite.”

He smiled, relaxed.

“I asked a question though. Did you enjoy watching me dance?”

“Well… uh..”

“I must be that bad, huh? Too bad. I thought I was actually improving.” I said, in mock sadness.

“No, no. You’re a great dancer. I…actually…I really enjoyed watching you dance.”

Finally. “About time you confessed. So, are you going to ask me if I want a drink or not?”

He chuckled as he sat on the empty barstool beside me. “Are you always this straightforward?”

“Well, I’m here for a short while. I’m not about to waste it dilly-dallying. Do you think we have all the time in the world?”

“No…” He looked at me in a solemn, searching manner. “I guess we really do not have all the time in the world.”

“Yeah.”

“So, would you like a drink?”

“I would love a drink.”

“What are you going to have? What do you prefer?”

“Uh…I don’t know…tequila?”

He laughed out loud. “Tequi…what?”

I hesitated. “Tequila.”

“Wait…is this your first time in a club?”

“No…”

“Okay, let me rephrase that. Is this your first time in a Nigerian club?”

I was getting pissed at this point. “What do you mean? And what is the essence of this questioning? Are you going to get me a drink or what?”

“Okay, okay. Just needed to confirm something first…I don’t think they have that kind of drink here. At least, I don’t think that is what it is called here.”

I felt the heat rushing to my cheeks and I suddenly felt like I needed to use the restroom. I made to leave but he held my hand. “Hold on.” He moved closer to me, and his breath wafted over my face. It smelled like mint though, he had been doing his homework. “I’m sorry. Did I offend you?”

“I don’t know.” Our proximity was not helping me think straight. I had never had a guy, a real mature guy, come this close to me. I didn’t know how to act, plus he didn’t look like he would be moving anytime soon. Not like I wanted him to.

“I’m sorry for laughing…” I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. I don’t even think he could hear what he was saying. He was much closer than he was when he stood up. Now I could not just smell the mint, I could also smell the alcohol he was trying so hard to cover up. His eyes kept moving to my lips and I could feel the tension between us. His hands were by his side and I could tell he was dying to put them on me. For some reason, I didn’t move and neither did he.

“I had no idea you would take offense. I was just…messing with you…”

I nodded, like I was in a trance, still staring at his big brown eyes and his full pink lips, at the same time. At that moment, all I could think about was kissing him, and everything he said went in through my right ear and came out from the left. It really was a dicey situation.

Like he was born to torture me, he kept licking his lips. Logic told me he was probably doing it because his lips were dry and scaly, but my crazy side, the part responsible for 90% of my decisions told me that he was doing it to taunt me.

“I…”

And I went for it. I moved the extra 1 inch that separated my lips from his and placed mine on his. At that moment, I felt like parched land desperately yearning for water. I was the land and his lips provided the rain. I felt spasms run through my spine from my neck down to the heels of my feet. As soon as we got into it, it got hot and desperate. By this time, his hands had already found a home on my back. Both his hands kept moving up and down and he held me tightly to himself. I kept kissing him, tongue going in and out like I had taken professional masterclasses before meeting him. He was desperate and had started moving his hands up my crop top, and then, I stopped.

“Whoa…” He said in a sudden burst of a breath. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Yeah…”

“That was intense…”

“Yeah…” I said.

“Is something wrong?”

“No…I just…” And since I didn’t know how to tell him that was my first kiss, I went in for a second. He was all too willing and his lips welcomed me like a distant lover. The second time was twice as great as the first, but it wasn’t so packed with emotions, so neither of us were desperate or in a hurry to tear each other’s lips apart. We took it slow this time, and just like good music, I felt transported to another realm. It was surreal. Somehow, we had managed to forget that we were right in the middle of a night club and sweating bodies mingled together right beside us. We were lost in our own little kissing bubble and no-one even turned to look. I tried to withdraw but then he pulled me back closer and continued kissing me. He took charge this time and I felt myself relax into the comfortable rhythm of this lip-locking.

Just when I thought I would die for lack of air, he withdrew and took a deep breath himself.

“Woah! I’ve never had a kiss like that!” He exclaimed.

“Well, neither have I.”

“Are you…do you have to leave anytime soon?”

“Not really.”

“Can we…?” He gestured to the bar stools we had just vacated.

“What do you want us to do?”

“Talk…maybe.”

“Nah. I’m not here to make any friends. I came here to have a good time and now, I have to go.”

“Oh.” He looked so disappointed, I thought he might cry. He brought out his phone from his back pocket. “Can I at least get your number?”

“I don’t have a phone.”

“Wow. Okay. I don’t even know your name.”

“My name is Celeste.” I stretched out my hand to shake him.

“I’m Dave.” He took my hand in his and gave me the warmest handshake I’ve ever had the pleasure of receiving. “Will I ever see you again, Celeste?”

“I really doubt that, Dave. I really doubt that.” I said with a finality that didn’t seek for extra contributions. With that, I stood up and walked towards the exit door, swaying my hips to yet another Afrobeat jam by Burna Boy that set my heart racing and my waist whining.

The night has just begun. Woohoo!

All pictures are gotten from Pexels and no attribution is required.