Buyer’s Market(350)

Anyway, this place is freaking huge. They actually bought a whole building to make this a reality. Three dancefloors for the customers, six for the dancers, various themed bars spread around the whole building, and God knows how many private rooms. I could myself inside this place.

But just look at them, smiling at each other, joking, lust always in their eyes. Have you ever seen a more sickening perfect couple? And they’re happy… So happy. The kind of happy everyone deserves to be. I’d be lying if I said I’m not jealous. But I have my whole life ahead of me, and I’m sure that down the road I’ll find a slice of happiness just for myself.

“Sir, the limo’s outside,” a thin man with a suit a balding head tells Austin as he peeks from a door at the end of the room. He nods respectfully at the both Destiny and I, and then goes back to his post.

“Well, I guess that’s your cue, isn’t it?” he asks me, going around the bar and hugging me so tight that I can barely breath.

“Ugh, can’t… breathe…” I hiss with a grin, and he lets go of me. Then it’s Destiny’s turn: she wraps her arms around me and then lays her lips against my right cheek.

“We’re going to miss you,” she says, and I feel tears welling up in my eyes. God, I hate goodbyes, I really do.

“Okay, guys… I have to go,” I mutter, trying to hide the tears in my eyes. I pick my bags up from the floor and start walking toward the exit door on the back, but then Austin calls after me.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know…” I tell him honestly, smiling. “Right now, I just want to get to the airport… There, I’ll look up at the departures and pick someplace fancy. Paris? London? Barcelona? I don’t know.”

“I hear they have a pretty good natural orange juice in Barcelona,” he tells me with a smile. I look at him, tears in my eyes once more, and it almost breaks my heart to think that I’m leaving and won’t be hearing his stupid jokes for a while. You know, I was lost and alone in the world when I went knocking on his door… And he took me in, fed me, gave me a place to stay and, above everything else, gave me a purpose and helped me fulfil it. And his easy jokes always made me look on the bright side of life. Whenever things got tough, there he was, always with an easy smile and a witty comeback.

I’m going to miss him.

“Come and visit, okay?” Destiny tells me, walking toward me and holding both my hands. “As far as we’re concerned, this place is your home as well. And you’re a member of the family.”

“I’ll be back,” I promise the two of them, and then just smile and walk toward the exit. The driver is already waiting by the door, holding his hat in one hand. He picks my bags and carries them toward Austin’s limo, and I turn around to look at them one last time.

They’re already back to work, and I just stand there in silence, watching them. Austin walks behind Destiny and, grabbing her by the waist, makes her turn in her heels. He grabs her hands and then spins her around the room, dancing with her as if they were teenagers in love. He then pulls her in and, bending her over the arm he has on her waist, kisses her.

“Goodbye,” I whisper, and then leave, closing the door behind me. I’ll be back, I know it… But I figure that by the time I’m back Destiny will already be cradling a miniature Austin in her arms. Can you imagine that? A small version of Mr. Python, running around the playground and lifting the girl’s skirts. Ah, I can see that pretty clearly.

I walk to the limo and get inside there. The moment I’m cruising through New York’s traffic, I lean back against my seat and just look out the window. Life can be tough, sometimes. And I’ve seen a lot of broken lives and broken homes during my time at Python. I did my best to make a difference, and I think that I succeeded.

Now it’s time for me to make my way in the world.

But where?

Just between you and me, it’s going to be Barcelona.

A friend of mine told me they make really good orange juice there.





27





Out And About - New York City





Bringing you the skinny on the hottest attractions in and around Gotham…



New Yorkers rejoiced today at the grand opening of the most anticipated nightclub this year: Dirty Python.

The new club is a merging of the now famous (or infamous) Python club that used to exist for women only as well as the more traditional Dirty Destiny, which was owned and operated by noted porn star Destiny Renee before being shut down in a NYPD Vice Squad raid last month.

Sources claim that after months of protracted legal battles, the owner of Python, Austin Price, was able to secure the rights to reopen Dirty Destiny.