63. Too Many Mouths

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Considering Claudia had taken them to a good place, and the online reviews didn't say much about the nightclub they were about to go to, Deborah asked her about it.

"I've never been there," Claudia said. "Too exclusive for my budget. But I've heard they throw VIP private parties on the third floor."

Deborah flashed a cunning smile. "Wanna hop in as a scout?"

Claudia mirrored her smile. "Lead the way!"

Tim remained at the bar, to wait for Deborah's call giving the green light for the nightclub. The call didn't take long and he headed for the counter to pay for everybody's drinks, leaving Ron and the bodyguards to take the group to their cars.

Jim gulped up his bourbon and got to his feet. His lips curled up when he saw Silvia dodge the others to come toward him. She flashed a merry grin, and before he could take her hand, she wrapped her arm around his.

"This is how old ladies my age go around, young man," she said.

Jim shook his head, chuckling. He still couldn't quite tell her game and it didn't matter, because he wasn't about to let her keep her distance much longer.

Deborah waited for them at the nightclub back exit, that opened to the parking lot, and preceded the whole group down a corridor to the private stairs leading to the upper floors. She could've taken them straight to the VIP third floor, already emptied and closed for them. Instead, she made them leave those stairs at the second floor, so people would know it wasn't a rumor, and the American celebs were really in the building.

The bodyguards cleared a narrow breach among the people that soon crowded the second floor to see them, and the Americans were forced to parade in a single line all the way to the stairs to the third floor. As soon as all of them were heading up, the bodyguards took positions at the first step, closing the access.

Claudia welcomed them to the VIP area with champagne on every table. The third floor had a bar, a small dance floor, its own resident DJ and a panoramic view of the river and the city shoreline.

Deborah waved Jim over the moment he came out of the stairwell. He only needed a glance at her to snort, annoyed.

"Dude! Gimme a fucking break!"

"One hour and the rest of the night is all yours."

"I hate you."

"I know. But you love the money I make you."

The musicians hardly got a chance to grab a glass of champagne while Tim instructed the bodyguards. Ron was already setting a table by the stairs, where he deployed heaps of signed photographs. Tim came back to take the other side of the stairwell, with the mission of keeping the fans from lingering around.

At the second floor, one of the bodyguards waved a bunch of girls over. He pointed at the first six, marked the back of their hands with a sharpie and let them go up the stairs. They'd have a chance to say hi to the band, take a picture with them and get an exclusive photo with their autographs, before Tim hushed them back downstairs to let the next batch in. In under a minute, a long line stretched up to the other end of the second floor with people waiting for their turn to that improvised meet & greet.

Silvia was about to sit down with Claudia and Jo when she saw the bunch of hysterical girls storming in, and she felt a sudden urge to smoke. She excused herself and headed across the empty dance floor straight to the ladies', doing her best to ignore the excited screams.

Closing the door behind her gave her a feeling of relief she didn't expect, but that she could understand. In a few minutes, she'd wear the smiling mask again to join back the group. Right then, in the small luxurious toilet, she was relieved she didn't have a dozen eyes asking her who the hell she was and why the hell she was there, and another dozen eyes watching her every move as if they'd bet all their money on what she was about to do.

What was she about to do? Open that tiny window and smoke. That was what she was about to do. Hopefully, the drooling girls would be gone by the time she was done there.

Claudia texted her to ask if she was okay. She didn't feel like typing, so she just took a picture of her cigarette and sent it as her only reply.

She rested against the fancy tiles, enjoying the chilling breeze coming in through the tiny window. How come she hadn't even thought about how being with Jim in a social environment would be? Could she be that stupid? Whatever. Now she could only try her best to be up to it.

She'd just thrown the butt of her cigarette out the window when she heard the unique beginning of David Bowie's Modern Love

The toilet door opened and Claudia showed at the doorway with a funny smile. Silvia nodded, chuckling. Her friend knew how to pull her strings.

They didn't care the dance floor was still deserted. They stood in the middle of it and danced, the two of them alone. Jo hurried to join them and others followed. By the end of the song, half the group was on the dance floor, while the excited girls still came and went.

The DJ stuck to the classics and kept the guests dancing. Sean and Tom didn't take long to make their tactical retreat. Tom danced his way to Claudia and stayed with her, while Sean joined Sam and the other usual non-dancers, and had fun charging Jo a kiss every time she wanted a sip from his glass of champagne.

Jim soon got the hang of the drill, and when Walt deserted him and Liam, he signaled Deborah he was taking a couple of minutes. He materialized by Silvia a heartbeat later. She greeted him with a bright grin, and seemed to forget about everything to dance with him until the next batch of girls were allowed in. When they were gone, he went back to dance with her.

Sean noticed that Silvia's attitude seemed to appease Jim and thought that maybe the night had a chance to end without any drama. Until he paid more attention and realized she avoided any physical contact with Jim. He looked away, swallowing a sigh. He didn't know when the countdown had started, but he was pretty sure it couldn't be too far from zero.

And some kind of zero came up the stairs with the next bunch of girls. The first one of them to get to Jim stuck her face to his for a selfie, and before stepping away, she managed to steal a peck from him. Jim let out a soft chuckle as he stepped back and turned to the next girl, letting Tim put the shameless little chick on her way. But the other girls had seen what she'd done, and all of them tried to steal a kiss from Jim and Liam before leaving.

Silvia set her jaw, watching Jim go from one mouth to the next like it was the joke of the year. She breathed deep and spun around, turning her back to it. She didn't want to witness how those damned girls did what she didn't dare to do and got what she was dying to get. She'd promised herself that nothing, nobody would sour that reunion night, no matter what it might take. Jim kept showing that he wanted her there as a funny pal, somebody to have a good time with among the rest of his friends. So she would do just that. Period.

She kept her back to the stairs and danced and sang and laughed with the others. They were all her age, give or take, and they all seemed to like those old hits from the '80s and the '90s. That helped her keep her cool, while they played pop quiz with every song, trying to remember title, band and release year.

Jo saw Jim delivering pecks like fresh bread, saw Silvia's reaction, and turned to Sean with a questioning frown, completely puzzled. Sean gifted her with a sarcastic smirk. There he was, his hideously charming little brother in his prime, keeping his dearest companion at hand while he picked his next fuck. And who was to say or do anything about it?

At least he rubbed his face with his tee, to clean the lipstick off his lips before joining Silvia at the next break he got. He approached her from behind and threw his arms around her. But before he could hold her, she giggled and wriggled gently away from him. She didn't give him time to try anything else. She took his hand and made him dance with her, her happy smile nailed to her face and her eyes nailed to his.

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