Lotto Dreams Chapter 2 "Nick, Lydia says to keep your car handy, she's going to drag you around town. Have fun!" That was the message on his machine when he got home. He didn't wonder where she'd gotten his number; the answer would have been Carl obviously. He sat down instead at his computer and put together a new playlist for his iPod, then loaded it up. He hoped Lydia was in the mood for House and Trance, if not, he figured she'd find a CD she liked in his carrier. Then he went to take a shower and get the recommended nap. He pulled up to the Hilton at 9:30. "Don't bury it, I'll be back down shortly," he told the valet as he handed him the keys to the Audi convertible. He rode the elevator to the 8th floor, and knocked at the same door. It was opened by one of his favorite visions. She was a little shorter than he, maybe 3 inches. Small breasts covered with a tight gray tube dress, and nipples that rose even as he tried not to stare. Her hair was cut short and gelled into a spiky 'do, and was died electric blue. She was a cute young woman, probably in her early 20's. Dark brown eyes, a nose that begged to be kissed, and lips that looked delicious. He noticed she'd dusted her make-up with blue glitter. "Good evening, you must be Nick. Come on in." She stepped back, then shut the door after him. "I'm Lydia," she said, offering her hand. "Your clothes are in the bedroom." He stepped past her, and was surprised that she watched him walk away with what looked to be a nod of pleased appraisal. And he'd have sworn her nipples had poked out more when he'd taken her hand. Must be easily aroused, he figured. It would never occur to him that she'd found him appealing. In the bedroom, he found a dark silk suit, black loafers, and a white linen shirt. He laughed, apparently Cyan had taken his vampire remark to heart. He changed clothes, transferred his wallet, keys and a small fold of five and ten dollar bills to his suit pockets, then set the envelope he'd had in his back pocket on the dresser. As he turned from inspecting himself in the mirror, Lydia approached. "Damn, Nick, you look sharp!" He smiled as she casually brushed his shoulders with one hand while discreetly slipping the envelope into the dresser drawer. Then she looped her arm in his. "Ready to dance the night away?" "For tonight, as ready as I ever will," he replied with a nervous chuckle. "You'll be fine. We'll start off fairly close. You know Area 51?" "I've heard advertising for it, never been clubbing before, so haven't been there." "That's ok, it's over on 3rd West and 5th South. I'll show you where to park." They went downstairs and the valet had to look twice at the ticket then again at the person who handed it to him. 'Talk about major differences! And the babe on his arm, Good Goddamn!' the young man thought. Lydia smiled appreciatively as Nick opened the door to the Cabriolet quattro, and slid into the seat. He walked around and settled behind the wheel. "The iPod has a Trance and House mix on it, or you can look through the CDs." "Plenty of time for music in a bit, Nick, but I'll play the 'pod on the way home. Fair enough? Now, why don't you ask the question every client does. You know, 'What's a nice girl like you...'" "Hmm, I could ask, but what if I didn't like the answer? Then we're both uncomfortable all night." He turned and gave her a smile. "Personally, I'm more concerned about what you'll do when you're confronted with the 'spastic elephant' of dance." Lydia laughed delightedly. "Good, that will give me a chance to use my teaching skills in an extreme situation! Nick, I'm in school working on my degree in education. I'm hoping to specialize in physical education, especially dance. Believe me, you will enjoy yourself tonight. And if I have anything to do with it, your dancing is going to impress more than just me!" Nick had already considered the impression she was going to make on the crowds, especially if she met any of her friends that didn't know her secret. But he decided she'd probably already planned for avoiding them already, probably by taking him to places she didn't frequent often. He pulled around to the parking lot, and set the anti-theft equipment. He hated car alarms, but there were plenty of options that actually worked better, and he'd had them all installed in both cars. Lydia took his hand and led him to the front of a fair sized line, much to the dismay of those behind, and greeted the doorman by name. "Hey Lukas, good crowd starting up! This is my friend Nick," she gave Nick's hand a squeeze, "Remember his face when he comes back again." Lukas studied Nick stonily, then grinned and opened the velvet rope. "Absolutely, Lydia! Nick, welcome to Area 51." Lydia led him to the box-office and flipped out her membership card. "You can pay the cover charge since you're with me, or buy a membership of your own and they'll wave the cover charge for you. I'll cost you three bucks either way," she said with a grin. After finding out how much a membership cost, he bought it, and paid for Lydia. He got two dollars back on two tens. They moved to the bar next. He ordered a bottle of water for them both, then she dragged him onto the dance floor. "Ok Nick," she had to lean close so he could hear her over the pounding music, "Relax. Watch me for a moment, and try to move as I do." She began to sway slowly and gently, her hands over her head. She nodded at him, indicating he should copy her. He raised his hands as well, and began a slow sway that matched hers. She smiled at him, and began to gently move faster, now thrusting her hands into the air to the throb of the bass. As he matched her, she moved closer, and began to rub her hip against his, then moved behind him, so they danced back to back. Nick hoped he was still matching her moves, it felt like it, but visual confirmation would have been reassuring. He could feel it when she began to dance faster, and his pace also increased, then she moved around to his other hip and gave him a brilliant smile. "I think the 'spastic elephant' stayed home," she whispered. Then she was pressing herself against his torso, her nipples like little pebbles against his chest. And then other breasts pressed against his back, matching his moves as his matched Lydia's. His eyes widened in surprise, and his lips formed "What the Hell". Lydia smiled and moved slightly to the side, making sure her nipples continued their delightful contact, but so she could see around him. "Good evening, Jeanvieve." Lydia pronounced it jonveev. " 'Ello Lydia. Who's your friend?" The woman, Jeanvieve apparently, continued to press against him as they all moved together. "This is Nick. Nick, say hello to Jeanvieve. I'll introduce you properly after this dance." Nick swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry as he realized that Lydia's pelvis was massaging his groin, and he was reacting like a jr. high student. "Umm, sorry. Hello Jeanvieve, pleased to meet you." Not that they'd met yet. "So, Jeanvieve, where's Terrence tonight?" "Bastard went off with Cat, that slut bitch! So I was dancing lonely till you came in. Nick don't move too bad, but I noticed you started easy with him. A beginner?" "Yep. I was dateless and finally sweet talked him into coming along." "Very nice! Wish I had a friend I could steal when I was dateless." The music changed, and the women moved back, then took both of his arms, leading him to a small table. A waitress approached, and Jeanvieve ordered a RedBull and vodka, Lydia ordered a RedBull, and Nick got another bottle of water. Nick paid for all the drinks. As they sat relaxing, he studied Jeanvieve. A tall woman, nicely shaped unfettered breasts in a black silk blouse, and long legs covered by a red slit skirt. Her blond hair hung loose to her shoulder blades, and her gray eyes sparkled in a pleasant but unremarkable face. As he sat there, Lydia leaned her head on his shoulder comfortably as several patrons wandered by to greet her. So much for his theory she'd avoid places she was known. "So Nick, how do you know Lydia?" The question wasn't unexpected, but he hadn't really decided how to answer. Lydia answered for him. "Nick was in a couple of my classes at the U. We had Literature 102 and Classical Appreciation 101 together." She squeezed his arm and smiled at him then turned back to Jeanvieve. Nick just nodded. How the hell did she know he'd been in both those classes last semester? Of course, maybe he had had those classes with her. They'd both been fairly large, and he'd tried not to flirt over- much with his much younger classmates. But the only reason Lydia would have noticed him was because he was the oldest person in the class. He'd even had ten years on the professor. "Hey, lets go downstairs. I think Nick will attract a lot of attention dressed the way he is." Jeanvieve said. Nick looked at her curiously. "You don't like my vampire look?" he grinned. Lydia laughed. "You'll fit right in at Sanctuary. It's a Goth club. That's one of the reasons I went with blue for my hair tonight. And you won't believe my makeup under the blacklights!" They moved to a stairway he hadn't noticed, and went down. "One bad thing, though Nick. Sanctuary's another club. So another cover charge, or another membership." He shrugged. "Small price to pay, for the company of two lovely creatures like yourselves." "God, he talks sweet, Lyd! You sure you don't mind sharing him?" "Nah, I think there's plenty to go around." And Nick would have sworn she looked at his groin when she said it. Sanctuary was much smaller than Area 51, so it felt more crowded. It was darker, and the patrons were dressed, for the most part, much differently than the dancers upstairs. Nick and the ladies moved to the cashier and both women offered their membership cards. Nick paid for all of them then followed them deeper into the club. "Lydia, can I dance with you and Nick again?" Jeanvieve asked hopefully. Lydia looked at her friend, then at Nick, raising her eyebrow in question to him. "Just go easy on me. We don't want to wake the 'spastic elephant', and the way they're jumping around here would definitely wake him up." Lydia and Jeanvieve grinned and pulled him out on the floor. They did start out slow, but it wasn't long before they had him bouncing and shaking as wildly as the majority of the club kids. They'd been dancing for most of an hour when his dates excused themselves to 'do some maintenance'. As he sat at the bar with another bottle of water, a young woman pressed herself against him and spoke in his ear. "You dance pretty good, mister. Buy me a drink and I'll show you some more moves." Nick looked her over. A little bit prettier than Jeanvieve, but nowhere near Lydia's impact. "Sure, what ya want?" "RedBull with" she replied. That was what Jeanvieve had ordered upstairs. "Prove your old enough," Nick challenged, then was startled when she reached out and caressed his groin. He caught her hand and gently moved it away. "Not what I had in mind. Let's see your paper." The girl frowned but pulled an ID card out of the little pocketbook she carried. Nick looked it over, then turned to the bartender. "Give my friend a RedBull, without." Then Nick handed her back her ID. "I'd demand a refund for that piece of shit, sweetheart. That won't even get you smokes in a Vietnamese shop." "How do you know, asswipe? You a fuckin' cop?" "Worse, beautiful. I'm a grocery clerk. And do you kiss your momma with that mouth?" She glared at him for a moment, leaned over, kissed him hard and hot, then took her drink. "Yeah I do, but not like that!" She wiggled her caboose at him as she walked away. As he watched her walk away, Lydia and Jeanvieve sat down on each side of him. "Who's your friend?" Lydia asked, pressing her nipple against his arm. "A youngster looking for an old fool," Nick replied with a smile. "Why were you looking at her ID, and why did she look pissed when you handed it back?" Jeanvieve wanted to know. "She wanted me to buy her a drink. RedBull with. My idea of a good evening is not a ticket for contributing, thank you." He laughed. "She was pissed cause I told her the fake ID was a piece of shit, and probably wouldn't work to buy cigs in a Vietnamese market. Told her she should demand a refund." The lights turned off, then the room began to glow as the blacklights came up. He looked at Lydia, and then stared. In the ultraviolet illumination, her make-up had altered her appearance immensely. There was a band of light across her eyes, teardrops were painted on her cheeks and lightning designs etched her cheekbones. When he looked down, her dress looked like it had disappeared, and that she stood in a tiny bra and miniscule thong. Jeanvieve had a similar band across her eyes, but it seemed to glow like the coals of a campfire instead of brightly like Lydia's. Her lips were outlined in blue, and she had what seemed to be a large bruise on her chin. Her dress had also disappeared, and now she seemed to stand nude, with her nipples and pubic hair glowingly highlighted. The women pulled him out on the floor and began to dance with and around him, rubbing against the dim form that he was in the unusual light, sandwiching him between their illuminated bodies. They danced until 2:00 in the morning. They would have danced longer, but stupid Salt Lake law made dancing illegal after 2. He drove them home to Jeanvieve's apartment, and he walked them to the door. As Lydia hugged him and thanked him for a wonderful evening, she whispered in his ear: "Tomorrow, Neal is going to collect everything from the hotel room before check out. I think I'll have him bring me your clothes so I can burn them, and you can't ever wear them again!" Then she bit his earlobe lightly. Out loud she added, "I hope I can drag you dancing again soon, Nick." Then she laughed and ran into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. When he reached for his keys, he found a slip of paper. When he was seated in the car, he saw it was a bill for an additional two hundred dollars. He shrugged and realized that two and a half c-notes was a good deal less than any other hourly rate he'd been offered when he was making calls earlier in the week. And honestly, the evening had been worth it.