Angel

After a few instances of darting through drunk guests and avoiding clouds of pungent cologne and perfume, Angel found herself at the far side bar. The bartenders were not surprisingly busy so Angel did the best thing she could. She rested her hands on the bar but slowly dipped her chest, knowing that the sight of her amble cleavage worked a thousand times better than a hand in the air. Like a moth to a moth to a flame, a bartender walked straight to her for her order. Within minutes her vodka soda appeared before her. She tried talking to the bartender but the noise and constant barrage of drink orders made it impossible. Taking a sip Angel turned to observe the club.

She could tell the club put its money into the sound system and light show. Speakers could be definitely heard but difficult to see. And while random neon colors filled the room one minute, the lights turned into white stars making the club feel like they were outside for a brief moment. Angel also studied the crowd. A few guys in simple jeans and t-shirts made up a few of the clientele while the majority of people in the room definitely put some time and money into their appearance and wardrobe. Just as she was doing some incredible people watching, she felt a pat on her shoulder.

“You American, yes?” asked the man. He must have been in his early thirties with bits of grey hair appearing in his beard. The depth of his deep v-neck t-shirt made Angel think he might not make the best decisions in life. But the mission called for mingling so she might as well look for clues.

“No, I’m Emily,” responded Angel with a cute and welcoming smile.

“Ha! Very good Emily,” he laughed in reply, “I’m Mihai.” Angel started to talk with Mihai, making sure to keep to a fake background and story of why they were in Romania. He seemed like a nice guy, although she kept finding his hand rested on her back, only inches above her ass. Mihai then mentioned he and his friends have a “VIP” table he’d like her to join. Seeing as this could be a way to get some leads, Angel agreed and followed him.

The “VIP” table didn’t exactly live up to the name besides the quick step beyond the red velour rope divider and the table. The female agent found herself surrounded by men roughly all Mihai’s age. Their eyes widened when Angel approached them, and all of them dropped to her open chest before quickly daring away like they didn’t want to stare at the sun too long. Typical men, never fails, Angel thought to herself. She made her way to an empty spot on the couch and allowed herself to be surrounded by the excited men.

Angel, not wasting any time, began to introduce herself and ask about the men at the table. Most were in finance and other white collar jobs. The ones that could speak English made it a point to use that advantage by complementing Angel whenever there was a lull in conversation. She began to carefully ask about the area, things to do, and places to avoid. She also brought up about a rumor of a few girls going missing. Some of the men, including Mihai, mentioned that they heard the same rumors but they all chivalrously agreed that she was safe with them. One of the men, Cristian, had more of a sullen look when discussing the rumors.

“Cristian!” slightly shouted Angel making sure her could hear her over the loud music, “what about you, did you know any of the girls?” Cristian looked down and then looked back at Angel.

“Yeah I… I knew one of them,” started the Romanian man, clearly less cheery about the topic as the others. “I met her here and she was a huge club girl. If there was a club opened that night in Bucharest she would be there. We hooked up and started hanging out until…nothing. No suspects, no action from the police, and no news coverage. Everyone, including her family, just thought she skipped town or ran off with a DJ. But she wouldn’t have gone so earlier in the relationship.”

Angel studied Cristian’s face. She could tell he was telling the truth. The other guys suddenly boo’ed or made fun of Cristian, saying he just needed to get over her. Marcus, who was sitting to the right of Angel then stood up.

“I think it’s time Emily had some fun dancing and not listen to sappy sad stories,” announced Marcus as he offered his hand.

“What the fuck Marcus?” shouted Mihai as he stood up on the other side of Angel. “I spoke with her first so I should get to dance with her now.”

“Well I asked her first since you didn’t have the balls!” shouted back Marcus. Angel rolled her eyes, still sitting between the men finishing her second vodka mixed drink that was included with the table service. As she placed her drink down she was about to pick one on the men to dance with when her eyes locked to the dance floor. Her body frozen as her eyes were locked into another’s on the dance floor.