Viuda Negra
One | Two |
Frank walked slowly around the circumference of the hotel lobby, eyeing the expensive décor and taking in what the stench of money really smelt like. He hadn’t noticed it before, it had all been very subtle and hidden, but once he was in his new villa and saw the marble everywhere, he began to smell it. It was an interesting smell, a smell that was distinctive and that he knew he didn’t want to be without again. It was a smell of power, a smell of respect, a smell of security.
Shopping had been more fun than he had originally anticipated. Previously, clothes shopping had been a chore more than a pleasure, as label-checking
every five seconds to make sure that he had enough money was not only annoying, but also disheartening and often likely to lead to him leaving the store without any purchases. All that had changed today. He had enough money to purchase everything in the usual shops he would frequent, and
mostly everything in any other shop he had visited that day. His villa’s wardrobe was now filled to the brim with new clothes and shoes, and a smile
was on his face with the knowledge of that. Standing in the hall in just a pair of black dress pants, a short-sleeved button down black shirt, and a tie, he waited patiently for his female companions to arrive.
“Doesn’t he look cute!” Lua exclaimed as she walked over to him, her gypsy skirt floating around her knees as she walked, complimenting her slim
figure. Her arms circled his neck and they kissed on the cheek before Frank was patted gently on the head by Anya.
“He does clean up well, I suppose.” Anya adjusted the small, black hand bag that rested on her shoulder and offered him a slight smile. “We’d better be going, the yacht won’t wait forever.”
“We’re going on a yacht?” Frank blinked and let his arms fall from around Lua, staring at Anya wide-eyed.
“Indeed, we are. A private party.” Anya took his hand and started to walk out of the hotel, immediately climbing into one of the hotel’s private cars, pulling Frank in with her; he found himself nestled in between Anya and Lua as they drove to the dock.
“I love boats,” Frank said, babbling slightly but not caring. “Like, really love them.”
“You’re not going to hump the boat, are you?” Lua asked, her nose wrinkling a little at the idea.
“Not that sort of love… but I do really like them. They’re so cool. And I’ve never been on a yacht before.” Frank smiled excitedly, wiggling a little in his seat.
“Right there, no.” Anya wagged her finger. “We don’t do that, no happy dancing.”
Frank pouted. “But what are we meant to do if we’re happy?”
“Smile, laugh, possibly high five, in extreme circumstances. Never happy dancing. It’s just not sexy. Cute, I grant you, but that’s not what we’re
about.” Lua chimed in, patting Frank’s leg softly as she looked out of the blacked out windows of the car, smiling at how pretty the sun looked setting.
“Well, then, okay.” Frank nodded and mentally happy-danced his ass off as they continued the drive to the yacht.
It had taken them two hours to arrive at the marina, and during this time Frank had become restless and had begun fidgeting, only to be swiftly
reprimanded for his behaviour and taught the correct way to conduct himself. It seemed that to get money you didn't just have to have a pretty face, but also refined personality.
"It isn't just beauty Frank, you have to remember that. If it only took beauty, a Southern hick could be doing this; but it's a skill that you
acquire. You're doing very well, but please, once on the boat, do not fiddle with the silverware. Do not slouch; stand tall," Anya explained as she
exited the car, looking over herself critically to see if there were any imperfections, before nodding and walking towards the large yacht that shone
like a beacon on the dark water.
"That's a little mean..." Lua said, and gently poked Anya in her side, sliding off Anya's clutch and opening it to pull out what looked like a
lipstick and a vial. Tipping her head back, she let some drops of liquid fall into her eyes before opening the lipstick only to reveal a spray, which
she then squirted into her mouth. Anya took the items from her and quickly did the same before handing them to Frank.
"What is?" Anya asked.
"Telling him to stand tall... look at the size of him!" Lua turned to Frank and smiled gently, then saw that he wasn't repeating the actions of herself and Anya. "What's the problem?"
"What is this?" Frank tilted the vial towards the light to try and inspect the contents. There was no way he was putting something into his eyes before he knew what it was.
"The spray is a breath neutraliser... you spray it into your mouth and instead of making it minty and over powering like most breath sprays, it just neutralisers your breath so it doesn't have a smell at all," Anya explained as she adjusted the onyx necklace around her neck.
"The vial, is a herbal formula which will make the iris in your eye stand out. It will intensify the colour temporarily. Look." Lua took out her cell
phone and held it beneath her eye, Frank leant in close and saw that her eye was now quite a startling and intense shade of green. Beautiful, when he thought about what that must look like combined with her dark long hair.
"It'll fade in six hours... it just looks good under this sort of lighting."Nodding. Frank repeated the actions of the females before handing the items back to Anya, who slipped them into her bag. "Tastes like cherry." He stated with a smile, running his tongue around in his mouth, enjoying the flavour.
"You look like a llama. Stop it." Anya ordered, but with a smile. She was beginning to become fond of this funny little man; his little idiosyncrasies were charming, and she was sure other people would think so too. "Come on, the yacht leaves in ten minutes, we don't want to be left here, now do we?" Walking in front of Lua and Frank, Anya led them onto the great white ship, all three immediately being handed a glass of champagne as they walked among the crowd.
All over the ship were lights, and people, and music, and exotic flowers, some that Frank had never seen before, which was surprising as he had
travelled across most of Spain and would have imagined he'd seen all that it had to offer. Standing in front of a beautiful pink blossom, he raised his hand out to touch the petals, intrigued by the print on the flower. He was shocked when a hand was rested on his shoulder.
"We don't touch the plants Frank... come dance with me, we need to scan the room," he heard Lua whisper in his ear as she turned him around and removed his glass of champagne from him. "Do you know how to dance?"
Frank scoffed in indignation, "Of course I do." Slipping one hand to her hip and taking her hand they began to weave among the other bodies, smiling
softly at one another as he twirled and dipped her, being the frame for a beautiful picture, showing her off to the crowd.
"You're a good dancer." Lua smiled and kissed his cheek gently. "That could come in handy."
"You think? Guys generally, as a rule, don't foxtrot or tango with each other... well... not in my experience anyway." Smiling, he took a mental
moment to appreciate how good all of this was. The atmosphere, the girl, the everything about tonight. It was such a drastic change from anything he had ever felt before, and he was certain it was the best time of his life.
"Where did you learn to dance? No offence, but you don't seem like the sort of person to take ballroom lessons... or show any interest in dance at all."
"I'm not but... when I was a lot younger and I still lived in the States my mom’s friend owned a dancing school and she would drag me along to partner with girls who didn't have dates to lead them. I got a moon pie after each session so I was happy." Frank smiled a little at the memory, and then paused as the song ended, joining the rest of the guests in applauding the live band that was playing.
Anya approached them and stood next to Lua. "Mind if I cut in?"
"Not at all, I need a drink anyway." Lua kissed his cheek once more before disappearing into the crowd as Anya slipped her arms around him.
"I have your target," she stated with a smile as Frank began to dance with her.
"No way... already?" Frank's eyes widened as he dipped Anya, moving her to a fast tango, loving the song, and also dance; his old teacher’s speciality.
Anya's eyebrows raised slightly at Frank's ministrations on her, never having being moved so forcefully and delicately at the same time. Never having found a man who actually knew what he was doing on the floor. "Yes... your selection is very limited Frank. Remember, not that many men are gay, and it is especially few who have the… attributes, shall we say, that we require."
"Is he hot?" Frank asked with a grin, twirling her repeatedly, making her skirt flick out and raise slightly, laughing a little as he saw her eyes
widen in horror at the idea that her underwear might be on show. Tugging her arm quickly, he pulled her into his chest and kept her there as she
caught her balance once more.
"You're an idiot," she laughed softly. "No.. he's not hot though he is very rich and very sweet."
"Is he a proper ug-o though?"
Anya turned and looked at him blankly. "Ug-o?"
Frank rolled his eyes and led her off the floor as the song ended, catching hold of two glasses of champagne and handing one to her. "You know!Really
ugly!"
"Well he certainly isn't my blend of non-fat decaf, that's for sure." Anya sipped lightly at her champagne, as a look of disappointment crossed Frank’s face. "Though...” she added, “this is his yacht."
"No way!" Frank exclaimed, grinning as he quickly looked around. "Where is he? I'll marry him now, just for the boat!"
Taking hold of his wrist and jerking him to sit down quickly, Anya sighed heavily. "Frank! You are not an excited puppy who is going to pee all over the carpet at the first sign of excitement! You're a tasteful man who may or may not be interested in finding love while holidaying here, remember?"
Nodding, Frank sank into his chair, but still cast a glance around the deck. "So where is he?"
"I have already informed him that I have a friend who he may like to meet... we shall rendezvous with him in the private chamber after dinner. Until
then, just calm down and work on how you're going to win this man’s interest."
Dinner had been magnificent. Never before had a meal served to him hit his taste buds in such an interesting way. Never having had tried duck before,
he was surprised to find that he was now besotted with it; and the plum sauce that came with it? Divine. Straight after, Anya and Lua had taken him
into a bedroom and had sorted out his hair, and made him spray his mouth once more before leading him downstairs into a little room where there were
a few people conversing over malted whiskey.
"So where is he?" Frank asked as he looked over the room, his eyes falling on a few very pleasing figures before remembering that Anya had said that his target wasn't fortunate-looking.
"Right here." Lua said with a smile and led him over to a man sitting alone in the corner reading a broadsheet version of the Times. "Ray?"
The man pulled away the newspaper so that his face was revealed, and Frank mentally sighed. He was nothing like the type of guy he would normally go out with.
"Yes?" Ray smiled as he looked over Anya and Lua. "The ever beautiful duo, it's good to see you again." He took their hands and kissed them both.
Anya smiled and blushed slightly. "Oh Ray you spoil us. This," she pulled Frank forward gently so that he was stood in front of the two of them. "This is my good friend Frank Iero. Frank, meet Ray Toro."
Politely, Frank smiled and stepped even closer, offering his hand, which Ray accepted and shook firmly. His hands were nearly twice the size of Frank's, and Frank noticed that they weren’t soft like those of the other people he had met tonight. He had assumed that those people’s soft hands meant they had never done a hard days work in their life to earn their money, so the feel of Ray's rough skin against his own made him smile a little; glad that Ray wasn't one of the pompous, self-centred types that he had already met tonight. "Pleased to meet you.”
"Likewise. Please, take a seat." Ray motioned to the three available seats around him. Frank immediately took the one closest to Ray.
Anya and Lua shook their heads gently. "No, no Ray. We have to go mix… you know that." Anya said with a smile, turning to leave.
"Frank, come meet us on the lower deck when the yatch lands to get a lift home." Lua added, looking nervously over Ray, not pleased about this match
at all.
"Okay. Thank you, I'll see you later." Frank flashed them a winning smile before turning back to Ray as they left the room.
"So Frank... what do you do for a living?" Ray asked, pouring them both a glass of whiskey.
Swallowing, Frank rested his hand lightly on Ray's knee. "Please, you can call me Franky..."
Frank walked slowly around the circumference of the hotel lobby, eyeing the expensive décor and taking in what the stench of money really smelt like. He hadn’t noticed it before, it had all been very subtle and hidden, but once he was in his new villa and saw the marble everywhere, he began to smell it. It was an interesting smell, a smell that was distinctive and that he knew he didn’t want to be without again. It was a smell of power, a smell of respect, a smell of security.
Shopping had been more fun than he had originally anticipated. Previously, clothes shopping had been a chore more than a pleasure, as label-checking
every five seconds to make sure that he had enough money was not only annoying, but also disheartening and often likely to lead to him leaving the store without any purchases. All that had changed today. He had enough money to purchase everything in the usual shops he would frequent, and
mostly everything in any other shop he had visited that day. His villa’s wardrobe was now filled to the brim with new clothes and shoes, and a smile
was on his face with the knowledge of that. Standing in the hall in just a pair of black dress pants, a short-sleeved button down black shirt, and a tie, he waited patiently for his female companions to arrive.
“Doesn’t he look cute!” Lua exclaimed as she walked over to him, her gypsy skirt floating around her knees as she walked, complimenting her slim
figure. Her arms circled his neck and they kissed on the cheek before Frank was patted gently on the head by Anya.
“He does clean up well, I suppose.” Anya adjusted the small, black hand bag that rested on her shoulder and offered him a slight smile. “We’d better be going, the yacht won’t wait forever.”
“We’re going on a yacht?” Frank blinked and let his arms fall from around Lua, staring at Anya wide-eyed.
“Indeed, we are. A private party.” Anya took his hand and started to walk out of the hotel, immediately climbing into one of the hotel’s private cars, pulling Frank in with her; he found himself nestled in between Anya and Lua as they drove to the dock.
“I love boats,” Frank said, babbling slightly but not caring. “Like, really love them.”
“You’re not going to hump the boat, are you?” Lua asked, her nose wrinkling a little at the idea.
“Not that sort of love… but I do really like them. They’re so cool. And I’ve never been on a yacht before.” Frank smiled excitedly, wiggling a little in his seat.
“Right there, no.” Anya wagged her finger. “We don’t do that, no happy dancing.”
Frank pouted. “But what are we meant to do if we’re happy?”
“Smile, laugh, possibly high five, in extreme circumstances. Never happy dancing. It’s just not sexy. Cute, I grant you, but that’s not what we’re
about.” Lua chimed in, patting Frank’s leg softly as she looked out of the blacked out windows of the car, smiling at how pretty the sun looked setting.
“Well, then, okay.” Frank nodded and mentally happy-danced his ass off as they continued the drive to the yacht.
It had taken them two hours to arrive at the marina, and during this time Frank had become restless and had begun fidgeting, only to be swiftly
reprimanded for his behaviour and taught the correct way to conduct himself. It seemed that to get money you didn't just have to have a pretty face, but also refined personality.
"It isn't just beauty Frank, you have to remember that. If it only took beauty, a Southern hick could be doing this; but it's a skill that you
acquire. You're doing very well, but please, once on the boat, do not fiddle with the silverware. Do not slouch; stand tall," Anya explained as she
exited the car, looking over herself critically to see if there were any imperfections, before nodding and walking towards the large yacht that shone
like a beacon on the dark water.
"That's a little mean..." Lua said, and gently poked Anya in her side, sliding off Anya's clutch and opening it to pull out what looked like a
lipstick and a vial. Tipping her head back, she let some drops of liquid fall into her eyes before opening the lipstick only to reveal a spray, which
she then squirted into her mouth. Anya took the items from her and quickly did the same before handing them to Frank.
"What is?" Anya asked.
"Telling him to stand tall... look at the size of him!" Lua turned to Frank and smiled gently, then saw that he wasn't repeating the actions of herself and Anya. "What's the problem?"
"What is this?" Frank tilted the vial towards the light to try and inspect the contents. There was no way he was putting something into his eyes before he knew what it was.
"The spray is a breath neutraliser... you spray it into your mouth and instead of making it minty and over powering like most breath sprays, it just neutralisers your breath so it doesn't have a smell at all," Anya explained as she adjusted the onyx necklace around her neck.
"The vial, is a herbal formula which will make the iris in your eye stand out. It will intensify the colour temporarily. Look." Lua took out her cell
phone and held it beneath her eye, Frank leant in close and saw that her eye was now quite a startling and intense shade of green. Beautiful, when he thought about what that must look like combined with her dark long hair.
"It'll fade in six hours... it just looks good under this sort of lighting."Nodding. Frank repeated the actions of the females before handing the items back to Anya, who slipped them into her bag. "Tastes like cherry." He stated with a smile, running his tongue around in his mouth, enjoying the flavour.
"You look like a llama. Stop it." Anya ordered, but with a smile. She was beginning to become fond of this funny little man; his little idiosyncrasies were charming, and she was sure other people would think so too. "Come on, the yacht leaves in ten minutes, we don't want to be left here, now do we?" Walking in front of Lua and Frank, Anya led them onto the great white ship, all three immediately being handed a glass of champagne as they walked among the crowd.
All over the ship were lights, and people, and music, and exotic flowers, some that Frank had never seen before, which was surprising as he had
travelled across most of Spain and would have imagined he'd seen all that it had to offer. Standing in front of a beautiful pink blossom, he raised his hand out to touch the petals, intrigued by the print on the flower. He was shocked when a hand was rested on his shoulder.
"We don't touch the plants Frank... come dance with me, we need to scan the room," he heard Lua whisper in his ear as she turned him around and removed his glass of champagne from him. "Do you know how to dance?"
Frank scoffed in indignation, "Of course I do." Slipping one hand to her hip and taking her hand they began to weave among the other bodies, smiling
softly at one another as he twirled and dipped her, being the frame for a beautiful picture, showing her off to the crowd.
"You're a good dancer." Lua smiled and kissed his cheek gently. "That could come in handy."
"You think? Guys generally, as a rule, don't foxtrot or tango with each other... well... not in my experience anyway." Smiling, he took a mental
moment to appreciate how good all of this was. The atmosphere, the girl, the everything about tonight. It was such a drastic change from anything he had ever felt before, and he was certain it was the best time of his life.
"Where did you learn to dance? No offence, but you don't seem like the sort of person to take ballroom lessons... or show any interest in dance at all."
"I'm not but... when I was a lot younger and I still lived in the States my mom’s friend owned a dancing school and she would drag me along to partner with girls who didn't have dates to lead them. I got a moon pie after each session so I was happy." Frank smiled a little at the memory, and then paused as the song ended, joining the rest of the guests in applauding the live band that was playing.
Anya approached them and stood next to Lua. "Mind if I cut in?"
"Not at all, I need a drink anyway." Lua kissed his cheek once more before disappearing into the crowd as Anya slipped her arms around him.
"I have your target," she stated with a smile as Frank began to dance with her.
"No way... already?" Frank's eyes widened as he dipped Anya, moving her to a fast tango, loving the song, and also dance; his old teacher’s speciality.
Anya's eyebrows raised slightly at Frank's ministrations on her, never having being moved so forcefully and delicately at the same time. Never having found a man who actually knew what he was doing on the floor. "Yes... your selection is very limited Frank. Remember, not that many men are gay, and it is especially few who have the… attributes, shall we say, that we require."
"Is he hot?" Frank asked with a grin, twirling her repeatedly, making her skirt flick out and raise slightly, laughing a little as he saw her eyes
widen in horror at the idea that her underwear might be on show. Tugging her arm quickly, he pulled her into his chest and kept her there as she
caught her balance once more.
"You're an idiot," she laughed softly. "No.. he's not hot though he is very rich and very sweet."
"Is he a proper ug-o though?"
Anya turned and looked at him blankly. "Ug-o?"
Frank rolled his eyes and led her off the floor as the song ended, catching hold of two glasses of champagne and handing one to her. "You know!Really
ugly!"
"Well he certainly isn't my blend of non-fat decaf, that's for sure." Anya sipped lightly at her champagne, as a look of disappointment crossed Frank’s face. "Though...” she added, “this is his yacht."
"No way!" Frank exclaimed, grinning as he quickly looked around. "Where is he? I'll marry him now, just for the boat!"
Taking hold of his wrist and jerking him to sit down quickly, Anya sighed heavily. "Frank! You are not an excited puppy who is going to pee all over the carpet at the first sign of excitement! You're a tasteful man who may or may not be interested in finding love while holidaying here, remember?"
Nodding, Frank sank into his chair, but still cast a glance around the deck. "So where is he?"
"I have already informed him that I have a friend who he may like to meet... we shall rendezvous with him in the private chamber after dinner. Until
then, just calm down and work on how you're going to win this man’s interest."
Dinner had been magnificent. Never before had a meal served to him hit his taste buds in such an interesting way. Never having had tried duck before,
he was surprised to find that he was now besotted with it; and the plum sauce that came with it? Divine. Straight after, Anya and Lua had taken him
into a bedroom and had sorted out his hair, and made him spray his mouth once more before leading him downstairs into a little room where there were
a few people conversing over malted whiskey.
"So where is he?" Frank asked as he looked over the room, his eyes falling on a few very pleasing figures before remembering that Anya had said that his target wasn't fortunate-looking.
"Right here." Lua said with a smile and led him over to a man sitting alone in the corner reading a broadsheet version of the Times. "Ray?"
The man pulled away the newspaper so that his face was revealed, and Frank mentally sighed. He was nothing like the type of guy he would normally go out with.
"Yes?" Ray smiled as he looked over Anya and Lua. "The ever beautiful duo, it's good to see you again." He took their hands and kissed them both.
Anya smiled and blushed slightly. "Oh Ray you spoil us. This," she pulled Frank forward gently so that he was stood in front of the two of them. "This is my good friend Frank Iero. Frank, meet Ray Toro."
Politely, Frank smiled and stepped even closer, offering his hand, which Ray accepted and shook firmly. His hands were nearly twice the size of Frank's, and Frank noticed that they weren’t soft like those of the other people he had met tonight. He had assumed that those people’s soft hands meant they had never done a hard days work in their life to earn their money, so the feel of Ray's rough skin against his own made him smile a little; glad that Ray wasn't one of the pompous, self-centred types that he had already met tonight. "Pleased to meet you.”
"Likewise. Please, take a seat." Ray motioned to the three available seats around him. Frank immediately took the one closest to Ray.
Anya and Lua shook their heads gently. "No, no Ray. We have to go mix… you know that." Anya said with a smile, turning to leave.
"Frank, come meet us on the lower deck when the yatch lands to get a lift home." Lua added, looking nervously over Ray, not pleased about this match
at all.
"Okay. Thank you, I'll see you later." Frank flashed them a winning smile before turning back to Ray as they left the room.
"So Frank... what do you do for a living?" Ray asked, pouring them both a glass of whiskey.
Swallowing, Frank rested his hand lightly on Ray's knee. "Please, you can call me Franky..."