Predator (6 page)

Ever since, Grace delighted in the rain walks with Salmonella. The simple pleasures of life were the best.

Grace tightened her grip on the mug when she heard a beep. It was a customized beep which signalled a text message from someone she knew. Grace reached out a slender arm for the phone hoping it would be a message from Florence saying she was on her way home.

She punched in her unlocking code on the cell phone, the message popped up: ‘Hey, sexy lady, it’s me. I was missing you and so the message … ’ Grace smiled. She knew it was him. He wanted sexual gratification yet again. He called it cyber-sex. The insatiable, naughty animal aroused the animal in her.

He was a total stranger who she’d met just a week ago when she was with Florence. He’d made her feel beautiful and desirable, in a way no one had ever made her feel. She smiled as she remembered how she’d met him. He’d walked into her life, swept her off her feet, he’d virtually hitched up her skirt and violated her in the wickedest way possible.

Salmonella had taken Grace to the Club on the highway, and told her to hang loose while she caught up with Prince about the reunion shindig. Grace, finding the club too noisy and stuffy, had stepped out into the porch in the cold wintry night.

The club seemed like a house of zombies. On the other hand, the coffee shop beside the club was teeming with people who seemed to be having a great time. The street was bustling. It felt reassuring to Grace somehow and made her feel less alone.

She shivered a little as stood at the entrance of the coffee place. He seemed to have stepped out of the club along with her, and said, ‘Kinda noisy back there, isn’t it? I hate the party scene, too. Stupid, bloody House Music. Ugh! Join me for a cup of coffee? It’ll warm you up!’ She’d gratefully, though hesitantly, accepted a steaming cappuccino.

He was pleasant looking, with a friendly smile and had a nice voice that made Grace feel instantly comfortable. Usually, she avoided accepting anything from overfriendly strangers. But he was different.

She thanked him and took a tentative sip from the mug. Before long, they were chatting away with easy familiarity. He was charming, intelligent and very good-looking, and Grace was secretly delighted that he had picked her to befriend when he could have had the pick of the innumerable beauties in the club.

Then he gave her a brief hug and vanished as quickly as he’d come. Grace turned around to see Salmonella walking towards the door. She felt light-headed and giddy, was it him or the coffee or just the lateness of the evening? She’d never know. Within a week’s time, she belonged to him – heart, body and soul. She was head over heels in love with a complete stranger.

Although Grace did have her fair share of attention, it was mostly the gorgeous Salmonella, basking in the sunshine of masculine admiration. Salmonella knew that Grace secretly nourished an inferiority complex when it came to dealing with men. She therefore tended to be over-protective in exposing Grace to the wolves who could easily take advantage of her. Grace was a lovely young woman but was completely oblivious to it. Grace was neither slutty nor love struck, but she was too naïve and gullible, having always led a sheltered life, and unexposed to the harshness of the wicked world. Salmonella was her full-time fairy Godmother.

‘I couldn’t find that idiot of my boyfriend. So … just who was that handsome guy you were out with?’ asked Florence while driving them home, a wicked smile on her face. Grace was evasive, and replied, ‘Just a nice guy who got me a coffee. How was the evening with Prince? Why don’t you ever introduce me to him or show me his pictures?’

‘I don’t have any pictures of him, Grace, he’s camera shy. Also, when he’s spinning those discs at the club, he war paints his face so no one can recognize him. He’s weird, but in a nice way … ’ replied Florence wryly and her voice trailed off into her thoughts. ‘The bastard wasn’t there. Ditcher!’

Salmonella didn’t push it any more. She knew Grace went all cagey about some things, especially when it came to matters of the heart. She knew Grace considered herself an awkward person living in the shadow of the beautiful Florence, and she didn’t want to needlessly hurt the overly-sensitive Grace by pressing her for answers.

Grace smiled at her cell phone remembering his smile, his lovely voice and the fabulous evening. She was thrilled to have been the one to capture the attention of a man for a change, and a nice guy at that. Perhaps, she wasn’t quite so bad to look at after all. And now, her dream man was sending her a text message saying he was missing her.

Perhaps the loud thunderclap Grace heard as she began keying in her reply was an omen, warning her to take care. But Grace pinged the ‘send’. The rain didn’t let up.

It was the beginning of a relationship of sorts. Grace was overwhelmed by the inappropriate verbal advances, the kind she’d never encountered before. In her innocence, Grace was too shy to tell Salmonella about her new virtual boyfriend.

It seemed harmless and innocuous enough when he’d asked her to email naked pictures of herself to him. She reckoned that it was the done thing, and he seemed nice enough and so endearing when he begged for phone and webcam sex with her from time to time. It was fun; and tonight while she was alone, waiting for Florence – it seemed like the perfect fun thing to do.

Grace felt it wasn’t too much to ask of her, and she wanted to keep him interested and attracted to her all the time. She’d be bereft if he left. He played her like an expert, pushing the limits and then pulling back when he realized she was uncomfortable.

He knew exactly how to take what he wanted from her and yet seemed to know when and where to draw the line. She was amazed at what had started off with an innocent cup of coffee and exchanging images of tattoos. He’d made very simple requests for pictures of her body artwork, and before Grace knew it, she was exposing herself more and more to a stranger she’d met just a few days ago. Well, considering that in this day and age, and at her age, she still didn’t have a steady boyfriend, she guessed she was adult enough to indulge in virtual escapades.

Also, in her low self-esteem, Grace felt she didn’t quite make the mark – she wasn’t beautiful, sexy or confident. He was the first man who, either considered her beautiful, or perhaps was mature enough to realize that looks weren’t everything. Perhaps he was Einstein, a brilliant mind. Grace was neither a Jolie nor an Einstein, nevertheless her mystery man seemed to find her hot.

Grace considered herself fortunate that she’d met him. And now, she wanted him with her every night. While she waited eagerly for the real deal, she unhooked her bra, clicked a picture of her large, round breasts, attached it to a message saying, ‘I miss you too … here, this will keep you warm tonight’, and clicked ‘send’ on her phone.

He would be pleased. He would call her soon.

She saw a Facebook update from Florence pop up on the phone from the subway. Grace concluded she’d be home in an hour. She grinned. The forthcoming reunion this weekend was going to be quite something. Grace and she would stay up late discussing what they were going to wear for the gala. Grace didn’t really have much time for her clandestine love tonight.

She dimmed the lights and stripped. Her cell phone rang promptly. It was he. Naturally. She would be the most desirable woman on earth once again for some time. The scented candle fluttered nervously, blushed and burnt fragrant fumes in the warm embrace of dark and passionate desires.

Prince’s Muse

It was a full house in the club on Friday night. It was a richly diverse, multicultural, cosmopolitan selection of the filthy rich from all over the world, not just India. Some of those countries Prince neither knew, nor cared enough to want to know about, except for the women who scorched the dance floor. Perspiring bodies swayed wantonly on the dance floor. He was literally making them dance to his tunes, and DJ Prince felt a surge of power as he held the headphones in one hand and played the console with the other. He felt like the Pied Piper as he turned up the decibel level.

He was exceptionally good-looking. He was six feet tall, and stood head and shoulders above almost everybody around him. He worked out and worked really hard, and this contributed to his magnificent physique. Dressed in a black tee-shirt and blue jeans, he knew he was the perfect lady-killer. A tattooed tail was visible at the edge of his the right sleeve. The oriental cigar that he smoked occasionally gave him a lonesome cowboy appeal. All in all, a hunk.

Prince had synchronized the lighting to the beat. He was in full control of the crowd. They didn’t call him Prince for nothing, and someday he would be ‘King’.

His friends called him weird just because he believed in contradictions, and the kind of stuff most people his age didn’t quite care about. Although he played trance and house music, his heart belonged to the era of hard rock and heavy metal.

He worked hard to pay for his master’s degree doing odd jobs, and dreamed of owning a brewery someday. Although he worked in a steak house over weekends, by choice, he was vegetarian.

All of thirty, and doing two shifts a day, had it not been for his burning ambition, he could’ve easily settled down into a cushy, corporate job like his college mates. But not for Prince; there was a method to his madness, and this was the way he liked it.

Perhaps that was why he had Salmonella in his life today. Not that he cared much for her, but she had helped him get a job in her Dad’s vineyard.

Like him, she was a bit spaced out. Probably the only thing other than her sexy body that he found interesting was the fact that she’d attempted suicide once upon a time. Prince found that morbidly fascinating.

She pretended to be normal outside, but inside she was weird and he could never quite understand her. He had given up on her like the scientists gave up on the Bermuda Triangle. He remembered that Salmonella had promised that she’d swing by to tell him about the party arrangements and the music they’d need for the reunion bash. He combed the gyrating forms on the dance floor to see if he could spot her. She wasn’t there yet.

He closed his eyes and let his mind wander as
Tiesto
blasted through the speakers. God, how he hated house music! Small consolation the track would be over soon, and also the evening; then he’d go home and slog through his college work, catch a few hours of sleep, and then head out to the vineyard.

He spotted a beautiful woman at the far end of the stage. Clad in an expensive Gucci outfit, she stood alone, sipping wine, and didn’t join the swaying mob on the dance floor. He knew she was checking him out. His night was made, and he quickly revised his plans for the night shift. He was relieved Florence was not around. He just hoped this new beauty wouldn’t be a raving, insatiable, nymphomaniac who couldn’t get enough all night.

She did milk him dry all right. It had taken him a full working day to recuperate.

The smoke machine kicked in and he hid himself behind a cloud of dry ice. He attacked the DJ console once again with barely leashed violence. Oh God, he loathed house music!

His eyes scanned the dance floor, checking out the women. Perhaps, he would get lucky again tonight and find a rich bitch in heat. Maybe, she would pay through her nose for his scorching loins with a full purse for a love fuck. Fuck love!

It was close to midnight already and he let his substitute take over. The crowd was doped and drunk. They would take any shit now, and from anyone. They didn’t need Prince any more. His role was to warm up the crowd until they begged for more. That was why he’d been invited by the richest vineyard owner in the region to rock the party.

Prince smiled as he remembered his carefree college days. He looked forward to the reunion at the vineyard. Of course, the bonus would be that he would be the DJ as well.

Slipping through the shadows at the rear end of the stage, Prince stepped down and quickly made his way across the dance floor to avoid being collared by drunken women. He needed to get away from it all for a while and get some fresh air before donning his other avatar for the night.

As he walked towards the exit he wondered if it was the money or his insatiable lust that made him do what he did. Perhaps it was the false sense of power it gave him over the fairer sex who used him, abused him, and took away his pride night after night. Someday, he’d get even.

Mere commoners wouldn’t have been able to take shit like this. Only Prince could walk with his head held high after being a gigolo night after night for the rich bitches, who didn’t give a rat’s ass about his dreams or aspirations. All they could think about was a good fuck from Prince for he was gifted.

Of course, Salmonella hadn’t a clue about this side of Prince or that he was attracted to her because of her rich father. It was better this way. His ultimate goal was Jonathan – the Big Daddy with oodles of money and a vineyard to boot.

It would be an awesome inheritance, and should that fool of her brother Chris drop dead someday soon, all the money would make Prince an Emperor overnight.

Maybe then, he could afford to love Salmonella, but not before. His coldness didn’t bother him one bit. It had always been easy for him to yank his conscience out of his bastard soul, throw it on the dance floor and have those bitches stomp all over it, until it went still and silent.

He needed some time alone before he could get into the mood to do it again tonight to the woman in white. He approached her with confidence, and she took his hand and led him out of the club through the back door.

Tonight, he would be the gigolo. Soon, he’d own a harem of sluts. His time was nigh.

Planning the Big Night

Chris was pleased with himself as he surveyed the venue for the party. Joe, his asshole of a father, seemed to have had some kind of a cosmic orgasm and had agreed to let Chris host the reunion party in the vineyard’s visitor’s hall abutting the clearing – on condition nobody got hurt. Chris was surprised at this condition, but then he thought of the proverbial gift horse.

Chris was dumbfounded when Joe announced that the wine would be on the house as well. Of course, Joe ran true to form when he scrutinized Chris’s guest list before giving him a free hand, and left it all to Chris.