Marsailles and a night of Paella

Marsailles and a night of Paella

It was the sort of night you got after going to your gran's funeral.
The sky was leaden and there were heavy black clouds. Rain had been
threatening the town all day. So far all we had were high winds
scattering the fallen leaves. And blowing the litter around.
I was standing in a dimly lit street, shadows flitting around. The
sound of a lowly sax reached my ears. I listened to it for a while, a
Marlborough stuck in the corner of my mouth sent curls of smoke
upwards. I headed towards the welcoming sound. I found it was a sleazy
looking bar. The gorilla on the door nodded to me and signalled me to
go in. I knew he was a gorilla because he didn't have a neck or a chin.
The atmosphere was just how I liked it. Heavily laden with stale
cigarette smoke and the cloying smell of cheap perfumes. This heady
atmosphere plus the sounds of the combo in the background gave me a
buzz. I walked over to the bar, the usual type of bar flies were there.
One or two drunks with their heads in their drinks were sprawled over
the bar. Two broads, both who were obviously hookers and looking for
prey. There was one in particular who caught my eye. She looked a
little classier than the usual hooker. She was sat on a barstool and
showing a lot of leg. And from the looks of it those legs went on
forever.
I called the barman over and ordered a shot of bourbon and what the
dame was drinking. I then went over to her and shoved the drink in
front of her. She eyed me suspiciously but still took the drink. I
tried to figure out what she was thinking.
The place was an obvious dive, just the place to avoid anyone I knew...
trouble was looking for me.. and I didn't intend to make it easy to
find me. In the dim room, and smoke wafting through... vision was
hard..... damn hard.
A dim glow bearly lit the face of a man that had seen alot, to much,
and didn't like what he'd seen...
I figured she was slumming it, probably had a fight with her guy.
Dark eyes pierced the room, and found mine. He swaggered over to where
I sat at the bar, a bit of a limp that intrigued me. The threatening
storm had left his hair slightly damp, and curled slightly, I wanted to
test it's texture... but restrained myself.
Otto placed a drink before me...... I looked at it.. and added up the
strings attached to such an offer... shrugging, I figured it was worth
a listen to this mans spiel. I'd been pushed around enough for one
night... but he looked like a man that knew what he was about... and
could keep the rest of the slime from the come ons I'd been dodging all
night.
He offered me a meal, I wondered if my stomach was growling that
much... or if he could read that his closeness was causing another kind
of hunger.

I gave her the usual spiel, she was obviously not used to it. She fell
for it, before long she was telling me of her fight with the boyfriend.
She held an unlit cigarette to her ruby lips her eyes twinkling
mischievously. I lit it for her and led her to a table.
I asked her if she wanted to join me in some food. She accepted saying
she had not eaten all day. I called the waiter over. He was the typical
waiter, looked down his nose at you and sniffed a lot. He handed me the
menu with an air of disdain. I figured I was going to bust this guys
nose if he kept on. I asked if she wanted to eat Paella, she accepted.
I ordered paella plus trimmings for two. As we waited we drank a bottle
of red between us. I found she was lightening up and even told me her
name. I figured with a name like Charlotte she didn't come from the
wrong side of the tracks. I eyed her up and down. She was dressed to
kill. This was no five and dime dame.
I asked her what she was planning on doing next. She shrugged, and said
she didn't know. What she did know was, she wasn't going back to her
guy. The Paella arrived, it looked good. The rice was cooked just
right, not like in some places where you had to use your toothpick to
clear the hard rice from your teeth. The chicken was succulent and
tender, almost as succulent as Charlotte. I looked at her and she
nodded in approval. Added to this dish was an assortment of seafoods.
Usually you get chicken and a few prawns. This was different. There
were mussels, calamari, prawns, the king size ones and an assortment of
cockles and winkles. Topping all this off was a selection of peppers.
The total effect of this meal was very good. Here I was with a great
meal and a stunning look broad. Charlotte mentioned about the quality
of the food in such an establishment. She looked at me as she forked
the paella between her luscious lips. Her eyes told me of a good time
to come. I was transfixed on her mouth and the way she used her tongue
to clean up the rice. She even had a sensual way of eating her chicken
legs. She gently plucked at the tender meat with her teeth, she used
her tongue again to lap the juice up. I think we spent the whole time
during the meal just staring into each other's eyes.
The tempo of the music changed so I asked her to dance. We moved around
in time with the music clinging on tight to each other. I whispered to
her and asked if she was ready for dessert. She implied we might have
dessert back at my place. We both knew what was going to happen so we
left. Outside the sky was still the same heavy with clouds and
threatening rain. The warm wind was getting to be uncomfortable. We
hurried back to my place, after all the streets of Marsailles are no
place to be at night.