Playing With Fire

Evangeline Baker

Through the haze I see twinkling lights and feel pulsing bodies surrounding me. I tip my head back, look up at the starry night sky, and let the heavy beats of the music overtake my muddled thoughts. I feel the vibrations thrumming through my body as the endorphins dissolve into the deepest part of my being.

The music is pumping so loud in my ears I can barely hear Luna talking over the sound. I tip my head down to meet hers and slow my dancing. Her lips are moving but her words sound like whispers against the noise.

"What?" I yell.

"Happy birthday!" Luna's voice carries over the music this time as she drunkenly lifts her glass of champagne above her head.

I hear the other nine women at my party scream cheers and 'happy birthday' from all around us. We all clank glasses and throw back our bubbly in celebration. This is my fourth, no maybe fifth glass tonight. I stopped counting after the third one as my befuddled mind sank deeper into drunkenness.

"Whoo!" I scream right along with them throwing my hands in the air and dancing in the middle of our make-shift dance floor with my empty glass still in hand. I set it down on a table near us just before pulling at Luna and Stella's hands to get them closer. We are in the middle of all the others, letting our bodies get lost in the rhythm, I close my eyes and move to the music.

I haven't let loose like this in years. From the moment I got my first blockbuster role three years ago my life hasn't been the same. Being an actress has always been a dream of mine but giving up as many freedoms as I did to get to this point was something I had never anticipated. I miss being able to go out to clubs without being noticed or simply walk out of my home without being followed by paparazzi.

I lift Luna and Stella's hands in the air with mine but stop abruptly when I feel something sharp and chunky on Stella's finger. My eyes pop open. Is that what I think it is? I pull her delicate ivory fingers up to my face. A silver band glistens under the twinkle lights hanging above us.

The ring is turned inward. From my point of view it looks like a simple band around her finger. She has other rings on her hand so I didn't think anything of it when I saw it earlier. I blink a few times trying to clear the drunken blurriness from my eyes and turn the ring around to the front with my fingers. It's a diamond ring.

"You're engaged?!"

"I am!" She squeals in delight doing a little dance in her tight black Christian Dior number. It looks good on her and shows off her curves. "He proposed this morning, I didn't want to tell you during your party and steal the limelight or anything." I pull her in for a hug.

"Oh my gosh you should have said something! I'm so excited for you. Congratulations!"

"Ah! Look at the size of that thing!" Luna exclaims, taking Stella's hand out of mine and into her own. "Congrats Stella! Can I try it on? That shit is amazing."

Stella laughs, knowing how impetuous Luna can be. She nods her head, sliding the ring off of her finger. I watch in amusement as Stella hands it over to Luna to put it on. Like a firework erupting, the crystal dances with the light as Luna slides on the ring and holds it up to her face.

"That's the wrong hand, Luna!" I laugh.

She frowns down at her finger. "How am I supposed to know? It's not like I've been engaged before." She tugs at the diamond on her finger. "Here, you try it on." She turns to Stella before I have a chance to say no. "Can Evangeline try it on?"

I shake my head vehemently. "No. I think that's bad luck or something."

"Of course you can!" Stella squeals. Clearly my protests are falling on deaf ears because they are both not listening.

"No, I shouldn't." We argue back and forth nuzzling into each other's ears and making exaggerated hand movements so we can figure out what each other is saying over the sounds of the boisterous party. I shake my head no again and the movement makes me a little dizzy.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Luna drunkenly chants from beside me clapping and bouncing. What is wrong with this woman? She's notorious for trying to convince me to do things I would rather not do.

"Honestly, Evangeline I don't mind at all!"

Ugh fine. I take it from Luna, carefully glide it onto my finger, and hold it up in front of my face just as Luna did.

"It's amazing Stella!" I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous, "I'm so jealous!" I say because I can't lie when I'm drunk. I say what's on my mind even when it's admitting that I yearn for the day I fall in love.

At this point in my life the only things I say I love nowadays are coffee, wine, and the occasional donut I allow myself to indulge in from the bakery down the street.

Trust me, it's a good donut.

I don't let myself get too close to guys because I've learned the hard way that most just want to have a taste of fame. I absolutely want to find the man of my dreams like she has but I just think fate is taking her sweet ass time.

One day.

The ring sparkles in the flashing lights all around us. It's understated and gorgeous just like her. Stella's boyfriend, well fiancé now, is an amazing guy too and he treats her so well. I want that for myself, I want to know what it feels like to love deeply and to be loved fiercely in return. Stella truly is so lucky.

Just as I am about to pull the ring from my finger I see two strange men in firefighter uniforms strut into my living room and out onto the large open-air patio.

I freeze.

Panic washes over my body instantly sobering me momentarily. Is there a fire? I look around trying to figure out what's going on but everyone seems to be as surprised as I am. "Strippers!" Someone screams. Squeals of delight ring out, squelching my panic.

Oh! Someone hired strippers! Thank god, for a second I thought that there might be a real emergency. I bounce up and down excitedly.

"No way!" I laugh. I look over at Luna. "Did you do this?" She's bouncing up and down clapping her hands excitedly right along with me.

"Wasn't me!"

"You have to take a picture with one of them." Stella exclaims, "before they take their clothes off!" She giggles.

The touch of Luna's warm fingers can be felt against the cool skin of my back as she pushes me towards the strippers while simultaneously getting the camera app open on her phone. I run up to the closest one and hug into him with a hand on his chest.

"Wait! Your ring!" I yell to Stella noticing it is still on my finger. "It's okay just take the picture!" She shouts waving me back toward the handsome man.

I nod and hug into him again smiling for the camera. He leans in and tells me something in my ear but I can't quite hear him over the music. His voice is demanding and rough and tickles the bare skin of my neck. Luna snaps a picture right before the sexy firefighter pulls me off of him.

It must be time for them to start stripping. I've never seen a stripper in real life before I'm not really sure what to do. Do I sit? Or Stand? I stumble back and look at him excitedly. He hasn't pulled out a chair or led me to a couch like they did in Magic Mike so I guess I'll stand. Who knows what real life strippers do.

He scowls down at me with these big gorgeous hazel eyes and a head full of stunningly black hair. He would make it far in the acting world if he ever decided to give up stripping. Hell he could have been a co-star in my last film with the way he wears that firefighter costume so well.

His lips are full and a deep raspberry red. He has dimples that dig into each cheek and accentuate the sharp edges of his jaw. He's tall too and I like tall men. I like the feeling of looking up into a man's eyes. His powerful build towers over me in a domineering, really-good-in-bed, kind of way.

He has the most intriguing features in a man I have ever seen. He's unfairly beautiful.

He takes a hold of my arm and drills me with a look. I'm giddy with anticipation. The striptease hasn't even started yet and I already want another one.

"Ma'am!"

Did he just call me ma'am? I frown.

I blink up, eyelids fluttering from his muscular build to the pools of gold staring down at me. I forgive him for calling me ma'am because he has eyes of a god and he smells heavenly. The smell of burning embers and warm summer nights invades my senses. I wonder if anyone has ever told him that? That he smells glorious. I'm about to tell him myself but he interrupts me.

"Y'all need to evacuate." He speaks loudly and with authority.

Evacuate? I watch his lips as he clearly enunciates every word for my drunken ears to hear. He sounds frustrated. His deep scowl matches his frustrated tone. He sweeps a hand across the air as he continues to speak.

"There is a fire in the building. The fire alarms have been going off for a while now." The music suddenly cuts out and I look around in a panic. I hear long drawn out alarms coming from the interior of my building.

How did we not hear those?

The handsome stranger continues to talk to everyone in attendance. He speaks clearly now that the music has been cut and people can hear him. "There is a fire in the building I need everyone to please carefully follow the fire escape route and exit the building. Please follow my partner out of the apartment and down the stairs to the left. Keep walking until you are completely off the building premises."

I look up at him and see that he is glaring down at me. His expression is laced with impatience.

"You need to leave, now!"

Realization finally hits me.

Oh my god.

He's not a stripper.