CHAPTER 16: HMM...

“Is everything okay?”

Karen asked an utterly nervous Flora who hardly touched the Fillet Mignon in front of her.

“Hmm…yea,” Flora mumbled as she reached for the glass of red wine next to her plate. She took a sip off it and quickly placed it back down as if she just remembered it could be laced with poison. She had better not drink too much tonight. She had to be on her toes. Who knows what kind of stunt Karen was going to pull?

“So, what do you normally do after work?” Karen smiled.

“Nothing much,” Flora shrugged. “Jess and I go for the occasional drink or two.”

“Only Jess and you? Don’t you need to spend time with your boyfriend?”

Without thinking, Flora blurted out, “Oh, I don’t have a boyfriend.” She regretted it immediately.

Karen smiled at Flora’s reply. That was exactly what she had wanted to hear. Not that it would have made much difference otherwise.

“A smart, beautiful woman like you, no boyfriend? That’s hard to believe,” she commented.

Flora nearly choked on the piece of steak she had in her mouth just then. She decided it was time to change the subject. “Erm…what about the launch, Karen…” she tried.

Karen waved her hand as if to brush off Flora’s words. “We can discuss that later. Let’s just enjoy the meal first.”

“Amuse me,” she continued. “Tell me a bit about yourself.”

Flora panicked. Okay, she had to keep cool. What’s a mere lesbian chick compared to all the men she's handled before.

Inhaling deeply, Flora proceeded to tell Karen her life story albeit a much, much, much edited version.

Karen, on the other hand, kept her eyes unwaveringly focussed on Flora the whole time. Flora noticed and tried hard not to squirm in her seat.

“There’s somewhere I’d like to take you to tonight,” Karen told her.

Flora had to hold on to her chair to keep herself from falling off in shock when she heard what Karen had said.

“What? Where?” she exclaimed.

“Remember I said I wanted to show you the location I have in mind for the launch?” Karen said.

“Oh,” Flora breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’d like to know what you think of the place,” Karen continued.

“Yea, sure,” Flora mumbled.

“Good,” Karen smiled. “Are you done then? Ready to go?”

Karen’s chauffeur dropped them off in front of a building somewhere in Tsim Sa Tsui. As Flora got out of the car, she frowned as she tried to remember if there was a particular venue in the building that could possible hold a launch for a new fashion line.

Karen held out her hand at Flora who pretended not to see it. “Okay, where are we going?” Flora asked nonchalantly, trying to ignore Karen’s eyes.

“Just follow me,” Karen smiled.

“Karen darling! It’s been ages!” a voice shrieked as they entered a door.

Flora found herself in a club of some kind. Trance-inducing rave music, white and blue strobe lights and the smell of weed greeted her as she stepped in.

There was a figure by Karen’s side, planting mock kisses on either side of her cheeks. Karen giggled and returned the pecks. “Raymond!”

Flora cocked her eyebrow in amusement.

“Ray, meet Flora. Flora, this is Ray,” Karen introduced them.

“Flora, hello,” Raymond extended his perfectly manicured hand at Flora who shook it gingerly.

“I always say, any friend of Karen’s is a friend of mine. Do come look for me later, darling…” he continued as he waved her and Karen goodbye before sashaying off to some other corner.

Something occurred to Flora as she slowly took in the club’s surroundings and its patrons.

Suddenly out of the blue, Karen grabbed her hand and pulled her along, leading her further inside. Flora tried desperately to wry her fingers from Karen’s grip but to no avail. There was no way Karen was going to let go. They stopped at a table filled with people and again similar greetings were exchanged. Flora noticed how they were giving her odd looks. Then she realised that Karen had brushed up real close to her. Flora discreetly stepped aside, creating some space between them. Karen came up to her again and this time she brought her lips close to Flora’s face. Flora was about to push her away when Karen shouted into her ear, “Want to dance?”

Flora again breathed another sigh of relief. There had been too many close calls tonight.

She shook her head and gestured to Karen that she felt a bit tired. Karen immediately wrapped her arm around Flora’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” she shouted above the din of music.

Flora decided she couldn’t be bothered to evade Karen’s touch any longer. She might as well give her some cheap thrills ‘cos that’s all she was getting, Flora mused. She nodded a reply. “It’s just a headache.”

“C’mon, I’ll take you home,” Karen said as she guided a very surprised Flora out of the club.

“You know, you could have stayed. I could easily have taken a cab home,” Flora told Karen when they were back in Karen’s car.

“Don’t be silly. How could I let you go home alone, and in a cab? Think of the dangers,” Karen commented.

Flora looked at Karen, trying to decipher her ulterior motives. She was in a car with her. She had had dinner with her. She had gone to some gay club with her. What else could be more dangerous?

“Keong, could you please stop here for awhile,” Karen told her chauffeur. “Be back in a bit,” she said to Flora before jumping out.

“Hey…wh...” Flora yelled after her but Karen had already gone. Flora was sitting in the back feeling rather uncomfortable about the whole situation and contemplating whether or not to leave when Karen popped back in again, carrying a white plastic bag.

“Here, you’ll feel much better after taking this,” she said as she removed a pack of tablets and a bottle of mineral water from the bag.

Alarm bells rang in Flora’s head. All she could think of was that Karen was trying to drug her. “Err…I’m fine, Karen. I don’t need anything,” Flora stammered.

Karen held it for her to see. “They’re aspirin. For your headache.”

Flora stared at the packaging and then stared at Karen. "Oh."

Karen took two tablets out and placed it into Flora’s palm. She then gestured for Flora to put the pills in her mouth before passing her the bottle of water to wash them down. Flora kept her gaze on Karen but gingerly did as she was told – a million questions running through her mind. She had never been so confused.

“Keong, I think it’s time we dropped Miss Lau home,” Karen said.