Chapter 7 No Backing out

'A thousand dollars? A thousand dollars?' Ria screamed in her head. How did it all come to this? How did she get in this mess? Why was she allowing these girls to drag her around like this? Now, she wished that she had never agreed to their devilish game to begin with. She wished she had just stayed back at the hotel and read a book or watch a movie or sip wine. Just anything that would have helped her escape these witches. She could watch Vegas from the window or even, after they had left, she could go on a quiet walk and enjoy the city all by herself.

Now, she really rejected taking the deal. Her common sense had told her in the first place to turn down the deal, but a part of her was desperate to be accepted by these girls. Maybe if she did what they had asked her to do, maybe if she did the bet, they would see her as one of them and she could be more relevant among them. She wanted to wipe out the idea of the good girl image they had about her in their heads. She didn't want them to see her as the naive and innocent girl who always needed Georgina's protection. She wanted to be one of the girls too. She wanted to be considered worldly and street smart like the rest of them. And that was the main reason why she took the bet, even when everyone bit of common sense and reasoning within her was screaming and begging her not to take it.

Now, she had gotten herself in this mess.

"A thousand dollars? I didn't even take any drink. You gave me just one shot, of your own freewill." Ria muttered weakly.

"I gave you one shot for good luck. The price is twice the cost of the usual shot." Keisha said, winking at her.

"This is not fair." Ria muttered again.

"You said so before." Keisha said. "Now, tell me darling. Are you paying up or should I pick your next mission?" She asked Ria.

Ria sighed in surrender. She didn't have a thousand dollars to give to them and she didn't know if they were being serious about her owing them or not.

"Just know that I am about to bring you more reports of failure." She said to Keisha. "Choose away."

Keisha laughed.

"That one then." She said, pointing to the blonde boy in flowery shorts. The same one Camila had picked out earlier.

"My choice at last." Camila said, leaning heavily against the lounger, as if the show she was watching just got a lot more interesting.

"I told y'all that you'll get your turns in time." Keisha smiled at her.

"I'm off." Ria said, as she turned sluggishly to leave.

"Come on, have one shot for the way." Kris offered.

"Nope! Thank you!" Ria snapped. "I ain't taking anymore bloody shots that'll cost me my freedom." She said.

"It's free. I promise." Kris laughed. "This one's on me."

"No, thank you." Ria insisted as she walked away.

"She's gonna loose again." Keisha said once Ria was out of hearing distance. "That guy is a prick."

"But he looks so bright." Helena said sweetly.

"Trust me, this rejection would not be as mild as the first." Keisha said, taking a sip out of her glass.

"He does look like a stuck up bastard." Kris agreed.

"But, weren't you the one who said he looked so bright earlier?" Helena asked Kris in confusion.

"And y'all told me not to be so judgmental by the looks." Kris flashed an evil smirk. "I did say he looked bright and gay, yeah. But that doesn't mean he can't be a bright looking, stuck up bastard." She said, and the small group laughed aloud.

Ria approached the young man bravely. Her heart was racing in her chest and sirens were sounding in her ears, but it was not as dreadful as it was when she approached the first guy. It had been even worse on her first attempt, but this time around, the fear wasn't as intense, but it was just as bad. Perhaps Keisha was right after all, sending her off to such a mild start. Now she wasn't so scared of the embarrassment that would come with the rejection. In fact, she actually mentally prepared herself for it.

"Hi." She said when she got to the young man. He looked up from his phone which he had been busy with and fixed Ria with a mesmerizing stare from bright blue eyes. He pushed a lock of staying blonde hair away from his eyes and pulled it back as he replied Ria. She could not take her eyes away from his bulging biceps that budged through the short sleeves of his white shirt.

"Hello." He smiled at Ria. She felt something thug at her heart strings but quickly cautioned herself.

'You're not here to find love Ria. You're playing a game here. Don't loose guard! Stay focused!' She chided herself within her mind.

"Are you interested in having a one night stand with me?" Ria asked directly.

The young man wasn't drinking, but he choked. On his own spit.

He gasped and coughed and fought for air. His pale white face was turning red and green.

"Wai... Wait... What.. What do you..." He stuttered, unable to get any words out.

"I said do you want to have a one night stand with me?" Ria repeated and the young man's cough seizure resumed with even more intensity.

"Why? Is the idea so unpleasant that you would rather die than do it?" Ria asked.

"No! No, I swear, that's not what this is about!" He cried, all the veins on his neck were beginning to show.

"So, why are you trying to cough your life out just because I told you that I would like to have a one night stand with you?" Ria said.

"I'm not trying to..." The man started, but then changed his mind about arguing or trying to explain himself in that manner. "I am just surprised, you know. Women don't do this often. It is not everyday that you get to see a woman walk up to a man and ask for a one night stand." He shrugged.

"Well, today is your lucky day, and here's a wanton woman, offering up herself. Tell me, do you want this or not?" Ria offered again, swearing under her breath. Her patience was growing thin and she was getting pissed off that he was making her repeat the embarrassing offer over and over again. But she wasn't embarrassed, not in the slightest. She was just really annoyed.

"Well, I would have taken this offer with both hands, but then, my girlfriend is on the way, and any moment now, she would be here. But..." He was saying, but Ria turned around and began to walk away.

"So you're not interested then." She said over her shoulders.

"But, if I could get your number, we could work something out!" The man called as she walked away.

"And, he's a cheating son of a bitch!" Ria cursed again, under her breath and kept walking without even looking back.

"I didn't even get your name! Hey..." The young man called, but Ria left him behind in the crowd.

"He was another failure." She told the girls when she reached the group.

"We saw everything Ria. It looked like you were going to kill him from the very start!" Helena cried.

They had all been shocked earlier as they watched, when the young man started coughing and choking, and Ria just stood there looking down on him like she didn't see that he was about to choke to death.

"We should do something!" Helena had suggested frantically. "We can't just sit here and watch him die. She would stand there and do nothing! She would let him die!" She had cried.

"You had on all the air of an assassin back there Ria. You were supposed to woo him, but you went all 'Naked Weapon' on him!" Camila smiled with admiration.

"More like 'Charlie's Angels'! Those Asian assassins would have been a little more romantic, at least, until they can get him alone." Kris giggled.

"I did what you guys asked me to do." Ria shrugged.

"No Ria, I didn't ask you to kill a man. You were supposed to charm your way into his bed and not choke him to death." Keisha cried. "I thought he would give you a hard time, but clearly, I underestimated you. He was no match for you, you almost killed the poor bastard."

"Well, I asked you for an illustration, but you refused." Ria shrugged.

"Well, you are supposed to figure that out yourself Ria, that's the whole point of all this." Keisha cried. "We might have placed a bet on you, and yes, we are getting a knack out of it. But the main point is for you to discover yourself and get in touch with the feminine part of you. The seductress that is asleep in you. Every woman has one. We want to help you awaken her tonight, and if you don't play the game our way, we might as well leave now, because it would all be a waste of time, resources and energy with nothing to show at the end." Keisha said. "But then Ria, you have to be willing to work with us."

Ria listened to her quietly. Maybe Keisha was being honest for real. Maybe she was truly doing all this for her.

"Then, you should at least show me some pointers." Ria said. "I have no idea how these things work."

The group of girls were silent for a moment. For that long moment, the sound of the music blasting through the speakers swallowed them in a blanket of silent noise.

"First, you have to be gentle in your approach. Pull them in slowly." Sonia started.

"Don't talk to them immediately. Let it build up." Kris said. "Start with a gentle smile, a flirtatious gaze. Get them interested." She said, demonstrating as she explained. The rest of the girls giggled as they watched her.

"Do not seem desperate or act as if you're acting a script. Even if you're acting one right now, try to be a good actress and not let them see through your act." Helena tipped in.

"Act interested and uninterested at the same time." Keisha winked. Then getting on her feet, she began to demonstrate. "Like this..." She said. "Imagine you have a cookie you are willing to share with him..." The girls giggled as she picked up some chip from the plate of chips that they were served, and began to use it as a sample of the illustrative 'cookie'. "Quiet girls, I swear, I really mean cookies. Just the plain innocent ole cookie." Keisha said as she slowly licked on the chips, from down all the way up.

"You dirty minded wench!" Camila yelled and the girls giggled and cheered. Ria could not see the humor in the gesture, neither could she understand why Camila had called Keisha'dirty minced', or why the girls were cheering. She did find the action a little disturbing and disgusting, but that was all.

"Quiet girls! I have a job to do here." Keisha hushed them with a silly grin. But the girls kept laughing. Ria desperately struggled to understand what was going on.

"Now, let us continue." Keisha said, moving to Ria's side. "This is a cookie. Your cookie." She said, shoving the wet chip in Ria's face. Another round of laughter erupted from the girls.

"Ignore them." Keisha winked at her. "Now this is your cookie, and you wanna share it with him. You have to let him know that you own this cookie and you choose him to share it with you. He must understand that you have nothing to loose if he chooses not to share it with you, but he stands to loose everything. Let him know who's in command from the get go." Keisha concluded. "You get my point?" She asked Ria.

"I bow to you daughter of Eve! Chief seductress! Mother confessor!" Kris hailed as she stood up to bow before Keisha.

The other girls joined in the cheering and hailing, bowing in their seats.

When the cheers had gone down, Ria spoke up.

"I still don't understand anything." She said.

"Oh!..." The girls groaned.

"She's hopeless, I tell you! Hopeless!" Camila groaned.

"I feel stressed!" Keisha cried, putting a hand to her brow. "This is my first failed tutorial! I have never failed! Not even once, ever!" She groaned.

"Even I can testify to that. I have just learnt a lot from your little lecture!" Helena cried.

"Well, my darling Ria, looks like you'll have to figure out things out on your own for the rest of the journey. My ego is too bruised to give you any more pointers." Keisha said.

"Just pick the next target." Camila said. "We did our best." She said frowning.

"I got a few tips really, but Keisha didn't speak in clear terms." Ria begged.

"Use the tips you got, we can't give any more tips. Keisha, pick her next mission!" Camila insisted.

"Kris, you do the picking. I'm heartbroken!" Keisha said as she joined the rest of the girls on the lounger.

"Finally!" Kris cried excitedly. She turned towards the crowd.

"That one!" She pointed at another blonde guy. This one looked very young, like a teenager, and he was dressed like a street dancer.

"He looks cheap!" Keisha cried.

"You let me do the picking!" Kris reminded her.

"He's just a child." Ria stated.

"He's a man. The lounge doesn't let any underaged teenager come in her." Kris maintained.

"He could have used a fake ID, who knows? After all, it's Vegas." Helena suggested.

"I choose him." Kris insisted yet again.

"There are so many black men in here. How comes y'all are not sending me to one of them?" Ria asked.

"Have you seen yourself mami?" Keisha asked her. "You are a melanin goddess! Any black man would swoon! We are not setting you up for a love match, we are setting you up for a one night stand. Besides, we can't give it to you easy, especially when our money is involved." She said.

"Fine!" Ria gave in. "I'm moving." She said as she began to move towards the designated man.

"Just buy him a drink, whatever the cost! Don't worry. It's on us." Camila called after her.

"She would give up after this try! It's hopeless!" Sonia said when Ria had walked away.

"He's a kid. She might get it easy after all." Keisha sighed. "After all my hard work, Kris just let it all blow up." She complained.

"Just let the girl get laid already." Kris groaned.

"Hi." Ria said to get the boy's attention.

"Hi" he said in return, looking at Ria with curiosity.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Ria offered halfheartedly.

The boy looked shocked at first, then his surprise gave way into a laugh. He laughed for a long moment and Ria began to get confused.

"I see what you're doing there." The boy said, sputtering. "See, I like your courage, but you're not my type!" He smiled.

"What do you mean I'm not your type?" Ria asked.

"Well, how do I put this so that it doesn't sound offensive." He smiled smugly. "You see, I don't do black girls. Sorry." He said and walked away.

Ria stood to that spot, dazed.