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Suddenly the man noticed Mia and a coy grin crawled over his lips.
“Oh now, Harper, you haven’t been keeping this one secret from me have you? Has the almighty Harper Nightingale finally decided she’s human after all? You must be pretty special, Miss…?”
“Mia,” replied Mia, wishing she could be as hard to see as the other patrons.
“Caleb. Me and Harper go way back. If you want to get in with her for the long haul, you’ll have to get through me!”
The three laughed then, Mia’s more out of nerves than anything else.
“Anyway, Caleb, my darling, it was so lovely bumping into you. We need to plan a brunch soon, just us girls and have a proper catch up.”
“Of course, I can tell when I’m being a third wheel!”
Can you? thought Mia with an eyebrow raised.
“I’ll get my people to call your people and blah, blah, blah, brunch!”
The canned laughter came again and the two hugged and kissed each other as he strutted off up the stairs and out of the club, much to what Mia assumed was the appreciation of the whole club.
“Well…” started Mia, pushing her now luke-warm food around with a fork, “He seemed…nice. How do you know him?”
“Oh, I don’t,” said Harper, the sides of her mouth already beginning to curl upwards.
“What?” Mia put down her fork in disbelief.
“Never met him before in my life.”
The two held eye contact for a moment before both bursting into fits of laughter. Even a couple of the tables nearby seemed to laugh, likely having heard the whole thing. The jazz started to pick up then as if to shut up the naughty kids in the crowd and they tried to get serious about the food in front of them.
“This one is my favorite; it is a Thai recipe of a curried lamb dish. Are you okay with spice?”
“Oh, now you think to ask if I’m okay with an order?”
Harper nudged her shoulder with her own. “Just open your mouth, will you?”
She forked a piece of the rich-smelling meat onto a fork and gently placed it in Mia’s mouth, her lip trembled a little at the welcomed and yet intimate intrusion of the fork.
“Wow!” Mia exclaimed. It was really delicious. Slightly sweet and sticky, yet fragrant and balanced. The fattiness of the meat melted the sharp notes into a warmth that lingered on her tongue.
“Now try a sip of your drink.”
Mia complied and her mouth fizzed with what felt like a condensed mojito. The strong flavors of mint and lime, but with a touch of ginger and the sweetness of pure sugar cane juice. It washed away the warmth of the lamb and blended with the flavors, leaving a sparkling dew of a Thai vacation dancing on her lips.
The lights dimmed again and this time, a glamorous woman stepped to the plate and began to ad-lib over the top, scatting riffs and sounds to accompany the music.
“You have behaved yourself very well this evening so far, Mia,” said Harper, dabbing the edges of her mouth with a handkerchief. “But let’s see how this woman’s performance gets you.”
Mia nestled herself into her seat, preparing for a true show of this singer’s range, which already sounded incredible, when Harper turned her face and kissed her lips.
The sensation of her lips was even softer on hers than it had felt on her cheek; she wanted to melt into them, to taste the lime cocktail that teased the edges endlessly. Harper grabbed Mia’s chin and forced it away to look at the stage again, exposing her neck. Harper’s lips began to trail along the line of her neck and down to her collarbone. It took Mia a moment to notice in the confusion of the transpiring heat, but Harper was playing the scales along her body. As the singer’s pitch raised, so did Harper’s mouth, but the deeper the woman sang, the lower her lips trailed.
“Did you know,” whispered Harper as she came up once more, “that Zadia here has one of the largest vocal ranges of any woman in history…aren’t you lucky?”
Mia gripped the edge of the chair as Harper’s lips descended again, this time below the collarbone, Harper having to pull Mia’s top to the side to remain on skin. On the next time the pitch peaked, Harper bit Mia’s ear gently.
“She also has one of the loudest voices around…although I’d say yours is very powerful too. Shall we see who is louder?”
The next time Zadia’s voice tumbled into a deeper range, Harper’s hand traced slowly downwards. Down, discreetly under the table, under the ruffle of Mia’s punk-inspired skirt and finally under the thin fabric of her underwear to the warmth beneath. Mia gasped.
