Portals of Infinity: Book Three: Of Temples and Trials Read online

“Where I come from, it is customary to apologize when accidental contact is made, Madam Marti,” I said softly.

  “Yeah well, you’re not there now, are you Mist Will?” She smirked.

  “Marti!” Sensei called out loudly.

  Marti scowled, “I apologize for the strike,” she growled.

  I smiled, “Accepted, Madam Marti.”

  We switched partners then, and went over the next short form, until we had covered four of them. I noticed Marti was rather rough with the other men as well, but not the women in the class.

  When class ended, I showered and left to head to my ‘job’. I didn’t see Marti on the way out, or anyone else really. But I was first out of the shower, having nifty cleaning spells did make it pretty easy to get clean.

  Working at The Stable was a lot nicer then I would have thought. It was definitely upper class, and expensive. Patrons were not allowed to touch, pat, or fondle the waiters, and could be asked to leave if they did. During the day there were four guys waiting the tables, one bartender, and two cooks. At night, it went up to ten waiting tables, three bartenders, three cooks and three helpers, plus bouncers and a few others.

  Then there were the dancers on stage. Apparently, they had regular acts that performed here as well. I didn’t pay too much attention to them, they didn’t start until after ten, but from what little bit I saw they did seem to be rather good at holding the attention of the customers.

  The night went very quick, learning how to wait tables wasn’t too hard to do, but it was a lot of work. I hadn’t worked so hard since I had a job with a landscaper in college. As staff, we got to eat there during our breaks and the food was amazing. I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out that half the people there were more interested in the food than in the eye candy.

  A lot of the women did ogle me and the other guys, and there were a lot of ‘discreet’ comments I heard that night, as well as a few phone numbers slipped to me with the check. The other guys laughed about it, and a few told me which ones I should consider calling. Apparently, most of them would take some of the women up on their offers, and enjoy a night or two of being a pampered man.

  I suspected a couple of them were probably charging for their favors, but whether it was cash or gifts, I didn’t really know, and didn’t really care. My main reason for doing this was so if anyone asked, I had a job and could prove it. Also, it was a lot less boring than just sitting around all day.

  When closing time came, I went back to the Y. I’d had my new boss, Madam Alice Smith, call them when I was hired so they’d know I was working and what time I’d be back. So I didn’t get in trouble for coming in well after midnight.

  The next morning I got up early and went to the same place for breakfast that I had gone to the day before. Jane didn’t show up at all while I was there, but one of the two who had been with her was there and she noticed me.

  I spent the rest of the morning looking around town, and getting a little familiar with it. Around two in the afternoon, I showed up at work and stayed until eleven. Martial arts class was only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so I could put in longer shifts on Tuesday and Thursday. The pay was rather good and the tips were even better.

  Friday I didn’t see Jane at breakfast, but the same friend was there, and I think she pulled out a cell phone as I left.

  I worked the lunch shift at The Stables, and then left to do my martial arts class. Madam Smith approved of me taking the course when she found out and wished more of the waiters did. While there were two bouncers working there every night she told me that sometimes a customer or her boyfriend could get out of hand.

  When I showed up for class, Marti singled me out again, still giving me the eye. I just smiled at her and nodded, “Hello Madam Marti.”

  Sensei came in then and called the class to order and we did our usual stretches. After that, he broke us up into two groups and one person from each group would spare a three minute round, in gear, but only light contact.

  Sensei had put Marti in the same group as me, probably because she had lined up next to me. I got the impression that she wasn’t happy with that, that she wanted to spare against me.

  We each sparred four rounds, I sparred against one of the women in my second round and I enjoyed that probably more than the three guys who were all power fighters, because she was a finesse fighter like I was. I of course got my usual speed advantage as we were fighting, but I did my best not to use it. As long as I had to be here doing this, I wanted to get the most out of it I could.

  Marti was very definitely not a finesse fighter, though she was pretty fast. She got called a few times for hard hits, but three of the four guys she fought she proved to be quite a match for. She was pretty good all right. Guy number four she didn’t beat, but he didn’t win either. I had to wonder if they weren’t pulling punches who would have won. She was definitely driven.

  When I left that night to go to work, I wasn’t the first out of the showers. The woman I had fought was talking to Marti and I smiled and gave a little bow to each, “Madam White, Madam Marti.”

  I turned to Madam White, “Thank you for a most enjoyable sparring session tonight.”

  She smiled back, “Thank you too Mist Will.”

  “I’ll get you next time,” Marti grumbled at me.

  “Madam Marti, I won’t protest if you ask Sensei to spar with me. You are quite skilled and I’m sure it would be an interesting experience.”

  Madam White giggled and Marti almost glared. “Are you calling me out?” She said rather surprised.

  “Madam Marti, I’m just trying to accede to your wish to spare with me. Nothing more, nothing less. After all, we are all here to learn, are we not? I believe it would be a most educational experience.”

  I bowed to each of them again, as Marti glared at me some more, “Now if you will both excuse me Madams, I must go.”

  “I think you may have just your match Marti,” I heard Madam White say to Marti with a laugh as I went out the front door. I didn’t hear Marti’s reply, but I’m sure it wasn’t nice.

  Friday nights at the club were a lot busier, and more boisterous than I had expected. There were four more waiters than the previous night, I suspected no one got Friday nights off, and we were run almost ragged by the constant orders.

  There were a few minor incidents, customers who were patting the waiters on the butt, and getting told by either the manager, or a bouncer to stop or they would have to leave. I know I got a few pats when they thought no one was looking.

  I didn’t mind really, I don’t think any of the guys did. But one woman did smack a waiter on the butt hard enough that you could hear it and he yelped in surprise.

  She got escorted out the door without any further warnings.

  What surprised me was how many of the women brought men with them. Husbands or boyfriends, I honestly couldn’t say. I don’t think all of them were pleased to be here, but one winked at me and commented ‘the more wound up we got his wife, the happier he’d be later tonight’.

  But the biggest problem came after midnight, when the dancers had finished and one of the women was seriously flirting with one of the dancers when he came off the stage. She was a fairly attractive lady, but the man already with her was not happy about what she was doing and blindsided the dancer she was talking to, knocking him out cold.

  I was close, so I yelled at him and moved to intercept as he looked like he was going to stomp on the poor guy he’d just cold cocked.

  “Stupid faggot!” he said as he turned on me, “Shaking your ass like a gigolo! I’ll show you how a real man handles things!”

  “By hitting a man when his back is turned?” I said a fair amount of snark, “And then stomping him while he’s out?”

  He attacked me then, but I saw it coming at that point. I slipped inside the haymaker he threw, and kicked him in the balls. When my foot came in contact with a cup, I knew he had been planning this.

  He tried to get me with a left h
ook, but with my speed, I ducked it, then hit him in the throat and kicked him in the balls with all of my enhanced strength. The cup shattered under that and as he bent over in pain, I rammed my knee into his face breaking his nose.

  I moved around him as he fell to the ground in pain, and went to help the dancer he’d knocked out. I used a heal spell when no one was looking, and then helped him get up and walk into the back. He was still pretty shaky and rather dazed.

  I found him a seat and several of the others came back then to help him, so I went back to my station.

  By the time I got back out front, there were several policemen there and Madam Smith was giving them a statement. One of the bouncers had put handcuffs on the attacker and he was still lying on the floor, curled up in pain. I suspected some of the pieces of plastic from the shattered cup were probably giving him a bit of trouble.

  “How is he?” Madam Smith asked coming over to me as soon as she saw me.

  “He’s okay, just a bit dazed is all.”

  She nodded and went back to the officers. Surprisingly they didn’t ask me any questions, just hauled the guy out. Madam Smith then bought everyone a round of drinks on the house and went in the back to check on the dancer.

  “Hey, that was pretty righteous what you did to that guy,” One of the bouncers, Bill was his name, said to me.

  “Bastard was wearing a cup,” I said shaking my head, “He came here to cause trouble. What happened to the lady he was with?”

  “She left as soon as you put him down. Looked pretty upset.”

  I nodded.

  “Maybe you should be working here with us!” He laughed.

  I shook my head and held up my hands, “No thanks! Normally my job is a lot safer.”

  Things went back to normal after that, though I got a few high fives in the back from the other waiters. When my shift ended and it was time to go back to the Y, Madam Smith slipped me an extra couple hundred with the rest of my share of the tip money.

  “You saved Daniel from getting seriously injured and showed everyone here what a real man does; protects those who can’t protect themselves. Thank you very much William.”

  I smiled and made a small bow. “Thank you, and thanks for the bonus.”

  She smiled at me. “Daniel is one of my household, if I thought you were interested I’d offer you a spot as well. Again, thank you.”

  I smiled and bowed again and left. I wondered just how many of the guys working there were part of her household? She was a rather attractive woman, and rather successful. From what I’d heard, rich and powerful women having multiple men were not uncommon among the wealthier classes.

  The trip back to the Y was quiet, and the weekend was rather uneventful.

  Monday I was eating breakfast and Jane showed up. I knew she was there, but didn’t acknowledge her until I ‘accidentally’ looked up and saw her as she walked by my table with her own food.

  I smiled and she smiled back.

  “Mind if we?” She asked nodding at the other chairs at the table.

  “I don’t mind at all,” I said looking at her.

  “So, new around here?” She asked taking the seat across from me as her two companions joined us. I found it funny that they were eyeing me up pretty obviously.

  I nodded, “Just been here a few weeks.”

  “I’m Jane,” she said reaching over the table to lightly shake hands, “the two sizing you up are Melissa and Ria.”

  I laughed and the other two girls grinned at me.

  “William,” I said.

  “So what brings you to New York?”

  I tried not to look embarrassed, not that I was, but I wanted to look like I might be. “My Mom thought I should go see the world, so she tossed me out.” I grinned a little sheepishly.

  “What a horrible thing!” Melissa said.

  “Where is your Mother at?” Jane asked.

  “London. She’s a financial trader. I think she really just didn’t want any of her clients trying to prey on me.”

  “They would do that?” Jane said surprised.

  I looked up at her and sighed, “Some women do not take no for an answer, especially the more wealthy and powerful ones. So she put me on a plane to New York and told me to call in a few months so she’d know I was still alive.”

  “So where do you live?”

  “At the Y for now.”

  “Ugh, I hear that place is a like a kennel,” Ria interjected.

  I turned to Ria and shrugged, “It’s not that bad,” and looked back at Jane. “So what do you do?”

  “I work in the recording studio next door,” she said.

  “Oh! You’re a musician!” I said perking up a bit. I had no idea what she did, Aryanna never told me.

  Jane laughed, “Yes, but I work there as a recording engineer.”

  “Oh? What’s that like?”

  “It’s pretty interesting. I set up all the microphones and feeds for the instruments, then mix them all together onto tape for the artists we’re recording. I do any editing or other effects as well.”

  “Don’t let her fool you into thinking it’s easy,” Melissa said. “There’s at least a dozen feeds, sometimes two or three times that, and she has to balance all of them in real time while they’re recording.”

  “Wow, sounds hard!”

  “It is, and Jane there is one of the best.”

  I smiled, Ria was nodding and agreeing with her friend and Jane was looking a little embarrassed.

  “So what do you do?” Jane said trying to change the subject.

  “Oh, at the moment I just have a job waiting tables, until I decide what I want to do.”

  “Where do you wait tables at?” Melissa asked.

  I actually blushed and I saw the three of them perk up a little, curious.

  “Erm, this little place called ‘The Stable’ over on Sixth.”

  Rai started to cough and Melissa started to smirk. Jane just looked shocked.

  “You’re a Stud?” Jane asked quietly.

  “Umm, well,” I looked up at her, “you won’t hold it against me if I say yes, will you?”

  “Of course not!” She said rather quickly.

  “Well, yeah, I am.” I said a little sheepishly. “When I went looking for a job there I had no idea what it was like, but the pay is really good and the tips are as well.”

  “Do they, umm, make you sleep with the customers?” Ria asked and then blushed.

  I shook my head, “No, they’re actually pretty strict about how we behave. I mean I know some of the guys do run off after work with some of the customers, they’re always slipping us their phone numbers.”

  “What about you?”

  I looked up at Jane, “I’m not really that kind of guy, though maybe there is one phone number I would call.”

  Jane blushed, “Well, urm, I really need to get back to work now.” She stood up. “Ria, Melissa, let’s go.”

  They started to say something and she gave them a look that could freeze water. Turning back to me then she smiled and extended her hand again, which I took.

  “It’s been a pleasure meeting you William. Hopefully we’ll meet again?”

  I smiled and nodded. It was kind of funny, Melissa and Ria were both pretty hot, hotter than Jane was, not that Jane was bad looking, far from it.

  But I found I liked looking at Jane a lot more than the other two, there was something about her that I found really attractive.

  She retrieved her hand.

  “Ria, Melissa,” She said again and her two friends got up and quickly said their goodbyes and followed Jane as she turned and left.

  “He wants you,” I heard Ria whisper.

  I didn’t hear Jane’s reply but it did sound like Melissa was agreeing with Ria.

  I wondered for a moment if this was how Stephanie felt about me? She didn’t hesitate to drop a few hints the first time we met after all.

  The next day I was back there for breakfast, but only Melissa showed up. I s
miled and waved hello.

  “Hi,” She said coming over.

  “Where’s Jane?” I asked curious.

  Melissa smiled, “You like her, don’t you?”

  I tried not to blush, this was definitely a different situation than what I was used to. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know her better,” I said. Then as I saw Melissa smirk, I really did blush, “That’s not what I meant and you know it Madam Melissa!” I said softly.

  “Uh-huh,” she winked, “I’ll be sure to drag her down here tomorrow.”

  Jane did show up the next day, and Thursday and Friday as well. Mostly we just made small talk while we ate. I found her viewpoints on the things we talked about to be interesting. Working in the entertainment industry, she had a broader view of a lot of topics, but she wasn’t quite as liberal as her two friends seemed to be.

  I think she found it interesting that I had been sent off on my own, I told her that I’d been sent off on tasks in the past for my mother, so that it wasn’t really that big a deal for me.

  “So would you like to go see a movie tonight?” She asked me that Friday.

  I sighed, “I have to work tonight and I don’t get off until midnight, so unless it’s a really late show,” I shrugged. “Tomorrow would be fine, I’m off this weekend.”

  Jane smiled, “Meet me here, around one?”

  I smiled back, “Sure.”

  I saw Jane’s two friend’s high five out of the corner of my eye and Jane looked a little embarrassed, but not too much.

  The rest of the day went fine up until I got to the Dojo for the lesson. Marti had lined up on the far side of the room away from me, and when we split up for sparring it was obvious to everybody that she wanted to fight me.

  When Jim, our Sensei looked at me I just smiled and nodded. He sighed and set us up for the last match.

  I had been watching Marti in her previous fights, so I knew what to expect, she liked to attack as soon as downward motion had stopped on the bow, and tended to attack rather explosively, coming up and coming forward hard and fast. I myself had just been taking a more laidback position at the start of a match.

  This time however I didn’t. I hop-shuffled left and forward, away from her power side, past her attack and tapped her right shoulder with my left hand. She tried to transition into a back kick with her left leg, pivoting on the now extended right, but I just stepped around it and she had to turn to face me. I could see that she was pissed, and she came at me hard then, left and right jabs, with the occasional snap kick thrown in.