Gina led the way into the theater of the Capital Cabaret. She’d been telling Alexis all week about the singer currently performing at the club, some songstress Alexis had seen a few months ago. They took their seats, with Gina taking the last drag from her cigarette before ashing it in the tray at the center of the table.
The lights dimmed, and Alexis closed her eyes. She usually didn’t care for these types of things, as much as Gina adored theater and live performances. The place was much too decorated for her tastes. Still, it was her girlfriend’s night to pick their date, and Alexis would happily put up with whatever for the girl she found herself more and more fond of. Even second-hand smoke.
The curtains opened, revealing a woman with long blonde hair and a white dress onstage. She sat upon a stool, staring at the floor, holding a long cigarette holder in one hand. As the piano started to play, she rose to her feet slowly, singing softly along with the music. Her voice was melodious, with a sweet and soothing tone to it. Maybe Alexis didn’t care for this sort of thing, but she’d probably have to find this lady’s music online after the show.
In-between verses, the songstress drew on her cigarette. With the lights focused on her, Alexis could see the silvery-blue upon her breath even from the back of the theater. Most clubs had forbidden smoking within the premises, but this one seemingly let even its performers puff. Still, with her swaying movements, sweet voice, slow raises of her holder to her lips followed by slow exhales…she certainly made it look sexy.
Alexis found herself smiling by the end of the songstress’s three-song set, and as the piano played her off for her last tune, she took a drag from her cigarette, pursing her lips and waving her hand as if blowing a smoky kiss to her audience. “Ladies and gentlemen,” said the announcer, “Miss Thelma Penelope.”
As the curtains closed, Gina sighed, “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
Alexis found herself nodded. “Yeah… That was really great, actually. I must admit, I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy this, but…”
“Told you you would.” Gina reached into her purse, putting the filter of a cigarette into her lips. “Cigarette?”
“Sure!” That word surprised Alexis just as soon as it left her lips. She’d never smoked once in her life, nor had she ever wanted to! Gina enjoyed the habit, but had never tried to get Alexis to try or anything.
Anxiety filled Alexis’s stomach as Gina handed her a cigarette. Despite this, Alexis still placed it in her lips, with a strange anticipation as Gina ignited her lighter and brought it to the tip of the cigarette.
As soon as the tip glowed, Alexis pulled on the cigarette. Had her fingers not still held it, it would have burned the tablecloth following her coughing fit. It was just as unpleasant as Alexis had always figured smoking would be!
“You gotta start small,” Gina said, giggling. “Take little drags, don’t try to inhale at first.” She demonstrated with a quick puff. “Get used to the flavor.”
The flavor was…kinda nice, wasn’t it. Alexis tried again, following Gina’s advice. Already she felt a nice buzz in her head — the nicotine high?
Gina continued to coach her, and by halfway through her cigarette, Alexis figured she had a hang of it. She watched each of Gina’s exhales, finding the sight of her girlfriend smoking…fascinating, mesmerizing.
Beautiful.
Once Gina ashed her cigarette, Alexis gazed around the theater, taking another puff of her own. It seemed like everyone else present was also smoking, a few having the same difficulty she had at the start. Taking the last drag of her smoke, Alexis crushed the butt, exhaling. It was still kinda gross and wrong-feeling, yet…
…she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t enjoyed it.
And for a moment, she’d felt kinda naughty and sexy smoking. Hopefully she wouldn’t make it a habit.
As the two women headed for the exit, Alexis spotted a crowd gathered around the doors to backstage. Thelma Penelope signed photos and albums for an admiring crowd, smiling and thanking each person for coming.
Alexis continued to stare at her, until Gina said, “Well, why don’t we say hello?”
Following Gina, Alexis watched and listened to the excited crowd. Quite a few, men and women, expressed attraction to the songstress. She was stunningly beautiful, that much was clear up-close. A lovely face, the perfect body…
As if noticing her envy, Thelma pointed to Alexis. “A new face, I presume?”
Her face turning red, Alexis said, “Um…yeah. Your performance was amazing, Miss Penelope!”
“Thank you for the kind words, and for coming tonight.” A smile grew upon her face. “Perhaps you would like to chat backstage? Just you and your girlfriend, with me.”
A private chat with such a lovely and talented woman? “Sure!” Alexis said, listening to the envious whispers around her as she and Gina cut their way through the crowd.
The songstress led the way to her dressing-room, a cozy chamber filled with mirrors and dressers, along with a large plush-looking bed. The scent of cigarette smoke lingered in the air, yet it had an almost perfume-ish hint to it, perhaps part of its fragrance Alexis hadn’t appreciated prior to trying her first cigarette.
“It’s stressful, but it’s so rewarding,” Thelma sighed, plucking her long cigarette holder from a nearby shelf. “I hope you two don’t mind if I smoke around you two.”
“Not at all,” Gina replied. “I’m a smoker myself, and Alexis doesn’t care when I smoke in bed.”
Alexis might have been cross with Gina for sharing such a private detail, had it not been for Thelma lighting her cigarette and taking a puff. She stared at the rising smoke, gently sniffed at its smell filling the air.
“You said this was your first show here?” Thelma asked, while out of the corner of Alexis’s eye, Gina lit herself a cigarette.
Alexis nodded. “It probably won’t be the last, if you keep coming back.”
Thelma chuckled. “I did notice you among the crowd after the show. Don’t smoke as often as your girlfriend, I see. Or was that your first?”
Feeling her stomach twist, Alexis glanced away. “Yeah…I just wanted to try one…” It took a second for her to realize that the feeling in her core wasn’t nervousness over having had a cigarette, but the same feeling she’d had when Gina had offered her one. Was she…actually craving nicotine already?
“Oh.” Thelma reached over for a pack of cigarettes, sliding one out. “So it was your first then.”
Alexis stared at the cigarette, wondering what or who it was for. Then Thelma placed it in her lips, and with a snap of her fingers, the tip ignited. Alexis took a long drag, as if she’d been desperate for the release.
“I remember seeing your girlfriend here for the first time,” Thelma said, leaning back in her chair. “I invited her backstage as well. You should have seen her stare at me while I smoked. The way she’s looking at you now too.”
Alexis shifted her gaze to her girlfriend’s blushing face. All Gina could do was take a puff and giggle.
“She was even more mesmerized than you. A latent fetish, perhaps. We spent the night together, and must have shared a full pack between us. She was so beautiful, and loved watching each exhale, loved every smoke-filled kiss I gave her, loved…”
Alexis felt a stirring in her loins, one that only intensified as she took another drag.
Thelma leaned in close, taking a slow pull from her cigarette. “…when I came close…” Her breath smelled of fragrant smoke. “…and let her bask in the aroma.”
Wrapping her arms around Alexis, Thelma began to kiss her, upon the cheeks and lips. Every now and then she paused to bring her cigarette holder to her mouth, and Alexis took these opportunities to take a puff herself. Was Gina watching, furious over Alexis letting Thelma have her way with her?
When the songstress shifted enough to let Alexis see, Alexis’s eyes widened as the sight of Gina’s hand down her pants, her smoke-tinted sighs.
Thelma took a long drag, then locked her lips to Alexis’s. Alexis drew in her smoky breath, let it fill her lungs, let it bring the same buzz that each puff brought.
Drawing away, Thelma said, “I love watching beautiful women become beautiful smokers. Come, both of you…”
She led Alexis to the bed, with Gina close behind. The night ended with the three of them together, beneath the sheets, naked. Each smoked their own cigarette before drifting off to sleep.
Alexis’s co-workers made the occasional judgy comment at first, but eventually it just became a fact of life, much like the rest of their acquaintances that smoked. Her parents didn’t find out as soon, though Alexis figured it was only a matter of time.
But in private, Alexis and Gina enjoyed each other even more passionately. They’d light up together, or one would give the other a smoke-filled kiss before putting a cigarette in their lips. Sometimes Alexis would slip her own lit cigarette between Gina’s lips when she was doing something else, just to see her lovely exhales.
And more often than before, their nights ended just like their night with Thelma — sighing and embracing passionately in a smoky bedroom before the two drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.