Chapter Three
"C'mon, baby," I muttered. "Just one more trip and you can take a rest"
I turned the ignition key again but this time there were only little clicks instead of the growling grind that had sounded following the first five attempts to get my car started. It was a behemoth that I had purchased with my parents help as soon as I got my license but was becoming more and more of a money-pit with the numerous engine problems that were occurring with more and more frequency.
I rested my head on the steering wheel hoping against hope that I had only flooded the engine. It was my 'go to' excuse when I couldn't get it started. This is just the shit I need, I thought recognizing my throat was beginning to thicken and my eyes begin to sting, clear evidence my body was going to release all the pent up emotions of the day. I steeled myself though, willing the tears back, knowing that crying wouldn't help now.
Wait 'til you get home before falling apart. I straightened the old blanket I had neglected to take out of the trunk when summer was over last year. I was now using it to help keep me warm since the heater had stopped working.
I had just beaten the emotional release back when I heard a knocking on my driver's side window. Jumping in response, all I could think was, What the bloody eff now?
I slowly rolled down my window to see Jake bent down peering in.
"Trouble?" he asked as my heart again began booming at his nearness. Even though he looked even better in daylight, I was still mortified by what had gone on in his office.
I had counted on never, ever seeing him again in this lifetime.
"Won't start," I said turning my head back to the console in order to break the tractor beam of his eyes that were now just inches away from me as he bent forward into my open window.
"Try again," Jake suggested and I turned the key and let him hear the clicks. Reaching into the back pocket of his well worn jeans, he removed his cell phone and punched a number as he straightened. "Trails? Yeah. Send the tow over to the club. Have it pick up a navy blue Buick and take it back to the shop. Have Skeet look it over and let me know, yeah?"
"What are you doing?" I asked as he disconnected the call.
"Having your car towed," Jake replied calmly putting away his phone. He opened my heavy, squeaking with effort, car door. "Don't think you're gonna be able to get it started, Darlin'. Come on, I'll give you a ride."
"But, I.."
"Caitlin, it's just a tow and a ride. Get your stuff and I'll get you home or wherever you need to be." He seemed determined as evidenced by his stance, legs spread and arms crossed over his chest as he waited for me to exit. My body didn't move but I turned my head towards him as I frantically tried to think of a reason for me to extradite myself from his company.
"Jake, I don't think…"
"Not gonna say it again. Get your stuff, Darlin', and let's go."
I stared up at him in his he-man stance for a couple of beats my mind still racing for a reason, any reason, to decline before I realized it really was the best solution to my problem. I reached behind me to drag out a pair of ready-for-the-trash tennis shoes that I kept in my car for 'emergencies'. I had already ditched the slut-sandals when I first got in. It wasn't the first occasion that I'd had trouble with the 'Beast' as I had affectionately and aptly named my huge '87 Rivera and the tennis shoes helped when I had to hoof it after Beast had an 'episode', as I euphemistically called each breakdown.
I turned my body to exit, slipped my feet in my tennis shoes and caught Jake's glance as I began to unwind the old blanket from around myself. "Uh, heater on the fritz," I explained.
Jake led me around the back of the club to a Silver Kia Optima and beeped the locks.
"Need to make a quick stop before I drop you off. That gonna be okay?" he asked as he opened the passenger door for me. I was a bit nonplussed by Jake's manners in opening the door and nodded my assent. "Give me your key to leave with Jorge and then we can go." I struggled but finally got my car key off the ring then watched Jake trot over to the door to deliver it. As he handed off my key, I seated myself and surreptitiously surveyed the interior of his ride--not missing any of the bells and whistles of a car that was, unlike mine, from this year, this decade.
We drove in a kind of tense silence broken only by the sound of his indicators as he navigated his way toward the small portion we locals called 'downtown'. He slid the car in a miraculously open spot on the busy main street and shut off the engine.
"Wanna come with?" he asked sparing me a glance as he opened his door although he didn't wait for my reply as he walked around the car and opened my door. My hand was captured in his when he helped me out and Jake continued to hold it as he gently pulled me across the street to Buxby's, our town's only coffee house.
It was the local hang out for teens and the college crowd but way out of my price range so unless Renee decided to treat, was a place I had avoided. Buxby's was a great, filled with small tables and comfy couches that seemed to circle the coffee station and its glass cases filled with tempting bakery delights. Not only was it a treat on your eyes and nose, it's coffee was killer and known to the best in town.
"Coffee first" Jake announced as he held the door open high up on the frame. I had no choice but to enter the warmth of the shop under his arm as I tried to twist my body through the small opening trying to avoid touching him. No help for it, though, our bodies connected as I brushed by him. My eyes snapped to his with the brief graze of our bodies and the electricity that had flared between us earlier now sparked again with just that little bit of innocent contact. My heartbeat, that involuntary muscle, sped up and a soft throb begin again in all the pink areas as my blush commenced. My knees went to water and, even though I was wearing less dangerous shoes, my feet tangled as I tried to step further away from him.
As if sensing my body's reaction, I felt Jake's hand on my elbow.
"Steady, pretty girl," he said softly leaning his head next to mine. "It's just coffee."
We made our way to the short line to order and I waved to a couple of people I knew from school trying to be smoothly casual. I saw heads begin to come together as people caught our slow passage to the counter. There were low murmurs and even a couple of giggles as they stared at us. My eyes roamed over the other customers, catching a quick up and down roam by the women at the obvious charms of the magnificent Jake before they quickly darted to me and frowned. The men, on the other hand, glanced first on my exposed legs and travelled upwards with such a keen eye towards detail that I found myself tightening the belt of my jacket and holding the collar close to my neck.
I'm sure we made an incongruous couple but I didn't think we were hardly worthy of the attention we were attracting. Jake, though, seemed oblivious to the looks and comments of the crowded coffee house.
I turned my gaze to the floor, determined to get through this with as much dignity as possible.
Jake handed me the tall, plastic cup, complete with straw. He placed his hand on my lower back to steer me back out the door but I didn't even remember ordering. I was still in a kind of shell-shock from our interview and was trying to balance this courteous, almost courtly, man with the man who had watched me so intently when I exposed my pink bits to him in the bowels of his strip club.
We had walked just a couple of steps along the sidewalk when Jake pushed what appeared to be a doorbell on the side of an inset door, something that you'd probably miss in your meandering down the street, but set next to the coffeehouse. I heard a click and a buzz as the lock was released.
Jake and I were met at the top of the stairs by a smiling older plump woman who shook hands warmly. While she appeared to be in her late-forties, Jean was very stylishly dressed and carried her extra weight with class. Jake made the introductions and the two of them began walking through the huge room as they spoke quietly.
Left alone for the moment, I moved closer to the windows that overlooked the street below as I sipped on my caramel latte. My eyes didn't see the rain as it h
it the windows that lined the front of the empty office. My mind was racing, remembering my dance, my finances and wondering what I was going to do about Beast.
I don't know how long I stood there lost in my thoughts but the feel of Jake's eyes on me brought me back to the moment. I turned from the windows and found his golden orbs were trained on me with intent, with deadly accuracy as they followed the trail of my straw from the cup to my lips. My action had been unintentional, something that I always did to capture the remaining whipped cream that lingered in the bottom of the cup.
But I was very aware that Jake's hot eyes were watching me as I licked the cream off of the straw and then sucked the remaining liquid from the end. I paused, mid-motion as our eyes snagged and, that electricity we had shared in his office, again arced between us.
As if without thought, Jake moved directly to me, his steps firm and sure. My heartbeat sped up watching him walk to me, our gaze never breaking, as he moved closer and closer. He stopped directly in front of me before he seemed to realize we were not alone.
There were a couple of beats of silence as we both dropped our eyes.
"I'll have Dale call you, Jean," Jake rumbled over his shoulder but his eyes came back to mine and I could see that there was something moving in their depths although I couldn't tell you what it was.
Jake again used pressure on the small of my back to propel me forward, to guide me towards the top of the stairs. We exited the building and I was carefully placed back in the passenger seat of his car, both of us silent. But the air was filled with unspoken things.
"Uhm, Jake? I can catch a bus from here. I mean, you don't have to drive me home. I'm sure you're…ah….busy and need to get back."
"Seein' you home, Darlin'," he said as he buckled himself into the car and hit the ignition.
"Uh, actually…" I mumbled keeping my eyes firmly forward. "If we could…I mean, if you could…ah…".
"Spit it out, Cait," I heard him rumble.
"Would it be okay to swing by the Mini Mart just off Grant and First? Mr. Mahmood has my paycheck." The paycheck that the creep was supposed to give me on Tuesday. But I've noticed that I had to chase him down to get it each week. And each week I had to avoid his hands in order to get said paycheck.
"No problem."
Jake parked the car in one of the spaces in front of the convenience store and before I could even turn to tell him I would only be a few minutes, he was out his door and opening mine. His hand went to my lower back and steered me inside the store.
"Hey, Khalid. Mr. Mahmood here?" I asked, conscious of Jake standing behind my left shoulder. I watched as Khalid picked up the phone and pushed two buttons before speaking a language I didn't know into the phone. There were a couple of 'yeahs' said, which were the only words I could understand in what Khalid had muttered into the phone.
"Mahmood said to go on back," Khalid said with a smirk. My heart sunk. I knew what the smirk meant and I did not, did not, want to go into the back room to meet with Mahmood. But I needed my check.
I turned Jake's direction. "Uh, I'll be just a--" but didn't get a chance to finish as Jake grabbed my bicep and walked me to the back of the store, to the hallway that led to the back room.
"Whatever I say, just go with it, yeah?" Jake whispered against my ear. I just had time to nod before Jake pounded on the door.
There was a muffled 'come in' and Jake opened and went through the door first.
"Jesus, Mahmood!" I heard Jake yell but he had placed a hand in the middle of my chest to push me back from the doorway and used his other hand to pull me behind him.
"What the fuck, Stanton?" I heard Mr. Mahmood yell back but there was a clinking metal sound that sounded suspiciously like a belt buckle coming from the room. My heart stuttered as I put two-and-two together to get 'Ewww'. Without thinking I put my hands on Jake's back and rested my forehead there as well.
"Came with my girl to get her paycheck," Jake growled. I noticed that his body was locked up as tight as his voice was sharp. "Was with her when your boy called you to let her know she was here. Was fuckin' there, Mahmood, when your fuckin' boy told her to come the fuck back here to get her fuckin' check from you."
There was quiet for a couple of beats but not a calm quiet. An eerie, tense quiet.
"Wanna tell me why the fuck you were waiting for my girl with your dick out, Mahmood?"
"It's not how it looks, Jake…"
"Never fuckin' is. Give me her check."
My hands were gripping Jake's coat and I had closed my eyes.
"Said, Give. Me. Her. Fuckin'. Check!" This was not said loudly, but with soft, deadly intent. I heard paper rattling and felt Jake shift under my hands. "Now, just so we're clear…"
"She's fucking fired."
"Do what?"
"You heard me, Stanton. She's fired."
"Babe? You wanna be fired?" I heard Jake ask as he tried to turn my direction but I had such a grip on him that he couldn't easily move, much less turn.
My thoughts were racing. I needed the money. I couldn't go without my mini-mart job. It wasn't hard work, just brainless and for very little money or hours. But, still, I needed it. I shook my head with regret.
"Think she wants to stay, Mahmood, but for the life of me, couldn't tell you why. So here's how it's gonna go. She's gonna do her shifts and instead of her chasin' your ass down to get her check and puttin' up with your fuckin' shit when she does, you're gonna fuckin' mail her checks to her. Got it?"
"She's fucking fired, Stanton."
"No, Mahmood, she isn't. See, if she's fuckin' fired then we get Sam on the phone and file a sexual harassment lawsuit. Against you. Bettin' that this ain't the first time you've tried this shit. Wonder if the other girls would like to file a claim?" I heard Jake pause before he continued. "Now, you gonna play by the rules and let my girl work for you or are we gonna get ugly?"
I heard a chair scrape and felt Jake again get tense under my hands. He reached back and untangled me from his jacket, quickly pushing me away and to the side.
"Don't wanna do that, man. Kicked your ass on more than one occasion and that was when you were fifty pounds lighter and ten years younger. Think you can take me now?"
"She steps one foot outta line and she's outta here."
"Hear that, Caitlin?"
"Yes, Jake."
"Good with that, Caitlin?"
"Yes, Jake."
"Be seein' ya, Fuckwad," Jake called turning towards me before turning quickly back to the office. "And if my girl here tells me of one, just one, time you tried to do anything with her then we call Sam, yeah?"
I don't know how Mahmood responded 'cause I didn't hear anything, but he must have made some gesture since Jake was grinning when he turned toward me to usher me out me out of the store. This time I needed his guidance as my body was shaking hard. He guided me into the passenger seat and stood in my space with the door open as I drew the seatbelt across me. I glanced at him when he didn't move away.
"Jake…" I whispered and watched as his body completely stilled at the sound of my voice before he stepped forward and rubbed his knuckles along my cheek. I couldn't help leaning against his hand as I held his eyes.
He seemed distracted as I gave him directions to my place before he pulled out into traffic. I caught myself sighing, turning my eyes to the window, vaguely notating the wet scenery as it passed, wishing the Jake would go faster as he drove.
I wanted to be home.
I needed to be home.
I could finally put this day behind me when I got home.
"Great house, babe," Jake said as he turned off the car and peered out over the large structure that was surrounded in summer by well-tended flower beds and lawn that swept over the rest of the corner property.
Not that I lived in the whole of the huge house. My portion was just a tiny one-bedroom on the ground floor. But the mansion had been in my family for years and over the years had been converted into four apartments of various sizes a
nd floor plans. I had inherited it from my parents who had inherited it from my grandmother on my mother's side.
As a single-dwelling, our family home had been monumental and a perfect testament to my grandfather's wealth. But, after an abrupt heart attack in his early forties, my grandmother had steadily lost most of the his estate. The bulk of it gone to bad land deals and investments touted by handsome, nefarious hucksters bent on, and succeeding, in parting the beautiful widow from her assets--both monetary and physical if the stories around town were to be believed.
Pole Dance Page 4
