by S. E. Rose
“To Ly and her continued success!” he said as they all clinked glasses.
“To Ly!” everyone said.
“To Gran Mill, welcome home,” Ly said leaning over and kissing her grandmother on the cheek.
“To Gran Mill!” they all cheered and clinked glasses again and then downed the shot.
“OK, kids. That’s enough fun for me today. I should call it a night,” Gran Mill said. She did look tired.
Everyone packed up the food and cleaned up the mess, and Lyla and Nate walked Amery and Ward out to their cars.
“I’ll see you this weekend?” Amery asked as he turned and took Lyla in his arms.
“Of course!” she said smiling.
“Good. I think we should have a relaxing weekend, and I have just the idea,” he said.
“Oh no, where are we going?” Lyla asked.
“It’s a surprise. I’ll have Nate pack you an overnight bag,” he answered with a smirk.
Lyla rolled her eyes. “Fine. But someday I’m going to surprise you,” she said poking him in the chest with her fingers.
He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “Angel, you surprise me all the time,” he whispered as he kissed her.
“Get a room,” Nate yelled from across the driveway.
“You get a room,” Lyla giggled against Amery’s lips, knowing full well Nate and Ward had also just kissed.
“Honey, I’m not the one needing my public sex cherry popped,” he retorted. Lyla gave Amery one more quick kiss and then stuck her middle finger up at Nate. Ward chuckled.
“Nice one, Lyla,” Ward said.
“Goodnight, boys,” she said to all three men as she sauntered back inside the house.
“Goodnight!” they all yelled and then some laughter drifted inside the house as she shut the door, and locked the bolt, just to piss Nate off. He’d have to traipse around the back and get his precious shoes muddy.
Chapter 26
Lyla spent the next day organizing things that Kevin kept emailing about during the day. He had wanted her to come up Wednesday night, but she missed the last train, and he had gotten mad at her. She figured he was under a lot of pressure, so she let it go and promised to catch the first train in the morning.
And so, at zero dark thirty, she was up at the train station boarding the first express train to New York City. She slept most of the way and got an Uber to the address Kevin had given her.
She arrived to find that the building was a residence, not a commercial property. She found this a bit odd but followed the directions and headed up to the number on the email she had gotten.
She knocked on the door, and Kevin opened it. She looked past him and saw that it was indeed an apartment.
“Oh, I thought we’d meet at your studio?” she said in surprise.
He smiled and opened the door wider, so she could enter. “My studio is at my home,” he explained as he led her down a hallway of the loft and into a giant open space in the back that looked to be a second apartment that had been merged with the one they had just walked through. She wondered how much that had cost him.
The studio was set up for a shoot and two semi-naked models were getting finishing touches done on their hair and makeup.
“See, this is why I wanted you here last night. We’re trying to get an early start today,” Kevin said, his voice slightly curt.
“Sorry, I really tried to make the train,” Lyla said.
“Well, no matter, can you help me finish the setup?” Kevin said, his personality seemingly shifting before her very eyes. She wondered if he was just stressed about the shoot. Kevin had been a really awesome boss, well, up until the weirdness at the gala the previous weekend.
They spent the day working to get the perfect shot. He had the models change clothes a few times, he tried different backdrops, and then he took them all up to the roof of the building and that’s where he got his “money shot” or at least that’s what he called it once he saw it on the monitor.
“That’s it!” he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around the female model, Hilda, who was from some Scandinavian country and giving her a kiss on the cheek. She looked at him like she wanted to get in his pants, which she had also done with the male model, Claude, who was French. Claude, however, had set his eyes and meat hooks on Lyla and had been all but harassing her the entire day.
He had tried friendly banter at first. Then got a little physically aggressive with blocking her in wherever she went. And now, he was crowding her at the table and leaning in, so their arms brushed.
He was totally getting on her nerves. Kevin merely watched with curiosity, and she found it equally annoying.
“Let’s head back to my apartment for a drink, everyone,” Kevin said. The makeup artist and hair folks cleaned up and excused themselves and the other two assistants seemed to quickly exit. And so, it was just the four of them. Claude, Hilda, Kevin, and Lyla all gathered around the absolutely enormous island in the middle of Kevin’s kitchen, and Kevin poured them all some champagne.
“Great job today,” he said to them as they clinked glasses.
“So, Lyla, you staying up here for the weekend?” Claude asked.
“Oh, no. I’m staying till tomorrow. I want to go visit the main magazine offices here, and then I’ll catch a train home,” she explained.
“Well, you should stay. It’ll be a great weekend. Kevin is hosting a party,” Claude said.
“Really? That sounds like fun,” she offered, but really she just wanted to get the hell out of there and find a hotel. Kevin had said he had a place for her to crash, but she had a sneaking suspicion that the place was this place and the room was his room.
“You should stay, Lyla. It’ll be a blast. You can meet so many people in the industry, models, actors, other photographers, even a musician or two,” Kevin said, as he caged Lyla in on one side and Claude stayed on her other side. She found herself growing anxious by the moment. She wasn’t completely sure why. Other than Claude being a total ass, no one had touched or said anything that should make her go running for the hills.
“I’d love to, but my grandmother just came home from the hospital, and I need to be with her,” Lyla said, making up an excuse as fast as possible.
“Oh? Is she ill?” Hilda asked.
“No, car accident,” Lyla explained as she set down her drink.
“Well, that was fun, but I probably should be going. Where did you make me reservations, Kevin?” she asked as innocently as possible.
“I didn’t,” he laughed. “You can stay here with me. I’ll show you to the guest room. Come on,” he said. “Hilda, Claude, make yourselves at home. The rooftop is still open if you’d like to head up there,” he told them as he led her down a hallway.
She got progressively nervous as she followed him. “Kevin, it’s really not necessary to put me up here. I can get a hotel,” she offered.
He turned and opened a door and she stepped in, expecting to a see a guest room, but oh, holy fuck, she was in a movie and not a movie she ever, ever planned on being in. You know the one. Oh yeah, that one.
“Holy fuck,” she breathed as she looked at a four-poster bed surrounded by whips, handcuffs, and an array of sex toys that she wasn’t entirely sure how to use.
“Stay and play with us, Lyla,” Kevin said as his hands snaked up her arms.
She closed her eyes because she was clearly dreaming. Yep, that was it, this was a dream. OK, slash that, this was a nightmare. Yes, a nightmare. She would open her eyes and she would not be in this crazy place, with these crazy people, and everything would be fine.
She opened her eyes and looked around, but she was most definitely still in the crazy place.
She whirled around and looked at Kevin who was eyeing her up like a piece of meat.
“Uh, Kevin...I’m really sorry if...I didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression. This...this is not what I’m into,” she stammered as she tried to explain.
“How do you know?” he asked.
/> She swallowed. “I, uh, I’m just sure, that’s all,” she answered slowly walking back toward the door.
Kevin followed her. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Hilda and Claude can join us,” he said as though that was the most normal thing in the world. Why yes, she thought, a group orgy? That seems perfectly normal, especially with your boss.
“Kevin, I’m just gonna go,” Lyla said as she continued to walk backward.
Then, she realized she had walked herself into a wall, and Kevin was now hovering in front of her only inches away. He leaned his arms up over her head and stared down at her.
“Lyla, I know you like me, baby. So just stay and have fun. I promise you it’ll be a good time. We’ll only take it as far as you want to go,” he offered as he leaned forward. His head was now nearly touching hers and she could smell...wait, when had he drank scotch? She remembered the champagne, but his breath definitely wreaked of hard liquor.
She was now afraid. Would Kevin hurt her? Probably not, her rational self said, but Claude was creepy, and Hilda looked like she could probably double as a dominatrix on her nights off from modeling. She was in way over her head, like an “ocean above her” over her head.
Then, Kevin said something, something she didn’t expect him to say. “You know Ellen won’t like it if she finds out you are being uncooperative. I wouldn’t want to tell her that. So, what do you say, you play nice and have some fun tonight and stay the weekend for my festivities? Then, I’ll talk to Ellen about promoting you next week.”
His words were a slap in her face. She went from feeling a little embarrassed, frankly for Kevin more so than herself, to wanting to kick Kevin’s ass. Seriously? He was going to hold a job over her head while sexually harassing her. Hell no!
And at that moment, many years of karate classes came back to her. She remembered going and learning how to protect herself, how to disarm an opponent. Gran Mill had made Nate and her take classes for four years. She would shuffle them there after school and wait patiently. She attended all their tests where they earned the next color belt. She had managed to make it to brown belt and Nate too. But that was before they had gone off to college and she just got into other things. In retrospect, she should have gone for the black belt. It was a shame to get so close to something, and not finish it.
Finish it. The words bounced in her head as Kevin tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear and started to lean his lips toward hers.
“That’s a good girl. I like an obedient submissive,” he said softly.
And in that moment, she let loose. She lifted her leg and her heel came down on his foot, which was only covered partially by a sandal. He groaned and pulled back, just as she brought her other knee up and with all her might thrusting it into his balls.
Kevin went down like a bowling pin. Legit, just like a bowling pin. He was on the ground, rolling around, cursing at her.
“You little bitch,” he snarled.
“You know what, Kevin, fuck you! I am not your little submissive. I am not your anything. I am certainly not going to fucking let you sexually harass me under the pretense of work. So, go fuck yourself. You know what, I quit! Yeah, how about that? Why don’t you ask Ellen to be your submissive? Or maybe you’re her little bitch?” The words left Lyla’s mouth without much thought. Kevin, while still on the floor, had stopped rolling and was staring at Lyla as though she had grown a second head or maybe a third boob.
She knew what he was thinking, where did this woman come from? Well, she had officially been pushed too far, and she had fucking snapped. “Goodbye, Kevin,” she said as she left the room and Kevin.
She strolled toward the front door and caught a glimpse of Claude and Hilda. She paused for a split second to see that Hilda was indeed the dominatrix she had envisioned. She was dressed for the part, whip and all, and she had Claude on the floor on all fours begging to be spanked.
Lyla covered her mouth as she felt a bubble of laughter start to rise. Claude and Hilda were clearly too into their “scene” to look her way. She rolled her eyes at the total insanity of the entire day and grabbed her bag as she walked out the front door. She made it to the street and as the adrenaline left her body, she began to shiver and shake. She collapsed on a nearby doorstep, sinking to the ground. The tears came quickly, and she did the only thing she could think of, she called Nate.
“Hey, how’d the shoot go?” Nate said cheerfully as he picked up.
When she didn’t answer right away, Nate got cold sober. “Ly, what’s wrong?”
She sniffled. “K-Kevin t-tried to...Oh God, I k-kicked him,” she managed in between loud sobs.
“What the fuck did he do? Where are you now?” Nate yelled in anger. “Hold on, I see you on the app. OK...let me think. Hold on...can you hold on? Are you safe?”
“Y-yes,” she said. The phone went blank for a second, and then Nate was back on the line.
“Amery is coming to get you, there is a coffee shop, two blocks down. It’s open for another two hours. Go there, get a coffee. Do not leave unless it’s with Amery,” Nate commanded. In fact, Nate sounded very authoritarian and un-Nate-like.
“OK,” she said, her sobs subsiding from the mere shock of how serious Nate was. Nate was the goofy friend, the fun friend. Once in a while, a long while, when they both were drinking, he’d be thoughtful and spill his guts to her, or offer her some kind of poetic advice about life, but those were seriously far between moments. At most, Nate was good for a hug and a bit of humor. This Nate, was, kind of a fucking grown-up, and that was startling.
She got to her feet and began walking.
“Keep talking to me, until I know you’ve reached the café,” he said.
“What should I say?” she asked.
“Anything, just talk to me. What happened today, Ly?” he asked again, softly.
She took a deep breath. “The shoot went fine. Afterward, the two models, Claude and Hilda, stayed and the four of us had a drink. Kevin said he wanted me to stay at his apartment. He went to show me the guest room, but it wasn’t a guest room. It was...well...a room...with some...things...” She trailed off, at a loss of how to explain what she had seen, because who would believe her anyhow.
“What things?” he asked.
“You know...stuff...for sex,” she whispered, afraid people passing by her would hear her talking, but it was New York, and no one cared.
“Sex?” Nate asked. And then it registered. “Wait...you mean like sex...like a room for sex...like the shit in books and movies.”
“Yep, just like that, well, sort of, not exactly like that, but yeah,” she said. “Then he tried to make a move on me. Oh, and he pissed me the fuck off. He threatened my job. So, I kneed him in the balls, and I left.”
“Wow! I mean, holy shit, Ly! That’s insane! Good for you! You go, girl!” he said.
“Way to kick some man balls, Ly!” B-Ray yelled in the background.
“B-Ray?” Lyla said.
“Yeah, B-Ray came over to play bridge with Gertie, Millie, and me. We are just hanging on the back deck, having a cocktail,” he explained.
“Wait, is Gran Mill there?” she said.
“No. She’s inside with Gertie, watching...a movie,” he said, stuttering a bit.
“What movie?” she asked, trying to distract herself.
“Ummm...I don’t know, something,” he said.
She was confused now until she heard B-Ray laughing. “Just tell her, I mean the irony will not be lost on her,” B-Ray said.
“Fifty Shades of Grey,” Nate muttered.
She literally stopped on the sidewalk and nearly was plowed down by a middle-aged couple, who gave her dirty looks.
“No fucking shit?!” she exclaimed, momentarily forgetting her anxiety.
“Yeah, I mean, what are the odds of that being the film, when you...well, your day...there’s some ironic parallels there, huh?” Nate tried to explain, while still sounding like the caring, overprotective big brother he had been a minute earlier, bu
t he was quickly losing that battle.
“OK, I’m here,” she said as she opened the café door. She felt a little like a bag lady since she was schlepping her giant overnight bag with her.
“Order a drink,” he demanded. “And then I’ll stay on the phone with you until Amery arrives.”
“Won’t that take hours,” she whispered as she was in line. She didn’t know why she kept whispering, it wasn’t like anyone was paying attention to her.
“Nope, he’s still in Newark,” Nate said. He proceeded to start telling her about the bridge game and how Gran Mill ended up watching that particular film with Gertie.
Amery
“What? Is she OK?” Amery had said when Nate called and told him what was going on. He was at a late dinner with his sister, Liz, who had stuck around another night to hang out with her brother. His fork had clattered to the plate. He was enraged and seeing red by the time Nate finished. He didn’t know what had happened, but he was going to find out, and he was going to kill or maim or seriously injure Kevin.
“What’s wrong?” Liz asked, stopping her fork, midway to her mouth.
“I...I’m sorry, Lizzie. A friend of mine is in trouble in the city, and I need to go get her, right now,” he said as he stood and tossed a wad of cash down on the table. “Feel free to finish your dinner, and I’ll text you when I get back. I’m really sorry, Liz. I feel awful because it’s our last night hanging out.”
“Go, it’s fine, Am. I hope your friend is OK,” she said and stood and gave him a kiss.
“Thanks, I think she’s OK. She just needs someone to come get her,” he said.
She nodded but didn’t ask any more questions. He squeezed her shoulder before he practically ran to his car.
He called Nate back once he was on his way.
“Yeah, make it fast, I have her on the other line,” Nate said.
“What happened?” Amery asked.
Nate gave him the shortened version, and Amery punched his steering wheel. “Damn it! I knew that guy was a creep, I just didn’t believe the rumors were true. Shit! I shouldn’t have let her go. I should have told her what I’d heard about him!” he yelled, mostly at himself.
