Project X

by Watkins, TM

  “You weren't referring to Jack, were you?”

  He shook his head slowly, the façade cracked with a slight smile.

  “Sorry.” I laughed a little.

  Dorian shrugged and leaned on the door frame, his gaze still pinned to me.

  “I suppose I could be of assistance if you like.”

  My eyes shot up to his with a lot of shock, they widened as his smirk grew.

  “Be ready at seven pm, a dress might be more suitable.”

  “Pardon?” I frowned rather confused.

  “A dress Miss Ryan, do you own a dress?”

  “Yes.” I snapped back. “But what kind of dress and where do you think you won't be taking me?”

  He chuckled and moved off the door frame.

  “A nice dress, one that you would wear with a nice pair of shoes and your hair done all pretty.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly at my hair. If he dared say anything about it, then I was going to put a nice shoe in a hole. Not sure which end yet but that might depend on what he dared to say.

  “And where I will take you, that will be somewhere where you can socialize with other people rather than sitting at home alone.”

  Dorian's eyes flickered and narrowed again.

  “Or with the flat mate.”

  He said it in an almost derogatory way, it was likely that he thought she was weird. Everyone thought that, hell, even I thought it.

  “Seven pm Miss Ryan, do not make me wait.”

  Chapter 13: Crazy like a fox

  Amber sat on my bed with an incredulous look on her face. I was already showered and half-dressed before she came in and asked me what I was doing.

  “It's fine Amber, trust me.”

  “I think you are mad.”

  She scrawled something on the magna doodle and tapped the plastic with a dirty grin.

  And super lucky, I want all the goss.

  I rolled my eyes at her and stuffed a biscuit into my mouth. I didn't know if he was planning on feeding me first so I had to get something into my stomach. We had an eternal war going on, my stomach and I. It was always hungry, always growling as a protest that I didn't feed it enough yet it was incredibly wrong, I fed it a lot. Amber said that I must have worms and she insisted that I take these stupid tablet things to get rid of them. If it did anything I wouldn't know, I still waged a war with my stomach, continually feeding it and always feeling hungry. It was like I lacked the ability to feel full. No matter what I ate, it was the same thing. Good, bad or indifferent it didn't matter so I ignored it.

  I looked at the clock on my bedside, it was six thirty already and I was still in my underwear.

  “You aren't wearing them are you? What if he wants some action? You should at least put on something that matches.”

  “He's not getting any action.” I muttered.

  “Yeah right.” She scoffed.

  Then she started to rummage through my underwear draw, pulling out a little black bra and panties.

  “Get into them, now. And what are you wearing?”

  I pointed to the dress that was on the bed, the one that she had been sitting on.

  “That?” She said with a slight sneer. “No way in hell. I've got something much better.”

  She stomped out of the room, I quickly changed into the new underwear. Amber floated into the room with a black dress, tossed a pair of shoes onto the bed and then flicked the dress off the hanger.

  “Since when do you own a dress?”

  “Since my mother insisted I buy at least one. But it doesn't fit and yes that was intentional.”

  I put it on and as she zipped it up, she looked over my shoulder at our reflection in the mirror.

  “Gorgeous and guess what? You now own it. Don't tell my mother.”

  “Yes boss.”

  Amber nodded once with a cheeky grin and then kicked a stool over to me.

  “Sit.”

  “I really don't need my hair done Amber.”

  “Sit!”

  I huffed and rolled my eyes, sitting on the stool. She dumped the magna doodle on my lap and then started fussing over my hair.

  You need to trap him, trust me on this one.

  I scrubbed it out and nodded. For all that Amber knew nothing about the world of espionage, she had some pretty good ideas and she had them regularly too. I knew that my father was eager to get her to become a proper employee rather than what she was at the moment. But that was never going to happen, not when Amber was the free spirit that she was. She would flip between her jobs, never staying too long. Her motto was that life was too short to be tied down to the same boring drudgery of working life.

  My hair had been styled into a French twist, little tendrils of hair floated around my face. I stood and let the dress fall around me. It was soft and the skirt moved freely around my legs. Amber bit her lip with an odd frown, her eyes darted up to me. I looked down and saw that the v neckline plunged below the bra line and exposed the pretty little bra.

  “Okay, get that thing off and I'll get a super cute necklace.”

  “Who are you and what have you done with my Amber?”

  She grinned and waived me off, leaving me to remove my bra. I hated going without one but this dress would not permit it. There was an alternative, change the dress, but Amber would never allow that. She was determined to ensure that I wriggled my way into his attention. Amber returned with a long gold chain, one that looped one side into the other and then hung down over my sternum. Her eyes darted to the window, with a few quick steps she peered through the lace.

  “He's here. I'll let him in, you put a little bit of make up on but don't overdo it.”

  “How do you know so much about this Amber?”

  “My mother.” She groaned. “Speaking of which, I'm going to go and hang out there tonight, you know in case you want to.”

  Amber awkwardly gestured to my bed.

  “Unlikely but thank you all the same.”

  The doorbell rang and Amber flitted out of the room, leaving me to my minimalist make up job. Amber and I had differing views on how minimal was necessary for this situation. She'd have me stretched out on a bench to perform her make up surgery, spending hours on getting the right look and I would slap a bit of gloss on my lips and a few swipes of the mascara with nothing more.

  Amber's mother had attempted in vain to get her daughter to comply to the norm for our age. She had bought her many pretty things but it was a waste of money. Amber wasn't girly, she was feminine but not nearly enough in her mother's opinion. Amber accepted everything that was offered only to keep her mother happy.

  I heard the door open and the strained yet polite greeting between the Dorian and Amber as I slipped on the shoes. It was lucky that Amber and I were pretty much the same size as each other, we could trade clothes easily. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I looked down at the shoes. I hated pumps. The bodice of the dress was tight around my frame, the halter neck had me worried. It would be a cheek searing with embarrassment, soul crushing moment if the stupid thing were to fall away and leave me exposed. Knowing my luck, it would happen in a brightly lit room that was filled with people staring at me. Women would gasp with indignation as they covered their children's and the men would leer and hoot at the free show. I sighed and ensured that the knot on the nape of my neck was tight and walked out to the entry. With any luck, I would survive the night without giving a free show to the entire world.

  Chapter 14: Delicious deliriums

  Dorian stood in the entry, his attention was to Amber as they continued their awkward greeting and conversation. His attention turned to me as I stepped out, a smile played out over his lips and in the corner of my eye, I saw Amber roll hers.

  “Have fun.” She cooed and then wandered into her bedroom.

  I had to say, Dorian looked incredible. He always looked pretty damned hot but this was different. He had changed from the blue pin stripe suit he had been wearing into a black one. It fitted his lean frame perfectly
, the white shirt underneath was crisp and stark against the black of the tie and suit.

  “Good evening Miss Ryan.”

  “Uh hi and Kasey's fine.”

  “Of course, shall we?”

  He opened the door and waited for me to pass, I turned to watch him as he closed the door. With the soft click of the latch he smiled at me, his hand taking mine.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere that you will enjoy I am sure and that dress is highly appropriate. Even if it is completely scandalous.”

  His green eyes glinted from the light of the street lamps, a wick grin curled into his lips.

  “I can change if you would prefer something more, you know…”

  I gestured to the v of my neckline, becoming increasingly embarrassed at the free show my cleavage was giving.

  “Absolutely not. This dress is perfect.”

  Dorian pulled my hand and guided me down the stairs. He had a different car tonight, one that included a driver. It was a black sedan of some sort, I had no clue unless I had a logo to look at. Which considering that I was supposed to be a spy was absolutely ridiculous. Maybe my father was right. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this line of work. I guess that once I failed at this mission he would no doubt suggest that I would be more suited to the clerical side of his business and lump me with the old woman on the front desk of his so called survey and telemarketing company. My job would be a telemarketer. In reality I would be one of the office staff that was part of the ruse but it was more likely that I would be the office gopher. Maybe I would work my way up to intel and research but that would be a rather large maybe.

  The man opened the back door for us and as I sat onto the leather seat and slid over it, I figured it had to be something pretty expensive. Just by looking at the interior I could tell it was. Between the front and the back was a wall and a glass panel, the tint on the glass was so black I could barely see through it. Dorian slipped into the car and I looked down at my plunging neckline. The stupid material was puckering and I was giving that free show that I had dreaded. I poked it and prodded it and eventually settled for keeping my back rigid like a pole, ensuring that everything sat where it should. Damn this dress and damn Amber. My back was going to hurt like crazy tomorrow.

  The driver pulled away from the sidewalk and followed the street until the nearest side street, turning down it. Dorian looked out the window, his head only slightly turned to the view. It allowed for the light to travel over him as we passed a street light, the devilish smirk hadn't left. I had to turn away, fearing that I was becoming too enamored by him. One day soon I will have to walk away from him and I didn't want it to be painful. One day soon I will have to steal from him and if he found out…. I cringed at the thought. What would Dorian do if he found out my intentions? I shivered involuntarily which caught Dorian's eye.

  “Are you cold?”

  “Uh no, well a little but it's fine.”

  He nodded and returned to his view. Well, this was certainly entertaining.

  Ten minutes of mind numbing silence we arrived at our destination. The Lab, written in bright blue neon light shone harshly against the darkened night sky. At the double glass doors was a man dressed in a tuxedo. He was a bouncer and it looked like his muscles were going to rip the poor fabric apart. The driver scooted around the car and opened the door, as soon as Dorian was out of his seat he held his hand out for me. I rolled my eyes and slid over the seat, wanting to stomp my feet with an Amber inspired protest. But I didn't. I maintained the diminutive and quiet creature, the one that blushed from his attention and giggled at his jokes. Not that he'd told any yet. The man at the door gripped the gold door handle and pulled the smoky black glass door open for us, giving us a nod. Instantly I was hit with a wave of cool air, I hadn't realized how warm the night was. The entry was dark, the soft tea lights on the walls did little for the lighting but the ambiance was incredible. Strains of a piano's dulcet tones lazily danced around us and I was instantly relaxed.

  “Good evening, do you have a reservation?”

  I turned to the voice that had appeared almost out of nowhere, there was a little desk to the side of us that I had completely missed. A man sat behind it, his blonde hair slicked to one side and like the guy on the front door, he was in a tuxedo too.

  “Gallagher.”

  “Very good Mister Gallagher, your server will be Crystal tonight. She will take you to your table. Enjoy your evening.”

  “Thank you.”

  The man nodded with a welcoming smile, beside him a woman appeared. She was tall and blonde, her figure was slight and she was pretty. Not that I looked at chicks like that. But still, I could appreciate the form of others without being labelled a pervert, right? Maybe I could call it, observing the environment and those that dwell within it. Sounds good to me. Crystal wore long black dress pants and a white long sleeved cotton shirt. The buttons were done all the way up to the collar and she wore a little blue bow tie. Her hair was pulled back tightly, held back in a perfect bun. As we followed her down the short corridor another server approached from the other direction. She was dressed like Crystal, business like and perfect.

  “Mister Gallagher, Mrs Gallagher.”

  Crystal gestured to the booth table that was crammed into the corner. I was about to correct her but was interrupted by Dorian.

  “Thank you Crystal.”

  I sat on the seat and slid over, Dorian took the menu from Crystal and quickly perused it.

  “Death by chocolate.” He murmured and passed it back.

  “Very good sir.”

  Dorian grinned and sat beside me, it was like he could see the anxiety within me.

  “You didn't correct her.”

  He shrugged. “Why bother? It's not as if she cares.”

  His eyes wandered over me, a slight appreciative smirk crossed his face. When he deemed that I was too far away, he dragged me closer. Hell thy name is now Dorian Gallagher. He was a tease and worse yet, he enjoyed it.

  “Death by chocolate?”

  “It's a series of drinks and food, all based around chocolate. You do like chocolate, right?”

  I nodded, gulping slightly when I realized how truly close we were. Dorian had moved side on to face me, his fingers toyed with one of the loose strands of hair and the other had somehow found its way to my knee. He pulled my leg up over his allowing his fingers to trail underneath my thigh. Moving higher. I could feel my heart beating hard. How could he be so brazen in a public place? Quickly I scanned the room, it was reasonably full but not filled to capacity.

  The room was lit with a blue hue of lights, casting odd shadows around the medium sized area. Three of the walls were lined with similar small booths, in the center of the room was a man playing the piano. He and the piano were on a little round stage that was elevated to the height of the tables that were scattered around the room. On the fourth wall was the bar, the wall behind it was lit with the same blue light. There were several bar staff working behind the bar and quite a few servers. They were all dressed like Crystal, including the guy at the piano. Black dress pants and white shirt.

  Dorian's hand went a little higher, now it sat just under the edge of the dress. As he squeezed the flesh, I could see the smirk on his face out of the corner of my eye. I looked at him trying to keep my cool, like this was nothing really. My mind scoffed at me. Yeah, I go to cocktail bars and have men put their hands up my skirt all the time. So long as he didn't go any further, we were cool. But the hand was always moving, back and forth, squeezing and kneading. It was only a matter of time before he went too close. Then it would be likely that I would gasp or yelp too loudly and draw attention to us.

  Chapter 15: Death by chocolate

  I was at a loss as to what to do. Clearly the hand on my leg was an indication of his intention but I knew little of this world. My interactions with the male species? Well let's see. There was the boy next door that somehow managed to persuade me into showing him my breasts.
I had been one of the boys for years, climbing trees and catching tadpoles and general mischief that could make my father's toes curl if he actually cared. Then one day I had these lumps on my chest, the nanny who had become my step mother by that stage brought me all the necessary equipment for caging these things and I was left to go on my merry way again. Except that the boys that I had hung around noticed the new additions to my body and declared that I wasn't one of the boys any more, kicking me out of their little group.

  I went home hiding the tears and feeling completely dejected. That was until Connor the boy next door called out to me, chasing after me and stopping a few steps short to catch his breath. He said that he didn't agree with them and still wanted to be my friend. I was grateful that I still had one in this world, Walter didn't understand the plight of being a girl and Tilley was too young. Chet and Frank were going through the stage of ignoring the younger siblings so I was a few years off having Chet as a friend. I gladly accepted the renewed friendship with Connor and followed him to his house and into the games room that was in his basement.

  We always hung out there, his parents had put a pool table and a pinball machine in and there was a massive flat screen television with several gaming consoles. I was insanely jealous. We had been playing a game of pool for about ten minutes before he asked to see them. His reasoning was that he hadn't ever seen them and wondered what they were like. And the fool that I was, fell for it. When he reached out to touch them I slapped him away, telling him to back off. I don't know why I did and when I look back at it now, I thought I was crazy. Connor was a dreamboat, if I came across him now I'd probably pounce on him without a care of who saw me. But that was never going to happen. His father got a promotion a month later and they were now living on the other side of the continent. So that was my experience with Connor.

  Next came my experience with a guy that I liked in high school. We were behind the bleachers; the crowd was roaring with support for the football game that I cared little about. I was more interested in the captain of the team who had been injured in the last game and couldn't play for the rest of the season. He had limped his way around the place looking like a wounded duck and gorging on the sympathy from the cheerleaders. Blake had slowly made his way around to the back of the stand to have an illicit cigarette, finding Amber and I in our own little misbehavior. Okay so I won't go so far as to say what we were doing was legal but we were young and stupid and that was my reasoning.