The Stand Off

by Z. Stefani

  “So, we should probably get going, we do have to teach in the morning,” Graves informed them.

  “Are you sure you don’t want us to stay with you?” Kiki asked.

  “No, we need everyone teaching tomorrow,” Lux said and then turned to Pixie. “I need you to cover my classes as well.”

  “Okay. Are you sure you want to stay here, though? This place is creepy; like horror movie level creepy.”

  “Where else could I go with Mr. Celebrity? Everyone knows his face. If they even suspect he’s been abducted, they’re going to have missing signs shown on every TV and computer screen across the world,” Lux reminded her.

  “Okay, but remember if you need us, we are but a phone call away,” Pixie said as she hugged her sister.

  “I know, I’ll be fine,” Lux hugged her back.

  “I’m just worried,” Pixie whined.

  “Shoot, we should be more worried for Dean Blake. Don’t forget Lux hasn’t slept or eaten, and we all know how crazy she gets,” Kiki joked.

  “Funny,” Lux frowned.

  ***

  Once everyone was gone, Lux grabbed the cleaning cloth and wiped down the large coffee table. She grabbed the black and white hounds tooth table cloth from the bag and spread it out. She grinned when she saw the black and white bouquet of flowers in the bag.

  She knew what Pixie, Kiki, and Lolo were up to. They had picked out her sexiest outfits, supplied the wine, great food, and even packed candles. Not to mention the small, battery operated radio and the greatest love songs CD. What they were trying to do was more than obvious; they were trying to turn an abduction into a date.

  Dean sat tied to the chair, watching Lux’s every move. Even though he was mad, he was still amused by her. He smiled when she put the black and white flowers in the middle of the coffee table.

  “I bet your whole room is done in black and white,” he predicted.

  She looked at him as a smile slowly crept across her face, “Yeah.”

  “Most of your wardrobe is.”

  She silently stared at him for a moment, appreciating that fact that he’d noticed. “Do you want another drink?” she asked, in need of changing the subject.

  “Tequila,” he answered.

  “Bottle or cup?” she asked as she held up both.

  “Bottle.”

  When she grabbed the lemon, he stopped her, “We don’t need that.”

  “Straight from the bottle?”

  “Yes.”

  She opened the bottle and sat down in the chair before him. She held it to his lips, and he took a generous drink.

  “You drink like Pixie; she prefers liquor,” she said before she took a tiny sip.

  “So do I.”

  “Ugh…nastiness,” she cringed.

  “Tell me about the music hall.”

  “Why are you suddenly so interested? You never cared before.” She looked at him suspiciously.

  “Tell me,” he urged.

  “It started out as just a lounge, a place for adults to meet, drink, and talk music… but my dad made a mess of it. After he died, my mom bought the whole building and made some major changes. She wanted to do something good with that lounge. The girls and I used to practice there all the time. When the other kids in the neighborhood took notice, they wanted to make music, too, so we started teaching them and it progressed from there… it became the neighborhood music hall.”

  “You teach classes in that building?’

  “Yes, all of us do. I teach piano, Pixie gives vocal and tambourine lessons, Kiki teaches bass guitar, Graves teaches lead guitar, and Lolo teaches the drums. Luckily Pixie plays the piano as well; it comes in handy when I need a break… like now.”

  “How do you afford teachers?”

  “We can’t afford them; everyone there is a volunteer. It’s just us and luckily most of us live there.”

  “You live there?”

  “Yes, with my sisters and my mom. Lolo lives down the block with her dad. Graves lives with us off and on. She moved out last week; I suspect she’ll be back next week or the week after at the latest. There’s plenty of rooms, so over the years, people have dropped by for help. Some never left. I don’t think Pixie will ever leave.”

  “You don’t have any funding?”

  “No, between the lounge and the instruments, we get by. We’ve gotten donations in the past, and we just take really good care of the instruments that we’ve got. We give out some of the donations to the kids as well; we do a lot of contests.”

  “What about the record store?”

  “My dad started the record store. My mom continued it after he was gone, but it doesn’t make money.”

  “Who taught you to play the piano?”

  “My mom. She used to be a music teacher… before my father died. Then she just stopped playing entirely. She stopped doing a lot of things, actually.” She needed to change the subject; she could feel the emotion trying to break through.

  “Like what?”

  “What about your mother?” she blurted and instantly regretted it. She’d heard the stories surrounding his mother’s untimely death. It was still mystery.

  “My mother’s dead,” he answered flatly.

  She watched his face tightened and his lip twitched. She knew that feeling; she felt it every time she thought of her father.

  “Enough family talk. Let’s eat.” She grabbed the picnic basket and put it on the table.

  “Good idea,” he agreed as he watched her pull out a large plate and peel the tin foil off.

  “They didn’t even go to the store; Kiki made this food earlier,” Lux told him as she sat the plate down and grabbed the other one.

  “You can untie me; I’m not going to run. It’s late, we’re here, I’m starving; we’ll make the best of it until morning.”

  “I can never tell if you think I’m dumb or just dumber than you.” She laid the other plate on the coffee table.

  “I don’t think you’re dumb at all. I think you’re reckless, very reckless… but not dumb. Now untie me.”

  “Over my dead body; I’m going to feed you.” Just as she grabbed the fork, she heard a noise by the door. She looked at Dean for a moment before she raced over and grabbed her stun gun.

  “Tell me you brought more than a stun gun?”

  She pointed to the metal baseball bat next to the old couch and whispered, “I brought the bat, and I have a metal nail file, too.”

  “We’re in an abandoned house on an abandoned block, and all you brought was a stun gun and a baseball bat?”

  “And a nail file.”

  “What in the hell are we going to do with a nail file Lux? Untie me!”

  “Shush!” When the noise grew louder she whispered, “What is it?”

  “It could be anyone. Untie me.”

  “Shit,” she gasped when she saw the shadow under the door.

  “Untie me right fucking now Lux,” he roared as he shook the chair, ready to break it apart himself.

  Without another thought she untied the rope and then quickly grabbed the key. She unlocked the cuffs and stood back hesitantly as he rose. Suddenly, she wasn’t sure if she should be scared of what was on the other side of the door, or her untied hostage.

  He grabbed the baseball bat and went to the door. He listened for a minute before he whispered instructions to her.

  “On three I want you to open the door, but I want you to stay behind it,” he instructed, holding the baseball bat in position and ready to swing. “One… two… three.”

  She swung the door open and jumped behind it as he rushed forward, ready to attack.

  After a moment of silence, Lux got nervous and called, “Dean?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What is it?”

  “Take a look,” he answered.

  Lux peeked around the door and crept to stand behind Dean. She immediately saw a rather large raccoon digging through what looked like old trash in the front yard.

  “Come on,” h
e held her arm and guided her back inside. He shook his head as he shut the door and then locked it.

  “I thought it was a psycho killer or least a vicious Saint Bernard. I definitely didn’t expect a raccoon.”

  “Saint Bernard?”

  “Yeah, you know… like the movie.”

  “Next time you abduct someone and take them to an abandoned house, at least bring an adequate form of protection.” He walked over and sat down on the floor before the coffee table.

  “Hey, I need to put the handcuffs back on you.”

  “When I’m done,” he nodded to the spot next to him on the floor. “Sit down.”

  She kept her eyes glued to him as she sat down beside him. She held her stun gun tightly in her hand as she watched him eat.

  “You’re not eating?” he asked.

  “No,” she shook her head.

  “Your sister said you haven’t eaten. You need to eat something.”

  “I’ll eat later.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  Lux sat silently as Dean ate his food in record time.

  “Your sister is a good cook,” Dean said as he stood up and grabbed the bottle of wine.

  “She’s the best; she should open a restaurant,” she said with pride.

  “I agree,” he said as he grabbed her hand and helped her to stand. Still holding her hand, he led her to the loveseat and sat down. He pulled her close to him, but she immediately put some space between them. He took a long drink from the bottle and then passed it to her.

  “I don’t know, I’m already buzzing,” she said with a grin as she looked at the bottle.

  “Then one more sip won’t make a difference,” he reasoned.

  “Sounds legit.” She kept her eyes trained on him as she took the bottle. She took a tiny sip and passed it back to him.

  “So when was the last time you got a full night’s rest?” he asked.

  “It’s been a while,” she admitted.

  “You can’t keep doing that; it’s not good for your body. You need to rest.” He took another drink and then handed the bottle back to her.

  “I’ll rest when things are back to normal,” she answered before taking another drink and then passing it back to him.

  “That may be sooner than you think,” he said.

  He was tempted to tell her, but he couldn’t. He wanted to give it one last shot, not for sex, but for something. Although sex with her would be heaven right now, he needed more from her. In his heart, he knew sex would not be enough. At the same time, he wanted her to like him, even when she thought he was going to destroy the music hall.

  “It would take a miracle.” She leaned back against the blanket covered love seat.

  “You may be surprised.”

  She turned to look at him and spoke softly, “I’m sorry that I… took you.” She avoided the word abduction.

  “Took me?”

  “Yes,” she refused to elaborate. “I will be the first to admit that I may have reacted a little… rash.”

  “A little?” he grinned as he handed her the bottle.

  “I was between a rock and a hard spot; it was either sex or abduction.”

  “And you picked an illegal activity over sex with me.” It was more of a statement than a question.

  “It seemed reasonable at the time; the lesser of the two evils.”

  “You see sex with me as evil?”

  “No but having sex in exchange for property is. I couldn’t bring myself to do it; not in exchange for the building.” She told him before she took another drink.

  “Is that the only reason?”

  “That, and you’re a womanizer.”

  “I’m not a womanizer.”

  “Isn’t that what a womanizer is supposed to say?”

  It got quiet for a moment as he watched her take another sip of wine. He grabbed her thigh and slid her closer to him; close enough for their thighs to touch. He continued to hold her thigh and was surprised that she didn’t try to pull away.

  “Lux…” he began as he slid his hand up her thigh and looked her straight in the eyes. “I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth.”

  “Okay.”

  “Are you a virgin?”

  She felt her heart race and her mind draw a blank as she hesitated. She took a deep breath and then took a sip of wine before she finally answered, “Yes. How did you know?”

  “Your body language, your reactions, and the fact that sex makes you nervous. It’s obvious; I don’t know why I didn’t realize it sooner.”

  “It’s not obvious,” she snapped defensively.

  “Why did you wait?”

  “I’ve just been really busy with The Music Hall and trying to turn something tragic into something beneficial. I teach piano classes like seven days a week, I just don’t have time for stuff like that.”

  “Bullshit.” He didn’t buy it.

  “What do mean bullshit?”

  “That may have been part of it, but that’s not the only reason.”

  She looked at him, impressed that he could see through her excuse. Maybe it was the liquor or maybe it was the company, but she threw caution to the wind and answered honestly.

  “I’ve never met anyone that remotely sparked my interest. Everyone is so sweet and charming but ultimately full of shit. They bring flowers, candy, and shoot out mouthfuls of sickly sweet words but deep inside they are all the same. So what’s the point of having sex if you can’t find anyone that you’re attracted to? You can’t force yourself to feel something you just don’t feel, so eventually you give up trying and block it from your mind.”

  “Did you try?” he suddenly felt very possessive.

  “At first I did. I wanted to know why I couldn’t feel anything. I mean even my younger sister was raving about sex but I didn’t feel a damn thing. When I finally realized what did turn me on, I thought something was wrong with me so I blocked all thought of it from my mind.”

  “What did you discover? What turns you on?”

  She hesitated for a moment before she spoke the words she had never spoken aloud, “Nothing sweet and definitely nothing gentle.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that and there’s nothing wrong with you. You just never found the right man for the job… until now.”

  She grinned, “You really are cocky.”

  “And soon you’ll know why.” He grinned wickedly for a moment before he looked at her more seriously, “Why are you on birth control?”

  “It regulates my period,” she explained.

  “Do you have bad periods?”

  “More like irregular.”

  “Are you on your period now?” he asked as he ran his finger down her pussy.

  “No,” she whispered as she pulled back a little.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “About my period?” She asked with wide eyes and eye brows raised.

  “That you’re still a virgin.”

  “That’s not something that you advertise; it’s personal. Besides, would it have made any difference?”

  “As far as sex yes.”

  “How?”

  “If you knew how many times I wanted to bend you over, yank down your panties and slam my dick deep inside of you, you wouldn’t have to ask that question. Let’s just say that is not how you want to lose your virginity, you wouldn’t be able to sit for months. You have no idea how close you came to getting it. Especially that day in the board room.”

  “Trust me, I know.”

  “Do you?”

  She nodded her head slowly as she looked into his eyes, “Yes.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was trying to get my building back from you; I didn’t want you to confuse my inexperience for innocence or naivety. I needed you to take me seriously and recognize me as a serious opponent.”

  “But you are innocent.”

  “No, I’m inexperienced when it comes to sex… t
here’s a big difference,” she corrected him. She hadn’t been innocent since the day her father was murdered.