"Not yet, Sum, wait there's a car."
A car pulled over and Poppy walked over to the driver's side.
"Can you give my friend and me a ride, honey?" Poppy asked sweetly.
"Two of you?"
"Yeah, both of us."
"Ok," the seedy looking guy said.
Poppy waved Summer out of the bushes and she hurried over to the car just as havoc began. Two cars came from nowhere and pulled to a stop in front of them. "Uh oh," she said, looking at Summer sheepishly.
"Up against the car," one officer said. Poppy did as she was told, looking the part in her get-up as she bent over with her short dress barely reaching her thighs.
"You don't understand, there's been a mistake," Summer tried to say. Her lip wobbled, but she was actually too scared to cry.
"It's ok, there's been a misunderstanding."
Summer and Poppy looked around at the same time, never more grateful to see anyone, than the cop that pulled them over earlier. "Oh, thank you!" Summer said.
"Thanks, man," Poppy added.
"You two are just determined to get arrested today, aren't you?" he said sternly. "These are undercover cops and they thought you were a prostitute!"
"Really?" Poppy asked.
"That's not a good thing!" He turned to his colleagues that were standing there, stunned, while they listened to the exchange. "These are just a couple of college kids. That's their car."
To Summer's relief, she could see that realization suddenly started to dawn on the other officers.
"This one," he said, pointing to Summer, "has had her license suspended for unpaid traffic infringements. The friend doesn't have her license on her. Apparently, a friend was going to pick them up. Obviously they lied."
"Ah, you two need to be off the streets today, before your luck runs out." The driver of the car that had stopped for Poppy shook his head.
"Exactly. Will one of you cover for me for fifteen minutes?"
"Sure," the man nodded.
"Come with me," their guardian angel officer said, striding to his car and opening the back door.
"You're taking us in?" Summer asked.
"I'm driving you to the zoo. Now both of you be quiet before I change my mind and lock you up. You do know it's against the law to hitch on a freeway in this state?"
"Not exactly," Summer said, although she could tell from Poppy's face that she did.
Poppy shrugged and grinned cheekily. She probably just hoped they didn't get caught.
"Well, it is."
"Thank you, Officer!" Poppy said hugging him quickly. "I don't know why people call you Pigs."
Summer gave her friend a push into the car. "She'll be quiet now I promise."
Poppy zipped her mouth and threw away the imaginary key.
* * *
Summer realized she was a lot later than she said she'd be, but hoped she could sneak in with the simple excuse that she'd slept in or that she'd had a flat tire. As the car drove along at what seemed like a snail's pace, a list of believable excuses scrolled through her brain like the credits to a movie; but none of them stood out as perfect.
Poppy looped her arm through Summer's. "It'll be ok. Blame me," she mouthed.
Summer shook her head. "Not your fault," she mouthed back.
They pulled up in front of the zoo and there was already a long line of people waiting for the zoo to open. The officer got out and opened the door for the girls to get out. "This all for your party?"
"Probably," Summer answered, but her attention was suddenly drawn to the tall, well-built man that was running towards them. "Crap," she said, realizing that none of her dumb excuses were going to work.
"What's happened? Are you ok?" Ben's face was pale with worry as the girls stood there a little shell shocked in front of the patrol car. Summer looked as guilty as hell and Poppy looked like someone had stolen her pants.
Summer didn't say anything, but looked at the officer who tipped his hat and got back into his car.
"What's going on? I was so worried. I knew you wouldn't be late today on purpose. I thought you'd had an accident."
"Could we do this later?" Summer asked, her eyes pleading with him. "This is Pickles' day."
Ben narrowed his eyes at Poppy. He took off his pass lanyard and placed it over her head. "Go down to the gorilla enclosure and they'll let you into the back," he said. "I'm assuming those pants are yours?" He pointed to the pair of jeans under her arm.
She nodded.
"Put them on."
"Ok..." she said walking over to the line.
"Use the employees' entrance," he said.
Poppy pointed to a gate that said 'Employees Only'. "This one?"
"Yeah, we'll be right behind you," Summer said hopefully.
"Will we?" Ben's eyes blazed into her and her tummy twisted.
"I know it looks bad."
"Oh, I don't know. You arrive to work late on a day you said you'd be early and when you do finally arrive it's in a police car. Nothing out of the ordinary about that."
"Like I said, I know it looks bad."
"Let's go."
"Where to?"
"The office. I'm not going to be able to concentrate on anything until I know what happened."
"Isn't the most important thing that we're ok? Pops and me, I mean?"
"Yes it is; that's why I need to know."
Ben took huge strides as he led them to his office. Summer was forced to practically jog to keep up with him. Once inside, he perched again on the edge of the desk. That act itself, made her squirm. The last time she'd seen him sitting like that he was preparing to spread her across his hard knees.
"Tell me everything and don't leave anything out," he said, stopping her wandering thoughts in their tracks.
"I just forgot."
"Just forgot what?"
"To pay the tickets."
"That can't be the beginning."
"Ok, ok. A long time ago I left here and there was a ticket on my windshield."
"You're trying to tell me that all of this was over a parking ticket?"
"Not exactly, but you said to tell you all of it. I can't think when you're sitting there judging me before I can say it."
"Ok, fair enough, I'll reserve judgment until you're through."
He might have told her that he would reserve judgment until she was finished, but his eyes promised lots of judgment then. "I got the ticket because I was running late and I didn't park properly."
"Go on."
"So I was driving home and Poppy kept calling and calling and I couldn't concentrate, so I answered it, but I'd stopped at the lights and I was just going to say I couldn't talk."
"You shouldn't have been talking on the phone even at the lights."
"No judging yet, remember?"
"Go ahead."
"Well, she was telling me something and I got sidetracked and then I forgot to hang up."
Ben frowned, but forced himself to stay quiet.
"Then I got pulled over."
"You got a ticket for talking on the phone." It was more of a statement than a question.
Summer started to cry again. She held up two fingers.
Ben stared at her very judgmentally, just as she knew he would. "You got two tickets. What was the other one for?"
"Speeding," she said simply. "I didn't know I was speeding, honest! It was only because of the phone."
"Exactly. That's why you're not supposed to be on one when you're driving."
"I know you're mad, but that was it. You know all of it. Can we talk about it more this afternoon?"
"That's not all of it."
"Yes, it is. Well, most of it anyway."
"There was a small detail of you arriving in a police car?"
"Oh, that. He gave us a lift." She chewed at her lip nervously.
"Summer just tell me, we don't have time."
"I kind of forgot to pay the fines."
"You forgot?"
"I didn't have t
he money and I didn't want to ask my folks and then I did really forget."
"Oh, Summer." He ran his hand through his hair.
"I know! It was dumb, now they've suspended my license. I can't get it back until I pay my fines. I know I have to have my license to work here, but I still don't have the money. So I'll finish up this afternoon."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Ben lurched off his desk and charged towards her, his look was intense. "You should have told me."
Summer's breath caught in her throat as he positioned her under his arm and pelted her fully clothed bottom with powerful swats that had her dancing almost instantly.
"You, Miss, are in big trouble."
"I know," was all she could say. Summer's whole body seemed to have jumped to life. Her bottom felt like someone had just started a fire, with embers that were glowing, but hadn't quite reached a flame. There was more warmth than real heat, but that wasn't all. Tiny sparks were springing to life in places all over. Her nipples tingled, her clit throbbed and her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest at his look. For the first time, she could see in him something that she hadn't seen before. He wanted her; she could feel it.
"We have a party to see to," he said huskily. With his hand planted firmly on the small of her back, he led her out the door.
Summer had a feeling she really should have mentioned the whole prostitute thing, but then it was a misunderstanding, she rationalized to herself. She was doing him a favor; there was no need to upset him about something that wasn't really her fault.
* * *
"Nice of you two to finally arrive," a woman called Gladys said as they reached the enclosure. "This place is crazy."
"I know, I'm so sorry," Summer said, giving the motherly woman a hug.
"That's ok, honey, you're here now. Just so long as you're all right."
"What do you need me to do?"
"I don't know. I'm just an Indian, not a chief. Ask the man here. Maybe now that he knows you're safe, he'll be able to think straight."
Summer looked at Ben, who was ignoring the color that crept up his neck.
"Is Poppy helping?"
"Yes. She wanted to, but I wasn't sure what you wanted her to do."
"Get her to go over with the gift bag people."
"What about me?"
"You come with me. This was your baby, Summer. Things will go as we planned them."
"Do we have to clean the enclosure still?"
"No, that's done. We just have to put out Pickles' gifts. We'll let him out first and he can have some fun and then we'll let out the others."
"Sounds good." Summer eyed Ben nervously. "You're angry with me still, aren't you?"
"I can't do this right now, Summer."
"I know. I know we have stuff to do, but I just need you to tell me that you're not still angry with me." She watched as he methodically stacked the colorfully wrapped packages. She thought he wasn't even going to look at her, or answer her even; so she jumped when he put down the packages and came right over to her. He spoke softly into her ear so only she would hear him.
"I can't help being angry, but that isn't just down to you. We'll talk when this is all over. It'll be ok."
It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but it was all she was going to get. There was less privacy here today than there normally was, so she could see his point. There was a time and a place.
* * *
There were people watching from every vantage point as a shy and quiet Pickles was let out. He looked around him a little stunned that he was on his own. He made his way over to his presents, once again looking around for reassurance. He sat looking at them for a short while, until curiosity got the better of him and he picked one up and sniffed. He made a chuckling sound in his throat and banged the box on the ground before picking it up, sniffing again and picking at the paper.
"Look, he's going to open it," Summer said, as she and Ben stood fixed to the glass watching.
When it started to peel, Pickle ripped off the paper and opened the box. His face was a picture of happy contentment, his mouth forming a large circle when he saw what was inside.
"Aw, he like's it!" Poppy said, having come over to watch with Summer.
Strawberry after strawberry was plopped into the blackback's mouth until the present was empty. He shook the box to make sure nothing else was going to drop out, and then threw it away; his mind focused on the next parcel.
* * *
The party had been a great success. Apart from Char trying to monopolize the cake, despite their efforts to keep him otherwise occupied with his own food, it had gone off without a hitch. The end, though, signaled mixed emotions in everybody.
The air was filled with the excited laughter of children, the odd cry from a baby or a toddler throwing a tantrum as the ice creams and gift bags were handed out. It was all hands on deck and Summer enjoyed watching Ben be king of the kids. "You look good with kids hanging off you." They were the first direct words she'd said to him since the beginning of the day and she found she was waiting with bated breath for his answer.
"I love kids." He smiled.
He smiled! That was something wasn't it? It wasn't exactly going to be a conversation starter, but it was something.
"Me too." There, so much better. Then she watched him walk away.
Work went longer that day as they cleaned up all the 'people areas' of their exhibit. That included washing all the sticky finger marks off the viewing windows and picking up all the toilet paper that made its way all over the bathrooms. Ben had ended up sending Poppy home in a cab. In her prettiest of daydreams, Summer would have imagined Ben arranging their privacy for a romantic dinner followed by a love making session under the stars. In the not so clear light of the setting sun, though, she knew what she was in for, and that wasn't it. When nearly everyone else was gone, they walked together to say a final goodbye to Pickles. He was leaving early and would be sedated for the trip, so there was no point in them coming back in the morning.
"Summer, I don't want to talk to you in the office," Ben said quietly.
"Oh." Summer was without words. She wanted forgiveness and she had almost been looking forward to a trip to Ben's office, especially if it was going to make everything between them right again.
"I guess I'll get going then." It was all Summer could do not to cry.
"You're not going anywhere; well you are, but with me. I was just going to ask you if you wanted to come to my place, where we could relax. I've had enough of this place for one day. I feel like I've lived here this week. We could get some Chinese food or a pizza?"
"Is this a date?" The words had slipped out of Summer's mouth before she could stop them.
"Not exactly. We need to talk about the fines, among other things."
"So you're not mad at me anymore?"
"I'm plenty mad about the fines, about you not paying them, or telling me that you needed money, about all of it. I'm just hiding it well."
"So you're taking me back to your house to spank me?"
"That's one of the things that'll be on the agenda."
Summer stood there, still, for what felt like an hour, but what probably was less than a minute. She knew she should say something, she just didn't know what the right thing was. What she wanted to ask was what other things are going to be on the agenda besides the spanking. "Ok." The answer must have been the right one, because they were on the way to Ben's car and his house and whatever he had planned.
Chapter 7
"This is a nice building," Summer said as they drove underneath the building and into the garage to park the car.
"Thanks. Here we are," Ben said as they reached the space with his name on the wall. He hopped out and walked around to the passenger side to open the door for Summer.
To her surprise, after he closed the door Ben actually took her hand. She felt a jolt of electricity as her fingers settled into the warm crook of his hand and she smiled, a played down reaction to what
she really felt like doing, which was skip all the way to the elevator screaming 'he likes me, he likes me'. "What floor do you live on?" she asked. Not original, but she felt like someone should make conversation.
"Third," he said. "What do you feel like eating?"
"Um, I'm not really that hungry." Actually I think I may have lost the ability to swallow, she thought.
"Pizza it is then."
As the elevator doors closed Summer sighed. Yes there was hand holding, but the air was thick with tension.
"What?"
"I didn't say anything."
"I heard you sigh. Why'd you sigh?"
"Why is this so awkward? We've never had any trouble talking, now it seems like neither of us can think of one damn thing to say that isn't small talk." The doors opened and Summer was forced to wait. There was a young couple waiting to get in when they got out. She envied them. That couple were holding hands and not talking either, but they couldn't take their eyes off each other. When the elevator door closed Summer found herself still staring at the door.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"No. I'm fine."
"Would you like to have a shower?" Ben asked as they went inside his apartment.
"I don't have any clean clothes."
"I can find you something." He went into what she assumed was the bedroom and came back out a few minutes later with a white t-shirt. "This'll be like a night shirt on you. We can wash your clothes and put them in the drier if you like, in case you want to go home."
Summer held her breath. Did he just say 'In case you want to go home?' Did he even realize he'd said that out loud? Was she staying? Was she sleeping on the sofa? "I, um, don't have any panties." Seemed to be all she could come up with.
"You won't be needing any tonight."
When he'd pointed to the bathroom, she'd scuttled off without saying anything. There really wasn't anything you could say to that. It did feel good to strip off her dirty clothes and step into the steaming shower. There wasn't much in the way of shampoo, which wasn't surprising as his hair was fairly short; so she used his two-in-one shampoo hoping she would be able to get the knots out of her hair. At least she was clean.
Saving Summer Page 8
