by Noah Barnett
"Tomorrow, please take the card and pick up some appliances," he said resting his hand on her ass.
"I can do that. Is there anything you want?"
Charlie shook his head and said, "Just pick up what you think we need. I'm going to logout and get some sleep. I don't want to be late for work again." He touched his temple and a popup appeared. Before he could exit Elva pounced on him. She lunged upward and closed her mouth over his. Elva forced his lips open with hers and slid her tongue inside.
"Hmmmm… mmph," he mumbled as Elva went soul searching via his throat. She hunted his tongue down, cornering it within his mouth. Saliva slid down his chin as she continued to dominate him. His erection grew again before she pulled back.
"Goodnight," she purred in a throaty voice. Charlie quickly logged out before he lost his willpower and jumped her again.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Mugs and Mugged
Thankfully there was only another hour left in the day and he'd just finished making a sale. It had been a hard battle but he sat back feeling pretty good about himself. The ever beautiful Jennifer stopped next to his desk.
"Are you going to the meet-up tonight?" Jen asked, and he nodded in assent. She gave a small apologetic frown before saying, "I'm going to pass this evening." That was worrisome. Spending time with Jennifer out of work was one of the reasons he went to those crawls.
"Please show up. Last time it was all men. The only thing they griped about was not getting laid. We need some estrogen in the mix or they get weird." He begged and Jen’s frown deepened. She glanced at the other agents.
"I dunno."
"You need to come, it's not the same otherwise," he pleaded. Jen searched his face and chewed her lower lip.
"Fine but I won't be staying long," she said at last. Jen wandered off into the lot to look for another mark. Charlie pulled up the last customers' lease agreement. There was still some paperwork left to do, and he wanted to finish what little remained before leaving.
The bar was automated, which meant you just ordered via the table interface and waited for it to arrive. It was cheap, and close. A single overworked waitress was leapfrogging from table to table with a tray of liquid courage. She dropped four beers at their table along with a bottle of tequila and glasses. Along with this was a basket of lime slices and a salt shaker.
"Tomorrow is hump day, and I want you all to think positively!" Chad said holding up his beer. Everyone gave him the finger instead and he laughed.
"Raise them high!" Erick said lifting his beer up. Charlie instead, filled several shot glasses with amber colored tequila, and slid them toward the others.
"None for me," Jen said pushing her shot glass back.
"How many cars did you sell today?" Charlie asked.
"Three,"
"Four," Jen said sipping her beer.
"Damn, I only sold two," he groused. "Fuck this job," he added holding his alcohol up. The others joined him. The glasses rose as the group toasted again. He drained it and licked his salted hand.
Charlie filled another set of shots as lime slices disappeared from the basket. He glanced at Jennifer out of the corner of his eye. She'd barely touched her beer since arriving. She was hot, not Elva hot, but it was unfair being compared to digital perfection. Nonetheless, Jennifer was suited for a camera, and he wondered why she didn't take up modeling. She had an innocence to her face, although her eyes sometimes looked calculating, but that could have been the job. She raised her beer glass carefully taking another sip. Charlie watched her mouth as a pink tongue darted out to collect a stray bit of foam. For a few seconds he imagined what she'd look like with those lips wrapped around his—
An elbow jammed him in the side.
"Shot time fucker!" Chad said pushing his empty glass forward. Charlie shook his head annoyed at himself. He quickly poured several more rounds then stood. The others followed his example raising glasses and cups.
"Three, two, one… SHOT TIME!" The group yelled. Charlie drained the tequila and licked the back of his salted hand. Six empty glasses smacked against the table. They did this three more times before Chad seemed satisfied.
"You guys remember that meeting the other day?" Erick asked.
"I remember the boss's face when he handed Jen that little award. It was like he was giving out a Pulitzer Prize. Bet he was so proud of himself for putting that together on his computer." Charlie sneered reaching for a lime and bit into the tart fruit. Jen was still nursing her beer, so she said nothing, but smiled behind the glass.
"And the fucking cupcake?!? I mean seriously… He couldn't go online and order one of those little miniature trophies?" Charlie continued in a slightly slurred voice.
"You're a bit more salty than usual," Chad commented which was true. The tequila was hitting him fast tonight.
"Why shouldn't I be. I have four more days to pull a miracle out of my ass."
"What do you mean?" Jen asked.
"The great and powerful boss said I have a week to turn the numbers around. I busted my ass today and still only sold two cars." He answered reaching for the tequila bottle. "Two…" Charlie muttered pouring another shot.
"We're in a recession, nobody in their right mind is going to buy a car with the current interest rate," Chad said pushing his shot glass towards Charlie. He filled the glasses again.
"That's what I said," Charlie slurred. Erick passed the salt shaker around. Charlie took it and covered the back of his hand with the crystal granules, then lifted the shot glass in a toast.
"Too suckers and fuckers," he toasted clinking glasses with the others. The poison slid past his lips and down his throat, before he cringed from the taste. Quickly he licked the back of his hand and reached for another lime.
"Got a hot date there, Jen?" Chad asked. Charlie glanced at the woman. Every shot was making her even better looking. She straightened pursing those pert lips.
"No."
"You keep looking at your watch," the younger agent accused.
"I'm fine," Jen said again.
Charlie smirked and said, "Probably has a delicious piece of man meat waiting back home. Whip cream and cherry already donned." Jennifer blushed and drained the last of her beer.
"If you are going to insult me then I'm leaving.”
"We're just teasing," Charlie quickly said.
"You are bombshell hot and you never talk about yourself," Chad accused.
"I like to be mysterious," Jen replied tartly as she gathered her purse. Great, the girl was fleeing. They'd gone too far and chased the only woman off. Now it would be another sausage fest.
"I'm out too," Charlie said.
"It has only been an hour, man." Erick said.
"Shit, I've had more shots than most of you combined," he replied standing. Charlie wobbled slightly before grabbing the table to steady himself. Jennifer walked past towards the exit as he pulled on his jacket. He reached across the table and snatched the bottle of tequila.
"Hey!" They exclaimed but he fled towards the door.
Charlie laughed as he drunkenly dodged other customers. He'd paid for the bottle, like hell would he leave it behind. He pushed open the door and stepped from the bar. The summer air felt like a used sauna towel slapping his face, and Charlie inhaled trying to gather his senses. Bottle in hand he stumbled toward his vehicle.
The lot was dimly lit except for the area immediately around the bar, so he was forced to awkwardly weave his way through the pools of light. He was maybe halfway to his car when he noticed Jennifer backed against her own vehicle. A man stood in front of her with a dark hoodie pulled over his head. Charlie couldn't see his face; however, he did see Jen's. Her expression was one Charlie had become intimately familiar with. Terror, pure and unadulterated. Gun Meister merged with reality. The target nearby wasn't aware of his presence. The man had his back to Charlie as he held something to Jennifer's stomach. Her eyes were wide with panic as she scrambled to open her purse. Charlie fumbled for the pistol at his thigh, only to
discover it was missing.
Adrenaline began to surge, and he moved with more dexterity than his inebriated body should have allowed. Tequila spilled out of the bottle as he turned it over in his hand.
"Gimme yer fuck'n money, bitch," a thick dark voice hissed.
Charlie caught sight of a crudely duct-taped butterfly knife. The broken handle was wrapped to keep it from closing. Jen saw Charlie approaching, and her eyes tracked him. The man noticed her gaze and spun around. Charlie hopped forward swinging his makeshift club as hard as he could, and glass shattered against the man's face. He went down but the guy had a higher endurance score than most. The mugger reached with hate in his eyes, for the dropped knife, but Charlie stepped on the weapon. Blood and tequila dripped down the side of the man's fat cheek.
Charlie waved the broken bottle in his face as he hissed, "Sod off, before I give you a dirty nose job." The trash scrambled backward across the ground before gaining traction, and stumbling to his feet. He turned and fled the parking lot into the darkness. Almost immediately Charlie lost sight of the man in his dark clothes.
"Oh my God," Jen’s shaking voice said. She slumped against her car beginning to shudder visibly.
He felt quite proud of himself. If this were Gun Meister, he would have gotten his first knife kill. He tried to take another drink of tequila as a reward. He brought the tip of the bottle to his mouth but nothing came out. He stared drunkenly at what remained of his tequila.
"Damn, that was right... What a waste of good alcohol." He thought, then sighed and tossed the broken remains into a nearby bush.
"What are you doing?" Charlie asked turning back to Jen. She fished about in her purse and produced a cell phone. Her nimble fingers quickly unlocked the screen.
"I'm obviously calling the police," she said. Charlie swatted drunkenly at the phone keeping her from dialing out.
"Fuck that. They're never going to find him."
"He tried to mug me," Jen snarled.
"What was he wearing? What did he look like?" Charlie asked slurring the words. "Only thing I recall was the empty expression on his fat face and those evil shifty eyes." He added looking around the lot. The mugging had gone down in less than a minute. No one else even noticed Jen's plight. "There are thousands of low life's like him." He said noticing the cheap knife on the ground. He bent and picked the blade up before tossing it into the bushes as well.
"What if he attacks someone else?" Jen raised her emotional voice as she asked.
"Dat piece of shit is goin home to put some ice on his head and lick what little remains of his pride." He answered in a drolling slur. Charlie wished the bottle hadn't broken in the fight.
"AnYway, don't you have a hawt date?" The adrenaline was exiting his system and the tequila was kicking in hard. In fact he was slipping into a full-blown blackout.
"Where are you going?" Jen asked holding the phone like it was a personal weapon. Her voice still shook with anger and tension.
"Homeee—" he replied giving the girl a sloppy wave. The short walk to his car seemed farther than he first thought. He managed to unlock it and slumped into the driver's seat. As he turned on the car a high pitched alarm went off.
"Alcohol detected, locking out manual controls." The onboard computer said. Well, that was fair, given he was just a little drunk. Still, he didn't like the slightly reproving tone it had used.
"ScrEw you tu," he muttered.
"Please state your destination," the car responded.
"Hurm," He mumbled.
"Location unknown, please state your destination." It asked again in a patient voice. He blew out his breath in annoyance.
"Hommme," he slurred loudly. The seatbelt slid down over his chest and the car backed out of the stall. Slowly darkness crept into his vision.
In the void he half expected to see the words, ‘Match Complete.’
Charlie woke with the taste of death in his mouth. His head pounded, and he groaned from the pain. The alarm wailed at him insistently until he wormed his way closer to the nightstand. He slapped the mobile and managed to shut it off. He waited praying the pain would fade but to little avail. Dull explosions continued to go off behind his eyes.
He could not remember how the hell he got home. Large portions of last night were little more than a slideshow flashing in his mind. Slowly he rolled from bed to discover he was butt-ass naked. He didn't even have boxers on. Charlie groaned clutching his aching head and went into the bathroom for some Advil. It smelled like a bar and a sewer had taken part in a sex orgy. Someone—most likely himself—had pissed and vomited on the floor next to the toilet. A soiled towel lay half in the puddle, and a set of waterlogged clothes were in the shower.
"I do not need this," Charlie groaned pinching the bridge of his nose to keep from breathing in the stink, and tossed a clean towel over the toxic puddle to soak. The wet clothes he put into the hamper. Charlie swallowed two Advil dry and brought his toothbrush with him into the shower. As the water turned hot he scrubbed the back of his tongue. He spit a foul lump of saliva towards the drain, which landed thickly, and oozed down the hole. When he was done scouring the inside of his mouth he soaped up and washed.
Once clean, he climbed from the shower and toweled off. After wiping up as much vomit as possible he found a bottle of bleach and poured it over the tiles. With another spare towel, he wiped up the remainder. Finally, he went back into his bedroom and dressed.
The bright summer light accosted him as he left the apartment. He recoiled taking momentary shelter under the eve. The Advil had only just started doing its job, and he shaded his eyes with a hand. Finally, he risked the dash to his car, climbed inside, and just barely made it to work on time. There was already a customer waiting near the building. Charlie went over, smiled, and introduced himself.
"Can I help you," he asked.
"I'll be in America for a month and I'm looking for a cheap run-about car," the man said in a decidedly British accent. Charlie hadn't checked in yet but this was a possible sale.
"We can help you there," he said guiding the man towards the used car lot. It didn't take much; the Brit was foreign and affluent. After the paperwork was signed, Charlie handed over the keys to the used Jaguar. His day might have started off rough but it was quickly turning around. An hour passed in relative quite, but eventually a shadow crossed over his desk.
Jennifer stood before him in a tight button up shirt and a skinny tie. She lifted a hand dragging a lock of platinum blonde hair over her ear and exposed a set of tiny crosses for earrings.
"I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" he asked in confusion. This made her pause searching at his face.
"For helping me…" She said more slowly. He remembered as if through a dream a pair of dark eyes and a duct taped knife. It was still hazy and he put out a hand.
"There was more tequila in my veins than blood, so I don't recall much of what happened last night. " He admitted.
"Well, it was courageous." Jen said looking around to see if anyone was nearby. She pushed another lock of hair behind her ear. "Would you like to get some lunch?" She asked after a second.
“Holy shit, is she asking me out on a date?” He thought.
"I would honestly love that," he replied immediately. Visions of her tangled in his bed sheets momentarily filled his imagination. Charlie stood and pushed his chair in. It was early, but he wasn't going to waste this opportunity. "Let's go, I haven't had breakfast yet." Jennifer went to her desk to fetch her purse and jacket.
"There's a place I like around the corner," she said leading Charlie from the building. Today was getting better and better he mused matching her stride.
"So fill me in on my heroic escapades. The last thing I remember was teasing you in the bar." He said as they walked across the lot.
She made a false start. The memories were still raw in her mind and she swallowed hard. "I… went out to my car to leave but I didn't notice someone follow me. I really should have been payi
ng more attention. He had a knife and I just couldn't believe what was going on." She said in a controlled voice. Charlie matched her stride as she moved down the block.
"That's when you came up behind him and hit him with a bottle. Then you poked him in the cheek with the broken end, and he took off."
"Well, that does sound very bad ass," he admitted after some consideration. Charlie only had images and a few snatches of sound to match her story with his memories.
