Chapter 10: The Game

“Lara? What are you doing here? Aren’t you off today? Didn’t you switch shifts?” Dave asked in surprise as Lara walked through his office door. He noticed that she hadn’t knocked, which was typical of her.

“Yeah, I’m not working today. I just wanted to drop by and give you this,” she said as she walked up to his desk and handed Dave a small USB stick. He took it from her and rolled it over in his fingers. She couldn’t help but enjoy the impressed look on his face.

“Already? Wow, that was fast work. How long did you spend editing it together?” he asked.

“Longer than I’d care to admit, if I’m honest. But I wanted it to be as close to perfect as possible,” she answered him.

“And is it? Perfect?” he asked.

“No. But it’s serviceable. I might even stretch to “quite good” but then I’d be tooting my own horn,” she told him, trying to display some modesty.

“Well, you tooted my horn pretty well when we made the video, Lara,” he said, grinning at her now.

I walked into that one I suppose, she thought to herself.

“Yes, yes, your horn was quite impressive on camera. Well done,” she said, rolling her eyes at him but only doing it for effect. She had to admit he was right. His dick did look good on camera. She looked even better while swallowing it.

It’s just a pity the rest of him wasn’t up to the same standard.

Lara had used some creative editing to keep his flabby gut and balding head out of the frame as much as possible. She had mostly succeeded.

“Any problems with it?”

“Not until near the end. A couple of technical hiccups. But Lenny was on hand to help me through them,” she told him.

“Ah, good old Lenny. So he helped you finish?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah. He helped me finish, alright,” Lara said, grinning slyly at him. She couldn’t resist messing with Dave.

Lenny had in fact helped her finish, while taking her on all fours from behind. She had agreed to a quickie with Lenny in exchange for his help recovering her video and what had initially started as a bit of a sympathy fuck, had turned into a pretty enjoyable session for both of them. Lenny had surprised her by taking control, something she hadn’t thought him capable of.

If Dave knew that super-nerd Lenny had been where he never would, he’d go ballistic, she thought to herself. Actually, Lara, what the fuck are you playing at? Stop dropping hints. It’s all fun and games until he finds out and actually does something, you idiot.

“Anyway, it turned out well. I think it’s ready to sell. Give it a watch and tell me what you think,” she said, trying to quickly move on.

“Will do. I’ll get out the lotion and give it a whirl right now, in fact,” he said, leaning back in his large high-topped leather chair while he smirked at her.

“Fucking hell, Dave. I didn’t need to know that. A bit of professionalism wouldn’t go amiss,” she told him.

“I’m just messing around, relax. But I think I will watch it now. You’re welcome to join me. You can fill me in on all your artistic choices,” he said, hopeful that she would agree.

“Sounds like fun, Dave but as you already said, I’m not on today. I’ve got a full day scheduled so I can’t hang around,” she said, lying.

She did have a full day but could absolutely afford an hour or two to rewatch it with him. But she figured it was a bad idea. He’d get worked up and probably try something. She didn’t trust him to behave himself. If she was brutally honest with herself, she didn’t trust herself either. She had spent hours watching the footage already. Watching herself on camera had made her wetter than Niagara Falls.

Best to avoid the whole scenario.

“At least run me through the intro?” he said, trying one more time to convince her.

“See you later, Dave,” she said, already halfway out the door.

Dammit, Dave thought to himself. He should have played that better. He had wanted her to stick around.

Truthfully, he hadn’t expected her to be done with it so quickly. She had surprised him by showing up out of the blue with the finished product. He’d had a plan all laid out in his head where he would engineer a situation where she was forced to watch it with him. It had involved a large screen TV, a lot of alcohol, and some trademarked Dave manipulation. He had planned to be railing her by the credits. Now, that plan was fucked. Maybe he could salvage it somehow. Say he wanted to make some changes, maybe? Demand a review with her present to go over some alterations, perhaps. He’d have to think on it. Ponder the possibilities.

In the meantime, there was no reason he couldn’t enjoy himself. He stuck the USB stick into his computer and opened up the video. He leaned back in his chair, and unzipped himself. He also clicked “Jack” on his phone and called downstairs.

“Jack, get Jenny up here,” he said down the phone.

“Boss, Jenny doesn’t get in for another few hours,” Jack told him. Dave grumbled something unintelligible down the line.

“What was that, boss?”

“I said, tell her to get her ass up here when she does get in, okay?” Dave said, impatiently.

“Sure thing. Will do,” Jack answered, quickly.

Dave hung up the phone. He wasn’t sure he could wait that long. Some good old fashioned manual grip and rip might have to do. He watched as Lara’s beautiful face, with her masked eyes, filled the screen.

Yeah, not a hope of me lasting until Jenny gets in. Old School it is, he thought as he gripped himself.

Jo tried to act casual as she leaned against the wall outside the locked server room inside The Pearl. She was was waiting for her moment to resume picking the padlock. Another dancer had walked by and nearly seen Jo crouched in front of the door, fiddling with the lock. Jo had pretended she was bending down to pick something up and gave the other dancer a smile as she walked past. She had gotten lucky it had worked. But it might not work the next time. She needed to get in there and retrieve her monitoring device before it was discovered.

Jo quickly bent down again and jammed the rake into the lock, jiggling it in and out at different angles. She was hoping to get lucky and just brute force the lock open. She wasn’t skilled enough to try a more precise approach. It had worked last time, she figured it would again.

With a click, the padlock sprung open. She quickly unlocked the door and headed into the warm server room. She squeezed past the large rack and scanned the back of the servers, looking for her USB stick.

Where is it ... where is it? She thought, starting to panic.

Jo searched frantically, knowing she likely only had seconds before being discovered. It wasn’t in the slot it was supposed to be in. She bent down and checked the floor, hoping that perhaps it had fallen out but she knew it was a vain hope. Admitting the obvious to herself, she exited the room and put the padlock on the door. She headed towards the changing rooms, her heart hammering through her chest.

It was gone. She could only think of two explanations. Lenny had discovered it, and removed it. He was extremely technically savvy. He’d know what the device was instantly. He’d know that somebody had broken in. Again. Maybe he’d assume it was the same hacker? Was she that lucky? Jo wasn’t sure if Lenny could figure out where it came from and who had installed it but the thought scared her.

But the alternative concerned her more. Maybe Lenny had nothing to do with the disappearing USB device? That the mysterious Alderson Kalikow had taken another visit to The Pearl and found it himself?

Jo knew that Lara was due to meet the man soon. She had been invited to Lenny’s Dungeons and Dragons session according to Mike. Alderson was supposed to be there. Jo just hoped that her own fuck up with the monitoring device wouldn’t come back to bite her and Mike in the ass.

Lara got out of her car and closed the door behind her. She couldn’t help but stare at it, now in pristine condition. She had done so repeatedly since she had gotten it back from the restoration shop.

She loved the work they had done. It looked brand new. Which was an improvement as Lara had bought it second hand from a dodgy looking pre-owned vehicle dealer several years ago. But now? You couldn’t tell. It looked like she had driven it straight off the lot.

She tore her gaze away from her cute little car and walked across the car park outside Lenny’s building. She spotted Alan waiting for her exactly where he had texted her he’d be, leaning beside the fancy water fountain near the entrance. His eyes lit up as he saw her.

“Hey there, stranger,” Lara said to him.

“Wow. Just ... wow,” Alan said as he stared at her.

She giggled as he took in her outfit. She had dressed up for the occasion as Britney had suggested. Lenny had told her she was playing some sort of magical spell caster so that’s the look she had gone with. And she had gone all out.

Her top was a deep violet colour, made of an iridescent, shimmering fabric that seemed to change hue as she moved. The corset-like bodice was cinched tightly at the waist, accentuating her narrow midriff and the tantalizing curve of her breasts. The neckline plunged deeply, proudly displaying an expansive amount of her impressive cleavage. The corset was laced up the front with intricate, ornate silver laces.

Around her neck, she wore a large amethyst pendant dangling between her breasts. At least, it was what Lara hoped would pass for an amethyst. She wasn’t sure what it was really made from. Her hair was piled atop her head in a wild, messy bun of braids and loose curls, with silver pins woven throughout. She didn’t normally wear her hair up like this but figured it fit the look she was going for.

Below her corset, a sheer, gossamer skirt of translucent black lace flowed down her legs. The skirt had a split up one side, offering teasing glimpses of her long, shapely legs and the alluring curves of her hip. The lace was trimmed with more of that shimmering violet fabric, creating a stunning visual effect. To complete the look, she had painted her lips a deep, lustrous red and her eyes a smoky black and violet that she hoped looked appropriately “witchy” enough.

Alan shook his head in amazement as she posed for him. She looked every inch a sexy sorceress. “Can we scrap the plan and just go back to my place?” he asked, only half joking.

“Hey, you changed your hair!” she exclaimed in surprise as she noticed it for the first time.

“Uh, yeah. I just fancied a change. Do you like it?” he asked, his lips pursed together as if nervous of the answer.

Oh, no. He changed his hair. For me. God dammit, Lara.

Lara had lightly teased him over his cauliflower style haircut a couple of times during their phone calls. What she had meant as light ribbing and teasing, he had clearly taken to heart and gone out and completely changed it.

She had to admit, she much preferred the new look. It was cut short in the back and the sides and tapered up to a sort of French crop look. He looked handsome.

No more criticising his looks, even in a joke. People have insecurities, you bitch.

“I love it. Very dashing. You look like David Beckham,” she said, heaping praise on the new look.

“Really? You actually like it?” he asked, smiling now.

Show him, Lara.

She didn’t answer him again. Not with words anyway. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him. His hands went to her waist and held her firmly as their lips met.

It was a soft, tentative kiss at first, merely a brushing of mouths. Alan’s lips were warm against hers, moving with a gentle pressure that made Lara’s heart flutter. She melted into the kiss, her full lips parting slightly to allow him to deepen it. His tongue traced the seam of her mouth, teasing her, coaxing her to let him in.

As they started to make out, Lara realised something. We’ve never done this before.

She had blown him while under the influence of drink and drugs, on video, at Will’s fateful party. They had talked on the phone nearly every day for weeks. They had talked for hours, sent flirty and sexy texts back and forth. They had shared details and emotions with each other. Alan was also the only person to know about how Will and Rob had roofied and raped her. And yet despite all that, they hadn’t seen each other since his emotional visit to her old apartment.

This is our first kiss.

And what a kiss it was. Slowly, the softness of their kiss began to shift. The tender pressure of Alan’s mouth increased, his kisses growing more insistent, more demanding. Lara nipped at his lower lip, tugging it gently with her teeth before soothing the sting with her tongue. Her tongue swept over his lips as she dipped it past his and into his mouth again. Alan groaned softly, his grip on her hips tightening as she explored his mouth with her tongue. Alan’s hands slid down to cup the curve of her ass, squeezing lightly. He pulled her flush against him. He could feel her chest against him, even through the corset.

His tongue delved deeper, stroking along Lara’s tongue in a sort of dance. Their kisses grew sloppier, more desperate. Lara decided to stop before they both got carried away. She pulled back gently and they stared at each other, still close.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for so long,” Lara told him, her voice breathy.

“Me too,” he said back, still staring into her eyes.

“We can’t get too carried away, though. We have a job to do, remember?” He nodded.

Following her latest meeting with Mike, Lara had decided to tell Alan about her role in Mike’s investigation of Captain Price. She trusted Alan, and frankly she needed somebody to talk to about everything.

She had left out certain details, such as the manner in which she had met Mike. She had simply told Alan that an undercover cop had approached her and asked for her help as an insider working in The Pearl. That he wanted to bring Captain Price down. Lara had explained to Alan that she felt she owed it to the girls at the club to help get rid of the slimy, corrupt fucker.

Alan now knew about Dave’s bribery payments to Price, the hack at the club, the stolen money from Dave’s accounts, and the mystery man who they thought had done it. The man who Lara was here to meet at Lenny’s game night. Alan had offered to help.

The plan was that while Lara was inside Lenny’s apartment playing DnD with the guys and learning all she could about Alderson Kalikow, that Alan would break into his now empty apartment and do some snooping.

“Yes, but I’m a little nervous about my part, Lara. I thought it would be easier,” he told her.