Chapter 11: The Girlfriend

“So, we are standing there with the key to the treasure chest in our hands and then Feldritch and Tormund come running around the corner and start attacking us,” Britney said as she gesticulated dramatically to her captive audience.

“What did you do?” Jack asked, as he continued to stack glasses from behind the bar.

“Well, we fought back, didn’t we Lara?” Britney said, turning to the brunette sitting to her left.

“Oh, yeah. Totally. We rocked their world. You could say we blew them away,” Lara said. The girls grinned at each other following Lara’s play on words.

It was a couple of days after the Dungeons and Dragon’s event at Lenny’s apartment. Britney and Lara were sitting in The Pearl’s bar regaling Jack with the exciting tale, omitting some of the more scandalous aspects of the game.

“Wow. Sounds like you guys had a good time,” he said.

“You should join us if we play again,” Britney suggested, imagining Jack as part of their previous orgy.

Lara noticed Britney giving Jack some bedroom eyes. Lara and Jack exchanged a knowing look. Lara was the only one who knew Jack was gay. She hadn’t told Britney, nor anyone else since accidentally and randomly walking into Jack and his boyfriend Colin. He hadn’t intended on telling her but she knew now, and had no intention of breaking his trust.

“I don’t think Jack is much of a fantasy guy, Brit,” Lara said, attempting to deflect and rescue him.

“Sure, but what if it’s a fantasy featuring me?” Britney said suggestively. Lara rolled her eyes and Jack reddened a bit as he laughed. Lara decided to change tactic.

“I don’t think Tormund would like you hitting on Handsome Jack, here,” Lara said, reminding Britney of her hook up with the nerd. “Come on, spill it. You went back to his place after the game, didn’t you?”

“A lady should never kiss and tell,” Britney said, grinning.

“Well luckily you are not a lady, so you can tell us everything,” Lara replied back.

“True, and let me tell you, we did a lot more than kiss. Lara, we fucked for hours,” she said, licking her lips slightly as images of their night together flooded her memory. Jack shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.

“And that’s my cue to disappear myself. You girl’s carry on,” Jack said as he strolled down to the other end of the bar, eager to escape the sex talk.

“Our favourite security man needs to get laid, badly,” Britney said to Lara as they both watched him go.

“I’m sure he gets plenty of action, Brit. Just not with the girls here in the club. He’s a professional,” Lara said, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere once more. “So, are you planning on seeing Tom again?”

“Yes. We’ve been texting back and forth and are setting something up. I like him, Lara. He’s sweet and we have amazing sex together,” the blonde said in her southern drawl.

“I’m sure you do. We all saw what he was working with,” Lara said slyly as she leaned in towards Britney.

“Well, his equipment doesn’t hurt matters, that’s for sure.”

“It might hurt, depending on what he does with it,” Lara said, sniggering.

“He knows what he’s doing. He dicked me damned good,” she said somewhat crudely. “Lara is it weird that it turns me on to keep calling him Tormund and not Tom? Do you think it would bother him?”

“Brit, I’m sure as far as he’s concerned, you can call him whatever you want as long as you are in his bed,” Lara answered.

“What about you? You seemed pretty friendly with Feldritch. What was it again? “Bend me over the table and fuck my brains out, Feldritch.” That’s what you said to him, right?”

“I did not say that,” Lara said her face a mixture of embarrassment and shock at the suggestion.

“Oh yes you did. It was somewhere in between jerking Lenny off and taking Feldritch’s load down your pretty little throat,” Britney said, enjoying making Lara blush.

“Okay, maybe I did say it. I went a little overboard in my role playing, I guess.”

“So are you going to see him again?” Britney asked. Lara shook her head.

“No, I don’t think so. It was just a game thing,” she replied.

The truth was, she had escalated the night into a far more sexual one to extend the game as long as possible in order to give Alan more time to investigate the man’s apartment. It turned out they had fallen prey to a case of mistaken identity.

Feldritch, or rather Kevin as she knew now, lived in apartment 406 and not in 405 as they had mistakenly presumed. He hadn’t hacked The Pearl and stolen an undetermined amount of money from Dave. He was not Alderson Kalikow. Lara had texted Mike the abridged and basic details of their discovery already but they had a meeting scheduled soon to discuss it properly.

“So you are putting your eggs in the Alan basket?” Britney asked, her eyebrows raised.

“What do you mean? Alan? We’re just good friends,” Lara said.

“Oh come on, Lara. You are permanently on the phone to him. And when you aren’t talking, you are texting. And when you aren’t texting, you are sexting.”

“Yeah, and what’s wrong with that?” Lara asked, somewhat defensively.

“Nothing, if it was us. But he’s a guy. He’s going to make assumptions. And would they be wrong? Have you slept together yet?”

“Well, no. Not really. I mean, we’ve done ... stuff. Besides, it’s not like we are a couple or anything.”

“Does he know that? Lara, you can tell me to mind my own business, but I have to call it as I see it. You talk with this guy every day. You send him flirty messages and sexy videos. If you aren’t interested, this seems a little ... cruel. Are you just stringing him along?”

Lara frowned at the blonde, feeling her annoyance rise as she listened.

“What’s with the Spanish Inquisition over here? I like Alan, okay? And what we do is our fucking business,” she replied with a scowl.

“It is, obviously. I’m just trying to make sure you know what you’re doing. As a friend. We’re friends, right?” Britney asked, clear concern on her face as she worried Lara was upset with her. Lara realised she was getting needlessly defensive and her face softened.

“Yes, of course we are. Sorry. Retracting claws,” Lara said.

She sighed. Maybe Britney had a point. Was she stringing Alan along? He had told her the truth about the night of the party, despite how it made him feel and appear to her. Then they had gone several weeks without actually seeing each other while she had tasked him with pretending to still be friends with Will and Rob so that she could keep an eye on them. She had to admit, she’d given him an unenviable task.

They had finally met up in person two nights ago when she had asked him to join her in her investigation. He had shown up, she had made out with him and then asked him to break into another man’s apartment.

Lara thought through their interactions as a whole. It did look from the outside as though she was using him. Britney had picked up on it and she wasn’t even aware of most of it. Lara was asking a lot from him. She was asking him to do the sort of things that only a boyfriend would. If he was confused as to their relationship, she couldn’t blame him. And if she was his girlfriend, she was being a shitty one.

“You might have a point. I didn’t ... I didn’t really think about things like that. I should sit down with him and have a chat,” Lara said.

“He’s a guy. He’s not going to initiate a conversation like that himself, even if he thinks he should. He’s probably afraid of appearing clingy if he does the whole “So what are we?” conversation, ya know? So maybe just ask him round your place? That sort of thing. He’ll get that message, for sure. You mentioned earlier that he has no classes today, right?” Britney suggested.

“Yeah. He’s free today. And you’re right. About all of it,” Lara said.

He’s off today. Why didn’t I make plans with him?

“I needed to hear that. And I nearly bit your head off for telling the truth,” Lara said.

“Lara, I’ve never had a girl friend before. I didn’t know if I should say anything or not. Maybe I was speaking out of turn. I just figured you clearly like this guy,” Britney said, softly.

“I do. Thanks, Britney,” Lara said, leaning forward to give her a hug. Britney hugged Lara back, internally relieved that she hadn’t torched their friendship with her big mouth.

“Anything for you, Sexsora,” Britney said with a chuckle.

“That name isn’t going anywhere, is it?” Lara said, shaking her head.

“No. I won’t let it. Lustella and Sexsora’s escapades will remain legendary!”

“Well, I have a call to make, Lustella. See you in a few,” Lara told her as she got up from her stool at the bar and walked towards the back of the club with her phone in her hand.

She had decided what she was going to do. She’d call Alan and ask him to come to the club. Her shift was almost over. She had her meeting with Mike but after that she could spend the rest of the night with Alan. She’d promised him an invite to The Pearl once before. Now seemed as good a time as any.

After only a couple of clicks she was dialling Alan’s number. He didn’t answer straight away. The phone rang for a long while before he finally picked up.

“Hello? Lara?”

“Hey, Alan. Yes it’s me,” she told him. She paused a second before continuing. “Why did it take you so long to answer? Did I interrupt something? What were you doing?”

“Uh, nothing. I wasn’t doing anything,” he said, sounding entirely unconvincing.

“You can tell me, I won’t judge,” Lara said, curiosity getting the better of her.

“You’ll laugh.”

“I swear, I won’t,” she promised him.

“Um. Well, it’s kind of embarrassing...” Alan said, trailing off.

“Were you jerking off? It’s okay, as long as you were thinking of me,” she told him, in a low voice.

“No. I wasn’t doing that.”

What could be more embarrassing than that? Lara thought to herself.

“Okay, If you must know I was practising my lock picking,” he told her. She burst out laughing down the phone.

“See? I knew you’d laugh. Can’t trust anyone these days,” Alan said, sounding disgruntled.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. But Alan... why?” she asked, completely bemused at how he was spending his free time.

“It took me so long to break into Alderson Kalikow’s apartment. I just keep thinking about it. I’ve been thinking about it for days, in fact. And well, I want to get better. Plus, the kit you gave me is excellent. Loads of different types of pick. I think with a bit of practice, I could get decent at it. So I bought a see-through lock. It’s transparent so you can see all the pins, you know? And I’ve been training with it. Changing the pin positions and then unlocking it. That sort of thing,” he said. Lara simply shook her head to herself.

Boys.

“Planning on starting a new career as a cat burglar, are you?” she said, teasing him a little.

“You never know. Look, I’m not saying I plan to break into somewhere again any time soon, but I guess it’s the survivalist in me. I want to be prepared,” he said, matter of factly.

“Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to meet up tonight, but I don’t want to come between you and your picks,” she said, wistfully. She heard a pause down the line before he started to talk again.

“Screw the picks. I’ll learn how to drill a lock instead. I’m there. I’ll hop in the shower and be on my way in no time at all. Do you want me to pick you up? Are you still at work?” he asked, speaking faster than he had before, clearly excited.

“No rush, Alan. Take your time. Yes, I’m still working. My shift is over soon though. You should park, and come inside. I’ll show you were the magic happens. I did promise you a visit, remember? Maybe I’ll ask one of the girls to give you a dance while I see to an errand I have to run,” she said, suggestively.

“Really? I mean, you’d be okay with that? Me with one of your friends?” he asked, uncertainly.

“Yeah, I’d be fine with it. I’m not the jealous type, Alan. And you know what I do for a living, so I hope you aren’t the jealous type either,” she told him.

“No, like I’ve told you before, what you do is cool with me. Feminism. Sex positive. All that good stuff. I mean, you don’t need my permission, obviously. You have it, not that you need it. But if you wanted it, for whatever reason...” he said, blabbering himself into a corner. She put him out of his self imposed misery.

“Good to know. So yeah, head over here and I’ll ask my friend Britney to show you a good time.”

“Would you ... watch?” he asked, a little sheepishly.

“Does that idea turn you on?” Lara asked him, almost whispering down the phone now.

“Uh, maybe? I dunno. I’ve never really thought about it before,” he answered non committally, not wanting to walk into a trap.

“Well, I’ve thought about it. And it definitely turns me on,” she told him, huskily.

“Wow. Okay. Cool. Is Britney the blonde one you went to Dungeons and Dragons with? The one with the green outfit?” he asked. She started to laugh again at him.

“Oh, so you noticed her from your hiding spot, huh? What did you think of her,” Lara asked, teasing him now.

“She looked ... nice,” he answered, plainly.

“Nice? Fuck nice, Alan. That silk skirt? Her long legs? Those “fuck me boots”? That emerald blouse with no bra? She was sex on legs. She’s a natural blonde too, you know...” Lara said, sure that she was doing a good job of getting him aroused.

“Yeah. Yeah, she looked hot,” he answered. He was thrilled that Lara was the type of girl to encourage such conversations. He knew many girls who wouldn’t.

“So, that’s Britney. Get your ass in the shower and then over here so you can get properly acquainted. Then you and me will get some food. And back to my place?” she asked him, trying to put on an air of innocence as to what that entailed.

“Sounds great,” he said. She could hear him walking as he talked, probably towards the shower.

“I’ll see you soon,” she said as she hung up the phone. Lara headed back over towards the bar. Britney was gone and Enrique had replaced Jack, serving behind the bar.

“Enrique, have you seen Britney?” she asked him.

He simply pointed over her shoulder towards one of the semi-private booths. Lara followed his gaze until she spotted the blonde. She nodded her thanks at the barman and headed towards where Britney was entertaining a customer. Lara stood off to the side, able to see some of the lap dance from her position and waited for Britney to be done. She figured it wouldn’t take long. She was right.