Chapter 5: The Interrogation

“That feels so good.”

Lara turned her head to look over her shoulder at the man she was grinding on. She was sitting in his lap with her back to him, grinding her ass into him hard, knowing he was close to the edge. She smiled as he admitted how close he was. It was one of her regulars. He was clean, he smelled good, and the usual banter between them was always a lot of fun. They had made a 100 dollar bet on whether Lara could make the guy finish before the end of the song. She was winning.

Lara started to pant and groan loudly, hoping it would help get him there. The undulating coupled with the moaning did it’s job. He reached out and held her hips firmly as he came into his own briefs. She allowed him to control the pace, his hands slowing her grinding as he came. She let him ride it out how he wanted until he stopped completely with a sigh. She slid off of his lap and stood up, turning to face him.

“I warned you, Jerry,” she said, smiling at him. “You wouldn’t be able to resist me. I win!”

“I think everyone was a winner here,” Jerry said as he pulled out two fifties from his wallet. Lara leaned forward and presented her tits to him as he placed the two bills into her bra. She straightened up and started to leave the secluded booth, heading towards the bar.

“Well, I’m up for a rematch next time. See ya around, Jerry,” she said over her shoulder as she left the still grinning man in the booth. Lara noticed that Jo was already sitting at the bar. She was often there, and not dancing for customers.

How does she make any money at all? Lara wondered in disbelief as she approached her friend.

“Working hard or hardly working, Jo?” she asked as she sat down beside her.

“Working just enough for the city, Lara,” Jo answered.

“Sure thing, Stevie Wonder,” Lara said as she motioned for the barman for her usual gin and tonic. It was one of the guys she didn’t know that well. Frank or something but she couldn’t be sure so she didn’t risk getting his name wrong and just nodded at him.

“You have your video thing today, right?” Jo asked.

“I do. In fact I have a meeting with Dave in a few minutes to go over the specifics,” Lara answered.

At Dave’s behest, Lara was going to film a Lap Dance tutorial style video. Dave intended to sell it to other clubs so that they could teach their new dancers some techniques. Lara had agreed to it under the condition that she wear a small mask to help hide her identity. She didn’t want her family finding out what she did for a living. Jo leaned in to talk to Lara quietly.

“Do you think you have him managed, so to speak?” Jo asked, in a low voice.

“If you mean do I have him wrapped around my little finger, definitely not. In fact I was sure he was going to fire me last week,” Lara admitted. “But I’m still here and he hasn’t tried to fuck me since way back in my audition, so maybe I have his respect.”

“Or he is just biding his time. Savouring it a little,” Jo speculated.

“Maybe. I’m not sure he has the patience for that though,” Lara answered. Jo shook her head in disagreement.

“Be careful with him, Lara. He isn’t the impulsive idiot that he lets on to be. He’s calculated and smart. I’m telling you, he probably has a dozen schemes on the go right now that we have no clue about. One of them could very well be on how to get you on your back and in his bed,” Jo said in a serious tone.

Lara considered this for a moment. She could be right. But she seemed so certain. She turned to Jo and pressed her.

“Do you know something I don’t, Jo?” Lara asked her.

“No,” she answered a little too quickly. “Nothing specific. But I have known men like him my entire life. Don’t trust a thing he says.”

“I’ll be careful, don’t worry.”

“Good. Even if he wasn’t as dodgy as he is, and if he didn’t look like the slob he does, getting involved with your boss always ends in disaster.” Jo said.

“Are you speaking from experience?” Lara asked her curiously.

“No, thankfully. How about you?” Jo responded.

“Bosses? No. The closest thing was, a teacher maybe,” Lara added with hesitation.

“Ooooh, you were hot for teacher? Very juicy. Spill the details of your sordid affair,” Jo said enthusiastically.

“It wasn’t like that really. It was a lot of teasing followed by sort of a close call. An almost,” Lara said with a sigh. “Mr. Fitch,” she said dreamily.

“He was super handsome. All the girls had a crush on him. He had a soothing voice you could listen to all day. There was a certain charm to him. Like Pierce Brosnan if he was from California. I wanted him so badly. I would wear low cut tops and lean over in front of him. I’d hike my skirt up and cross my legs over and over in the front row. I was brazen, Jo. I’d stare at him while sucking on my pen. I would press my girls into him at every opportunity. One time I grinded into him with my ass as we passed in the hall,” she said sheepishly. “I’m embarrassed at some of my behaviour when I look back but I was just a young girl and didn’t know any better,” she said. “Frankly, the way I was cock teasing him, he’s a saint for resisting as long as he did.”

“You little hussy,” Jo said, teasing Lara good naturedly. Lara just grimaced in embarrassment.

“Anyway, it came to a head one day when we were alone after class discussing some assignment or some other thing. I practically jumped him. We made out and I could feel him kissing me back but then he broke the kiss off and told me he couldn’t be with me. That as much as he might want to, it was inappropriate. He said he couldn’t live with himself if he “took advantage” of me. I would have given him any advantage he wanted,” Lara scoffed.

“And so you two never...” Jo said, leaving the comment lingering in the air.

“No. I had planned to seek him out once I graduated but I got the feeling he was avoiding me. I haven’t seen him since then. Probably for the best really. He was more than twice my age.”

“Maybe you could tease Dave like that to keep him at bay,” she suggested. Lara shook her head.

“Dave is no Mr. Fitch. If I tried any of that with Dave, he would have me bent over his desk in an instant.”

Their conversation was cut short as a smiling Lenny approached the pair of them and interjected himself.

“Hey L ... L ... Lara!” Lenny said with a slight stammer. Lara smiled at him.

“Hey Lenny, what has you leaving the bat cave?” she asked.

“Dave called me in to lo ... loo ... look at something. He noticed there was some money missing out of our accounts. A little gone from several. Not a lot on it’s own, but if you put it together it starts to add up. Like somebody was trying to do it stealthily, bit by bit,” Lenny said.

“Basically, we’ve been hacked,” he said simply. Lara raised her eyebrows and Jo visibly perked up beside her.

“How much money are we talking here?” Jo asked, leaning towards him.

“Thousands. But the problem is that we don’t know how long it has been going on for. It could be just a few thousand. It could be a lot more overall. Tens of thousands maybe. I’m going to have to sweep the entire system to find out how they got in and where our vulnerability is,” he said smiling oddly.

He obviously just sees this as a challenge. I’m sure Dave doesn’t. He’s probably hopping mad, Lara thought.

“Must be nice to have that much money that you don’t miss it straight away. You’ll be able to track the hacker down though, yeah?” Jo asked, again clearly interested in Lenny’s new problem. Lenny held up his hand and shook it in a “maybe, so-so” expression.

“It’s possible. Depends on how good the guy is. Or the girl! Maybe it’s a she and she is a sexy stripper who is willing to do anything it takes to keep her secret from me!” Lenny said, enthusiastically. Lara laughed at his predictable fantasy. “Was it you Lara? Will you do anything to stop me exposing the truth?” Lenny asked.

“Quick Lara, he’s on to you. Take him in the back and blow him to make him keep schtum,” Jo said.

“Yes, you caught me. I’m secretly a super hacker who has stolen all of Dave’s money. I’m so method and committed to my part that I live in a shit hole and drive a crapped out car to protect my cover. I’m practically Christian Bale. Get me a rubber ball and call me Borden,” she said sarcastically.

“Oh man, I love that movie. The look on Hugh Jackman’s face when Borden spills the beans at the end is epic!” Lenny said excitedly.

“If Hugh Jackman was in the club, I’d make an exception to my rule,” Jo said, a hungry look in her eyes.

“And the odds of that happening are, what exactly?” Lara asked her.

“He’s divorced now. Maybe he wants some hot, blonde company!” Jo said defensively. “Don’t ruin this for me! You can’t destroy our love! Hugh and I are meant for each other. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Well, if he does come in, ask him when the next Wolverine movie is coming out,” Lenny said.

“Sure Lenny. I’ll do that. That’s definitely what we’ll be talking about,” Jo said while rolling her eyes and getting off the bar stool. “Break over. Better get back to it,” she announced. “See you later, hon,” she said to Lara as she left.

“See you later, Mrs. Jackman,” Lara called after her.

“Anyway, the hacking thing isn’t why I came over. I wanted to tell you the amazing news,” Lenny continued excitedly. “Will’s family is having their annual barbecue charity event soon and Will invited me to come! His Dad will be there! Isn’t this amazing?” Lenny said, clearly thrilled. Lara gave him a puzzled look.

“His Dad? What’s so special about his Dad?” Lara queried.

“He’s only the CEO of WonderTech! They are one of the fastest growing tech companies in the world! They have their fingers in everything, industry wide. And he’s a genius!”

“I’m sure you two will have lots to talk about then,” Lara said smiling at him. Lenny didn’t appear to pick up on the compliment and just continued.

“I know. I have so many questions for him. And I want to show him some of my ideas. It’s going to be great. I can’t believe Will invited me. Isn’t Will just the best?” Lenny said.

“Yeah. He’s a real mensch,” Lara said dryly. She had considered warning Lenny off of Will and his group but decided to wait. She wanted everything ready before she pulled the trigger on her new plan regarding what had happened at the pool party. Besides, denying Lenny the opportunity to meet one of his heroes felt a little like kicking a puppy. She couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Not yet anyway. Soon though.

“I’m sure you will have a great time. You can tell me all about how the other half lives too,” Lara said getting off her stool. “Speaking of Will and his crew, can you forward me on Alan’s number? I want to have a chat with him about something,” she said. Lenny looked a little surprised but nodded as he took out his phone to forward Lara the number.

“Is it about my birthday coming up?” Lenny asked hopefully.

“You caught us! Just act surprised,” Lara said, not wanting to tell him the real reason yet. “Anyway, I have a meeting with Dave coming up. Gotta run, Lenny.”

“But what about my blowjob? Don’t you want me to keep your secret?” Lenny called after her. Lara just laughed at him as she walked away and said, “I’m confessing everything to Dave now. You missed your chance, Lenny.”

Lara opened up her phone as she walked. The quick chat with Lenny had reminded her of what she needed to do next. She clicked on the number Lenny had just sent her and called Alan. It went to voicemail.

“Hey Alan. This is Lara. We met a while back at Will’s party. I was Lenny’s date. Listen, I know it’s short notice but I have some ... questions regarding that night. Would you mind terribly meeting me at my place after work today? I get off at around 2 a.m. I know its super late but I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important. I’ll text you the address in case you don’t remember it. Thanks a million Alan. I appreciate it.”

Lara hung up the phone and hoped he would agree to meet. She needed answers and she hoped he had some for her. She started making her way to the stairs leading up to Dave’s office. She spotted Jack leaning against a wall, speaking into a walkie talkie. He stopped what he was doing and approached her.

“Hey Lara. Just wanted to let you know, I put that guys details into the system. The guys at the door have his picture in their e-lists so they know what he looks like. He is banned from The Pearl,” Jack said, reassuringly. Lara heaved a huge sigh of relief knowing her brother wouldn’t be allowed back in anytime soon.

“Thanks Jack. I owe you one. A big one.”

“No problem Lara. But one of these days, you’ll have to tell me what this guy did to piss you off,” Jack said, clearly interested in hearing the story.

“Yeah, sure. One of these days,” Lara said non-committally.

Fat chance. I’m taking that story to the grave.

Lara continued up the stairs and knocked on the door to Dave’s office.

“Come in,” Dave said. Lara did so and took in the view before her. Dave was leaned back and sitting in his usual leather chair behind his mahogany desk. What was a little more unusual was that Jenny, one of the other dancers, was standing beside him.

“You can go now Jenny, thank you,” Dave said. Jenny nodded, apparently eager to get out of the room and started walking quickly towards the exit. The girls exchanged knowing glances as they passed. Lara knew the girls stomach had Dave’s cum sloshing around in it as she walked.

Jenny was Dave’s regular “relief catcher” as the others called her. Everyone knew it. None of them held it against her. As long as she was blowing him, it meant they wouldn’t have to.

He’ll be easier to deal with for the next while, Lara thought, suddenly grateful that Jenny and her talented mouth had beaten her to Dave’s office. The pony-tailed blonde reached the office door and quickly closed it behind her, leaving Dave and Lara alone.

“I appreciate that you knocked this time,” Dave said, motioning towards the seat in front of him. Lara took the invitation and sat down, crossing her legs.

“Of course, Dave,” Lara said, now sitting across the desk from him.

“I hear Lenny unearthed a problem for you?” Lara asked, broaching the conversation carefully. Dave frowned in irritation.

“That kid has a big mouth. No, I’m the one who discovered it. They are stealing from me, Lara. Me! The fucking nerve. When I find out who did this I’m going to cut off their balls and feed it to them,” Dave said menacingly.

“Who has access to your accounts?” she queried.