Chapter 6

The next few weeks flew by in a rush. The second semester of school got going for me, and much as I tried, my class and work schedule never seemed to mesh with Heather's schedule at the bar. We spent as much time as possible, and I found myself falling for this girl, harder than I'd ever fallen for anyone in my life, but it was just frustrating not being able to spend more time with her. All I wanted to do was be close to Heather, but fate seemed to keep pushing us apart.

Then, a week or so before spring break, as I was sitting down to eat dinner, I heard a knocking at my sliding patio door. I grinned, knowing Heather was the only person who used my patio door, and hurried to let her in. Little did I realize that one set of my frustrations would soon be solved, while another would quickly line up to take its place.

"Hey," I grinned, seeing Heather waiting on my patio, cold and shivering in the frigid air of a cold Omaha winter day.

"Hi," she said quietly, and it was then that I noticed what Heather had brought with her.

"Moving in or something?" I joked, seeing a large suitcase at Heather's feet.

"Can I?" she asked, and I realized something serious was going on. I backed up to allow Heather to enter the apartment, helping with the suitcase after watching her struggle with it for a moment.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I closed the glass door, which quickly frosted over. I turned and saw that Heather had collapsed onto my couch, her coat thrown haphazardly on the floor in front of her. She sat there limply, her head resting in her palms and I could see her shoulders shaking. "Honey," I said, a bit more loudly. "What's wrong?"

"I have nowhere to go," she finally sobbed, after a long moment of silence.

"What?" I asked in shock. "What happened? You got kicked out of your place?" I was beyond amazement, for Heather had never seemed the type to cause any sort of trouble.

"I was at work and that bitch gave a customer a blowjob and Billy found out and told the owner and we all got fired and I have no money and my rent was due and I went home from class and found a note on my door that if I don't pay I have to leave and... and..."

"Slow down," I said quietly. "Take a breath. Relax."

"I don't know what to do," Heather gasped softly, her breathing ragged as she tried to calm herself.

"Michelle got you all fired?" I asked quietly. Heather's face got dark with anger before she finally shook her head sharply.

"That bitch," she hissed. "I knew she'd get found out eventually, and I was happy when she did, but then we all... we all got the axe."

"That's so unfair!" I exclaimed. "How can they do that?"

"I don't know," she answered, shaking her head slowly. "Something about not being able to trust any of us after what had happened."

"Are they hiring replacements?" I asked, beginning to think Heather might have some legal grounds to fight for her job. After all, she hadn't done anything wrong and certainly didn't deserve to be fired.

"No," she said. "No more flower girls at Pablo's."

"Shit," I swore quietly. "How can I help?"

"Can I stay on your couch?" she asked. "I packed up all my stuff. I don't have much, but I brought a couple suitcases of clothes and packed up most of my other stuff. I can just sleep on the couch. I promise I'll find another job really soon and I'll help with the rent. Just please give me a little bit of time," she pleaded.

"No, don't worry about it," I said, reaching my arm around her shoulders to comfort her. She looked up at me in confusion momentarily before I continued speaking. "I mean, get a job by all means, but don't worry about paying any of the rent."

"But..."

"No, seriously. It's not going to cost me any extra having you here than it did before."

"What about other stuff?"

"What other stuff?" I asked.

"Food?"

"I've got plenty."

"But I want to help!" she cried out. "I don't want to owe you or feel obligated like this!"

"Heather," I said, taking her face in my hands and looking at her seriously. "I want to help. Let me help, okay? I love you, you know."

At that Heather's eyes grew wide. I had been skirting around the issue of my feelings for her, but now seemed the perfect time to tell her exactly how I felt. I would have preferred a more romantic setting, but this felt right.

"You do?" she said in a tiny voice. I leaned forward and pressed my lips firmly against hers for a moment, before pulling back to once again look into her eyes.

"I do," I answered seriously. "I really do love you."

"Thank you," she said, her sad look dissipated some as a smile played at the corners of her mouth. "I love you too."

"Then no more talk about feeling obligated, okay? I want to help. Let me."

"Okay," she said. "Thank you." Her voice was almost a whisper as she pulled me close for a hug.

We sat there on the couch for a while, just enjoying the closeness. Eventually the lateness of the hour and the smell of a now cooling pizza caused my stomach to growl. Heather looked up in surprise before realizing what it was.

"Want something to eat?" I laughed. "I know I do."

Heather nodded silently and the two of us helped pull each other off the couch. We held hands as we walked into the kitchen to sit down for a meal of cold pizza.

"Just like living in the dorms," I joked. "Cold pizza in the middle of the night."

Heather paused, a slice of pizza halfway to her mouth.

"I just want to thank you again," she stammered. "It really means a lot to me and I don't know how I can ever..."

"Relax. Take a bite. I'm sure I'll find some way to put you to good use around here."

"What do you mean?" Heather asked suspiciously.

"Oh, there's tons of stuff you can do."

"Like what? Were you thinking sexual favors?" she asked, a glint forming in her eye.

"Of course," I laughed. "That and other stuff. Fold my shirts, make my bed, cook my food, iron my underwear..."

"Your underwear?" she laughed.

"I'm just joking. Make yourself at home. I mean it."

"Thanks," she said again, nodding her head softly.

"It's no trouble. Really. This could be fun."

"Fun?" she asked skeptically.

"Trust me," I said, taking a large bite of food. "I know what I'm talking about."

After dinner was finished Heather wanted to get her things situated, so the two of us braved the cold and ran out to her car. As she had said, she had one more suitcase in the trunk, along with a couple boxes of books and personal effects.

"This is it?" I said, kind of amazed that anyone could have lived as long as Heather and not accumulated more. "Where's all the... where's all the junk?"

"Junk?" she laughed.

"I didn't mean it like that, but don't you have anything else?" It occurred to me that the only time I had been inside her apartment was when we ate dinner. I had certainly picked her up there at the beginning of a date, but the one time I had actually been inside I thought there had been more stuff.

"Oh," she nodded. "Gotcha. No, I have a lot more... junk, if you want to call it that," she teased. "But it's pretty much all packed away in storage. This is just the stuff I'll need right now. Clothes, school books, things like that."

After the two of us lugged her belongings into the apartment, there was a bit of an awkward moment when, without thinking, I carried her suitcase into my bedroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked, a curious expression on her face.

"I was just... oh, sorry," I stammered. "I didn't mean to imply that... I didn't think you would be..." I tailed off, not wanting to dig myself a hole larger than the one I was already in. Truth be told, I had assumed the two of us would be sleeping together, regardless of the fact that she had requested the couch.

"You didn't think what?" she asked sweetly while I collapsed back onto the bed. "You didn't assume that I'd just jump into bed with you? That I would allow you to take advantage of me in my weakened state?"

"I... I'm sorry?" I groaned. Heather stood there a moment, glaring at me and I wondered if anything we might have had was now ruined. Suddenly her face broke into a smile.

"Gotcha!" she laughed, jumping in my lap and smothering my face with kisses. She ground her hips against mine and I knew I was no longer blushing with embarrassment, as the blood in my cheeks seemed to have rushed to a point roughly six inches below my belt.

"You're such a tease," I laughed, kissing her lightly on the nose. Heather grinned at me, squirming happily in my lap as we made out on the edge of the bed.

Suddenly I twisted around so that I was on top of her, my hips positioned between Heather's widespread thighs. I reached down to stroke the firm muscles of her legs and ass through her blue jeans, feeling the skin ripple as Heather's buttocks clenched and relaxed under my touch. As I reached to undo the buckle of her belt I smiled down at her.

"See?" I said. "I told you this would be fun!"

The two of us soon settled into a fairly routine domestic situation. I attended classes in the day while Heather hunted for jobs, quickly finding a position as day hostess in one of the more exclusive private clubs in Omaha.

"What's it like in there?" I asked one night as we snuggled together on the couch, watching some inane reality show on television. Even after Heather had found a job, somehow the option of her moving out had never come up.

"It is so great!" Heather exclaimed happily. "A lot of... interesting stuff goes on there, but for the most part the job is easy and the patrons tip really well. It doesn't really get busy until it's about time for me to leave... it's perfect!"

"When you say that 'interesting stuff goes on there, ' what are you talking about exactly?" I asked, my curiosity aroused. "I've heard rumors of some wild happenings there... is that what you mean?"

"I can't talk about anything specific," Heather said vaguely.

"Some kind of funky hostess/client privilege?" I joked.

"Something like that," Heather answered.

"Really?" I laughed. "I was joking."

"Seriously," she answered, nodding vigorously. "I had to sign a confidentiality agreement before I started working there."

"Why?"

"The club doesn't really want any details of what happens there going public," she said.

"Ah... so what happens in the club stays in the club?" I joked.

"You got it," she laughed.

"So... I know you can't tell me anything specific," I said slowly. "But, for curiosity's sake... would this be the kind of place Michelle would fit in?" I asked, remembering the rumors of prostitutes and orgies I'd heard whispered. I'd always assumed they were at least partially bullshit, but imagined there was at least a grain of truth to them.

"Possibly," Heather grinned. "Let's just say that I think if Michelle was there she would have a lot to learn."

"Are you learning things too?" I asked, regretting the question as soon as I asked it. I hadn't meant to imply that Heather herself was involved as anything other than an observer, but judging by her expression that's exactly how she took it.

"What do you mean by that?" Heather spat out harshly.

"Nothing," I said, raising my hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to imply you were... involved in anything... just wondered if you'd seen anything you liked."

"Oh," she said, her face softening a bit. "Well... yeah, I have."

"What kind of things?" I asked. "In general... nothing specific."

"Well," she said slowly. "Nothing is really off-limits there, so it gets pretty crazy there, although during the day it's pretty slow. But I've subbed for an evening shift a couple times and it gets crazy."

"Crazy... how?"

"You've seen the cut scene from "Eyes Wide Shut," right?" she asked. I nodded, remembering the time we had downloaded the uncensored footage off the Internet.

"You mean there are people... just fucking out in the open while others watch?" I asked, slightly amazed and wondering if Heather was once again teasing me. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "But you can't tell anyone!" she warned.

"Wow," I said. "Sounds kind of kinky."

"A little bit," Heather said. "But hey... it's actually a good work environment, the pay is great, and I don't think you've complained about the extra money."

"The money was never an issue," I reminded her. "It's enough just having you around, and I think it's great this isn't the kind of job you have take home with you every night."

"What do you mean by that?" Heather asked.

"I mean... when you were working at Pablo's, you were constantly concerned about how things had gone at work, you were always worrying about Michelle... it was like even when you weren't working you were thinking about work."

"Ah," she smiled. "I thought you were thinking..."

"What?" I laughed as she trailed off. "You thought I was thinking what?"

"When you mentioned bringing my work home with me I thought... I thought of a couple things I could do. Like I said... I am learning quite a bit."

"What do you mean?" I asked, a bit confused.

"You'll see," Heather said, enjoying my discomfort. "I think I can teach you."

"Teach me?" I asked.

"Mmm hmm... " she answered. "I mean, you really shouldn't be asking these kinds of questions," she said. "That's kind of naughty of you, you know... trying to pry information out of me like that."

"I'm sorry," I said quickly. "You don't need to tell me anything, but you know I won't tell anyone else."

"I know you wouldn't, at least not on purpose," she said. "But even so... I think maybe you need to be punished."

"Punished?" I asked. "Punished... how?"

"You'll see," Heather answered. "I need to talk to Stacey from work... see if I can borrow some of her stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" I asked nervously. "Who's Stacey?"

"She's one of the women who sometimes works at the club. She's a little bit older I guess... maybe forty or so, but she's still just amazing to look at... you wouldn't know her real age unless she told you. I think she even has a daughter our age! She doesn't work there on a regular shift, so I don't really know her all that well. The club brings in on... on initiation nights," Heather said, and as hard as I tried, she would say no more about the subject.

Nothing more was mentioned of our conversation for quite a while. Real life reared its ugly head as it often does, and Heather and I were separated for a couple weeks while the college's graduate choir toured during a late spring break.

I returned home to my apartment at the end of the tour physically exhausted. We had traveled from Omaha to Kansas City to St. Louis to Chicago to Milwaukee to Minneapolis, and then the Dakotas and finally back down into Nebraska after a short stop in Iowa. We had managed to perform nine different concerts during the eleven days we were gone, and the long hours spent on the bus had gotten to me.

"You're home!" Heather exclaimed when she heard the door to the apartment open. She ran out of the bedroom dressed in her pajamas, as it was late when we had returned to campus. Heather appeared ready to jump into my arms until she saw the haggard look on my face.