Emily POV

Outside the club. Can u open?

I got the message from Allie’s number. What was she doing here at this hour? The club had just closed and my colleagues and I were getting ready to go home.

Had she came to see me?

Had she missed me?

My heart skipped a few beats at that thought.

Calm down, Emily! You’re supposed to be only friends, remember?

“Sean, Allie is outside. Can you let her in?” I asked the bouncer.

“Sure thing, doll!” He smiled at me. “But what is she doing here? Not that I’m complaining,” he added quickly. “The girl’s cool. I just thought you two broke up.”

“We did.” I tried to keep my voice even and not let him realize how hurt I was. “But we’re still friends.”

“Cool!” He said, going in the direction of the back door, oblivious to my true feelings.

Next thing I heard was Sean’s loud laughter. He came in clutching his stomach, not being able to take a breath.

“They,” he panted. Who was “they”? “They… S-s-see for… yourself!”

I stared at him puzzled, but then Allie came in the changing room and my eyes widened at the sight of her: she was standing next to that guy, Tyson, who was half naked and they were both dripping wet. In one hand she was holding a brown hen. The other one was handcuffed to the boy next to her. I narrowed my eyes at their linked by the chain hands.

“Believe it or not, there is a reasonable explanation for all of this, Em!” The girl stated before I could speak.

“Really? I can think of only one reason for you to be chained to a guy.” I glared at the boy who returned the gesture.

“It’s not as kinky as it seems. This is all just a series of misfortunate events.” Allie commented calmly.

“Doubt it, but let’s hear it!”

She put the chicken in one of the empty alcohol cardboard boxes and went on telling us about a bet they made at a party with some boy named Joey, why they had to chase chickens and how they ended up here at the strip club. Throughout the whole story Tyson kept shooting daggers at me and I was more than glad to return his death glares.

He was too close to my Allie!

The others in the room seemed oblivious to the tension with Sean and the rest of the strippers rolling down with laughter as the girl narrated their story.

“Well?” I asked as she finished.

“Well what?”

“I’m still waiting for the reasonable part of the explanation.”

“I’m tipsy and Tyson’s drunk.” She shrugged. “After a few drinks everything seems reasonable.”

“So that is what had happened? Funny! There seem to be a few plot holes here. Like why you are still chained to him if you caught the hen?”

“Because the key wasn’t there. It must have fallen. Or maybe Joey was just pulling our leg and it wasn’t there in the first place. Which reminds me: you girls use props, right?” She turned her attention to my colleagues. “I don’t suppose you have handcuff keys lying around?”

“Nothing that would fit this,” one of the strippers answered as she examined the lock. She often showed up on stage dressed as a sexy female cop and employed handcuffs as her props but the ones she used were the cheap, I-just-bought-them-from-a-dollar-store type with fluffy fabric over them. The ones that my ex-girlfriend had used were nothing like them.

“Sean…” Allie turned to the bouncer. “Do you have a tool box?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you bring it here, please?”

He got up and came back with a wooden box.

“Here you go, doll!” He handed it to Allie.

The brunette took a few things out and started tampering with the lock of the handcuffs. Apparently the girl knew what she was doing because we heard a “click” and she and that asshole Tyson were free.

“Pretty impressive!” Sean whistled quietly.

“Why didn’t you just do this earlier, Allie?” I crossed my hands over my chest, anxious to hear the answer.

“Maybe she just enjoyed my company!” It was the first time I’ve heard Tyson speak. Allie had been right: the boy had a musical voice. But the thought that she liked the sound of it annoyed me.

“Doubt it!” I protested haughtily, narrowing my eyes at his arrogance. “From what Allie told me you’re not the best of company.”

The girl in question looked at the two of us with unease. She nervously tucked behind her ear a strand of her brown hair that seemed reddish under the artificial lighting in the changing room. A memory of the two of us, standing on my bed after we’d been together and me playing with her hair, invaded my mind. I was brought back to the present by the sound of a voice I’d heard only once but already hated.

“Alex.” Tyson uttered flatly. “She likes “Alex” not “Allie”!”

“Don’t tell me what to call my girlf… my friend!” I hissed at him, hoping no one here would notice my almost slip up.

“Guys, I know you’re not exactly fans of each other, but can we keep it civil?” Allie pleaded through a sigh.

So the boy had admitted that he didn’t like me either, huh?

It was pretty obvious; he’s been glaring at me since the first time we’d met. I knew my reason for disapproving of him: Allie talked about him… A lot! She was mostly complaining but sometimes she would spend time admiring his fighting skills. And she’d told me he was handsome.

I had a pretty good idea why he didn’t like me. I’d seen the look on his face when the two of us kissed. I knew that look; the boy was jealous. And now that we were no longer dating that bastard was probably trying to come on to her. I could already imagine him flirting with her and making up excuses to be near her and touch her.

I wish he’d just crash with that stupid bike of his!

I was temporarily stunned by the malice in my thoughts. Then I saw how close they were sitting to each other on the couch in the changing room; so close that their thighs were brushing together and they didn’t even seem to mind.

As waves of jealousy hit me again I was no longer sorry for the intensity of my fantasies about the guy. But I knew that if I kept on being hostile they would just leave. And I wanted Allie to stay for at least a little longer.

So I took a deep breath and tried to sound friendly as I said:

“You’re right, Allie! I don’t even know why we’re like this.” I lied without hesitation. “But we can always start over. I bet you have your good sides as well, don’t you?” I managed a fake smile at Tyson. “So, let’s do just that! We never even got properly introduced. I’m Emily.”

I outstretched my hand for him to shake.

I hoped he wouldn’t. If he was the one being rude and I was nice, it would win me some points with Allie. The boy looked at me and I saw in his eyes he knew exactly what I was aiming for.

Clever little bastard!

He took my hand and shook it saying:

“Tyson. I guess we could try to be civil.”

“Great!” I faked cheerfulness. “Sean, mind if the three of us stick around and get to know each other better? We’ll lock up the place afterwards.”

“No problem, doll! But about that chicken…”

“What about it?” Allie asked.

“A friend of mine breeds them. I could take it off your hand and give it to him.”

“Sure! As long as you think he’ll take good care on Nancy.”

“Nancy?”

“Oh, that’s what I named the hen.”

“Why Nancy?”

“It looks like a Nancy to me,” the brunette shrugged nonchalantly.

“Really?”

“Yeah, like a girl I used to know whose name was Nancy. The girl’s hair and the chicken’s feathers are both brown, they have the same dumb look in their eyes, plus the human Nancy would lay an egg whenever she tried to do something. The only difference is that the hen’s IQ is probably higher than that of the girl.”

Soon after Sean took the hen and he and the strippers were gone leaving Allie, that asshole Tyson and I by ourselves.

I had a plan: I’d be so nice to the guy that I would piss him off. And when he blew a fuse Allie would come to my rescue. I knew she’d be on my side if I played the victim. And from what I’ve heard about the boy, it wouldn’t be hard to get him angry.

We had now moved to another room and were sitting at one of the tables in front of the stage. Allie knew her way around the place as she’d been here before, watching my performances.

“You guys want something to drink?” I politely offered, sticking to my plan of being on my best behavior tonight.

“No, we’ve had more than enough already,” Allie responded sneaking a worried glance in Tyson’s direction.

I knew what that meant: he had had more than enough already.

Great! She was hanging out with an alcoholic!

“It doesn’t have to be alcohol, Allie,” I commented “Just because this is a strip club it doesn’t mean there are no sodas.”

I got up and took three sodas from the bar, thinking absentmindedly that I’ll pay for them tomorrow. I felt irritated that I was paying for Tyson’s drink as well.

“Thanks, Em!”

“You’re welcome!” I sat down on her left. The boy with the mismatched eyes was on the right.

“So why are you shirtless?” I asked him. They had skipped that part of the story before and I was dying to find out why.

“Never mind,” he growled quietly and I saw Allie barely containing her laughter.

“Oh, come on, it must be an interesting story!” I prompted, realizing it must be embarrassing for him if he did not want to talk about it.

“I said drop it!” He raised his voice. I was right: pissing him off will be a piece of cake. But before I could ask again Allie cut in:

“Seriously, Em, just leave it!”

Seriously?!

She defending him?

 I guess I would have to change the subject now…

“So why did you guys run when you heard the police sirens? Chasing chickens isn’t illegal… I think.”

“Yes, but we’ve both been drinking and we’re both underage,” the girl explained. “Plus, it’s kind of a reflex.”

“You little delinquents!” I exclaimed playfully. I knew Allie wouldn’t take offence but was hoping it would bug Tyson. The frown on his face didn’t deepen, nor did he give any other indication that he minded me applying that term to him so I had no idea whether my tactic succeeded.

“Yep, we’ve been very naughty!” The girl winked at me.

“Then maybe I should spank you!” I winked back.

I saw the boy’s jaw clench. Finally, a reaction I could work with…

But of course!

What better way to annoy him than to be extra friendly to Allie?

“Do you want me to turn on some music?” I asked, knowing she’ll say yes. Another plan was already forming in my head.

“Sure!” The brunette exclaimed.

I went to the stereo and checked out what type of music we had. I wanted to pick something she liked; something she wouldn’t resist dancing to. And guess who’ll partner up with her! That’s right: yours truly!

*****

A/N: I'll try to upload the second part this weekend. For now all I can say is... VOTE, people, VOTE!

And don't forget to comment!

xo

CatMint5