Authors: Andrew Hess
“I remember having a few more drinks after that, but nothing after. I need you to help fill in the blanks.”
“I thought we talked about this the other day. You were Miss Goodie-Goodie like you always are.”
“So I didn’t do anything stupid?”
“Of course not.”
Sara felt slightly relieved as she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. “Okay good. It must have been just a dream or my brain playing games on me.”
“What must’ve been a dream?”
“I’ve been having daydreams about one of the strippers leading me to the back for a private dance.”
“Um, yeah you did.”
“I did what?”
“You went to the back for a private dance. One of the strippers said it was paid for already and took you to the back.”
“Shit Julie; please tell me you’re joking.”
“No, I definitely remember you going back there with some guy. You came out a half hour later looking a bit pale and flustered.”
Oh god no
, Sara thought. “Please tell me you’re fucking with me. Tell me this is just some big joke to make me freak out before the wedding.”
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Julie asked.
“I keep having flashes of what happened back there. I had some blond muscular guy dancing for me. The next thing I knew, I was riding him.”
“Shut the hell up. You’re lying.”
“I wish. Every time I think about it, I think about this guy with his hands all over me.”
“And here I thought you looked pale and sweaty because you were uncomfortable. I didn’t know you were getting yourself some of that chiseled beefcake.”
“This isn’t funny.”
“Look, I’m sure nothing happened,” Julie said while doing her best to reassure Sara she was overthinking things. “I mean the only two people that know what happened in there are you and him. You don’t remember anything, and it’s not like you can pick the guy out of a lineup. There were a ton of gorgeous men there.”
“His card was stuffed in my bra when I woke up the next morning.” Sara remembered the card had been sitting next to a pile of clothes on her bed before she packed. She rushed over and ripped through her suitcase, finding the card creased. “I still have it. Rod of Steel.”
“Don’t tell me you’re actually going to call this guy and ask him to tell you what happened that night.”
“You said it yourself; there were only two people who know what happened in that room. Since I don’t remember, maybe he will.”
“I doubt it. You know how many girls he comes across; how many girls he gives private dances to?”
“It doesn’t matter. I need to try.”
“Well, you let me know how that turns out. I’m about to pull into the airport parking lot now. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
Sara hung up the phone and held the business card in her hand. She would never know the complete truth unless she called this man. The likelihood of him remembering her was slim to none, but she had to at least try. She needed to confirm what happened before marrying Evan.
She dialed the number, receiving Rod’s voicemail. “Hi Rod, this is Sara. We met at the club the other night. I was the bachelorette…Anyway, I’m trying to piece together that night, and the last thing I remember was you bringing me in for a private dance.” She left her number and hung up, feeling more like a complete loser for having left the message on some strange man’s cell phone. Of course he wasn’t going to remember her. Why would he? She was just another paying customer, right?
It was the final day before the wedding. Evan sat at a medium length table, watching as the last two people stepped forward to have their books signed. It was a bittersweet feeling to sign their books and take pictures with the two young ladies. On one hand, it signaled the end of a lengthy book tour, and a chance for him to get settled back into a normal life. But there was a part of him that would miss being on the road, traveling from city to city and meeting new people.
Adjusting to normal life wouldn’t be so bad, he reminded himself. He would finally have enough free time to finish his next book, he would be able to go anywhere he wanted, and of course he would be with Sara. The second he thought of her, he was reminded of how distant she had been since the moment her flight landed. It was as if she were a completely different person. She complained about how tired she was until her friend Julie rolled into town. Once she showed up at the hotel, Sara bounced back and quickly found something for them to do away from the hotel and away from him.
He met Kat for lunch that day and told her how weird Sara had been since they made up the other night. “I just don’t understand why she’s trying to put distance between us.”
“Getting married is a big deal. It’s a lifetime commitment to one person, and you kind of sprung the engagement and wedding on her pretty fast.”
“Are you telling me she doesn’t want to marry me?”
Kat placed her menu on top of her plate. “I don’t know how she’s feeling, but I can guarantee she’s beyond nervous.”
“Why? I mean, it’s me she’s marrying.”
“Exactly. It’s you, your agent, your publicist and your book tours she’s marrying. She will always be at home waiting for you to get home from a tour, or taking second place to a business meeting or your writing.”
“I would never…”
Kat raised her palm up to silence Evan. “How much time have you spent with her in the last four months?”
“That’s different. We were trying to get my career off the ground and get my name out to the whole west coast.”
“And you left her behind in New York. Trust me; no matter how you try to spin it, no matter how you try to justify it, Sara was the one that was left at home while you traveled the country. That’s the life she will be married to until you decide to stop touring.”
“I never looked at it that way before.”
“I’m not surprised. When we met, you were focused on doing whatever it took to get yourself known, and you’ve maintained that since. But now you need to refocus. Writing can’t be the only thing you think about. After tomorrow, you’ll have a wife, and she’s going to want some attention from her husband.”
“I think I get what you mean.” Evan grabbed his menu as the waiter approached to take their order. “I wanted to thank you for everything. I know planning this wedding with such short notice couldn’t have been easy.”
“I’ve planned bigger parties with less time. This was a breeze compared to those.” She folded her hands on the edge of the table. “So, as your business associate and friend, I feel it is my duty to ask you if you are sure you’re ready for this.”
Evan thought about how his mornings felt when he was on tour. The loneliness seeped into his mind, mixing with the regrets of binge drinking in his hotel room the night before as he tried to piece together another chapter of his book. But Sara was the shining light at the end of the dark tunnel.
He smiled at Kat as he stared at the sky. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Good. If you weren’t, Sara, Julie, and I would have to kick your ass. Just kidding,” she smirked. “I’d just hire someone to do it while we watched.”
“You’re hilarious, but yeah, I get the point.”
Once lunch was finished, Evan hurried back to the hotel. There was no doubt in his mind he wanted to marry Sara, but he wanted to calm any fears she may have had. Knowing she had an upcoming appointment at the spa, Evan figured she would be in the room or on her way down to the lobby to meet with Julie.
The door buzzed open when he dipped the card inside the lock. Entering the room, he could see the panic in Sara’s eyes, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why.
“Relax,” Evan said. “It’s only me.”
Sara had the whole deer in the headlights appearance, as she stood there holding her clothes in her hands while her mouth hung open. “Hi,” she meekly replied. “I was uh just on my way out.”
Seeing his fiancé turn ghostly white was disturbing. He needed to find out what was going on with her. “What’s wrong,” he asked. Sara tried to brush past him muttering nothing under her breath. But he wasn’t going to settle for her passive aggressive reply. He braced his hands on her shoulders. “Talk to me; what’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Nothing, I’m fine.”
“Sara, you’re anything but fine. You’ve been so distant since you got here. Is it me? Is it the tour?” The blank expression didn’t yield any further insight. “Things are going to slow down now. I’m going to be home all winter, and probably until this new book comes out. We’ll finally have time together. And I promise I won’t do multiple tours again.”
Tears spilled down Sara’s cheeks. “It’s not that.” She wiped the streams away. “Well, it’s partly that. I want to be with you more, but I don’t think you should want to be with me.”
“What are you talking about?” Evan put his arms around Sara and pulled her close to his chest. “I love you. I would do anything to be with you.”
Sara cried harder into Evan’s chest. “You won’t after I tell you the truth.” Evan’s grip on her shoulders loosened. His hands grasped her arms and held her at a distance. “Something happened the night of my bachelorette party.”
“What happened?” Evan’s voice was no longer soft and sympathetic. It was more of a stern growl.
“We went to a few bars that night including a strip club. I tried to make sure Julie or Kat got the lap dances, but then one of them told me he was paid to give me a private dance in the back.” Evan’s hands dropped from Sara’s arms, and became balled up fists at his side. “I went back there. Everything seemed fine at first, but somehow I gave him a little bit of a dance too.”
Pure anger radiated from Evan’s eyes. “What do you mean, you gave him a little bit of a dance?” His gaze focused on Sara’s body, traveling up one side and down the other. “Did you strip?”
“No,” Sara replied.
“But you let him touch you?” Evan’s eyes lingered on Sara’s hips. “And you were all over him; weren’t you?” He watched her reluctantly nod. “What else happened?”
“I-I don’t know. I barely remember anything. All I know is I woke up with his business card stuck in my bra.”
The rage was bubbling to a boiling point. Evan could feel the threads of control slipping away. He turned his back on Sara and stomped his way back to the door. She shouted for him to stop, but there was too much anger and hurt reflecting back for him to hear anything she had to say.
******************************************************
Sara
Shit, what have I done?
Sara stood in the middle of the hotel room. Her bare feet rooted to the spot on the carpeted floor as she stared at the closed door. In her heart, Sara knew she could never marry Evan without telling him the truth. Part of her hoped he would find a way to forgive her, but how could he? There was no way of knowing if anything happened that night. Well…there was one shot at redemption, but it was a slim chance. Everything relied on a phone call from the same man that caused the confusion; the man that called himself Rod of Steel.
Even if Rod confirmed nothing happened, the damage had been done. Sara confessed what she remembered to Evan. He barely said a word as he stormed out of the room. How could she blame him? She would have flipped, screamed, cursed, made a scene, or something. Hell, just thinking of another woman touching Evan made Sara’s mind blood thirsty.
Her own thoughts trapped her inside an invisible box that cut her off from the rest of the world. She wished that box would have swallowed her whole, maybe then she wouldn’t feel like crap. Falling to her knees, Sara sat on the floor. The pile of clothes fell into a heap in front of her. The tears rolled down her flushed face as Sara’s whole world caved in on her.
“Sara,” a woman’s voice called out from the other side of the door. It was accompanied by a forceful knock that made Sara pick her head up. “Sara come on; open the door.”
It was Julie. She knew Sara would be in her room. They were supposed to meet there before heading down to the spa. There was no way she was going away. If Sara didn’t answer, Julie would call her cell. If she didn’t pick up, Julie would go down to the front desk and would do everything including threaten someone’s life to get the access to the room. Inevitably, she would find a way in and would stumble on the tear stained mess lying on the floor.
Crawling to her feet, Sara slowly walked to the door and opened it. “Welcome to my shattered world.”
“What the fuck? What the hell happened to you?”
“I told him.”
“Him who?”
“Evan. I told him what happened during the bachelorette party. I told him about the private dance and everything.”
Julie pulled Sara close with one arm and rested her chin on top of Sara’s head. “I’m guessing he didn’t take it too well.”
“He stormed out and barely said a word.”
“Really? He didn’t flip out or anything?”
“No, not at all. He just looked pissed off and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.” She looked up at Julie with red glassy eyes. “Is that a bad thing?”
“I don’t know. Every guy I know would’ve cursed me out. I mean if I was a guy and my girl admitted to grinding on some other guy’s junk, I’d wanna rip someone’s head off.”
“You don’t think he’d do something that crazy; do you?”
“You know him better than I do,” Julie replied.
Sara had only known Evan to get violent once since she met him. It was the night Julie introduced her to those scumbags in Atlantic City. Evan showed up when the guy Sara danced with started putting his paws on her. In a panic Sara grabbed her clothes and began to change.
“We need to find him.” Sara’s phone buzzed from the bed as she struggled to pull on her jeans. “Can you answer that?”
Julie picked up the phone and saw a random New York City phone number plastered on the screen. She answered it, but held the phone out for Sara to grab. “Did you call someone named Rod?”
Sara lunged for the phone, ripping it from Julie’s hands. “Hi Rod,” Sara said excitedly. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I was at the club a few nights ago; the bachelorette party.”
“Oh I definitely remember you. You were that hot chick with the two gorgeous ladies.”
Sara blushed, remembering how much of a sweet talker Rod seemed to be. “I need some help piecing together part of the night.”
“I’d be happy to help you remember. Why don’t you come down to the club tonight and I can jog your memory.”
She could scratch the remark about thinking he was a sweet talker. The copious amount of drinks must have given her beer muffs.
“I’m actually out of town right now, but I really could use your help. Can you tell me what happened when we went into the back room?”
“I see; you want a little phone action to get you off. I can do that.” Sara gagged at the thought. “I escorted you into the back and sat you down on the chair. I flexed my muscles for you, teased you with my towel until Mr. Steel came out to play.” Already Sara didn’t like where his story was going. “You ran your hands all over my pectastic chest down to the band on my G-string. I told you to grab it, but you weren’t ready yet.”
Sara pulled the phone away from her face as Rod went into description about standing on the chair and shoving his rod in her face. She could remember seeing the yellow and blue tie-dyed fabric coming close to her lips. Her hands were forced to grab him just to keep it away. She may have been drunk, but knew Rod was trying to take things too far.
“You were loving Mr. Steel, but seemed antsy to get up and dance. So we switched places. And I gotta say, you put on one hell of a show for me. I mean the way your ass teased me when you danced to the music, I knew I had to have you.”
Sara cringed at the thought of this man touching her. Praying nothing happened, she probed further. “So what happened next?”
“I pulled you on top of Mr. Steel. Even through those panties, I could tell how soaked you were. Then you started grinding on me, and I just couldn’t resist. I lifted your shirt and let my hands explore that milky white skin of yours. Man, your tits felt really nice.”