Out of the Blue (13 page)

“Come in.” Valerie said, keeping her eyes on Justin. She winked at him.

Justin watched the door open, willing Molly to close it. Willing her to run. Hoping he’d mistaken the voice, that Valerie knew someone who sounded like her.

“You evil —” he said. “You better not have …”

“Shh,” she said.

And then the door swung wide, and Molly stood there, hand planted against it so it couldn’t swing back. She stayed there for a second, panting, and then moved forward and let it swing behind her.

Justin couldn’t imagine what this looked like, what she was thinking. He felt too tired to worry about it. But he was worried about her.

“Molly! Get out of here!”

Valerie put a hand over his mouth and he wiggled away from it. “Go! Now!”

Molly stood, hands slightly out to the sides, fingers splayed, hair wind tossed but still straight like it was earlier. White face. She stared at them for a moment. He knew the exact second she noted his face, his bonds, the woman beside him, her blonde hair, even if all that moved were her eyes. Her face stayed neutral. Calculating like she was playing a chess match. Then she took a step backward, looked at Valerie, and ran back through the door.

Justin sighed as the door shut. His head fell forward in relief. He should feel betrayed, but was just relieved that she’d run. He didn’t care if it was because she was disgusted by a guy getting in this situation, or because of fear, but he was glad.

“Mousey little thing, isn’t she?”

He didn’t lift his head. His neck was too tired.

“Do I need to go after her?”

He looked to the door, and then hung his head again. “I don’t think so,” he said. “She ran, didn’t she?”

“What if she called the cops?”

“And said what?” he said. “That we were playing bondage?” He pulled his head all the way up to hold her gaze. “You came here for something Valerie. Why don’t you just do it?” He stared at her, noting the way her green eyes darkened. Angry, or aroused. He sat back, ready for this. He’d been waiting for years. This would be nowhere near as bad as the wait, the dread. The realization that she was just a gross old lady. A lady who had never loved him.

The thought brought a tear from one eye for sadness he didn’t feel consciously. Someone inside him was hurt by the thought. Maybe a little boy who’d thought he found a home. But as an adult, he was just glad he could say that this wasn’t love, and move on to hope for more one day. Because if she didn’t love him, then he could accept that someone else could love him and it wouldn’t be the same as what she did. He was so deep in his thoughts he didn’t notice when her mouth fell over his. Didn’t notice till she bit his lip, and he cursed. She was awful.

“Hi-Yah!” The words came with a sharp crack and thud, and Valerie fell from his lap. He looked at her as she stood, wiping her mouth, and then up to see Molly, holding the rest of a chair.

“Molly, get out of here,” he said. “I can handle this.”

“I saw that,” she said, chest heaving. She dropped the rest of the chair and turned to face Valerie. “I don’t like your way of handling it.”

Justin groaned. This wasn’t remotely fun, the way women fighting over you was supposed to be on TV. “Molly go; I’ve got it.”

“No,” Molly said. “She has to die.”

Valerie laughed, and walked closer to Molly, who continued to circle. “I don’t know what you mean. Justin and I were just enjoying—”

Crack. Justin watched in shock as Valerie’s head flew to the side, Molly’s fist driving through and past it. Before Valerie could retaliate, Molly followed up with a hard kick to the chest. She slid up and just shoved it as hard as she could, and Valerie flew back onto the ground.

Justin thought this could get kind of sexy after all.

“I could have you arrested.” Valerie was trying to pull back her hair, and trying to regain her footing.

“Please.” Molly walked over, and Valerie moved back. “You know there are security cameras here?”

Oh no, Justin thought. He didn’t want anyone to see this. Ever. Even the police. He struggled.

“I turned them off,” Valerie said.

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or sad. He guessed he should have known she would. It would be just his word against hers again. Why would the police believe a male escort? Would Molly even believe him?

“I turned them back on,” Molly said. She walked toward Valerie, seeming to enjoy the way Valerie scooted back. “I thought it would help me when the police get here.”

“You don’t get to just beat me or kill me.”

“Do you see how lame she is Justin?” Molly turned to him. “Look at her crawling away. So you can play with kids but you can’t play with an adult?”

“I.” Valerie hit the wall by the door. She looked up as if to grab it and run. Molly watched her, daring her to do it. So Valerie stood, grabbed the handle, and ran.

“Don’t let her leave.” Justin felt alarmed for the first time in the night. If she got away, all of this would be for nothing. He could stand anything if it could simply be over, if he had to go back to wondering where she was, what she was doing, planning, he’d go crazy.

“The cops’ll grab her,” she said. “I heard them pull up as I came in.”

“So they’ll have you committing assault on tape. Where did you learn to fight like that?”

“After the Bosey incident, after you left, I took self-defense for two years. And no they won’t have me on camera,” she said. “I only turned them on for a moment. But I’ll check real quick.”

Molly slipped out the door for a few moments. Justin cleared his head. When she came back in, a good twenty feet away, he realized for the first time how embarrassing this was, now that there was no imminent danger to her.

“They’ve got her,” she said. “They’ll want to talk to you. Later.” She watched him for a moment, arms folded.

He blushed, felt the blood move all the way up his neck. He was suddenly too aware of being tied to a chair. Helpless.

She started to walk towards him.

“Wait Molly.”

“Yes?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Stay where I can see you.” He pulled at his hands. Had to get free before she reached him.

She frowned, but did as he asked.

“I don’t like you like that,” he said. He felt sweat gathering at his hairline. “I know you came to the club for me tonight. Your hair…I know it was for me. I still want to be your friend. But I don’t have feelings for you like that.”

She paused then took another step forward, almost close enough to touch him. “Why are you saying this right now?”

“I just thought you should know. Since I’m tied to a chair.”

“Oh,” she said. She leaned back, took a long look over him. Made a face that she probably thought was a leer. “Cause I might be tempted, huh?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” he said. “I didn’t mean to lead you on.”

She tilted her head and sighed. “It’s like being told you lost a race you didn’t even enter.”

“I’m sorry I confused you,” he said. “I still want to be your friend Molly. I just wasn’t ready for how quickly you wanted more. I’m just not in a position to give that to anyone. I’m sorry if you thought otherwise.”

She moved forward. Steadily, eyes on him. Like a panther. He winced. She reached his chair, leaned forward over him, her breasts in his view. She reached around his chair. He knew it. He knew she’d wanted that from him.

His wrists came free and she pulled back and moved to work on the bonds at the back of the chair.

“Who said I wanted anything?” She pulled away the last of the bonds and pushed them to the floor.

He sat up, rubbed his wrists. He could hear the cops approaching the door, loud footsteps, and a woman’s protests.

“I, I guess I assumed.” He smiled. “Then again you aren’t like any woman I’ve ever known.”

She folded her arms and let out a deep sigh. “Even if I want something, that doesn’t mean I’ll take it. That’s the difference between me and her.” She nodded towards the door.

“Oh,” he said. She held out a hand and he took it and stood. He looked down at her, enjoyed his height and tried to build back up his image of himself as a man, not a boy. “What do you want then?”

“I don’t know yet,” she said. “Friendship will do for now.” She turned and walked to the door, opened it, and went out.

Justin followed, rubbing the back of his head. Nothing would ever be as simple as it looked with Molly.

Chapter 8

T
he next day, Molly walked the beach with Jason. So different from another time she’d walked the beach. Jason’s linen shirt ruffled slightly in the wind, a light peachy color. She looked from the shirt, to his neck, the smooth beige of his face.

“So what exactly is going on with you and Justin?”

Molly turned away from the boardwalk and looked out to the water. The water seemed darker here, dirtier. The sky grayer in the background. Too cold to swim in. Fall approaching. She let out the last of her breath and felt her chest compress.

She felt Jason’s hand around her waist.

“Oh come on,” he said. “I think it’s fair that I know.” He gave her a small pull against him. She swallowed, but pushed slightly off to bounce out of arm’s reach.

“You think you’re pretty smooth at this host thing, don’t you?”

He put his hands in his pockets, and looked over at her, swishing his auburn hair off his forehead in a way she was sure was calculated. “Of course. I’m the original.”

That explained the lines he had that Justin didn’t. “How old are you?”

“Now, a lady would never ask that.”

“I don’t care,” she said. “I thought Justin was the original.”

“Sure,” he said, putting his arm out again. “One of the original hosts. But it was me who helped Hope come up with the idea. I used to host in Japan.”

“You did?” She tried to picture him there, all white and auburn.

“I was a novelty,” he said. “So I’ve been doing this a long time. You get tired of it at some point though. I’m tired of it.”

She let his arm stay because she was interested in hearing more. “So you and Hope founded it and Justin was the first host?”

“Well there was another founder. Hope’s brother Chandler,” he said. “Hope you never meet him.”

“Why?” Molly reached tentatively out to put a hand around Jason. She needed to start seeing this sort of thing as normal. Justin wanted her to move on. More than that, she wanted to move on.

“Really unpleasant,” he said. “He’s the business end. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth. All numbers and suits.” Jason paused and turned her to the beach. He pulled Molly in front of him and clasped his arms around her.

“Why me?” she said. “You barely know me. Why are you doing this?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. He dropped his head to her shoulder. “It just feels right.”

Molly didn’t argue. She thought back to punching Valerie. She should call Justin and make sure things went okay after the arrest. Make sure he was doing okay. But he had backed her off. Even tied to a chair, had been concerned she’d get too close. Best to show him that she knew he could handle things, and that she could be romantic with whomever she chose.

“Is this just about Justin?” she said. Jason’s nose tickled her neck, and sent an uncomfortable crawling feeling down her back.

“Maybe it started like that,” he said. “But there’s something about the way you listen. Something refreshing.”

She pushed away from him. “Can we sit?” She plopped down. The sand was harder than she’d expected, and a little wet. Jason sat down too. He watched the water for a moment, hands draped over his knees.

“Do you wear contacts?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “The glasses are part of the act.” He pointed out to a surfer in the waves. “I can see the stripes on that red surfboard.”

Molly squinted. She closed her bad eye, but still couldn’t make out much more than a blur. “So you pretend you can’t see?”

“I play the cool, smart character,” he said. “Women like to imagine that a man has a weakness.”

“And you don’t have a real weakness?” she said. She thought of Justin, tied to a chair, telling her he didn’t want her like that.

“Nothing that visible,” he said. “Sometimes you have to make a visible weakness to hide a real weakness. One that is less attractive.”

She mimicked his relaxed pose to see if it relaxed her too.

“See?” he said. “That’s what I like about you. You don’t want to know. You don’t want to dig. You just want to take things at face value. You’d be a much better match with me than Justin.”

“I’m not sure I’m a match with either.” She turned to him. “You meet plenty of women. Hook up with one of them. I’m not stupid.”

He laughed. “You’d be surprised. All I meet are the women at the club. Women looking for something I’m not. Not really. Not when I’m outside the club.” He rolled up his cuffs and leaned back on his hands. “It’s nice to see a friend there. I don’t talk to women much outside the club. And what am I supposed to say about my profession? I’ve been a host since I was a teenager.”

Molly tried to picture it. “How did you end up in Japan?”

“Not important.” His shoulders tensed and she looked down to his hands that clenched in the sand.

“So you want to be friends then?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said.

“You hosts have a different idea of friendship.” She brought her knees in and curled over them. “Why is it all of you want to be my friend?”

“I don’t know that two is everyone,” he said. “Maybe since Justin and I are both hardened vets, it’s nice to be with someone innocent.”

“Well stop touching me,” she said. “I don’t touch my friends. I don’t really like it.”

“Okay,” he said. “See that right there makes you different.”

“You need to get out of the club and meet other women,” she said. “Get a real job.”

He shrugged. “Like engineering?” he asked. “Something you do nine to five and don’t think about once you’re home?”

“I …” She thought for a moment. “I guess so.”

“Well, you need to do something other than work.” He poked her shoulder. “What do you do other than engineer and come to the club?”

Go out with Justin. Think about Justin. Go places with Nicole. Other than that, things were pretty empty.