I wokeup feeling like death. I hadn’t had much to drink, so I wasn’t hungover. I was just emotionally wrung out. I had no choice but to call in sick to work. That, of course, required turning my phone back on. As I expected, Leah had been blowing up my phone all night. I simply messaged my boss and then turned the phone back off, settling on the couch with a fuzzy blanket and a big mug of tea. I tried watching movies, but my mind kept wandering to what had happened last night.
The truth was, I enjoyed every minute of it. Chase and Seb explained everything to me and they respected my boundaries. They checked with me every step of the way. I honestly wasn’t sure whether I was afraid of what could have happened or if it was the fact that I enjoyed what happened. Around mid-morning, the knocking on my front door started. Leah called out to me through the door, but I didn’t answer it.
I might have wound up with two men who treated me respectfully and I might have enjoyed it, but that was irrelevant, as far as I was concerned. It didn’t change the fact she had lied by omission to get me to the club and then left me there with them. To me, none of that is the behavior of a friend. She came several times throughout the day and I ignored her every one of them. She must have taken the day off work, but so what.
When the knocking started again around dinner, I screamed in frustration, stormed to the door and flung it open.
“Leah, have I been fucking unc–” I started.
My eyes widened when I realized I was about to tear my friend, Andrew, a new asshole.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry, Andrew. Come in.”
I moved aside for him to come in and shut and locked the door behind him.
“Hey, Raven. So, umm, what was that all about?” he asked cautiously.
“Ugh, don’t even get me started. So, what’s up?”
“You weren’t at work today and you weren’t answering texts. I was worried about you.”
“That’s sweet of you, but I’m okay. Really.”
“Raven, girl, you know I love you, but you could never make a living as a poker player. You’re a shit liar and every emotion you’re feeling right now shows on your face.”
“Fine,” I sighed, “Do you want a drink? I’m having Jack.”
“Damn, it’s one of those days, is it? I’ll have a glass with you.”
I poured each of us a glass, mine a little closer to the top than it should have been.
“So, Leah showed up here last night. She told me that I was a hermit and needed to have more fun. She claimed to have non-refundable tickets, so I agreed to go with her. I should have known better.”
“With Leah? Probably,” he said, lips curled up in disgust, “What went wrong?”
“It was Club Inhibition.”
“The sex club?” he asked, mouth open wide, eyes flashing with anger.
“The one and only. I obviously had no idea that was the club she was taking me to. She convinced me to stay for an hour. A couple of drinks, some dancing, and then, if I still wanted to leave, we would.”
“Okay, so that was shitty of her, no doubt, but the ugliness on your face when you opened the door, thinking it was her? That is so much more than tricking you into going there.”
I tried to figure out what to tell him. Andrew was a good friend, but we didn’t tend to talk about things related to sex. I wasn’t sure how well this was going to go over with him, especially since I knew he thought Leah was too wild for me.
“I decided I was going to leave. When I turned to go, I ran into someone. Literally. Then I bounced off him and fell back into someone else.”
“Okay…”
“Long story short, I agreed to stay and have a drink with the two guys I bumped into. Before I knew it, I’d agreed to go to their private room.”
“Fuck, she let you go to a room with two strangers? Is she fucking insane?” he spat, “Did they hurt you?”
“No, they didn’t hurt me,” I said, my cheeks blushing furiously, “but… I… we…”
“What does that even mean, Raven? Did you hook up with them?”
“No! You should know me better than that!”
“Okay, but, Raven, something obviously happened. You can tell me, you know?”
“I don’t really want to go into detail with you. I just did some things I never thought I would and then ran out of there like my ass was on fire.”
“Leah is no good for you. You could have gotten hurt, or worse, on her watch,” he said, resting his hand on my shoulder.
“She’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember, but I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve never opened myself up like that and it’s fucking terrifying.”
“Just think about it, okay? I just want you to be safe and happy.”
“Thanks, Andrew. I appreciate you sitting and listening to me bitch,” I laughed.
“Anytime.”
When he left a couple hours later, the thoughts about everything that had happened came rushing back. I considered having another drink, but I didn’t want to be hungover as fuck at work tomorrow. Instead, I headed back to bed and tossed and turned until morning. Fuck.