by T V Hartwell
“Mandi, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know Adam would be here.”
“I know, but it just looks bad. Jake was so upset and hurt, and I don’t want him to think that I somehow knew about this and was trying to go around his back.”
“You didn’t. And Cass told me nothing. I didn’t even know his sister would be here until yesterday. He organized this whole thing himself. And he’s saying that he told me that Adam was coming, but he didn’t. The only people I knew were coming are you and his sister, which I only found out about yesterday. I didn’t even know that he and Adam kept in touch all this time, so I’m just as shocked as you are to see him here.”
“Do you think I should leave?”
“It’s up to you, sweetie. You’re not feeling well anyway, so I think everyone would understand.”
“Ugh. Shit, shit, shit,” Amanda said, putting her right hand on her forehead as she contemplated what to do. “Are you sure, you don’t think it would look bad if I left?”
“No, not at all.”
“But now they all know that I wasn’t expecting Adam to be here. So if I leave now I’ll look like a stuck up bitch.”
Lucy tried to think of something to say to contradict Amanda’s perception, but she couldn’t think of anything since Amanda was probably right.
“I’ll just stay through dinner. I’ll eat a few things and then leave. I don’t want to make such a big deal out of this and ruin Cass’s birthday, even though I’m not too happy with him right now. I mean, that’s so weird that he would call Adam to ask about me instead of asking you. You’re the one who told him that I dated Adam, right?”
“Exactly. He should’ve called me to see if you would be comfortable around Adam. I don’t know why he would bring that up with Adam when you’re my guest. Men. How stupid,” Lucy said, shaking her head while looking in the mirror to freshen up her makeup a bit alongside Amanda who was doing the same.
When Amanda and Lucy rejoined everyone, the others were engrossed in conversation, and Adam immediately drew Amanda back into the fold, as if sensing her intention to bail. “Emily saw us at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2009. Do you remember, Amanda? I think we were all at that ridiculous party together, the one at the top of the slopes.” Amanda did not recall this, but didn’t deny that it might have been a possibility, which opened up the door for Emily to ask a few follow-up questions. Amanda sensed that Emily was trying to bond with her and make a new friend, but she was unable to muster the energy to reciprocate. Instead, Amanda sort of dismissed her by not showing much interest in keeping the conversation going, preoccupied with thoughts about Adam, her last argument with Jake, and how to make her exit from dinner gracefully. Besides, with few exceptions, Amanda typically didn’t befriend actresses, finding most of them pretty boring and too singularly focused on acting and “the business” and not much else. And if you’re not in the business, one can only tolerate talking about it so much.
After the first round of assorted sushi and sashimi, Amanda decided to make her exit. She got up and went over to Cass as everyone was having a good time chatting, laughing and swapping stories about difficult directors and thespians with whom they’d worked in Hollywood. “Cass, I’m going to go home to get some rest and nurse myself back to good health. With my wedding approaching, I couldn’t have picked a worse time to get sick. I hope you understand.”
Cass stood to hug Amanda. “Thank you for coming. I hope you feel better soon. I’m looking forward to your wedding.”
“So you’re definitely coming?”
“Absolutely! Lucy’s been telling me all about it and it sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun.”
“It will be. I’m so glad you’ve decided to come.”
“Are you leaving?” Toby said, the other actor who was with Emily and who hadn’t said much to Amanda up to that point. “We were just getting to know you. You can’t go yet.”
At this point, everyone in the room was looking at Amanda and she froze. She knew she had to be as graceful and tactful as she could so not to come across as antisocial or unappreciative. After all, she was at an exclusive birthday party for one of Hollywood’s hottest, young stars. People would’ve killed to be in her place. “Yes, unfortunately. I’m so sorry. I don’t think the sushi is agreeing with my already fragile tummy, so I think I better head back home now to get some rest and nurse my cold or whatever it is I have.”
Lucy stood to hug Amanda and to say good night.
“Nice meeting you!” “Hope you feel better.” “Congrats on your accessory line,” various people said in rapid succession as she made her exit, not paying close enough attention to know who was saying what as she smiled in acknowledgement. She wanted to leave in a hurry and could only think about making it to the valet as fast as possible in one piece. Adam discreetly followed behind her and lightly touched her around the waist just as she exited the private room. “I’ll escort you to your car,” he said.
“That’s sweet of you. But I’ll be all right. You don’t have to.”
“I want to. Please, let me help you to your car.”
Hell no, Amanda thought even as she relented. What else could she say to him in front of the other guests? They started walking together toward the front entrance of the restaurant and just before they stepped out onto the sidewalk from the restaurant’s front patio Adam stopped her.
“Amanda, wait. Listen, I’m sorry about the flowers. I don’t mean to make things difficult for you and I have a feeling that I caused you some stress earlier this week, and I regret that.”
“If you wanted to succeed at getting under my fiancé’s skin and causing trouble, you did. Just so you know.”
“That wasn’t my intent. Really, it wasn’t. I just wanted to do something nice for you and to prove to you that I haven’t given up.”
“Given up?”
“Yes. I haven’t given up on you. I know I sound crazy to you right now.”
“Adam, we’ve had this conversation.”
“But I want you, and I think deep down you want me too but feel compelled for whatever reason to marry this guy.”
“I am marrying Jake because I’m in love with him and he’s in love with me. Isn’t that compelling enough?”
“I’m in love with you too.”
“You’re in love with me?”
“Yes, Amanda, I am. More than you know. I want to make you happy again,” he said as he gently reached to caress her face with his hands.
Amanda did not recoil at his touch. She wanted to, but she could not force herself away from his seductive grip. Adam could be so convincing, confident, and smooth. Combined with his beautiful metrosexual look, those qualities had been irresistible to her in the first place—coupled now with the memories of how incredible he was in bed.
“Then why did you wait until now to tell me this?” Amanda said. “We broke up more than a year ago, and you show up out of nowhere professing your love for me. What am I supposed to think about that? I’ve been engaged for a year and I’m getting married in two weeks.”
“You seemed so determined to get back with your ex back then. I didn’t know what to do. But now I know more. And the more I know, the more convinced I am that Jake is not right for you.”
“What do you mean? What do you know?” she asked, pushing his hands away.
“I know that he’s wrong for you.”
Amanda rolled her eyes and sighed. She started to walk away before Adam grabbed her by the arm.
“Look, if I told you the truth, you would curse me and not believe me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Amanda,” Adam said, grabbing her by both arms. “You have to trust me. I can provide for you and treat you with the loyalty and commitment you deserve.”
“I am so confused right now,” Amanda said, trying to process what Adam was implying about Jake while feeling overwhelmed by his outpouring of desire for her. “What are you doing, Adam?”
“I’m trying to s
ave you from the mistake you’re about to make. I just want to make you happy and treat you like the princess that you are. I can do that better than anyone. You know I can. I love you. I want you more than I’ve wanted any girl in my entire life.” Adam wrapped his arms around Amanda and pulled her to his chest. “Please let me love you again,” he said softly, staring deep into her eyes before pressing his lips against hers.
“Stop it!” Amanda said, turning her head away, startled.
“Amanda, please…”
“No, let me go,” she said as she wrestled herself out of his embrace. “How dare you touch me like that. Adam, you and I are over. Meeting up with you at The Polo Lounge was a big mistake. I should’ve never agreed to see you.” Jake was right about keeping away from exes, she thought to herself.
“Amanda, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too, for misleading you. Although I didn’t mean to, it looks like I did somehow. From now on, please just stay away from me, Adam. I don’t need this right now, so please,” Amanda said as she walked away to retrieve her car from the valet.
Chapter 30 “Satana, Queen of the Dark”
As the weekend wore on, Kirby became decidedly more reserved than he had been before his encounter with Jake at the spa. It was clear that Jake was still pissed at him as he shunned Kirby by keeping his distance and engaging more with his other guests, especially Will. Although Jake had an axe to grind with Will’s girlfriend, especially after the Hollywood Bowl incident, he was very fond of him and they shared a tight bond. Their relationship was very different from his relationship with Kirby, but of his friends from Stanford, Jake was closest to Will, which is why he helped to plan the weekend along with Kirby and Pax, another friend from Stanford.
At dinner, both Will and Pax offered toasts as did Jake’s brother, Harry, but Kirby remained silent. He wanted to toast his best friend too but before he attempted to do so he glanced over at Jake a few times as if seeking his approval to speak, but Jake never returned his glance. Why would he want me to speak when I’m trying to bust up his marriage? Kirby concluded to himself, feeling woefully out of place sitting there.
After returning from dinner at Artisan Fine Steaks on the Strip, everyone moved up to The Kingpin Suite for the highlight of the weekend, the official bachelor party. They rented a black stretch Hummer limo to take them between the steakhouse and the Palms to keep the group together, safe and on schedule. The guys had already been drinking heavily at the restaurant and were in a rollicking mood by the time they returned to the hotel.
When Jake had been asked a few weeks before about the sort of entertainment he wanted for his bachelor party, he said to surprise him and that he would be down for just about anything as long as it wasn’t too extreme. When they arrived back at The Kingpin Suite a few minutes before midnight, his surprise awaited him.
“Are you ready for your surprise?” Will said excitedly as he held on to Jake behind the neck to escort him into the suite. The suite was bouncing as Usher’s song “OMG” belted from the surround sound speakers.
“What is this?” Jake said with a wild-eyed expression when he saw the tall, imposing woman, waiting for him with her whip, handcuffs, and other paraphernalia at the ready to control and tantalize her male prey.
“I am Satana, Queen of the Dark, and you will speak only when spoken to,” the tall, imposing dominatrix said as she pointed at Jake with her whip. She fashioned herself after the Marvel comic book character “Satana Hellstrom,” and similar to the character, she had fiery red hair that appeared to be accentuated with extensions for more body and length, and she was decked out in a tight, form-fitting black leather body suit with open cleavage down to her navel that exposed her washboard abs and most of her very perky and round fake boobs, save the nipples; although they looked as if they would pop out at any moment.
She walked back and forth in front of a stunned Jake with her black leather horsewhip in hand and swiped it gently across his chin. “I’ve been waiting for you and can’t wait to get my hands on you, pretty boy,” she said with a seductive firmness.
“No way, uhn, uhn, I didn’t sign up for this,” Jake said, shaking his head, acting bashful and scared.
“Yes, you did, homes.” “You’re in for a special treat tonight, Jakey poo.” “Take it like a man, dude, you can handle it.” A chorus of drunken encouragement urged Jake on.
“Clear the way, clear the way,” Will said, pushing Jake toward the bar and past the guys who were hovering around. “Let’s get you a drink or two to loosen you up a bit because you’re going to need it,” Will said, patting Jake on the back.
“What would you like?” the bartender who came with the suite asked Jake.
“Uh, I don’t know,” Jake said while laughing at himself and his predicament. He didn’t expect that he would be part of the entertainment at his own bachelor party.
“I think you need a couple of shots, probably,” Will said. “Right, guys? Don’t you think?” Will said to the rest of the room.
They all chanted back, “Shot, shot, shot, shot…”
“Actually, let’s do a round of Tequila shots for the whole group,” Will said to the bartender, as everyone agreed to go along with that.
After the bartender served the group two rounds of straight Tequila, Jake waved off having any more for the time being. He already felt a little tipsy since they had been drinking all night, and he wanted to make sure that he was conscious enough to know what was being done to him so that he could object or try to escape if need be.
Satana was accompanied by two other women who kicked off the festivities by doing a little striptease performance to get the guys riled up. With Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” blaring loud, the women began to move and gyrate their scantily clad bodies provocatively with the beat of the sexually charged song. They had a dancing pole installed in the room, which they used as a prop, swinging themselves around it, climbing it, spreading and kicking their legs out from it, and humping it every which way imaginable and unimaginable. They were very creative and obviously experienced at using the pole, which drove the guys mad crazy as they cheered and danced along with the two voluptuous hotties.
When the striptease ended, Satana reached for Jake and escorted him over to her special chair. Jake was more of a ham than he was willing to admit and was decidedly down for having a good time. The rousing scene reminded him of the debauchery of his fraternity days, which he had long since put behind him after he met Amanda and began to take life and his future more seriously. Satana was wearing above the knee, jet black, patent leather stiletto boots with a sharp pointed toe and she placed one of them between Jake’s thighs with the toe up against his groin. “So I hear you’re leaving the dark side to marry your precious, little snow white back in LA,” she snarled.
“Um, maybe not,” he said sheepishly.
“Don’t you lie to me,” she said, swiping Jake on the top of the head with her leather whip just enough to startle him. “You’re a bad boy, and bad boys who lie deserve to be punished,” Satana said. “Take off that shirt,” she demanded and waited for him to comply.
Then she tied a blindfold around his eyes and with the help of the two other strippers, placed a chain-linked body shackle on him that ran from his neck to his wrists. Then she ordered him to stand up and proceeded to verbally abuse and chastise him for getting married while whipping his torso and backside.
“Only pussies get married.” Swish. “How dare you leave me, loser.” Swish. “The Queen of the Dark is not good enough for you?” Swish. “You prefer fucking Snow White over me? How could you?” Swish, swish, swish the whip sounded against Jake’s bare skin as he winced, howled, and laughed all at the same time, taking his medicine in stride. The whipping stung, but it wasn’t severe enough to cause physical injury or harm. Satana was a BDSM expert and knew what she was doing.
With each lash the guys yelled loudly in unison, “ooh…ooh…ooh,” twitching and turning as if they were feeling Satana’s whip landing
on their bodies too.
Satana ordered Jake to get on his knees and instructed him to lick her boots, starting from the toe all the way up to the top, which he did, while she whipped him across the shoulder and upper back if he didn’t do it to her satisfaction. When he made it to the top of the boot, she grabbed him by the hair and pressed his face to her crotch before she pushed him back. “You didn’t seem to like that very much, did you?”
“No, ma’am,” Jake said.
“What did you say?”
“I meant, yes, mam. I liked it, mam.”
“Are you lying to me again, bad boy? What do you think, minions? Is he lying to me?”
“Yep.” “Absolutely.” “He sure is, Satana. Whip his ass some more, hot mama,” different guys yelled back before they all busted out in a cheer, “Whip his ass, whip his ass, whip his ass...”
“I’m going to whip your ass, you lying cheat,” she threatened before ordering her two assistants to pull Jake’s pants down to his ankles.
“Whip his ass, whip his ass, whip his ass…” the guys shouted again, falling all over themselves laughing and amused at Jake’s humiliation.
“I hate you all,” Jake yelled. “You guys suck! What kind of friends are you?”
As Jake’s pants came down, the guys started whistling at him and continued their harassment. “We love you, Jakey.” “Whoa! Look at those Calvin’s, very sexy, Jakey poo.” “Damn, you’re hot, dude,” different ones teased.
Jake began to shake his ass, twerking it as best he knew how based on what he saw black girls do in Hip Hop music videos. “Come on, bitch, tap that ass already, will ya?” he yelled. With the alcohol kicking in, Jake was beginning to enjoy displaying his kinky side in front of a live studio audience. He liked showing off his twerking skills to Amanda in the privacy of their bedroom, but doing it in a room full of cheering people was something new for him and he was embracing it.
Satana didn’t even have to tell Jake to bend over; he did so willingly, without command. As he bent over, Jake’s lean, beautifully sculpted glutes, hamstrings, and calves glistened in the light; his skin perfectly tan, unblemished, and shiny. Even Satana had to stand back and take notice. “Very nice,” she said as she rubbed Jake’s right leg from his calf all the way up to his ass, which she patted hard with her hand a couple of times. “Nice and firm.” She then went over to her bag of tricks and pulled out a paddle to switch things up a bit.