Seduce Me (The Heart Series)

by Angela Estienne

  “Jazz, are you all right? I got worried about you.” He came and gave me a hug.

  “I am fine, you know I bounce back eventually, I just needed to get away for a bit, but thanks for worrying, even though there was no need. Hi Rachel.”

  “Hi Jazz, do you want a drink?”

  “No thanks I am going to turn in for an early night. Have fun you two.” I walked away and headed straight upstairs. I went for a quick shower and then jumped into bed. I put my MP3 player on and stared at the ceiling listening to my music. Then I remembered Cat had rung me, I had better call her back.

  “Hi Cat, sorry I missed your call.”

  “Don’t worry, I was just letting you know I will be with you for about 9:30 in the morning, is that all right?”

  “Yeah that’s fine, I can’t wait to see you.”

  “Ok, bye, see you tomorrow.”

  “Bye.”

  Now that put a smile back on my face, I was just putting in my headphones when my phone bleeped again, another text message.

  “Jazz please! Can I see u tomorrow? Luke xxx.”

  Maybe I should text him. Hopefully then he would then stop wasting his time on me.

  “Luke, please stop texting me, I am really not interested in you, J.”

  I lay back down, and all I could hear was Dylan and Rachel running around laughing, so I put my headphones back in and relaxed. First song up, Alice Cooper–Only Women Bleed, I lay there singing the lyrics in my head, next Johnny Cash–Ghost Rider in the Sky, I loved the full version of this song, then The Outlaws–Ghost Rider in the Sky, there version was so different to Johnny Cash’s. They missed the ending off. I was swaying my body along to the music as I lay there. Now this was turning into a very good evening, next Queensryche–Empire. I let my body flow with the beat, again I was singing along in my head. I felt connected to the music playing, such good songs, so much passion flowing from their mouths, Skid Row–18 and Life, perfection, Sebastian Bach’s voice was heavenly. My MP3 was finally my friend again. The music was healing and soothing, this is just what my mind wanted, then Pink Floyd–The Wall album came on, I loved listening to this album, I drifted off to sleep listening to it.

  I woke up sweating and panting heavily. I ripped my headphones out of my ears, no not this again. After such a perfect evening of my music I was slung back into another terrifying nightmare that I couldn’t handle. I ran into the bathroom as I did every night. I threw my pyjamas on the floor and switched on the stream of water, trying to wash away the images that were flashing in front of my eyes. The constant replaying images were unbearable. I had no defence against what I saw. I was upside down in the car. My seatbelt was fastened. My head hurt. I reached up with my hand to hold it, but it felt wet, I looked at my hand and it was covered in blood, I still couldn’t help looking at my hands. Sliding to the shower floor I sobbed. I felt heartbroken at the replaying horror film that was acting out in my mind. I could see flashing blue lights out of the corner of my eye, I could hear sirens in the distance, I could hear loud screaming, it sent a cold chill up and down my spine. Then it goes deadly silent, I can hear the voices again, I turn to my left, the passenger window is cracked, but it seems foggy. I try and take in a breath again, I can smell smoke, I frantically started looking around for flames, as I turn I can see Greg, his head, No! No! It can’t be right. His head is covered in blood.

  “Greg, Greg please darling talk to me, don’t leave me like this, I don’t want to live without you, GREG PLEASE, I beg of you, don’t leave me alone.” I grab his hand, and squeezed it. Then his body slides away from me and disappears. Then it all goes dark.

  I got out of the shower and went back to bed. I couldn’t understand why he let me go, why would he do that to me? Then I started thinking about Luke when I was getting dried. Now I knew for certain that we could never be an item, I couldn’t inflict this horror onto anyone else. I got some dry pyjamas on and cried myself back to sleep.

  I woke up with a blinding headache, I walked into the bathroom and looked at my face, my eyes were blood shot and swollen. I decided a warm shower might make me feel better, I got the shampoo and started washing my hair. This was really starting to help me. I got out and dried myself off. I walked back into the bedroom and got dressed. All I now needed was a coffee.

  As I was walking downstairs, I heard Cat and Dylan talking.

  “I feel guilty Cat, I encouraged her to get with Luke.” I sat on the stairs. I needed to gather myself before going into the kitchen.

  “It’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself. She is just really confused as to her own emotions, she likes Luke I can tell, but she still loves Greg. Just think how she must be feeling about it.”

  “I know but I am worried about her, the nightmares are bad enough and now this, I don’t know how much more she can take.”

  “Is she still having them? I was hoping that they would be going by now?”

  “Yes, she wakes every single night without fail, screaming, she just screams out for someone to help Greg, I don’t know how to help her. I think it is getting worse not better.”

  “So what do you do about it?”

  “Nothing, I lie in bed feeling helpless, should I go in and see if she is all right? Or do I just try and ignore it like I am doing? The screams are piercing. It cuts right through me. She is in so much pain.”

  “Oh that’s really bad.”

  “Rachel was staying over last night, but as soon as Jazz woke with her nightmare Rachel got scared to death, I had to take her home. I know I am going to have to sit down with her, and try and explain it, but that means I need to talk to Jazz first to see if it would be all right to do so, and I am not looking forward to either conversation.”

  “Do you want me to talk to her for you?”

  “I am not sure, she really does sound terrified Cat, I don’t know what to do for the best, it brings me to tears.”

  “I am not sure what to say, have you tried talking to her about the bad dreams?”

  “Yes, but it brings us both to tears.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “But what is even worse is she then gets into the shower and cries, sometimes it can be up to two hours that she is in their crying, I want to help her, but I don’t know how?”

  “We will think of some way to help her, come here and give me a cuddle, I will talk to mum and dad about it and see if they can suggest anything that may help her cope better.”

  I stood up and sucked in a lung full of air and headed into the kitchen.

  “Morning Jazz.”

  “Morning guys.” Cat walked over and gave me a hug. Dylan put the kettle on.

  “So Cat, what are the plans for today then?”

  “How about we have a bit of shopping therapy?” I looked over at Dylan and rolled my eyes.

  “Therapy for whom?” I asked.

  “Oh behave I know you enjoy it really.”

  “Do I?” I just started laughing. I didn’t want to be glum. I needed to enjoy my day with Rachel and Caitlin.

  “So are you coming along then Dylan?”

  “Hell no, I wouldn’t want to spoil your fun filled day of shopping together.”

  “You wouldn’t be spoiling it. You could actually make a valuable contribution.”

  “How do you mean?” He answered suspiciously.

  “We need a pack horse to carry all our bags.” He came over to me and shoved me on the arm.

  “You are incorrigible Jazz.” Caitlin held up her hand for a high five, it felt good being relaxed and enjoying a bit of small talk.

  “I know but you love me.”

  “Sometimes Jasmine I have to wonder.”

  “So I hear Rachel is coming along with us?” Caitlin said.

  “Yeah, I am sure you two will hit it off, she is very similar to you in some aspects.”

  “I can’t wait to meet her. Dylan won’t stop talking about her. I am dying to see who has hooked my brother this time.”

  Knock, knock
, Dylan got up to answer the door.

  “Rachel, come on in hun. Let me introduce you to Caitlin, Dylan’s sister.”

  “Hi Caitlin, it is good to meet you.” They shook hands. Dylan walked up to her and placed his arms around her waist.

  “So what time are we going for the meal?” Rachel asked.

  “We were thinking maybe about 7.30, but we haven’t really decided yet,” I replied.

  “Well I have a treat for you both.” Dylan looked sad. She turned around to face him.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t leave you out, but you won’t like this treat.” She reached up and kissed his cheek.

  “So do tell then Rachel, what is it?” Caitlin asked. She turned around to face us again.

  “Well I have this friend who manages a club in town and he has got me three tickets to see a live show tonight.”

  “What show is it?” I asked. Her face lit up.

  “Are you ready for this girls? It is a male stripper show.” Caitlin and I jumped up and down on the spot, now Dylan looked worried.

  “I could give you a better show Rachel.” She turned around and stroked his face.

  “I know you could, but I don’t think you want to do a striptease in front of these two, do you?”

  “No.” He looked glum.

  “I will view yours another night.” He had his wicked grin back on his face.

  “So what time does the show start?” She got a ticket out of her bag.

  “9:00, so we should have plenty of time for a meal and then ‘pudding’.”

  “I have nothing to wear for such a showing.” I said.

  “Well let’s go and get our shopping done then.” Caitlin replied.

  “Last chance to come Dylan.”

  “No, go without me, I just want to sit here and nurse my wounds. Rachel wants to go and see a male stripper instead of me.” We all looked at him, and sighed.

  We set off for our long shopping trip. I decided it was about time I treated myself to some new clothes, now I had two personal shoppers with me so it seemed like a perfect idea, but what do you wear to a male striptease show? I had never been to anything like it before, so I really wasn’t sure.

  We hit the shops with a game plan, first get me kitted out, and then if they wanted anything then that was an added bonus, it made perfect sense. I just underestimated how much of an addiction shopping was for Caitlin. She already owned so many clothes. I bet she had a fresh outfit for everyday of the week for an entire year, without wearing any item twice, but it made her happy.

  We stopped off halfway through to get me my caffeine fix. The only items I had found that I liked was a black pair of five inch stiletto heels, my shopping trip wasn’t going so well compared to Rachel and Caitlin, they already had more bags than they could carry. After I had my fix, we set off again. The next shop was a big hit for me. I loved the clothes. I picked up a pair of really short black denim shorts, with a red heart on the back pocket, I also managed to find a beautiful basque with a zip at the right hand side it had a corset styled back to it, it looked like a beautiful top, I didn’t want to wear anything over the top of it. Well at least that was my outfit picked for the show. Now what else could I find? This shopping lark was becoming fun, I loved this shop, everything I picked up I loved. It all seemed to suit me as well. Rachel and Caitlin sat down outside the changing rooms giving me big cheers when I came out in something that they loved on me, this was a buzz. I liked this feeling, by four in the afternoon I had finished. I just wanted to get back home and go for our meal, I was totally pooped.

  When we got back, I ran upstairs for a shower and got changed, but I couldn’t go out for a meal looking like this, so I slung a dress over the top, I pulled it off quite well. I ran back downstairs.

  “I knew she would chicken out and not wear the shorts and basque,” Caitlin said.

  “Excuse me, are you taking bets over their?”

  “No, not really, I just know you that’s all.” I lifted my dress off over my other outfit, Dylan wolf whistled at me.

  “I am not chickening out. I just don’t want to look like this when we have our meal that’s all.” Cat and Rachel just looked at each other.

  “Fair enough,” Rachel replied.

  “So are we going for something to eat? I am starving. Come on guys let’s go.” I locked up the house and we all jumped into Dylan’s car, he was going to drop us off at the club after our meal.

  When we got to the restaurant, I was really ready for a good meal. I hadn’t been eating properly and now it had come back to haunt me. I took a look at the menu, now what did I fancy? The choice was easy really. I wasn’t adventurous with food. I always played it safe. It was either going to be a jacket potato, gammon or a steak. That’s all I ever had unless we went for a pub meal on a Sunday, then I would treat myself to a Sunday carvery with pork and applesauce. I decided to go for a gammon steak with chips, pineapple, tomato, and an egg. Normally I wouldn’t get through it all, but I was ravenous, I cleared my plate within ten minutes. Next, I had my sights set on a slice of lemon and lime cheese cake, I couldn’t believe I ate it all.

  I went to the bathroom so I could undo my top button of my shorts, Rachel and Caitlin joined me. Once we were finished, I went to the sink and washed my hands. Caitlin turned around to me.

  “Jazz?”

  “Yes Cat.”

  “Dylan told me about your nightmares getting worse.”

  “I know he did.” This seemed to be the best time to let Rachel know about them. Caitlin gave me a hug.

  “Rachel, I should have warned you about my nightmares before you stayed at my place, I am sorry that it frightened you.”

  “You don’t have to explain Jasmine.”

  “I do. My nightmares are from the car accident. I still have no memory from that night, but when I am asleep I get horrific images playing around in my head.”

  “I am sorry Jasmine.” We had a group hug before heading back out to Dylan.

  I had eaten far too much to be comfortable. We ordered a coffee to kill a bit of time before we set off for the show. I was looking forward to a fun packed evening with my best friend and new friend at my side. I knew Caitlin would be in her element and I think Rachel would too. Dylan dropped us off around the corner. I took my dress off and slung it in his car, I did my top button back up, now I was already for the evening entertainment.

  Rachel handed over our tickets to one of the bouncers stood at the door. We went in and found a seat, we were a little early, so we had our choice of tables. We headed over to the front of the stage area, now we would have a perfect view of the show. I went up to the bar and ordered our first round of drinks, I knew I didn’t drink a lot, but I really fancied a dry cider, I carried the drinks back over to the table and took my seat. Rachel and Caitlin went to the bar next, for the rest of the night I would be sticking to fizzy apple juice. We had our three drinks sat in front of us. We got in at the bar before the mad rush started. It didn’t take long before the place was crowded with a lot of randy women looking for a good night.

  We didn’t have long to wait for the show to start. We had a warm up act appear on stage, they were a Queen tribute band, they were really good, playing all my favourite Queen tracks. I even ventured into singing along with some of them. The whole place was singing so no one could really hear how bad I was. They finished off with We are the Champions, we all swayed our bodies in time with the music, but I had to be honest, I preferred the originals, you just couldn’t beat Brian May’s voice at the beginning of Who Wants to Live Forever and Freddie’s voice, it was so distinctive and unique. The crowd started screaming in appreciation, well that was them warmed up nicely for the main act to start.

  The music began to bellow from the speakers, then the screaming started, the curtains opened. Five very hunky guys appeared on stage, god I hoped they were good, or all these women might flip out, and I didn’t think that would be a pretty picture. They all were wearing fireman outfits, with bare chests a
nd yellow braces. You could see their bodies glistening under the spotlights, and wow they were very ‘fit’. They wiggled their hips, started jumping up and down on chairs, seductively moving around them, gyrating their hips back and forth. They didn’t disappoint, they certainly knew how to get the crowd going. By the first interval everyone ran to the ladies, I was wanting to go but I didn’t want to get caught up in the crowd of randy women.

  Everyone had got back by the time the next section started. The curtain raised. The male dancers came back on stage and started doing their dance routines again. They were only dressed in a pair of leather shorts, god they looked yummy, two of them started to move around these medieval war mace balls that were on short wooden poles with a chain attaching them. The other three hunks had nunchucks. They did some sort of dance routine with them, I would have never have thought balls and nunchucks could be used in such an erotic and imaginative way. The two with the balls on chains set them alight, this only made the routine even more erotic, their bodies glistened even more under the shine from the fire, their bodies rippling under the heat.

  Once they had extinguished the fireballs. The two that had the fire disappeared off stage leaving us with the other three, but then they changed things around a bit. They started moving through the audience, looking for victims to get up on stage and dance with them, as one of them was walking past me I was praying for him to continue. Don’t pick me, don’t pick me, he passed by. I let out a sigh of relief, I could now relax, but to my surprise he came back behind me and lifted me off my chair. I tried in vain to tell him I wasn’t a good choice to be up on stage, but he was having none of it. I wasn’t that outgoing to be up on stage in front of a crowd, they should have picked Rachel or Caitlin, I felt self-conscious and embarrassed stood up on stage.