Broken Survivor

by Jennifer Labelle

  The dark night disappeared once they’d stepped out of the cab and rushed into the bar. Inside the quiet of the evening gave way to the thumping of loud music through the speaker system and cheers from the ladies all around them. Pink, blue, and yellow strobe lights shone on the dance floor. The bar itself was packed with patrons impatiently waiting for their turn while the two cute bartenders tried their best to get everyone’s thirst quenched.

  “It’s a little weird being here. Don’t you think?” Holly had to raise her voice and speak into her sister’s ear to be heard.

  “A little, but at least you know it’ll be a good time,” Chrystal hollered back. “Oh look, there are our reserved seats.”

  “They take reservations?” Holly was shocked.

  “Oh yeah.” Tamara smirked. “You can call ahead to book for birthdays and such. We’ve got the best seats in the house over there.”

  “Uh-huh, perverts’ row.” Nadia’s grin widened, and she grabbed Holly’s hand to pull her forward.

  “What’s up?” Tamara eyed her as if she could sense there was something wrong, and the truth was that Holly couldn’t get over the weird feeling that had suddenly come over her. Not that she’d say anything to ruin the vibe for them all.

  “Nothing, just think I’m in serious need of a drink right now, that’s all.”

  “I agree with the drinks. We all could use one. What’s freaking Hol out is the fact that Hot Tamales is the last place Mom had a good time. The night she died, your mother and mine were here celebrating their birthdays before it all went down,” Chrystal explained.

  “Way to be a buzzkill, Chrys.” Holly stuck out her tongue and laughed to lighten the mood. “This first round is on me, and you, cousin, are getting a double for your special day.” Before anyone could say anything else, she got up and headed toward the bar, praying that when she got back they’d be talking about something else, like the stripper shaking his stuff in front of them and not the serious shit. Tonight was definitely not a night to get all mellow and start crying over her beer about her mother issues, damn it. She shivered and tried to make herself think of something else, anything else.

  Let the good times roll.

  ***

  Okay, she was drunk. The good kind of drunk. Feeling good and having a really good time. The girls had danced, laughed, enjoyed the view above them on stage, and even got a couple lap dances for the birthday girl. These men were F-I-N-E with a capital F. Big muscles and tight little asses shaking it. Bona fide eye-candy hotness. Good Lord, is it getting warm in here? She fanned herself for a minute and laughed at the expression on her girls’ faces. Practically drooling, they all had their eyes on the prize, aka the naked, ripped dude front and center. Holly shook her head to clear it a little and took another sip of her beer.

  Then it came, the big surprise.

  The long-time tradition at Hot Tamales for any bachelorette or birthday girl in attendance was to get a little something special from the guys, and they’d been waiting for it. When Holly went to the bar for their first round of drinks, Chrystal had met with the manager to let her know what to expect and in turn she told all of the girls, with the exception of Tamara. That was going to be a huge surprise. Now they were on round four of drinks from Angel and the time had come.

  “Geeeetttt ready all, because we have somethin’ special planned for a couple extra-special ladies up in here,” the DJ announced. “Guys, you ready?” He looked around the room and nodded to the background beat. “Then go on and get your sexy thangs.”

  The room erupted in cheers and whistles as men dressed in uniformed costumes collected everyone they needed, her cousin included. Chrystal had her fingers between her lips to let loose another ear-piercing whistle, and the rest of them laughed at Tamara’s eager face.

  A biker, an officer, an Indian, a cowboy, and a construction worker surrounded the women on stage and began to dance to “YMCA.” Women had their hands in the air doing the letters and shaking their booties, whether in their seats or on the dance floor. The men did pelvic thrusts to the first buh, buh, buh, buh beat and turned around to give the audience a view as well. They marched, shook their asses, kicked out one, two, three, and then the unthinkable happened, much to Holly’s surprise—and humiliation.

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, and it was just her luck that the construction worker, of all people, had decided to stand right in front of her. His ass was toward some other chick on stage, so he faced Holly. Her eyes widened as she saw what was about to happen, and she tried to get out of the way but failed. On the third kick out in his dance routine, his steel-toed boot flew right off his foot into the air and headed straight for her. Her reflexes must have been way off because it hit her smack-dab in the middle of her forehead, and she lost her balance on her stool. One minute she was enjoying herself, and the next her tush was on the floor and her head hurt like a bitch.

  “Shit, Hol, are you okay?” Chrystal knelt in front of her while everyone else in the whole damn bar stared.

  “No!” Fuck me. “What the hell, man?” Holly growled. Shock turned into embarrassment, and then it turned into anger while her girls helped her up.

  Party over!

  “Hey, sorry about that.” The stripper approached with Tamara and tried to be all cute, but Holly wasn’t buying it.

  “You should be.” She scowled and rubbed her forehead with a wince.

  “Hey, um I think it’s about time we call it a night.” Tamara looked at her with pity and gave the dude a sympathetic look before she went to gather her things as Holly said, “Yeah.”

  “Can I have my boot?” The stripper smiled coyly and held out a hand as his buddies rubbed her shoulder on their way past and another came by to give her some ice in a bag for her head.

  “Nope.” She gripped it tighter. “There is a lesson to be learned here. I need to learn never to sit in perverts’ row again, and you, my man, need to learn to tie your damn laces.” She turned without another word, grabbed her purse, and left with as much dignity as she could muster. Thank God she was drunk, because come morning she was going to be sore and would probably go back to feeling humiliated as soon as she thought about it. The goose egg was already starting, and she groaned the moment the ice touched her head.

  The boot—well, that ended up in the dumpster behind the bar.

  Good riddance.

  ***

  Someone was banging at the door and it woke her up.

  What the…? She cautiously looked through the peephole in the door before opening it to a familiar face.

  “Hey, baby.”

  “Shhh, Zander.” Holly pulled him inside and looked around the building’s hallway before she went back in the apartment. “What are you doing here?”

  “I thought I was invited.” He smirked and pulled her flush against him. “I missed you, and I decided I didn’t want to wait until morning.”

  Woah! She resisted taking a step back. He reeked of alcohol. “Are you drunk?” She chuckled. He was a cute drunk on the rare occasion he got that way. Very affectionate, easygoing, and talkative.

  “Maybe a little bit.” He lifted his hand, and his thumb and index finger parted to indicate just how little. “How about you, did you have a good time?”

  “Yes and no.” Before she could tell him any more about her interesting girls’ night and its abrupt ending, he leaned forward to give her a quick kiss, and she winced when he rested his forehead against hers.

  “What the hell?” Zander stepped back and flicked the light switch on the wall to get a better look at what was hurting her.

  “Funny thing—” Her heart melted a little at the look of pure concern on his handsome face. “Okay, maybe not.” She pulled him with her to the couch and sat beside him. “We went to Hot Tamales tonight, and we had a pretty good time for the most part. A couple hours in, Tamara got brought to the stage for her birthday with a few other girls. They reserved one side of perverts’ row for the night. We were all having a good
time, and this idiot dancer dressed as a construction worker decided not to tie his boots properly, and, well, long story short, I was the lucky girl who got up close and personal with his steel-toe boot. Right to the forehead. I lost balance, fell off my seat, and got this nice parting gift because of it.” Holly pointed to her swollen bruise and sighed. “It was party over after that, and we all came home a few hours earlier than expected.”

  “What an asshole,” he growled, looking really angry. “Are you okay? Please tell me you put ice on it? And I hope you didn’t go to bed right away. It looks like I’ve woken you—”

  “Zander,” she said and let him gently touch her sore head as he rambled. “Honey, listen.” His lips tenderly kissed her boo-boo before he finally looked ready to hear her out. “I’m okay, honestly. They gave me ice before we left, and Chrystal stayed with me for a bit afterward. It looks much worse than it is, I’m sure.” She took his hands in her own and gave them a squeeze. “Besides, you’re here now, and my night just got a whole lot brighter. So let’s not talk anymore and concentrate on you loving me.”

  “I think I can handle that.” He smiled and then exhaled long and loud. “I just can’t stand the thought of you being hurt.”

  “But I’m okay.”

  He put his finger to her lips to keep her from going on and nodded. “You’ve established that, and I’m going to believe you because you asked me to. So I’m going to love you right now, because I do. It’s been too long, and if I don’t touch you—” His thumb grazed her bottom lip, and he groaned while closing the distance between them once more.

  His mouth took hers, hungry, needy, and rough. His tongue sought immediate entry to touch and taste, and she moaned. Their kiss turned into a mixture of tongue and teeth. She climbed on top of him and wrapped her arms around his neck to get closer. She sucked and nipped his lips and ground her hips against his erection. His mouth left hers and moved to nibble on her earlobe and trail kisses along her neck. Zander grabbed her ass, and she wrapped her legs tight around his middle while he stood and took her mouth again.

  She was breathless and panting when she landed on the bed and watched as he quickly rid himself of his clothing while she did the same with her own. He crawled back to her and finished where they left off, taking his time. He loved her from top to bottom, and she reciprocated until they fell asleep hours later, boneless and sated.

  Spooned against him, his front to her back and her headache forgotten, she slept dreamlessly, content and cherished in the arms of the man she’d given her heart to.

  ***

  “Holly?”

  Her body gently shook, and she squinted in discomfort as the sun shone in her eyes from the open blinds.

  “Holly, wake up.”

  “I don’t want to,” she whined and rolled over to see Zander fully dressed with a mug in his hand. “I think you wore me out. In the best way possible, of course.” She smiled, pulled the sheet up to keep covered, and sat up when he handed her the cup of hot chocolate.

  “I gotta go, babe, but I didn’t want to go anywhere without another one of these first.” He leaned in and planted another kiss on her lips. Her tongue met his, and she reached back blindly to put the mug on her nightstand. The sheet dropped, and she didn’t think about her nakedness until Zander copped a feel and pulled back for another glance. “Man, I love these.” He squeezed her boobs. “Just perfect for my big hands.” He grunted, and a look of disappointment crossed his features when he stepped back. “Already called a cab. I should get going before you tempt me to go another round.”

  “Stay,” Holly whispered and tried pulling him back to her. It didn’t work.

  “No can do.” He folded his arms across his chest. “I promised Sebastien I’d help him out. They got some new furniture that needs assembling, and it’ll go faster with the two of us working at it. “I’ll call you later?”

  “So is that all this was?” Holly pointed between them, feeling frustrated. “I don’t see you for over a week because of our schedules, and then it’s just ‘wham bam, thank you, ma’am, I’ll call you’?” She narrowed her eyes and waited for him to answer.

  “No.” He chuckled and that made her madder. “I came here last night because I missed you, but I gotta go right now, and later maybe we’ll make plans.” He shrugged.

  “I thought we made plans to spend the day together. You know, make up for lost time.” She got up from the bed and looked around furiously for her clothes. “This sucks, Zander. I feel like I’m becoming a booty call. Am I your girlfriend or someone you see just to get off?” she huffed.

  His expression was incredulous. “If I wanted to fuck, believe me, I could. I know several who’d be willing. You’re much more, you know that.”

  “Oh really!” Holly was taken aback for a moment. “I used to know. Now I’m not so sure.”

  “Whatever.” He shook his head. “We’ll finish this later. It should only take a couple hours.”

  “So will you be coming back, then?”

  “Not sure I want to right now. I’ll call you.” Zander walked out of the bedroom toward the door to put on his shoes.

  “Don’t bother. Why don’t you call those several that are willing instead?” She marched forward and held the door open. “All I wanted was a bit of your precious time. I get that you have family to help out, but did it have to be today? We don’t get much time together anymore. At the very least, let me come with you. Any time is better than none at all.”

  “Yeah, it did, and I didn’t think you’d want to tag along. It’ll be boring as hell.” He shook his head as if in disbelief again. “Not really sure I wanna go anywhere with that attitude following.”

  “Excuse me.” Holly stomped her foot. “I can’t believe this.”

  “We’ll talk later,” he said and walked out of her apartment without a backward glance.

  After slamming the door, she slid down it and wondered what the hell she’d just done. There was trouble in paradise, and she hated it. Yeah, it was a piss off that he left when you’d made plans, and yeah, you missed him like crazy, but that was no excuse to be a bitch, was it?

  Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, what’s done, was done, and now she’d just have to wait it out.

  ***

  Ring, ring…

  “Zander?” She hoped it was him calling when she picked up the phone.

  “No, it’s Dad.”

  “What do you want, Christian?” Holly sighed and gripped the phone tighter.

  “Well, hello it’s good to hear from you too,” Christian said sarcastically. “Is that any way to greet your father?”

  Not father, sperm donor! “Yeah, well, it gets to the point, doesn’t it?”

  He didn’t dignify that with a proper response. “So I guess you’re still seeing that guy, huh?”

  “I am. What’s with all the questions?” She was getting impatient. Her deadbeat of a dad never changed. He didn’t care about anyone but himself, and she hated when he pretended to. He was a lost cause, and she’d come to terms with that a while ago.

  “You’re doing the same. I give a question and you answer with one. I don’t really care if you’re seeing this guy or not. I will, however, let you know that he better be keeping his pecker in his pants, or I’ll make sure he never uses it again, capisce?”

  “Like you’d ever find out, so you can take those empty threats and—”

  “Look who’s talking empty threats now,” he snapped. “Just remember who you’re talking to here.”

  “Ugh.” Holly rolled her eyes. “It’s far too late to pretend you’re a parent, so why don’t we cut the crap? I repeat, what do you want, Christian?”

  “Like it or not, you’re still my daughter.” He actually chuckled, and that fuelled her frustration further. She bit her tongue and waited for him to get to the point.

  “Widow’s pension,” he growled.

  What the hell? “Huh?”

  “My fucking pension got cut, and apparently it’s because o
f you. I need that money back, Hol.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “They found out you’ve been working and don’t live with me anymore. Managed to somehow backtrack how long you’ve been living in that shithole you’re in, and now they’ve cut me off until I can pay back what’s owed.”

  She snorted. “So you’re telling me that these last couple of years you’ve still had me added to your check when I wasn’t even living with you? You’re incredible, and not in a good way. What did you expect to happen?”

  “More questions.” His voice lowered in anger, and she knew he was about to become enraged. “I didn’t expect you to fuck me over.”

  “I didn’t do anything! I can’t believe this.”

  “You did.”

  “How, by living my life?” He could be so exhausting and childlike. If you considered a middle-age, six-foot-two man who had tantrums and anger issues to be a child. Which he totally was, only a hundred times more messed up. “What’s the matter, Christian? The drugs ran out and now you need to hassle me to try and get your fix?”

  “You better be careful, little girl, ’cause when I get there, I’m going to teach you a good lesson on how to watch your mouth. Nobody talks to me that way.” He ended that on a shout.

  She was right on the money. He always got this way when the money ran out, and he was desperate. “It was a simple question, and I’m not the one that started this. You called me, remember?”

  “I’m sick of your fucking questions. Now I’m coming to collect and you’d better be there.”

  Uh—not good. “You’ll be wasting your time. I’ve got plans.”

  “Not anymore. You owe me, Hol.”

  “You’re insane. I don’t owe you anything, and it’s not my problem you think I do.” She chewed her bottom lip and her heart beat faster.