Dances with Monsters

by D. C. Ruins

  Drew sighed. What, indeed? "I don't want to do this," she admitted quietly. "I don't want to sit in a courtroom with him, in the same room as him, where he can look at me and think about me and remember what he did to me." She bit her lip. "But then I think about those women, the ones who didn't get up and walk away, and I feel like I have to do it for them, and their families and their friends." She paused again, staring at a spot on his desk. "I would have wanted the same thing done for me."

  Heath nodded slowly. "I think you're brave enough to handle that," he said.

  Drew scoffed. "You joking?" she demanded. "Where have you been the last month?"

  Heath shrugged. "I saw you get attacked in this very same gym, and then come back shortly after that anyway," he said. "I've seen you battle through your anxiety issues, face down a crowd of drunken assholes and walk through them even though you were scared. I've seen you take your own well-being into your own hands, with coming to the gym, taking up boxing. You live by yourself, you take care of yourself, and you're still working toward your dreams." Heath lifted his eyebrows at her. "That takes balls, in my opinion. You might be struggling emotionally, but you've picked yourself back up. Try to think of this trial as one last 'fuck you, you didn't break me'."

  "But maybe he did," Drew replied.

  Heath shook his head. "No way," he said firmly. "I see you," he added. "I don't know you well, but I know balls when I see them."

  The statement was so funny, sounded so wrong to both their ears, that they burst out laughing. As Drew quieted down, she weighed his words and flushed under his praise.

  "We'll see," she said. "I've still got a little while to decide." Heath nodded. Drew folded her lips inward, studying him, casting about for a new subject. "I don't think I told you," she began, almost shyly. "But, I'm quitting Cliff's. This is my last weekend working there."

  Heath's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, really?" he asked. "I thought you need all thirty million of your jobs."

  Drew chuckled. "I'm getting closer to my goal," she said proudly. "And to be honest, three jobs are just too much. I like my 'me' time and it feels like I never get any. And I hate working nights, and weekend nights at that, and downtown. It has to go."

  "Well, good," he said. "If you're happy, I'm happy."

  She glanced at her watch. She had enough time to get home and squeeze in an hour nap before she had to start getting ready for her shift.

  "Well, I better be going," she said lightly.

  He rose with her. "Thanks for the food," he said. "You did not need to do that. I appreciate it."

  She smiled and lifted a shoulder. "Anytime," she replied. "Like I said, I feel like I sort of owed you."

  He held up a hand, waving her off. "Stop with that shit," he said, but gave her a half-smile to take the sting out of his words. "You don't owe me anything." He opened his office door and walked with her through the gym. Several women instantly had disappointed and jealous looks on their faces at the sight of them together, Drew noted.

  "Looks like your fan club isn't happy to see you with me," she commented as they passed through the gym.

  Heath shrugged, staring straight ahead. "Not worried about them," he replied. He pushed open the front door and a cool, misty blast of air hit them. "You taking the bus home?" he asked.

  "Yeah," she replied. "I need to get in a nap before work. I'm exhausted."

  "Must have been all that snoring last night," Heath teased gently, and Drew whirled to look at him.

  "Excuse me?" she demanded. "I don't snore."

  "Right, of course," Heath said. "My mistake. Of course you don't. That must have been Rocky."

  "Rocky does snore," Drew insisted. "So, yeah. It probably was."

  Heath smirked and nodded. "Sure. Blame the cat."

  Drew sputtered and shoved his shoulder. "I do not snore!" she said. She smiled. "Jerk."

  He smiled back, a rare, real smile, and it made Drew bold enough to step forward and wrap her arms around his torso. It was still new, still felt somewhat alien, but at the same time, it was so nice and it was getting easier. Plus, he was warm, and solid, and smelled amazingly. She felt his arms slip around her and reveled in the way he slowly gathered her into himself, his arms tightening around her in such a way that made her feel safe and secure.

  "Be safe," he said in her ear. "Have a good night."

  "You, too," she breathed, pressing her cheek lightly to his. She stepped away as her bus pulled up and started to climb the steps when the doors hissed open.

  "Hey," he called, and she turned.

  "Yes?" she called back, curious.

  "Don't forget to text me what I need to know about Sunday," he replied, referencing the family dinner. Drew groaned aloud and slapped a hand to her forehead. "Yeah, you're not getting rid of me that easy," Heath added, smirking at her. She waved him off and took her seat. She glanced at him out of the window as the bus pulled off. He remained on the sidewalk for a moment, then turned slowly and headed back inside the gym.

  Drew turned around in her seat to face forward, staring out the other window, allowing a real smile of pleasure to cross her face as she stared off into the distance.

  Chapter Thirteen

  "You ready for your last night?" Bunz teased the next morning. "Cliff's was a cushy job, yo. You sure you want to give all that lavishness up?"

  Drew laughed in disbelief. "Uh, if by 'lavishness' you mean dressing like a harlot with my tits on front street to be ogled over by drunk stock brokers and men in the heat of their mid-life crises, then yes. I am definitely very ready to give all that up!"

  She swiped at the counter and couldn't help grinning. Even though losing an entire source of income was scary, since she'd had it for so long, Drew was ready to bid it good-bye. She was bound by blood to the café and teaching dance was her passion, so Cliff's was the only expendable option. Fortunately, it happened to be the one she really disliked. She liked her co-workers, and even Cliff could be all right on occasion, but working nights every weekend in skimpy clothing was not her style.

  "We should make a night of it," Bunz said. "I'll bring Anthony down. You should call your crazy sisters. They might be married and moms and everything but as I recall, they know how to have a good time."

  "Have a good time?" Drew repeated. "Nik and Toni are fucking animals when they get a night away from the kids."

  Bunz laughed. "That's why I love them so much. Let's see. Who else?" She barely paused for a nanosecond when false inspiration struck and she lifted a finger. "Ah!" she exclaimed. "That's right, it just came to me. You should call Heath."

  "Yeah," Drew said sarcastically, pulling out large bags of full espresso beans to grind for the day. "I'll do that. Because he would love nothing more than to hang out with a bunch of crazy chicks."

  "Well, tell him to bring his friends!" Bunz said cheerfully. "Like he did last time."

  "B, he's training right now," Drew insisted. "He's got to rest and take care of his body, and stuff."

  "He'll be fine for a night," Bunz said dismissively. She pointed a finger at Drew. "Call him, Drusilla. I'm not playing." She headed back into the kitchen to resume working on her newest batch of cupcakes.

  "For the last time, that's not my name!" Drew bellowed after her.

  "Yeah, yeah," Bunz called back, sounding faintly bored. "I'm not really sure what that has to do with me, though, Drusilla. Now call the man."

  Drew muttered darkly under her breath and began to grind espresso beans into a fine blend. She pursed her lips as she considered Bunz's suggestion. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a night out that didn't involve working. She hadn't cut loose and blown off steam in an extremely long time. If she was being honest with herself, she hadn't really wanted to before; she'd always been content to spend her free nights at home watching movie marathons or reading and eating frozen yogurt with Rocky on her couch or in bed, if she was feeling especially indulgent.

  But now, the thought of drinking and dancing with Bunz and her
sisters and the girls from the bar made her smile a little. And the thought of Heath being there made her smile more. She knew he wasn't the party-hardy type by any means, but any time spent around him was time well spent in her book and she dimpled at the thought that maybe she could pull him out of his shell a little bit.

  The thought brought her up sharply and she actually stopped grinding the beans for a moment. She realized that Heath had done a lot to bring her out of her shell; it was one thing to be silly and loud with her family or Bunz but it was quite another to imagine having fun and being rambunctious and playful with anyone else, especially a guy. But she realized she'd changed a little over the past several weeks in a positive way, slowly but surely, and she knew that he had a lot to do with it.

  She heaved a sigh and looked toward the kitchen for several long moments. As if she could sense it, Bunz called out to her.

  "What da deal, doe?" she asked playfully and Drew grinned and shook her head.

  "Fine," Drew called back. "I'm on it, I'm on it. You bitch."

  "Trick," Bunz answered and Drew chuckled. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and sighed. Even though she was feeling much more comfortable with herself and with Heath, she still got "fluttery" when she thought about contacting him.

  "What are you doing tonight?" she typed out, eschewing any sort of polite morning salutation. After a few minutes, her phone buzzed with response.

  "Nothing special. What about you?"

  "Last night working at Cliff's. Thinking of having some people come down to celebrate it. If you're not too busy, you should come down."

  "Sure," she read, feeling a smile spread across her face. "Sounds good."

  ***

  Of all of Cliff's employees, Drew was the first one to tender her resignation during her tenure there. Before she started her shift, she shared some teary good-byes with the other cocktail waitresses, girls she'd come to know well and like a lot. When she'd first started, she hadn't been sure how well she'd get along with them, knowing how catty women could be sometimes, but they had quickly banded together against the often-untoward and unsavory clientele. Cliff himself could even be a little too forward at times although he was generally a nice guy.

  He had ordered a cake to celebrate Drew's transition, and she was not only touched but impressed that he'd managed to find a beautifully decorated tres leches cake, which was her favorite. The sweet, milk-soaked cake was covered in a light whipped cream frosting that had "Goodbye Drew!" scrawled in elegant script across the top in purple frosting, with pink and purple lotus blossoms made of a heavier frosting in the corners.

  "I want you to have fun tonight," Cliff had told her, clapping her on the shoulder and squeezing. "Work, play, make lots of tips. Drink and have fun! No stress tonight."

  "Thanks, Cliff," Drew had said, smiling at him. "I've really appreciated having this opportunity. Thanks for being such a great boss." She might have been stretching the truth with the last part, but she really did appreciate the cake and her send-off.

  She enjoyed some cake with the other girls a half-hour before things started picking up, then went to the mirror to touch up her lipgloss. For her last night, she'd decided on a sweetheart-cut black leather peplum tube top over black shorts and simple black suede ankle boots with a black wooden ice cream cone heel. She'd added a chunky gold necklace and a gold men's watch and had even gotten a fresh manicure earlier that afternoon. It was the first time she'd actually recalled feeling cheerful while working at Cliff's, and she had to laugh a little at the notion that it was because it was her last night.

  When she came out from the back, she saw Bunz and her sisters at the bar, grinning at her.

  "Barkeep!" Bunz called, waving her over.

  "Wench!" Nik shouted and Drew rolled her eyes, sliding behind the bar.

  "Yeah, yeah," she said, waving them off. "Let me guess - raspberry margarita, blended, sugar on the rim for Bunz, Cosmo for Nik because she can't let Sex and the City go, and Chardonnay for Toni." She lifted her brows at them and received another round of grins, and she knew she'd gotten them right.

  "But first," Nik said dramatically, lifting a hand, "a round of shots, including one for our fair bar wench. Patron, if you please."

  "Aw, man," Drew groaned. "No! Anything else! Whiskey? Vodka? Jäger?"

  "No," Nik said stubbornly. "Tequila!"

  Drew sighed heavily and poured out four shots of tequila and slid them around, then brought out a dish of freshly cut limes and a salt shaker. The girls all fixed up their hands with salt and lifted their shots into the air.

  "To Drew," Nik said, smiling at her baby sister. "For making leaps and bounds and living this much closer to her dream."

  "Hear, hear!" Toni exclaimed.

  "Word," Bunz added with a nod.

  Drew smiled and waved dismissively. "Down the hatch."

  Simultaneously, they licked the salt off their hands, downed their shots, and popped the limes in their mouths, each of their faces screwed up from the strength of the liquor.

  Drew shook her head quickly to focus, her tousled hair moving around her shoulders with the movement and set about to making all of their drinks.

  "So, where's your man, B?" she called over her shoulder.

  Bunz flicked her head toward a high-top table near the door. "Sitting off by his lonesome, nursing a beer." She smirked at Drew. "Waiting for your man to get here so he can have some fellow testosterone."

  "Well, if he's waiting on 'my man'," Drew shot back, making quotations with her fingers, "he's going to be waiting a long time since I don't have one." She set their drinks before them.

  "Here you go with that shit again," Bunz said, rolling her eyes.

  "Oh, you mean Heath?" Nik teased, nudging Bunz with her elbow. "Yeah. The whole family is very anxious to meet him tomorrow."

  "Yeah, tonight doesn't count," Toni chimed in. "I'll be nice when he gets here but the gloves come off tomorrow."

  "Oh, come on, Toni," Drew whined. "You guys seem to forget I'm not seventeen anymore!"

  "You will always be the baby," Nik said evenly. "And as your big sisters, we are obligated to torture and torment every guy that's unfortunate enough to fall for you."

  "Oh, he's fallen, all right," Bunz said firmly.

  "What?" Toni demanded. "What's that mean? Are they sleeping together?" She looked at Drew. "Are you sleeping together?"

  "What?" Nik chimed in. She glared at Drew. "When did that happen?"

  "No!" Drew insisted, patting the air. "You guys, chill! We're not sleeping together, for God's sake. We've never even kissed."

  "Why not?" Bunz exclaimed. "Have you seen those lips? I don't even really like white boys like that, but his lips are off the chain. I'd take some of that."

  "B!" Drew exclaimed, laughing at her friend's outrageousness.

  "I have to agree with that," Nik added. "He does have amazing lips."

  "Oh, I'm sure Vince would be so pleased to hear that," Drew said sarcastically, then realized that her brother-in-law just might, being that he was obsessed with MMA and was a big fan of Heath's.

  "He doesn't like the Red Sox, does he?" Toni asked suspiciously. "You know Daddy will not like that."

  "I don't know," Drew asked, mystified. "What does that matter?"

  "What does that matter?" Nik repeated, amazed. "Are you kidding me?"

  "Did you not grow up in the Carnevale household?" Toni added.

  Drew waved her hand impatiently. "I know Dad loves the Yankees," she said, "but I just don't think he would let that sway his opinion of some guy—”

  "Do you remember David Morelli?" Nik interrupted.

  Drew vaguely recalled her oldest sister's high school boyfriend. "I guess," she replied with a shrug. "What the hell does that—”

  "We broke up right before prom," Nik said, "because Daddy found out he was a Sox fan. Okay? He's very serious about it."

  "Well, I'll be sure to coach him on the acceptable sports teams in the family," Drew retorted.r />
  "Do that," Nik said evenly, sipping her Cosmo with gusto.

  "Meanwhile, I believe it's time for another round of shots!" Bunz exclaimed, looking at Drew pointedly. She groaned as her sisters took up the chorus and reluctantly retrieved the bottle of tequila from the shelf and four fresh shot glasses.

  "Make it five," Toni called. "You're taking two! One right after the other."

  "What are you guys doing to me!" Drew exclaimed, pouring out a fifth shot. She kept two and slid the remaining three toward her sisters and Bunz.

  "Wait, us first," Nik said and she, Toni and Bunz quickly downed their tequila. She turned her big brown eyes on her baby sister and smiled mischievously. "All right, Baby Doll. It's all you!"

  Drew sighed and quickly downed the two shots quickly, eschewing salt and limes as she gulped down the fiery liquor. She swallowed hard and tried to keep a straight face.

  "Hey, Carnevale!" she heard a voice call and glanced over. She felt a slow smile spread over her face as she saw Rex leaning over the bar, grinning at her. Behind him, she saw Jameson, Connor, and Heath. His full lips slowly pulled into a half smile when they locked eyes.

  "What is this?" Rex exclaimed. "Drinking on the job?"

  "Blame these heathens," Drew said, gesturing toward her sisters and Bunz. "And my boss. They've insisted on sending me out of here with a bang!"

  "I don't believe we've met," Rex said smoothly, turning to the other girls. "Rex. Heath's second-in-command."

  "Nice to meet you," Toni replied. "I'm the older sister."

  "I'm the oldest sister," Nik added, giving Rex's hand a delicate shake.

  "And I'm the best friend," Bunz said, taking Rex's proffered hand next.

  "Mm," Rex said, smiling at them indulgently. "Such beautiful ladies. Birds of a feather."

  "Where's the man of the hour?" Toni demanded, trying to peer around Rex.

  Hearing his cue, Heath made his way past his brother and Jameson to offer Toni his hand. "Hi, I'm Heath." He caught Bunz's eye and gave her a wave, which she returned with a smile.

  "Yeah, yeah, I'm aware of that," Toni replied, her eyes moving over him appraisingly. "Nice to meet you, finally."