Chapter 17: Assumptions

Isadora saw the cake pass by on its way to the VIP area.  “Cake is here, you ready to sing to me nightingale?” She asked.  Chris made eye contact with her over her shoulder, was she serious?  She was really going to make him sing to her in this state of need.  He nodded to her though; she was after all the boss of him tonight.  She took him by the hand a led him back to her friends.  Chris stayed close to her to avoid other women becoming aware of his issue. 

He quickly slid into the booth and pulled her onto his lap, trying to make her more aware of his condition so that she might move this process along a little bit.  He lovingly kissed her on the shoulder as her friends prepared the cake.  Her eyes snapped shut; he was making it very hard for her to behave.  It wasn’t that he didn’t want it any more but he needed it.  He could see Jade watching him again, the smile on her face let him know that she somehow knew that he was ready to make his move.  If he left the table without her to take care of it, Jade would surely follow him.

The cake was place in front of them and the candles were lit, Isadora just looked at Chris, waiting for him to start.  But before he could Jade burst in with the other guys in tow.

“I saw the cake and thought you might like it if all the guys sang to you tonight.”  Jade offered.  The guys took their places around the table and put on their best smiles.  Chris looked at them with grateful eyes, with all of them singing Isadora wouldn’t notice if his voice was a little off. 

They sang beautifully but an avid fan would have realized that their voices sounded strained and a little tired. But she wasn’t complaining it was after all a wonderful gesture and it pleased her to see them all up close and personal.  When they were done she applauded them and then blew her candles out.

Isadora studied the guys as they each wished her a happy birthday and gave her hugs.  Even she had to admit that they were in pretty bad shape, Lexi hadn’t been lying about that.  But the concern didn’t show on her face and she was beaming with excitement over meeting the guys.  Mainly smiling at herself, she so could have been an actress.  Jade smiled as well before leaving with the others.  They didn’t want to leave Chris but they had to, they were worried about him.  Jade was putting a lot of pressure on him tonight.

“What did you wish for?” Chris asked letting his breath brush against her neck.  He was trying anything he could think of to get her to move this along a little faster. 

“If I tell you it won’t come true.” Isadora explained.  Maybe he could make it come true or so he hoped.   He was becoming uncomfortable as he shift underneath her.  He needed some relief soon.  He could almost see the dollar signs in Jades eyes when she was in there.  Chris looked at the watch that Miss Gaillard made him wear; there was only 45 minutes until his next performance.  There was no way that he could take the stage like this and he had no reason to hope that it might just go away on its own.

The fear hit him hard, he wasn’t sure that he could make it to the bathroom alone without Jade seeing him, surely she would hurt him if he even tried it, especially if she had caused it.  Isadora noticed Chris’s change in behavior as he shifted nervously under her.  She lifted his chin and looked him in the eyes.

“Is everything alright sweet heart?” She asked.  Chris thought for a minute, biting down slightly on his bottom lip.  He wasn’t sure how to tell her, so the truth seemed to be the most logical.  Surely she couldn’t get mad at him for getting turned on, seemingly, by her.  He pulled her closer to him so that no one would over hear and carefully explained what was wrong.  He just said that he was afraid to go by himself, but he didn’t tell her what he was really afraid of.  Isadora knew though, there was so much fear in his eyes as he pulled away from her.  He was begging her with those eyes of his not to say no, not to make him go alone.

Isadora cursed Lexi in her head, she had not told her this part and how hard it would be to say no to Chris.  For someone that didn’t want to do anything he was sure acting like he did.  She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips, pulling away before he could deepen the kiss.  It was just her way of letting him know that she cared.  There was something different about her and Chris couldn’t put his finger on it.  She could do whatever she wanted to him and he couldn’t say no, but she wasn’t.  She was being nice to him.

She finally nodded and slid toward the end of the booth.  Chris stood up and took her by the hand, and she let him lead her away, shouting to the others that she would be right back.  After all they hadn’t eaten any cake yet.  Isadora had no clue where they were going or what she had gotten herself in to.  She still didn’t want to have sex with Chris under these conditions and was working on a backup plan of her own as they darted through the crowd. 

Chris stopped at the employee bathroom and glanced around before pulling her inside.  He locked the door while Isadora just looked around.  He pressed his hand against the door and lingered there for a minute, trying to compose himself.  He was nervous about what came next; he had seen many guys use this room before for this very reason but to be there myself was completely different.

He spun around careful not to make eye contact with her, before capturing her lips with his.  They were so soft to him with just a hint of cherry Chap Stick on them.  Chris slowly pushed her back until she bumped into the counter that was in there.  In a swift motion he lifted her up onto it.  God, he was a great kisser, Isadora’s head was spinning but she tried to remain objective. 

Chris reached into his back pocket and pulled out the condom that Jade had slipped him earlier in the night.  At least his master promoted safe sex.  He just held it out to Isadora as if it was her choice as to whether they continued or not.

Isadora just slipped her hand over his and shook her head no.  Chris was a little confused and it showed.  Was she turning him down or did she just not want to use the condom.  His breathing stopped for a minute as he thought back to what Lexi had said about the ‘Stud’ plan, was that what Isadora was really after, his baby?

“Are you okay?” Isadora asked.  Chris just nodded, telling her that he was.  “Are you sure?  You look like you are about to pass out or throw up.”

“I… I just need a minute.  I don’t really know what I am doing.  This has never happened to me before, not like this any way.” Chris explained.

“No one has turned you down for sex before?” Isadora questioned. 

“You’re turning me down?”  Chris asked. “Then why are you here?”

“Because it’s my birthday.” Isadora beamed, not really following the conversation.  In her defense it was a little distracting to be so close to someone so hot that also happens to have a hard on.

“No, why are you here.” Chris said pointing to the floor.  “Why did you come in here with me if we aren’t doing it?  I am going to get in so much trouble for this; I can’t lie to Jade, she can tell if I am lying on her little thingy.” Chris explained.  He put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.

“Of course you can.  If you tell her that we did it, she will be so happy she won’t even check to see if you are lying.” Isadora explained.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want him, just not like this.  Chris hung his head in shame, he hadn’t really wanted to do it either but he felt like he had failed at his job.  He thought about his options, he knew that he couldn’t force her to do anything that she didn’t want to.  If she cried rape it was back to prison and he just didn’t think he could go through that again.

She lifted his chin again and smiled at him.  “I do want you, you can’t even imagine how bad I want you, but this feels wrong.” She explained. 

“But it’s your birthday and I just want to make you happy.” Chris whined.  He wasn’t sure any more what she wanted from him; she was all over the place.  This was something that somebody probably should have warned him about.  Women were confusing creatures.

“Look at me, I am happy.” She beamed.  “I don’t want you to get into any trouble tonight on my behalf, which is why I came with you in here.  Now I know you have something that you need to take care of so I’ll just cover my eyes or something and you can do whatever you need to.” Isadora offered.  It was almost as if she had read his mind, his issue wasn’t just going to go away.  He was pretty sure that Jade wouldn’t allow that to happen.

“But Miss Gaillard will charge you for sex, and it’s expensive.  I am not really allowed to give discounts or anything.” Chris replied.  He hated the feeling he was having; Isadora was a nice girl and didn’t deserve to get ripped off. 

“That is fine; you are worth so much more to me.” She sighed, running her hand over his cheek.  He looked at her and smiled.  He kissed her hand and maintained eye contact with her. 

“Are you sure this is what you want?” He asked.  Isadora bit her lip and thought, she really wanted him more than he knew but it had to be right and this wasn’t it.  She nodded yes, that she was sure but took the condom out of his hand.  Chris just looked at her puzzled.

“Well, we have to make it look like we did something, Jade may not care but other people might question it.” She explained as she opened it.  Chris just nodded and watched her unroll it and set it down on the counter.  Then she playfully messed up his hair and pulled his t shirt off.  In reality that part wasn’t needed she just wanted to see him without his shirt on, if she was paying for this at least she should get a show.  She wadded it up and tossed it on the floor.

Her eyes scanned him and he waited to see if she was going to change her mind about the offer of sex.  He was in fairly good shape but you could kind of see his ribs.  He lacked some definition but that was probably from poor nutrition.  Mixed with his tattoos were a few odd scars but she didn’t ask him about it.  Without saying a word she playfully covered her eyes and giggled at him.

Chris shook his head, she was a trip.  He turned and walked across the tiny room keeping his back to her.  He glanced over his shoulder a few times before placing one hand on the wall and using the other to unzip his jeans.  He let out a low moan as he freed himself.  It had been so long since he had felt anything down there, and no he wasn’t counting the day Jade had them tested he had felt numb and sick threw that whole terrible ordeal.  The moans sent a shivers down Isadora’s spine.  It took every ounce of strength she had to remain where she was.

“Would it help if I made sexy noises too?” Isadora teased.  Chris just laughed and continued to pleasure himself.  He had forgotten how good it could feel even if it was his own hand doing all the work.  He let another moan escape his lips as his eyes slowly shut.  This time Isadora moaned too, she was convinced that he was trying to kill her.  Then she playfully moaned his name.  Chris knew that he wouldn’t last very long if she kept that up, his name sounded great the way it rolled off her tongue. 

“Do that again, Please.” Chris begged. 

“If it helps you can also picture me naked.” Isa added.  Chris blushed a little; he would have been lying if he told her that he hadn’t already done that, from what he could tell she had an incredible body.  Her personality from what he could tell so far was also pretty appealing.  He let his hand glide up and down a few more times, he wanted to last longer but at the same time there was a sense or urgency to wrap this up.  The girl in the room with him was making it hard to relax.  She smiled and moaned again, which sent Chris over the edge. 

“Oh god!” He grunted as he released into his palm.  He stood there for a minute to gather his thoughts before grabbing some tissue and cleaning himself up.

Isadora was still sitting on the counter, swinging her feet and looking at the floor, when Chris approached her, quickly washing his hand before stealing a kiss from her.  “Thank you.” He breathed softly.  The sincerity in his voice made her melt a little.

“You’re welcome, that wasn’t awkward at all.” She teased.  He laughed then lifted her up off the counter, placing her back onto her feet.  She tossed the condom into the trash can and picked up his shirt for him.  “It’s a shame though, you look better without it.” She joked as she handed it to him.  He blushed again.

“Are are in charge of me tonight, if you don’t want me to wear a shirt then I don’t have to.”  Chris stated.  He was pretty sure Jade would have let Isadora get away with anything. “Are you sure, this is what you wanted?” He added.   It wasn’t too late, he was sure he could get himself going again, she was after all pretty attractive.  Isadora gave him a quick peck on the cheek and nodded.  She was sure. 

“You deserve better than this.  You should be with someone that cares about you and will take proper care of you.” She explained.  Chris just nodded; he wasn’t sure how to respond to that.  It sounded good in theory but in reality it would probably never happen.

Chris slipped his shirt back on and then opened the door for her.  They had no more than cleared the door frame when they both looked eye with Lexi.  She looked a little shocked and concerned but you could tell that she was trying to hide it as best as she could.  Without a word she just hung her head and walked away.  Suddenly they all three felt bad, there was no way to tell Lexi the truth without someone else over hearing in the busy hall way.  So for now they just had to let it go and Lexi would have to assume the worse.

JC of course had to be the first person that Lexi came to.  Her eyes were a little watery.  JC could see Chris and Isadora heading back out toward the club and there was no other explanation for why Chris would have taken Isadora back there.  Once they were out of sight JC gently hugged Lexi and waited for her to pull away. 

“You do know that this is not your fault right?  You can’t protect us from everything.” He asked.

“I know, but I want to.” Lexi explained.  She wasn’t ready to admit that it actually was her fault; she had tossed Chris under the bus pretty much to save them all.  Some day she would come clean to them and she hoped that Chris would forgive her. 

“I’ll talk to Chris later, I am sure he will be fine.  He didn’t appear to be upset, at least not any more than normal.” JC offered and then went back to getting ready. 

Chris quickly ate his piece of cake; he wanted to get back to the stage before Lexi came to get him.  He didn’t want her to confront his date about what may or may not have happened in the bathroom.  Isadora had let Lexi assume the worst of her when in reality she hadn’t done anything wrong. 

            He was debating on whether or not to tell Lexi the truth, Isadora had asked him not to tell anyone, but Lexi wasn’t just any one.    He smiled at Isadora but on the inside he still felt guilty.  Chris glanced at his watch and then excused himself.  He would return one more time before their final performance of the night. 

            Chris had just cleared the floor when Lexi wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.  “Are you okay?” Lexi asked. 

“I am fine.  It didn’t go exactly the way I had planned but at least Miss Gaillard will be happy.” Chris answered.

            “I didn’t think that she would do it.” Lexi explained. 

“No you were right about her, she is a nice person.  But put yourself in her shoes.  She had a chance to be with her dream guy, would you have been able to say no?  Can we talk about this later though?” Chris asked.  He felt bad for misleading her but it was a valid question.  There wasn’t really time to talk about it now and too many people around for him to tell her the truth so they had to leave it at that.

They both looked at JC as she thought, he hadn’t been her dream guy growing up the way Chris had been for Isadora, but now that she knew him, he was all that she could think about.  She thought about a few times when they had been making out in the hall.  She had wanted more but knew that JC couldn’t give her more.  But would she ever consider paying for it, even if she could afford it? 

“I suppose you are right.” She sighed.  Chris saw her looking at JC; it was no secret that Lexi had a thing for him.  It made Chris sad though because he knew JC had feelings for her as well but the two of them could never be together as a real couple.