When Saturday came around and the guys got to work for the last time at the club, Lexi was so stressed for them. Miss Gaillard had them running all over the place. On the plus side they were so focused on getting through the night that they didn’t seem to even care about what tomorrow would bring.
Of course that wasn’t stopping Lexi from thinking about it. She was sitting in the back hall taking a little break before things got really busy. She didn’t even have to look up to know who it was when someone took a seat beside her.
“Do you think that I made a mistake?” She asked.
“Everyone makes mistakes, though I am not sure exactly what you are talking about.” JC responded.
“When I told Chris it wouldn’t kill him to pretend to be whatever Isadora wanted.” Lexi explained. JC thought about it.
“I am afraid that I can’t answer that, no one can. I can’t speak for Isadora but I know that Chris isn’t the same person that he was before the war, it seems like everyone and everything has changed. The old Isadora fell in love with the old Chris, the fun carefree man that sang in a boy band. Will the current Isadora like the new guy? Will Chris go back to the way that he was if Isadora grants us a little more freedom? Who really knows?” JC paused to let it sink in. “I know you feel guilty and you may have started the fire, but it doesn’t mean that you can control the flame.”
“Is that the nice way of telling me that I am going to get burned?” Lexi teased. JC did have a point after all. Who is to say that Isadora is even the same person any more? The war seemed to affect everyone in some way. “Beauty and brains, you are a very dangerous man.” JC just smiled and got up; he let his hand graze hers as he walked away. He needed to get ready; it was going to be a long night.
As he moved out of sight he drew in a deep breath. He wasn’t sure which was harder, the performance that he put on every night for the fans or the one that he put on for Lexi. She couldn’t find out how sick he really was. She was already beating herself up over things that she couldn’t control. Lexi would only blame herself and it wasn’t her fault. He knew that she was trying her hardest to take care of them, yet his body still continued ached and was weak from prolonged abuse. What didn’t hurt seemed to be numb at this point.
JC had hope, if he could just get through tonight, then there was a chance Isadora would save him and since Lexi wasn’t going with, he would have time to heal without her guilt. He was sure that no one would tell her how bad of shape he was in but if she did somehow find out at least at that point it wouldn’t matter because he would hopefully be getting help. JC laughed a little, he never imagined that one day he would be praying for a stranger to save him. He had to put his faith in Isadora; there was nothing left to believe in.
Jade was watching them closely looking for any reason to punish them as if she just had to get it out of her system since they were leaving. There was no denying that the woman was cruel. With nothing left to give of course the guys gave her reasons throughout the night, but it didn’t seem to faze them, they just wanted to get through this. Her wicked ways were about to be a thing of the past.
Lexi huddled them up for their final performance, she prayed with them and told them to be as safe as they could, then sent them out onto the stage for the final time. They only had three songs to perform, they weren’t perfect but Lexi thought they did great all things considered. She knew that she wouldn’t have been able perform under these conditions. They deserved a metal or something.
It had hit him in the middle of the last song, JC become weak but willed himself though it. He was almost home free, if he screwed up now Jade would get one more chance to make him miserable. As they were walking off the stage JC suddenly collapsed onto the floor, his body just couldn’t take any more. He hadn’t wanted Lexi to see him like that but he had nothing left and could no longer hide it.
Lexi ran to him as Chris darted past her and to a nearby trash can where he proceeded to deject all the medication he had taken that night in addition to some drinks that had been forced down to please the paying customers, but they hadn’t mixed well at all.
JC was unresponsive; His pulse was racing. Lexi asked Joey and Justin for assistance with them, she couldn’t possibly help both of them. This wasn’t how she wanted this to end tonight.
Justin went over to help Chris while Joey helped Lexi lift JC off the floor and carry him into the backroom. They were followed closely by Lance, who fell onto his bed in unbearable pain from his ankle. Lexi asked Joey to stay with them while she went back for Chris.
Chris was still hovering over the trash can while Justin just patted him on the back, not really sure what else to do for him at this point. Lexi offered him something to sooth his tummy but Chris refused. He begged her not to make him take it, he didn’t want any more drugs, in fact he just wanted purge himself completely. Lexi withdrew her offer and respected his wishes. She could see that the man was already suffering.
It wasn’t long before Lexi felt someone standing over her. It was a feeling that she was used to but no longer tolerated. Miss Gaillard started to yell at her, but Lexi wasn’t listening, she was so over this job. This was bound to happen sooner or later, if Jade hadn’t seen it coming then she was a moron. Justin could almost see the fire in Lexi’s eyes.
“Look, I wish there was something I could do for you but I have one that I can’t even wake up.” The words had no more than left her mouth when Chris’s eyes started to roll into the back of his head; luckily Justin was right there to catch him as he fell. “Make that two, I am not a magician, you should have planned this better.” Lexi continued, no longer concerned about losing her job. Lexi showed restrain, god knows there were a million curse words running throw her head, but there was still somewhat of a need to remain professional.
“You know what Lexi, why don’t you just forget about that second week’s notice, tonight can be your last night. Now just get these worthless things out of my sight, yourself included.” Miss Gaillard snapped the starred to storm off. Justin looked up at Lexi, kind of hurt by what Miss Gaillard had just said. He didn’t think that he was worthless though sometimes she made him feel like he was.
“You’re the idiot that created this disaster. I am just thankful that the guys are getting out of here. Now they will see what it’s like to work for a real business woman, you’re a fucking idiot and a horrible human being.” Lexi fired back. A few waitresses looked at her, but Jade never turned back around, which was probably a good thing otherwise this fight would have gotten a lot worse. She stood there and waiting to see if Jade would come back, god knows there was so much more that could be said.
“Can you help me lift him?” Lexi asked Justin after a few deep breaths. She leaned down to help get Chris back up right. They got into the back room and put Chris on his bed. Justin went into the bathroom to get some water for them.
“Lexi, I can’t get him to wake up. Is he going to be okay?” Joey cried. He really was worried about JC this time. Lexi tried to comfort the big guy, but she was worried about JC too. There was no point in everyone crying though, so she fought back the tears.
Justin returned with the water and they were able to get both Chris and JC to drink something, though JC still wasn’t very responsive. He rolled his eyes a few times and tried to focus on something but kept slipping back into a state of unconsciousness. Lexi put her had on his neck so that she could feel his pulse, it was slowly returning to normal.
“JC honey can you hear me? You got to hang in there just one more day. It’s going to be better, I promise.” Lexi said as a tear rolled down her face. This was bad. She found herself praying to god to give him strength. He had to get through this so that they could be together at Isadora’s place. She sent Justin to get a bottle of vitamin water from her bag. They split it between the 5 of them, they all needed more but it was the best that she could do. The only plus side was that with JC passed out, he wasn’t likely to throw up the water that he so badly needed.
“I am starting to think that you guys don’t really need to worry about tomorrow; there is no way that it can get any worse. Even if Isadora did turn out to be a slave driver at least she will do more to keep you alive. This is just stupid. Jade is a wanna be murder.” Lexi snapped. She was looking at the floor as she spoke so it wasn’t like she was talking to any one particular.
This place was bad for them and it was a good thing that they were leaving it behind, otherwise it might have killed them to stay even one more day. Jade didn’t care about them at all. Lexi stayed as long as she could, she had to know that JC was going to be okay, but Miss Gaillard finally had her escorted out of the building. She told the guys that she would see them again soon, a comment that seemed to go unnoticed.
