Damaged Property

"Alright, later." I got up and left as calmly as possible when I really wanted to run from the room. I sat at my desk and tried to bury myself in my work, but it was difficult. Too many things were running around in my head.

Finally, at about 4pm, an hour earlier than usual for me, I got up and left. I headed home and made a beeline for the fridge. I downed the first beer in about 15 seconds and then took the second one into the den. I sipped it while I flipped channels.

I dozed off and when I woke up, it was 7pm. Time for a little pussy run. I took a shower, cleaned up, and put on some party clothes. I looked in the mirror. Yeah, I was ready. I called my buddies and headed out.

When I got to my favorite club, I noticed that things were still a little quiet. It was still not even 9pm. I hung out at the bar and then Randy came in and joined me. We grabbed one of the still empty tables and started waiting for the honeys to show up. It usually started getting crowded about 10. I was getting too drunk, too fast, so I asked for a ginger ale. For some reason that always made me feel better. I was sipping on it and enjoying the scenery that was arriving when Jen walked in with a friend. She saw me and immediately went the other direction. Shit! I knew all this shit between me and her was going to get back to my sister, Carole. I should probably go apologize so that that didn't come back to bite me. Carole could be pretty caustic and I hadn't seen her in a year. I just heard from her over the phone every so often, and it was never a good conversation.

I waited until Randy got back from scouting out a couple of prospects and then headed to the other side of the club to find Jen. I saw her over near the corner of the juke box. It was playing right now since there was no band tonight. She was talking to two guys and she looked a little unsteady. I watched closely and I could tell by her body language that she was feeling intimidated and maybe a little drunk. My sister, Candice, had described how these things happen in college and made me aware of the body language that a woman exhibited when she was in that sort of trouble. The two guys looked like they were going to devour her right there. Fuck. I didn't want some assholes taking advantage of her and raping her, did I? Was it really any of my business? She's a big girl.

I kept walking past her and went to the men's room. I took a piss and debated the situation with myself the entire time. Shit! I can't let it happen to my sister's college roommate. She has also been nothing but nice to my entire family our whole lives. Besides, nobody deserved to get fucked over like that.

I went back out and checked out the situation. She was looking more out of it and they seemed to almost be leaning into her, trapping her in the corner. I'd seen these guys around and they were probably the type, too. I walked over to the juke box and when I got there I acted like I hadn't seen her until just now.

"Jen! Jen, how are you girl?" I moved between the one guy and the juke box so that she had a way to get to me. She practically jumped into my arms and gave me a hug. "Hey, Randy and I are sitting over there and my sister Carole may be in later."

Jen stared at me for a moment. She was not as smooth at picking up on my hints as I would have thought, but then her eyes were a little glazed and the pupils were way too large. "Okay." She turned to the two guys. "I have to go."

They started to protest, but I immediately kept things moving. "Jen was my sister's college roommate. You don't mind if I borrow her, eh?" I ushered Jen away from the two assholes as they cursed me none too quietly. I looked over my shoulder as I got back to the table. I would have to keep an eye on those two.

When I got Jen to the table, Randy was there holding the fort and stared at me as I brought Jen with me. I shrugged my shoulders as he gave me a questioning look. I leaned toward him. "It looked like they were getting ready to work her over." Randy knew immediately what I meant.

Randy went to get a couple more drinks and I saw that Jen was slipping away quickly. Did these assholes really slip her a mickey and not just get her drunk? From the look of her eyes, that's what happened. What the fuck?

When Randy came back I told him that I think they had slipped her one and that I was going to take her home. He agreed that was a good idea. I turned to Jen, who was having trouble standing. "C'mon, Jen, let's go."

She looked up at me and smiled. "Okay." She slurred even that one word and looked at me with that puppy-love look usually reserved for 15-year old girls. Christ, what a mess!

Randy and I propped her between us and took her out to my car. I told Randy to be on the lookout for those two assholes, but we didn't see them.

We got Jen into my car and by the time I went around and got in to start it, she was passed out. Well, what the fuck was I going to do now? I had no idea where she was staying.

I drove to my house and figured that would have to do. I had to pick her up and carry her in. At least she was pretty light.

I walked her into my bedroom and put her on the bed. Now what? Do I undress her or is that going to freak her out? I stared at her. Oh, fuck it. I saved her ass, so she could just deal with it. I pulled her heels off and put them aside. I unzipped her dress and after rocking her back and forth and having to roll it down slowly, finally got it off. She flopped around, completely oblivious to everything. They had definitely slipped her something.

I took a look once I worked the dress off. She was wearing very functional underwear, bikini panties and bra. Nothing too sexy, but she did look good. Nice shape, small waist, flared hips, and just enough tits and ass. Good tight little package. Wish she was awake. Damn!

I pulled the covers out from under her, covered her up, and went into my den. I pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and got into my recliner. I had to get another bed into the other empty bedroom. I had put my office in one of the other two bedrooms not counting the master bedroom, but the third one was full of boxes. Well, that was for another day. I put the TV on and watched a rerun of Armageddon, with Bruce Willis. It put me to sleep. I had seen it about 10 times already.

Saturday

I woke up and looked at the clock on my cable box. It was 4:30. I had been sweating and squirming, the dream coming once again. As I came to I realized that I was in the recliner. I got up and went to the kitchen to get something to drink. When I got to the sink, there was enough light from the moon to see that someone was sitting at the table. I stopped, momentarily stunned, and stared.

"Hi." Jen was sitting there having some water and wearing my robe.

"Hi." I went to the cabinet, grabbed a glass, and filled it with water. "What are you doing up?"

"Wondering what I'm doing in your house, in my underwear, in your bed."

Was that an accusation? Was she pissed off? Really? "Look, you were being set up in the club last night. Those two guys you were talking to slipped you a mickey so they could slip you something more a little later. You really need to be more careful."

Jen stared at me. "And you came to my rescue like a knight in shining armor, eh?"

I stared at her. Let it go, let it go. Be nice. She's your sister's best friend. "Well, I wouldn't put it that way. But I definitely don't want to see some woman get raped. There's never a good reason for that."

She stared at me for a second and I really wanted to see her eyes, but it was too dark. "Well, that's the first thing we have agreed on lately, isn't it."

Fuck. I need to apologize before my sister, Carole, the one with the biggest mouth and who could be the biggest pain in the ass got wind of how I treated Jen. I had to be nice.

"Look, Jen, about the other night..."

Jen held up a hand. "No, don't apologize about our date. If you aren't really sorry, don't apologize, and I don't think you are. Besides, saving me from a terrible fate at the hands of two guys is more than enough thanks. If that's what they were going to do."

"Well tell me this. How many drinks did you have?"

"Two that I remember."

"Do you normally get drunk on two drinks?"

She hesitated and frowned at that. "Never."

"Did they buy the second one for you at the bar and bring it to you?"

"Yes."

"Well, based on that and the way you reacted to the second drink, I'd definitely say you were drugged."

She seemed to be staring right through me for a few seconds and then nodded. "So let me get this straight. You are a complete asshole, chasing women only so you can fuck them, going through them like they are disposable, you have a major anger problem because of what happened last year, and yet you go out of your way to save me, someone you've just seen for the first time in years, from what you suspect was a set up to be raped. Is that right?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, that's right." She was making me angry again.

"It just seems a little out of character for the current you."

"Fuck you, Jen. I was just trying to help. Why don't you go back and find those guys, I'm sure they'd be glad to slip you another one."

She stood and put her hand on my arm. "Relax. I'm stunned, but extremely grateful. No woman wants to think about being drugged and taken against her will. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

I stared at her. Her touch made me remember how she looked in her underwear. I wanted to fuck her - but then again, I realized that I didn't. It was best not to get involved with her, right? It was too close to home. I took a deep breath. "Okay. It's just that, well, my sister told me what she saw happen in college and how it looked. I saw that and figured I couldn't let that happen to a family friend."

She grinned. "Asshole." But she said that good-naturedly. "So I take it you took my dress off?"

I grinned now. "Yes. Nice underwear."

"Asshole." She playfully punched my arm. Then she surprised me and hugged me. I stood there and hugged her back with one hand while the other held my water. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Jen finally pulled back. She reached up and put a hand behind my head and pulled me down to kiss her. I kissed her and she kept it a light one, our lips barely touching and then separating as they stuck together slightly. She released my head and pulled back. "Thank you." She turned and left for the bedroom.

I stood there for a second. The kiss had been very nice and even a little erotic. There was no tongue, no passionate groping, just a very light kiss on the lips. But it came across as erotic enough that I started getting a chubby. What the fuck was that?

Shit. I returned to my recliner and crawled back in. I needed some sleep.

--

I woke up again at 10am with a very stiff back. I blinked and realized that I had been awakened by the smell of food cooking. My stomach growled, so I got up. Jen must be making something.

When I got to the kitchen, Jen stood there, dressed in her nice silky dress from last night, barefoot, and was whipping up some eggs. It was a very nice sight to see in my kitchen in the morning. I found that the smell that had hit me was the biscuits in the oven, but Jen also looked good enough to eat.

"Good morning."

Jen jumped slightly and then turned, grinning. "Good morning. I have a headache, probably from the drug I was given, and I always feel better after eating, so I thought I would fix some breakfast."

"Fine with me. You can cook me breakfast any time."

Jen looked at me with a smirk on her face. "I'll ignore the normal implications of that statement."

"Whatever." I said it playfully as she appeared to be in a playful mood, too. I actually felt pretty good considering I had slept in a recliner and had had another bad dream.

Jen finished beating the eggs and poured them into a skillet to scramble them. "You know, one might think that you were not a complete misogynist based on last night's actions."

"Yeah, so what?"

She turned to look at me. "I wanted to thank you again."

I shrugged. I didn't any more accolades. "Don't worry about it."

"You know I have a lot of thoughts about you and how you've changed, but I'm trying to keep them to myself."

"Good." I looked at her pointedly.

Jen stared back. "But I will say I think you need to talk to someone."

"Not your concern." I pointed at her, making it clear this was off limits.

She watched me closely for a few more seconds and then turned to work on the scrambled eggs. "I don't give up easily."

"Me, neither."

The eggs were finished and we had breakfast. We discussed everything except what she really wanted to and what I was avoiding. Good.

When Jen left I went in to see what sports were on TV. I was going to lounge for a while. When the TV came on and I brought up the cable guide, the date was there. It reminded me that tomorrow was the day. One year since my sister died needlessly. It was interesting that the first anniversary of catching my fiancée fucking someone did not affect me. Losing my sister would always do so.

I got up and called Randy. I went over to his place and we all got drunk.

Sunday - first anniversary of Candice's accident

When I awoke on Sunday I stared at the ceiling. I could feel the tears trying to form, but I held them back. Candice was the best sister and friend anyone could hope for. She was beautiful, loving, caring, never put herself first, and always made sure I was okay. She was a year younger than me, but always tried to look out for my interests. She had even made sure I invited Miranda over for her to get to know before I asked her to marry me. Candice was my girlfriend approver. She was always looking out for me and I tried to do the same for her. Then she was killed in an accident after trying to take care of me. It was my fault. All of it was my fault. My fiancée, my sister, all of it. Shit!

I forced myself from the bed, showered, and plopped in front of the TV. I was on my fifth or sixth beer, along with 3 shots of Jack, when the doorbell rang. I was in no mood for company. I was angry, morose, drunk, and just plain pissed off.

I answered the door and Jen stood there, a large pot in her hand. "Hi, can I come in?"

I glared at her. "What for?" I said it angrily.

She stared at me. She knew. I could see it in her eyes. She knew exactly what day this was. "I just wanted to be nice and bring you some homemade chili."

I stared at her. I was drunk and wallowing in my pity. I didn't want anyone else there. "I'm not hungry."

Jen looked at me for a second and just stepped forward to push her way past me. "I'll just put it on the stove."

I had moved back reflexively when she moved forward, so I didn't stop her. She went into the kitchen and I went back to my recliner. I heard her turn on the stove and then she was standing beside me. "What are you watching?"

"Nothing."

She looked up at the TV. A baseball game was on. I didn't even know who was playing at that point. "Let's find something else then." She reached down and picked up the remote from the end table next to me. I started to protest, but then decided to just let her do whatever she wanted. Once she left, I could change it back.

"Here we go." I looked up at the TV after putting my beer down. She had it on a movie and I couldn't make it out.

I turned to look at Jen and she was staring at me. I could see the pity in her eyes. "I don't need your pity."

She continued to stare back. "It's not pity. It's called compassion."

I waved her away. "Whatever." I put my head back and heard her move back into the kitchen. I looked up and watched part of the movie, but I was too buzzed to really care. Then Jen was suddenly there in front of me with a bowl of chili.

"How about something other than a liquid diet today, huh? I think you would like to be able to go to work tomorrow."

I looked at the chili in her hands. "I really don't care about tomorrow right now."

Jen sat on the arm of the chair and I looked up at her. She looked so good just then. Her hair was falling down around her face and her lips were red and so kissable. Her hip was touching my shoulder and I wanted her. Fuck! I shook my head. Just stop it. It's not a good idea to sleep with your sister's best friend.

I took the chili. "It smells good."

Jen smiled. "I'm a good cook, didn't you know that?"

"No, why should I?"

"Because I think I kept your sister and I alive and skinny in college. Everyone else was eating junk and put on the freshman 15 easily."

"Freshman 15?"

"Yeah, that's what they call the initial weight gain that seems to happen to college freshman when they are first away from home; fifteen pounds. It's caused by the late night eating, the fact that this is the first time alcohol is plentiful, and all the fast food."

"Oh." I tasted the chili. Either it was very good or my taste buds were just overcome with joy at having something other than alcohol. "It's good." It even had some small bits of jalapeno in it, which I liked.

"Thanks." Jen sat back with a grin on her face and I watched her watch me.

"What?" I took another large bite.

"You know, you are really not the womanizer you make yourself out to be."

"I know some women who might disagree with you."

"Yeah, but I think I'm learning a lot about you. Now if you would just open up about some of the key events in your life, you'd be much better and could get past it."

I looked from her to the TV. "This is a good movie." I tried to eat more chili and ignore Jen. I really had no idea what the fucking movie was.

"Don't change the subject."

"The last subject was boring me."

"No, it wasn't. You just can't face it. Well, you will have to next Saturday. Carole is having a birthday party for her daughter, your niece, and you need to attend. You haven't been over to Carole's since Candice's funeral and have never seen her daughter."

Carole had been enormously pregnant at Candice's funeral. It had made many people uncomfortable. I stared at the TV, trying to will Jen to leave. It wasn't working. "Whatever. I'll be there."

Jen stood up. "Good, I'll be there, too."

Well that was fucking great.

Jen went into the kitchen for her own bowl of chili and then came back and sat down. Shit, she wasn't leaving. I tried to ignore her and kept drinking. She refilled my chili bowl and I ate a second bowl, but I kept drinking and ignoring Jen. She just sat there and watched some stupid movies with me. I remember it starting to get dark and then nothing.

I woke up and it was dark and there were two people pulling me out of the chair. I helped them pull me up a little, but I couldn't make out who it was. They smelled great, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. I remember being led to my bed and then - nothing.

-

I woke up and realized that it was very dark in my room. I felt better and I looked over at the windows where Jen must have made sure the drapes were tightly closed. I turned a little to my left and there was a body there. It was Jen. She had crawled into bed with me. She was covered and sleeping peacefully, facing away from me. I needed to piss badly, so I got up and did that. I came back into the room and Jen had rolled over on her back, the sheet slipping to her waist. She had undressed to her panties and bra evidently. Her body was lean and lithe. She looked so good lying there. I crawled back into bed and ran my hand over her stomach. She was very warm. I stared at her. What the hell was she doing? Did she really think that she could change me? Weren't women always trying to change their men? Wasn't that what got them into trouble, expecting them to change when it was so difficult to get anyone to change? And why was she in my bed if she wanted to avoid having sex with me or didn't like me?