Side Bet Bluff Ch. 12

"Ok, I'll make a note of it," he said. "I was quite surprised to have an unknown woman telling me that it was ok to send people up to your apartment."

"Sorry. Right. Yes, she has my authority to accept packages, invite people up, and the like. Do I need to provide you guys with a letter or something?" I asked.

"No, we already have her picture on file for her visitor's pass. I'll just make a note of it and I'll be sure all the other guards know."

"Great, then, Scott. Thanks again."

For the next few hours I read through the research that Allison had found for me, and created a much more robust outline in preparation for my meeting with Jenny's father tomorrow. It felt like I was just touching the tip of the iceberg. I could probably read, analyze, and plot for the next eighteen hours straight and still not feel completely prepared. What I needed was to ignore the areas where I was already expert, become at least generally familiar with the noted areas that were most discussed, and then come up with an original and brilliant thought that Richard Daniels hadn't heard of before, but one that I was correct on, too. Else it would just blow up in my face.

The phone rang and I heard Allison pick it up.

"Yes, of course they can come up," I heard her say. "Jaycee's on her way up!" she called from down the hall.

Jaycee was just showing up? I thought she'd promised to call and keep me in the loop. What was going on?

My eyes went back to the article I had been reading, but really what was the point? I set it aside and impatiently waited for Jaycee and whoever was with her to arrive. Soft voices in the hallway announced their arrival before my doorbell rang.

When I opened the door, Susan was the first through, though she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. She made eye contact with me for just a moment before jerking her eyes downward towards my carpet. Her body was incredibly stiff, yet she was dressed rather provocatively -- no winter coat was to be seen and instead she was wearing a red, silk, designer blouse showing an impressive amount of cleavage, a short, black skirt bordering on too short, and three inch red heels that matched the shade of her blouse. And there was something else ... oh crap. I don't think she was wearing a bra.

Jaycee followed Susan in, and she also looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but for an altogether different reason. He face was filled with worry and sadness, almost on the verge of tears.

She glanced at Susan, back at me, said "Sorry, Will," and then backed out of the apartment, pulling the door closed behind her.

"Will, Jaycee is unable to finish the terms of our deal," said Susan in a strong but wavering voice. "As agreed, I will take Jaycee's place for tonight only."

What the hell was going on here?

"Excuse me?"

"Per the terms of our bet, my body belongs to you tonight." And Susan managed to raise her eyes to meet mine, albeit briefly. She was terrified, and yet I could tell she thought she was being braver than she'd ever been in her life.

"No. Susan, I'm sorry, that was a joke. It wasn't a serious deal. I thought Jaycee was bluffing and I was intentionally being a jerk to call her on it. I had thought Jaycee knew that."

"I don't understand," she said.

"I thought that Jaycee was lying about being my sex slave just to get me to not call your bet to Aaron. So I made up the other stuff like you having to take her place just so she'd back down, but she didn't. I was never serious about your part in it. So no, you don't have to take Jaycee's place."

"You don't want to have sex with me?" she asked in a soft, high-pitched, almost whimper.

"Don't get me wrong, Susan. You're a very sexy girl," I told her.

"Especially in that outfit," I mumbled, glancing away and briefly wondering what it would be like to have her. But no, that was just a passing thought and I needed to get out of this situation.

"Any guy would be lucky to have you," I continued, "but no, I don't want to have sex with you."

Susan's expression changed to some mixture of surprise and distress.

"If you're here because you really want to lose your virginity," I added, "you should go see Aaron. He really cares about you and will treat you right."

Apparently Susan didn't want to hear that at all because she burst out crying. No, crying doesn't really do it justice. She was having a full-on breakdown right here in my living room.

The door burst open and Jaycee was suddenly embracing Susan fiercely.

"See? I told you. I told you. I told you. Now believe everything else I told you," Jaycee told Susan, as they slowly folded their bodies down toward the floor. Jaycee began rocking the wailing girl back and forth while on her knees.

And then through the still open door walked Hannah. Now my mind was really reeling.

"Hi, Will," she said, and even gave me a little, embarrassed wave.

I looked from her down to the now crying girls on my floor, having to avert my eyes from Susan's breasts that were all too visible from her gaping blouse and my angle of view.

"Would someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?" I demanded.

It looked like both Hannah and I would have preferred either Jaycee or Susan answer that question, but neither of them were in any condition to do so.

"Fine. You, over there," and I gestured Hannah towards my kitchen. She looked like she wanted to protest my giving her an order, but one quick thought about the situation and she acquiesced.

"Spill it," I said once we were safely out of eyesight, though not completely out of earshot.

"Susan was raped last night," she told me in a soft voice.

"What?!?" I said, too loudly. "Are you sure? What happened?" I demanded in a softer voice matching Hannah's in volume.

"I spent the night at my parents place last night," Hannah started. "When I came back this morning, Susan was crying, and I got the impression that she'd been crying all night. I knew that she'd had a date last night with this guy, James, and from the state of the room and how she was acting, I put two and two together."

"Poor Susan," I said. What a horrible thought to have that be one's introduction to sex. While I felt awful for her, that didn't explain why she'd been in my apartment offering herself up to me with Jaycee and Hannah hiding in the hallway.

"The thing is, she wouldn't talk to me," Hannah continued before I could ask a question from my train of thought. "She'd only talk to Jaycee. I don't know why. I mean I'm her freaking roommate while Jaycee is just a ..."

"Hey," I interrupted.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," she said. "That was ... sorry. But I agreed to this cockamamie plan because at least it would put Susan in front of a lawyer. You've got to convince her to go to the police, and to the hospital to get a rape kit. She'll do it if you tell her to, Will." Hannah's voice was rising now. "You're always going on about your sense of justice. Well here's your chance, Will. You've got a rape victim in your apartment. What are you going to do about it? Huh? You're the persuasive one. You're the smart one. You're the responsible and ethical one! Tell her to go to the police and report the rape!"

Hannah stood glaring at me. I swear she was judging me not just as a lawyer, not just as her ex-boyfriend, but as a representative of the male gender. Normally I bristle at that form of challenge, but I was all too ready to rise to this one.

"It wasn't rape," came Susan's quiet and tear-filled voice from the other room.

"What?" Hannah said in bewilderment. We both walked out of the kitchen to look at Susan.

"It wasn't rape," she repeated. "I never told him 'no.'"

So much for Hannah's demand.

"What are you talking about? Of course it was rape," Hannah insisted.

"I didn't think we were going to have 'sex' sex. I thought we'd only have, you know, Christian sex," Susan half-cried.

"What?" I asked, trying to understand what the hell she was saying.

"Everything but penetration," Jaycee filled in for me.

"What?" I repeated. Jaycee just shook her head at me like she really didn't understand either, but whatever.

In stuttering gasps and in between sobs, Susan finally told the story that she apparently hadn't even completely told Jaycee. James was a new visitor to Susan's church. He was tall, handsome, charming, and apparently spoke all the right phrases and terminology to show that he was a true believer. Susan had been instantly smitten. He'd asked her out on Sunday, but before she could say yes she had to first break up with Aaron. And as soon as she'd done that, James was asking her out for the next night.

He'd picked her up in his fancy car, worn expensively fancy clothes, taken her to a fancy restaurant. He appeared to be perfect. Susan couldn't help herself. She found herself breaking all of her rules for a first date. She invited him up at the end of the night, momentarily forgetting that Hannah wasn't home. She not only kissed him, but initiated a make-out session on the couch. When he took his shirt off, displaying his hairy chest and muscular physique, Susan found herself inviting James into her bedroom. And all the time she never imagined James may interpret this as an invitation for 'sex' sex. She willingly went along with the removal of her clothes. Only when he actually penetrated her did she realize her assumption that James understood the rules just as she understood them was incorrect. But by then it was too late. And she didn't, couldn't, say 'no' as she was too overwhelmed with the physical and emotional sensations.

"It's still rape," Hannah insisted.

"Of course it isn't," Jaycee replied, beating me to the punch.

"How dare you say that! What kind of a woman are you?!?" yelled Hannah. The yelling only set Susan off into another round of crying.

"Everyone who knows Susan would know that it wasn't consensual," argued Hannah.

"So telling a guy 'no' isn't the standard anymore?" countered Jaycee.

"It isn't. You have to give consent," said Hannah.

"So now even if you willingly get naked in a bed they have to get a clear, consenting 'yes' beforehand?" Jaycee asked.

"Yes, and I know that because Susan was raped!" yelled Hannah.

"So Will always got a 'yes' from you before you two had sex? I doubt it. Tell me, Hannah, how many times did Will rape you???" screamed Jaycee right back.

Damn, why did Jaycee have to bring me into this? The phone started ringing, and Susan's crying was getting louder. If I didn't put a stop to all this now I would get a migraine.

"Enough!" I yelled. "Hannah, go over to the kitchen to cool down until you can discuss things in a reasonable voice. Jaycee, go find something so Susan can change out of that ridiculous outfit. And Allison! Would you answer the phone?!?"

Amazingly, everyone did what I told them to do. That left me alone with a crying Susan. I reluctantly made my way over to her to see if it was possible to console her.

"I'm going to hell," cried Susan.

Dammit. I should have been the one to find an outfit for Susan. This wasn't a conversation I could handle.

"Of course you're not," I tried.

"But I am. I wanted it. Jaycee's right. It was my responsibility to at least tell him 'no.' I wasn't strong enough. Because I was sinning. Maybe I didn't really understand entirely what he was going to do. But I wanted him to do more. I'm such a bad person." And she set off into another round of crying.

Crap. I stood there awkwardly for a minute, not knowing what to do. But I had to do something. This was intolerable. I grabbed her by the shoulders to force her to face me.

"Sex is part of our beings," I tried. "We are all sexual creatures. And God made us that way."

"You son of a bitch!" a man's voice yelled. I turned around to find Tim charging towards me. Somehow I managed to roll with his punch at my head, getting only a glancing blow. His follow-up to my gut connected solidly. The next thing I knew, my butt was on the floor and I couldn't find my breath no matter how hard I tried.

A woman was screaming. No, several women were screaming.

And other people were yelling.

But the only thing I gave a damn about was getting my lungs to somehow fill with oxygen.

I was quite desperate about it, in fact.

"Oh, Will!" Jaycee cried over me and clutched my head to her breasts. I appreciated her sentiment, but I pushed her arms away and turned over onto all fours. Maybe this position would allow me to breathe again? Jaycee proceeded to drape herself over my back. She was still crying.

"Why the hell did you hit Will?" demanded Hannah.

"The bet!" Tim said, as if that explained everything.

"The what?"

"You know. You were there. The bet! That's why Susan broke up with Aaron. Will called in the bet. Isn't it? Wait, why are you here? Are you in on this?"

"Tim," said Hannah exasperated. "You're an idiot."

After my lungs started working again, we finally got everything explained. Tim came in; saw me grabbing a crying Susan and talking about how sex was good and immediately assumed that I had called in the bet and that was why Susan had broken up with Aaron. Of course, when he found out that I had, in actuality, just refused sex with Susan, he immediately asked if I was gay.

"I think you should ponder this phrase, Tim -- 'tis best to be silent and thought an idiot than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt," I told him.

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

As to why Susan had appeared dressed for seduction, the best I could make out was that Susan was convinced that all men were completely controlled by our lust, including me based on the impression I had made upon her at last Saturday's poker game. Jaycee had decided to prove to Susan that this wasn't so, and I was to redeem all men by refusing Susan's offer.

I guess it was that kind of afternoon. Normally I'd be furious, though right now I was just glad they hadn't chosen Tim.

As to why, Jaycee seemed to say that Susan was blaming herself for inviting the sex because she, being a woman, should have known better than to think any man could control himself. Why she was willing to ignore her months of experiences with Aaron, I had no idea. Really, the amount of irrationality displayed in all of these conversations was astounding.

Aaron called towards the tail end of the explanations, canceling going out. Paula, Alex, and Billy had all signed up as clients and wanted to look for potential houses tomorrow. He needed to do a good amount of work tonight to get ready. And he thanked me again for saving his job. It wasn't necessary. His performance with Steven today got him the others as clients, not me.

With that information, Tim shortly made his excuses and left.

"Sorry again, Will."

"Don't worry about it, Tim. I'm sure someday we'll see how well you take a punch."

All throughout, Allison had been acting the hostess, or perhaps the maid. She was constantly getting people drinks or helping out in any way possible, even if it was just waiting attentively for someone to need something.

"Allison, I think we're done working for the day. Why don't we pick it back up first thing in the morning?"

"Are you sure, sir? I'd be happy to stay and help out. I could cook everyone dinner since you all seem to be busy with other things."

"No, Allison, that's ok. It's been a long day already."

"In that case, I should show you what I found before all the commotion started. I think you'll want to see this," she said.

Allison and I spent about ten minutes going through a couple of active lawsuits she'd found that were bound to be discussed tomorrow. She left while I stayed in the spare bedroom/home office to skim through the salient points.

I heard yet another heated argument coming from the living room. It sounded like Hannah wanted to take Susan to a clinic to get the morning-after pill. I decided, in this instance, that discretion was the better part of valor and I'd patiently wait out of sight until that was resolved amongst the ladies themselves.

As I was about to re-enter the living room, I heard Susan tell Hannah that she didn't want to go back to Hannah's place because that's where it happened. I guessed her wanting to have a little space from Hannah played a part, too. Jaycee assured Susan that I would let her spend the night here. Even Hannah agreed, telling Susan that I'd make sure she felt safe.

Hannah spotted me in the hallway and walked towards me, gesturing for me to go back so that she could talk to me alone for a minute.

"Will, listen, I ... I want you to know that I'm sorry about my behavior earlier this week, and the whole ... well, all the things I said ... and everything."

Hannah was apologizing to me? It had been about four years since her last one. I guess she's about due.

"Thinking that Susan had been attacked put things in a different perspective for me," she continued. "And I just wanted to tell you to not worry about the lawsuit. Jaycee and I will work something out."

"Umm, Hannah ... I thank you for what you just said. But when was the last time you talked to your lawyer?"

"Why?" she asked.

"When?" I repeated.

"Are you saying you talked with him already? What happened?"

"You need to talk to your lawyer," I instructed.

"Will, tell me! What did you do?"

"Hannah, I am not your lawyer. In fact, I represent the opposing party in a lawsuit that you initiated. I cannot give you legal advice, especially in this matter. You want to know what happened? Go talk to your lawyer."

"You sent him packing, didn't you?" she concluded. "Damn it, Will. Sometimes I really hate you."

"Only sometimes?" I asked. She stormed off, right out of my apartment.

Now it was Jaycee's turn to talk to me alone while Susan, finally, changed out of her self-chosen 'slutty' outfit.

"Will, thank you so much for everything," Jaycee said. "And I'm not saying this as your slave, or your girlf ... or whatever. I'm saying this as someone grateful to have you as my friend. I threw a lot at you today, trusting that you would be able to handle it correctly. And I'm in your debt for that."

"I'm just glad you could trust me enough for that, and that I apparently acted correctly."

"You don't know how to act any other way," she told me. Had she completely blocked out yesterday's fight?

"Is there anything else I can do tonight?" I asked.

"Yes. I have another favor to ask. Of course you can do whatever you want and I'll go along with it, but Susan and I aren't done talking about last night, and, knowing you, I'm going to ask a really, really big favor of you."

"Ask away," I said.

"So much of Susan's identity is tied up in her religion. I sort of understand how she views things after many, many hours of talks with her about it. But it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I know that you'd scoff or ridicule her for probably most of the things she says, and my favor is that you don't do that."

"That's it?" I asked.

"It's actually a lot. I know your natural impulse is to attack things that don't make sense to you. And believe me, Will, this will really make no sense at all to you."

"Maybe I should hide out in here," I offered.

Jaycee shook her head. "No, that's the second part of my request. I think Susan will respond well to your presence. I think it will make her feel safe."

"So you want me to sit with you guys, listen while you talk about sex and religion, and not say a word?"

"Yes. Would you please do that for Susan?" she asked.

"No. I won't do it for Susan. But I will do it for you."

Jaycee smiled up at me. "Thank you, Master." And she gave me a full kiss.

I grabbed her strongly. "But I'll take it out on you later," I told her.

Jaycee gave my dick a little squeeze through my pants. "You promise?"

"Oh, you are so going to get it," I warned.