T.I.T.S.O.M.A.Y Ch. 01

Chapter One: Going Out

She was ecstatic.

Christmas was on its way, snow was on the ground, and everything was going as planned.

Except one thing.

"I'm sorry to bother you, Rob, but my boyfriend Brad is drunk and I have no ride home."

Rob, the bartender, turned around and smiled when he saw the young girl who had addressed him, "Well how'd you get here? Shouldn't the car be here?"

"That's the thing, though; his mom drove us here, knowing he'd get drunk and hoping I'd get drunk too."

"Well that's not very nice," Rob said, "I'll go in back and see if there's anyone that gets off any time soon."

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank you so much! I appreciate it!"

"It's not a problem, Reina. In fact, I'll even let your boyfriend sleep here and stay with him."

"But what about your wife?" Reina asked, "Won't she be angry if you don't come home?"

Rob looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Are you kidding? She's angry now."

"Why?" Reina asked as she sat down at the bar.

"Because I bought a sledge hammer instead of the floral wallpaper she wanted to decorate our bathroom with."

Reina grimaced, "Ouch. You should get her some flowers or chocolate."

"She burned the flowers and gave the chocolate to the neighbor's dog."

"That's not good," Reina said sadly, "what are her favorite flowers?"

"Tiger lilies." Rob answered immediately.

"You got her roses, didn't you?"

Rob seemed to have an epiphany, "Oh my God! I did get her roses! Shit! Reina, you probably just saved my life! Let me get someone to take you home, and then I'll call my florist. Be right back!"

Watching as Rob ran to the kitchen, which was behind the counter, Reina's attention was called to the T.V., for the screen had a red bar across it that read, 'NEWSFLASH'.

"Great, there's probably some bank robber that the police can't catch so they need we citizens to get him."

"Hello and good evening to all of you watching JAVA News Channel 9, my name is Matthew Sanchez and I'll be filling in for Maria Forelle."

"So, what," Reina thought sarcastically, "the weather is considered a 'newsflash' nowadays?"

Despite her thoughts, Reina continued to watch the news, suddenly intrigued when the newscaster began shaking and stuttering.

"W-Well, we've got some disturbing news, folks. It seems that police were called to the Frederick's home about an hour and a half ago. Police are telling reporters only that there has... hold on..."

A young woman handed Mr. Matthew Sanchez a stack of papers. She, too, looked shaken. Picking up the papers, Matthew Sanchez couldn't speak for several minutes.

Now Reina was interested, "What could be so bad that it would render him speechless?"

"I-I-It would appear that there was more to the police report than I was given. What I had was a brutal murder case; however there's definitely more to it. Caroline Frederick, age eighteen years, was found hanging from a tree with her throat cut in her own backyard.

"Following the autopsy, police reported that Caroline's clitoris was missing. It was later found in a glass jar within her stomach along with a note. Dr. Thornsby, the forensic pathologist that performed the autopsy, says that the glass jar was put into Caroline's stomach while she was still alive. The flesh over her stomach is very poorly cut, and Dr. Thornsby says Caroline's stomach was cut open with regular scissors. The note within the jar has not been released to the press, but we will make sure to keep you updated."

Another woman appeared on the screen, papers in hand, "Hello and good evening, my name is Janice Tucker and I am here to read off more details to the Frederick murder case. The authorities wish for the public to know that this is not the first time this murderer has struck. Chief Jones wants everyone to be wary of going out too late at night, and to have a Merry Christmas."

The television went to a commercial, and Reina sat transfixed. How could anyone be so cruel? And why would they do something like that?

"Ah, you're still here," Rob's voice cut into Reina's thoughts, "I found you a ride, got a cot for Brad, and ordered two dozen tiger lilies to be delivered to my wife's work everyday for a month."

Reina found it hard to smile after that news report; but she forced the corners of her mouth to lift anyway, "That's great news! Oh thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"It's not a problem, Reina. I'll just drag Brad over here and drop him on the cot. Plain and simple. The only problem will be having to wake up and see my face."

"Why is that?"

"Because I'll be on the floor and he probably won't move, so he'll have to see me in the morning." Rob smiled, his dark eyes shining.

Though she'd never let it slip to Brad, Reina found Rob to be very attractive. His dark hair, brown eyes, and tanned skin looked somewhat out of place, but to Reina, he looked at home in his bar.

"I wonder why Rob is the only Arab here? This bar has an Arabian feel to it, and I don't see why there aren't any others here?"

"So, Reina?"

"Hm? I'm sorry, what did you say?" Reina asked, blushing out of embarrassment for not having heard what Rob had said.

"I asked if you were ready to go. Your ride is getting his gloves on."

"Okay, I'm all set to go. Where should I meet him?"

Rob quirked an eyebrow, "Meet him? He's going to come out here, walk you to his car, and take you home. Simple, you see?"

"All right, I'll just wait here then. I just want to make sure I'm home before midnight."

"Ah, you're worried about the guy that killed that Caroline girl."

"Yeah," Reina said, surprised at how calmly Rob could speak of such an incident, "do you know anything about it?"

Rob thought for a moment, "Well I listened to the radio in back while my florist put me on hold and the police had just said that not only was there the jar, the note, and the fact that she was murdered, but she was also raped."

"That's horrible!" Reina exclaimed, "How can anyone think of doing that to another human being?! And then actually do it? How can anyone... ugh! I don't understand!"

Rob nodded sympathetically, "I know what you mean. People today are getting out of control. Something goes wrong just once and all of a sudden, they have to hurt someone."

They both fell silent, each of them thinking their own silent worries.

"Hey, Boss, where'd you say my new passenger was?"

"Right here, Squeaky," Rob called, then turned to answer Reina's questioning gaze, "we call him that just because everything has to be perfectly clean before he can leave."

A young man came out from the back room, "Sorry, there was some grease on the stove that wouldn't come off."

Rob quirked an eyebrow, "See?"

Smiling, Reina looked at the one labeled, 'Squeaky', "Wow...."

The young man that was to be her escort smiled. He was at least 5' 7" with dark hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck that reached his mid-back. His skin was tanned and two honey-colored eyes stared back at her.

"Would you happen to be my companion for this evening?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Reina smiled, "I'm Reina Morse."

"Hey, nice to meet you. My name's Rio Jatae and I'll be your chauffeur for this evening." He smiled, eyes glowing with joy.

"I really appreciate this, Rio. I owe you one."

An odd gleam shone in Rio's eyes as he looked her up and down, "Oh don't worry about it. You look like the kind of person that will pay a guy back as soon as is humanly possible."

"Well then you've guessed right. I'll pay you back, honest!"

"I know you will," he said, the smile on his face not quite reaching his eyes, "you ready to go?"

Reina nodded, "Yes, I am."

"All right then let's be going. I'm parked right outside the bar." Rio said, holding out his hand, nodding to Rob, and holding the door open for his new passenger.

"Thank you," Reina smiled, following her escort to a black van, "is this yours?"

"Yep. I bough it myself right out of high school to work. It's real useful, too."

"Really? Whaddya use it for? I mean, if you work as a cook in a bar, why do you need such a big van?"

The gleam of joy returned to Rio's eyes, "You wanna know?"

"Uh-huh." Reina smiled as she nodded.

"Then let me show you."

Suddenly, Reina felt something hard hit the back of her neck. Almost immediately, the floor of the van rose up to meet her, the rest of the world going black.

The last thing Reina heard before losing complete consciousness was a cruel, cynical laughter.

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A/N: Well? How do you like it? Or do you hate it? Please let me know!

~Ookami-chan~