Taken by a Stripper Pt. 04

"You still hungry?" I asked. Her timid look told me all I needed to know, and I signaled for Betty to come over.

"What do you want now?" she asked.

"Another two-egg special and an order of pancakes." I said.

"So, you want some of Vern's Teflon pancakes?" Betty asked bemused.

"Hey, they'll fill us up and I can't have her believing your spiel that I'm cheap." I said.

I nibbled on my plate until Bambi's second order showed up. Once again, she dug in with gusto as I finished my plate. We shared the pancakes that were quite good despite my disparaging comments about them.

At that point I excused myself to use the bathroom. As I came out Betty caught my arm. "Who is she?" Betty asked in a low voice. I half expected this moment to come and hoped it wouldn't. While Betty and I seemed to argue all the time just like a lot of the patrons of the old diner she did look at me as a surrogate grandson.

"You don't want to know where we met." I said. "Suffice it to say she needs help. What happens next I'm not sure."

"Honey that girl needs more than just help." Betty said seriously. "I don't know what she's been through, but it's clearly a lot. I know you're probably looking at different areas of her, but her eyes show deep sadness and regret. This may be more than you can handle alone."

"Betty, I appreciate your concern, but I'm in too deep now to just let this go." I said. "I don't know her full story either, but it's got to be tragic. I never expected this to happen but here I am and there's no turning back now. If I leave her now, she may never trust a man or anyone for that matter again."

"Honey, I never said you should let her go." Betty said. "I said you may need help. I'm here if you need me. And if she needs a woman to talk to, I'm here for that too."

I felt better knowing I had one more ally in my mission. I hugged Betty and said, "Thanks Betty. I guess I made the right decision after all. Even if I did have to eat Vern's Teflon pancakes."

Betty chucked and said, "Get out there and take care of her. And if either of you need me you know where to find me. I'll be here like I've been since Lincoln freed the slaves."

I got back to the table as Bambi was finishing her second plate of eggs and bacon. "You good now?" I asked. She nodded and smiled at me. Betty then appeared with the check. I grabbed it and examined the line items.

"Betty, you left out the second order of eggs and pancakes." I said.

"It's on the house Honey. I told Vern if he didn't like he could stuff it." Betty said turning to face me and giving me a wink.

I pulled out my credit card and laid it on the tray and handed it to Betty as I said, "Thanks Betty, I owe you one."

Betty returned a few seconds later and dropped the check back on the table and said, "You two have a good night. And if you need me, you know where to find me."

"Thanks Betty." I said as I finished filling out the check. I made sure to give her a good tip for her generosity.

As we walked out Bambi asked me, "Why did she give us a free order?"

"Like I said Betty is like a grandma to her regular patrons and that includes me even though it's been a while since I've been in there and by extension you."

"Oh. Well, that was nice of her." Bambi said as we reached our cars.

"Let's get to the hotel and get some of your things before it gets any later." I said.

About 20 minutes later we reached the hotel and as we got out of our cars I told Bambi, "Just get what you need for tonight now. We'll come back tomorrow and clear out the rest."

She nodded as she fished the key out of her pocket and put it in the lock. I couldn't help but observe that the place was so old that they still gave out actual keys instead of key cards like modern hotels did. I could tell she was a little hesitant to let me in the room with her, but I wasn't about to leave her alone in this area. I know it was silly since she had been living here for some time, but I still stayed with her.

The room looked no better on the inside than the building outside, not that I expected it to. Bare cinderblock walls had peeling faded white paint and the floor wasn't any better. More peeling and faded paint covered concreate except for a threadbare brown rug in front of the bed which looked just as depressing. Bambi quickly grabbed a bag and started throwing clothes and other essentials in it. After a few minutes she looked at me and said, "This should hold me until tomorrow."

"Great." I said. "Let's go."

About 30 minutes later it was almost midnight when we reached my house. I took her bag from her as we exited our cars and let us in. I made straight down the hall for the seldom used guest room. I opened the door and turned on the light as she followed me timidly.

The air in the guest room was a bit stale from being closed up since it had been ages since it was last used. I opened the window to let some fresh air in after setting her bag down on the bed.

"Sorry the air is a little stale in here. It's been a while since I had company." I said as she watched me.

"It's perfect." she said timidly.

I moved back out and gestured her to follow me giving her a quick tour as we went along. "The bathroom is here." I said indicating the door before her room on the same side of the hall. "Linen cupboard, laundry room, my room, kitchen." I said indicating each room as we passed it."

I took a seat in my recliner and gestured for her to sit as I told her, "It's not much, but it's home."

Again, she looked around with awe and said, "It's perfect. I can't thank you enough for letting me come here. I've been trying to save money to get an apartment, but it's been hard with all my other bills." I wanted to ask what exactly she had to pay but figured it was best to let her disclose information as she felt comfortable.

Repeating what she had said earlier she said, "I hope you're not looking for a lot of rent money."

"We can figure that out in the morning." I said after letting out a big yawn. "It's been a long day so why don't we try and get some sleep."

"Ok." she said as we both stood up and headed for our rooms. I quickly stripped to my undies like I normally did and was about to crawl into bed when I heard a knock on the door. I was about to grab a robe but them remembered that Bambi had seen me in my undies before, so I simply opened the door.

"Hey, I forgot to pack my pajamas. Do you have something I could sleep in just for tonight?"

I moved to my dresser and pulled out an old gray t-shirt and handed it to her. "I think this will work for you." I said.

"Thanks." she said and was making to leave but turned and stood up on her toes and kissed me on the cheek before saying, "Good night Danny." before quickly ducking out.

I couldn't help but grin to myself as she shut my door behind her. Obviously, I wished she was curling up with me instead of across the hall but didn't want to push my luck. I yawned again and knew the day was finally catching up with me. I crawled into bed and cut the lights out and was soon fast asleep.

In spite of it being well after midnight when I fell asleep, I was awake at around 6:30. I got up and quietly made my way out to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. As I moved down the hall I stopped briefly in front of Bambi's door and listened for a second. All was quiet so I assumed she was asleep.

After making a pot of coffee I turned on the tv to the early morning news show on low volume. After about an hour of listening to the news my stomach started growling at me, so I moved to the kitchen and pulled some bacon and eggs out of the fridge to heat up. As I was frying up generous portions of bacon and eggs I turned and saw Bambi standing there with a timid look on her face. Her hair was a bit tousled from sleeping and she was wearing the t-shirt I had given her the prior night. The shirt dwarfed her and went down to about her mid-thigh, but she still looked sexy to me.

"Hey" I said grinning at her. "You hungry?"

"Yeah." she said eagerly. "That smells really good."

"Well then grab some coffee or juice cause it's almost ready." I said. She helped herself to a glass of orange juice as I laid out the plates on my small kitchen table.

Once again, she dug into her food with gusto. "This is really good." she said eagerly between bites.

"Better than Vern's Teflon pancakes?" I asked and we both chuckled.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked.

"Oh my god yes." she said. "I haven't slept that well in a long time. You're spoiling me."

"You deserve to be spoiled." I said instantly and she gazed at me with her big brown eyes clearly not sure what to say.

"We'll get the rest of your things from the motel today." I told her. "You can stay here until you can get on your feet again. You don't have to stay there anymore and deal with that slimy manager."

"Thank you." she said her eyes tearing up.

"In exchange you can pay what you can to help with expenses here and at some point, you can tell me how you ended up in this spot." I said.

"Ok that's fair." she said looking somber.

"And if you feel like you need a woman to talk to Betty has said she's willing to talk to you." I added.

"Oh ok." she said.

We finished eating and dropped all the dishes in the sink. I was standing at the sink about to cut the water on but to my surprise she said, "Here I'll do this." as she booted me to the side with her hips.

I chuckled and said, "One night here and you already act like you own the place."

She looked over at me and grinned and I felt my heart flutter as she said, "Hey it's the least I can do." I grabbed a dish towel and dried while she washed, and we quickly had the kitchen cleaned up.

Once we got that done, she said, "You mind if I take a shower?"

"Sure, go ahead." I told her.

"Great." she said. "I need to do something about this bird's nest on my head."

She was about to head towards the hall and her room when she turned to me and said, "Oh, it's Saturday so by 11 I've either got to pay for other weeks rent or check out of the motel."

"Ok. Once you're done cleaning up, we'll go ahead and get your things from the hotel and turn your key in." I told her.

It was a little after 10 by the time Bambi and I got back to the motel and cleared the rest of her stuff out and put it in my SUV. Once we got the room cleared out, we headed down to the manager's office So Bambi could checkout and turn her key in. I could tell she was nervous as we got closer and closer to the office.

We walked into the office which looked no better than any other part of the motel and at first found it empty, the only thing making sound a small tv on the counter. Wanting to get this over with I tapped the bell on the counter with the ball of my fist. When nobody appeared after a few seconds I tapped the bell a couple more times before the bane of Bambi's existence slowly appeared from the back office behind the counter.

"Yes, yes, yes I'm coming god damn!" he said impatiently as he walked up to the counter. One look at him told me he was as about as shady as they come. He was middle aged with black greasy hair slicked back wearing a threadbare shirt and tie both stained. His look of impatience immediately went away when he saw Bambi and he suddenly looked lecherous. I was already ready to punch him.

"Ahh, how is my favorite customer?" he asked with an oily voice that would have made the devil himself shiver.

"Hello Stan." Bambi said.

"Another week then I guess?" Stan asked his eyes never leaving Bambi's body. So far, he hadn't even noticed I was there. "Will it be cash or special payment this week?"

"Actually, I'm checking out." Bambi said tentatively placing her key on the counter in front of her. "I found another place to live."

Stan suddenly looked disappointed. It was then that his eyes left Bambi's chest and he finally saw me. "Oh, found you a sugar daddy I see." he said.

I was about to say something when Bambi cut in, "Don't you dare talk about him like that. He's a lot kinder than you'll ever be."

Stan then gave her a conspiring grin as he appeared to consult the computer on the front desk. "Be that as it may it doesn't change the fact that you still owe $300 for back payments."

"No, I don't!" Bambi said.

"Ah but you do." Stan said turning the monitor to face her. Several red lines indicating late, or non-payments lined the screen under her name. "All must be paid at checkout, or I'll have to turn the matter over to collections and the police."

"But, but, but..." Bambi said sounding desperate.

"Of course, I could make those lines disappear..." Stan said his eyes back on Bambi's body.

I couldn't take it anymore. Already it had gone too far. I moved right beside Babmi where he couldn't help but see me and said in a voice of forced calm, "Do you know who Mike Jones is? Let me educate you since you clearly don't. He's the city's Director of Public Safety. The Safety Director is in charge of all Police and Fire officials in the city and he's an old friend of mine. I'm sure he'd be very interested in all the fire code violations that even a lay person could see around here." To emphasize my point, I pulled Mike's business card out of my pocket and laid it on the counter for him to see. Big plain letters spelled out, 'Mike Jones - Director of Public Safety' along with his contact information.

Stan suddenly went pale but wasn't ready to give up yet. "You can't intimidate me." he spat at me. "This building has never failed a fire inspection."

"Something else Mike would be very interested in since his mission since being appointed Safety Director has been cleaning out the crooked members of DPS." I said.

"Before he could respond I said, "All I've got to do is dial that number and Mike will be here personally to inspect the facility. He could shut this place down indefinitely. Now do you really want to deal with that, or do you want to let Bambi and I get out of here without any trouble?"

I could see the limited gears in his mind working before he finally said, "Fine! Get out of here both of you. You want her so bad you can have her. She'll use you just like she used me."

"Not until you clear that ledger." I said firmly. He looked ready to argue again but I picked up Mike's card again and that was enough for him to clear the red lines from Bambi's bill and check it off as settled.

Bambi and I turned to leave and as I ushered Bambi out the door I turned and said, "Oh and if I hear of you making anymore patrons give 'special payments' to pay for their rooms I will call Mike and not just about the fire code violations." All he could do is sneer at me as I shut the door behind me.

Bambi didn't wait for me as I said goodbye to Stan and was waiting by my SUV for me. As she saw me coming, she looked at me beaming.

"That was brilliant." she said.

As we got in the truck and I got the engine running I said, "That man is disgusting. I need a shower just from being in the same room as him. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to throttle him. I can't believe you had to put up with that."

Bambi seemed unsure of what to do at first as I vented on her. Even after my small tirade I was still seething inside as I drove down the road. A few minutes after my rant I felt her hand cover mine that was resting on the gear selector between us. I looked over at her briefly and she gave me a sweet smile that I couldn't help but return. That went a long way to making me feel better.

"Are you really friends with that guy Mike?" she finally asked.

"Well, I might have exaggerated when I said we we're old friends." I admitted. "I do know Mike through an acquaintance at the Safety Director's office. They've consulted with me before on IT issues, but we're far from being buddies.

"So, you couldn't really call him and send him to the motel for an inspection?" Bambi asked.

"Oh, I could call him and tell him." I said. "But it would probably go through the longer process of an anonymous tip being processed. I doubt Mike would rush over there just because I said something to him. But Stan doesn't know that."

"You're brilliant." Bambi said as she squeezed my hand as we drove on.