Toxic Attraction Ch. 07

Dan pinched the bridge of his nose as he sunk back into his seat on the plane. He tried to drone out the noises around him and concentrate on catching some sleep. These past few months had been a whirlwind of stress and tonight was no exception.

It was the end of the week and he was supposed to be heading back to his apartment. He wanted nothing more than a nice quiet night alone where he could watch Netflix and order in some food. Instead, the incompetence of his company had him back on a flight to personally smooth over some issues with the Lincoln Group's project. It seemed like whatever he didn't directly touch on this project turned to shit and Walt had insisted that Dan and Jesse immediately go and fix the issue. Walt had apparently held off informing them until close to the end of the day, which really pissed Dan off.

Dan opened one eye and peeked at his coworker. Jesse was sitting next to him, face down in his phone. Dan rolled his eye before closing it again. Walt had been impressed with their last outing and seemed to be under the impression that Jesse and he were becoming a great team. Having Jesse around was just one more thing Dan would need to manage. Jesse had almost insulted the client last time, who knew what he would do on this trip.

Dan pried his eyes open and checked his watch. It was 6 PM. A quick flight to Minnesota, meet Byron again, fix the issue and catch the first flight back tomorrow morning.

"So uhmm, what's the game plan when we get there?" Jesse had noticed Dan checking his watch.

"We check in and go meet with Byron. You follow my lead." Dan said looking at the younger man. "And this time, don't try to insult the client. Just nod your head and smile. Got it?"

"Easy enough, I guess," Jesse said as he turned back to his phone.

Dan sighed and realized he might have been too hard on the kid. "So, do you know if they booked us separate rooms this time?"

Jesse scoffed. "I doubt it, Walt seems cheap as hell."

Dan knew it was more complicated than that. Walt had alluded to the company being in a precarious financial position. He really didn't want to but perhaps he should polish up his resume this weekend and start looking elsewhere. It had just taken him so long to land this job, how long would the next take? Things weren't great right now but they were at least stable; looking in from the outside, there was just no way to know how a new job would turn out.

"Ummm," Jesse was trying to verbalize a thought but seemed to be struggling with it. "Is, er, your wife coming on this trip again?"

Dan looked at him blankly and then feigned a look around the crowded cabin.

"Jesse," he said mustering all the patience he could. "Walt just put us on this flight at the very last minute. We literally took a taxi right from the office and barely made this flight. Do you see my wife here anywhere? No, she isn't coming."

It was only then that Dan realized he had been in such a hurry to get to the airport and clear security that he'd neglected to update his wife on the situation. He reached into his bag under the seat in front of him and fished out his phone.

"Oh, right, right, that makes sense," Jesse mumbled. "She just seemed nice. I liked her last time, ya know."

Dan gave him a thin smile and nodded. I bet you did.

Dan pressed the button to call Sarah, leaning as close to the window as possible, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and his coworker.

"Hey!" Sarah's angelic voice said from his phone. "You've reached Sarah Williams, unfortunately, I can't get to the phone right now. If you leave your name and number, I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

Dan hung up and decided to send her a quick text message instead. She was probably busy cleaning up after the kids' dinner and getting them ready for bed. A ding rang out from overhead, followed by a gruff voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Hopper from the flight deck. Pacific Airlines welcomes you on board this non-stop flight to Minnesota. We're going to depart a little early here to get ahead of this winter storm rolling into Chicago. It's supposed to be a bad one. We should be touching down at approximately 7:15 PM."

"At this time, please make sure that your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position and that your seat belt is correctly fastened. Also, your portable electronic devices must be set to 'airplane' mode until an announcement is made upon arrival. Thank you."

"Flight cabin crew, please prepare for gate departure.'

Dan finished sending the message to his wife and then slumped back into his chair as the plane started taxing on the runway.

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Sarah heard her phone ringing but didn't take her eyes off the road. Her phone was somewhere in her purse but she didn't dare look down. Both her hands were clenching the steering wheel as her car was battered by snow.

Normally when she drove up to visit Dan, it was a fairly leisurely trip. This time she felt like she was on an episode of ice road truckers. As she'd dropped her kids off with her parents, her father had warned her that the weather was supposed to get bad and suggested that perhaps she should reconsider.

But at the time, things had looked clear and she thought she could make it ahead of the storm. She had really wanted to surprise Dan with a visit. It had been weeks since she had last been able to sneak away into the city. Her mind began drifting back to the unplanned events of that night after their little trip. To what had happened when she'd realized it wasn't Dan who was behind her.

Things had gone further than she intended. She hadn't even planned on involving Lester that night. But then Dan had sent Lester to her to secretly take his place. She couldn't believe what happened. Lester had played his part perfectly, never letting her know it was actually him behind her. She felt butterlfies in her stomach at the thought of doing those naughty things on front of Dan.

Lester just took her, right in front of Dan, he wanted her so badly, he threw caution to the wind and just went for it. That drove her insane with lust, knowing she has turned on a guy so much he was willing to be that aggressive and want her so much. She knew Dan would love it, Lester was insane with lust and wanted it, and she was fulfilling her deepest fantasy in pleasing two guys at once who were both delirious with desire for her.

Rubbing her thighs together her breath caught as she thought of their conversation after that incredible evening, about how Lester entered her bare and almost fucked her. She still didn't fully know where she landed on the idea. It should never in a thousand years even be a consideration. But after so many times involving Lester in person and in their role play, of course she now thought about it. How could she not? But it seemed like it would cross an invisible line of no return. She didn't know what the consequences would be. The only thing she knew for sure was that she and Dan needed to be on the same page about it --

Sarah's thought snapped back to reality as she passed another SUV that had gotten stuck in a ditch. It was the third she had seen already. Sarah turned her windshield wipers up to full speed to combat the barrage of snow blanketing her vision.

As she reached down to turn on her four-way signals she heard a ding from her phone. A text message. Whoever it was would just have to wait.

Sarah could barely see in front of her. She could faintly make out the headlights of the oncoming cars on the other side of the highway. That road looked much rougher than the lanes she was driving in.

One thing was for sure. She couldn't turn around now. It would be too dangerous. She was already halfway to Dan's apartment. Soon she would surprise him and he would warm her up.

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Dan tried calling Sarah again in the taxi from the airport but it went to voicemail again. He texted her 'Everything okay?' and then switched apps to look at the latest exchange with Byron. Another colleague of Dan's had failed to include sustainable design specifications in the latest project update to the Lincoln Group. Dan had naively assumed that people would do their jobs correctly and he wouldn't have to micromanage them. Now Byron was questioning whether Dan's company had the expertise to lead a project with these ambitious goals.

Dan had quickly created the necessary material but Walt had insisted he go present it in person to rectify the situation.

After tipping the taxi driver and retrieving their bags, Jesse and Dan made their way into the hotel lobby. Dan felt a bit crestfallen at being back in these familiar surroundings without his wife. As they were halfway to the reception desk, his phone began to ring.

"Go check us in," Dan said to Jesse as he fished his phone out of his pocket. "I'll be right there."

Dan anxiously looked at his phone and frowned. The incoming call was from Byron. He sighed and answered it.

"Byron," he said, feigning as much enthusiasm as he could muster. "How's it going? We just landed and are checking into the hotel. We'll meet you at the office in twenty minutes."

"Don't bother," Byron said loudly, speaking over significant background noise. "I already left the office for the night. I'm out with a few co-workers around the corner at a bar. Come here. okay? You can present the changes here."

"Present the changes at a bar..." Dan trailed off as he stared out across the lobby. "Yeah, sure. We'll be there soon. What's the name of the place?"

As Dan took down the details and finished his call up with Byron, Jesse waved him over. Dan approached the reception desk, ready to solve yet another problem.

"What's up?" Dan asked, looking back and forth between the receptionist and Jesse.

"Uh, they need a credit card for...." Jesse looked back at the receptionist.

"For the incidentals," she said, smiling.

Dan rolled his eyes at Jesse and took out his wallet. "Of course."

He handed his wallet to the receptionist and eyed Jesse with contempt. Useless.

After a couple of minutes, they retrieved their room key. The receptionist confirmed that their company had only booked one room again. On the way up the elevator Dan said "Bryon asked us to meet him at a bar a couple of blocks away."

"Okay," Jesse said while staring down at his phone screen.

Dan led the way down the hallway and opened the door to their room. He walked in dragging his suitcase behind him, not bothering to hold the door for Jesse. The door began to close on Jesse who was still looking down at his phone.

Dan appraised the room. Standard hotel room, with two queen beds. Dan threw his suitcase on the bed furthest from the door and headed into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, Dan and Jesse were walking into the bar.

"Hey!" A slurred voice shouted out. Byron was waving them down from the back of the dimly lit room. Dan walked over holding a stack of papers outlining the changes to the project. He slid into the booth next to some of Byron's colleagues and exchanged pleasantries with them. Jesse thankfully followed his cue and did the same.

As Dan was preparing to present the changes to Byron, the man cut him off, "Dan, we can order a round of drinks for the table, right?"

We? Dan shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Of course."

He flagged down a waitress and ordered a round of drinks. He grimaced, knowing how much drinking might lie ahead of him to satisfy his client.

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As Sarah pulled into the parking lot of Dan's apartment and turned off her car, an enveloping cold crept into the vehicle. She quickly grabbed her purse and overnight bag and braved the blistering winds outside.

Despite wearing a coat, the cold seemed to bite into her immediately. She hurried across the frozen parking lot, past mounds of snow that hid cars underneath. She couldn't believe how quickly the weather had turned or how intense the storm had gotten. Thunder rumbled somewhere behind her, beyond the wall of downpouring snow.

Her teeth were chattering as she finally reached the building. She fumbled as she searched for her key to the building, her hands shaking. Once she found it and let herself in, the warmth of the apartment lobby hit her immediately.

On the ride up in the elevator to Dan's floor, she remembered that her phone had been ringing earlier during her drive. She located her phone in her purse just as the elevator doors opened. Her heart skipped a beat as she read a message from Dan.

"Walt sent me to Minnesota last minute. Fucking sucks. I'll try to call you when I land. Love you."

Dan had tried calling a few more times. Another message read, "Everything okay?"

Shit. Dan wasn't here and Sarah couldn't go back out into that weather. She would have to spend the night alone in Chicago.

Not alone. Lester is going to be in the apartment. Sarah grimaced at the realization that she was going to be alone with Lester for the first time in a long while. So much had happened since then, he had grown so much more bold. Hopefully he wouldn't even know she was there and be too immersed in whatever it was he was doing on his computer.

The lights in the hallway flickered off for a few seconds. Sarah froze in place. It didn't matter that Lester was there. She needed to get inside and warm up. Dan would be back in the morning. She could just ignore Lester until then.

She walked down the hallway determined not to let the situation get the better of her. She opened the door to Dan's apartment and was enveloped by darkness.

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A blinking notification drew Lester's eyes away from the battle on his screen. Ned was rallying his group in a fierce battle against Kil'Jaeden the Commander of the Burning Legion. Ned's voice in his ears began to be drowned out by the beating in Lester's chest.

Sarah Williams had just entered the apartment. Alone. Dan had never returned from work today.

Lester raised an eyebrow and quickly exited his game. Ned and their crew would have to wait.

The heroine had entered the monster's lair.

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Byron wouldn't even look at the papers that Dan had brought. He kept telling Dan he would look at them after the next round of drinks, which he heavily implied that Dan ought to be the one to order.

With the drinks flowing and the group becoming a bit more lively and rambunctious, Dan was trying his best to keep the papers safe. Beer was spilled on the table several times along with some sauce from different shareable plates. Dan had tucked the papers down into the seat next to him for safekeeping.

Dan hadn't drunk a drop of alcohol since the last time he'd been in Minnesota. He found his tolerance to be quite low these days. After just a few beers, he was already feeling the effects. He looked around at the others in the group. They seemed to be handling things much better than he was. Dan suspected that Byron took this group out regularly after work, though he probably didn't have someone like Dan buying the drinks for them.

Jesse was clearly feeling the effects of the beer but didn't look too worse for wear.

Byron was preoccupied with telling an elaborate story to the table, so Dan took out his phone to see if Sarah had responded to his earlier messages. His mouth almost hit the floor when he saw that he'd missed a call from her. Her text message read:

> Sorry I missed your call. I was driving to Chicago to surprise you tonight. Couldn't check my phone because the weather is crazy bad outside.

Dan thumbed back a response.

> You're in Chicago? Where are you? Are you at the apartment alone!?

The group around him laughed uproariously, but Dan was too distracted to notice. Sarah had to be at the apartment. She was alone there with Lester. After what had happened last time, the idea made him light-headed. Or maybe that was just the alcohol rushing to his brain. Either way, he was going to go crazy sitting here. He was about to thumb the call button when Byron called him.

"What's the matter Dan?" Byron called. "Don't you think it's funny?"

Dan covertly slid his phone back into his pocket and focused his attention back on his client. "Sorry, Byron, got distracted with some home stuff. I missed what you said."

Byron looked deflated for an instant before recovering. "Well, how about a round of shots to make it up to me?"

Before Dan could respond, Byron hailed a waitress.

"Jager," he said loudly over the thumping music. He mimed a circle around the table and then pointed at Dan while miming writing a check on a piece of paper. She got the message and left for the bar. Before long she returned with a tray laden with shot glasses filled with dark liquid. The waitress started handing them out to the table and everyone did a shot, including Dan and Jesse.

Dan checked his watch. It was getting late and he wasn't sure there was a flight back to Chicago tonight. But maybe he could still wrap this up in time to catch an earlier flight. He learned toward Byron, "Hey! Can I show you what we've put together for you now?"

Byron clapped him on the back and took a swig of his beer. "Later, man. We're still having a good time here. My team needs time to unwind after a stressful day, especially after the fuck up on your end."

"Right," Dan replied. "Makes sense."

All Dan wanted to do was take out his phone and call Sarah, but he didn't want to get on Byron's bad side before he got him to sign off on the updated paperwork. He gratefully grabbed the pint of beer in front of him and took a long drink.

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> Yeah I'm here in Chicago at the apartment. I think Lester is here but I haven't checked. I'm just settling into your room before I grab a quick shower. When are you coming back? Tomorrow or later? I have to head back Sunday morning latest.

Sarah sat on the bed waiting impatiently for Dan to text her back. She suspected he had to entertain Byron again which would explain his slow responses. She shivered.

She was still wearing her clothes from the drive, hoping to connect with Dan before jumping in the shower to quickly warm up. The bite of the snowstorm seemed to have permanently emplaced goosebumps on her skin. She couldn't wait to get in the shower.

It had been almost ten minutes since she had texted Dan. She couldn't wait any longer. Sarah stood up and began to peel off her sweatshirt but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Lester.

She pulled the hoodie back down. She glanced quickly at her phone. Still no response from Dan. Reluctantly, Sarah crossed the bedroom and opened the door. Lester stood there looking dishevelled. He was wearing only an oversized beige t-shirt, likely once white, and a pair of boxers. She had clearly arrived before he'd had a chance to put himself together. At least she had surprised someone with her visit, she smirked.

"Where's Dan?" Lester breathed at her.

Sarah was unsure how much detail it was wise to share with Lester, but after her harrowing drive, she wanted to mention the situation to someone. "He had a last-minute flight for work but he'll be back soon. I just got in. Got caught in that snowstorm outside.

"Snowstorm?" Lester asked. Evidently, he hadn't looked outside in the past couple of hours. Probably playing little games on his computer.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad out there." Sarah did not elaborate further, trying to end the conversation. Lester stood there awkwardly, not saying anything. Clearly, he had other motives than just talking about the weather. Sarah knew what he was probably thinking.

"So," Lester started. "What are we going to be doing tonight?"

"We?" Sarah crossed her arms. "Lester, there is no 'we' without Dan. Got it?"

Lester took one step forward. "Are you sure you don't need help warming up after that snowstorm?"