Toxic Attraction Ch. 10

Dan stood in the small kitchen thinking the proposal through. He knew in his bones this was a bad idea that would only invite this odd troll further into their lives. He tried to quiet his lustful urges - he knew where that direction led. But they needed help and Lester was offering. Dan decided that the best course was to make the decision with his wife. He didn't trust himself to handle this correctly. Dan turned to the living room.

"Sarah, baby, Lester, uh, wants to take you out on a date."

"Dates," Lester corrected, now facing Sarah.

Sarah's eyes grew wide, knowing now what the catch to Lester's help would be. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to conceal her curves.

"It isn't like that," Lester said, holding his hands up in front of him. "I don't want this to seem crude.."

His body language shifted again, his shoulders hunched forward and he stared at the ground. "I mean, yes, I enjoy my time with Sarah and I've enjoyed helping you two with your fantasy and all. But that's not what I'm offering." Lester paused, trying to approximate how what he said next should sound. He spoke haltingly. "Ever since Lizzie left me, I've just been sort of lonely here. I was hoping that if I helped with rent, I could take Sarah out once in a while."

Dan knew he shouldn't stand for this, but that darker part of him got the better of him. He asked, "What do you mean 'out'?"

"Like on a real date?" Sarah said, raising an eyebrow.

The thought of Lester leaving the apartment seemed preposterous to both of them.

"Exactly," Lester said, looking Dan's wife in the eyes. "Just a normal date with no expectations for anything else. Only some companionship."

Silence hung in the air as the three of them stood there. Dan narrowed his eyes at Lester, trying to figure him out. He had sorely underestimated Lester during their earlier encounters. He'd done the same with Jesse. Now he was trying to read the angles a little better.

"So?" Lester finally broke the silence, looking at Sarah, "What do you think?"

"I, uh," Sarah said, looking between Dan and Lester. "We'll talk about it."

Lester nodded and stalked back to his room. As Dan heard the door shut he looked at his wife, his eyebrows raised.

"Are we really considering this?" Dan felt tired. "We can't trust him, do we even know if he has the money to cover it?"

"I feel like he does, but we can always ask him to prove it," Sarah said. "This is just not what I was expecting. I thought we would just spend the rest of the day applying for jobs, not entertaining an offer from Lester."

"An offer to pimp you out," Dan muttered.

"He did just say 'date'. I don't really like it either. I know I can handle him, but just the idea of leaving you here to go out with him... it feels icky." Sarah sat back down, trying to distract herself with her cell phone.

"Let's go over the numbers again," Dan said. "If we keep all the bills the same, minus the areas you think we can cut, how long before we have to dip into our savings?"

Sarah sighed and looked up at him. "Honestly, we were barely keeping our heads above water before. I was going around the house like a hawk keeping the lights off to try and keep the bills low. I feel like we'll be dipping into what's left of our savings by next month."

One month. That's all the time Dan had before they started to deplete their meager savings. If he somehow got a miracle job interview this week, it would still probably be a while before they hired him, and who knew for how much? If he took Lester's offer they could take his reduced paycheck and build their savings back up, little by little. Enough to buy themselves some time.

He looked at Sarah. The expression on her face made him think she had done the same calculus.

"If," Dan said, raising one finger, "if we were to entertain Lester's offer. It would buy us some time. We would only do it for a little bit until we figure out our next move here."

"Not everybody gets a chance like this," Sarah added, "I bet a lot of your colleagues are going to be in worse off shape. We can make this work, we'll figure it out."

"Okay, fuck, I don't like it, but okay," Dan said as he stood up and passed Sarah on his way toward Lester's room. He knocked on the door and after a few seconds, Lester cracked it open.

"Yes?" Lester said, almost like he was pretending to have forgotten their last conversation.

"Sarah and I talked about it and we might consider taking you up on your offer. Can you really afford it?" Dan asked.

"One second," Lester said, closing his door. Dan stood there waiting around like a jackass. Lester opened the door and handed Dan a wad of cash. "Here, that should cover your half of the rent."

Normally Dan just paid his rent through his bank. Seeing the actual dollar bills in his hand made him pause for a second. It was a lot of money to hold in his hand, especially with how tight things had been the past four years.

"You," Dan started, "you...just keep stacks of cash lying around your apartment?"

Lester narrowed his eyes at him. "I try not to advertise it, thank you."

"Okay, got it," Dan said, breaking his gaze on the cash in his hand. He looked up into Lester's beady eyes. "I guess we have a deal. But remember, it's just dates. No funny business."

"If that's what Sarah wants," Lester smirked. "Oh, and I forgot one thing. The first date is tonight."

"Tonight?" Dan said. "That's too soon."

"I just gave you a bunch of cash to cover your rent, I'd say I earned it. Besides that covers this month's rent and you could have Sarah stay back home the rest of the month."

"Tell her we leave at eight." Lester shut his door, effectively ending the conversation.

Dan stood there facing the closed door. This offer felt too good to be true. As he walked back to the living room he wondered which of the predicaments he found himself in was worse.

***

"This feels weird," Dan sat on his bed, watching Sarah as she got dressed.

"I know," his wife said as she stood in front of the full-length mirror, wearing just a sheer black thing with lace trim that framed her ass perfectly and a strapless bra that unclasped in the front. For a strapless bra, Dan was impressed with how well it pushed her breasts up, creating an impressive cleavage. She was applying her lipstick, one of the last phases of her makeup routine. "Like you said, it's only for the short term while we figure things out."

"Yeah..." Dan said, staring at his wife. She looked incredibly sexy as always, but he just couldn't imagine her out with Lester in public. For so long this situation had been contained inside this apartment where he felt he had some level of control over it. There hadn't been many times when he had just left Sarah alone with Lester either. "Do you have to get all dolled up? You look really sexy right now, I just feel weird you are doing all this for him."

Sarah turned and looked at him. "Are you implying I don't usually look this sexy?"

She started to walk toward him with her sultry bedroom eyes, the ones that meant he was either in trouble or about to get lucky.

"Uh, you know what I mean," Dan said, trying to hold her gaze.

"This isn't for Lester," Sarah continued, closing the distance between them. "This is for me. As much as I'd love to just throw my hair in a bun and go in my sweatpants, I like looking somewhat presentable when I go out. I don't particularly like anyone looking at me and thinking I look like a mess."

"You've never looked like a mess one day in your life," Dan added.

"Exactly," Sarah said as she sat down on the bed next to him. "I'll have this little 'date' with Lester. It's kind of sad, really. Anyway, when I get back, I'm all yours. I think I finished up earlier today."

"Finished up, meaning.." Things finally clicked for Dan. "You are off your week?"

Sarah nodded. "So let's have Lester pay for rent this month and pay for whatever it is we are doing tonight. And then when I come back, you get to take me to bed while he listens in from the next room."

Dan smiled at that. "You're evil."

Sarah laughed and the sexy, mischievous look returned to her face. She got up from the bed and grabbed the dress that was hanging up waiting for her. She'd already ironed it. As she began to put it on, Dan felt his erection growing; it looked incredibly sexy on her, even though on the hanger it had masqueraded as conservative formal wear.

The black dress exposed Sarah's bare shoulders and the top of her chest. The neckline sat right on her breasts, just covering the strapless bra underneath. There was a single sequined strap that was part of the dress before it changed into a gold chain that ran over her shoulders. The dress hugged her midsection and hips before draping down and falling past her knees. Somehow the subtle lines of the dress kept the focus on her curves.

"Can you zip me up?" Sarah asked, turning her back to him. The tight material of the dress stretched over her ass. Dan knew that men would be drooling over her tonight and he wouldn't be there to protect her, or even to watch it happen. The dress had a small slit in the back between her legs that exposed the backs of her knees and a bit of thigh.

Dan adjusted himself as he stepped over and zipped up the back of her dress. "God, you look amazing." Dan pressed himself into his wife's covered backside, showing her how hard she'd made him.

Sarah smiled as she reached over and grabbed her earrings. "Mmmhm, thank you." She pushed her ass back into him, signaling her anticipation for their post-date fun.

She slipped on a pair of black heels and then applied the final touch to her outfit, sliding her wedding ring onto her finger. "Going to miss me?"

"Terribly," Dan said. "I still can't believe we are going through with this. This isn't how I expected today to go."

"I know," Sarah said, stepping up to him and cupping his cheek. "Me neither. But we've always figured out how to move forward in the past. This is just a little speed bump before we get back on track."

Dan sighed, "You're right." He took a second and then asked. "Hon, do you still have the videos of you and Lester? That you made... that night?" He tried not to sound too plaintive, but his eyes belied a hint of desperation. "Maybe they'd help get me going so I'll be ready when you get back."

"Oh, no baby, I'm sorry. I deleted them. That it happened was a mistake and I didn't feel right with them still on my phone." Sarah's eyes were downcast as she gave her husband a peck on the cheek. She'd deleted the videos Thursday night, afraid that her bath time ritual of watching what she'd done with Lester was becoming too routine.

Dan nodded, an understanding look on his face. He seemed ready to accept that the moment was lost. "Alright, let's get on with this then."

The couple exited the bedroom and walked out to the living room, Sarah's heels clicking on the hardwood floor. It took ten minutes before Lester emerged from his bedroom, finally ready. Dan scoffed, thinking back to the rule that you never make a good-looking woman wait.

Lester had obviously tried his best to look nice but was still a mess. His clothes appeared new but the proportions looked off; the black pants and button-up navy dress shirt looked too big on him, like he was trying to hide his shambling body. Lester had tried to slick his hair to the side, but it looked unnatural and oily. He'd neglected to shave his stubble which covered part of his face and ran down the length of his neck. Dan almost felt sorry for the guy.

"Ready to go?" Lester asked, wearing his patented shit-eating grin. For a little bridge troll, this guy sure did have an outsized level of confidence.

"I am," Sarah responded, stepping up to Dan and purposely planting a long kiss on his lips. Dan knew the kiss was meant to reassure him but was also a deliberate play in front of Lester, signifying her love and commitment to her husband.

"Where are you going?" Dan asked.

"Dinner. Italian spot in Little Italy. Very romantic." Lester said.

Dan rolled his eyes, continuing to hold Sarah in his arms. He looked into her eyes and then whispered into her ear, "Have fun, and hurry back."

"I will, I love you." Sarah smiled. She grabbed her clutch and walked out the door that Lester was holding open.

As the door swung shut on its own, Dan was standing in the apartment alone. "I love you, too."

He stood there for a few seconds, his brain catching up with his immediate problems, trying to sort through them. I need to keep moving forward.

Dan grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and sat down in one of the living room chairs. He'd remembered to avoid the couch this time. He opened his laptop and began looking through the job boards again, trying to find any new openings he might've missed earlier. Given that it was the weekend, no new jobs were popping out to him. He shifted tactics and reached back out to some old colleagues, seeing if anything was open or was about to open up at their firms. He tried to stay preoccupied and tried not to think about his wife out with his roommate, but his thoughts inevitably betrayed him.

The idea of Sarah and Lester walking into a restaurant and people assuming that she was his made his skin crawl. Though the predictable erection still began to form in his pants. He needed to get this fantasy under control.

He pictured Lester's hand on her bare back as he guided her towards their table, his eyes on her perfect ass as she slid into her seat. Standing next to her as she was seated, her face at the same level as his crotch. Lester pulling her into a back room...

Dan set his computer aside and went back into the kitchen. This time instead of water, he poured himself a glass of whiskey. He downed it in one gulp.

His thoughts drifted back to the previous night and his inaction; he had just sat there and watched as Lester did what he wanted with Sarah. This wasn't the first time he'd reacted this way, like a passive bystander watching events unfold in front of him. He'd known for a long time now that he'd wanted to see Sarah in a situation like this. Part of him felt like if he said anything, he would risk ruining the fantasy playing out in front of him. The other part of him just wanted to stay in the shadows and watch how his wife reacted without him there, seeing her fully give in to her lust.

Dan poured himself a second glass and headed back to his laptop. He had to keep moving forward.

***

Sarah and Lester rode down the elevator in silence. It was awkward but Sarah barely noticed, her thoughts dominated by the new financial reality that she found herself in. She just wanted an opportunity to take a breath away from the stress they'd experienced the last couple of years.

It felt like the hits kept coming. Not only was Dan away from them, but now the job he had taken as a compromise was cutting his pay. Their income was already less than they were used to; she wondered how they were going to dig themselves out of this hole.

The elevator doors opened and Lester held them open as she exited. Sarah clasped her coat tightly as they walked across the windy parking lot. Lester led her to a black SUV tucked behind the side of the building. He fumbled opening the passenger door and then let her in. At least he was trying to play the part of the gentleman.

Sarah slid over the leather seat as Lester closed the door. She noted that the car's interior needed a good cleaning, it was dusty and there were some fast food wrappers in the backseat; the cupholders were filled with receipts and old fountain drinks.

She'd have to talk to him about cleaning out his car before they went on their next date, otherwise she would insist on taking an Uber. Why am I thinking about there being another date?

"So where are we heading, again?" Sarah asked, trying to break the silence as Lester started the car.

Lester began backing the car out of its space. "A nice little Italian restaurant called the Rosebud."

"What's good there?" Sarah stared out the window as they began their drive. Despite all the times she'd visited Dan, she hadn't seen a ton of the city. She had spent most of her time in the apartment. Sure, they'd gone out a few times and seen some sights, but she still felt like she was just beginning to discover this city.

"Uh, everything," Lester replied without any further elaboration. Normally Sarah would try to engage in small talk, she hated awkward silences, but this time she was fine with it. Her mind was preoccupied with turning over ways she and Dan could try to remedy their current situation. It would be hard for her to pick up any extra shifts and she'd already asked her parents to watch the kids a bit too often for her liking.

Maybe there was something she could do on the side from home, or something that Dan could do in his off hours. She hated the idea and also hated that thinking about a way out of this was dominating her mind.

Her trips to Chicago were supposed to be a little break from the everyday worries and stress of her life. Now all she was doing was focusing on her stress.

She closed her eyes and let out a long breath, trying to focus on the present and not let her stress control her. Just try to have a good time this weekend, your issues are still going to be there tomorrow. Deal with them then.

Sarah sneaked a glance over at Lester as he drove. She had to admit it looked kind of funny seeing him behind the wheel of a vehicle; it just wasn't something she had imagined before. Normally she'd have thought someone like him driving a large SUV was likely compensating for something but, in this case, she knew that wasn't true. Still, he looked out of place behind the wheel, as if driving wasn't entirely comfortable for him.

He had come through with a band-aid solution to their problem. Covering Dan's rent this month bought them some time. He talked like he could do it for a longer term, but could he really afford that? Sarah didn't exactly know what he did but she knew that he barely left the apartment.

Still, the extra cash for rent made their financial situation less dire than it otherwise might have been. Dan coming back to the room with the stack of cash from Lester had been such a relief. If little dates with him were the price to pay, so be it. But she wasn't stupid - she knew what a man usually expected after a date.

Eventually he is going to want more. Despite what Lester said about not having any further expectations of their arrangement, she knew that would eventually change, if it was ever true in the first place. He had explicitly stated his expectation the night before and she had gotten carried away with her dirty talk and agreed to it. Sarah suddenly felt the tension in the car, remembering her lustful urges and her unrestrained responses to Lester's demands.

She noticed her nipples growing uncomfortable against the fabric of her dress. She had been mortified earlier when her nipples had gotten hard as Lester was laying out his proposal to them. She had crossed her arms and covered them, hoping Dan and Lester hadn't noticed.

It was bad enough that she hadn't immediately felt repulsed by Lester's touch as he'd started to massage her shoulders. It hadn't felt terrible -- luckily Dan had intervened on her behalf. Lester was becoming a regular presence in her life - he wasn't her husband, but he was helping. It made sense that she'd warmed to him a little.

Lester pulled into a small parking space on the street in front of an old-looking restaurant. The place must have been here for decades and seemed to embody the charm of a bygone era. As she undid her seat belt, Lester reached for her thigh as if to stroke it. But Sarah got out of the car, not having seen the gesture, much to Lester's dismay as he plodded around attempting to open the door for her.