Traffic Girl - Juliet Ch. 36

Author's Note: The Daydream drama comes to a resounding end -- at least for now. No sex here, but hopefully you'll find it at least somewhat tense and rewarding!

* * *

One day went by without any word from Kayla regarding Jess's offer. Then a second. On the third day, Jess called her but got no answer. We could have sat around and speculated about what it all meant, but we didn't. We took action. Jess texted her. She called Kim and Ginger to see if they had heard from her -- they hadn't. But within a couple hours? Kayla texted back.

"Can we meet?" she asked.

"Yes," Jess replied. "Daydream office. You name the time. I'm free all day."

We all waited nervously for the reply. This was a high-stakes drama. But, I reminded myself, the outcome didn't truly matter. I wanted it to work out -- I wanted it for Jess because I knew it was important to her, and I loved her. We all did. But Daydream was so new, I felt like Jess could get over it quickly. Plus, we had made a huge breakthrough emotionally regarding everything that was going on. We were working toward a better place.

"1 p.m.?" Kayla wrote back.

"See you then," Jess said, looked up, and told us the news.

"Shit," Rita said, looking at her watch. It was already 11:30. "I need to get ready if we're going to do this."

"I still don't get how you're sure she's going to bring Manny," I said.

"She'll bring Manny," Jess said.

"It's the last play," Rita said. "He hates the deal. Obviously. But I know Manny and men like him. He'll think he can force his way around it. He'll try to bully his way through to the end. It's his defining characteristic, even if he can be a lot of fun. And he'll really think he can push Jess around."

"And that's why you're going to make sure he never gets the chance," Kat said.

"Precisely," Rita said.

"I won't protest anymore," I said. "But please, please be careful. This could go sideways."

Rita stood up and smiled at me. Her flat midriff showed above her tennis skirt and below her short athletic shirt. She looked at me with shining, confident eyes.

"Don't forget, my love," Rita said, "I have one key advantage. He doesn't know what's coming. He'll never know what's hit him."

* * *

About an hour later, Jess and Rita were ready to go. Jess kept it casual, with her typical beautiful summer day summer dress. It was green with daisies on it but went down nearly to her knee and tied around her neck -- a much more conservative look than she usually employed. Rita, on the other hand, wore a short, fluted skirt that looked as if you could just reach up under it without even ruffling the fabric. She wore a tight button-down blouse a size too small, which gaped lewdly at her cleavage. Her makeup was heavier than usual. She wore red lipstick. This was a wholly different version of Rita. And it was intentional.

"Wish us luck!" Jess said with a smile and a wave.

I could tell she had a mixture of confidence and nerves coursing through her. I smiled back at her and gave her a nod of encouragement. Rita brushed past me, and I took her hand briefly.

"Be careful," I said again. "Please."

"I will," Rita said.

We walked them to the car and watched them until they disappeared down the driveway. It became a waiting game, and so we waited. It was hellish. And possibly the longest two hours of my life. I couldn't eat anything, so Kat, Katie, and I drank some rosé by the pool and took an edible -- in a nod to Katie's dislike of smoking. We tried making small talk, but mostly we just rehashed the Daydream issues and hoped it would go well. It was agonizing, but the weed buzz kicking in helped, as did the mild buzz from the wine.

And then we heard the front door open and close, and bolted upright from our lounge chairs at the pool. We hurried toward the French doors leading to the patio, only to be met by Jess and Rita. They were poker-faced, with the only unusual aspect being that Rita was holding a smoldering joint. It was a moment burned into my brain forever, although it couldn't have lasted more than a second or two before they both broke into massive smiles.

Rita took a huge drag from the joint and raised her eyebrows at me while she held the smoke.

"My turn," Jess said, taking the joint from Rita's hand. "No fair that I was driving."

She took a pull and let the plume of smoke out quickly, while Rita still held hers.

"We're dying!" Kat exclaimed.

"Tell us what happened!" Katie implored.

"Success," Rita said with a cocky, pleased smile as she exhaled the weed smoke. "Total success."

"This girl," Jess said, giving the joint back to Rita and framing her with arms like a game show presenter, "is the fucking queen of cunning. I am indebted to her forever!"

"So?" I said, dying to know what it meant.

"Manny is out of the picture," Rita said, taking another hit. "God, sorry, but it was so intense, I really just needed to smoke out and relax from the adrenaline. I thought I might pass out after it was all over."

"Kayla is on board," Jess said. "I've got her at fifteen-percent as of today. And Manny will not be a problem."

"How?" Kat said. "I want every detail."

"Does this call for a celebration?" I said. "Champagne?"

"Yes, definitely," Jess said, stubbing out the spent joint.

I took a bit of liberty by assuming this would be a major celebration and pulled out a rare magnum of Cristal Rosé. By the time Jess and Rita had finished filling us in on the details of that afternoon, the bottle didn't even seem quite special enough to mark the occasion.

Jess's part of the equation was pretty easy. Kayla had gotten the full-court-press from Manny about turning down her offer. He couldn't stand the thought of being frozen out, but even more so having perceived control out of his hands. But Jess sweetened her initial equity stake, bumping it from ten percent to fifteen. She added a fifth year on the contract, with a substantial buyout. And, within an hour or so, Kayla had signed on the dotted line.

"It's an offer I can't refuse," she had told Jess. "Damn the consequences."

Jess had expressed some concerns about those consequences. She knew they involved Manny, and as Kayala tentatively opened up to her, it became immediately clear she was mostly worried about his temper. And defying him. In the end, Jess explained, Kayla's intimations only made her more convinced that keeping her in the Daydream fold was the right thing to do and that getting Manny out was the only safe course.

At the same time, Kayla's revelations had made Jess terrified about what was happening outside her office at the Daydream house. That's where Rita, who had waited in the car until she saw Kayla and Manny arrive, had "accidentally" stopped by to see if Jess wanted to have a late lunch. Rita, of course, bumped into Manny. And it was showtime.

Rita told us the narrative slowly, allowing it to unfold and the drama to build. It was also clear to me that she needed to be deliberate in her retelling because her nerves were still shaky from the adrenaline. She made a point to steady herself by clasping my hand with her free one, while holding her Champagne glass in the other.

When she walked into the Daydream office, Manny was sitting by himself on the sofa in the living room, which essentially served as a waiting room and entertainment area. There was a large TV on the wall, which usually played the company's productions on a loop.

"I stepped inside, and Manny was there watching his scene with Ginger," Rita explained. "He had four lines of coke cut up on the conference table, but I could tell he was coked up. He was sitting there, fidgeting, rubbing his nose, loving seeing himself on the screen.

"When I walked in, my heels hit the wood floor, and he looked up right away. You should have seen the grin on this motherfucker's face," she continued. "I knew right then that I had a shot to pull this off. He was fucked up and drinking his own Kool-Aid."

"God, girl, you are killing me!" Kat said.

"Okay, okay," Rita said, her hand gripping mine tighter. "I'll get to it."

"It's good," Jess said with emphasis.

"When I saw Manny like that, king of his fucking couch, something changed in me," Rita said. "I just, I don't know. It's like I became someone else. I knew exactly what I had to do, and it was as if, god, I don't know how to describe it. Like I morphed into the thing I needed to become to accomplish the task."

"You are so fucking stoned," Katie said, and everyone laughed.

I shot her a look, and she smiled at me. Katie was finally getting truly comfortable. We were becoming a stronger core.

"Well, I need it! But it's not like I'm fucked up!" Rita protested light-heartedly. "Where was I? Right, okay, So I assessed the situation right away and just undid a couple buttons on my top. I'm so embarrassed, guys. I've never done anything like this."

"You did it for a good cause," I reminded her.

Rita sat upright, set her glass on the coffee table, and smoothed out her skirt. She had regained her composure and started to move through the story quickly but in gripping detail.

When they had arrived at the office, Jess had done some furniture rearranging. She pushed back and to the side the armchairs adjacent to the couch, making conversation too awkward to sit there. So Rita greeted Manny, who didn't bother to stand up, and sat down next to him.

"Look at that," Manny said. "She loves it. She loves it when I spit in her mouth. She can't get enough. Especially when I slap her."

He bent down and snorted two more lines of coke, barely registering that Rita sat there.

"I'm not looking at her," Rita said.

"Oh?" Manny said, finally glancing over at her.

"Your dick looks even bigger on screen," Rita said.

Manny shifted in his seat and didn't make any attempt to conceal that he was adjusting his cock.

"I remember you," he said. "Very pretty. Big tits."

Rita shifted, tucking one leg under herself and turning toward him.

"I love my tits, I can't lie," she said.

"You want some?" Manny said, gesturing to the blow.

"Oh, gosh, thank you," Rita said, making a point to lock her eyes on his. "But I was just hoping to get Jess out of here soon."

"She won't be long," Manny said cockily.

What Manny hadn't known at that point was that Jess and Kayla were deep into negotiations on finalizing the deal. The final couple issues -- including term and a little more equity -- were the only sticking points. But Jess knew she had to keep Kayla occupied until Rita gave the signal.

That's when Rita began her flattery offensive. She peppered Manny with questions about the business -- all of them she knew the answer to. She complimented his performance. She asked him about Ginger and, when the TV rolled into Manny's scene with Kim, asked him about her. This was a pure ego stroke. It was on purpose. And Manny finally started to take the bait.

"He just started riffing nonstop about how all women need a big dick and a rough fuck from a man who knows how to take control," Rita said. "So I started to subtly change my body language. Of course, I don't think that mattered. But he definitely picked up on it."

Manny moved closer to her on the couch. He confidently put his hand on her thigh, squeezing it. And Rita promptly and firmly picked it up to remove it. She held up her engagement ring and said, "I'm taken."

"That means nothing," Manny said. "A woman still has needs."

"That's an interesting perspective," Rita said with a condescending laugh.

"A smart man knows what a woman needs," Manny continued, placing his hand insistently back on her thigh. "And he knows you have to take it, regardless of what she says."

"Sounds a little rapey to me," Rita said, keeping her tone light but firm.

"I can feel the heat coming from your body," he said, pressing himself closer to her.

As Rita relayed these details to us, I could hear the venom in her voice.

"Probably somewhere around 98.6 degrees," Rita said.

"Your boyfriend wouldn't allow you to come here if he didn't already know what was going to happen," Manny said.

He slipped his hand under Rita's dress, and she swatted him away again.

"What's happening is I'm here to visit my girlfriend," Rita snapped. "And you should behave yourself."

"I've seen you at the parties," he said. "Have some of this cocaine, and let me show you how much cum I can give you."

That caught Rita a touch off-guard, and he noticed.

"I hear how much you love cum," he said. "And I'm sure you know how famous I am for mine."

"Maybe I heard a thing or two," Rita said.

"I haven't cum in three days," he said proudly. "You're in for a treat."

His hand dove for her breasts this time, and she slapped it away.

"You don't seem to be hearing me," she said firmly.

"The ones who play hard-to-get are the most fun," Manny said cockily. "They always get off the hardest once they give up. And they always give up."

"Listen, Manny," Rita said sharply, "if you want to jerk off on this table or cum in a glass? Maybe I'll taste it. That's great. But get your fucking hands off me. I'm not interested. Not now. Not ever. N-O. No."

"So you admit you want my cum," he said triumphantly.

"I didn't say that," she said. "I said if it happened to be there, maybe I'd drink it."

"You should just sit back and enjoy it, slut," Manny said, his tone taking a darker turn.

"No," Rita said. "Let me make it very clear. No. I don't want anything you're offering. Don't touch me. You know, I think I'm just going to wait for Jess outside, okay?"

"Don't do that," Manny said

And then it happened. Just as Jess had predicted. Within a heartbeat, he was on top of her. He covered her mouth with his, so she couldn't scream. He put his left knee against her right thigh, then pinned his right knee against Rita's left leg, pinning her to the couch cushion. His midsection prevented her top half from wriggling away. It was a practiced, predatory maneuver. But Manny hadn't been quick enough. In the split second before he made his move, Rita had already tapped her watch face and sent a prewritten text message to Jess. It read, simply, "Now."

Before Manny could even grapple with his belt to get it undone, Jess stormed into the room.

"What the fuck is going on in here?" she shouted.

The surprise caused Manny to back off, just enough so that Rita could chime in.

"No! Get off me! No! No!" she screamed hysterically.

"Manny! Jesus!" Kayla said, coming into the room a moment after Jess had.

Pandemonium should have broken out. But it didn't. Instead, Jess and Rita took charge of the room. Jess berated Manny, playing the part of the shocked bystander who simply happened upon the situation by accident. This distracted him enough for Rita to extricate herself from the couch. Kayla watched, mouth agape.

"Manny!" she yelled again.

"She wanted it, what's the big deal?" Manny said, sitting back on the couch and remaining as arrogant as ever.

"I didn't want it, you fucking creep," Rita chimed in forcefully. "And the recording will make it perfectly clear. You disrespectful piece of fucking shit."

"The what?" Manny said.

His facial expression changed. Rita held up her phone and pressed play on her voice memos. She only let it run a few seconds, but it made her point.

"Motherfucker," he muttered.

"Here's the deal, Manny," Jess said. "You're going to walk out that door right now. You're going to forget you ever heard of Daydream Productions. You're going to leave us the fuck alone. You're not going to say a nasty thing about our movies or anything else. One little slip? Your ass is going to prison."

"Wait, I'm sure we can work this out," he said. "Fine, I don't need ownership. I'll just work."

"No," Jess said. "This is a company that respects women. We are going to empower women. There's no place for you here."

"Come on, babe," Manny said, turning his pleas toward Kayla. "This is ridiculous. It was just a little fun."

"Save it," Kayala said. "This is just another one of your messes. I'll see you at home. I need some time to think about what to do next."

"That's right, baby," Manny said, "we don't need this cunt." He jabbed a finger in the air toward Jess. "We'll restart ourselves. It's what we want anyway."

Silence hung over the room for a moment. It had become hot and stuffy.

"No," Kayla said. "I'm going to keep working here. I've got an equity stake and the chance to make it into something."

"Bullshit," Manny said. "This is fucking bullshit."

"I told you," Kayla said, resolute, "I'll see you at home."

There was a brief moment when the girls glanced at one another, wondering what Manny's next move would be. But, in his first sensible act of the day, Manny relented.

"Fuck this shit," he said and stalked out of the house.

He would never return again.

* * *

"Holy shit," I said when Rita and Jess had finished telling us the whole story.

Rita was shaking, from the adrenaline, from her outrage, and from residual fear.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She flashed her TV smile.

"I'm great," she said. "I mean, won't lie. There was a moment or two when I let a little doubt creep in. But, seriously, Katie, that text message? The best idea. I think it could have all gone haywire if it weren't for that."

Katie blushed. It had been her suggestion to have Rita send the text to Jess, signaling her when to come out of her office. That way, the recording wouldn't be the only evidence of what had gone down.

"It was just a tiny detail," Katie said humbly, her slight Louisiana drawl coming out.

"I'm sweating," Kat said. "I can't believe it all went to plan. But, god, Rita, that's so scary."

"It was no big deal," Rita said matter-of-factly. "The plan was good. I just played my little part."

"I'm so grateful to you," Jess told her. "To all of you."

No one knew what to say next. I was still processing what had happened. I wondered if I had foolishly put Rita in harm's way, but then I dismissed the notion. I had pushed and pushed on her about it, using herself as bait. Too much could have gone wrong. But Rita was meticulous in her planning and preparation. Jess was, too. They had done some digging on Manny through a private investigator and discovered a number of assault cases that he had managed to slip out of, mostly because the girls were in the industry.

"We need to celebrate!" Kat said. "We have two heroes in this house!"

"And a kickass business that's going to take over porn!" Katie added.

"More Champagne?" I suggested.

"And some coke," Jess said.

"Yes!" Rita agreed. "I need a couple lines after all that drama."

I couldn't believe how at-ease she was so soon after. Granted, the situation had been somewhat choreographed, but Manny held substantial physical advantages over her. I signaled her to come with me inside to help with the party favors.

"John, I'm fine," she said. "I really am. I had mace stuffed down the side of the couch cushion. If I had any inkling that things were going off the rails, I would have used it. I wasn't going to let him get me."

"I'm relieved," I said. "I kind of feel like I let you down by not doing more."

Rita laughed and pulled me close to her.

"You couldn't, my love," she said. "This is something only I could do. I was the perfect bait, and it was worth it. It was too important. Jess needed us."

"She did need us," I said, and I kissed her. "But, Jesus, I am so glad you're okay."

"I mean it, John," she said seriously. "I'm great. Let's celebrate. This is a huge day for Jess."

"I feel like Jess is growing up," I said.

"She was already there," Rita said. "She's just learning to maybe make some better choices."

"Or at least controlling her impulses," I said.

"A very good way to put it," she said.

We kissed again, and she pressed her body against me. I cupped her breasts.