And Your Enemies Closer

Anna laughed at his joke. The date was going really well, she thought. Scott was funny, and smart, and *so hot*. She didn't want to get ahead of herself here, but this could be the guy. He'd shown up in a tight-fitting polo and he clearly worked out. She bet he had a six pack underneath there. God, she wanted to lick it.

And not that she was shallow enough to let it matter, but he had money. Finance, he'd said. So you know, there was that. It didn't hurt.

"So anyways, remind me," he said. "What do you do for a living?"

"Sales," she told him. "I sell insurance. For corporate clients. It's pretty interesting actually. You really have know how to get inside the heads of the people across from you. Of course, you have to know your numbers too. Corporate clients care about the bottom line, so you need to know what you're talking about there. But our competitors are prepared for that too. So if you really want to close a sale and bring home the bacon then you've got to be able to know what makes them tick. Them, the person sitting across from you. Because, at the end of the day, they're just-"

Their waitress came over to the table. She was interrupting, but Anna didn't mind. "Can I get you guys another drink?" she asked.

Anna looked over at Scott, who nodded. "I'm still working on my beer here, but go ahead. Anything you want." Oh yeah, he was a keeper.

"Can I get...an old fashioned. Double. For the whiskey, something top shelf?" she asked.

"Of course," came the reply.

"Awesome," Anna beamed. "Oh, your earrings. Those are beautiful. Are they pearl?"

The waitress looked a little embarrassed but her smile was sincere. She propped her ear lobe up with a pair of fingers. "Thanks. They aren't real pearl though."

"Well you can't tell," Anna said. "Where'd you get them?"

"They were an anniversary gift, actually."

"Awwww," Anna cooed. "He sounds sweet."

"Yeah," the waitress agreed. "He's something special. And what about you miss, anything else for you?"

"Just another glass of wine for me, thanks." Rachel said.

"All right, coming right up," said the waitress.

Anna gave her friend a smile. Scott had been uncertain when Anna had brought a friend along. But she had explained it to him, and he was so understanding. Yet another thing she could really grow to like.

Scott and her had met on a dating app, and you could never really be sure how safe you were on those things. Anyone could post a picture of anyone and pretend to be a normal guy, but you show up and suddenly it's some guy you've never seen before and he's stuffing you into the back of a van. Meeting guys off of the internet was dangerous. So she'd brought a friend along. She'd given Scott a smile and twirl of her hair and he got the message that if he just added an extra entree and a drink or two onto the bill that she'd make it well worth his while.

Admittedly, before she got here she hadn't been planning to sleep with him. Actually, she'd expected the date to go pretty poorly. His profile pictures were awful. He was so much hotter in person though. She was lucky she had snatched him up before the rest of the women found out what they were missing.

Scott placed his napkin on his plate and stood up. "Ladies, if you'll excuse me, nature calls. Be right back."

Anna gave him another smile. "Sure thing."

Polite too. Yeah, this was her best date in a long time.

It was about five more minutes before the waitress returned with their drinks. She set them down, and then she set down the check. In front of Anna.

"Oh, my date's paying. He's just in the restroom right now," Anna told her.

The waitress bit her lip. "Actually, he already payed up front."

"Then whats this?" Anna asked, holding up the check.

"The rest of the check. He...payed for his part of the bill. Then he left."

"He did *what*?" Rachel piped up. "That...that asshole! He stuck us with the check!" She turned to look at Anna. "I didn't bring a wallet.

"I don't have mine on me either," Anna said, pouting.

"If um, if you don't have the money I'll need to go talk to my manager," the waitress said.

Anna's temper flared. How *dare* this woman, whose boyfriend couldn't even buy her real jewelry, ask if *Anna* had the money for her meal. With deliberate and practiced effort Anna soothed herself before speaking. "No, no, it's not a problem. My wallets in my car. I can just go and grab it."

The sorrow in her voice was real. She had really liked Scott. Things had been going so *well*. Turns out he was just another asshole. "Good men are so hard to find these days," Anna said. "You hold on to that guy of yours."

Anna picked herself up and walked out of the restaurant. It took her a minute to find where she parked, she'd had a bit to drink, but she managed not to scratch the paint on her door getting the key in.

She wondered how long it would take Rachel to figure out she wasn't coming back. Rachel would be mad, but she'd get over it. After all, the restaurant couldn't make her pay if she didn't have her wallet. Anna had been Rachel's ride, but she figured her friend could just Uber home once she figured out Anna had left. No harm, no foul.

Anna stepped into her car, there was a flash of white light, and no one was the wiser.

***

"Give a warm Harem Hotel welcome to the eight member of Trevor's harem, Anna Wright!"

Trevor couldn't help it. He laughed. His ex. They had brought on his ex. To be part of his harem. It was too much. Reality must have broken down and caved in on itself. There was no other explanation.

The upside was that he was pretty sure he could rule out the show being some kind of hallucination or stroke. Even in his nightmares, Trevor would never imagine himself using fate itself to tie him to *Anna* of all people. Shit, he'd give Riley a shot first. Trevor bet the two of them would make pretty good coparents. They'd open up the relationship, maintain a good show for the kids, and live happily ever after.

Anna though. Jesus.

When she walked into view and saw Trevor on the throne she had a moment of disbelief, but to her credit she pulled it together quickly and offered him a smile. She'd always been good at recovering from surprises, he thought bitterly.

She looked as good as ever. Curves in all the right places, big tits, nice ass. Sleek black hair that fell in gentle waves down to her shoulders. Smoking hot. And Violet was basically saying as much in her little soliloquy.

Trevor gave a look around the room. Riley had come to at the sound of her name and he looked worried, for Trevor this time. Some of the other girls were looking at Trevor like he'd grown a third eye. Probably because of the laughing he figured; that had probably seemed a little weird. He just shook his head. They wouldn't get it.

After Violet wound down, Anna took the opportunity to speak. She hid it well, but Trevor knew her better and to him she was clearly uncomfortable. "Hey Trevor. I know we have some issues in our past but, um, outside this whole game show thing, it *is* nice to see you again. We need to catch up." She gave him a weak smile.

Trevor debated whether or not to say anything at all while Anna did her best to maintain a calm demeanor. After a painfully awkward silence, all he could muster up was to say, "Anna, you know where we stand."

"Right, yeah. Well, if you change your mind..." Were those tears in her eyes? Ah, hell. She may be a snake but she didn't deserve this. But Anna had already turned around to head to her podium. Maybe that was for the best. She was like a vampire; inviting her in was dangerous.

Trevor was emotionally exhausted. He was done. Whoever the show had next for him, he didn't care. He was embracing the cosmic absurdity of the whole ordeal now. Violet could do her worst.

"And at long last the time has come to introduce our final contestant. Trevor has never known a life without her, and it just didn't seem right to split them up now. So please, welcome to the show, the ninth and final member of the harem..."