Scene 4

Walking through the office after hours was a little creepy to Jackson, all the lights were controlled by motion sensors. So that between sections he would be walking five or six paces into a dark area before things came to life. The place was always so busy with the worker ants that kept the behemoth of a corporation running and now it was just him in the building on a Friday evening. At this point in the day every step he took reminded him that he shouldn’t be wearing heels. His feet hurt from staying arched, his calves hurt… the more he thought about it the more uncomfortable he just was dressed this way. The bra straps digging into his shoulders, the corset was nearly as bad as it had been the other day… and he had to admit the support was helpful with the extra weight on his chest, but it still wasn’t comfortable. It was okay though, soon he would be home he mused, as he got up to his desk, picking up the forgotten cellular device.

“Jacqueline is that you?” Jackson spun around quickly when he suddenly heard a voice behind him when he thought he was all alone. The movement left him off balance, causing him to step backwards a step to steady himself, but being so close to his desk caused his legs to hit the hard surface, ending with him sitting on the edge. Holding his left hand to his chest, Jackson let out a breath, feeling his heart racing for the scare.

“Abe you scared me half to ****, don't sneak up on me like that.” The man needs a bell around his neck, this being the second time the salesman had appeared near him.

“Sorry about that.” Abraham chuckled, drinking in the sight of the new girl as she practically seemed to pose for him, leaning back on the desk. Looking into her gorgeous brown eyes he could see they were dilated, giving him an extra boost of confidence knowing she desired him as much as he desired her. Not considering they might be dilated from the sudden surge of adrenaline from the fright of suddenly finding out she wasn’t alone. “I thought I was the only one burning the midnight oil, but when I saw the lights coming on I thought I would check out who the other workaholic was that didn’t have a life on a Friday night. Then I saw a pretty blonde and…” Abraham motioned his hand to the pretty secretary in front of him.

Jackson reached out, touching some of his now shorter and blonder hair, curling a piece of it around his index finger. He was not a fan of how his hair looked, but he did have to admit it felt better. He had always been bad about maintaining himself, not brushing as much as he should and ignoring his long hair, but thanks to his recent salon visits he now had white teeth and silky feeling hair. If there was one good thing about all this he figured it was learning how much better it felt to look and just feel cleaner. “I just got it done, was kind of an accident if you believe it.”

Abraham’s smile grew, from his experience girls that looked like her didn’t look and sound so unsure about how they looked, especially after they just got back from the salon. He thought the shoulder length blonde hair looked good on her, and the fact that she left her eyebrows their original color only added a contrast that drew his attention to her eyes. “I think it suits you, so if it was an accident, you should think of it as a happy one.”

Letting out a small, uncomfortable, laugh Jackson gave the six foot tall man a small smile. This was a man that he had been a bit envious of with his athletic build, his height. Green eyes that he was just sure girls liked over his boring brown ones. His looks wouldn't have ever been a real consideration if he also didn’t have the job he wanted. The guy seemed to just have it all, well almost all, he wore glasses. Vision, the one thing Jackson could say he had over this guy. He had called becoming blonde a happy accident, happy was not something he would use to describe his mood. Jackson laughed a second time at himself, realizing he wasn’t feeling much of anything thanks to the little pills he took.

Looking over his shoulder to the cubicle farms and to where his desk was, Abraham shook his head twice. Deciding he was done working for the night after the pretty girl seemed to be laughing happily at his compliment. “I will let you get back to it, don’t work too late, it is the start of the weekend after all. I for one will be celebrating it with a drink when I get home.” Jackson slid off his desk, putting weight back onto his aching feet so he could finally call it a day.

“Actually, I think I’m done and a drink does sound awfully nice. Since we both sound to have similar plans, how about we go grab a drink together?” Abe was the type of guy Jackson would enjoy getting a drink with, he was sure there were a few things he could learn from the man that seemed to stay at the top of the pack on his sales team, but he knew his wallet couldn’t take any more blows till he got paid.

“Not unless you are paying, the happy accident started a war with my bank account. Besides, I doubt my boyfriend would let me go out with you.” Jackson laughed at his own little private joke as if the guy was asking him out on a date.”

“I had a controlling girlfriend like that once, almost gave her a ring before a friend practically kidnapped me to show me what freedom was.”

“Sounds like you dodged a bullet.” Jackson was in a pretend relationship to keep the creeps away, and here was Abe just wanting someone to have a drink with. Jackson chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment, considering the man. He was mentioning no longer being in a relationship and he was working past eight at night on a Friday night. It was sad and humanizing to think someone like him would also be single. “You know what, if you are buying the least I could do is keep you company for a drink.” Her agreeing to come out made Abraham’s night, and made him praise his unwillingness to accept her first no. She didn’t have a ring on her finger and he saw how into him she was.

The bar the two went to was just around the corner, Jackson was thinking more about the pain in his feet and calves when he took another one of the Xanax, the little pills just making everything more bearable, the fact the two were going to the same bar he went to with Lincoln for the purpose to be seen together at a bar coworkers often frequented not on his mind at all. Going inside Jackson slid into a booth, laughing with a big smile on his face as Abe finished his dirty joke. It all started with him saying something wasn’t funny and Abe started to tell a joke that was and the two began trading jokes with one another, some much dirtier than anything he knew Linc would like. His friend was a prude at times, not the audience for a good number of the jokes or quips in his arsenal. “And then I said, that isn’t a banana!”

“My turn.” Jackson stopped as he opened his mouth, realizing what he was about to say was a joke he already used. “No wait, I have a different one. What is the difference between your girlfriend and a mosquito?”

“Not a lawyer?” Abraham responded, before turning his head and giving a wave to one of the servers he knew.

“No, only one of them stops sucking when you slap them!” Abraham chuckled, smiling as he looked into the girl's eyes, his gaze shifted down to her thick lips just for a split second thinking of the implications of her joke. “Don’t have a girlfriend.” He said to answer her unasked question. Jackson frowned, reaching out across the table to tap Abe on the back of his hand in solidarity. It was as he thought, the guy was lonely and if a guy like him was single, he didn’t have much hope. “It has been a while since I have had a girlfriend too, so I understand.”

Abraham’s eyebrows went up. “Yeah?” He wanted to hear more about that, when a waiter came by to get their order. While he wished the guy came a few minutes later, he was sure he could swing the conversation back around to that topic given time. “I will get a manhattan and for…” He looked over at his date, they had been caught up in conversation and they hadn’t discussed what they were getting.

“Four fingers of whiskey, and umm…” Jackson looked away from the waiter and over to Abe. “Is it okay if I get an app?” Getting a nod, he smiled at the man, he would get him next time. “And an order of the potato balls. Deep Fried mashed potatoes with ground beef at the center. The balls are delicious.” Taking the order down the server walked away, allowing Abraham to comment on her statement.

“Balls are delicious huh?”

“Have you never had them? You are missing out… wait. Haha, laugh it up.” For a moment Jackson had forgotten what he looked like, that Abe was looking at what he thought was a girl, not who he really was.

“If I’m paying, that makes them my balls, but don’t worry you can eat them as much as you want.” Jackson pointed his finger at him, trying to give him a stern look.

“You are just lucky you are paying for my drink or I would give it to you.”

“Since I’m paying, how about I give it to you?” Abraham smirked, it wasn’t often he went out with someone that would trade dirty jokes with him or be so open with sexual innuendos.

“Hey!” Jackson was used to a little ribbing going back and forth, but felt much more sensitive about the fact he had fake tits stuck to his chest in order to keep the farse going.

“I meant the drink, I’m paying for the drink to give it to you. Someone had a dirty mind.” Jackson crossed his arms across his chest, not considering what it was doing to enhance Abe’s view as he looked sullenly at the man. “You know I never have been out with a girl who drank whiskey before, let alone a pour like that.”

“That is because I’m not a girl.” Jackson snapped back being way more honest than he would have liked. Immediately he started to feel a little uneasy, a dramatic decrease to what should have been a spike of anxiety thanks to the self medication. Before he could say something else that he would regret their drinks were delivered, allowing him to buy time by sipping on the drink.

“No offense meant Jacqueline. To miss-quote a song I like. She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes, but she’s always a woman to me.” Jackson coughed, drinking down the whiskey in more of a gulp than a sip.

“You skipped a lot, and I mean a lot, of lyrics.” Abraham shrugged his shoulders, happy to see Jacqueline smiling in his direction, a much better sight than the quarterly reports on his sales. If he had to look at one more excel sheet that night he was going to go mad, but instead of that outcome here he was out with the beautiful, newly blonde Jacqueline.

“So I did, so I did. You know I’m glad we are doing this, a perfect way to end a week.” Jackson moved his tongue around the inside of his mouth, happy to feel that burning sensation in his throat. He looked down at his glass, swirling around its contents, answering without looking up. “You have no idea how much I needed this.”

The one glass of whiskey was more than enough to move Jackson to tipsy and beyond, one more glass of two fingers was enough for him to forget about all of his troubles and lose track of time. “You know, I really wanted to see that. I almost went last week, but Linc said it wasn’t for him and who goes to the movies by themselves? Not me…” Jackon’s words trailed off, his foggy mind reliving the same thought as when his friend told him it wasn’t something he liked. It was an action movie made like the old eighties action movies, no real plot and lots of explosions, it was perfect. How could it not be for him?

Looking up at one of the televisions in the bar, Abraham caught the tail end of the movie trailer before pulling out his phone, checking some local listings. “You know, if we hurry we could catch the last showing of that tonight.”

“That sounds fun, but like…” Jackson stopped talking for a second, his mind stuttering. “Next time I will pay for drinks and a movie, I can afford it now.” He blinked a few times, laughing slightly to himself thinking of the bill he got today for his hair and then the bill for his lips and how quickly he blew through the money for clothes. “Unless I have to do my hair or… nails or something. Is it expensive to get your nails done?” He was asking himself the question, not remembering the cost, wondering for a second if he paid or if it was Maddy, but dismissed that thought almost right away, no way she paid.

“Tonight has been fun and I tell you what, next time you can pay for your nails to get done and I will pay for our date.” Jackson narrowed his eyes at the man across from him, leaning forward on the table, not thinking about how he was showing off the cleavage of his prosthetics.

“No, I said I was going to pay.”

“How about we compromise, you pay next time we go out and I will pay to get your nails done.” Jackson looked down at the long acrylic nails attached to his fingers.

“Okay, but I don’t know how much they cost, it could be a lot. You have no idea how expensive it is to be a girl.”

Abraham smirked. “I thought you weren’t a girl.” Looking up from his hands, Jackson put his index finger to his lips, reaching across the table with his other hand to do the same to Abe. “Shhh don’t tell anyone I’m not, it is a secret.” Taking the **** girl's hand, Abraham kissed the underside of her wrist twice. Incredibly happy to see her give him a big smile as he let go.

“That felt sooo good! No one has kissed me there before, and that is like a real shame. Girls get kissed on their neck and stuff, but hardly ever guys and, and they barely ever get complimented. Everyone deserves a compliment.'' Jackson nodded to himself, the kiss to his wrist sent a shiver down his spine in the best types of ways, it was just a shame it was from Abe. A good guy he was happy to have as a new friend, but it would have been so much better coming from someone like Tabitha. “I have been jealous of your green eyes, sooo much better than my boring brown ones. Even Linc has boring brown eyes, but oh wow I swear it is like looking into a puppies eyes when he is sad or upset like the time I answered the door to our apartment in a sheet when he brought a date home.” Jackson gave an open mouth smile, laughing a little at the toga party prank. “Was that a compliment? I meant to give you a compliment.”

“Yeah, yeah I took it that way. Were you upset when he brought a woman home?” Jackson shook his head, he was proud of his pal for picking up a girl. Seeing her, he thought he could do better, but she was pretty enough he supposed. It wasn’t his fault she nor him could take a joke.

“No, why would I be? We have a rule that if you bring a ahh… someone around is fine so long as we give the other a heads up.” Abraham nodded, thinking he finally understood Jacqueline’s relationship. He had never been with someone who was into polygamy, the open relationship thing always just sounded like some dream for guys that couldln’t commit. Taking her hand in his own he waited till she made eye contact with him before he spoke.

“You do not have boring brown eyes. I could get lost looking into your eyes, mesmerized by their beauty and die happily knowing I got to do so.” Jackson quickly pulled his hand away, feeling a blush come to his face from the intense moment. At most, girls have described him as cute. He had gotten a few compliments on his hair from one girl, but she was a biter and he was not into that. “Than… thanks, but umm, we should maybe go so we don’t miss the beginning of the movie.”

Abraham was starting to understand Jacqueline, why she would be flirty one moment and shy another. She had a controlling boyfriend that more than likely knew just the right buttons to push to keep her in line. While his intentions were not exactly noble, it was crazy to think she wasn’t allowed to go out for a drink with a man. While they had an arrangement for him to sleep around in some one sided open relationship. She didn’t seem to be the brightest woman, but he liked her sense of humor, her kind nature that made her want to give compliments. Not to mention how much he appreciated the way she looked and how her smile made him feel a little warmer, and a little lighter on the inside, like being with her just made life a little better. Tonight was a good night, he was happy he was able to talk her into going on this date with him and that she didn’t seem to want it to end as much as him.