Turned Out Saga (28 page)

“Wow, I didn't expect to see you here,” he told her.

Shamel cleared his throat.

Alexis turned to face Shamel. “Oh, I'm sorry. Shamel, this is Finn, an old friend.”

Shamel knew who Finn was; he'd thrown him out a time or two. As a matter of fact, Shamel wondered what he was doing there now, he was told not to come back there.

They gave one another the head nod.

“I haven't heard from you about your car. I told you I'd get it fixed for you.”

“I know. I planned on calling you this week actually. I've just been so busy.” Actually she hadn't been thinking about it at all. She was going to take care of it herself. She didn't feel like dealing with him asking her out and her having to turn him down. Two and possibly three men were enough. There was that, plus the armed robbery charge that scared the mess out of her.

Shamel placed his hand on the small of Alexis' back and it did not go unnoticed by Finn. “You ready?”

“I'll call you this week, okay.”

Finn looked at Shamel who was shooting daggers. He wasn't stupid; he knew that meant to get the hell out the spot. “Make sure you do that. I always pay my debts.”

“I will.” Alexis turned to walk away but stopped when Finn said her name again. “Yes.”

He couldn't help himself, so he asked her, “Can I get another hug?”

Shamel stepped in front of Alexis, “Get the fuck out of here.”

Finn started laughing, turned, and left.

“Damn Shamel, was it that serious?” Alexis asked.

“How well do you know him?”

She had to admit not well, she hadn't seen him in quite some time.

“Well, I don't think you should get to know him any better. He's trouble and I've had to deal with him on a number of occasions.”

Alexis thought about what Champagne said when she told her to be careful and that there are some crazy men out there.

“What debt is he talking about?” Shamel asked.

“He hit my car the other day and he's going to get it fixed.”

“I have someone that can do that for you.”

Alexis didn't bother responding to that. It was something she was going to have to think about. Although she'd told herself she was going to “get what was hers,” she was well aware that to men, when they did something for you that required their finances it became something else. It was almost like you owed them and she needed to figure out a way to get it and not feel obligated. So she told him instead that she was ready for her tour of the club.

Take her around he did. Dreams was bigger than it appeared and it was obviously upscale and done in good taste. There were several rooms and only a few were empty. There was a room where people were just sitting and having conversation. There was a cigar room, a room where what appeared to be a bachelor party was going on but she wanted to see more. Alexis was shocking herself because all of a sudden she felt like a voyeur.

Alexis turned to Shamel, “Let's go back in your office. I want to see what's going on in one of the rooms where the door is closed.”

“You sure about that?” Shamel asked. She'd already told him this was her first time at a strip club and he didn't want to run her off.

“I'm sure,” Alexis told him.

“Okay, but I have to tell you, it be some shit going down in those rooms.”

“I understand that.”

“And you also need to understand that whatever you see stays here.”

“I understand that also.”

Shamel didn't normally do this, let someone look at what was for his eyes only. Only a few knew that he had cameras everywhere except the bathrooms and those who knew wouldn't say a word because they feared him. The reason he was doing it now was because he was hoping it would lead to them being physical.

There was something about Alexis that turned him on the first day they met. Normally, if a female walked away from him to talk to another man, he would have embarrassed her ass and his, but this time he didn't. He let it slide because he wanted to see her again.

Later that night his boy even called him out on it. “Man, you let that girl play you. That ain't you, what's going on?”

“Ain't shit going on, there's something about her, something different about her.”

Of course True wasn't trying to hear that. “Ain't nothing different about no pussy. Pussy is pussy. The end.”

Normally that would have been true but for the first time in his life, he was feeling like he wanted more with a woman and not just to fuck her. Don't get it twisted, he did want sex, but he also wanted more.

Oh, shit, does that mean I'm ready to settle down?
Shamel wondered. In a way he thought he was. After all, he was in his midthirties. He was ready to have kids and when he looked at Alexis, not only was she so fine that he knew their babies would come out pretty, but she also had a head on her shoulders. There was also a quiet innocence about her. He'd been around enough women to know a thing or two. He was more than capable of reading them and summing them up.

Once they were in his office, he closed and locked the door. Alexis sat down and waited anxiously with her heart racing.

Shamel walked behind his desk, turned on the screen, opened a drawer, and pressed some buttons. All four screens came on. One obviously was on the main floor. Another showed a man getting a lap dance. One showed a group of women in a room together with a couple of dancers. The last room was one of a stripper sitting across from a male patron. They appeared to be talking and she appeared to be rubbing his dick through his pants. Alexis didn't know what to focus on.

“I'll be right back,” Shamel told her.

Alexis just nodded as she watched the screen with the woman and man. She wanted to see how far it would go. She wanted to ask Shamel if he had sound so that she could hear what they were saying, but she held back.

“Want me to turn it up?” Shamel asked.

Damn, is he reading my mind?
“Yes.”
I wonder what's he's thinking? Is he thinking I'm a freak?

“Which screen?” He already knew which one because she couldn't take her eyes off it. It was the one with Jada and one of her regulars. Shamel knew that some of his girls did extras for the patrons but that was their choice. It wasn't something he asked them to do, they did it because they wanted to and those extras included anything from masturbating, to touching and sucking. There were even a couple of the girls who let the men eat them out. Jada was one of the girls that had a special talent when it came to her mouth. He knew because he'd experienced it a time or two.

“The one with the woman and man.” Alexis continued to watch as the woman stood up and started circling him.

“That's Jada,” Shamel told Alexis as he walked out of the office.

Jada was now behind the man and she asked him, “What do you want me to do?”

“You know what I want you to do,” he told her and he started to unzip his pants.

Jada placed one of her hands on top of his. “Not so fast. What's the hurry?”

“Come on girl, stop playing.”

She stepped in front of him.

“You want me to suck your dick,” she told him. “That's all you ever want me to do.”

“That's because you do it so well.” The man reached for his zipper again and Jada pushed his hands away.

“Let me do it.” She got on her knees and started to unzip his pants as she licked her lips.

Alexis was all into it, she had forgotten about the other screens.

Jada unzipped his pants, reached inside and pulled his dick out. She then got on her knees.

“Damn! I always forget how big you are.”

Alexis noticed it too.

“And thick,” Jada said as she licked the head like a lollipop.

“Let me pull my pants down some,” the man said.

“No. I want your dick only. Not your balls but this right here,” Jada told him as she gripped his dick and took the whole thing in her mouth.

Alexis couldn't believe what she was seeing as Jada's mouth went down the whole length and width of him and came back up. Alexis wanted to put her hands on her pussy so bad but she knew she couldn't because Shamel could come back into the office any minute.
Am I really sitting here watching this and getting turned on?
Alexis was shocking herself. Watching other people have sex was not something she was into and it definitely wasn't something she'd thought she'd ever be into, but now she knew not to say ever or never. In the past, she'd never even considered watching porn, now she might give it a second thought.

Alexis watched as Jada slowly licked the man's dick, taking it all in. She watched as Jada licked and sucked on the head of it as the man closed his eyes. She watched as he threw his head back and tried to push Jada's head down.

Jada pulled his pants down farther and told the man to spread his legs. “I changed my mind,” she said as she started licking his balls and placing both of them in her mouth.

Alexis watched as the man raised his ass up off the chair and she could feel her mouth water from the excitement.

Alexis was so busy watching Jada that she didn't hear Shamel enter the room.

“She's good isn't she?” he asked causing Alexis to almost fall out of her chair.

She turned around, looked at him and almost choked out the words, “Yes, yes, she is.”

“Have you ever watched someone do this before?”

“No, this is my first time.”

“Well, you might want to turn back around and watch her make him cum.”

Alexis didn't want to continue watching in front of him but she couldn't help herself, she was drawn in. She turned back around and watched as Jada moved her head up and down the length of his penis. When she got to the top she'd lick around the head of it and go back down. The man started moving his hips up and down. It looked like he was trying to push his dick down her throat.

“I'm going to cum,” he told her.

Alexis wondered what Jada was going to do. She didn't have to wonder long because suddenly Jada replaced her mouth with one of her hands and cupped the other to catch the semen as it flowed out.

Shamel was standing behind Alexis rubbing on her shoulders. Alexis was trying to catch her breath. Shamel was giving her time.

When she got up the nerves to, she turned looked at him. “I can't believe I just watched that. I'm embarrassed.”

Shamel stood in front of her and she let him pull her up. “Ain't nothing to be embarrassed about.”

They were standing so close to each other, Alexis could feel the need for sex radiating off their bodies.
I'm a whore . . . I'm a whore,
Alexis couldn't help but think to herself.
Okay, I know I'm being ridiculous but it's like all of a sudden my libido is out of whack.
Alexis wondered if making love with Thomas had opened up a whole new world for her. Or had she always been a freak in disguise?

“How do you deal with seeing this every day? Does it excite you or are you immune to it?”

“It depends on the moment.”

“What do you mean?”

Shamel placed his hands on Alexis' waist and pulled her into him. She could feel that he was hard. “I mean like now, watching you watch them and get excited turned me on.”

It was at this point that Alexis asked herself how far she wanted to go and the truth was she didn't know.

Alexis cleared her throat and took a small step back.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?”

Alexis looked up at him and he could see that a kiss was coming.

Shamel normally didn't kiss, it wasn't his thing. He always thought kissing was for wifey, only this time he did. He bent his face down to meet hers, while pulling her back into him and placing his mouth on hers. He let her lead the kiss and was surprised at how much he enjoyed it.

When they finally broke apart, Alexis looked at him and told him, “I should go.”

“Why?”

“Because I might do something I'll regret.”

“Why would you regret it? I'm grown. You're grown. We can do what we want to do.”

Alexis hesitated before answering. “This is true but it can wait. We can wait.”

To Shamel that meant she had already made up her mind to let him make love to her. It was a known fact that a woman knows almost immediately if she's going to allow a man inside her and it appeared Alexis was.

“I understand,” he told her, “but you don't have to leave.”

Alexis shook her head, “No, I think I'd better leave.”

Shamel looked at one of the screens and spotted Shay still in the club. “All right, I understand. Let me walk you out.”

Alexis stepped back and let him lead the way while thinking,
What the hell am I getting myself into?

Saturday finally arrived and Alexis was exhausted. Between seeing Thomas the week before and then hanging out with Shamel at Dreams the day before, she'd had a busy two weeks. And, it wasn't slowing down. This was the night she was going to Maya's for the book club meeting and Maya's brother was supposed to show up. Truth be told, Alexis didn't feel up to dealing with another man. Two were enough.

She had an hour left before her day was over. She wanted to hit the gym for an hour and call the contact numbers for Shay. She wasn't calling to reveal what she'd learned about Shay. She was going to say she was calling because Shay had not come to school with the hopes of speaking to her. Alexis needed to find out what was going on and if there was anything she could do.

Alexis picked up the phone and dialed the main number that was on file. It said it was the house phone. She wasn't surprised when there wasn't a ring and she heard the operator saying the number was disconnected. She hung up and tried the other number, which said it was the number of an uncle. That number was also disconnected.

Alexis now had to make a decision. Was she going to take the next step and drive to the address that was in the files or was she going to let it go? Before she could make up her mind there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Alexis called out.

In walked Victoria, one of her favorite students. Victoria was on the honor roll for the first time that school year. She was a sophomore trying her hardest to get a scholarship. So when she walked through the door with a long face, Alexis was concerned.

“Hey sweetie, what's wrong?”

Victoria plopped down in the chair in front of her desk. “My mom is driving me crazy.”

This was nothing new to Alexis. Most mothers drove their teenage daughters crazy. “Why, what's going on?”

“I don't know. She's been talking about killing herself and killing this man she used to see.”

“She actually said that, those were her exact words?” As a therapist whenever Alexis heard the word suicide or whenever someone hinted around about it, she knew to be alarmed and she knew it was a call for help.

“Yes, and I don't know what to do about it.”

“Do you know what man she's talking about?”

“I have an idea but she won't really say. All I know is she's scaring me and I need you to go speak with her.”

“Me?” What the hell was Alexis going to say to a grown-ass woman? All she could do was give Victoria a number for her mother to call and a card of a woman who would actually come to their house.

“Please Ms. Houston . . . Please will you talk to my mother?”

“That's not what I do, Victoria. I don't counsel parents, I counsel teenagers. I can refer you to someone else.”

“So you're just going let my mother kill herself.”

Alexis wasn't stupid. She knew what Victoria was trying to do. She was trying to guilt her but that wasn't going to happen. “No, what I am going to do is call a friend of mine that specializes in this kind of thing and have her call you.”

“But I'm asking for your help.”

Shit, this was the kind of thing that came with the job. She knew that she would come across parents who had less sense than their kids but that wasn't her fight. Her fight was for the kids.

Alexis opened her desk and pulled out a card, she handed it to Victoria. “Call her and tell her what's going on with your mother. She can help you.”

Victoria didn't even bother to answer. She just snatched the card out of her hand and marched out the office, slamming the door behind her.

Five minutes later, there was another knock on the door interrupting her thoughts. Alexis did not have the energy for another dramatic scene.

“Come in,” she called out bracing herself and was relieved when she saw that it was Maya.

“Girl, what the hell is wrong with Victoria? She's in the hall calling you all kind of bitches.”

Alexis just shook her head and waved her hand as if to say,
girl please.
Plus it wasn't her place to tell the business of students. “You know these kids when you don't do something they want you to do.”

“Don't I know it. Just the other day, my student Tina–”

Alexis interrupted her midsentence. She didn't feel like hearing it. “Is the book club meeting still on?”

“Yeah, I came to give you my address.” Maya placed a piece of paper on Alexis' desk. “Call me if you have any trouble finding my house.”

“That's what MapQuest is for,” Alexis told her.

“I know that's right.” Maya turned to leave but stopped. “Don't forget my brother is going to stop by.”

“I won't forget.” Alexis really didn't feel like doing this but she made a promise. She was so glad she invited Champagne.

It was finally time to leave work. Alexis had just enough time to hit the gym for an hour, go home, shower, and call her father.

As a matter-of-fact, right now the person Alexis most wanted to see was her daddy. He'd called her the other night and sounded kind of down. When she asked him what was wrong, he told her nothing, but she didn't believe him; she could hear something in his voice. After all, she was his “baby girl” as he liked to call her and she was his only child.

Alexis' parents divorced once she graduated from college. That was something she didn't understand, why wait until then. If you were unhappy prior, you should have divorced sooner.

She spoke to her mother who lived in Georgia about once every week, but she spoke to her dad who resided in Florida more often. That wasn't anything new because even as a youngster, she went to her dad about most things. They were close and she loved it. Sometimes she even thought her mom was a bit jealous.

Alexis picked up the phone to call him then hung up. She decided to wait until she had some real time to talk. She didn't want to rush through a phone call with her daddy. Actually, a phone call wasn't good enough. She was going to make plans to go see him.

* * *

An hour later Alexis was at the gym. She'd just left the locker room after changing and was headed toward the treadmill. She planned on doing twenty-five minutes on the treadmill, elliptical, and stair master, and then she was out.

The second she stepped on the treadmill, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Alexis turned around only to find Khalil staring in her face. The last time she saw him was the week before at the club.

“Go away,” she told him as her heart raced.

“I need to talk to you.”

The last thing Alexis felt like doing was talking to or seeing Khalil's face. She was not in the mood. “Khalil, there is nothing for us to talk about.”

He wasn't going to give up that easily. “Please, just ten minutes, that's all I'm asking.”

Alexis didn't know what to do. She could tell him to go away again and if he didn't she could always cause a scene. But what would that do other than embarrass herself. She could leave the gym or she could hear him out to try and get some closure.

She chose the closure. “Ten minutes,” she told him with her hands on her hips.

“Well, can we at least leave the floor and go in the café?”

“No.” Alexis looked at her watch. “The clock is ticking.”

Khalil saw that he had no choice, but to say what he had to standing right there and he had no problem doing that. After all, he really cared for Alexis when they were together. His intent wasn't to hurt her or play her. Actually, he didn't know what his intent was. When he first met Alexis, he was seriously feeling her. His wife Suzette had left him and was begging to come back home. At first he was on the prowl, then he started considering it, then he realized he didn't want to be with her anymore anyway.

According to Suzette, she went to find herself. To him, that meant it was over. No, they hadn't divorced but in his mind they weren't together. Shit, his whole marriage was a sham. He met Suzette at a damn swingers club. Her family came from money, she was willing to share it and she gave good head. What was he to do other than take advantage of the opportunity? Hell, she proposed to him, it wasn't the other way around.

Khalil knew he was wrong for proposing to Alexis while legally he was still married, but he wanted her to himself. That was the only way he figured he could guarantee it. When he and Alexis came back from their trip to Cancun, his plan was to hunt Suzette down and divorce her ass. That Thomas motherfucker got to her first and ruined everything by revealing the marriage before he had a chance to.

Eventually Khalil was going to make sure that Zyair and Thomas got theirs. He wasn't stupid. He knew they were boys and he knew Thomas was into Alexis. He knew that even though Zyair was the one who brought Suzette to the airport that Thomas was behind it. However, for now, he wanted to try and make Alexis understand and maybe even forgive him.

“I'm waiting,” Alexis said, interrupting his thoughts.

“All right, all right,” Khalil said. “First off I want to apologize for hurting you. I didn't mean to. I was in the process of getting divorced when we met.”

“And you couldn't tell me that,” Alexis said.

“I was afraid you wouldn't want to date me.”

“Were you afraid I wouldn't date you or were you unsure as whether or not I was going to give you the ass?”

Khalil was taken aback by what she said.

“You know Khalil; you hurt me, plain and simple. You weren't man enough to be honest with me then, why should I think you're being honest with me now?”

Khalil reached for her arm but she snatched it back. “All I'm saying is I apologize and that I want to make it up to you. You never gave me a chance to explain my situation. You wouldn't take my calls–”

Alexis cut him off. “Answer me one question.”

“Anything.”

“Are you still married?”

Khalil hesitated a second too long because Alexis placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back. “That's what I thought.”

She walked away and this time Khalil didn't bother stopping her because he knew it wouldn't make a difference. However, he was not going to give up that easily.

“I will get her ass back, one way or the other,” he said out loud.