Hey guys! This is a two-shot idea came from xoFrap! Without her, this wouldn't have been born. Please enjoy this little thing I'd like to call "Wide Awake"...
Twitter: TheCliffyG
No Beta Reader, so ignore mistakes if any :)
Warning: Rated T for slight language/themes/written harassment
Wide Awake
"E-Eli stop it! I have to go! Seriously!" Clare squealed, feeling her boyfriend's lips traveling from her cheeks down to her arms. Chills spread across her entire body, even though it was nearly a hundred degrees outside.
"Just five more minutes," he cooed into her ear, as she rest between his spread legs.
"Eli, I can't be late! It's my first internship, please. I promise I'll be back tonight, and we can celebrate with some mac-n-cheese, Eclare style?" she kissed his lips, before grabbing her bag in the corner of his room, "You mean...Eclare style, as in you making mac-n-cheese and rubbing it all over my body?"
"Funny," she flashed him a stern look-as if giving him a playful warning.
"A guy can dream," Clare quickly pecked his cheek, but Eli was fast enough to grab her hand, and pull her close once more. She groaned, not wanting to leave his side, but had to because she couldn't be late.
"This is my first internship Eli, and I don't want to ruin it before it even happens! I promise I'll be back, I love you," those words were like music to his ears. His heart fluttered with delight, wrapping his arms around his flustered girlfriend. He buried his head into the crook of her neck, smiling sweetly.
"I love you too Clare. I'm heading over to Becky's for an hour or so to go over this play. We've already gotten into three fights, so we'll see how well this meeting goes," Eli unhooked his arms from Clare, before walking her towards the door, "Be nice to the girl Eli, I'm sure she's just trying to fit in."
"Yeah, with the wrong crowd," he interjected, feeling slightly defeated.
"Working with a blonde bimbo on what's supposed to be my play isn't really fun. But enough about me, go, go have fun," he scooted Clare out the door with the light push of his hands over her bottom.
She squirmed beneath his touch, slapping him in the chest with her purse, "You're evil Goldsworthy, I'll get you back for that."
He smirked, "Try me Edwards."
CLARE
I had to be perfect for this internship. Eli helped me pick out my outfit last night, but as I'm walking into the Unspun diner, I realized that I'm not dressed up enough.
Women, who are far beyond my years, around their twenties are walking in ten-inch heels, while wearing half a shirt and a skirt. I swallow the pulsing lump in my throat, now thinking that coming here was a bad idea.
Jake was the one who gave me a flyer for this place, and he even told me it was a family oriented diner. Families come to places like these? I sure as hell would never bring my family here.
"Clare Edwards?"
The deep, husky male voice drew my attention away from the waitresses with lifeless expressions. I turned my head to the lanky man, who asked again, "Are you Clare Edwards?"
"What? Oh...um, yeah, yes I am. I have an internship with the boss here, Mr. Asher um..."
Oh crap.
I forgot the last name of the goddamn boss!
How stupid can I be? I'm trying to make a good impression so I can get a job here, but I can't even remember the last name of the person in charge.
"It's okay, my last name is long anyways. I'm Asher, nice to meet you Clare," he held out his hand, inching it towards me. I smiled, shaking his hand, and awkwardly pulling away when he wouldn't let go.
"So Clare, welcome to Unspun. For the next two weeks you'll be working under the term of an internship, and I'll be observing you. Then, at the end of the two weeks I will be the person determining the decision on if you have the abilities for an official job here or not," I nodded, as he continued, "Will you follow me into my office for a moment? I have a couple of work outfits in there for you to try out."
Without thinking, I followed Asher into his office.
"Please, take a seat," I grinned, relief overwhelming my body. This man didn't seem too hard to impress, and I had a good feeling that he would give me a job here in two weeks.
The reason for my sudden interest in finding a job is that Eli's birthday and graduation will be coming up soon. I need to be able to buy him gifts, to give him what he deserves. In order to do so, I need money.
And this job opportunity seemed like the best route.
"Alright Clare, now I've got a um...let's see, you look like you can squeeze into an extra small shirt, right?" he eyed my upper torso, tilting his head to the side and I quickly covered up, my arms over my chest, "Do you have a medium? This way I don't have to squeeze into anything."
"No can do, sorry. I've only got an extra small left, since the last girl took the medium. Can you stand up for me and twirl?"
"Um...is this really necessary? Can't I just wear what I have on for today? It's not like I'll actually be working, you'll just be teaching me...right?" his dry laugh reminded me of Fitz when he was about to 'stab' Eli at Vegas Night. It sounded rusty, intimidating, and scary.
Goosebumps formed over my arms, as he placed a uniform on his office desk, "Here's your uniform. If you don't want to put it on, then thank you for wasting my goddamn time."
He was about to leave the office, when I shot up from my chair, thinking of Eli, "No wait! I'll do it, I'll put it on. I just-where's your bathroom?"
"Bathrooms are closed, but I'll step out and you can change in here. I'm glad you chose the right path Clare," the door clicked shut, and I nervously looked around. For some reason, I felt as if I was still being watched.
I shrugged the weird feeling off, beginning to peel my clothes from my skin...
The innocent teenage girl began to strip, without the knowledge of the four cameras in the high corners of the room.
Clare was moving slowly with only her bra and panties on, trying to un-clip the tags on the uniform. Her hands kept slipping from the white tag. She was huffing and puffing in annoyance, and Asher was watching from his actual office as she struggled.
"Silly school girls," he whispered, watching young Clare Edwards in his decoy office.
She was so nervous, fumbling with the tags and clothes, when her bag fell onto the floor, objects spreading all over the place. Asher watched in amusement as she bent down, getting down on her knees. He thanked the lord for every last piece of her make-up kit that fell beneath his "desk".
"Oh God...," he frantically zoomed in on her ass, grinning evily at the view before him.
"This is better than Christmas," Clare finally grabbed all of the contents that fell from her bag, and began to slip into the work outfit.
Asher shut the camera system off, knowing all too well that they would record better view when they weren't on. He would most likely watch it later, after he closes down the diner.
But oh boy, did he hit the jackpot with this girl...
CLARE
"It's a perfect fit," Asher told me, leading me back out to the main part of the diner. I stumbled in the heels, wondering what would happen if I broke my ankles in these things.
"Don't you think it's a little tight?" I asked, feeling uncomfortable in my own skin.
I was so used to wearing light, flowy dresses or conservative clothes to cover me. The only exception I ever make to wear revealing clothes is around Eli, and only around Eli. He was the only man that will ever get that privilege.
"There's no such thing as tight around here Clare. Now, first off, I'm going to show off the kitchen. I'll teach you how to properly wash these dishes," I nodded, following his order. This should be easy for me, considering I've washed the dishes at home countless times with Jake when we got into trouble.
"W-Why isn't anyone in the kitchen?" I asked curiously, and he grinned, "This is the practice kitchen, the real one is on the other side of the diner. This is an internship remember, not the real thing yet. Patience is a virtue Clare."
"O-Okay, sorry. So, let's get to this," he smiled, gesturing for me to go towards the sink.
The dishes were piled up, some dirty, some slightly dirty, and most looked as if they had unidentified species on them. I flashed him a toothy smile, before asking, "So you want me to just...clean them?"
"Yes, and I'll correct you if you're doing anything wrong."
The sink was a bit higher than expected, so I stood on my tippy toes, my big toe already burning from the blood rushing to the tips. I grabbed the soap, while turning the faucet on high.
Asher was leaning on the wall beside me, watching my every move.
Damn, I didn't know these kind of things were pressure enducing.
After five minutes, I felt a bit more comfortable, pretending that Asher wasn't beside me, and he wasn't my boss. I flashed him a smile when we accidently made eye contact. My eyes wandered back to the dishes, and when I was finally up to the last one, he sighed, "You're doing that wrong."
"Doing what wrong?" I asked, annoyance slightly heard in my tone.
I must've cleaned fifty plates, and now, when I'm on my last one, he tells me I'm doing it wrong. What kind of boss is he?
"Here, like this," he dipped the sponge into the soapy water, and came up behind me, his frame leaning into me. He pushed me against the sink lightly, as he grabbed my hand, moving it over his hand.
"Okay, I think I got it," I whispered.
He nodded, "Yeah, I know you got it. Keep moving it like that."
A lump formed in my throat, the feeling of his chest pushing me harder against the sink making my heart race.
"E-Excuse me," I squeaked out, turning my head, flashing him a look that said 'please get away from me, I need personal space'.
"You're excused, now keep your position. Stop squirming. It's the only way this plate will be completely cleaned," he ordered, pointing to the plate that was so shiny, I could see my reflection in it.
"It's clean, now can you please move?" I placed the plate down, and I felt his hand move over my waist, "You know Clare...I think you have a lot of potential."
When I felt his body move away from me, I felt relieved. I didn't enjoy close proximity with a stranger, especially with an older man. Any type of human contact that was unwanted made me feel on edge.
But I just grinned, bearing with the awkwardness.
"Thank you, now, what's next?" I asked, and he handed me a yellow sponge, "I want you to scrub underneath the sink. It gets dirty down there, and someone needs to clean it."
I glanced at the sponge, before taking it from Asher. I nervously got down on my knees, pulling the tight, short skirt down as best as I could.
"No matter what this guy tells you to do, just grin and bear it. That's what I did with my first job."
A smile curled up on my lips, thinking about Eli. His voice and advice traveled through my mind. I grinned up at Asher, before my upper torso crawled underneath the sink.
"Yeah, you gotta get deeper...a lot deeper. You can fit," he ordered, and I mentally groaned, scrubbing frantically.
What happened next, sent me ten feet in the air-except literally, it only caused me to slam my head roughly against the bottom of the sink, a loud 'clank' echoing the "kitchen".
"What the hell was that?" my cheeks were flushed, as I shakily stood on my feet.
"What? I was adjusting your body to get underneath the sink," I glared at him, throwing the sponge near his feet, my head pounding, "You know what, if fitting in this tight outfit and having you rub me up and down will get me a job then I don't even want a part of this! You touched me, and I didn't want it."
"Honey honey honey, you wanted to learn, I was teaching you," his cold hand traveled down my side, cupping my bottom. I gasped, pushing him away with my fists, remembering what Eli taught me.
"If anyone ever places a hand on you, you ball those tiny hands into fists and you kick em' where it hurts."
"Don't touch me," I choked on a sob, while charging towards the door of the diner, grabbing my purse in the process.
"Hey! I need that uniform back! And those heels! That shit cost money!" Asher called out, screaming at the top of his lungs.
I angrily slipped off the heels, flinging them at his face with great force. I watched as he fell to his knees, a tooth coming out with his bloody spit.
"You crazy bitch."
My feet moved in a frantic rhythm, left after right, left after right away from the diner. Tears were falling freely from my face, shock taking over me. People looked at me as I walked towards my house, flashing me looks I couldn't describe.
I could feel blood lightly dripping down the side of my face from banging my head underneath the sink.
Upon running through my door, my mother and Glen called out to me, but I just shook my head, racing to my bedroom door. I dropped my bag, locked my door, then ripped off the diner outfit, tears falling from my eyes. I quickly fished a pair of pajamas out of the drawer, making sure I grabbed the long sleeve sweater and pajama pants.
I needed to cover myself up from now on, to protect myself from him.
ELI
"Hey Clare, it's me Eli...you promised you'd come back to me tonight, I'm worried, you haven't called. I'm sure you're just tired from the internship, but the guy couldn't have worked you that hard. Hope you're okay, call me when you get this, or text me back.
I love you Clare.
Are you okay?
-Eli"
"Dude, if you keep re-reading the same message you're going to go blind," I glared at Adam, who I invited over to distract me from my worried thoughts.
"It's been over two hours since the internship at the diner was over. What can she possibly be doing that she can't text me back? At least to say goodnight. For the past two months we've always texted each other goodnight, and I love you. We haven't missed a day. Something must be wrong," I whispered, toying with Clare's purity ring which was hanging from my neck.
Touching the cool metal always reassured me when I was in doubt.
Even though we haven't slept together, Clare had given it to me to show that she trusts me, and someday, in the future, I will have officially earned this ring on my neck.
Buzz
Buzz
Buzz
"Oh dude! Text from Clare!" Adam cheered, both of us staring at my Iphone screen when the text popped up,
The internship was fine. I have a fever. I don't feel good.
Just go to bed Eli, stop worrying for no reason.
Take a pill.
-Clare
"Who pissed in her cornflakes this morning?" I glared at Adam, and he shrugged his shoulders, "What? I was just trying to lighten up the mood."
"Something's wrong with her. She was fine earlier today, there's no way she got a fever in that little amount of time," when I was about to lunge for my leather jacket, Adam warned me, "Eli, maybe you should just back off. You remember what happened last time when you cared too much...don't suffocate her, let her breathe."
"I am letting her breathe, but this isn't my Clare. Something happened...and I'm going to find out what."
END OF CHAPTER 1
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Cliffhanger Girl
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