AN: Okay, I probably shouldn't have stayed up so late to finish this, but I'm addicted now – it's definitely a problem ;) I hope you like this chapter and for any of you who are into music, a great band called The Civil Wars has been a big inspiration for this story, especially their song 'Poison and Wine'. Give it a listen!
Her mordant words to Maureen had done nothing to quell her embarrassment. Why did Billy have to confront her in the dressing room? And of all the people to walk in on them…she couldn't think of a more anguishing situation. Noticing that there was no one at the bar whom she knew, she walked up and ordered a gin and tonic (without the tonic), downing it discreetly in one go when it arrived. To her horror, she heard a voice behind her as soon as she put her glass down. "Carol-Lynne?" She closed her eyes in frustration and took a deep breath before turning around to face the girl who seemed to have no choice but to encroach on her life.
"What?" she spat at Maureen before noticing the wetness gathering in the girl's eyes.
"I just…wanted to say that I'm…sorry," she managed to get out between uneven breaths. Carol-Lynne remained unfazed and continued to glare at the younger woman, waiting for her to say something else.
"I didn't know you were in the dressing room, or that Billy was with you." The words spilled from Maureen's mouth without grace or consideration; she hadn't expected to be able to speak for so long. "I needed to look for a spare pair of shoes for Janie because one of her heels broke and I just walked back there without thinking and I'm so, so sorry – "
"Stop." Maureen was making Carol-Lynne feel guilty for what she had said to her in the dressing room and that was the last thing she needed. "It's fine," she sighed, breaking eye contact with the other woman in the hope that it would encourage her to walk away. No such luck.
"It must be hard," Maureen ventured, "working in such an invasive environment for so long. You can't hide anything." When Carol-Lynne looked up, she caught sight of the men sitting at the nearest table staring at her and Maureen – well, Maureen's ass. She quickly averted her gaze and in the process spotted Nick and Billy on the other side of the room. They were both flirting with a group of female patrons, but as if he could feel her eyes on him, Billy turned towards her and met her gaze. Nick turned around too in response, but as soon as her presence registered in his eyes, Carol-Lynne felt compelled to move her gaze back to Maureen, scared of what she had seen.
"Well, you'd better get used to it if you want to be a bunny." Carol-Lynne could feel her resolve crumbling; her snarkiness was doing a terrible job of shielding her from this emotional assault.
"I know." The salty liquid in Maureen's eyes threatened to turn into tears, but she held them back. "I just don't know how to handle it yet. I wanted to come to you because – " she almost stopped when the older woman suddenly fixed her with a penetrating gaze, but she forced herself to keep going, " – because you do it with such dignity and…I thought I could learn something from you."
Carol-Lynne tried to laugh as she looked away, but she couldn't conceal the pain in her voice. "You've come to the wrong woman, Maureen. I don't have any dignity left; all I could teach you is how to throw it away." With that, she made her way toward the employee door that led to the back of the club. She was afraid that if she didn't get away from these people soon, she'd lose her ability to function at all.
Carol-Lynne felt relief wash over her as she stepped out into the alleyway behind the club. She leant back against the brick wall and closed her eyes, hearing the screen door slam shut. It was almost peaceful, being out in the crisp air – the only sounds ones of distant cars and distant music, with the murmur of voices floating above. Being this far away from any crowd, she could almost convince herself that she would never have to deal with her problems. Almost, but not quite: the murmur of voices turned into conversations in her head and she couldn't prevent her imagination from playing out all the possible words that could pierce her when she returned to the society awaiting her inside.
With her eyes still shut, she heard the sound of the screen door opening and closing again. At that moment, there were no words to describe her fury.
"Go away," she said in her most menacing voice. She refused to move or open her eyelids. "I don't care who you are, but if you don't go back inside right now and leave me in peace – " Her throat ceased to produce any sound when she felt a hand clasp around her wrist without a word being spoken from the person who had intruded on her privacy. Her eyes finally shot open and in front of her was a man who she vaguely recalled seeing in the club earlier that night. He was well dressed, wearing a suit and a tie (as was required to in order to gain entry into the club), but there was something in his face that evoked anything other than civility.
"I'm hurt," he said mockingly in a low, rough voice. "I thought we could have some fun together out here." Carol-Lynne's breath hitched as the man's free hand took hold of her waist and pushed her more firmly against the wall.
"There are people just inside that door," she rasped, "and if I scream they'll all come running out here. Do you really want that?"
"Oh, don't you worry about that. I made sure there was no one near that corridor or in any of the offices leading off it, so we have all the privacy we need." As he said these last words, he moved the hand on her waist to the inside of her thigh, lifting up the hem of her dress as he went. Every squeeze and brush of his hand was like a knife in her chest and she found herself gasping for air.
"Help!" She tried to cry out, but all she heard was a hoarse whisper.
" Shhhh it's okay. Doesn't that feel good?" The man spoke into her ear, pressing his body up against hers, making her stomach churn. When she felt him release her wrist and begin to slide that hand along the waistband of her panties, she thought she might actually throw up, but when her body jerked forward, her assaulter only exerted more strength in keeping her pinned against the wall. She wasn't going anywhere.
"What's the matter?" Carol-Lynne only heard the question he spat at her, for she had long since closed her eyes to the horror occurring around her. "You practically beg for this onstage. Who are you to complain when someone gives it to you?" This ignited something in the trapped woman, and she decided she at least had to fight back, even if there was nothing she could do to stop this.
"I don't ask for anything except a fucking tip!" The man pressed his hand harder against her core and she couldn't help but whimper.
"I hear that you screw any man who asks you to, so someone must be mixed up here." He used a free hand to unzip his pants and Carol-Lynne's stomach dropped.
"You're a fucking bastard."
"Why, thank you." The words rolled off his tongue as her panties were shoved down her legs. She exuded a frantic sob, but the sound was swallowed by the slam of the screen door opening once more. Carol-Lynne closed her eyes again when she heard the click of a gun being cocked – all she wanted now was to black the rest of this out completely.
"Step back," a familiar voice ordered, and for a moment her heart lifted. She felt the weight holding her body to the wall disappear, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps moving down the alleyway, towards the road. Carol-Lynne suddenly felt drained of all life force and allowed her body to fall down the wall and collapse on the ground. When she felt arms around her, she cringed and emitted a small, desolate scream, which caused the arms to move away immediately. "Carol-Lynne." The voice was much more gentle than it had been a moment ago. "You have to stand up. You have to come inside." With those words, she lifted her head sharply and looked Billy in the eye.
"I don't have to do anything!" she shouted at him, before bursting into sobs that racked her entire body, making it impossible for her to move anywhere. Billy knelt down to be on the same level as her, and when he tried to embrace her again, she didn't pull away. "It's okay," he said to her, not knowing whether it was, and he held her while her tears gradually soaked through his shirt.
