Disclaimer: I don't own Fastlane or the characters.
DKM, thanks for the reviews so far! I see you are the only one that is doing the R and R. Everyone else is just reading. I hope that changes if y'all want me to finish!
Ch. 4 Owe, my head!
The sun was shining unusually bright that Thursday morning as Billie stumbled from her car into the Candy Store. As soon as she opened the door, she was met with the incessant sound of a basketball dribbling on the floor. She saw that it was Deaq making such an ungodly noise at 8:30 in the morning. "Deaq!" she yelled and immediately regretted it. "Stop that damn racket will you?" She finished as she headed for the coffee pot. Deaq looked up to see her walking like a zombie to get an obviously needed caffeine fix. "What the hell happened to you?" he snickered already knowing the answer. Billie poured her coffee as she looked at Deaq and replied, "Don't be a dick." Deaq laughed and followed her to her office, determined to get the story out of her. "A little pissy this morning, aren't we?" He laughed as he took a seat in the black chair across from her desk. Billie just shot a glare in his direction. "I had a bad night is all." She said hoping he'd buy her attempt to answer the question, without actually answering it. "I could have told you that." Deaq retorted. "Deaq." Billie growled. "Seriously boss, it looks like you got run over by a Jaggarmierter float… along with a Jack Daniels truck and a heard of Budweiser horses!" He replied with a wide smile. She was totally hung over and in no mood to be picked on. Deaq new that, but he also knew she was in no condition to kill him at the moment. At his crack, Billie moved her hand to the waistband of her jeans. Deaq new this was a signal for she was armed and dangerous. "Okay, well I'm gonna just leave you alone now." He said as he quickly jumped out of the chair and headed for the exit. "Deaq." She called after him. "I was just kidding around, promise!" Deaq called back. "Where is Van?" she continued. "He'll be here soon." Deaq answered hoping this meant she had forgotten his drinking crack. "When he gets in, send him in here for destruction will you?" She sneered. Van had caused her to not sleep the night before and now he'd pay weather he knew it or not. "Whatever Billie." Deaq laughed as he walked to the lounge.
Thirty minutes later, another scene played out in an eerily similar fashion; only it was Van with the hangover. Deaq took one look at Van's tousled hair and blood shot eyes and couldn't help but laugh, but it was the large bruises on his face that almost made Deaq drop dead right there. There was a purple welt smack in the middle of Van's forehead and an even more hideous mark right in the middle of his face! "What the hell happened to you last night? Did you spend the night with Billie or something?" Deaq asked while gasping for breath. "I didn't touch her!" Van said in shock before he could stop himself. Deaq stared at Van with a twinkle in his eye and nodded. Realizing what he'd just said, he back peddled furiously hoping that Deaq would drop the subject. "What's wrong with Billie?" Van asked, not really interested in the answer. "You should know, after all, you're the one that didn't touch her, remember?" Deaq answered the amusement in his voice obvious. "You're such a jerk." Van remarked. "And you're dead once she realizes you're here. " Deaq commented dryly. "Hey Billie!" He bellowed as he headed for her office followed closely by Van. As they stepped into the doorway of her office, they stopped and stared. "Whoa, what happened to her?" Van asked as he stared at the woman who was not anything close to conscious. "I think she got hit by a Heineken truck." Deaq said with a laugh. "Ouch." Van replied as he took a seat across from her. Billie was slumped over in her chair. Her arms were out stretched and wrapped around her head. She was face down effectively keeping all light from her eyes. Deaq walked over behind her chair and whispered in her ear; "Billie, wake up sunshine." Van snickered at this, knowing she wouldn't even be partly sunny once she came back to the world of the living. "Billie, get up!" Deaq said a bit louder this time. She only stirred slightly, wrapping her arms around her head tighter to block out the noise. "Oh, I guess I need to drag out the big guns huh?" Deaq said to Van and smiled. "What are you gonna do now?" Van asked curiously. "This." Deaq answered and stood up straight, taking a deep breath. "Lieutenant Chambers! What are you doing?" He hollered in his best Rolland Hill impression. With that, Billie jerked up with a start. "I was just…" she started. With that, Deaq and Van crumpled into fits of hysterical laughter. Billie sat there stunned for a moment. Then realizing it had all been a prank, she turned on Deaq. "You little shit, that wasn't funny!" She yelled. Deaq stopped laughing just long enough to say; "Oh sure it was!" Billie jumped to her feet and spun around poised to strangle the stupid prick. Just as she tried to grab his neck, she was hit by an enormous wave of nausea. "Oh, god." She said and ran to the bathroom.
Van and Deaq sat on the couch watching TV when Billie came out of the bathroom. Deaq watched her go back to her office and boot up her computer. "I wonder if she's in a better mood?" Van asked. "I doubt it. Hey, why don't you go talk to her and see?" Deaq offered. "Why the hell would I do that?" Van snapped. "Easy, you're as crocked as her, so chances are that she won't kill you and if she does, you won't feel it!" Deaq retorted with a smile. "Shut up jackass." Van spat out as he lifted himself off the sofa and headed to the coffee pot. He figured if he brought her some more coffee it would make her be nicer to him. He knew that after the argument yesterday that she wasn't too happy about what went down and he had a huge bruise on his back to prove it! Van stood in her doorway and just stared. She looked beautiful today, as always. "She wore that shirt on purpose. And you love those jeans on her." His brain told him. Van chose this moment to make his presence known. "Um, Billie?" He started. "What do you want Van?" She shot back without looking up. "Nothing. I was just wondering if you're feeling better." He said thinking that maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. "I'm fine." Billie said as she brushed her hair out of her face and sat back in her chair. She looked at him and gestured towards the coffee. "Is that?" she started. "Oh, yeah. One cream, two sugars. " Van said handing her the cup as he sat down. Billie leaned forward to take the cup. "Thanks." She said as she leaned back. She realized Van was looking and it made her a little self-conscious. Indeed, Van was looking and he liked what he was looking at, though he'd never admit it. "So, what's up?" Billie asked hoping to shake the awkward feeling between them. "Well, I, uh, I just wanted to apologize for how things went down with Adrienne." Van said hoping that she'd respond less violently than she had yesterday afternoon. Billie stiffened. She was in no mood to go into her feelings about what Adrienne and Dan had done. And she REALLY wasn't in a mood to go into the reason she didn't want to talk about it. Van could tell that she didn't want to talk. 'Too bad, Ray. You have to get her to open up to you.' Van thought to himself. They sat there for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only two or three minutes before Billie spoke. "It's okay Van. I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I shouldn't have taken my feelings about what happened out on you." Van sat there for a second in silence. Had she really just said the s word? After a minute, Van got the feeling that the "what happened" that he was talking about and the "what happened" she was talking abut where two different things. Van decided to just come out and say it. "Okay, I'm getting the distinct feeling we aren't talking about the same thing here." He said bluntly. "What do you mean?" Billie said, pretending she had no clue what he was talking about. "I mean, I feel like you're apologizing for the way you are. I don't know who did what to you in your past, but if you want to talk about it, I'd be happy to listen." Billie choked on her coffee when he said this. She so badly wanted to tell someone that would listen to what had happened to her. To the horrible ordeal she heard her mother go through as Billie hid in her closet. She wanted to let it all out, to be free from her prison. As badly as she wanted this, she was scared. Scared that Van would see her as less of a person; less of a woman. She was scared that if she let him in, he would discover a way to use her weaknesses against her. 'After all, that's what men do." She reasoned. Van could see the thoughts going through her head. But what she was thinking he couldn't figure out exactly. "Billie." He said brining her back to the moment. "Oh, what was it you were saying?" she said hoping he'd forgotten. "I was saying that you can talk to me about anything." Van said, he sincerely felt this way too. "Oh, well, thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Billie said hoping he wouldn't press her. "Billie are you okay?" Van asked. She was reacting very strangely to this conversation. "Uh yeah, I'm fine." Billie said as she grabbed her keys and purse off her desk. "Are you sure?" Van continued to press hoping she'd tell him what was wrong. "Van, I'm fine!" She said her voice rising considerably. Billie knew she had to get out of there before he gleaned any more information out of her. " I just know what it feels like to be treated like a piece of trash." Billie hurriedly said and then ran out the door to her car. Van just stood, staring after her in disbelief and more than slightly puzzled.