Thanks again to Keaira. That's it, no more elaboration, because I can't think of anything else to say.

Unfortunately, no one picked up the line, so maybe I'll have to throw something in another chapter – the adapted line (it wasn't an exact quote so people couldn't cheat, but much of the quote was preserved) was about the CUIA – The Central Un-Intelligence Community, which Dustin Hoffman says in Meet the Fockers

WARNING: This is one of at least two planned chapters rated M. It's not Ma or M+, but it is more M than anything previously. There is also some foul language in this chapter, but not much.

Pay attention in this chapter, there is a new POV, and it's a surprise, so don't expect it go keep alternating in the pattern it always does.

Opening lyrics come from Snow Patrol's Hands Open; end lyrics belong to Coldplay's Fix You

Chapter 8: Heartbreak

---------------------
Why would I sabotage
The best thing that I have?
Well, it makes it easier to know
Exactly what I want with my
Hands open and my eyes open
I just keep hoping that your heart opens

---------------------

Lucy's POV

I led Chastity out of the bar, holding hands. I really didn't know what I was doing; it was as if my body was acting on impulse. Somehow my body had completely overtaken my mind, and it was doing all the thinking for me right now. My brain, on alert, was trying to scream out, but it couldn't find the words; my mind couldn't form the thoughts to duel with my body. For the time being, I was the aggressor, seeing as I was practically dragging her to the elevator in the corridor leading out of the lobby.

"Wow, Lucy, hold your horses…" said Chastity as she giggled. "I promise that rushing won't make it any better." She put her other hand on my arm and ran it seductively up and down my arm. It felt so good; it felt as though I might melt into her touch, yet my mind kept trying to push the panic button and stop my body. It wasn't working.

I didn't say anything while waiting for the elevator, which should have indicated that I wasn't quite myself. Even while I was committing criminal acts, I'd always had a penchant for conversation. In fact, Amy had often said that the only thing she didn't like about me was the fact that I wouldn't ever shut up.

Finally the light around the up button on the wall between the elevators went off, and the beeping indicating the arrival of the elevator sounded. The next thing I knew, Chastity had me pressed up hard against the back of the vacant elevator. The odd thing was that I didn't even remember getting on the elevator, and here I was with Chastity's hands up my shirt. She kissed and took teasing bites at my neck as I just stood there. Now it seemed very much like she was a predator and I her prey. Still, I couldn't deny a certain fire between my loins, and while my brain still thought it was wrong, my body wouldn't allow a word in edgewise.

Finally I was able to think a coherent thought, but it wasn't really about what was happening in that elevator. I couldn't help but wonder how much I'd really had to drink. Two drinks wouldn't do that to me, but if I had more, but didn't realize it, maybe that would explain everything. Well, everything besides why I was destroying everything Amy meant to me by being in an elevator with a girl who was kissing my neck and sliding a hand down my pants. I squirmed, trying to indicate that I was not comfortable with that.

"No, Chastity," I tried to muster the conviction.

"Don't fight it, Lucy. You and I both know you want this," she replied, and it was true, to an extent. My body desperately wanted this, but my mind knew the difference between eternity and one night. I think that by now, unfortunately it was clear which side had won the battle. The victor proved its point by stopping the struggle and letting Chastity finish sliding her hand into my pants. Then the elevator stopped on the second floor, which was actually the third floor, which had made me wonder about the odd choice in floor numbers.

Chastity's hands withdrew from beneath my clothing as we stepped out of the elevator. She waved to and older man who was walking down the right side of the hallway completely oblivious to the events that had just gone on in the elevator.

218, 216 the numbers outside the rooms read, although they seemed more like little blurs to me for the most part. I looked on the other side of the hallway, trying to remember where my room was; 213, 211, I saw as we approached my room, 209.

"Where's the key?" Chastity asked. I pulled out my purse and found the keycard in one of the credit card slots. I wrestled it out of the bag and handed it to Chastity, who unlocked the door and motioned for me to go first. I obliged her and walked into my room, where I walked to the bed and sat down. Chastity soon followed, and I guess neither of us really noticed the fact that part of the doors lock had been out of place, preventing the door from shutting fully.

Chastity put a hand on either of my shoulder and pushed me down, lying down on top of me. Her mouth hungrily met mine and we shared a loveless kiss. See, with Chastity, sex was never an act of love, but rather, it was an act of pleasure. Some people get high to achieve happiness and pleasure, others play instruments or sing; Chastity did something else entirely. What Chastity did could not really be termed as making love, or even as sex. No, for lack of a better word, Chastity fucked.

Although there was no love present in the kiss, passion was present, as we both attempted to seemingly devour the other. My tongue pressed against her lips, seeking entrance, which was soon granted eagerly by Chastity. Our tongues intertwined and battled each other for room, until Chastity broke the kiss and started trailing kisses down my neck while her hands reached for the ends of my shirt. Lifting her mouth from my skin, she pulled upwards on my shirt as I lifted my arms and soon found myself half-naked. As Chastity removed my bra her head came down on my breasts.

This is entirely wrong, my brain thought. That thought happened to be the last one before my mind totally gave in to my body, as passion and pleasure overtook me completely.

---------------------

Amy's POV

In the car, sitting next to Scud, I kept running over what I could and what I should say to Lucy. The truth was that I was still a little mad at her, but I loved her too much to break up over that. One squabble, as significant as this one was, could not break up the relationship between Lucy and me, because what that relationship was…is special. It would take something even more significant than that to break the relationship up.

"Scud, if you and Janet had this fight instead of Lucy and me, and you were trying to make up with her, what would you say?" I asked.

"Well, first, I guess I'd apologize," he began.

"Scud! What do I have to apologize for? What did I do wrong? It was Lucy who lied to me!"

"Maybe it's a bit different for me, see Amy, the man is always wrong in any argument, whether or not he's actually wrong. It's the way things are." Scud took his eyes off the road for a second and looked at me, grinning. "Actually, Amy, if Lucy's going to apologize, you should too. Whether or not you did anything wrong to begin with, you both had the fight, so you both apologize."

He had a point there. It was me, after all, who had suggested that she leave. I couldn't forget our argument, and now that I thought about it, maybe I was a little culpable.

"God, Amy, I already told you, it wasn't that easy! It's easy for you to tell me that you were going back to the D.E.B.S., at least they're the good guys! How would you react if I had said 'Hey Ames, I'm going back to the life of crime because I owe Corleone a favor or two?'"

"I would have accepted it…"

"No you wouldn't have…don't cut me that bullshit!"

"Oh, are you calling me a liar Lucy Diamond, because right now, that would be the wrong thing to do. If anyone's a liar you are!"

"And what if I am calling you a liar?"

"Then I'd have to tell you to leave!"

The fight kept haunting me. If I could redo the entire fight, I would; my intention had never been to push away the person who meant more to me than anything else in the world.

"And Amy, once you apologize, just play it by ear," Scud advised. Maybe I was wrong about him, he might actually be halfway decent at advice.

"Alright, here we are, El Hotel Nacional Español de Barcelona. Good thing I saw this when Lucy and I were driving around. Want me to stick around…or are you planning on staying the night?" Scud asked with a huge, wicked, grin on his face.

"Maybe I'll stay the night," I played along, "but I'll call you if that's the case."

"Sure thing, I'll just be out here," he said, turning the radio volume louder.

I hopped out of the car as Scud drove around the parking lot, looking for a place to park. I walked up to the glass revolving door and started to push on the door only to find that I looked incredibly stupid pushing an automatic revolving door.

"Can I help you miss?" asked the receptionist, who apparently bore the same name as me according to her nametag.

"Yes, I'm here to see a friend, she's staying in 209."

"Two floors up, take the elevator and make a right."

"Thank you," I replied as I started to walk to the elevator, which was about thirty yards away in a corridor. As I passed by, I saw a band playing on a platform in the bar. I wished that I could go see them perform; I've always loved bar performances. I thought that if Lucy wanted to, maybe we could see the band after we'd made up. Finally arriving at the elevator, I pressed the up button and soon an elevator arrived. Stepping into the elevator, I pressed the second floor button, preparing myself for the apology.

Soon, the elevator had reached the second floor, and with a beep the elevator opened. I took a right, just as Receptionist Amy had told me, and I started counting down the rooms to 209. About the time that I had reached room 211, I started hearing moans and laughing coming from a room down the hallway. Both voices sounded feminine, but although they seemed to be coming from Lucy's room, I couldn't possibly have fathomed that was actually the reality.

As I reached Lucy's room, the moaning seemed to be louder than ever, and it was clear that it was coming from this room. Praying to God that Lucy was watching a porn movie or HBO late at night, I pulled open the door that I noticed was ajar. What I saw would scar me for the rest of my life, no matter the excuse Lucy presented.

On the bed in the room, Chastity lay on the bed, completely naked. Kneeling before her, her head between Chastity's legs was Lucy. Her head turned my way and I could see a brief flicker of recognition form on her face before she went back to her prize.

I was completely and utterly crushed. My heart had been snapped not in two, but it had been totally shattered. What Lucy had done this time was inexcusable. I had no idea how she could have so quickly turned from wanting to reconcile things to this, to cheating on me with her ex.

I closed the door and just stood outside, shocked beyond words. My body couldn't even respond to my nerves impulses, I was physically in a state of shock. The thing that hurt the most was not that she cheated on me, although that stung as if someone had taken a jackhammer to my head. No, what hurt me the most was how she saw me. She saw me, and she didn't even stop what she was doing.

Did she love me at all? I wondered, or was I just the eye of the storm that was Hurricane Chastity? Was she only with me at all because she couldn't be with Chastity? I didn't really know the answer to that, but I could assume that as the case with what I had just witnessed. As I stood there, not able to move, I felt a wetness running down my cheeks. I was crying tears born from the utter state of heartbrokenness.

I sobbed, tears flowing in streams down my face as I ran down the hall as fast as I could, garnering a curious look from an old man who was wandering the halls. I flung open the fire exit and ran down the flight of stairs, running past everyone, past the band in the bar, past Receptionist Amy as I ran out the manual push/pull door to the pink sports car Scud had parked right outside the hotel. I ran to the side of the car, which I could not bear to look at, and flung the door open, sitting down.

"Amy, is there something wrong?" Scud asked, a genuine look of concern on his face.

"Just go!" I shouted.

"What happened with Lucy?"

"I said, JUST GO!"

"Oh my God, something bad happened," he said as he threw the car into reverse and quickly drove out of the parking lot. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I replied as I reached for a pen and pad that had been stored in the glove compartment.

---------------------

Lucy's POV

In the middle of the night, my head between Chastity's legs, in the middle of my body's desire to taste Chastity's essence, I could have sworn that the door opened. I turned my head to the door and I could have sworn I saw Amy.

Shit! My head thought for the umpteenth time in the past four days. Still, my body didn't respond, returning to its titillating task.

"Who was that?" Chastity asked, clearly enjoying herself.

"No one," I answered, my brain's reaction clearly not registering with my body and my inebriation.

---------------------

Receptionist Amy's POV

I watched as the blonde lady walked up to the desk, just as I had been told she would.

"Can I help you miss?" I asked her as she looked at my nametag.

"Yes, I'm here to see a friend, she's staying in 209."

"Two floors up, take the elevator and make a right," I instructed.

"Thank you," the blonde replied and headed off.

I sat behind the desk and waited, waiting for the signal that would let me know when to make my next move. About five minutes later, I saw the same blonde that had previously been at my desk run pass me in tears. Seeing this, I picked up the phone and dialed the number that had been given to me. The phone rung a couple of times and the voice belonging to the person I encountered a few days ago answered.

"You told me to keep an eye out for a blonde girl leaving the hotel in tears. I think I just saw her." I told the person. I listened to the praise that came from them; I didn't know whether it was for me or whether it was self-congratulatory; it was androgynous in this sense.

"Well then, when can I expect the money?" I asked. The hotel didn't pay much at all, so when a chance to make a big sum of extra money on the side came up, I had jumped. My contact told me that one thousand dollars would be transferred directly to my account very soon. With the conversation ending I looked to the door that the blonde had fled out of and thought to myself, that was the easiest grand I had ever made.

I must have zoned out for a second, because out of nowhere I heard the nighttime managers voice from beside me. "Lauren, why the hell are you wearing a nametag that says Amy?" I looked at my manager. He always struck me as being stuck in the wrong job. Even in our hotel uniform, he still managed to look physically threatening at 6'5" with his muscular stature. I've always thought he could have made more money as a bodyguard or a bouncer.

I took a gulp and removed the fake nametag. I had been given this by the person orchestrating my thousand dollar deal, and I had been instructed to wear it. I placed it down under the desk and grabbed my real nametag, the one that read Lauren. "Sorry sir, must have grabbed someone else's" I replied.

---------------------

Lucy's POV

I woke up in a strange bed, and felt a body nestled next to me. I didn't remember Amy coming to the hotel room, although I did remember making up my mind to call her. Strangely, I didn't remember much of the previous night. Wrapping my arm around the person next to me, I panicked.

This person was not Amy. She didn't feel right, although she felt familiar. Feeling more of her, I realized why she felt familiar. Throwing the sheets off of myself, I clearly saw the other person and realized how screwed I was. Naked and lying snugly in bed was Chastity. Worse yet, I was naked. I remembered talking with her in the bar, and I remembered kissing her. I even remembered going to the bathroom and making a resolve to tell her that I didn't want anything more, but I couldn't remember anything after that.

I was entirely disgusted; I was disgusted with the situation, I was disgusted with Chastity and most of all, I was disgusted with myself. How could I have done this? How could I have, especially after I had made up my mind to call Amy and reconcile things? It all felt so unreal, like someone had been pulling the strings on my life and I had just let them cut a couple of the more important ones.

I had to call Amy, I remembered. Maybe I should leave out the part that I woke up next to my ex, I thought. I went to the nightstand where my bag lay, and I undid the zipper. My cell phone was not in its usual spot, in the phone pocket of the bag. I plunged my hand into the depths of the bag, beneath the other items in my purse and found the phone. It must have fallen out last night, I realized. Dialing Amy's number, I received a strange message, one that I had never experienced before, but had heard of.

"I'm sorry" the prerecorded voice said. "Amy Bradshaw," continued Amy's voice, "has you blocked from contacting her." I couldn't listen any farther. If Amy had blocked me, then she must be extremely mad about what had happened last night. I decided to try the house phone later.

I walked over to the bed and violently shook Chastity. "Wake up...WAKE UP!" I shouted.

"Uh…what?" Chastity asked, just starting to wake up.

"What the HELL happened last night?" I asked, with enough venom in my voice to put down a horse.

"You really don't remember, do you?" Chastity asked mockingly in her natural French accent. "You wanted it as much as I did."

No I didn't, I told myself, but I suspected that she might have been right. I may have wanted the sensations, but not with her. I didn't want her at all, but I knew my body had wanted pleasure. No, I hadn't wanted it as much as her, I had needed it. Still, how could I have let myself settle for her? She had broken my heart before, and I knew that she was probably incapable of feeling love.

Of course, I suspected what happened to me last night. Somehow I had gotten drunk enough to actually sleep with the one person who disgusted me more than anything else in the world at the current time. "Get dressed, and get out of my room. I should have known better than to trust you."

"Ah, was I not good enough for Ze Lucy Diamond?" she asked, "Zat's not what you said last night, when you were moaning on ze bed."

'I may have been moaning, but it wasn't me you were screwing on the bed,' I wanted to say. Chastity was right, she wasn't good enough for me; she never had been. I had lied to myself when I thought she had been good enough, I had thought I had known true love, but I hadn't met Amy yet.

"GET OUT!" I screamed.

Chastity quickly got dressed in a robe and gathered her clothes. "Ze zanks I get," she huffed as she walked to the door, finding it already open and slammed the door behind her.

Sitting on the bed, I started thinking about the situation that I had now put myself in. I swore that I would be truthful to Amy now, but I couldn't really tell her this, could I? I took a few minutes to clear my mind, and reminded myself that if I loved Amy, I would have to be truthful with her. Unless…unless she already knew, which would explain why she had blocked me from contacting her.

Just then, it hit me. Why had the door been open? What had happened to keep the door open, and who, if anyone had seen anything through that open door? My only hope was that no one connected to Amy had seen anything, or else I was a dead woman.

I sat on the bed and buried my head in my hands. What could I possibly say to Amy? What could even possibly begin to explain what had gone on last night? Just saying that I had blacked out and made a terrible mistake would not suffice, but in this situation, what would?

I realized that if she had blocked me from her cell phone, she probably didn't want to see me, but I knew I had to tell her and explain my actions, even if it was rejected. She didn't deserve this, any of it. Amy didn't deserve the lying, and she definitely didn't deserve me cheating on her. More than that, I didn't deserve her; she had never strayed from her faithfulness, and yet I had been the one to completely betray her. Still, I needed to see her, and I needed to see if I had screwed things up so badly that they were irreparable.

In a flash, I packed my bags, changed and hurried downstairs, stopping at the receptionist's desk and paying via a credit card. I hurried out to my car and sped home, at a couple parts where there wasn't much traffic at all, I exceeded speeds of 100 MPH. All the way home, I couldn't help but wonder how I had screwed up as badly as I had. I'd been drunk before, but I'd never done anything as stupid as I did last night.

I arrived at our house and was relieved to find the pink sports car I had gotten her as an anniversary present still in the driveway. At least she hadn't left.

I parked my car in the driveway and started my walk of shame. Sauntering up to the front door, where, finding the door locked, I rang the doorbell. I waited a couple of seconds before I could hear the locks turning. "Amy…" I called out. To my surprise, Scud was the one to answer the door, but he bore an uncharacteristic grim look on his face, and he carried a piece of paper in his hand.

"Lucy, I think you need to read this," he said, handing me the paper, which was folded in quarters. I unfolded the letter and started to read. I could tell it was from Amy by the handwriting.

Lucy,

Some things just can't be repaired. I think you know that I went to your hotel room last night, and I know you know what I saw. I guess what haunts me the most is the fact that you looked at me and just ignored at me. What I mean to you, I guess I'll never know, unfortunately.

Do you know how it feels to find out that the person you've given up everything for, the one person you love unconditionally doesn't return the feeling? I don't know if my heart can ever recover from that knowledge. Lucy, I'll never find anyone like you, and that's what breaks my heart. If Chastity means more to you than I do, I don't know what to do.

I'm gone, Lucy, don't bother trying to find me. I just want to forget.

Amy

"Lucy, you really screwed up this time," Scud said, reaching in his pocket. "She wanted you to have these." He placed a set of car keys in my hand; they were the keys to the pink sports car I had given her as an anniversary present.

I couldn't say anything; Scud had said everything for me. I entered our house…my house, I guess it wasn't really Amy's anymore, and sat down on the couch. I buried my head in my hands, and for the second time in two days, Lucy Diamond, the badass master criminal, cried. This time, it was a deep, sorrowful sob. It was as if I were crying the depths of my soul out through my eyes. I had lost everything.

---------------------
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

---------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnote – Chastity fits one of the original meanings of the word, which is why this word was used. One of the theories on the etymology of the word "fuck" is that in the Medieval ages, kings would bestow writs to those who had done services, allowing them to bed a damsel of their choice. The writs were called Fornification Under Command of the King, thus F.U.C.K., which soon lost its status as an acronym. There was no love at all behind it back then, it was simply a privilege granted for a favor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm afraid this isn't what any of you wanted, but I started this, and I couldn't pull a Deus ex Machina on you great readers. I promise that this might somehow be resolved, but please stay with me in the meanwhile, we've still got a great ride in store.

Dan