The Cosmic Law of French Toast by Meowser Hotchner
Day Three: Hot Chocolate/Hot Drinks
A/N: I'm currently listening to My Type by Saint Motel. So that should give you some clues into this chapter.
Jim leaned on the bar, his arm muscles bulging. The women in the room, discreetly sat in booths or lurking by the pool tables, made more mental notes as they watched him.
"Listen, pal, all I'm asking is, have you seen a short, brunette woman come in here?" He asked the bartender impatiently.
"I get a lot of short brunettes in here, you'll have to be more specific," the redheaded and freckled man replied.
"She would have asked a lot of weird questions," Jim added.
The man's eyes narrowed. "Was she stacked? And, fuck, do I mean stacked, and with an ass to boot."
Jim's jaw clenched. "That sounds like her, but I'm going to mention here that she's my wife before I have to bash your head in."
The man's eyes narrowed even more. "Go ahead and try," he said coolly.
"It's not worth it, Jim," Rick piped up and Jim jerked around, remembering only now that the professor was here with him. "I believe the question was, did you see her?"
"I did," the man grunted, looking between them. Rick was wearing very dark sunglasses (to cover up a black eye) but they succeeded only in making him look thuggish...which was actually a good thing in this situation...a very good thing.
"So where is she?" Rick demanded, placing a hand on Jim's tense forearm.
"She left," he replied. "Out that door. I suggest you follow suit."
Rick had to physically pull Jim away from the bar. "Come on, lover boy, we'll find her," he assured the man, opening the door and ushering them outside into the cold air. Their breaths showed and Jim abruptly pulled away from Rick.
Rick threw up his hands. "Whatever. That's what I get for helping."
"Are you kidding me? You're the one who sent her on this goose chase," Jim snapped.
"No, she sent herself, I just pointed her in the right direction," Rick corrected. "Why are you even worrying about it? Melinda's always come home fine before now."
Jim's eyes darkened. "Since you've known her," he said grimly.
Rick straightened. "Was there a time that she didn't come home?" He asked.
"Her car...there was an accident, she...almost didn't revive," Jim said quietly as they walked away from the bar.
"Oh, god, Jim," Rick said heavily. "I didn't know."
Jim scraped his hair off of his forehead. "Yeah, well," he sighed. "You're right. Nothing could have stopped her."
"It's snowing," Rick said morosely.
Jim sighed. "It is."
They walked down the street in silence. "Where are we even going? It's not like we can ask the ghosts where she went," Rick said, bringing them to a halt.
"Let's continue investigating bars," Jim said, shoving his gloveless hands into his pockets. "She was helping a waitress who worked at a bar, right? She just didn't know which one, so we're definitely in her footsteps right now." He frowned. "The thing is, that was the last bar in Grandview."
"No, it wasn't," Rick said.
"Yeah, it was," Jim said.
"No, there's a new one," Rick said. "A...nasty one."
Jim's eyes narrowed.
"Wild Nights," Rick said. "It opened way over on the north side of town. It's a high end place with...too many girls."
"You seem to know a lot about it," Jim commented, starting towards his pickup, which was parked in the square.
"One of my students worked there, she had a hard time getting out," Rick said, following Jim's lead as the man broke into a run. "Whoa, hold up!"
"If you can't keep up, stay behind," Jim shouted.
"What happened to no man left behind?" Rick complained, but did indeed double his pace.
Jim jumped into the driver's seat and Rick had only just scrambled into the passenger's side when Jim spun away from the curb, wheels squealing.
"It's snowing, be careful!" Rick shouted, but Jim's response was to slam his foot on the gas pedal.
"Where's this place?" Jim asked, making a left.
"You're on the right track, just keep going," Rick said.
When they walked into Wild Nights, Jim's first thought was horror.
The women were barely wearing anything. His heart went out to the women who were forced into these jobs even as his jeans became tighter. God, sometimes he hated being a man.
"What can I do for you?" The maitre'd cooed, her breasts almost falling out of her corset-like top.
"Have you—" Jim began when Rick slapped him in the chest.
"We'd like a table," Rick corrected.
"What?" Jim hissed as the woman started to a table.
"I saw Melinda," Rick said. "Stay calm."
Jim's head almost jerked off of his neck in an effort to see what Rick was talking about but the man in front of him just kept walking, even turning around to glare at Jim as if to ask what the hold up was.
And then Jim's heart stopped.
"Can I get you a drink?" Another waitress asked as they were settled at their table.
"Hot chocolate," a female voice interrupted. "I'll take care of these guys, Rory, if you could get the chocolate."
Rory walked away and then Melinda was looking down at them. "Hi."
"What the hell?" Jim hissed.
"Keep quiet, Rory's coming back with the cocoa," Melinda said, sitting down.
Neither man could take their eyes off of her. She was wearing little more than lingerie, pitifully covered by an open...robe...thing.
"What are you doing?" Jim asked.
"I'm helping someone," Melinda hissed as Rory placed three hot chocolates on the table.
Rick couldn't help but take a sip and he choked on the first mouthful. "What the hell is in this?"
"A mixture of whiskey and bourbon," Melinda said. "Sorry, I should have warned you."
"No, it's good," Rick said, his voice sounding strained.
Jim noticed that the man's eyes were literally glued to the expanse of breast exposed on Melinda and he elbowed him rather harshly just as Rick took another drink, so he choked on his second one too.
"See on the stage?" Melinda asked, raising an arm to point.
Jim felt faint at seeing what the motion did to her decolletage.
Rick choked for a third time on his cocoa.
"That's Lena," Melinda said. "My ghost, Penny, is her sister. She can't cross over because her sister is still working here, because she's trying to pay back one of Penny's debts. It makes sense, right?"
"I wouldn't leave behind my sister here," Rick agreed.
"Exactly," Melinda said. "But I had to blend in a bit. I got a waitress to go home sick and I'm the replacement she sent in. I just need to get close to Lena. Then I'm leaving forever, with Lena."
"I don't like this," Jim said, rubbing his forehead.
"I gotta go," Melinda said, standing up.
Jim reached out to stop her, trying to grab her hand but he wasn't quick enough.
"Hands to yourself," a man growled behind him. "You have to pay extra to touch."
Jim felt something like road rage rise up in him, almost completely clouding his vision. He only came out of it because of Rick's steadying hand on his shoulder.
"Stay calm," Rick counselled. "Melinda's already talking to Lena. We'll be out of here any second."
"I can't stay calm," Jim said and buried his face in his hands, feeling like the bar crowd was burning him.
"We'll be out of here in plenty of time," Rick assured him. "And then you can take your wife home with you."
Jim wasn't imagining the hint of bitterness in Rick's voice. "Well, maybe you can take Lena home," he shot back.
"Very funny," Rick said. "No, I think I'll have to stick around here if I want to get any satisfaction tonight."
Jim lifted his own cup of cocoa to his lips and promptly burned the top of his throat when he saw Melinda walk onto the stage. "This isn't happening," he whispered.
Rick, next to him, was even tenser than he was.
The whole crowd seemed to have fallen silent as Melinda approached the pole.
"Oh, fuck," Jim said and stood up. He felt Rick's arms and hands desperately try to hold him back but he could see nothing but his wife's body, undulating on stage before fifty or so randy men.
Her hips were moving in ways that he wasn't sure he'd known they could. He could feel Rick holding him back and it was the only reason he hadn't put put the eyes of every man in the room from their witnessing it.
He had no idea what Melinda's plan was but it was going to drive him to an early grave.
And then suddenly it was over. Melinda was scrambling off of the stage and talking to Lena. Jim was gratified to see that the beefy guard was again standing guard over Melinda and keeping the drooling men feet away.
Finally, Melinda led Lena over to their table. "Jim, Rick, this is Lena."
She saw the scene; Rick was still holding Jim's shoulder in a white knuckled grip.
"Jim is my husband,, Rick is my friend," Melinda explained.
Lena was a doe eyed young woman with long, coltish legs and an innocence still somehow clinging to her that would have made Jim's heart ache if other parts of his anatomy weren't in such pain right now from staring at his wife.
"Hello," Lena said softly. "Um."
"We're going to leave now," Melinda said.
She led the way. Jim threw a bill on the table and heard a mild curse fall from Rick's lips as they hurried to follow Melinda... The sway of her hips led them forward like they were on a string.
The guard approached. "Where are you going? Your shifts aren't over."
"We quit," Melinda stated. "Lena and I."
"Not going to happen," the guard stated, placing a beefy hand tight around Melinda's upper arm.
Jim stepped forward. "You'll be paying with a lot if you touch my wife like that again."
"Wife?" The guard sneered. "This whorw?"
This time Rick didn't hold him back. He might even have pushed Jim forward.
Jim's fist collided with the guard's jaw with a loud crack.
Rick, in a rare moment of athletic coordination took out the next guard who was approaching them from behind.
In the next moment, as all hell broke loose, Melinda seemed to say something and then the lights went out. He felt Melinda's hand grip his hand. "Get Rick," she hissed. "Penny is leading us out safely."
Jim wildly fumbled behind him and grabbed Rick by the cuff as Melinda walked confidently forward, leaving them to follow through the pitch black darkness.
They were finally outside, running to Jim's pickup.
"We can come back later for my car," Melinda shouted.
They jumped into the pickup, forgetting that it didn't have a back seat. Jim found that Lena was almost in his lap and he didn't even want to know what Melinda's situation was with Rick as he drove from the parking lot with squealing tires.
Looking at his companions' state of undress, Jim turned the heat way up...though at this point he felt like he could heat the truck himself.
It was a long moment before Melinda spoke. "I'm sorry?" She offered. "And thank you so much for following. I don't know what would have happened if you two weren't there."
"We can finish this conversation later," Jim said, wanting to look at her but when he turned his head he only got an eyeful of Lena's cleavage so he turned quickly back to face the road.
"I'd like to know something," Rick said. "Where's Lena staying?"
"Are you offering?" Melinda snapped.
"I'm right here, you know," Lena said. "And I didn't ask to be rescued."
"I thought you believed me when I told you that Penny sent me," Melinda said.
"I do. But you didn't have to bust me out of there like that," Lena said. "Not that I'm not grateful."
"You don't sound grateful," Rick said.
"Penny told me that you needed money, to pay one of her debts she left when she died," Melinda said. "I can lend you the amount, Lena. I don't want you going back there. And neither does Penny. That was why we left like that."
"I know," Lena said. "But there's something that I don't think Penny would have told you."
"And what would that be?" Melinda asked.
"We're trust fund kids, our parents are the Lilands," Lena said.
There was dead silence.
"Like the millionaires? In NYC?" Jim asked.
Lena nodded miserably. "Penny didn't want our parents to find out. Dad would have...I know that she wouldn't want him to have those kind of memories of her. She already felt so guilty."
"Was it a drug habit?" Melinda asked.
"No, not at all," Lena corrected. "She did something stupid one summer."
"Ah, it was a guy," Rick said. "A secret baby."
"It was a girl, another rich girl who's now married. Penny was being blackmailed," Lena said flatly.
More silence. "This is complicated," Melinda said.
"Yeah," Lena said.
"You can stay with us tonight," Melinda finally said. "We can figure out what to do in the morning."
Jim heard Melinda's words and he almost groaned.
When they dropped off Rick, Jim wasn't sure what to say to the man who'd probably saved his neck this evening... And seen his wife nearly naked pole dancing.
He rolled open his window as Rick walked past. "Thank you," he settled on but the rawness in his voice clued Rick in and the man waved goodbye.
A/N: the first version of this chapter was very definitely MA and can be found on AO3. My username there is Meowser_Hotchner and the title is Spin Me Around. The extended version of this chapter is chapter one, but I actually decided to do a whole story based on this idea, only published on AO3.
Not sure how I strayed so far from the original prompt of hot chocolate but I'm not complaining... Are you? I think my inner self's love of Road To movies took over this whole thing.
This is another storyline I can see myself returning to.
