Unzipped



Chapter One


As much as Lucas had thought that June had been unbearably long, he had to admit that July was seeming to drag on even longer. The days were just bleeding together into one hot, sweaty mess, the heat overbearing and the impulses to go see how Sami was doing impossible to ignore. He knew he had told her not to come back and for the first few days after screaming at her to get out of his apartment, he had tried to make her see that he was having a perfectly good time without her. It had obviously worked, Sami had looked incredibly jealous as she watched him dancing with those other women on the opening night at Alice's Bar. But she had also looked... hurt. And lonely. So, he had felt guilty and had put a stop to it. Not that it had made much difference in the end. Sami still refused to talk to him and Lucas had too much pride to go crawling back to her to apologize when he had been the one that had gotten hurt first.

That left him stuck his apartment, joined by his two brother who were there mostly because they pitied him. Phillip watched Lucas from his seat on the couch while Rex stared straight ahead at the TV, his arms crossed over his chest. Lucas was looking in the general direction of the television as well but Phillip could tell he wasn't watching it. Instead, he was staring off into space, occasionally sighing, probably without even realizing he was doing it. Lucas had been acting like this for the past month and it was driving Phillip crazy. He hated seeing his brother like this. Rex and Phillip had done everything they could to get Lucas and Sami back together but both of them were too stubborn to give in and now they were both miserable.

"Are you ever going to come out of this Great Depression mode or am I going to have to beat some sense into you?" Phillip snapped, finally losing his composure. Lucas looked startled by Phillip's sudden words, then shrugged lifelessly.

"I'm not in Great Depression mode." Lucas stated in a flat voice, infuriating Phillip even more.

"Yes, you are!" Phillip shot back, standing up and pacing back and forth in front of the TV, "All you do is go around whining and sulking like a complete girl and I'm sick of it. You're letting your fight with Sami take control of your life and it has to stop. I hate seeing you like this, bro."

"Can you move?" Rex asked Phillip, "You're blocking All My Children."

"Is that what you're watching? Lucas, you're actually watching soap operas now? Damn, I never expected losing Sami to make you so feminine." Phillip commented, turning to look at the screen in horror.

Rex narrowed his eyes with annoyance, "There's nothing feminine about it and he's not watching it, I'm watching it. Can I help it if this lesbian love triangle thing they've got going on is too hot for words? But of course, Lucas won't do anything lately so there's no way he could actually end up enjoying this stuff. He just sits there like he's a piece of furniture or something."

Lucas finally seemed to jerk back to life and he glared at his brothers, "I didn't ask you two to come over here to gang up on me and talk about what a loser I am in front of me. In fact, I don't remember inviting either of you over here at all. So, why don't you both leave now?" Lucas pointed towards the door, his eyes narrowing with impatience.

"Aw, come on, man." Rex jumped in contritely, "We weren't trying to insult you. We were just trying to show you that you really need to do something instead of just sitting here like you're dead. There's more to life than just Sami."

"I know that." Lucas said hotly, his jaw clenching at Rex's words.

"Do you really?" Phillip cocked his head and raised one eyebrow doubtfully, "Then do something, for God's sake. Don't just sit here, get out and get a freaking hobby."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this from you of all people." Lucas shook his head in disgust, "I mean, have you looked at yourself lately? When you're not hanging all over Belle, you're down at the base. And you," Lucas turned to look accusingly at Rex, "When you're not off fucking the lights out Mimi-"

"Goodness," Phillip placed a hand over his heart with mock consternation, "Such language. And how would you know that Mimi and Rex do that all time?"

"-You're bartending at Alice's bar." Lucas finished, "So, I only have three words to say to you two. Pot. Kettle. Black." Clearly proud of himself, Lucas leaned back against the couch and smirked at the two other men.

Rex immediately jumped to his own defence, "At least Mimi and I are together and don't fight over the stupidest things and end up not talking to each for forever because of it. And you shouldn't be making fun of me and Phillip for spending time at the base and Alice's Bar because at least we have jobs. Unlike you."

"We could find him a job." Phillip suggested, "That might take his mind off of Sami a little bit. I'm thinking that Bonnie might have a job for him. What do you think, Rex?" Lucas didn't miss the wink exchanged between the two brothers before Rex went totally straight-faced again.

"I'm going to have to agree with you there." Rex dead-panned, "Bonnie has already been so successful. First Alice's and now this new club she's opening in three days. I'm sure this new place will be incredibly popular too."

The true opportunist she was, Bonnie had taken the full advantage of her chance to run Alice's. It had only been open for a few weeks and it was obviously making Bonnie tons of money already. And Bonnie had managed to wind Mickey Horton so tightly around her finger that she had convinced him that running another establishment would make them even more money. Mickey and Bonnie had managed to get the ground work done in record time and the new place would be opening that Friday night.

"What kind of place is she opening anyway?" Lucas asked curiously.

"You know, just another one of those club things." Rex answered, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, "Anyways, I know she'd hire you. I have a good idea of what she'd hire you to do. Do you want to go talk to her right now?" Rex followed Phillip's lead and stood up, peering at Lucas anxiously. Lucas couldn't ignore the mischievous and conspirational looks that the two of them were exchanging and he looked up at them suspiciously.

"I think I want some more information first." Lucas told them, "What kind of club is this exactly and what would I be doing? You don't expect me to bartend, do you? Because with my history with alcohol, I don't think that would be the best idea."

"Oh, you definitely wouldn't be bartending." Phillip promised, shifted from one foot to the other, "Rex, tell him what kind of club it is."

Rex lowered his head and mumbled something under his breath, "I can't hear you." Lucas told Rex.

"I said it's a male strip bar!" Rex practically shouted this time, red-faced. Lucas was taken back by this piece of news and it finally sunk in what kind of job Phillip and Rex had in mind for him. His mouth hung open slightly and he shook his head.

"No way in hell." Lucas said emphatically, his face reddening with embarrassment, causing the hopeful look on Phillip's face to dissolve. Rex huffed and moved his head to one side in exasperation.

"Why not?" Phillip demanded, "It would be good for you, it would be guaranteed to take your mind off Sami. Think of all the women that would be there, totally drooling over you. It wouldn't even be a job, it would be fun!"

"Then why don't you do it?" Lucas challenged him. Phillip looked stumped by this, then spoke again.

"I'm too busy doing other things at the base. Otherwise, I would." Phillip informed Lucas.

"I'm thinking about doing it." Rex added, "I know I'm already bartending but if I work two jobs, I'll have more money and then I'll be able to marry Mimi sooner. I'm sure stripping would be a lot more enjoyable than bartending."

"Well, that's just you." Lucas responded, "You're obviously an exhibitionist at heart. I'm not." Rex and Phillip looked at him in disbelief, "What? I'm not an exhibitionist. I'm not!"

"Yeah, and that's why Sami was telling me how you always walk around practically naked whenever she's around." Rex interjected sarcastically, "Nope, you're not an exhibitionist at all. Seriously, you can't say you aren't at least a little intrigued by the idea, can you?"

"It's definitely a job I've never really considered." Lucas said slowly, "But I don't know if I could pull it off. I'm not sure if I'm... good enough to be one of those guys, you know." he hung his head, embarrassed that he had just admitted that. When he looked up, Phillip and Rex were staying at him like he was crazy.

"Are you kidding? God, what has Sami done to your self-esteem? See, this is just one more reason why you should take this job. If you decide to do this, you'll realize how many women are attracted to you and that's there a lot more great women out there besides Sami."

"But I don't want any other woman." Lucas protested, "I just want Sami. I realized that after I tried to find someone else at Alice's Bar."

"And that's just fine. You're not supposed to mix business with pleasure anyway. But by taking this job, you'll realize that you have nothing to worry about, as far as looks go. I mean, all of us Roberts' men are packing, right?" Rex added with a grin.

"Hell, yes." Phillip nodded in agreement and gave Rex a quick high five. Phillip then turned back to Lucas, looking optimistic, "So you'll do it?"

"What about Will?" Lucas protested, "I have to be a good example for him and this is not the kind of job I want him to consider getting when he gets older."

"You can just do it over the summer and he'll never have to know." Rex swung his arm over Phillip's shoulders, "For us? Your wonderful brothers? The ones that are really sick of seeing you mope around like you just lost your best friend?"

"I think I did." Lucas grumbled, then sighed reluctantly, "All right, I'll do it. Will that get you off my back?"

Phillip and Rex exchanged another round of high fives, "Yes! I can't believe we finally got him." Rex looked at Lucas expectantly, then looked towards the apartment door, "Come on, let's go talk to Bonnie."

"Right away?" Lucas checked, still feeling pretty uneasy about his decision.

"Yeah. Hey, don't look so freaked out, dude." Phillip tried to reassure his brother, "Bonnie's going to love you."

"She will." Rex agreed, "In fact, she's always telling me how I have the sexiest brothers ever. But then again, I think Bonnie thinks anything on three legs is sexy. She's going to be so happy that you've decided to get a job at the club."

"All right." Lucas rolled his eyes and his brothers' excessive enthusiasm and followed the two of them out of the apartment. Still trying to get his head around what he was about to go do, he locked his apartment door and left the apartment building, walking with decidedly less enthusiasm than his two brothers as they started heading towards Bonnie's new club.

Author's Note: Okay, I needed a little break from Survival Of The Fittest so I decided to start writing this. I hope you like it. Oh, and I think Lucas needs a stripping buddy (No, not that kind of stripping buddy, silly. Although you do have to wonder about me sometimes but I promise, this is 100% Lumi). Who would you like it to be? Patrick? Rex? Phillip? Brady? Please tell me what you think and thanks for reading.