Lucas trudged into Unzipped's dressing room late that evening, his slumped shoulders revealing his lack of excitement, excitement which was usually in abundance on nights he was scheduled to work. But before that night, the club had never caused so much damage to his relationship with Sami either. The little fights he had had over his job with her in the past had done nothing to prepare him for the disastrous argument the discussion of Lucas' stripping work had led to that morning.
The usual crowd was already backstage when Lucas got there. Not in the friendliest of moods, Lucas stood near the door with his arms crossed, wondering how long he could stay undetected. Patrick and Rex certainly seemed preoccupied and after a few minutes of observing them, Lucas decided that they were being more affectionate with each other than usual. Rex was helping Patrick get dressed, and Rex's hands brushed against different places on Patrick's body so unnecessarily and so frequently that Lucas had to stop watching them but it did make him wonder what was going on between those two. Phillip and Shawn weren't any less physically open, and the sight of those two hugging and kissing was still something Lucas wasn't used to seeing.
But unlike Lucas, all four of them were grinning and laughing and having a good time. At least the majority of us are happy to be here, Lucas thought, his hostility towards the club and everything in it resurfacing and expanding. He knew it was childish to blame the club for losing Sami. He could have told her he would quit, he could have left the job to make her feel secure. But he hadn't. He had chosen the club over Sami.
To his left, Rex ran his hand down Patrick's bare back. To his right, Shawn smacked Phillip's ass. Somewhere in between them, Bonnie stood flirting with Tanner while Max twisted around and gnawed at his tiny g-string unhappily.
God. He had chosen this over Sami?
But he knew that the club wasn't what he had chosen over Sami. He had chosen trust over Sami. Sami didn't trust him, Sami believed he was capable of cheating on her. When he had done everything he could to convince her that he wouldn't leave her for someone else, she hadn't listened. Even when he had told her that he loved her she hadn't even heard him because she had been too busy assuming he would run off with another woman if he stayed with Unzipped.
By not believing in him, Sami had betrayed his trust and his love. He couldn't have a relationship with her, especially if she really did think he was a slut and all the other things she had called him. Until Sami realized that there was nothing strong enough to tempt him away from her, from the woman he was in love with, he was going to keep working at Unzipped, no matter how stubborn it was.
"Honey, what's the hold-up? Why aren't you changing yet?" Bonnie had noticed Lucas and was walking towards him. Because bubbly, overenthusiastic Bonnie was one of the last people Lucas wanted to talk to, he didn't even try to force a smile onto his face.
"I'll go do that right now," Lucas replied abruptly, moving past Bonnie. Her mouth hanging open the tiniest bit, Bonnie's attention shifted to Phillip and Shawn.
"It looks like someone isn't in a very good mood tonight," Bonnie said more to herself than Phillip as she clicked her tongue, "Well, that's a shame. I guess he won't be in the mood to try out one of the new cages. I suppose there's always tomorrow night though."
"Cages?" Shawn looked at Bonnie in surprise, his curiosity piqued.
"That's right," Bonnie's smile stretched across her face proudly, "I bought two strip cages for the club. Isn't that wonderful? I just know you two will have fun in them. In fact, I would be ecstatic if you two agreed to do a dance together in one of the cages sometime."
Phillip nodded without hesitation, "I wouldn't mind doing that. What do you think, Shawn?"
Still a little intimidated by the idea of going back into a cage after spending so long being trapped inside one earlier that summer, Shawn stalled, "Maybe. But not tonight. We can tell Jan we're going to do it, then make her wait for a while." Shawn added, hoping Phillip didn't hear the catch in his voice.
"Sure," Phillip wasn't watching Shawn, but was shooting worried looks in Lucas' direction instead, "Hang on, I'm going to see what's wrong with Lucas."
Phillip began walking away and he wasn't the only one watching Lucas anymore. With his shirt off and a sullen expression darkening his face, he looked inviting and unavailable at the same time. Shawn let a swish of air through his lips. Phillip had the hottest brothers. They weren't as hot as Phillip, but they were still fun to look at.
Phillip reached his brother, "Hey, man, what's going on with you tonight?"
"Nothing," Lucas turned away from Phillip and searched for an outfit.
"Just tell me, Lucas," Phillip dug a little deeper, "You can talk about it. Why are you so pissed off? What happened?"
Lucas kept his distance, "Go play with Shawn."
"Not until you talk to me. What did Sami do?"
Lucas jerked his head up and glared at Phillip, "Who says it has anything to do with her?"
"No one, I'm just taking a wild guess," Phillip answered dryly, "Are you going to fill me in or not?"
"There isn't a lot to say," Lucas did his best to sound unaffected, "Sami and I... broke up."
"Were you ever even dating?" Phillip's forehead creased inquisitively.
"No. Maybe. I don't know." Lucas grimaced, "That isn't the point. The point is that she doesn't want to have anything to do with me because she thinks I'm a cheap, sleazy jerk that's going to cheat on her because I work here."
"Ouch," Phillip patted his shoulder sympathetically, "Maybe you just took whatever she said too hard. I'm sure she doesn't actually think that."
Lucas uttered a harsh-sounding laugh, "I believe she called me the town bicycle and said that everyone gets a ride."
Something flashed across Phillip's face, "What the hell? How can she can call you that when there's people like Rex around?"
"I heard that!" Rex yelled from his position next to Patrick.
"So? It's true." Phillip retorted, "You dumped Mimi and went straight to her brother afterwards."
"That's because Mimi and I had already grown apart. I can't help being interested in Patrick. I have been for a long time." Rex shot back defensively, "And at least I'm not dating both of them at once!"
"I'm not dating both Shawn and Jan at once. We're all dating each other."
"Right, and that makes it so much better. Never mind that Shawn is your nephew or whatever he is. You're the slut, not me!"
Phillip looked ready to hurl himself at Rex, but managed to hold back. He ignored Rex and focused on Lucas, "See how wrong Sami is? It's completely ridiculous to call you a slut, especially when you're compared to your easy brothers."
"I'm not easy!" Rex roared. Phillip just rolled his eyes.
"Thanks, Phil," Lucas threw him a weak smile, "I don't think Sami sees it that way. She said she wouldn't stay with me unless I quit working here. I would give this up for her under any other circumstances, but I feel like if I quit, it'll be like admitting that I have no self-control and know that I'd cheat on her if I keep my job."
"You did the right thing," Phillip told him, "Sami needs an attitude adjustment. No one talks to my brother like that. She doesn't deserve you."
Lucas managed an amused half-smirk in response to his brother's anger-tainted attempt at making him feel better, "If you say so."
"I'm serious," Phillip fumed, "She had no right to say whatever she said to you. Dammit, now I'm pissed too." He looked at Lucas hopefully, "But you feel better, right?"
"Yeah, I guess I do." Lucas answered reluctantly.
Phillip exhaled with relief. He knew he was lucky that Lucas was too busy being upset over losing Sami to be pissed at him. After all, Phillip had been the one that had pushed him into working at Unzipped. In all honesty, Phillip did feel guilty because he knew he had to assume part of the responsibility for Sami and Lucas' fight. Seeing Lucas upset wouldn't do anything to make him feel less guilty, so Phillip was glad he had been able to make Lucas feel even the tiniest bit better.
"Lucas, I am sor-" Phillip started to apologize but Bonnie began clapping her hands loudly to get their attention, cutting him off.
"All right, Lucas, baby, time for you to dance," Bonnie's eyes were full of concern, contrasting the cheerful sound of her voice, "Will you be okay?"
Lucas masked the rest of his unhappiness with a grin, "Why wouldn't I be?"
As Lucas began to walk away, Bonnie thanked Phillip, "I do hope you got through to him. He seems happier."
Phillip followed Lucas' path with his eyes, "I hope so."
Lucas stepped onto the stage, the faces of the women in the crowd changing colours under the inconsistent, flashing lights. Before the music started, he turned to the side of the stage Sami, Nicole, Crystal and Jan always sat on. His eyes met three questioning gazes: Jan's, Nicole's and Crystal's. Each one of them was silently asking the same question, asking him where Sami was. Lucas felt his stomach twist when he saw the women sitting to Jan's right and Crystal's left. He knew that on a normal day, Sami would have been occupying one of those chairs.
But now he would be surprised if Sami ever set foot in the club again. He knew her well enough to know that she had probably decided to boycott Unzipped for the rest of her life. She didn't want anything to do with him, and Lucas knew that meant she would stay as far away from the club as possible.
Lucas didn't feel like dancing anymore. He sucked in a deep breath and began to move fast enough to match the pace of the music while inwardly he anticipated the song's end.
"He looks sad," Jan noted, watching Lucas dance on the stage, "We shouldn't ask him where Sami is. They're probably fighting."
"They are," a voice confirmed and Jan jumped at the feeling of the familiar pair of lips kissing their way down her neck. Jan swivelled around in her seat to face Phillip.
"Yeah, Sami was being really awful. She sucks and I hate her now. She was calling my brother a slut and said she thought he would cheat on her if he kept working here." Phillip informed Jan.
"Haha," Nicole seemed to find this funny, but was silenced by a pointed look from Phillip.
"Wow," Jan was quiet for a moment as she thought about Phillip's news, then got to her feet, "Let's go get her."
"Go get her?" Nicole repeated blankly.
"Yeah, you have to come with me because I don't know where she lives," Jan said to Nicole, "It's not as much fun hanging out here without Sami around to annoy. Besides, I won't be missing much. I see Phillip and Shawn naked more often than I see them fully-clothed."
"Whose fault is that?" Phillip replied, stepping forward and nibbling her earlobe.
"Mine and I enjoy every minute of it." Jan added, smiling up at Phillip, "And think of me getting your brother and his lover back together a little favour I'm doing for you indirectly. You'll be happy if they get back together, won't you?"
"If Sami stops being mean and saying evil things about Lucas," Phillip gave Jan a grateful kiss, "Good luck, my little sex muffin."
Watching Jan and Phillip look at each other so adoringly had been sickening Nicole and hearing Phillip's mushy pet name was the last straw for Nicole. She stood up and began pulling Crystal towards the exit.
"Okay, if you want to go get her, then let's go right now." Nicole urged Jan, who quickly left Phillip to catch up with the two women.
