Yay, new chapter! Don't hate me if some of it doesn't make sense, I wrote about half of this chapter while working the night shift last night on no sleep.
Hope you enjoy!
It had been a few weeks since Beth had asked Daryl out for drinks. Over the past few weekends, it was safe to say that they had become pretty good friends. Both of them now looked forward to going to work, simply because it would mean they'd get to see each other. Daryl had finally admitted to himself that maybe he might have a little crush on the woman, but of course he still believed he didn't have a chance so he just left it alone. She was just too good for him...but not in that stuck up bitch kind of way. She was just a truly good person and he felt that he didn't deserve anything like that, knowing somehow he would taint her pure heart and hopeful spirit. Even without some romantic spin, the pair definitely enjoyed spending what little time they had together. They hadn't gotten together outside of work yet, but that wasn't for lack of trying on Beth's part. Daryl usually declined her offers, as much as he hated it, because he worked every day of the week, leaving a small amount of time to get anything done.
Today he had been scheduled to man the front office and it was actually the first time he had gotten that opportunity since he had started a month ago, usually Max gave him the perimeter duty, knowing of Daryl's preference to be outside. Beth was shooting again today, which made it hard for Daryl to avoid the monitors on the desk. He managed to do it for a few hours, thinking of how she was his friend now, and it wouldn't be appropriate. However, just around the five hour mark, feeling fidgety from sitting still for so long, his eyes decided for him that he would take a peak.
They scanned over the glass screens, showing a multitude of black and white images, ranging from storage rooms to the offices to the current productions. Quickly, he located Beth. The image really made him wish he hadn't looked at all. There she was, in nothing but a white bra that had been pulled down to expose her breasts. This particular picture would have once again turned him on, even the black and white grainy version from the security camera, if it weren't for the fact that Beth wasn't alone. He didn't exactly expect her to be, he knew what her job was and what it entailed, but this time it was quite a bit different. Not only was she being entered repeatedly from behind by some guy, there was another man, up by her face, seemingly enjoying himself while Beth worked her mouth up and down his dick.
Daryl now felt ill, like his stomach was turning inside out and he was sure what little dinner he had last night would be coming back up his esophagus to say hello again. He turned his head away and stood up away from the desk, his racing thoughts forcing him to pace back and forth. His dirty work boots were probably going to put a hole in the ground, but that wasn't his main concern at this point. What he was thinking about was that Beth was just too god damned good to be doing this. It made him angry for a moment, then he quickly remembered no one was keeping her here, forcing her to perform these acts...no, Beth had made that decision all on her own. However, it was a difficult pill to swallow when Daryl thought she deserved to be treated like a queen, or a princess, or some kinda shit like that. Just be able to sit back, enjoy spendin' time with her kid without worryin' about food and bills. She just deserved the world, it was too bad he wasn't able to give it to her.
Daryl was trying force himself to calm down, telling himself over and over again that it didn't matter, this was her job, he wasn't there to judge. He was supposed to be her friend which left no room for feelings like this...anger, jealousy, sadness. It was just very different now...it kind of made him rethink porn all together. Merle would without a doubt kick his ass if he could somehow read his mind right now. Those girls, making these films, could be someone's mother, or sister, or wife, or daughter. This revelation wasn't doing anything to put him in a better mood, only making him feel like a disgusting old man for every having viewed them. Of course there did have to be some girls out there who simply did want to do this for a living, which wasn't something one would hope their child would usually aspire to, but again, there are worse things. He took one large shaky breath, running a rough hand through his shaggy mess he called hair trying to clear his head but still he couldn't help but think that Beth was just...above this.
Eventually he put an end to his pacing and he sat back down at his post, eyes deliberately avoiding the video feeds this time, and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. His fists curled, his uneven nails digging into his palms. Right now, he welcomed the minimal pain, as it would help him to focus. He chewed on his lip, trying to think about anything but the filming currently being done.
The only thing he could come up with was apparently his very active social life, so he began to contemplate his plans for the evening. Merle had called him fairly early this morning, already three sheets to the wind, although it was not a surprise. The older brother had been trying to convince him to go out to some biker bar to get wasted, no reason in particular, like a Dixon ever needed one, and had not hesitated to call Daryl a pussy for trying to decline the charitable invitation. Daryl knew his brother would just end up getting into a fight, hooking up with some random girl, or going to jail...or it could very well be all of the above, it definitely wouldn't be the first time. He finally gave in and told his brother he'd meet him there after work, to which Merle hollered something about drinks being on Daryl then promptly hung up on him.
His mind drifted off, getting lost in the thoughts of what could possibly go wrong with Merle tonight, as there were endless possibilities. He would crudely brought back to Earth when the front door was pulled open, allowing the sun to temporarily blind him for a second. Blinking the spots away, he noticed there was a young guy of about average height with dark brown short hair walking towards the back. He looked incredibly nervous and was moving way too fast, also was avoiding eye contact, which was weird because everyone who worked here seemed overly friendly, never going out of their way to flat out ignore anyone. This made Daryl immediately check for an employee badge. Glancing down at the guy's t shirt, he could see no badge in sight meaning no access. Daryl quickly stood up, striding over to the twitchy guy and blocked his path to the back part of the building. "Can I help you?"
The young man, who Daryl could now see perspiring, cleared his throat and stuttered out a response. "Uh, n-nope, just uh, on my way back." He gestured towards the hallway. "I've got a delivery." He held up a small box wrapped in plain brown paper.
"Well, deliveries normally get dropped off at the front desk. I'd be happy to sign for anything." The protocol he described was accurate, but Daryl also had a feeling he was calling the kid on his bluff. The kid nodded, and started in the direction of the desk that Daryl had been sitting at, but quickly turned around and tried to run right past Daryl. Daryl grabbed the kid by his hoodie and yanked him back. "Damn kid, do I look that stupid?"
"You don't really want me to answer that." Daryl rolled his eyes at the kid's smart ass remark, he should be thanking his lucky stars that Daryl had some self restraint right now. He started pulling him towards the door, ready to tell him to get lost when the kid started to beg. "Oh come on man, don't make me leave! I just gotta get back in there! Beth's in there and I need to see her!"
Daryl stopped for a second, and the kid looked positively overjoyed. He must have thought that Daryl had suddenly changed his mind and was gonna let him get back to see Beth. He then continued to drag the kid out, lightly shoving him in the direction of the parking lot. "Get the hell out of here. I don't want you comin' round here to bother Beth. You hear me?" He didn't yell, but he looked absolutely menacing and his tone was laced with venom.
The kid showed that he at least had some balls when he didn't immediately scram. Instead, he held out the package to Daryl. "Could you please at least give this to her?" Daryl just stared at it. "Please?" He couldn't help but think that this kid was pretty pathetic, so he gave him the benefit of the doubt, taking the package from his outstretched hand. They stared at one another for a moment, before the kid turned around and left. Daryl waited to make sure he was actually gone before going back inside. He set the package down on the desk and sat back down in his chair. He stared at it, wondering what the contents could be. The kid was weird, that was for sure, but he seemed pretty harmless.
When Beth came out from the back of the buidling, Daryl immediately stood up. "Hey Daryl!" She looked so different in all that makeup with her hair done up, but at least she was in her regular clothes instead of some lingerie and a silk robe. He smiled at her, something he did often when she was around. "I was just headin' out to get some lunch. You wanna join me?"
He had no reason to say no, not that he wanted to, so he nodded at her. "Yeah, that'll be good." He grabbed his phone out of the desk drawer and was making his way around the desk when he remembered the package. He grabbed it as he walked towards her, holding it out to her. "Some guy dropped this off for you, real weirdo."
Beth frowned as she took the package into her hands while they walked out to the parking lot, silently agreeing to take her car as Daryl wasn't too sure how she'd do on the back of a bike. It took her a while to get into the package, getting through the layers of thick paper and tape. When finally she had opened it, she looked inside in disgust. Daryl was curious until she pulled out a large pink phallic piece of silicone. He couldn't help but let the snort escape through his lips. "Don't laugh! This is gross!" She set the toy back inside the box before pulling something else out, Daryl could see it was a lock of hair, definitely from the kid who had dropped off the box. "People are just weird." Walking past a trash can, she dropped the package and it's contents inside.
"You sure you wanna toss that? That toy seems like it's pretty good quality." Beth rolled her eyes and shoved him, making Daryl stagger off to the side laughing.
Beth drove them to a fast food restaurant where Daryl decided to splurge a little and order a burger and fries while Beth ordered chicken tenders. He raised his eyebrows at her choice but Beth just shrugged. "Give me a break, I eat with a four year old most of the time."
While waiting for their food, they filled up their cups both deciding on coke. It was the first time in a while that Daryl had actually had a soda. When their order was up, Beth crammed an excess amount of ketchup on to the tray before carrying it to a small plastic booth.
Daryl slid in and so did Beth, right across from him, crossing her legs underneath her, showing him that she truly was just a kid sometimes. They dug in to their food, Daryl quiet while Beth had her normal smile on her face. "I don't get to eat fast food much but it is sooo good."
Daryl nodded, agreeing with her. "Yeah, me either."
"Do you cook a lot?" Beth innocently asked, but the question made Daryl want to laugh.
"Nah...usually eat crap food anyways, just not fast food...too expensive."
"I hear ya! Just imagine though, a four year old in the car driving by Mcdonalds being told that no, we won't be eating there for dinner." Daryl chuckled, picturing the scenario in his head. "You'd think I force fed him poison at home or somethin'."
Daryl lifted his shoulders in response. "Reckon most kids want what they just can't have."
"Very true." Beth nodded before taking another bite of her chicken. "So you never really talk about you, ya know? Seems like whenever we're together, I just go on and on about me so you're never able to get a word in." She wiggled her eyebrows, showing that she was slightly joking, knowing by now Daryl preferred to be the listener in the conversation. "You got any secrets kids I don't know about? Crazy ex wife? Ohh ex boyfriend?"
"Jesus girl! I ain't gay!" Daryl looked shocked, immediately on the defense when he felt like his manhood had been attacked.
Beth bust out laughing. Between her fit of giggles, she was able to respond. "I was just kidding! Jeez you act like it's a crime to be gay or somethin'."
"Ain't that."
"Oh, I know." Beth cooed. "You're just too much of a manly man for that, aren't you?"
He wasn't even going to respond to that question. "Ain't got no one, 'cept my brother, Merle." Beth thought that sounded sad, him thinking that he really had no one but a single sibling.
"Ah, and is he the reason you're always makin' up excuses for why you can't hang out?"
"Barely ever see him any more." That made Beth feel even sadder. "Supposed to go out with him tonight though." He noticed Beth looked a little deflated, hearing that.
"So then I guess you won't be able to accept my offer for dinner at my place tonight then, either?" There was no way he would be turning that down, not this time. "I thought it'd be cool if you got to meet Jackson." Beth didn't often bring men home to meet her son. In fact, she had never done it once. It was mostly because she didn't want Jackson getting attached to anyone, only for them to leave. She trusted Daryl though, knowing he wasn't that kind of person.
"I can come." He sounded so nonchalant, much calmer on the outside than he was on the inside.
Beth's eyebrows shot up. "Really? But you just said..."
"Forget about it, Merle's an ass anyways. This sounds much better." It was nice, the way he could be so sweet without even really trying.
"Great!" She sounded so excited and Daryl was happy to be able to make her so pleased. "I'll give you my address so after work you can go home and give me some time to make sure my house isn't a total disaster."
"Doubt it's that bad."
"Again Daryl, you don't live with a small child. They're more destructive than they look."
They decided on meeting at Beth's around eight so finished their meal and Beth drove them back to work, hoping to get done as soon as possible. She went back inside while Daryl stayed out for a smoke. In the moment, dinner at Beth's had sounded like a good idea, but now that he actually had an opportunity to clearly think about it, he was nervous as hell. He didn't know anything about kids, and if Beth's son ended up hating him, what would happen then? He finished his cigarette quickly, the stress making him inhale much quicker. All he knew at this point it was too late to back out without seeming like a total dick so the only option he was left with was panicking until dinnertime came, about what could possibly go wrong.
So yeah, this chapter was a little bit of story development, not the most exciting, but the next chapter should be good! Dinner at Beth's and meeting Jackson! How do you guys think it will go?
Review and let me know what you think! As always, the awesome people who are reviewing chapter after chapter, I love you guys! It drives me to type away for hours to get these chapters out to you quickly!