Chapter 17

Sex and Betrayal

The first thing Jeremy noted when he entered the bar was the drastic contrast of the crowd. During weekend nights the bar was always bursting at the seams with college students. As he glanced around the room he noted a much older clientele. He would guess the patrons tonight were mainly local business employees enjoying a late evening cocktail. That and a lone hideous old woman wearing a yellow bag of a dress, and an obvious bleach blonde wig. Who did she think she was kidding, really? Anyone who looked at her could obviously tell she was wearing a wig, so why wear one then? Jeremy dismissed the thought and walked slowly up to the bar. Even the music was different, soft jazz vocals replaced the usual loud urban mix. Then he spotted her. Sitting across the bar, almost directly behind the unsightly old hag, was a beautiful young woman with hair the color of the night. She was wearing a deep purple knit dress, which hugged every curve just right. The dress was fairly casual, yet spoke volumes of her class. Jeremy's eyes couldn't help but follow the deep V of her dress, her cleavage accented by a small gold coin that hung from a thin chain. The woman apparently noticed him staring, and looked slightly taken aback. She tried to ignore him, but he could tell she still kept him in her peripheral line of sight. He slowly approached her, smiling to himself that only Elizabeth would choose a best friend whose beauty would nearly mirror her own.

"You must be Anna." He stated calmly, claiming the bar seat next to her. Anna was surprised at his confidence,

"My name is Anna Maria, only my friends call me Anna." She stated back, keeping her gaze forward and demeanor like ice. Jeremy softly chuckled,

"Oh, so I am to presume I am your enemy." Anna turned to face him,

"What would make you think that?"

"Well, if I am not your friend then I must be your adversary. Friend or foe, isn't that how it typically goes?" His smile was disarming, Anna actually found herself slightly intrigued by his charms.

"If you prefer to be placed into a category, I would call you an acquaintance," she replied. Jeremy flagged the bar tender,

"May I get you a drink Miss Anna Maria?" Anna smiled,

"Corona, and please call me Anna." The old woman who sat behind them started into a coughing spell, Jeremy glanced back at her then back to Anna.

"Maybe if she spent her nights knitting at home rather than drinking in a bar she could afford a new wig." Jeremy whispered. Anna couldn't help but laugh.

"So I have moved up a station?" Jeremy could tell Anna was confused by this, "Anna." He stated plainly. She smiled back, squeezing a lime into her beer,

"I guess so."

"Good, my name is Jeremy. It is a pleasure to meet you." They were quiet for awhile watching the apparent business transaction taking place at a table near them.

"So what brings you to the Pearl on a Tuesday night?" Anna questioned, trying to sound casual.

"Well seeing that it's ladies night, I thought I would come and meet lovely ladies like yourself and at the same time save some money." Anna raised her eyebrows at him,

"No not like that, I mean when buying them drinks-dollar drinks tonight you know." Anna laughed again,

"Well I'm glad I offer you cheap entertainment." She replied.

"So what brings you here tonight?" He questioned. Anna took a deep breath in, trying to remember the lines she had rehearsed.

"Besides the dollar drinks?" she softly replied.

"Can't fool me, a beautiful woman like you alone in a bar on a Tuesday night? Doesn't make sense to me." Jeremy took a drink, still holding Anna's gaze.

"I come here to think."

"A smoky bar over a warm coffee shop?" Anna laughed again,

"I know it doesn't make much sense, but I would take a cold beer any day over an overpriced cup of steamed milk." Jeremy smiled,

"What is it you are thinking about this evening?" Anna swallowed hard,

"My friend, she has been occupying a majority of my thoughts lately." Anna now had Jeremy's full attention,

"She must be a good friend."

"My best." Anna practically whispered.

"Then she deserves nothing less." Jeremy quipped. Anna looked curiously at him,

"I agree, but what if the best choice for her isn't the best choice for the majority. You have to look at the big picture sometimes." Jeremy nodded his head,

"I say screw the majority." Anna rolled her eyes,

"You don't understand."

"Help me to," Jeremy took her hand, "I want to help you Anna." The old woman behind them began furiously coughing again. Anna slipped her hand out of Jeremy's,

"You can't help."

"Your right, I can't help with something I don't even know. So why don't you off load some of the burden and tell me what is bothering you." Anna looked skeptically at him; his eyes were intently staring back at her. There was something in his eyes that made her slightly uncomfortable; maybe the intenseness of his stare-he wasn't going to back down.

"My friend, she was given a picture of her boyfriend in a rather compromising position. The thing is you can't really tell that it is even him; pictures can be so easily doctored these days. So I am at wits end, do I encourage her to follow her gut feeling and break up with him thus ruining a so far flawless relationship, or do I encourage her to give him another chance? After all we are all human and she really has no solid proof that he has done something wrong."

"So all this confusion is over the lack of solid evidence?" Jeremy replied. Anna nodded, "If I had any concrete evidence that it was him in the picture I would tell her to end it for sure!" It was now Jeremy who looked puzzled, as if he was deeply contemplating his next line of action.

"Anna, I should reveal to you that our meeting here tonight was not entirely guided by fate." The old woman behind them started digging through her purse; Jeremy tried to focus back on Anna,

"But I assure you that we are both here for the same reason."

"What do you mean?" Jeremy took a deep breath in,
"Anna I know this dear friend that you talk about. In fact, she is a good friend of mine also."

"You know Elizabeth?" She questioned.

"Yes, very well actually. I also know about the picture because…" He looked uncomfortably at her and took another drink.

"Because…" Anna prompted,

"Because I took it." Jeremy stated plainly.

"You what!" Anna proclaimed a little too loud. Jeremy motioned her to keep her voice down,

"I took it as part of a prank, but I too care for Elizabeth. She is worth more than any hotel maid, but is too blinded by emotions to see the error in her ways."

"The error in her ways?" Anna questioned,

"We both know how taken she is with Will. I see it as my duty to expose him as the fraud he truly is."
"Prove it." Anna stated plainly. Jeremy let out a long sigh reached into his coat pocket, producing a small camera. Anna's breath caught in her throat, he actually brought the camera! Trying to remain calm, she looked pointedly at him trying to relay that she still had her doubts. He grunted in frustration and turned on the camera, flipping through pictures until he came upon the one of interest. He then handed Anna the camera, and she gazed upon the screen. This was it, in her hands was the future of her best friend's social standings. This picture could ruin Will and Elizabeth's lives if taken public. Jack and she had never considered the possibility that he would actually bring the original photo, still on the camera itself.

"You sent the picture to Elizabeth." She stated more than questioned. Jeremy nodded,
"I had no choice, and she deserved to know the truth." Anna briefly looked up from the camera,

"Are there other copies?"

"Only the ones Will collected from the bus. I haven't downloaded it yet onto my computer because I would rather keep it on me for awhile. For situations like this."

Anna nodded, looking back at the picture then back at Jeremy. She knew what she had to do…

"I could use a glass of water." Jeremy nodded and motioned for the bar tender. Anna kept the camera tightly in her hands, intently staring at the picture on the screen.

"I understand that this will be hard for Elizabeth but in the future she will be better off." Jeremy stated, paying the bartender as he set down the glass of ice water. Anna then laid the camera down onto the bar top; face down with the power still on. Before Jeremy could even move she quickly reached across the bar towards a lemon on the condiment tray and knocked the glass of ice water over with her arm. Water and ice spilled all over the camera, which made a few hissing sounds and then shut off. Anna quickly stood and started to repeatedly apologize, quickly grabbing the camera and trying to dry it off with her dress. Jeremy in horror tried to get the camera from her, but as he grabbed her arm she let go of the camera and it fell hard onto the floor, sliding towards the old woman behind them. The old woman then abruptly stood and stepped on the camera on her way out of the bar.

"Excuse me," she muttered as she walked past, ignoring the crunching sounds below her feet as she stumbled off. Jeremy dropped to his knees, picking up the now many pieces of his camera.

"Oh God I am so sorry!" Anna proclaimed as she knelt down next to him. Jeremy was boiling on the inside, but knew he could not yell at Elizabeth's best friend. Through gritted teeth he replied that it was ok, and that he had to get going. Anna apologized again and offered to pay for the camera.

"There is no need, just promise me you will tell Elizabeth about the picture. She deserves to know the truth about Will, which will be payback enough." Jeremy replied as he walked off. Anna gave her word then took a seat at a table near the bar. A few minutes later the old woman reentered the bar and took the seat next to Anna. Unlike before, when she kept her face fairly concealed, the bartender could easily see features. Her face matched her general appearance, a horrid portrait of bright colors for makeup and was that facial hair?

"That went better than expected." The old woman spat out, while taking a tape recorder out of her purse.

"We got his confession and took care of the evidence." Anna smartly replied, "it nicely follows my motto." The old woman cocked her head in interest,

"And what is that love?"

"Take what you can and give nothing back." The old woman let out a low laugh.

"I don't know about you but I feel like celebrating," Anna coyly stated.

"What do you have in mind?"

Anna leaned across the table and kissed the old woman soundly on the mouth. The bar tender just looked on in astonishment, his mouth half agape as he watched the young woman plunder the old lady's mouth. When Anna pulled back, the old woman was quite out of breath.

"We best be going then." The old lady stood and pulled out Anna's chair for her.

"Jack do me a favor tonight."

"Anything love." The old woman replied.

"Leave on the wig."

"Done." The bar tender watched in endless amazement as the old lady followed the young woman out of the bar, even opening the door for her as they left the building.


Elizabeth adjusted the camera on her laptop, which currently resided on the bench at the foot of her bed.

"Can you see me better?" Will sighed in frustration.

"Just leave it, not matter what you do it won't be the same." Elizabeth blew him a kiss as she pulled back from the camera and settled into bed.

"I know it is different, but at least this way you can still sleep with me."

"Liz, with the camera I can watch you sleep, this is nothing like having you by my side."

"Well even if I was next to you in bed, your condition wouldn't allow for anything but quiet slumber." Will gave her a wicked smile,

"If I was lying next to you our slumber would be anything but quiet." Elizabeth smiled,

"Which is exactly why you are a plane ride away Mr. Turner." Elizabeth watched him on her laptop; the look on his face was pitiful.

"Oh, turn that frown upside down." She crawled to the end of the bed and leaned over the computer to adjust the brightness of the screen. Unknowing giving Will an ample view of her chest as her tank gaped open in front of the camera. When she retreated back to the head of the bed, she noticed Will looked fairly unraveled. Watching him closely on the screen, she noticed his eyes were wide and he seemed almost unnerved.

"Will what is it?" She questioned with concern.

"Nothing." He squeaked out, pulling the covers up and over his waist. She watched him intently, wondering what had upset him. Thinking back to her previous movements, a slow smile crept upon her face.

"How is the view?" She innocently questioned. Will watched her climb out from under the covers and lay back against her headboard. His eyes followed her long slender legs up to the lace of her sleep shorts high on her thigh. When his eyes finally made it back to her face, she raised her eyebrows still waiting for a response.

"Amazing." He sputtered out. Elizabeth gave him a mischievous smile,

"You know Will, I don't remember the last time I went so long without your touch." She ran her hands up her legs, over her knees and thighs, then traced them up her chest. Moaning slightly as her hands gripped her shoulders. When she looked back the screen, Will was now sitting straight up in bed. His mouth was slightly agape, and his eyes were wide as saucers, as he tracked her every move. This was going to be fun.

"Elizabeth." He breathlessly replied, his eyes yearning.

"I wish you were here right now…holding me, touching me." She stated seductively. Will climbed out from under his covers and sat a few feet in front of his laptop. Elizabeth could now plainly see that she had his full attention, both physically and mentally.

"Touching you where?" He questioned softly. Elizabeth then sat up on her knees, running her hands up and down her arms.

"Here," she gently replied. Will was captivated by the sight, his hands aching to touch her. He watched as her hands moved to the hem of her tank, and started to rub across her abdomen. Her tank moved father up with each hand movement. Will's body burned as he watched her then peel the tank slowly from her body. Now lying on her back horizontally across the bed, Elizabeth arched up into her hands as they roved her upper body. As a treat for Will she made sure to pay extra attention at two of his favorite spots. Will's body now felt like it was on fire. He watched the movements of her hands, and could almost feel her skin under his fingertips. Elizabeth's eyes slowly opened and smiled when she saw the amorous look on his face.

"Where would you go next?" She asked, feigning innocence.

"Your shorts." Will quickly spat out. She smiled, as her hands then glided back down her body and she slowly slipped out of her night shorts. She then turned onto her side to give Will a full view. She choked back a laugh when she saw the ardent look on his face.

"Your turn." She invited as she watched the screen intently. Will didn't respond for a moment, captivated by the sight in front of him.

"Will," Elizabeth prompted, "won't you play along?" She then ran her hand down from her shoulder, between the swell of her breast, across her lower abdomen, and slowly traveled over her groin down across her left thigh. Will was practically drooling as he climbed out of his boxers. Elizabeth smiled,

"I like this view much better." Will nodded,

"Me too." As Elizabeth started to guide her hand slowly back up her thigh to the pinnacle, she watched as Will's breath became more labored and his hand mimicked her actions. Suddenly it hit her, his breath was labored which meant his heart like hers was racing uncontrollably. Her eyes became wide as she remembered what the doctor had said. Abruptly sitting up she grabbed the sheet and quickly covered her body,

"Will we can't!" She practically shouted as she searched for her discarded clothing.

"Wait, no Liz!" Will pleaded.

"Will the doctor said you shouldn't stress your body." She pulled her shorts on quickly along with her tank.

"Liz, trust me, my body was much calmer when your clothes were off."

"Oh I'm sorry Will; I should have never started this." Elizabeth apologized as she crawled back under the covers and saw the pleading look on his face.

"Liz, you are amazing don't apologize, just…just trust me when I say I'm fine." She gave him an apologetic look as she pointed to his boxers on the screen.

"Will you are not thinking with your head right now, well at least not the head on your shoulders. Put your shorts back on and let's go to bed." Will groaned loudly, falling back onto his bed. There was then a knock on his door,

"William?" His father questioned, "are you alright?" Will quickly climbed under the covers just as Bill entered the room.

"Will I heard you moan, is your head bothering you?" He then took in the sight of his son, with the covers pulled up to his neck and his face a light shade of pink glazed with sweat.

"Will, your flushed are you well?" Bill again questioned with concern.

"Hello Mr. Turner!" A bright voice came from Will's laptop. Bill looked to the foot of the bed and smiled at the beautiful brunette staring back at him.

"Well Elizabeth, happy to see you." Bill turned back to his son,

"I feel it is time for bed though, Will needs his rest."

"We were just going to do so," Elizabeth replied as she turned off her lamp, "if it's ok with you Mr. Turner we plan to leave the web cam on. I feel better being able to watch Will through the night, to make sure he is ok." Bill smile and nodded,

"I appreciate the extra set of eyes." He turned off Will's lamp and rubbed his head as he prepared to leave the room. Bill then spotted Will's boxers at the edge of the bed. He picked them up and walked them over to the clothes hamper.

"William at least keep your room tidy if Elizabeth is going to be viewing it." Will smiled and nodded,

"Goodnight father." Bill left the room and Elizabeth snuggled down into her covers, watching Will as he stood from the bed and went to his dresser for a fresh pair of shorts.

Climbing back into bed, Will laid on his side and watched her on the screen.

"I wish you were here." He confessed,

"As do I, but remember how much I love you and I will see you in the morning…literally." She flashed him her amazing smile then closed her eyes.

"I love you too." Will replied softly as he watched her sleep. For the next few hours he just laid in bed watching her slumber. She seemed to toss and turn frequently and he wondered if her dreams were haunting. She looked so peaceful, yet there were times when her face would contort into signs of obvious distress. He never knew watching her sleep could be so entertaining. One moment her perfect lips would pout up and her brow would tense, and next she would be faintly smiling and making soft mewing noises. After a few hours he closed his eyes, thanking God for blessing him with such an incredible woman and drifted off to sleep.


This was such a fun chapter to write! To answer questions-I LOVE questions- Jeremy isn't doing anything illegal...yet. In order for him to be guilty of extortion, he would first have to demand money or some sort of compensation for the picture to make it into criminal extortion. : ) Thanks again for all the reviews-they are very encouraging and help guide future chapters : )