Test by Fire
Author's Note: Dallas realized that life is not always a smooth run and your past comes back to you when you least expect it. Now what will he choose - to get back to his life in the adult industry, where money comes easy but love doesn't, or will he reform himself to become Laila's dream man?
I tried to plunge into my work and keep my mind blank an' away from the pain, but I found that I no longer liked my work. That's right- Dallas, stripper extraordinaire and hard core businessman, no longer liked his work. I wanted no longer happy. I'd go to work, supervise the boys, get drunk at the bar, an' go home. Rod din' say nothin' about Laila, an' neither did Mark or Richie. I called Laila several times, but she jus' cut my calls. Finally, I found myself outside Kelly's one afternoon, around a week after our big "incident". It was a swelterin' hot day, an' I pushed the glass doors open an' took a seat near the door. Kelly's was packed. It was full of homes, smokin' and yellin' the place down, all wearing T-shirts with the sleeves cut off to show their muscled, tattooed arms. The blonde chick who usually stood at the counter doin' nothin' was servin' today. She was wearin' a black tank top with "Kelly's" printed on it and a denim micromini. Guys were whistlin' at her an' one of 'em squeezed her butt as she passed. She didn' seem to care. She threw him a grin an' continued her work. I looked for Laila. The Staff Only door swung open an' she stepped out. She was in her work wear - raggedy jeans an' that God - awful Kelly's T-shirt. Her hair was scraped back into a bun. The Staff Only door was diagonally opposite where I was sittin', an' When she saw me, she froze. Our eyes locked, but then she looked away. She pulled a lil' notepad outta her pocket along with a pencil and hurried to take an order. I pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes as I let out a sigh. Why was love so bloody complicated? Well, she couldn't ignore a customer. She'd HAVE to come take my order. I'd talk to her then.
As soon as I'd had that thought, the fire alarm started beeping. The group of people Laila was taking orders from were standing up and shouting. They were all crowded roun' her, trying to get away and fallin' over each other. I pushed my way through the crowd and saw that an open cigarette lighter had set a curtain on fire. Laila was pushing people away from the curtain, coughing. She picked up a jug of water from the table and poured it on the curtain. It didn't work. "Laila, you idiot, get outta here!" I exclaimed, grabbing her arm and pushing her out of the door into the arms of a surprised policeman. My eyes were watering as I turned round to go into the burning building. "Where are you going?" cried Laila. "To see if there's anyone left," I replied over my shoulder.