Chapter five - Jake

Bob and Connor's argument got rid of the rich idiots who have turn up for the third night this week, as well as the terrified looking girls they were trying it on with.

After handing the two guys a pint each, they wandered back outside happily, trying to discuss some match they watched last night, although from the sounds of it, Bob was talking about football and Connor about Rugby, so god knows where that conversation is going to wind up.

After the majority of the guys leave, I cash up the till, collect all the glasses and stick them in the dishwasher ready for tomorrow before doing a quick sweep around the bar and clearing away the few bits of rubbish I find.

Simon's still slumped on the edge of the bar, an untouched pint by his head that he clearly doesn't need, so I pick it up, slowly, careful not to disturb him and pour it away, placing the glass back exactly where it was before I nudge him awake..

"Ah, Jake, jus' need to finish me drink 'n' I'll go 'ome." He picks up his glass and raises it to his lips, chuckling to himself he puts the glass down and straightens up. "Gu'sh I'll be goin' 'ome now."

He crawls off his bar stool and gives me a wave over his shoulder. Before the door shuts, Bob reappears and I ready myself for an argument when I tell him I've already closed everything up.

"Jus' wan' check Kimberley 'n' 'er frien's go'on alri'?"

It's disturbing how quickly I've managed to decipher the unintelligible speech of the incredibly drunk.

"Left a little while ago." I tell him, omitting the part where he and his buddy are the reason they left so soon. 

Obviously pleased with my reply, he smiles at me as though I'm Santa and raises his hand to wave.

"You're a goo' la', I knew they'd be safe wi' you." He stumbles backwards, bouncing off the doorframe and practically falling outside. "See ya tomor', Jake."

Flicking off the lights, I lock up the front door and head out the back, checking the toilets are empty before I go.

It's gone midnight by the time I climb into my car and I feel like I can breathe easier. This is quickly becoming my favourite time of night. The streets are empty and peaceful, most of my regulars are off home and the others are all at the other end of town in Andromeda's. 

I cruise down the road, frowning when I see a small group of lads supporting a girl between them. Her arms are draped over two of them and her legs barely moving, all four guys are grinning and laughing, while the girl barely reacts to the movement happening around her.

This really doesn't look right.

I slow up and look out, the two lads not carrying the girl move to block my view of the others, which just confirms something's wrong. Recognising them as the rich idiots from the bar, I stop the car and the guys look at each other sheepishly, taking a step backwards.

"Jake, my man, what's going on?" Slipping in front of his friends, the most talkative of the group moves closer to my car and just as he's about to lean on the door and obliterate my view of the rest of them, I push the door open, forcing him to take a few quick steps backwards.

He knocks into the two supporting the girl and suddenly she's on the floor, groaning and curling onto her side like she wants to go to sleep. 

It's the girl Bob knows from the bar and I grit my teeth as a grumble of annoyance leaves me.

Why would her friends leave her when she's in this state? Have they got no idea what could happen to her right now?

I take another look at her, she's barely conscious and I'm pretty sure she didn't get this way on the one soft drink I served her.

The bastards must have spiked her!

"My girlfriend's a little out of it." The gobby guy from my bar smirks up at me, then goes to reach for her again, nodding to his friend to help. Before they can touch her, I move in front of them, blocking her from the both of them and a flash of irritation goes across their faces, which is quickly replaced by concern and pleading looks worthy of an oscar. "Come on Jake man, I need to get her home."

"What's her name?" I ask, fairly sure he's not bothered to find out. He flinches before masking it with a look of frustrated annoyance, holding his hands out either side like he's trying to reason with me, which I guess he is.

"Look, I know you're trying to do the right thing by looking out for her and that's great, I appreciate it, but she's honestly ok, just way, way too drunk. Now, can you get out of the way so we can get her home to bed?" When I don't move, he sighs, as though I'm wasting his precious time. "For fucks sake, fine, her name's Sarah, ok? Can I take her home now? I'm really fucking tired now."

"Wrong." I slide her purse from her pocket and look at her ID. Kim Woodson. Covering her major details, I turn her driving licence towards him, letting him only see her first name. "Want to try again?"

"Yeah ok, but she goes by her middle name to her friends." He actually sounds convincing. I wonder how many times he's pulled this act before and that makes me really angry. I stand up, keeping myself between them and the girl. 

"Get the fuck out of here now or we're going to have a problem." I snarl at them, the initial two take a few steps away, but the gobby guy smirks, gesturing to his friends.

"Four against one my man, you might be big, but I still like our chances." His friends all step forward with clenched fists and newfound confidence. They're not going anywhere without a fight.

Without warning or hesitation, I slam my fist into the gobby guy's face, watching as, almost in slow motion, his eyes roll back into his head and he falls. 

His friends watch open mouthed as he hits the pavement and stays there, clearly unconscious, before their eyes shift up to me, fear evident on all their faces now.

"You reckon you can carry them both?" I ask, gesturing to their unconscious friend and the girl who's starting to sit up. 

They shake their heads, scrambling to pick up the guy and dragging him past me and on down the road.

I let them run, figuring I can drop this girl at her home, then double back for their name and address details still written in Derek's book and call the police before they have the chance to drug someone else.

On second thoughts, the police might need to check her for the drug, for evidence or whatever? Maybe I'll have to take her with me.

"Hi, Kim? It's Jake, from the pub. Can you hear me?" I bend down in front of the girl and she frowns at me, her eyes glassy and out of focus.

"Wh'am'?" Despite my growing fluency in drunk talk, I have no idea what she's trying to say, so I hold my hand out, helping her to her feet.

"That's my car. I can give you a lift home, ok?" I stare into her eyes, speaking slowly and hoping she understands what I'm saying because she's just staring back at me blankly.

I take a few steps away from her to open the car door, but when I turn back, she's taken off up the bank of grass, towards the kids playground.

Now she can move?!

"Fucking hell. Kim, stop." I slam the car door closed, pressing the lock button on my keys as I take off after her.

This is not how I imagined my night going when I finished work this evening and it's annoying as hell that I'm running around after some drunken idiot, instead of home in my own bed.

She's moving, but she's still out of it, so she's shrieking like a banshee, breaking into cackles of laughter every time she swerves just out of my reach and, after the fifth time she changes direction, I realise there's nothing else for it. I'm going to have to tackle her.

Straightening up, I watch her erratic path, trying to anticipate the best time to grab her, then throw my weight forwards, arms going around her waist as I slam us both to the ground. 

She twists in my arms, landing on her back and I land on top of her, my arms clamped around her to stop her escaping again and my face against her stomach as I struggle to get my breath back.

She peers down at me, her pupils so huge that I can't tell what colour her eyes should be, but she looks a little better, as though the run has sobered her up a bit. 

Fixing her with a glare, I squeeze her between my arms and shift position, so we're eye level with one another.

"Right. Now, I'm not going to hurt you, ok? I just want to take you home. To your house, so I can go home, to mine. So if I let you go, can you not run off again please?" I eye her and she beams at me, a massive smile that shows lots of straight white teeth.

"D'you know somethin' Mr Scary Sexy Barman? If one of us didn' absolutely reek o' sick." She points to herself and mouths 'me' then giggles. "I'm pre'y sure I'd be incredibly turn' on wi' you lyin' on top of me like thi', your bi' muscles wrap' all 'round me li'e a vice."

Rolling my eyes, I push up off her, watching to make sure she doesn't take off again, but she whimpers softly, pushing her bottom lip out like a child and looking up at me with massive sad eyes like I've stolen her lollipop or something.

"Come on, let's get you home." She turns her head and another huge grin replaces the pout. Expecting her to run from me again puts me instantly on alert as she turns her head to the side and points, but instead she gasps dramatically.

"Ca' we ple' go on roun'abou' firs'? Please? I 'aven' be'on one f'r years an' 'ere's no li'l ki's on i' now, so is ok." Without waiting for a reply, she pushes up from the floor, grabbing my hand and tugging me towards the playground. "Com'on, i'll be fu'."

"No." I shake my head and hold my ground.

"Com'on." Letting go of my hand, she runs with surprising speed towards the gate, throwing herself onto her back on the roundabout and singing 'You spin me round' by Dead of Alive as she stares up at the sky.

I walk over to where she's gently pushing herself in circles with her feet, crossing my arms and staring down at her, hoping she'll get the hint and get a move on, but instead she continues singing, a gleeful twinkle in her eye as she meets my gaze.

"Yu're ve'y seriou', aren' y'u?" Her eyes stay on mine even as she spins, but she pulls her face into an exaggerated grumpy face that I assume is meant to be an impression of me.

Rolling my eyes at her again, I try to figure out a way of getting her to my car without her running away or shrieking again, when her face pales and her frown turns into a grimace. 

"Ok, eno', th'is gonna ma' me thr'up." I raise my eyebrows at her and she starts giggling. She brings the roundabout to a stop, sits up and gestures to herself. "Ye', so tha's 'appened a' leas' once 'ready, righ'?" 

She waits for a reply and I barely have time to register the glassy look in her eyes, before she's slumping forward onto the ground. Unconscious once more.

Heaving her up onto my shoulder, I carry her to the car and lay her in the back seat.

For lack of a better option, I dial Derek's mobile number, hoping he'll forgive me for waking him up wherever he is.

"Someone better be dead or on fire, preferably both." Is the greeting from the other end of the phone after only a few rings.

I explain the situation and ask him whether to take Kim home or to the police station for testing.

"Take her home, but get her number and don't call the police. I can't have them knowing you work there, remember." He at least sounds more interested now. "I'll give Tommy a call, get him to look through the CCTV and see if he can spot them spiking her, if so he'll go to the police, if not, he'll pay them a little visit. You get yourself home and don't worry about it anymore, we'll get it sorted."

With that, he hangs up and now I only have to think about getting her home, then falling into bed.

I type the address from her license into my phone and pull up directions to her house. It's not far away, but with all the running around, it's nearly 3am by the time I pull up outside her house. 

The place is big, but still it's pitch black inside and I'm surprised her friends haven't alerted anyone that she's missing yet. However, when I knock on her door and no one answers, I wonder if maybe there's no one around to alert.

I give it one more go, knocking loudly and ringing the doorbell, but there's clearly no one in, or if there is, they sleep like the dead. 

Getting more and more desperate, I go back to the car and rummage through her pockets for a key, even checking under the plant pots and weird gnomes in the garden for a spare but there's none and no way of me getting her inside her house.

Now what?

With no other option, I drive her back to mine, hoping Maggie won't worry if a random girl appears in the morning. At least not once I explain the situation anyway.

I drive home and as soon as I get her into my bedroom, she starts to stir again.

"Wher'm I?" She asks, leaning forwards to stare at the walls. "This isn' m'room."

"It's mine." Her head whips around and her mouth drops open.

"Scar' Shexy Barm'n?" She gasps and then her nose wrinkles. "Why d'I stinka sick? I mi'be sick."

She goes very pale, her mouth clamping shut as she looks around widely, so I grab her, half dragging her down the hall and into the bathroom where she empties what seems like the entire contents of her stomach into the toilet. 

"Needa shower, stink." She starts pulling her clothes off at the same time she's moving inside the shower cubicle, as though I'm not standing here. I'm frozen in place, unsure what to do, when the sound of her scream brings me back. "Shit, tha's col'."

I watch her fiddle with the dial, wavering back and forth as though it's a struggle to stay upright and as quickly as possible, I dart from the room, grabbing a towel and some of my old clothes from my own room for her, hoping she doesn't pass out in the shower.

"Did someone scream?" Mason pops his head out of his room, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What time is it? Are you just getting in?"

"Yeah, it's late. Just having a shower, go back to sleep." He shrugs, going back into his room and closing the door behind him.

The water seems to have helped her a little, because when I get back, she's singing a very slurred version of I wanna dance with somebody under the spray, while rocking back and forth in a drunken dance.

Even when the water gets in her mouth she still somehow doesn't break rhythm and instead gargles the tune.

Once again I'm hypnotised by her behaviour. I know I'm not the most social of people, but I've never met anyone like her.

She's absolutely crazy!

She turns around and jumps when she sees me and suddenly I feel like a creepy pervert watching her shower.

With all the drunken running about, I'd not really looked at her before, but with her standing there staring at me, the water pouring down her body, I finally get a good look at her.

Her hair is almost black now it's wet and bright green eyes draw you in. My eyes follow the trail of water as it runs over her tanned shoulders, down full breasts to hard pinky brown nipples.

My dick stirs to life and I swallow hard, unable to stop my gaze going lower, taking in her soft creamy skin and zeroing in on the patch of dark hair between her legs.

"S'tha' f'r me?" I swallow again, forcing my gaze back up to her face. She nods her head at the towel draped over my arm and wordlessly I hand it to her, watching as she covers herself up, tucking a corner over the part wrapped around her breasts to keep it up. 

Breasts that I want to touch, just to see if they're as soft as they look.

She lifts her head and gazes into my eyes and I wonder if I said those words out loud, but when I realise her own are glassy and unfocused, I curse myself for being no better than those idiots I scared away.

Clearing my throat, I force myself to get a grip and focus on the task in hand, which is looking after the drunk girl, not taking advantage of her, despite what the semi between my legs seems to want.

I hand her the clothes before turning around and stepping into the hallway.

"Follow me, you can sleep in my bed, I'll take the sofa." Glancing back over my shoulder, I see that she's weaving along the hallway but following closely with the clothes clutched tightly in her arms. I open the door to my room, switching the light on and gesturing inside. "Are you going to be o.."

She slams into the back of me, grabbing at my t-shirt and yanking my hair to keep herself from falling. I twist, catching her in my arms and holding her up, her soft body pressed against mine.

"S'ry." She mutters, then her attention is drawn to the back of my head, where her hand is playing with my hair, sending little shivers of pleasure down my back. "Y'air's so sof', s'nice, s'mine gonna be thi'soft wi' y'shampoo?"

"Uh… sure." I place her back on her feet, stepping back out of her reach and then quickly catching her by the arms when she stumbles again. 

"Y'actu'ry rearry pre'y. Won'er if I cu' y'ur 'air, you'd los'all y'ur power, li' Sa'son." She stares at me, then suddenly lunges forward, gripping my cheeks and pulling my mouth sideways. "Y'shou' defo smile th'. So so pre'y."

Seconds later, her eyes close and she slumps against my chest.

"Fucking hell." I blow out a breath, dragging her over to the bed and tucking her under the blanket, still wrapped in the towel.

Dropping her phone, purse and the clothes on the table closest to her head, I grab my bin and put it on the floor by the bed and leave the room.

It's nearly five when I finally fall down onto the sofa and I really hope she doesn't vomit tonight, because I'm so exhausted, I'm not sure I'd hear her if she did.