7 | MILES

“Maybe I can fake sickness,” I said pacing around the bathroom mirror.

“You’ll do no such thing,” Indra said. “You’re going to go out with Mr Stark and his friends, and you will drink your problems away,”

“Bitch you know what happens when I drink alcohol,”

“It’s not going to happen, relax,” she said. “You’re with your boss. Unless you want to sleep with him, everything will be fine,”

“No this is a terrible idea,” I said looking at myself through the mirror. “I’m not goin-“

“What are the chances that he fires you for not going?” Indra said cutting me off. “If he wants you there, and you go against his words, he’ll fire you. Think Miles,” she said. “Think ‘best job in the world’ gone, just like that,”

“You’re a dick, you know that” I groaned. “Fine I’m going. Anything happens, it’s on you,”

“Good. Back to your senses,” she said clapping. “Now show me your outfit,” she said. I pressed the phone against the mirror and stepped back. “Okay, not bad. I approve,”

“I wasn’t going to listen to you anyway,” I said sticking my tongue out at her.

I’d put on khaki cargo sweatpants and a simple loose black t-shirt, pairing it with white sneakers. I added a chain, a watch and two rings. I didn’t have many options, but I liked this outfit better.

“Miles!” I jumped to grab my phone when Mr Stark’s loud voice boomed against the walls.

“Oops gotta go,” I said rushing to put on a cologne before dashing out to the front door. “I’m ready,” I said flashing Mr Stark a smile. He regarded with a curious look for a second before walking out. I followed behind, turning the lights off and closing the door. I could feel Mr Stark’s eyes on me the whole journey down the elevator, but I didn’t dare look up.

By the time we got to the club, I had thought just about every possible way to ditch this gathering. I didn’t understand why Mr Stark had the sudden interest in me. He’s never glanced my way for longer than five seconds and I was fine with that. I’d started questioning many things. Do I have toothpaste on my mouth? Can he tell I’m a transman? Does he think I’m ugly?

“Finally,” I looked up to see Anthony waving at us as we had spent a generous amount of time pushing past sweaty bodies, trying to get upstairs, to the VIP section. Never, a day in my entire existence, would I have imagined myself in this area of the club. It was less crowded, more furnished and screamed wealth and entitlement. “I thought you guys bailed,”

“So you can blow up my phone like a lunatic?” Mr Stark said sitting down next to his best friend and I sat next to Anthony.

“Hi,” he greeted with an easy smile.

A waitress walked over to take our orders. I didn’t know what was available, so I order something familiar. A cocktail. I just have to be careful how many drinks I take. I barely paid attention to the conversation floating around the area, even with the music muffled this side. It wasn’t as crazy as it was downstairs. Honestly, I didn’t know these people personally, so I was feeling left out. They were getting along with each other, and I was the plus one. Things would have been much better if Indra were here. speaking of Indra:

Me: I’m sick bored here. Why’d you force me to come?

Indra: You’re not talking to them. Or possibly drunk already if you can still text me.

Me: I don’t know these people. What exactly would we talk about? Plus, one of them is my boss.

Indra: Ask him if he’d thought about sleeping with you

Me: I’m getting off the phone now.

Indra: Geez, I’m kidding. Tell me, are you in the VIP section?

Me: Yes I am

Indra: Damn you’re living the dream. Order yourself the most expensive bottle. Mr Stark will pay obvs

Me: He doesn’t owe me anything. Why would he pay.

Indra: What are you drinking?

Me: Cocktail

Indra: Switch up to vodka or tequila. You’ll get drunk faster.

Me: I’m not trying to get drunk

Indra: Bitch, you said you’re bored. I’m trying to help you get laid faster. You’ll get drunk, find yourself a hot chick and take her to the bathroom and boom.

Me: Let me guess, scissor our way to orgasm, right?

Indra: Now you get the idea.

I couldn’t help laughing. This bitch won’t give up, I swear. I swear her life revolved around my sexual life.

“See? Even Miles is happily in a relationship,” I looked up when I heard my name. “Look at how he’s smiling,”

“Huh?” I looked around. Were they talking about me?

“How do you know it was a girlfriend?” Anthony said. “Could have been a funny meme or funny text,”

“No, it was a girlfriend,” Mr Kendrick argued turning to me. “Right Miles?”

“What?”

“You were talking to your girlfriend,”

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” Anthony’s laughter boomed into the atmosphere as he jumped.

“See? Not everything you smile at has to do with girlfriend or boyfriend,” Anthony said.

“Miles, don’t you think these two should be dating?” Mr Kendrick asked me, gesturing to Anthony and Mr Stark.

“Answer that question and you’re fired,” Mr Stark said. I grabbed my third drink and took a long sip, not wanting to answer the question anyway. I mean, it’s quite obvious that those two were lovers or should have been lovers. The tension between them is hard to miss.

“Oh, come on,” Mr Kendrick said shoving his best friend. “You knew he’d listen to you,”

“Okay then, would you date Miles?” I spat out my drink, coughing out the rest while I basically choked.

“What the fuck man?” Anthony burst out laughing while I choked. “Are you okay?” he scooted closer to firmly pound my back until I stopped coughing. “You’re an idiot,”

“Why do you sound jealous?” Mr Kendrick taunted Anthony with a smug smile.

“I’d have to be in love with him to be jealous,” Anthony rolled his eyes. “But on a serious note, would you date him?” my eyes widened as I looked between the three people. Mr Stark wasn’t giving anything away. He just looked at me, the same way he’d watched me all the way here. “He’s quiet. That’s a yes,” I blinked looking at Anthony with a confusion. “What? You’re cute. Isn’t he cute, Emmanuel? Look at him,” he grabbed my face, turning me to Mr Stark. My face was smooshed together. “You probably thought about him once, right?”

“That’s inappropriate. He’s my employee,” Mr Stark said.

“Don’t act like you’ve never fucked one of your employees before,” Mr Kendrick said. I quietly shoved Anthony’s hand away from my face.

“You know what, he’s not even denying it,” Anthony said laughing.

I downed my drink and stood up, looking around. “Excuse me, I’m just going to…” I didn’t finish as I reversed towards the bathroom direction.

Walking in, I didn’t pay attention to the line of men using the urinals. I just found an empty stool, closed the lid, and sat down.

Indra: You gotta admit. It’s a great idea. You can even use toys or whatever.

Indra: Or fingers. Fingers work too.

Indra: HELLO!!!

Indra: Bitch, you have nothing else to do there but talk to me.

Indra: Friendship is over bitch. You don’t ignore me.

Me: Don’t be dramatic. I was busy with something.

Indra: Does it have to do with Mr Stark?

Me: Okay, I was ignoring you.

Indra: Fuck you.

Me: Oh well and here I thought you’d want to hear some of the juiciest news you’ll ever hear in your lifetime. Turns out we’re no longer besties.

Indra: Hey motherfucker, don’t try me. Give me the tea.

Me: I don’t know you.

Indra: Bitch don’t fuck with me. Tell me

Me: I’ll tell you when we get back. Not like this.

Indra: It would have been better if I didn’t know. Now I’m restless.

Me: Fucking gossipmonger.

Indra: Fuck you bitch.

Once I was sure the bathroom was clear, I did my business and went to wash my hands. Men can be stupid sometimes. They hear you peeing in the toilet instead of the urinals, they’d start labelling you. Like who the fuck cares whether you want to stand or sit? The same standing they brag about, that messes up the whole bathroom. It’s disgusting.

I must have been gone for a long time because when I get back, Mr Kendrick is no longer there, and Anthony had taken his seat. I stopped when it finally registered what was happening. I looked around quickly, to see if there weren’t any people watching them. They were in a well-hidden area, and it was dimly lit.

Anthony had his leg thrown over Mr Stark’s leg, while he sat back; relaxed. Anthony had his hand on Mr Stark’s chest, occasionally moving to other areas. They were looking at each other, their faces only a breath from each other. So close to kissing. I didn’t think I should be there to see that, so I looked for the bar. Those two are clearly still in love with each other. Or whatever it is that they were. Fuck buddies.

“Hi,” I greeted the bartender when I found a free chair. “Listen, I’m with…Mr Emmanuel Stark, a friend of the owner, so-“

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “I saw you. So what can I get you?” am I going to feel bad for using Mr Stark like that? Fuck no. I couldn’t even dent his bank account even if I ordered the whole bar.

“Uh, let me get five shots of tequila for now,” I said. Is it a bad idea? Definitely. Am I going to do anything about it? Fuck no. Minutes ago, I didn’t want to get drunk and now, fuck it. Chances are, I’ll take home a stranger and I won’t have to see her when I get back to South Africa. I won’t remember any of it anyway, thanks to the blackouts.

With that, I downed one shot right after the other. I should probably consider myself an alcoholic, with how easy I can sway myself. Like a gust of wind and suddenly my sanity is gone. It didn’t even take long, and the room has started spinning. I should probably find Mr Stark before I do something irrational. Did I mention I’m a lightweight? My knees give out as soon as I slid off the chair. I laughed at myself as I got back up with the help of the chair.

Yep, definitely lightweight. How many drinks did I even take? I looked to the countertop and my blurred vision encountered multiple blurry clear glasses. Either my eyes are crossing or that’s a lot of alcohol. I patted the counter until I felt my phone and turned around.

Okay, which way do I go from here?

Up the stairs. I stumbled around the crowd, almost getting lost in the sea of people. When I found saw the stairs, I walked towards them. “Oops, sorry,” I said when I tripped over something. A moment later, it dawned on me I’d tripped over the first step, and I just apologised to it. I laughed, shaking my head. “You’re losing your mind, Miles,”

“Miles?” a voice called out.

“And now you hear voices,” I laughed. “I’m losing my med-“ hiccup “dulla,” for some reason, that also made me laugh.

“Miles are you drunk?” a hand gripped my arm, helping me up. Looking up, I’m met with a familiar face.

“Mr Kendrick,” I said. “I thought you were gone,”

“No, I had a meeting upstairs,” he responded. “Are you good?”

“Yep,” I said stumbling over my feet. “Just a little drunk,” I hear him chuckle.

“A little drunk, you say,” he said. “Come on, let me help you up,”

I let him help me up the steps. “Just a little warning,” I said with yet another hiccup. “I tend to do crazy stuff that I regret in the morning, so-“

“Look out for that? Got it,” Mr Kendrick said chuckling to himself.

“What happened to him?” I hear Anthony ask as Mr Kendrick sits me down on the sofa.

“He’s drunk,” he reported. “Listen, I need to go upstairs. Just watch out for him. I was strictly instructed to look out for any bad drunk decisions,” he said. “And no more alcohol for him,”

“Oh come on Mr Kendrick, just one more,” I whined, holding out a blurry finger. Or it’s my eyes that are blurry.

“Nope, one more drink means more irrational actions,” Mr Kendrick said snatched the glass from my hand. “Here, have some water and Emmanuel will be on the lookout for you, okay?”

“Nope,” I said hiccupping. “I look out for Mr Stark,” I said pointing at my chest. “Not the other way around,”

“Aww,” I hear someone say. “Isn’t that so cute?”

“Okay but for tonight he’s looking after you, alright? No more drinks,”

“Stingy bitch,” I hear laughter around me, but my eyes are already heavy. I feel myself swaying until my head touches something firm yet soft with a soothing musky scent. “One…more,”

*****

AN: Okay, so before ya’ll come for me, here’s how I want this to go. Miles blacks out after drinking and obviously there’s a good chance, he won’t remember what happened after this. This is the part where they’re supposed to be getting into it, but obviously he’s obviously in and out of the aftereffects of alcohol.

And no it’s not rape. There’s no raping in this book. It’s just two drunk adults making the bad decisions in their lives. Or that’s what they think it is anyway. So no, Mr Stark didn’t force himself on Miles.

I thought about putting this in Mr Stark’s POV, but I don’t want to write about Mr Stark yet, so we’re sticking with Miles for now. Meaning we all blacked out during the deed. Meaning, I’m robbing ya’ll of the drunk sex scene. Oops.

So yeah, there’s that.

***

You know when you watch a horror and right at the beginning, it starts off with a peaceful scenery. Credits are appearing on the screen and a steady music is playing while the background shows acres of greenery. It’s so green and pigmented that you wish you were there to witness it first-hand. As the camera zooms in, you realise there’s more to the greenery and the peaceful land. There’s soft bird chirping sounds, crickets, harmless inhabitants going on about their lives, butterfly are flying around and it’s just so magical.

The calm before the storm.

Then suddenly, a huge wild animal or a monster of some sort comes buzzling into the screen, scaring you into tossing the bucket of popcorn from your hands into the air, with an ear-splitting scream. From then on, you know deep in your heart that you’re in it for more jump scares similar to this one. Like you knew deep down and yet you stuck around. The greenery doesn’t look so peaceful after the monster and the jump scare.

Suddenly you don’t want to witness the greenery first-hand because you know what’s in there.

That’s how I’m feeling right now.

Blinking my eyes open, I’m met with the ceiling, which is the norm. Peaceful. I feel the start of the pounding headache immediately, letting me know I’d done myself dirty last night. It’s nothing I can’t handle for at least…until I get my hands on ibuprofen. Even then, I usually lie awake when I’m not in the hurry, just letting my mind wander over stupid shit before I actually attempt to wake up and do my morning routine.

You know, the calm before the storm.

Then comes the minor details. The sudden ache in my body that isn’t anywhere near my head. I’m an idiot enough to brush it off. The gentle breathing next to me cannot go unnoticed, however. I feel another present beside me almost immediately after noticing the breathing. My heart starts hammering away. The person moves and I want to scream. My breathing starts escalating when everything comes crashing down on me.

Someone is sleeping next to me. I took someone home. To Mr Stark’s place.

I can’t even turn my head to check. I’m too scared to check on who it is, so for a minute or two I lay awake, trying to catch my breath and cuss myself from infinity to infinity. I’m the number one idiot this world could ever have. A stupidiot, that’s what I am.

Deciding I’d done enough self-battering, I sat up slowly, hoping to get out unnoticed. The cover slides down my chest and I shivered when it brushed past my nipple.

Nipple?

I looked down at myself and I’m naked. Looking around, there are article of clothing scattered around the room. Around an unfamiliar room. This is not my room. “Oh no,” I gasped, peeling the sheets to look down at my nakedness. I’m naked and this isn’t my room.

The person next to me moves and my head whips to the side, the headache intensifies. I’m too busy panicking to worry about the headache. Not when I’m seeing broad tattooed shoulders, the ink bleeding to the back. The cover had ridden down and I can see his back. Yet another man and this time around, we’re both naked.

I scooted to the edge of the bed, wincing from the constant ache between my legs. I gripped the covers to my chest, my heart hammering as he shuffled around, his head slowly turning as he made a sound. A part of me knew who was sleeping next to me. Another part of was in denial. Until I saw his face.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, quickly scrambling off the bed. I yanked the bed cover, wrapping it around my body. “OhmyGodohmyGodohm-“ tears brimmed in my eyes as I stare at the one person, I never thought I’d find myself in this situation with. At the very same moment, his eyes snapped open, and he stared back at me. I clamped my mouth shut with my hand, taking steps back as I looked at him.

I slept with my boss. I slept with Mr Stark.

“Oh my…” the more steps I take back, the more his naked body is revealed to my eyes. He’s naked. Totally naked and I’m staring. And panicking because ain’t no way that thing was inside of me. “Oh my Go-“

“You keep saying oh my God, He’ll have no choice but to listen to you,” Mr Stark said calmly, turning on his back. My eyes immediately went to the wrong place. He’s…oh my God, it’s so huge. “You wouldn’t want Him to notice in this situation, now do you?” my eyes snapped to his. Tears ran down my face.

Looking around, my clothes are scattered all around the room and the only thing I can grab is my torn underwear. He tore my panties.

“Mile-“ before I know it, I’m running out of the room, almost tripping on the heavy blanket covering my body. I hurried to my room and headed for the bathroom, locking it up.

“What have I done?” I gripped my head as I paced around the bathroom, my head still pounding. “Oh God,”

“What have I done?”

*****

UNEDITED

Well well well, what do we have here?