Avoiding Responsibility (4 page)

"I know, but this is dumb."

"What?" Lexi asked astonished. "You think it's smarter for me to cry over
Jack
, then for you to cry about your parents?"

Chyna chuckled once and let a small smile tease the corners of her mouth. "Well when you put it
that
way."

"See, I'm much more dysfunctional than you. You have every right to be upset."

"There's more," Chyna mumbled letting her green eyes rest back on her friend. Lexi didn't like the way she said that. What more could her father want from her? After barely speaking to Chyna for two years and dumping that tidbit of information on her, it was an asinine move to then continue the conversation.

"What else could he possibly have to say to you after that?"

Chyna took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest. "He needs me to be at the engagement party this weekend."

"He cannot honestly expect you to show up to that."

"He didn't ask me to. He told me to," she said tilting her chin up.

"You don't have to go," Lexi told her reaching out to her.

"No, I do. You don't know what he's like. If I'm not there, it will be the end of the world. Even though I'm twenty-one, he still has direct access to my trust, and he's the owner of this apartment. He could kick me out on the streets," she murmured helplessly.

Lexi gasped. "He wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't he?" she screeched. "Did you see the look on his face when you got here? He was murderous. If I'd disobeyed him, I wouldn't have put it past him to ruin my life."

"But you're his daughter," Lexi cried unable to believe what she was hearing. How could anyone be so cruel?

"The daughter who is a constant reminder of his past life, of the life he was trying to get rid of. The daughter he was so eager to get rid of. He'd have already cut me off if he could."

Chyna couldn't believe she had just admitted everything. Speaking it all out loud for the first time really put everything into perspective. She truly believed that he would have gotten rid of her if he could. The only part of him that wanted to keep her around was the part that wanted to keep himself out of jail. He was a self-motivated asshole and his self interests would always come first.

"Chyna, I…I don't know what to say," Lexi muttered sympathizing with her friend's pain as best she could.

"Just say you'll come with me."

"Oh," Lexi stammered surprised by this response. "Yeah, I guess I could. Wouldn't that be awkward?"

"My dad is a big dick, but he insisted that I be there and come with, as he put it," Chyna gulped, "a
boyfriend
."

"He wants you to come with a boyfriend? But you don't have a boyfriend," Lexi said unable to keep from stating the obvious.

"I know," she stated barely above a whisper. Her voice was getting raspier the longer they had this conversation and Lexi could tell she was trying to keep the tears from unleashing on the world again. "You should have heard the way he was talking to me before you got here. He said I better not bring one of the guys I'm normally with. What is he trying to say that I run an escort service? That all the guys I date are man whores? That they can't conduct themselves in proper society?"

Lexi didn't know how to respond to that. Honestly, a good number of the guys Chyna hooked up with were just those kind of men. They were all relatively well-off, but still they were hardly up to her standard. But it hadn't mattered up until now, because she never wanted a boyfriend. She never found enough interest in any one man to want to be around him for multiple occasions. Now her father, the judgmental asshole, wanted her to just pretend to have a steady boyfriend, because the cheating bastard didn't approve of his daughter's way of life.

It was one of the most hypocritical statements Lexi had ever heard. If anything, the circumstances surrounding her parents' divorce had only further pushed Chyna the direction she was already heading with regards to relationships.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Find a boyfriend I guess," she sighed unhappily. "I have no idea."

"Is that why your dad gave me that creepy once over? Because he wants me to go with you too?" Lexi asked putting the pieces together.

Chyna groaned. "Oh God, I am so sorry for his ridiculous behavior. But yeah that's why and he needs you to bring a boyfriend too," she muttered.

"That's going to be an issue," Lexi said falling backwards on to the plush leather sofa.

"I know," Chyna grumbled sitting down next to her. "I'm so sorry that I dragged you into this." The tears were beginning to well in her eyes, and Lexi could see her breaking point was drawing near. Her bottom lip quavered in an adorable fashion if she didn't look so utterly miserable. "I just can't believe he's doing this."

"Don't cry. It'll be okay," Lexi said comforting her. "We'll figure it out. Let's go out tonight and look for guys. If we don't find anyone, we'll figure it out. Stuff always works out in the end chica."

"The last thing that I wanna do is party," Chyna huffed crossing her arms back over her chest.

"Now that's something I never though I'd hear come out of your mouth," Lexi said giggling despite the dour mood.

Soon enough, Chyna had joined in as well and both girls were laughing out their issues rather than crying. It felt good to release the tension that was so strained from her father's entrance back into Chyna's life. The girls knew that they had a tough night ahead of them. Neither of them could think of anyone they would want to pretend to be their boyfriend's for the afternoon, and the last thing they wanted to do was search for that man.

Regardless, they didn't feel as if they had much choice in the matter. Keeping Chyna's dad happy was of the essence since he still technically owned Chyna. With that in mind the two girls dressed extra careful for the evening out hoping to find a man that would settle for a second date.

Hitting their normal hot spots was out of the question for a number of reasons. Chyna had been on dates with a large number of the most eligible bachelors in the establishments and she knew that none of them would suit her tastes. They also didn't want to be recognized quite as exceptionally as that type of girl. If everyone already knew who they were, then it would be more difficult to find a man who would beg for a second date. Most of them would already know that there was no chance it was going to happen. And they were looking for a different kind of man in the first place. They frequented those locales, because the men who generally happened to be inside were less likely to expect more from the women within.

That's how they ended up having martinis at a Manhattan bar scoping out the men in attendance. The atmosphere was a bit more conducive to casual conversation than the normal, pulsing, hip-hop beats that broke through the speakers at their other destinations. Lexi could pick out several groups of regulars who were stuffed into booths and speaking to the bartenders, and thought they would be the best bet for the fun they were looking for that evening.

The girls had dressed the part for sure. Chyna's black mini dress just skirted her ass and gripped her body tightly in a silky, flimsy material. Her black heels shimmered in the mood lighting that emanated from every hidden light bulb in the place. Her long black hair was swept up onto the top of her head into a sexy concoction. Her long lean features were accented while keeping the focus on her well-sculpted body.

Lexi wore super low-rise, black, skinny jeans with hot red pumps. Her flat tanned stomach was revealed in a tight, red, tube top with custom black embroidering around the edges. She let her dark brown locks flow down her back with thick, chunky bangs covering her forehead. Her eyes were smoky and seductive while her bright red lips were both pouty and inviting. Together they were a dynamic duo, the sirens of the New York City nightlife. It was unlikely that anyone who fell into their trap was going to escape their clutches.

Chyna smiled at a sleazy looking man who had been eye-fucking the shit out of her for the past ten minutes across the bar. He took that as an invitation and sidled up to her side. She downed the remnants of her drink and took his hand as he escorted her out on the dance floor. Lexi's eyes followed them into the dark center of the room, and an uneasy feeling hit the pit of her stomach.

He wasn't the type of person Chyna normally surrounded herself with, and something about him seemed off. His features were too angular, too sneaky. His height and bulk were threatening rather than enticing. Lexi wasn't sure why but the way he had grabbed her hand even seemed forceful. From her view, albeit a shadowed view of the couple, Lexi could even tell he was handsy. That was really saying something for a person dancing with Chyna, because Lexi had seen Chyna get pretty down and dirty on the dance floor.

Lexi sighed heavily and tried to clear her mind. There was no need to overreact. They were just out for a good time out. Maybe they didn't know everyone in the place like usual, but she felt certain that nothing was going to go wrong. After all, this was the one night Chyna wasn't searching for a stranger to bed.

She took another deep breath and let her own eyes roam the crowded room once more. A number of drunken girls were singing and dancing in a corner to a cluster of admiring onlookers. Lexi had a strange reminisce of doing that with her own friends in bars during college. The alcohol was beginning to set in and the different groups of people were beginning to blend together. She wasn't sure why her buzz was so strong already, but she kind of liked it. She would start coming here more frequently if they poured drinks this well.

A stranger approached her, but she blew him off because he obviously wasn't up to the caliber of the person she was seeking tonight. After another martini, she was caring less about who was approaching her. A part of her wished that she had stopped at one because she didn't want her judgment impaired quite as much without Chyna at her side. But she couldn't take back the decision now.

Pressing the palm of her hand to her forehead, she attempted to keep the spinning from gripping her conscious mind. After counting to ten, Lexi seemed to feel a bit better and slowly angled her body back towards the bar. She didn't need a drink, but she did need someone to sweat out this alcohol with. The dance floor was calling her name.

One of the regulars that she had been eyeing earlier seemed to notice that she was without a drink and approached her. "Hey," he slurred smiling drunkenly at her. His eyes darted to her chest and then back up to her face. "I've never seen you here before."

Lexi wanted to retort some snide remark about how completely original he was, but he was kind of cute so she refrained. Instead she just smiled at him in an all-knowing way that made his addled mind kick into over drive. "You're right. I've never been here," she murmured.

"What?" he cried trying to hear her over the music that had increased in proportion to the length of time she had spent in the establishment.

Lexi leaned forward resting her hand on his chest. She rose up onto her tiptoes until her mouth was just next to his ear and said, "I've never been here. Perhaps you could show me around."

The guy's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at her comment. He turned back to his friends and made some kind of fist pump. They all cheered him on as if she wasn't standing there. Lexi felt a little sick to her stomach at how dumb he was already turning out to be, but she couldn't exactly turn back now. She at least owned him one dance after her forwardness.

His hands gripped her hips forcefully as he corralled her out onto the dance floor. Even as drunk as she was she knew that he had no rhythm. And when she said no rhythm, she really meant
no
rhythm. If the guy had two left feet, he would be able to do better than he was at that moment. She knew that alcohol typically made you more willing to dance, but this was just embarrassing. She almost felt like someone was playing a practical joke on her.

But she couldn't figure a way out of this situation. His hands were like a vice lock on her hips as he sway backed and forth uncoordinatedly. Every time she attempted to slip away, he would grab her even harder and she was starting to wonder if she was going to be bruised in the morning.

Finally, she reached in for her last ditch effort and leaned back to speak into his ear again, "Can we get out of here?" she asked hoping he would take the bait.

Of course he did as he did one last horrible dance move, grabbed a hold of her wrist, and veered her to the front door. She stood in place for a second as he attempted to yank her around. "Hey, don't move. I have to use the ladies room and I'll be right back," she said watching recognition reach his brain. He let go of her wrist and leaned back against the wall to wait for her…indefinitely.

Lexi made a beeline for the ladies room to check out the damage from dancing with that idiot. She knew it had been a mistake to come out to a place like this in hopes of finding someone who would be boyfriend material. The last thing she wanted in her life right now was some loser pretending to be her boyfriend. She couldn't do that for anyone. She didn't even care if Chyna's father assaulted her with his menacing eyes once more time. A cold chill rushed down her back at the thought and she tried to push the thought aside.

After pushing her way through the line at the bathroom and reassuring about a dozen girls that she wasn't cutting, she eventually made it in front of a mirror. She yanked her tube top up a smidge further than it already was and peered at herself through the dim lighting. Perhaps she had been overreacting when she had been out dancing. The skin wasn't sensitive to the touch and all in all she still looked stellar. Her hair was wild, but it worked for her. She liked how her flushed appearance only added to her sensual appeal.

Several girls began shoving Lexi out of the way so she quickly exited the bathroom. Surveying the surrounding area to make sure that guy had followed her, Lexi wandered back towards the bar in search of Chyna. She hadn't found anything like what she was looking for here tonight. All she wanted to do was go home and take a long hot bath. She didn't have class tomorrow, but she had enough homework to stress over that partying tonight any longer would be a mistake. Her mind was already muddled enough to dance with some loser who was way too aggressive for his own good. She just needed to get out of there.