He took Abby by the arm and led her to the
car.
* * * * *
Chapter 17
They sat in silence in the car. He had waited
a few minutes before asking the driver to head home. He knew he
would have to talk to Abby about this before the wedding but was
hoping he could wait awhile longer. Long enough to prove to her
that she was the one for him and he would do anything to make her
happy. Abby sat in silence the only movements were the tears
falling down her cheeks. The longer Jimmy sat in silence the worse
she would feel, he knew that but had no idea where to start, so he
just spoke.
“
I met Brittany after moving to LA five
years ago. I had gone out with some of the record execs to a local
strip club. I had been old enough to get in but not old enough to
drink. It didn’t matter though. I was totally out of my element. I
had heard about those clubs but had never experienced one myself.
Brittany was a dancer one of the guys paid to give me a lap dance.
“Welcome me to the big city” he said. She could tell I had never
been in that position. She thought it was cute. She gave me her
number after and told me to call her. We went out a couple of times
before we got….serious. She had promised me that she was faithful
when she was in a relationship and I believed her. After we had
been dating for two months she told me she was pregnant. The only
thing to do was the honorable thing. My parents were not thrilled
to say the least. But they respected me for stepping up and
accepting my responsibility. We went to Vegas one weekend and just
got married. No family, no friends. It was the typical Vegas
wedding. We got married by an Elvis Impersonator and our witness
was Little Richard. It was awful. We moved in together into her
apartment. I was still forming a career and hadn’t bought anything
permanent. Brittany wanted to continue to dance for as long as she
could. It was good money and she wasn’t willing to give it up.
After I was paid for my first composition, I tried to get her to
quit going to the club. The environment itself wasn’t the best for
a pregnant woman. I had offered to give her an allowance, subsidize
what she would lose if she quit. She went ballistic, she thought I
was trying to control her. She started throwing things and breaking
dishes. Before I knew what was going on she was crumpled on the
floor clutching her stomach, there was blood on her legs. At the
hospital the Dr. told us she had miscarried. Even though I was in a
relationship I didn’t want to be in, I was still upset over the
loss of the baby. We tried to make it work. I had made more money
from writing lyrics and music for the movies. I offered it all to
her to get a divorce. She accepted. It was enough to get her a
fresh start and quit dancing, but she took the money and moved to
Vegas. She would get bit parts in some shows on the strip but
nothing to establish her as a reputable dancer, so she would go
back to the clubs and get paid for lap dances. One weekend after
the band and I had done a show at one of the smaller clubs the boys
had called for some strippers to come to the suite. I had had my
fill of that stuff so I would usually go into the bedroom and work
while they partied. One of the girls that showed up was Brittany.
It had been three years since I had seen her. She made nice with
Ben, he wasn’t aware of our past so he had no idea she was working
him. He told her that every time we were in town we would get the
Playboy Suite. She tried to hook up with me but I was over her
games. I couldn’t get back in to all of that with her again. She
took this as a challenge. She had a friend that worked at the
Palms. Whenever girls were requested for the Playboy Suite,
Brittany would get a call. Most times it wasn’t even me that was
there but it didn’t matter, money was money. But the times it was
me, she would do her best to seduce me. One of those times it
happened to be the night of my Bachelor Party. When she found out I
was getting married and for love this time not obligation, she said
that no one could take her place and I would end up going back with
her. I think it was more the fact I was successful now and had a
lot more money now than I had when we were together. She felt I
owed her. Somehow she got my cell number and has been calling and
texting since I got back. I knew you would need to know all of this
before we got married. I don’t want to have any secrets going in to
our marriage. I am so sorry you had to find out this way. Can you
please forgive me?”
Abby sat in silence. She was the one feeling
guilty now. Was this the right time to bare her soul as well? Get
it all out in the open. She looked over at Jimmy. He was facing
forward with his head down. She could see a tear glistening down
his cheek. Her only thought at that moment was making him feel
better, not add more turmoil. She reached out, wiped his cheek and
leaned over to kiss him.
“
What you did in your past is no
consequence to me. You tried to make things right. It didn’t work
out. There is nothing to forgive. I love you. Nothing will ever
change that.”
Jimmy brought his eyes up to hers.
“
You aren’t going to leave me?” He
stumbled through the words.
“
No.” she shook her head.
He grabbed her and held her tight. Brought
her to his lap. Their kisses became more enthusiastic. Before long
their clothes were on the floor and their bodies were writhing on
the seats. They were fully dressed again as they drove into the
parking lot back at the hotel. By the time they had settled into
their own rooms, Abby had come up with a plan to stop the phone
calls. Jimmy had mentioned that he would be working all day on some
songs he had to write for his upcoming album. He had apologized
that he would more than likely locked in his office all day. This
worked into Abby’s plans perfectly. When she was in her room she
called Steve. She asked to meet him in the lobby of the hotel.
“
Thank you for meeting me
Steve.”
“
Is everything ok?” Steve asked
concerned.
“
Well not really Steve. I am sure you
have heard of Jimmy’s ex wife?”
Steve looked surprised. “I am aware of her I
am surprised you are. I know Jimmy was concerned about telling
you.”
“
Yes well I need your help dealing with
her.” Abby stated.
“
How can I help?” Steve asked very
curious now.
“
Well, I have a plan but it does
involve us keeping a secret from Jimmy.”
Steve was not comfortable with this. Not only
was he an employee of Jimmy’s he was also a friend.
“
I don’t know Miss Abby, I don’t like
keeping secrets from him, it could not only affect my job but it
could affect our friendship.”
“
I will take full responsibility if
this goes bad Steve I swear to you, he will not be mad at you.
Please Steve I need your help. There are other ways I can get this
done but your help will make it less time consuming.”
This had Steve curious. “Ok tell me what you
are thinking and then I will decide on whether or not it is risking
my job over.” he said with a smile.
Abby filled him in on her plan. Steve was
intrigued. He wasn’t totally convinced it would work but he was
willing to give it a try. They planned on meeting in the lobby at 7
o’clock in the morning. They each had their story for Jimmy. Abby
was taking the day to get some last minute things done and needed
some alone time. Steve had to have the plane in for maintenance, it
wouldn’t be available all day. Jimmy seemed skeptical but he was
going to be busy as well and was glad that Abby wasn’t going to be
bored all day.
As planned they met in the lobby and headed
out. Steve had called ahead and reported the flight plan. They
boarded the plane and took off for Vegas. During the seven hour
flight Abby worked on her plan. Playing all the scenarios over in
her head multiple times. She had called the Palms and booked the
Playboy Suite. At first they had told her it was unavailable. “No,"
Abby thought, “if that suite wasn’t available then her plan would
not work." After a few moments she was told she could have the
room. She booked it under Jimmy Riley. She also requested that some
female dancers be sent to her room at 8 o’clock pm. She was assured
that all will be arranged to her satisfaction and was looking
forward to Mr. Riley staying with them again. Abby hung up the
phone and prayed that this would go smoothly. They arrived at the
hotel around 3 o’clock. The concierge looked at her curiously but
gave her the room key after they asked if she wanted to use the
card on file. Abby declined and pulled out her own credit card that
her parent had given her.. She didn’t want to leave a trail for
Jimmy to find. She made an appointment at the hotel salon once she
was in the suite. It was nice. Not Abby’s taste but she wants in to
the playboy lifestyle. At the salon she told them to make her look
as sophisticated as they could. She had her makeup and hair done.
When they were finished she did think she looked a few years older
than her 18 years. She went into the boutique at the Palms and
bought a smart looking white blouse and a pair of black slacks. She
picked out a pair of heels that made her a few inches taller. When
she was back in the room all put together, she couldn’t help but
admire how she looked. “I just may be able to pull this off” she
said out loud to herself. Now all she could do was wait.
Promptly at 7 o’clock there was a knock at
the door. Abby, hands shaking she opened the door. There were two
women and a man standing in the hall. There was no doubt they were
the “entertainment” she had asked for. “Come in.” Abby gestured and
stood back so they could all enter the room. Abby closed the door,
walked over to the bar as confident as she could, sat on a stool,
leaned back on her elbows and flicked a “get on with it” motion
with her hand. Abby taking notice that the man had to be the
bodyguard, looked at him still feigning confidence and asked,
“
Do you need to be in here, this is
kind of a private show if you know what I mean.”
“
Brit you gonna be ok?” the man
asked.
The taller brunette was looking older than
her true age of 23, obviously dancing all hours of the night for as
many people as you can, had to be a hard life Abby thought to
herself.
“
Yeah Brian, I think we’ll be fine,
there’s no danger here.” Brittany said looking Abby up and
down.
“
HA that’s what you think” Abby smiled
to herself.
“
If you’re sure, I’ll wait outside.”
Brian confirmed and left the room.
“
So, what do you want to see?” the
other girl said. Abby noticed she couldn’t be any older than Abby
herself.
“
I would actually like to see what she
has to offer if you don’t mind, you can wait outside too.” Abby was
mustering up more courage than she thought she had.
The younger girl looked at Brittany confused,
Brittany nodded her head towards the door and the younger girl
left. Abby could hear her explaining to Brian what just happened as
the door was closing.
“
She’s a bit young for this life isn’t
she.” Abby said more accusing than asking.
“
Yeah well, when you got nothing this
is better than that. So what is it that I can do for
you?”
“
Whatever it is that you do.” Abby said
trying to sound not interested.
“
Well, we can get physical or not?”
Brittany said trying to sound seductive.
“
Just dance, nothing too close.” Abby
didn’t have to fake the disgust in her voice.
“
Fine, it’s your dime.” Brittany turned
on the music and started to dance.
Abby couldn’t look, that was just something
she could go her whole life without seeing. She looked anywhere but
at Brittany. Suddenly the music stopped.
“
Look, will anyone else be joining us
or are you it.” Brittany said annoyed.
“
Oh, were you expecting someone else?
No I am the only one here tonight, Jimmy won’t be joining us.” Abby
stared at Brittany daring her to deny the reason she was there.
Brittany stared at her in shock half dressed. After a moment of the
stare down, Brittany looked at Abby with an evil smile.
“
Oh, how do you know my Jimmy?”
Brittany asked with arrogance.
Abby slowly got off the bar stool. With her
heels on she was about eye level with the dancer.
“
My fiancé Jimmy is not here.” Abby
shot back.
Brittany let out a laugh. “Oh so you’re his
little school girl. Look Sweetie…Jimmy and I have a very special
relationship. Unfortunately, we are just at a low point right now,
but don’t you worry, he’ll come back to me. He likes what I can do
for him. This is a game you just can’t play little girl.”
Abby felt her blood boil and stepped towards
Brittany. Brittany stumbled backwards against the couch. Abby was
in her face before Brittany could scream for Brian.
“
Let me tell you something. Jimmy and I
have more in common than lap dances. This little girl is exactly
what he wants. I can give him more that what you ever could in and
out of the bedroom.” Abby took off on of her heels. “I suggest you
stop the texting, the phone calls and stop showing up every time
your types of services are called to this suite. Because if you
don’t, I am going to come back here, hunt you down and shove this
heel so far up….”
“
Hey hey hey, what is going on in
here?” Jimmy stood in the open door with Steve by his side, eyes
wide and disbelieving.