Chapter 33
WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY SMOKING?
SHARI
Brad’s parents must already be here, I muse as I pull up behind their car in the driveway.
I get Lizzie out of the car and turn back to gather all the paraphernalia that comes with a toddler. The creak of the front door precedes the crunch of the gravel underfoot when Lizzie shouts, “Daddy!” Their combined laughter ties a knot in my stomach and I don't really know what to make of it.
When I turn around, I'm greeted by the sight of Brad throwing Lizzie into the air, much to her delight and my panic. “Nngghh, not so high, Brad!” comes my choked protest.
He catches her and settles her on his hip and they chuckle together with their matching eyes and grins. “Mama worries too much, don't you think Lizzie Loo?”
“Ya, too mush,” she nods.
“You're too much, Madam!” I go in for the tickle kill and she squeals and wriggles with that shrill laughter I adore so much.
Brad puts her down so she can run ahead of us and takes her bags to lead me into the house.
“Shari! Have you done something new with your hair? It looks gorgeous,” Grace states as she pulls me in for a tight hug. It lasts longer than usual, which has me questioning her.
“No, nothing new. Are you ok, Grace?”
“Yes, dear! Absolutely smashing. Just glad to see you,” she smiles warmly and rubs my upper arms as I surreptitiously look around for hidden cameras.
Phil steps up to me and all but shoves Grace aside, “Don't mind her, she's been taking that CBD oil for her hip pain and it seems to have removed the stick she had up her arse.” He winks and kisses me on the cheek, and all I can do is stand there in shock.
I would have expected Grace to annihilate him for saying that, but she just rolls her eyes and laughs.
“It's weird, isn't it?” Brad murmurs next to me. “She's been taking it since that bottle Hettie got her for Christmas and has been mellow like this ever since. I'm still not used to it. Dad is clearly loving every moment.” I don't know what to say, so I just stand there blinking like an idiot.
“Hi Shari,” a small voice snaps me out of my stupor.
“Larissa, hi! Sorry, I didn't know you were here already,” I hug her and we three make our way to the kitchen, leaving the grandparents to entertain Lizzie for the time being.
Brad automatically puts the kettle on and starts making a pot of tea as I unpack Lizzie's food bag and stack yoghurts in his fridge.
Yes, he has plenty of snacks and food for her already, but in true almost-two-year-old fashion, she keeps changing her mind about what she likes, so it's just safer to have options.
Especially when Brad's parents are the ones babysitting.
“So, what are you guys up to tonight? Your first Valentine's together!” I try for an excited tone. I think I nail it.
“Oh! We're going out to dinner and then ice skating!” Larissa beams, clapping her fingers together softly.
“Wow, very romantic! I'm sure you'll have a blast.”
“I’m so excited! I haven't been ice skating since I was a teenager, so I'm sure I'll be rubbish at it, but it's going to be so much fun.”
Brad smiles softly over his shoulder at her enthusiasm. “What about you, Blaze? Where's the douche canoe taking you tonight?”
“Brad—”
“I’m sorry, I'm sorry. That's not fair on you,” he immediately backs down.
I eye him with pursed lips for a moment. “I actually don't know what our plans are. Jake said it's a secret but to dress up,” I pause, thinking back through what he told me. “My guess is dinner at a swanky restaurant, but he's picking me up a bit later than usual.”
“Maybe he could only get a later booking,” Larissa suggests.
“You’re probably right. I guess he wouldn't have exactly known to book too far in advance since we've only been dating around seven weeks,” I shrug.
“What time is he picking you up?” Brad asks, eyes narrowed.
“Quarter to nine? I'm assuming it's a nine o'clock booking.”
Brad hums but offers nothing further, and loads up the tray to take into the lounge.
Larissa is hot on his heels, but I take my time in the kitchen.
Jake has been really cagey about tonight's date, which makes sense with it being a surprise, it's just that he gets this weird look in his eye anytime I've brought it up.
I can't for the life of me figure out what it means, either.
When I finally emerge, the scene I stumble upon is enough to knock the wind out of me.
Brad and Larissa are sitting on the carpet and Lizzie is standing between them with her arms wrapped around the back of their necks.
They're taking turns kissing her cheeks and she's positively giddy with laughter.
It's adorable. And yet my stomach twists painfully. They look like a family. A real family that no one would ever think to question. Just a twenty-something man and a twenty-something woman and their little girl. Happy and in love.
I don't notice Grace coming to stand beside me until her arm snakes around my waist. “I can see the hurt in your gaze, Shari. But just remember, not everything is always as it seems.”
Confused, I turn to her, surprised to find her looking at me so tenderly. “What does that mean, not everything is always as it seems? And isn't the phrase nothing is as it seems?”
“I said what I said, and it means that one moment, a snapshot in time, doesn't show you the whole picture. And that I know my son.”
I'm even more baffled at her so-called explanation, “I honestly have no idea what you're trying to tell me, Grace. You're being very cryptic.”
“Hmm. Perhaps that's for the best.” She raises her eyebrows and struts away, leaving me perplexed in her wake.
“I think that CBD oil might have dislodged more than just the stick from her arse,” comes an amused voice from behind me.
I turn to find Phil wearing a small smile, hands in his pockets as he rocks back and forth on his heels. “But she's not wrong, the whole picture is easier to see when you're not inside it,” he squeezes my shoulder as he walks past.
“What…” what the fuck are they smoking?
Looking out the passenger window, trepidation starts to churn in the pit of my stomach.
I’m not really sure why because it’s Valentine's, and Jake is taking me to some exclusive venue as a surprise. I just didn’t realise ‘exclusive’ meant remote.
The buildings are few and far between, and the streetlights nonexistent.
“So, where are you taking me? We must be almost there by now, so surely you can tell me,” I try with an exaggerated pout.
Jake’s eyes flick to my lips and back to the road, “Nice try, Amour. I’m not ruining the surprise now. We’ll be there in about ten minutes,” he says with a smirk.
Ten more minutes? We’ve already been driving for over half an hour. I’m hoping we’re headed towards civilisation again because these dark country roads are making me nervous.
I wring my hands in my lap and try to pinpoint why I’m feeling so apprehensive. It’s a date. Jake has never done anything to warrant this reaction. I must just be nervous about being so far from Lizzie if she should need me. That has to be it. God, I hope this place has Wi-Fi at least.
What feels like a small lifetime later, we finally pull up in front of what looks to be a barn conversion. It’s beautiful, but there really is nothing around us. Just a curtain of pitch black beyond the lights highlighting the wood of the barn.
Jake rounds the car to help me out, and his eyes roam my body as a salacious smile slowly takes over his face. I should be turned on by that, or at least flattered, but again, that sense of foreboding creeps across my skin.
His hand on the small of my back steers me towards the doors, where a bouncer stands with an iPad.
Behind him, next to the door, is a shining chrome sign in a gorgeous cursive font backlit with a purple light that reads: Deviancy.
I can feel the slow thumping bass of the music beyond the doors, and the beat feels almost carnal.
The bouncer finds our names on the tablet, stamps the backs of our hands with what must be UV ink, and at the scan of his thumbprint on a pad next to the frame, the doors click and yawn open.
The purplish darkness past the entrance is only lit sporadically by strobe lights on what I’m assuming is the dance floor. The sickly sweet smell of smoke machine vapour invades my nostrils, making me cough. Snapshot glimpses of writhing bodies make my heart pound, and not in a good way.
“What do you think?” Jake’s hot breath on my ear makes me shudder.
“Is this…have you brought me to a sex club?” I ask, incredulously. But clearly Jake mistakes my shudder for a shiver, and my reluctance for intrigue because his Cheshire Cat grin only widens, and he reaches down to adjust himself.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no issue with erotic establishments or the people who wish to frequent them. As long as everyone is a consenting adult, then crack on! Enjoy yourselves, whatever revs your engine. But my engine isn’t revved. It’s currently not even turning over.
It’s not even the fact that he brought me to a sex club, it’s the fact that he hasn’t even hinted at being into this. It’s so out of the blue that I feel completely blindsided. I thought we were going to a late dinner!
He grabs my hand and starts pulling me towards the dance floor, and as we get closer, I can see there's a stage beyond the grinding crowd where a masked man is binding a woman to a frame.
“Jake, I’m confused. Why have you brought me here? Wait, no, don’t answer that. Obviously, I understand why. But why did you think this might be something I’d enjoy without any form of discussion about it?”
“Jesus, Shari,” his face immediately curls into a look of disgust, “it wouldn’t have been a surprise if I’d told you! Don’t be such a prude and get off your high horse.” He shakes his head with derision, “I knew you’d be judgemental about this.” What the hell?