Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ant
Christ, I hope things are going better for Lilavati than they are for me.
I thought the days of strippers at bucks’ parties were over. My friends tend to go on surfing weekends where we spend the days on the waves and the evenings drinking beer, eating pizza and playing pool or darts.
Not this crowd.
It all started with free-flowing alcohol in a couple of stretch Hummers and went downhill from there.
We pull up at a seedy strip club that smells of stale beer and desperation. The black carpet is sticky, and the once-flashy velvet seats are stained and frayed.
You’d think a man with such a big stick as far up his arse as Warren would think this behaviour is beneath him.
He’s not as loud or overt about it as Julian, Miles and their friends, but he’s ogling the strippers just as avidly.
And he was sneaky about it, but I didn’t miss him slipping some bills into one of the girl’s thongs. Gross.
Nor did I miss the way a number of the guys were passing around condoms on the drive here.
Julian and a couple of his bros disappear into an alcove, apparently for a lap dance. I don’t even want to think about what the poor girl providing that service is having to put up with, based on the disgusting things the guys have been saying since we walked in the door.
No shade on the girls. They’re just trying to make a living. But these guys who pretend to be paragons of the community, drooling over women who, in some cases, look barely legal, need to take a look at which way their moral compasses are pointing.
I take a surreptitious glance at my phone. It’s not even eleven o’clock. I think I need to stay till at least midnight. Then I’ll just sneak away.
I’m about to make a trip to the john, more for something to do than the need to pee, when Julian’s brother, Miles, drops down into the empty seat beside me.
“So, you and Emily’s cousin, eh?” he slurs, although it’s a little hard to hear over the thumping music and catcalls of the douches in the audience.
Not sure how to respond to that. “Ah, yeah.”
“The way Emily described her, I expected her to be a bit of a gorgon, but she’s actually really hot. Great legs. Sorry I missed my turn with that one.”
“Excuse me?” I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing.
“Well, you know, the families were trying to set us up before you came on the scene. Guess I’ll have to wait till you’re done with her. I’ll bet she’s a firecracker in the sack.” He makes a lewd gesture with his hips. “How long until you move on, d’ya reckon?”
The muscles in my arm bunch, and it takes all my willpower not to reach out and shirtfront this cockhead.
I know my response should be a calm request for him not to disrespect my girlfriend, but what comes out is, “Fuck off.”
Loudly. With three exclamation points.
“Whoa. What’s your problem, dude?” Miles leans back in his chair, hands in the air.
Unfortunately, my response landed right in the break between songs, and everyone in our party heard it. Including Warren. It doesn’t help that I’ve leapt out of my chair, so I’m standing over Miles, getting in his personal space. He’s lucky he still has his head on his shoulders.
“Sit down and stop making a scene,” Warren interrupts, although I notice he signals for security rather than stepping between Miles and me himself. “What on earth is wrong with you?”
“Nothing more or less than I’d expect from someone like him,” snipes Ross.
“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong is I won’t sit and listen to Lilavati being disrespected by a drunken pig,” I spit at Warren before turning back to Miles.
“You’ll be waiting a fucking long time, arsehole.
Because now that she’s mine, I don’t plan on ever letting Lilavati go.
And even if I did, she’s way too smart to look twice at a creep like you. ”
“I beg your pardon,” huffs Keith, Miles and Julian’s father. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a massive Hawaiian dude in a black T-shirt with Security printed in bold lettering on the front, hovering, waiting to see whether the tension in the air will erupt into violence.
I turn on Warren. “I don’t know where you all get off looking down on me. The way you’ve been behaving tonight, the disrespect you’re showing your wives and daughters, is disgusting. My father raised me better than this. Enjoy the rest of your night.”
And with that, I stalk out of the club into the humid night air.
The streets are quiet, and Uber says they won’t have a car here for ten minutes, so I cross the road and sit on the grass in a small park to wait for the car and for my pulse to slow down.
I’ve never been so close to hitting a guy as I was just now. Several guys. I don’t like the way that feels. But I like the way Miles talked about Lilavati even less.
If it wasn’t there already, I’ve just painted a big red target on my back. Thank Christ I came clean to Lil about my businesses because if Warren doesn’t go digging for some way to bring me down, I’ll eat my surfboard. At least I’ve neutralised that piece of ammo.
My heart hurts for Lilavati. Every one of those men is a misogynist. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for her to grow up in that environment. With nobody in her corner. Well, she has someone in her corner now. And I’m not going anywhere. No matter what shit Warren throws at me.
The suite is empty when I arrive, so I throw off my clothes and take a long, hot shower to wash off the stench of disrespect that’s clinging to me.
I’m tempted to message Lilavati, but who knows, maybe she’s actually having a good time. If Louise is there, at least she’ll have someone to talk to.
I’ve just grabbed a beer from the fridge and settled on the outdoor bed on the lanai when the door opens and Sparky walks in.
“Ugh. I think that was the worst night of my life. Worse than cadaver dissection at uni.” She takes in my wet hair and the cut-off trackpants I’m wearing. “You’re home early. I thought you’d be out till much later.” She sits down next to me, reaches for my beer and takes a swig.
“It couldn’t possibly have been worse than my night.” I take the bottle back, swallow a gulp and return it to her.
“I think I’ll be the judge of that,” she responds, and proceeds to tell me all about her night.
We share the beer, then another, and the horrors of our past few hours.
“Hmm. I think it’s probably a tie for worst night ever,” Lil agrees in the end.
“I’ll tell you one thing: I won’t be going on that fishing trip tomorrow. Trapped on a boat with those arsewipes for an entire day? No thank you.”
I didn’t tell Lilavati the worst of what happened.
Especially about Warren drooling over the strippers.
Her relationship with her mother is fragile enough without adding the burden of keeping that information to herself.
And I didn’t get into the details of what Miles said about her.
She doesn’t need to know that kind of shit.
But that doesn’t mean I haven’t filed it away for future use if it’s needed.
Lil lets out a big sigh and slumps against my side.
“We had such a lovely day. I’m sad it finished so badly.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” I check my phone. “We still have twenty minutes to salvage the night. Fancy another skinny dip?”
Lil’s face lights up with anticipation.
“Give me two minutes to get out of these clothes.” She’s off into the bedroom before I can respond. “And don’t forget the condoms.”
Our night is officially salvaged.