A Night on the Town ((Attn: Drev))

"As long as you don't mind hotel chairs, then you can." She laughed softly. 'I really need to tell him how I feel. But it's a bit deep for first dates.' Then again if he was to be her friend, she was going to have to be forward with him.

"Look, um, this is going to sound really odd, especially after the evening we've just had, but um..." She took a deep breath and turned to face him her knee brushing against his. It neither shocked or bothered her and she thought that maybe that was a good sign.

"Well, I really want to be your friend. I have had such a great time with you, and we really seemed to connect both tonight and at the coffee shop. I just want you to know up front that it's friendship I want, it will be all I ever want."

Her face held hope and just a touch of sorrow. She wanted this, badly and until just this moment hadn't known how badly she had needed a friend.

"Please, say you'll still come have a glass of wine with me."

Drev couldn't deny the disappointment he felt at her words. She was obviously a beautiful woman, even for a stripper. It was a shame he'd never get to see what else she could do with that body....

But maybe this would be good for him, to have a female friend.

Taking Wren's hand, Drev smiled warmly. "Thank you for that, Wren. But do I only get one glass, or can I have more?"

Wren wrapped her fingers around his hand and returned his warm smile. He was ok, and wanted to be her friend too. She had seen disappointment flicker behind his eyes, but he seemed genuinely accepting of her offer.

"You an have as many as you'd like, but I'm not holding that pretty hair of your's back."

The limo pulled to a stop in front of her hotel and the driver came around to open the door for them. Drev helped her out of the limo. The rode the elevator to her floor and she dug out her key card.

"I wasn't expecting to bring you home with me, so it's a bit messy."

She stuck the card in its slot and pushed open the door. The room had a bathroom, a little seating area in front of the tv, a little counter with sink and microwave, and the bed. By messy she meant that her make up was all over the counter and her suit case was still on the bed.

She walked to the open suit case and pulled out a pair of jeans and a red cap sleeved t-shirt, a pair of fuzzy socks, and a red bra. She tossed them on the bed, zipped up her case and slung it over to the floor, pushing it under the bed with her foot. Grinning at Drev she headed toward the bathroom.

"Make yourself comfortable, wine's in the little fridge there and the only cups I have are the high quality plastic tumblers the hotel gives you. I won't be a moment."

She slipped into the bathroom and closed the door.

Well, it certainly wasn't as lavish and elegant as Enzo's, but that didn't matter. He walked over to where she said the wine was and proceeded to pour them both a glass while she got changed. Damn, he was going to feel so overdressed... He quickly shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over the back of a chair, then loosened his tie and the top button of his shirt, and rolled up his sleeves.

Taking one of the glasses, Drev made himself comfortable in one of the chairs. He glanced around the room, and decided this must be a pretty crappy place to call home. His mind started working, putting connections and possibilities together. A grin began to curl his lip when an idea struck him.

Ask anyone he'd ever associated with in the mafia, and they'll tell you that Calo Antonio Milazo takes care of his friends.

Wren made a pile of her clothes on the toilet lid and put one foot on the side of the tub to undo the clasp, she switched feet then toed off her shoes. Lifting her left arm, she pulled down the hidden zipper on the dress and shrugged it off her shoulders to fall to the floor. Her spanky pants and then pantyhose followed. She had on a pair of little red bikini undies, simply because she hated the feel of pantyhose against her girl parts.

She very carefully pulled the nipple covers from her breasts and rubbed the areas that were now just a tiny bit red and sore. They felt just like pulling a bandaid off, if they were even the slightest bit moist or your nipples were erect, hers were both due to the cold bathroom and all the dancing.

she pulled on her bra, pants, t-shirt and socks. Then turned to pull her hair up into a pony tail. She wiped the remnants of her lipstick off and slicked a red tinted gloss over her lips. Satisfied she tucked some of her stuff back in her make up bag, just to tidy things up a bit. She picked up the small pile that was her dress and under things and took them out with her.

"There all better."

She laid the dress on the bed and tucked the under things into a green laundry bag hung on the closet door. Then turned back to see a very comfortable Drev. Smiling she crossed the small room and perched on the arm of his chair.

"I'm jealous," he said with a smirk. Then the smile slipped after a moment as he thought about what he was going to do.

Should he really ask her? It wouldn't be too presumtuous, too direct, would it? Oh who the hell cares? If she doesn't want to, she'll say no.

"You know, Wren.... if we're going to be friends," he began, looking up at her with a half-smile, "that means that I have to look out for you. And as a friend who's genuinely concerned, I can't, in good-conscience, let you live in a hotel. I have a spare bedroom in my place that you're welcome to use..."

Wren stared at him for a good minute. Never in her life had anyone just offered her something. She'd worked for everything she's ever gotten and here was this man, this stranger offering her a place to live.

'Ok so does he have some ulterior motive to this, or is he being for real about the whole looking out for me thing? What in the hell am I supposed to say? It would mean I don't have to look for a place, and if I was living with a man, I'd be a hell of a lot safer than on my own. What the hell am I thinking? I don't know this man from Adam. Why would I even contemplate living with him? I've lost it. Still, it is a great set up. Rent wold be cheap, I would know who I'm getting as a roommate. No luck of the draw for me. Plus, I bet he has a crazy nice place.

What the fuck? Ok, I am not seriously trying to talk myself into this am I? I can't move in with him, that's crazy. Or is it? Shit, shit, shit.'

She took a gulp of the wine in her hand and remembered to blink. She really had no idea what to say. 'I'd have to make it perfectly clear that I'm off limits, period. Shit.'

"Wow, um...yeah. That's a bit unexpected." She gulped at her wine again. Maybe she could work up the balls to say yes, if she was drunk enough. She did have another bottle in the fridge. 'I'm not saying yes, I can't live with him. Well, I can't. Shit.'

Drev couldn’t help but chuckle. He enjoyed putting people in situations like these. Not out of any sadistic desire to see them squirm and torment themselves trying to figure it out. Over his many years, he’d found that by putting someone in an unexpected, but controlled, situation, they tend to reveal their abilities to deal with stressful events. It was a good way to learn how someone reacts when the shit hits the fan. And now let’s throw a little more shit at the fan….

“You wouldn’t have to pay any rent, no utilities, and the only groceries you’d have to buy would be anything you want that I don’t normally buy. All I ask is that you help out with the chores around the place – cleaning, dishes, things like that.”

Drev chuckled again at Wren’s facial expressions.

“I know what you’re thinking: ‘What does this guy want from me in return?’ Quite simply… nothing. It may be hard to believe, but I know what it’s like to be starting fresh in a new place. I hate to see you throwing your money into a hotel when it would be better off in the bank.

“But if you feel uncomfortable about it, I’d understand. All I can do is give you my word...”

'How can you argue against that? Damn, it's like fate has stepped in and slapped me upside the fucking head. Of course I can't do this. I can't. Though if I did, I could always just leave, I have no emotional stake in this thing and he is offering me something I really need. Man, why can't this be easy?'

"I'd have to pay something, Drev. I know you don't need my money and all of that, but I will not live off of anyone. I'm not saying yes, but if I said yes, I'd have to pay my share. I'm a tidy person, so that wouldn't be a problem. But you...well you have to know somethings about me before we go any further with this."

She'd tell him her past, well most of it and then it would be a moot point. He's want to keep her at arms' length and she would just go on trying to find her own place. 'Man I hope not.' She shook her head at that. She really had no idea what was happening here. She knew this was totally out of the question, but she wanted to have this friendship so badly it muddled her head. Plus, she really needed a place to live, this hotel would get expensive after a week or two.

If paying him a little bit would help ease her mind, that's be fine. He could just take the money she paid him and stuff it away. Buy her something she'd need when she moved out.

"I'm all ears."

'Yeah, sure, wait until I start to talk.' She finished off the wine in her cup and looked around for the bottle. She spotted it, and got up to get it. She refilled her glass, and returned to her perch on the arm of his chair, putting the bottle on the little end table on the other side. She turned so that she could face him fully, tucking her toes underneath his thigh near his knee. It amazed her at how incredibly comfortable she was with him, it was a position she would have taken with a girlfriend. Wren liked to perch and the arm of a chair was her favorite perch.

"Ok, if you're sure. I have a very...interesting past." She drank from her wine, looked down into the cup and sighed. This would be the second person in as many days that she tole about Him, and it kind of weirded her out.

"Firstly you should know why I moved to Nachton. Mostly because it was the cheapest one way ticket that was leaving with in the hour. Well not mostly that is just coincidence. Anyway, I'm running away from home, so to speak. About a year ago, I started getting these weird phone calls, they were static and the faint sound of some one breathing. I shrugged them off, no big deal. Then the phone call was followed by a picture of me shoved under my door, on the phone in the clothes I had on. Those came about an hour after the call.

After that, he started putting pictures of me in the mail, pictures that should not have been able to be taken. Like in the bathroom and the girls locker room. Then the phone calls had words. I knew it was a man, but he distorted his voice." She drank from her wine, then went back to staring into its depths as she spoke.

"So I had the police involved after the first bathroom pictures. They couldn't trace where he was developing the photos, because they were digital printed on photo paper. He seemed to wear gloves, as there were no finger prints. They put a tap and trace on my phone, but he must have known as I couldn't keep him talking long enough for them to find him, well we did get a trace once, but he was long gone by the time they got there.

The lead detective helped me get a court order to purchase utilities and open bank accounts under an assumed name, I was free to use my name other wise. He suggested I take my court order and skip town. Take what I could carry and just leave. I withdrew every cent from my bank account and paid cash for the ticket here, using my new name. So that's my sad little story of how I got here."

She sniffed, fighting back the angry tears. She knew that if her phone rang she's be scared to answer it. She hated that, and she hated him for doing it to her. She gulped the last of her wine, reached over Drev and refilled her glass.

Drev listened intently as Wren told her tale. While he undeniably felt pity for the poor girl, he also felt a sharp anger begin to seeth in his mind. And that surprised him. Granted, he would have gotten pissed off if anyone told him the same story. But as Wren told it, the anger felt cold and vicious. He wouldn’t be getting this upset if she were just some girl. Apparently his mind had already fully accepted her as friend.


“I’m terribly sorry to hear you had to go through that, hun.” ’Hun’? Drev placed a comforting hand on her knee and smiled up at her. “But I’m afraid that settles the issue… You have to accept my offer, because I am now officially your bodyguard.” Grinning with mirth, Drev took the wine bottle from Wren and refilled his own glass.

"Oh, yes that settles it." She smiled at him, the wine was starting to make her giggle-y. If she wasn't careful she'd tell him her whole life's story tonight. Well what did she have to loose? He had that righteous indignation thing going on in his eyes, maybe just maybe he would be angry for her and not pity her. She hated pity. Her childhood sucked, yeah, but pity just made the whole thing something...less. Anger made it what it was, wrong. She did not want to be pitied.

"There's something else you need to know, Drev. First I want to make it perfectly clear that I don't like to be touched. Wait that came out wrong, I don't like to be touched like a man touches a woman. I like to be comforted, and patted and hugged, just nothing intimate, you know?"

She drank deeply from her glass, and sighed. She might as well tell him. she wanted to tell him, she would just be vague about it. Yeah, vague.

"See when I was a kid, my brothers... I have two brothers, both a whole lot older than me, I was a surprise to my parents. Anyway my brothers used me as like their own personal doll. Ok that's not the best way to put it, but it's what I've come up with. I was like a toy for them, but not in a good way. I got lots of bruises, and other things. So it's this whole, I don't like men, and I don't like to be touched thing from it. So like trusting you." She gulped down the rest of her wine and filled the glass again.

"Is like huge for me. I just want you to know why, is all. I just don't like to be touched. Ok?"

Three glasses of wine had made her words a bit disjointed, and she hadn't been as witty about it as she'd wanted to. She wondered if she should tell him she was still very very afraid of her brothers. So afraid that their voices made her wince and want to go hide. She was an adult damn it. She sniffled and drank from her glass, downing half.

She felt a need to get really really drunk right now. Ok so maybe it wasn't the best idea to reveal all these things to her new friend, but if she was going to live with him and set these rules and then never date another man, at least not real dating one or two dates was just playing, well then he needed to know why. She'd told him about the stalker, so what was this one more thing? This thing that defined her and made her what she was. 'Yeah, be vague. That worked.'

Drev's jaw clenched and his eyes burned now with the anger that had consumed him with surprising ease. When he heard the plastic cup crunching, he realized he'd been squeezing it. He let up on it and set it down, then rose to look out the window.

"I almost wish they would find you," Drev said in a low, dangerous voice. "They've got much to answer for.I understand now," he went on in a louder and more calm voice, "and I don't blame you for hating guys." A chuckle rose in his throat. "Hell, I would too." After a short moment, he turned again to face Wren.

"I'm honored that you're able to trust me. Now that I know what you've been through, it means a lot to me." 'You're getting sappy, Calo. Must be the wine.'

'Wow. That was totally not what I was expecting.' She smiled at him. Maybe he realized that she didn't want his pity, or maybe her really was her friend and felt angry for her, like a true friend would. Or maybe, he liked her, in that way, and was pissed at her brothers for taking that from him. Either way you looked at it, it only added to his plus column.

"Thanks, Drev. I mean...yeah..thanks."

She gulped at her wine. 'Heh, now what?' She wiggled her toes and realized they were cold. They hadn't been until Drev got up. What a silly thing to think about. She wanted him to sit on her toes again, not because she missed his touch, but because they were cold and his leg was warm. The thought made her want to giggle, but she put a hand to her mouth and managed to resist. Instead she looked back up at him the laughter shining in her eyes.

"So, when do I move in and how much is rent?"

'Yup, subtle. Go Wren.'

Wren's smile melted the anger from him. He found himself smiling as he stepped back over to the chair.

"How about right now while you've got someone to help you carry stuff?" He really didn't want to charge her rent, but if she was going to insist.... "Well, um... what can you afford?"

"Um, I don't know actually. I haven't ever paid rent. I've always lived in student housing that was included in my tuition." She stood, and swayed on her feet. She hadn't unpacked so there wasn't much to do. So she went to the bathroom, bumping into the door jam, and leaving the door open. She started putting the rest of her stuff back into her little make up and toiletry bag.

"Um, I think I could afford like five hundred on my own, but that would be for a whole apartment all by myself, so," Wren reached into the shower to get her soap and shampoo, and with a thump fell into the bathtub. She started to laugh, and called out to Drev.

"How about two fifty? And could you come help me out of the tub?" She put her hands on her belly, one of them holding her soap bottle and let her laughter take over.

“Two-fifty works for me,” Drev said as he made his way to the bathroom. Either the girl is a lightweight, or that’s some strong wine. Drev thought it might be the former, since he wasn’t feeling anything after… three? four..? glasses? But then what Italian couldn't hold his wine.

Seeing Wren in the tub, Drev just stood for a moment. Then he broke into laughter. "Are you alright?" he asked through his laughter as he reached down to help her up.

Wren took his hand and let him pull her up to the edge of the tub and then onto her feet. She looked down at the tub and tried to reign in her laughter. "Yeah, no, I'm fine."

She tried again to get her soaps, and succeeded only when she used the shower wall to steady herself. She shoved them into her bag and zipped the bag.

"Just I shouldn't drink like that, I metabolize fast, and alcohol goes straight to my head, very quickly. I'll be ok in less than an hour, but for now, I'll be a lot of fun."

She giggled and picked up the two black bags and carried them out into the bedroom. She opened the closet and tugged at her suitcase, it was heavy for her sober, and now it just defeated her, and she fell to her butt with a plop.

"Are you sure I should move right now?" She laughed and pushed the suitcase over with her feet, so that she could get up on her knees and unzip it. She tucked the cases in where they belonged and zipped the big black case, back up. Wren sat back on her ankles, a small hiccup accompanying the movement. She giggled and looked up at Drev.

"Cause I can't lift these."

All Drev could do was smile. He would have tried to help, but he had no idea where any of her stuff went, or even what half of it was. He lent a steadying hand whenever he saw her wobble or sway.

"I can," he said with a grin when she admitted her current inability to carry her own bags. When she looked like she had everything all situated, he pulled out his cellphone and held it halfway to his ear, his thumb poised on the first button of the driver's number. "Are you ready to go?"