Blandview High Musical

35. Exposure At A Price

There's always a price to pay. It doesn't matter what you're paying for, but there's always a price. In this case, Jade was paying several different prices. She was paying Steve and Ricky half a million dollars to find the files on all the people on her list. Ricky had paid his price of loyalty by disposing of Caylie's father for them. It saved them all the headache of having their lives disrupted. Steven had yet to prove his loyalty which was soon about to change.

"This is ridiculous. Why do I have to do this?" Steve asked. He was sitting in his car. It was parked on the curb in front of Jade's house. In the back seat were Banker Boxes filled with all of the files from Lawrence's office. Steve was on the phone with Ricky. "Because I did the dirty deed. Now you have to do this one." "I don't like her! She's really...menacing." He whimpered into the phone. Ricky sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Steve...you need to channel that fear into something else." Steve let go of a scoffing chuckle. "Listen, I'm not good with the whole sexual...prowess thing." He said. Ricky groaned. "I can't do everything. Besides, you were the one who came onto her in her father's office." "That was—that was nothing!" He stuttered. "It doesn't matter. If you don't get your ass up there—" "Alright, I'm going!" Steve said, turning to reach behind the seat.

He turned back around to a tapping noise at the window. He turned around to see Jade standing at the driver's side window. He jumped and gasped, rolling the window down. She leaned into the window. "You gonna come inside or just...sit out here?" She asked. Steve gave a nervous chuckle. "I was just—just on the phone." He said. "Well, you're not on the phone now. I'll help you get the boxes out." She said, stepping away and moving towards the back door. She opened the door and started to pull the boxes out. Steve sighed.

By nature, Steve was a nervous man. It was a wonder how Steve had gotten mixed up with Ricky in the first place. It could've been his life prior to being a hired gun, maybe his mother didn't love him enough or loved him too much. Maybe there was that one humiliating thing that happened when he was ten years old that he just couldn't get over. Either way, he had never stopped being that nervous and silent type of person. He usually let Ricky handle everything. However as he was pulling boxes out of the car, he could feel his palms sweating and his breathing getting heavier.

"Are you okay?" Jade asked. Steve placed the box down, reaching up and wiping his forehead. There wasn't sweat, but it might've been just a nervous tic. "Uhh...y-yeah. I'm fine." He stuttered. Jade stepped forward, reaching out as her hands clasped against his cheeks. He jumped a little. "You're sweating..." She said. "I-I—I'm fine." He gasped. He took a step backwards and lost his footing. The world was starting to spin as that anxiety and nervousness was beginning to take it's toll.

Several hours later, Steven found himself on the leather couch in Jade's living room. He looked up towards the ceiling and wrinkled his brow. The lighting was a little brighter than he would've liked. A cool dampness patted itself across his forehead. He jumped again only to have Jade place her hands on his shoulders and pushed his back down on the leather material. "You're fine. Just relax for a second." Jade said. He swallowed thickly, easing back down into the leather. She pressed the cloth on his cheeks, moving down his neck. The collar of his shirt was wet. "What happened?" He asked. "You passed out, you were lucky enough to not hit your head." She said, dunking the cloth in the water and wringing it out. "Sometimes I get nervous." He said. "I can tell. You broke a pretty bad sweat." Jade said. "I just uh...have trouble focusing." Jade just chuckled softly. "A pretty girl comes into the picture and suddenly you forget how to act?" She asked. He sat up a little. "Yeah...something like that." He said.

"While you were passed out, I went through the files." She said. He looked over the back of the couch to all the papers scattered in the kitchen. "Wow...did you find what you were looking for?" He asked. "Yeah. I did." There was a bit of awkward silence. "I should get going." Steve said abruptly rising from the couch. "Oh well—" "Yeah, Ricky will probably be needing my help." He said, walking to the door and not giving her a second look. "Steve." She said. He paused. "It's late. I think don't have any plans, so I was thinking you'd want to stick around for dinner." She offered. Steve could feel that nervousness setting in again. "Besides, you don't want to leave without payment...do you?" She asked. He took a deep breath. "Can we order takeout?" He asked, turning around. "Whatever you want. Let me go upstairs and get the money." She said.