Fireworks 1 and 2

Jungle: Chapter Eighty-One

    "I have to go to the bathroom," Mia whispered, leaning close to Drake.

    He glanced at her. "I'll come with you."

    "You don't have to."

    His eyes narrowed. "Like I'm going to let you walk around here knowing that asshole is here, walking around free? What do I look like?"

    "We are in a public place with a lot of cameras around us. He's not stupid enough to try something here."

    Drake arched a thick eyebrow at her. "He was stupid enough to make another pass at you outside. While I was standing right there."

    "I'll be right back," she promised, squeezing his hand and standing.

    His brows drew together as he watched her stand.

    Jay nudged him and spoke to Drake, his voice too low for Mia to make out the words.

    She moved down the aisle. Just as she reached the door to the theater, the audience erupted in laughter. After nearly jumping out of her skin, she proceed through the swinging doors. She proceeded down a wide hall with lively, colorful carpeting.

    "Mia!"

    At the sound of Drake's voice, she whirled around.

    Leaving the theater doors swinging behind him, he jogged towards her. "I ask you again: what do I look like?"

    She smiled and leaned against him. "You don't have to walk me to the bathroom, Aubrey."

    He slid an arm around her waist. "Yes, actually. I do. I'm your man. That is literally one of the duties listed under my title."

    She rolled her eyes, but had to admit that she was relieved to see him. Seeing Trevor had been extremely unsettling. It had brought back memories she fought to forget, memories that still inspired nightmares every once in awhile.

    The theater hall opened up into a large lobby area. Once they reached the Womens' restroom, Drake reluctantly removed his arm from her waist.

    "Thank you," she told him, squeezing his hand before he had a chance to pull it back.

    He gave her a thousand-watt smile. "I'll be right here when you come out."

    She stepped inside the restroom.

    A woman stood at the sink washing her hands.

    Mia made eye contact with her reflection as she made her way to one of the bathroom stalls. She walked into the stall, closed the door behind her, and closed the dial lock. She grabbed a disposable toilet seat cover and positioned it on top of the toilet seat. Outside of the stall, she heard the sound of running water and then shortly after, the sound of a mechanical hand dryer. Still smiling at the thought that Drake hadn't wanted to let her roam a public theater by herself, she gathered the skirt of her dress in her hands and moved the fabric to one hand so she could ease her panties down. She sat down, still holding her skirt.

    A cough sounded in the stall next to her, and the sound unnerved her. Something about that cough nagged at her, and she couldn't put a finger on why.

    Picturing her boyfriend standing outside of the bathroom waiting for her settled her nerves and made her break out into all smiles again.

    The toilet in the stall beside hers flushed and the door swung open. Heavy footsteps thudded across the small square tiles. A pair of boots stopped in front of her stall door.

    Her eyes anchored on the boots. Seeing the sheer size of those booted feet made her realize what had unnerved her about the sound of the cough. The sound of the cough had been incredibly deep, much deeper than that of most women. Feeling incredibly vulnerable while making use of the toilet, she let her skirt fall and reached out to grab both handrails, still staring at the feet standing outside of her bathroom stall.

    One of the booted feet disappeared from view and a moment later, the door burst open.

    Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to scream.

    Trevor loomed in the doorway of the stall for mere seconds before lunging inside, pulling her off of the toilet, and clamping a hand across her mouth. "Hi, baby," he crooned, baring pearly white teeth.

    She fought against him, but the way he had himself pressed against her limited her range of movement. Her screams were muffled by his big, meaty hand, but she dug her nails into his arms.

    That didn't stop him from reaching down and pushing up her skirt.

    Fear gripped her, and she started to shake her head.

    "Don't worry, baby," he said. "No one's going to interrupt us this time."

    He's not going to...he wouldn't...he has to know what he would be risking if he really tried to force himself on me. The level of fear within her spiked at an all-time high.

    His hand covered the mound of flesh at the apex of her thighs.

    She started to push against him, tried to lift one of her knees to hurt him.

    He continued pushing the weight of his brutish, football player's build against her while slipping a finger inside of her. A grin stretched across his face. "There. Now you can't tell me that you don't want it. Not with how wet you are."

    Not caring that his hand was air-tight against her mouth, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

                                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Drake glanced at the watch on his wrist, then looked towards the bathroom. What is taking her so long?

    "Does she make you hold her purse, too?" Vanessa slithered up to him with a taunting smile on her face.

    "She doesn't make me do anything."

    Vanessa shrugged. "As if I cared either way."

    Of course you do, he thought. For some reason, you always will. "Don't you have a movie to watch? Or someone else to bother?"

    "Set aside your ego for a second, because I didn't come up to you just to bother you," Vanessa muttered. "I was actually looking for Trevor. He went to use the bathroom more than a half an hour ago and never came back."

    "He never came back? To you? I'm shocked." Drake's facial expression said that he wasn't shocked in the least.

    Vanessa shrugged. "Knowing that your little girlfriend would be traipsing around here, I thought it would be best for me to look for him to make sure he's not getting himself into...trouble."

    Drake frowned and glanced at his watch again. Then he turned his head and looked towards the restroom entrance. His heart pounded in his chest at the thought of Trevor lying in wait while poor Mia...

    "Relax," Vanessa told him, touching his upper arm. "Trevor has his stupid moments, but he's not that stupid."

    Drake yanked his arm away from her and ran into the bathroom.

    "Drake! Drake, he's not in there!" Vanessa shouted at him.

    The first thing that struck him was how quiet it was - at first. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of a muffled cry. He stepped back close to the sinks, peering beneath the stall doors. It didn't take him long to find the stall that had a pair of booted feet, along with a pair of dainty heels. The stall door wasn't even closed; it was haphazardly left cracked. Drake moved forward and opened the door. His eyes took in Mia first. The fear in her teary eyes, the look of helplessness. Then he turned rage-filled eyes to Trevor, whose face was positioned close to Mia's. His dress pants were pulled down, sagging down to his knees. So wrapped up was he in Mia, he still hadn't even noticed that Drake was standing there. "You're not going to walk out of here alive."

    Trevor didn't take his eyes off of Mia. "You ain't got shit on me, boy."

    "Have you already forgotten that I nearly ended you the last time we went at it?" Drake asked. That was when he realized that Trevor had his hands under Mia's skirt.

    Drake reached out, grabbed Trevor's arm, and twisted it. "You really have me fucked up if you think you are going to walk out of here alive," he growled, yanking Trevor out of the stall.