Strictly Pleasure

Part 10

By the time they arrived at Strictly Pleasure, Heidi became increasingly aware of the situation. She wasn't just going to spend time alone with Jek. There were going to be others present. And his bandmates. They all would have seen what happened with Travis or would be up-to-date on it by the time they arrived at the sex shop. The thought made her stomach lurch.

Just an old biddy with bad taste in men - and alleged gold-digging tendencies - hanging out with rock stars who were once mega famous. Right. Totally didn't make Heidi look bad at all.

She gnawed on her nerves once they entered the store, finding Jek talking to Gnadi while the rest of their rather large party milled about.

After confirming the theater was empty - thankfully, a slow night at the store according to Gnadi - Jek adjusted the theater settings for streaming capabilities. Since the rest of the band already had streaming capabilities, all that was left was to wait for the stragglers to come in. Which included Heidi.

"Alright, the theater has been 'reserved' for the rest of the wee hours. We can stream some of our old shit or watch whatever vids you sweet fun things want." Dorzi grinned and winked at his particular contingent of guests.

As the others filed into the theater, chattering amongst themselves, Heidi lingered in the shop with Jek. When most of the others were gone, she turned to Jek as she smiled through a wince. "Actually, is there somewhere I can lay down? I feel a little lightheaded."

She couldn't possibly mean to get them alone, Jek thought wildly. But he couldn't stop the thought from latching to his brain, rousing his hope and eagerness. "Oh, sure. I got a futon in the breakroom. I'll come with you."

"You don't have to." Heidi's eyes widened, raising her hands as if to stop him herself.

"It's fine, c'mon." Motioning for her to follow him, Jek led Heidi behind the front counter, passed a grinning Gnadi, and through a door into the back. Along the way, they passed boxes of additional lewd merchandise, posters, a shelf of DVDs, and racks of clothes before passing through another doorway. As she tagged after Jek, her heart skittered in her chest. All of the reminders of carnal pleasure, of risque fun, of sex tainted her thoughts.

Heidi wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't quite what she found. It was a small breakroom, similar to what one would find at any other business, smelling of lavender thanks to an outlet air freshener. A kitchenette area provided a counter with a microwave and a sink. A fridge took position by the sink, reminders and other memorabilia tacked onto the front with magnets. Opposite the kitchenette was a sitting area, the area denoted with a rug. The infamous futon sat in the middle of the room, clearly part of the sitting area and facing the television that hung on the wall. Other chairs and a coffee table took up the remaining empty space on the rug.

There were no scintillating posters, no pin-up calendars tacked to the wall, no sexual toys, no bowls of condoms and assorted lubes. Just a breakroom, removed from anything sexual. It was a bit of a relief to know an area not dedicated to sex existed in Strictly Pleasure.

Jek watched as Heidi looked around, not sure how she was gauging the area. He half-wondered if she was unimpressed. They had talked about the futon and made illicit little jokes, but - overall - it was just a breakroom. A breakroom where sex might have happened in the past, but one could say that about just about any breakroom. At least from Jek's perspective.

"Thanks, you really don't have to stick around with me. After everything with Travis, I just..." Under Jek's quiet look, Heidi trailed off, struggling to find the right words. When the silence dragged on a little too long, she sighed and dropped herself onto the futon. In an effort to not meet his attention, she leaned over to slide her purse behind her foot and under the futon. "He said some things that made me self-conscious and I just didn't want to be around a lot of people."