Corruption • a short story

•Corruption•

Michael stood at the corner of Main and Chauncey underneath an awning to keep dry from the drizzle of the evening rain. Lily stood behind him, one arm wrapped around his chest, gently caressing him through his grey Henley shirt. She let her hand slowly lower further south as she whispered into his ear.

"Her."

Michael craned his head back and glanced at her mouth, which she gave a slight lick, then turned to face the direction she was staring. Across the street a small group of young women were giggling, pulling on the arm of one who was reluctant to join them.

"Which one?" Michael growled lowly back to his mate.

Lily's lips curled into a smile. "The party pooper. She obviously needs a little fun injected into her blood stream. Look at the state of her."

The poor girl being taunted by her friends had long strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail and long bangs. Michael watched as she blew the bangs from her eyes, giving up in resisting her friends. Her shoulders sagged and her friends cheered, wrapping their arms around her.

Michael kept his eyes on her, keeping in the shadows. The girls entered the noisy bar across the road.

"Good luck, lover," Lily sighed into Michael's ear before flicking his earlobe with her tongue, something she knew he hated.

Michael grabbed her hand which had long since been wandering around in the front of his slacks and pulled it out, turning to face her completely. He pinned her back against the window of the old barbershop they'd been standing outside of.

Lily snickered, her eyelids hooded with lust. "Don't be mad, baby. You know I enjoy teasing you." She slightly parted her lips and Michael couldn't help but devour them, kissing her hard, her head smacking back against the glass.

She cried out but slipped a hand from his grasp and grabbed him by the nape, kissing him back.

"I really hate you," Michael hissed once he broke away from her lips, his forehead pressed to hers.

***

"I can't believe you guys," Grace shook her head in disbelief. She wrapped her fingers around her small glass of Sprite garnished with cherries.

"Sorry Gracie, but we knew you wouldn't come if we told you the truth," her friend Jessica confessed before taking a swig of her beer. The other girls nodded in agreement.

Grace scoffed. "There's nothing wrong with celebrating my birthday at a bowling alley. But a bar? Seriously, I'm actually a little hurt that you've brought me here. You know what I'm going through." Grace dropped her head, embarrassed that her eyes were actually brimming with tears.

"Aw, shit, Gracie..." Jess scooted her stool closer so she could wrap an arm around her best friend. "Please don't be upset. This is hard for me, too, you know." She looked up at the other girls, signaling them to give them some privacy.

Grace swirled the cocktail stick in her glass and sighed. She understood what Jess meant. But she was disappointed that she wasn't more supportive of her decision.

"Jess, you're not losing me. Okay? We've talked about this... SO many times! I really am not going to change my mind."

Jess shook her head and looked away, taking another drink. She turned back to Grace. "Jake wouldn't want this, you know."

Grace's eyes widened at the mention of his name. She couldn't believe she was dragging her dead fiancé into this.

"Don't," she whispered. "I'm not doing this because of Jake. I'm doing it because of God. Now stop it. Either be supportive or leave me alone. I mean it, Jess. You're really not being fair."