The VIRGIN STRIPPER

21

****LISA MICHAELS****

My eyes went around the room one more time. Even without shifting I knew Dave was not beside me. Letting the light play in my eyes as I watched the woods through the window, I smiled at the memories of the previous day. Dave had brought me to a love festival!

Grinning, I bit at my lip and slowly got myself out of bed. Part of me was excited for the ride home while deep down I knew the uncertainty of how things were going to be between us after this was not going to quench over an excitement fit.

Walking down the steps to where his jovial voice could be heard, I stopped and my heart jerked.

"No, I promise, no more Lisa. I'm done with her." He said and then chuckled at whatever whoever was on the other side said.

"She's not that bad. I just can't let one ass whip me around all the time." He said and propped his left elbow on the kitchen counter eyeing the outside through the window.

Whatever I was feeling before this had vanished into some place irretrievable. I had tried so many times to tell myself that it was okay and that I had seen it coming but my poor naive self could not accept it.

A pain stung deep down my chest as I began to retreat. Tears or whatever that held my emotions first made me tremble and shake as I made my way  upstairs.

"I'll be at the board meeting at two." I heard him say a little too serious than the way he regarded the other subject.

Me!

I don't know for how long I had walked alone from the cabin to the lane we'd drove through the day before. All I knew was that the wind was blowing at me as if too bitter and my legs were too tired to walk any further, that my throat was too damn constricted with the tears that clogged it and my heart was stinging too painfully for me to take it.

But I pushed further and further till the pain became too painful to be felt, the tears became too hot that they cooled and the sting in my heart just felt like an overdue throb.

A car sped past me amplifying the cold from around me. Pulling my sweater close to me, I bit at my lip and closed my eyes as if it would warm my body. Especially my flushed cheeks. Whatever warmed them was the easy flow of tears. I knew I couldn't take it anymore but I still pushed my feet to walk. I knew it was hard but I still ordered myself not to cry. For how long I was going to feel this miserable I didn't know. All I knew was that it was going to be a long time before that jerk noticed I was gone.

I came to a sudden halt as a group of men came to view at the opposite side of the road. With the sun starting to rise on the east my heart sank as one of them turned to me.

Giving up the brave act I closed my eyes and gulped hard. If anything happened I could spend the rest of my life cursing the jerk for what it was worth but a part of me told itself that it was too early to assume the worst yet.

Willing myself to walk, I felt the lane get gloomier and more crowded and deep down I knew the men's attention was directed toward me.

I wanted to turn their way and see just how many of them were staring but I couldn't. None of them had made a move yet and I was at least grateful for that.

When the second car came speeding down the road and whipped wind all over me so that my hair was plastered everywhere on my face for a second or two, my legs almost gave up. This time round I turned to watch the men watching me. One of them was clad in a pair of wash jeans and a long sleeved tee that he had pulled over his hand as if to ward off the cold. His eyes squinted a little toward me and his lips were pulled down into a frown, his long shoulder length hair swayed in the wind a little while the boots on his feet seemed a bit too loose. The other two beside him looked just as disturbed as him. One was beautifully sculpted such that even beneath the over-sized shirt he wore and the brown cargo pants he was wearing I could see the packs that outlined his chest and the sharp jawline warned of nothing but seriousness and aloofness.