The VIRGIN STRIPPER

69

*****Lisa Michaels *****
I've always had one rule in life, if things are going too good too fast, shit is about to happen.

I didn't really believe this wholeheartedly because it was yet to be fully realized in my life but the night we went to Dave's parents' party, everything went south fast.

His dad was okay, nice and friendly just because he had to, his wife, she was the sweetest thing on earth, bless her soul and then there was me feeling all gooey because of the way Dave found a reason to hold or stand next to me at any given time, and I took it. — because I'd just realized that even when I hadn't said it out loud, I did like him too.

We had met his colleagues,  his father's business partners,  some of his friends from college, in the end, I was right about one thing, I had every reason to believe it wasn't a small get together when it came to rich folks.

"Are you having fun?" Dave asked from behind me and I turned to him, I had been standing on the porch looking at the lights and other decorations when he found me.

"Yeah,  everyone's really friendly," I said with a smile and looked at him for a tense moment, had he always seemed so peaceful with himself while talking to me? He seemed somewhat excited and anxious as well but mostly peaceful. Like he had everything in front of him and was ready to claim it. "And you?"

"I am happy that you're here." He said with a smile before turning around to catch a glimpse of a couple coming our way.

Only when they came closer I realized the lisome figure of Melissa,  Harris' mom and him walking to the front door.

"Are you business partners?" I asked Dave as he had turned to look at me with unease written all over his face.

"Something like that." Dave said in a strained voice and I knotted my brows together.

"Is he like a competitor then? Coz that would be funny, he's my best friend," I told him before turning to call out for Harris before he walked into the huge house. "Harris!"

He turned immediately when he heard my voice but the smile he had on his face vanished when he realized I wasn't alone. I waved at him anyway, wanting him to come over so that I could introduce him to Dave.

"Hey," Dave called softly as he reached for my hand and I turned to him with a confused look. Were they business rivals? "There's something you ne-"

"Lisa!" Came Harris' tight voice and I turned to him. "What are you doing here? I was by your place but you weren't there."

"Sorry, I've been at Dave's since the umh-" I trailed off as a heavy feeling hit me in the gut before deciding to change the topic, " you've not been picking my calls."

"I was sent to Arizona for a work project," he said tightly, eyes fixated on Dave who was by my side, " I've been too busy to communicate since the project was faulty and I had to take care of it by myself."

Maybe I wasn't listening carefully, but the hard edge on his voice was hard to miss, and so was the tense energy oozing from Dave as he sighed and stepped a little closer to me.

"I haven't told her," Dave said helplessly and Harris' eyes turned to glare at him.

"I'm definitely missing something," I let out a breathe and waited for them to tell me what it was all about.

Dave's hand instinctively grabbed mine as if he was afraid I'd run away, and since I was looking at Harris who was in front of me, I didn't miss the way his eyes went to the gesture before they hardened and an emotion that painfully resembled hurt flashed through them.

"Guys," I prompted one more time, this time raising an eyebrow at Dave whose grip had tightened at the prompt.

"We know each other," Dave said quietly and I bit my lip, knowing fully well there was much to come. "I asked-"

"He asked me to follow you the night we met." Harris said angrily and gave me a hard look.

What had I done wrong to him? If anyone was supposed to be mad, it was me, not him.

"And you found this the appropriate time to tell me?"

"I was going to tell you," Dave replied weakly while Harris looked hurt for some reason.

"Are you guys dating?" Harris asked slowly and my eyes narrowed.

"No," I told him. "We're exploring. "

"Exploring, " he scoffed at the word and I felt Dave's grip tighten on my hand which made me flinch.  "You can't even give her a perfect relationship!" He remarked angrily towards Dave.

"We're figuring things out together and she's the one that doesn't want a relationship."

"Is this why you sent me to Arizona?"

"You work for him?" The hurt from the realization of how fake my friendship with Harris was had just began to sink in and I felt my heart rip open in a painful jolt.

This explained how Dave always seemed to find out where exactly I was and what was going on in my life at any given point. Harris was the constant connection between us that brought him back to me every damn time.

"I can explain, " Dave breathed from beside me as he gently tagged my hand so that I could look at him but I pulled it away.

"You were the one telling him about me," I said to Harris. "You knew everything."

"I didn't know you were this cosy and I certainly never told him anything about you. I've been trying to keep him away from you for the longet time and now I find out the woman I've been madly in love with for almost a year is exploring things with my best friend who knew how I felt about her from the very start." Harris said and I watched his eyes water just like mine had, the pain  from this confrontation was too  much to take in. I didn't even see this coming. "It's a repeat of the same sick game you pulled in college."

"She came onto me!" Dave hissed as if desperate to get through to him and I stood there, confused and hurt, before I made my decision.

"Excuse me!" I told the two before rushing away from  them.

"Lisa, " I heard Dave call from behind me but I didn't stop.

All I wanted at the moment was to get as far away from them as possible, so in the darkness of the night, with a painful and heavy heart, a mind full of regret and a night filled with the contrast if the turmoil in my being, I dialled a cab with shaky hands and glassy eyes that had long lost focus on the device in my hand.

Was this punishment for trying to move on from Ella's death so fast?

Because life was punishing me for more than just happiness.

*****
Thanks for the read...

Well, the cute part is over now and she's back to being hurt. I hate it when people keep secrets from me, especially the ones that involve me in some kind of way so, if her reaction was overrated,  that could be me in the same scenario.

Did y'all know that Harris was in love with her?

Who should get to be with her ? Does Dave really deserve her?

Stay safe guys...

Love,Eline ❤