Primal Impulse (COMPLETED!)

47. Messy

    My mind kept going back to Stacy, to her wounds.  I pushed them out and in turn had missed bringing her lunch.  It was a few hours passed and I shot up from my seat and headed to the kitchen.  I had to slow myself in the hall, telling myself that a few minutes now really wouldn't matter, that the calling that had been gripping at me with its boney clutches wouldn't outweigh the pain she was in right now.

    When I turned the corner, I heard Kyle, laughing.  He was supposed to be in schooling right now and I was getting aggravated, ready to take my anger out on him.  My steps grew heavy and quick to the door of the kitchen that I whipped open, slamming into the wall.

    Stacy's eyes were wide mirroring Kyle's, who promptly pulled himself behind Stacy, cowering.

    "Why is Kyle not in schooling?  And why aren't you in bed?"  I managed not to yell, but couldn't keep the steel out of my voice.

    "I wanted cheering up, Master Stoic."

    I heard the lack of emotion in her voice when she said my name, and it was like needles to my chest.  Her face was of one color and I longed to make her blush, to go back to that time where we were on good terms.  Too much has happened, I told myself.  We can never go back.

    "Glad to see you are up, doing better.  How about the both of you cook me lunch.  I seemed to have missed mine."  My voice was more commanding than friendly, but Kyle didn't pay any mind.

    "What do you want?  I just made Stacy chicken and dumplings, but I could make you something else?  Like Bob's pizza?  Or maybe a good bar b que sandwich?  No.  That would take too long.  How hungry are you?  I could make regular sandwiches?  Or hamburgerss!!"

    I looked at Stacy, who felt my eyes upon her.  I wanted a reaction from her, any kind would do.  I needed to know where she stood with me.  "I'm very hungry."

    No blush, no upturn of the lips, no deer in the headlights.  It was like I hadn't said the words at all, hadn't looked at her like I wanted to eat her alive, like my normal flirting had no effect on her.

    "Okay, but what one do you want?"  Kyle was still in his own little world of chef and cooking.  I let Stacy go and put my attention on Kyle.  If she wanted to ignore me, pretend I didn't matter to her, I could do the same.  Except I wasn't pretending.

    "I don't know, why is it called Bob's pizza, if Kyle is the one making it?"

    He giggled, rolling his little body around.  "It's Bob's recipe silly.  When I make my own recipe, I can put my name in it."

    "Well I don't want some other kid's cooking, I want yours.  How about hamburgers?"

    "Cool!  And I can make potato salad or deviled eggs or sweet potato fries!"

    This kid was too excited and I was forcing myself not to be happy around him.  I could see why Stacy wanted him to cheer her up out of all people.  Kyle was a happy go lucky kid and it rubbed off on everyone around him.  That alone would make him popular and well liked if he kept the trait when he was older.  He just had to be careful not to be too soft.

    I watched the two work in unison as I sat on a bar stool.  I kept quiet and listened in on their conversation as they cooked, Kyle telling Stacy what to do on the burner as he chopped vegetables.  I really wasn't that hungry, but the aroma in the room was making my stomach growl.

    Eventually, Kyle set a plate in front of me with a burger topped with pico de gayo and thousand island dressing, four deviled eggs and sweet potato fries.

    "Masterpiece served."  He watched me with big eyes as I took a messy bite.

    "This is really good, but you should make it where it isn't so sloppy.  Rich people don't want to get food on their clothes."

    "It's not good if it's not messy.  Don't you know anything?"  Kyle smiled at me like I was ridiculous and pulled a grinning Stacy out of the kitchen by her hand.

    I sat alone, and finished eating.  Kyle was right, even though it was messy, it was really good.  I ended up having sauce coating my hands with chunks of tomato and onion stuck to me.  I could feel the cilantro in between my teeth and the horrid breath I had from the mixture of all the deliciousness.

    I was standing in front of the bar at Club Bare, listening to Ted go over everything.  Ted, Rudy, Dan, and Martha all sat in chairs and tables that had been pulled up.

    "Any one else want to input?"  I asked before I went over all my topics.  I wanted to hear from them before I influenced their thoughts with my findings. 

    "Yeah why is she here?"  Martha asked pointing to Dan with a little snare on her lips.

    "Oh fuck off bitch."  Dan snapped back at her.  I raised my hand right as Martha opened her mouth.

    "Ladies.  Everyone here is a lead of some sort.  I need all of you to run this club.  And I need all of you to work together, so what the hell is going on?"

    Martha was quick to air her grievances.  "The patrons have been giving the wait staff tips for the dancers.  It's not fair that they should get tips.  They are humans.  The wait staff have to put up the with clients on a personal level, we have to get close to them, flirt with them, do things we find disgusting sometimes to earn those tips.  Those bitches just dance like skanks.  This isn't a strip club."

    "You're right, this isn't a strip club.  The tips that are supposed to go to the dancers will be put into a pot, and at the end of the month, the money will be used for an employee party, until you all can get along.  I also want each of the wait staff to spend one night in the cages, doing what those humans do."

    I had managed to piss off both Dan and Martha on that one.  "Any one else?"  Rudy and Ted managed to keep their mouth's shut and I let the silence settle before continuing.  "As you all know, I opened up a lounge a few cities over.  It looks like it hasn't effected this club that much and I am thankful to all of you who have made sure of that.  Customers don't come here because they have no other place to go, they come her for the service.  For the one of a kind drinks, the shows we put on in the private room, and to see the humans dance in cages.  As a thank you, I'm inviting all Club Bare staff for a free visit to the Lounge, everything on the house.  Dan and the girls will have escorts of course, but all of you will get a chance to see how the Bare name has changed, and what stayed the same.  You can have behind the scenes access if you wish, or you can just enjoy a free night out."

    All of them were smiling ear to ear, except Ted.  He had seen the place on multiple occasions, but he still held a little grin for the rest of the group.

    "Don't worry about a taking a night off from work, the lounge is open Monday, and I have set everything up for you all to attend that day.  If for some reason, one of the staff can't attend, please send me a notice."  I got down from the bar top, ready to leave.  "That's it for today.  If any of you want to speak to me privately, let me know."  They all waved me good bye and I left, to go back home.

    Stacy and I hadn't talked, at all.  She wasn't giving me the silent treatment, she just acted like she didn't care, that this was normal.  That it was normal to come to bed and cuddle with someone without any sort of emotion attached.  I tried my best to mirror her, to not give anything away, and I kept my mind on tomorrow, on meeting with Kohle.

The ride to the lounge was much the same.  The tension in the air had gone from a thick and sharp to one that had me drowning.  Despite her injuries, she had brought herself back up to speed, burying her mind in her work instead of on the issues with me.  Even now, on the drive to the new Bare, she sat closest to the window, and kept her head down, buried in numbers, much like how I had been the last few days.  Anything to give the apperance that this was normal.

She wasn't normal though.  I could feel the tension in her body and the silent thoughts churning in her mind.  Her anger at me would make this easier though.  This lover's spat she had fallen into would work nicely tonight when it came time to meet Kohle.  I didn't really want to do it, but it had to be done.