| Hybrid 15 Chapter 8 |
Les slammed the stack of cardboard boxes down on the counter with an angry thud. "Jerk!" she yelled at no one in particular and turned around to pull another bound stack of boxes from the shelf, giving it the same treatment as the first. "I sense that you're angry about something," John stated the obvious from the door of the storeroom. "You've been slamming things around here for two days, Les. Don't you think that you should talk about it?" Les looked over at her assistant manager and heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry John. I know that I've been biting your head off at every turn and it's not you." "Actually, I thought it was just the world in general," he said in a weak attempt to make her smile. "It's that damn Luke Jenkins," she hissed. "Do you know what he said to me?" she asked, glad to finally be getting some of the things off of her chest that she had been dwelling on for the last three days. "He actually had the nerve to tell me that he wouldn't permit me to go into Clarksville this weekend to visit a friend of mine that was just in the hospital. Permit! Can you believe that?" John slowly shook his head. What was he suppose to say now? Was he to agree with his boss's outrage or find out why Luke had said that to her? He had experienced enough of his wife's wrath to know that the wrong question could turn on him as easily as a snake. Thank goodness Les took the responsibility off of his shoulders. "He told me that no woman of his was going off for the weekend to see another man," she tossed her head mockingly. "No woman of his! I thought that kind of thinking went out with the stone age!" Once again she vented her anger on the stacked boxes by throwing them across the room. John responded immediately when the shelf that the boxes had struck looked in danger of toppling over and he braced his hands against the metal structure until the items shifting on it stopped moving. He had never seen Les this angry before and he wasn't sure what to do to placate her. "I swear, if I ever see that arrogant face again, I'll knock his teeth down his throat," she fumed as she paced the small space of the room. "Who does he think he is to be telling me what I can and can't do?" John glanced over to the open door and saw one of the employees and several of the customers craning their necks to see what was going on. He considered closing the door, but for only a fraction of a second. He didn't particularly want to be shut in with a wild woman. Daring to step a little closer to her, he held out his hands for her to calm down. "Why don't we go next door and grab a cup of coffee?" he suggested. "Then we can sit down and hash this out without having to replace several hundred dollars of merchandise." Les glanced over to the people at the door and felt a small surge of power when they all scattered like frightened doves at her angry look. The diner. That would even be better than her own store, she mused and went with John without complaint. Once they were seated in a booth against the wall, Les looked over at John helplessly. "I just don't understand him," she said without bothering to lower her voice beyond conversation level even though they were speaking of her personal life. "We just went out a few times and they weren't even real dates. We watched a couple of games and had a couple of meals together, but that was all. Does that mean that he has the right to dictate who I can see and who I can't?" "No, of course not," John answered swiftly. He knew the answer to that one, at least. "A relationship needs to have trust to work and..." "Relationship?" Les pounced on the word like a cat on its prey. "We aren't in a relationship," she denied quickly. "We never were and we never will be, I can assure you of that." Where had he slipped up? He had agreed with her and started talking about trust. Wasn't that what women liked to hear? "I just don't get it John," she started again when he appeared lost. "Do all men act like they own you? Is that the way that you treat your wife?" "Absolutely not!" Or, at least, he didn't think so. He really wished that Les would slow down so that he would know just what speech he was expected to give her. He had a whole litany of them after being married for eight years. "Everyone in town knows that you're an independent woman," he started and figured that he had hit the right one when she didn't explode. "You have established yourself quite well without the help of any man and you shouldn't be expected to conform just because this one guy thinks that he owns you." "That's right," she agreed, but eyed him curiously. Where was John getting this stuff? "Do you know what I think you should do?" No! Not advise, John! Never advice! the little voice inside his head screamed at him, but it was too late. He had already committed himself and Les was looking at him expectantly. "You should go out tonight, maybe with a girlfriend or something, and simply paint the town red." Paint the town red? Did people still use that expression? she wondered. "I don't know John," she shook her head slowly even though he suggested what she already had planned. "I'm not much on going out and the only place in town is a honky-tonk. I'm more into classic rock." "Who says that you have to go to the bar in town?" Shut up John! A moment ago he couldn't think of a thing to say and now he couldn't keep his mouth closed. Hadn't he learned anything? You know what to do, John, he told himself. Just sit there and nod, agree with whatever she says no matter how outrageous and keep your big mouth shut! "You don't think that Luke could be psychotic, do you?" She leaned over the table to grab at John's hand. She almost laughed at the startled reaction on his face at her touch. He looked like he was ready to chew his arm off. Poor John. She really shouldn't be doing this to him, but he had enlisted himself by being the first person to ask her what was wrong. She gripped his hand a little tighter as she flitted a nervous glance around at the patrons of the diner. "I mean, most of the guys that I go out with usually turn out to be some of my best friends, but not Luke. Is it just some sort of macho image that he's coming off with or do you really think that he's missing a few marbles?" John's mouth worked up and down, but aside from a strangled squeak or two, nothing came out. His wife would kill him if she ever found out about this! And she definitely would since their waitress was one of her friends! He pulled at his hand gently to no avail and started to reach up with his free hand to extricate hers, but decided that it would look too much like he was trying to hold hands with her. Finally, he gave his hand a hard tug, but her grip only tightened and he found out why just a little too late. "I can't believe it," Les groaned as she shook his arm. "Luke just walked in the diner and he's headed over here!" she informed John in a hurried whisper, slowly sitting back in her seat when John quickly snatched his hand out of her grasp. "What do you want?" she asked Luke dispassionately, easily dismissing him with a turn of her head. "I thought we had a lunch date," Luke stated as he stared down, first at her, then at John with an angry glare. "We've didn't have a date. We never did have a date and we never will have a date," she told him succinctly and fixed John with a hard look, half hoping that he would say something while praying that he wouldn't. "You're not going to get into that again, are you?" He leaned his palms against the edge of their table as he tried to catch her eye to prove his sincerity. "I said that I was sorry for dinner the other night, but Rick called me up with tickets for the Reds game. I thought that you would understand. You always have before. Come on Les, you know that I like to spend time with my friends." "Just so long as I don't spend any time with mine!" she accused him. "I don't see what's wrong with me going down to Clarksville to visit Mike." Luke straightened, putting his hands on his hips. "The difference is that you would be spending the weekend in another man's home alone!" "He just got out of the hospital Luke! He just had one of his kidneys removed. Do you seriously think that I'm going to fall into bed with him or something?" "That's not the point!" he argued and nudged John in the shoulder. "Back me up on this John. Would you let your wife visit an old boyfriend for the weekend if you weren't going to be there?" Les fixed John with a venomous glare, daring him to utter one word in Luke's defense, but he remained silent. "Don't be trying to turn my employees against me Luke Jenkins," she warned him. "Your employees!" Luke emitted a mirthless chuckle. "Everyone knows that the BBC is your dad's store and that you just manage it for him." He saw the anger flare in her eyes and quickly tried to assuage her. "I'm sorry baby. I know that you don't want to talk about this in front of everyone." He gestured around at the people in the diner who were taking an avid interest in their discussion. "Let's just get out of here and we can talk about it over lunch." Luke pulled her out of her seat in the booth before Les had managed to free her hand from his. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Luke Jenkins! Why can't you get that through your thick head?" When Luke tried to grasp her shoulders, Les quickly knocked his hands away with her arms and the action had John jumping to his feet to defend her. "The lady said that she wasn't going anywhere with you," John said firmly. Luke looked at him a little incredulously, then turned his mocking eyes on Les. "Is this what you're after now?" He hitched his thumb to indicate John. Her only retort was a vicious slap across Luke's cheek that left her hand tingling. Luke slowly turned his head back to face her again, his eyes holding hers with a cold stare for several seconds before he turned quickly and left the diner. Les gave out a heavy sigh as soon as he had disappeared, her entire body trembling as John pushed her back into the booth seat. "Are you all right, Les?" the waitress asked solicitously as she stood over the table with a pot of coffee in her hands and her eyes alight with the scene she had just witnessed. There weren't many exciting things that happened in Crammer and in the diner especially. She would have her hands full passing on her firsthand account of the fight between Les and that hunky Luke Jenkins. "She's fine Katie," John told the waitress to get her to move on, but when she stayed by the table, he said, "Maybe you can get her a glass of water or something?" With the waitress dispatched, Les darted a look up at John, smiling weakly as she raised a trembling hand to her forehead. "Maybe you're right," she told him. "Maybe all I need is a night out on the town. I can get stinking drunk and forget that Luke Jenkins ever existed." <*> Drinking was out of the question for Les since she was fairly certain that she was pregnant, but she put on a good show sitting at the bar and ordering one alcohol-free pina colada after another. She hadn't been in the Country Cousins Bar before and she discovered that she liked the upbeat atmosphere and the dozens of people twirling around on the dance floor. She had even tried her hand at a couple of the line dances when an obliging "partner" would offer to teach her, but her nervousness kept her from feeling completely carefree. A subtle nod in her direction caught her attention and she smiled prettily at a handsome cowboy at the end of the bar as he lifted his glass in a silent toast. The smile was all that he needed by way of encouragement and she watched his long, lean legs striding slowly toward her covertly as she dipped her head to appear interested in her drink. "Howdy." He grinned mischievously as he leaned an elbow on the bar next to her. Les nearly choked on her drink. Howdy? Most people that frequented the Country Cousins Bar were happy only looking country in their blue jeans and cowboy hats, but he seemed to be playing it all the way. "I don't believe that I've ever seen you in here before," he said with the same twang to his words. "That's because I've never been in here before," she responded, unable to keep the smile from her face as she fought to keep from laughing. "Would you like to take a spin around the dance floor?" "I'm not very good," she warned him. "That's all right honey," he replied as he set his beer down on the bar. "I'm not either, but they're playing a slow song just now so we can just shuffle our feet a little." Les preceded him out onto the dance floor and, finding a small area where they could "shuffle their feet" on the edge of the crowded dance floor, she turned into his arms. "You're not such a bad little dancer," he whispered into her ear as he pressed his cheek against hers. Les couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. "You can drop the accent now, Bill. I'm the only one that can hear you over this music." "Well, you told me to act like I was picking you up so I figured that I would go all out," he told her in his more natural "rural" voice. "It's good to see you again, Les." He pulled her snugly against him in the briefest of hugs. "I must admit, though, you really peaked my curiosity when you called yesterday and asked me to meet you here. I didn't think that you liked dancing and what's with this whole 'pick-up' act? Are you trying to make someone jealous or something?" "I'll explain all of it to you later, but for now, you're just a guy in a bar looking for a good time and I need you to act like you're really interested in me. Okay?" "Not a problem, sweetheart," he told her as he swung her around in a well executed turn. "You know that you've always been my best girl." "The only problem being that I'm just one of several," she laughed at him. "Can't have too many horses in the barn or women in my bed," he told her jokingly, using his heavy county accent again. Bill found a table for them a little later and they sat close together as they caught up on things that had been happening in his life. If nothing else, Les was grateful for the time that they shared. She had always liked Bill. He had an easy sense of humor and a charming smile, but his love of women, all women, kept their relationship on a strictly friendship level. As he chatted on about a new club that he had discovered, Les surprised him by leaning over and giving him a light kiss. "What was that for?" Bill asked as he looked down at her. "We're suppose to look like a couple. Remember?" "Well, in that case..." He quickly dipped his head and gave Les a more intimate kiss. He was even more surprised when she curled into his shoulder. "Bill," she whispered up at him. "If you do that again, I'll knock that hat right off your head." "There's the spitfire I know," he chuckled good-naturedly. "I knew this game had to have its limits. I take it that a visit to the motel next door is out." "On the contrary," Les smiled wickedly up at him. "That's precisely where we will be going in about an hour." She laughed when he jerked away from her and grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him back over. "But don't get any ideas," she warned him. "You're not the one that I intend to show anything to." "Leslie, darling, you're one strange woman." He sighed heavily as he shook his head. "I sure hope this guy's worth all of the trouble your going to." "Oh, he is," she assured him. <*> Les stumbled over to the motel that was next to the bar with Bill a little less than an hour later, laughing as loudly as she could at every word he said and acting as if she could barely stand without his help. She was putting on a good show and she hoped that the right people were watching. She was certainly making enough noise to raise the dead, but she wanted to be certain that there was no mistake about her entering a motel with her lanky friend. Once inside their room, Les heaved a sigh and leaned back against the door wearily. "I'm certainly glad that's over." "What do you mean 'over'?" Bill asked as he half sat and half fell onto the bed. "The night's still young sweetheart. Come here and give us a kiss." He puckered up mockingly as he held out his arms to her. She shook her head at him. Even though she didn't have any alcohol, Bill hadn't been quite as restrained. She doubted that he was as drunk as he pretended, though. "Now we had a deal." She shook her finger at him. "I paid for the motel room and you're suppose to behave yourself." Bill sobered instantly and stood up to move to the head of the bed to get more comfortable. "Does that mean that you're going to tell me what all this is about now?" She went to the window and closed the drapes with a snap before moving over to the bathroom to make sure that the light inside was out. "It's kind of a long story," she warned him, then went to the front door again to switched the overhead light off. "And it has to be told in the dark?" he asked curiously. "No silly. We're suppose to be in here fooling around. Remember?" As Les felt her way through the dark to the chair that she had seen only seconds before, she heard the unmistakable sound of the bed springs squeaking. "What are you doing?" she asked the dark silhouette on the bed. "Making love to you," he responded easily as he bounced up and down on the bed. "Shouldn't you be moaning about now?" "Will you stop that!" she snapped at him, only to burst out laughing a few seconds later at the ridiculous situation that they were in. Finally finding the chair, she sat down and proceeded to tell Bill everything that she could about why she had called him to put on this charade. She couldn't tell him about Luke being one of Dr. Jenkins' experiments, but she did tell him that someone, who she kept nameless, was secretly selling information to a foreign government and she had become involved inadvertently when she started dating Luke. She also told him that she had reasons to believe that she was being drugged and that some anonymous buyers were hoping that she would become pregnant with Luke's child. "Sweetheart," Bill said from his position on the bed. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say that you were playing me for a fool." "So you believe me?" she asked. "I guess I have to," he told her. "I can't imagine why else you would put on a show like this. You're certainly not the type to try to make your boyfriend jealous," he admitted. "But what I don't understand is why you have to go through all of this in the first place? If this drug isn't suppose to do anything to you, then all you have to do is not sleep ith the guy and you won't get...." He paused for a moment when his own words answered his question for him. "You're already pregnant, aren't you?" Les felt her tears choking at her. It was the first time that she had been able to speak to someone about what was happening to her and Luke and the release of the mental barriers that she had erected to protect all of their secrets also unleashed her emotions. "I think so," she whispered. There was a rustling of the bed sheets, then Bill was at her side a moment later. "It's all right sweetheart," he cooed as he bundled her into his arms. “I can't let them take my baby Bill. I just can't!" She gripped onto his shirt as a well of tears spilled down her cheeks. "I just thought...I thought if they weren't certain who the father really was..." She gave up trying to talk as her sobbing overwhelmed her. "I know honey. And it's a good idea," he complimented her ingenuity. "At the very least, it may buy you some time so you can figure out how to get these people off your backs." She nodded against his shoulder, then pulled back so she could wipe her eyes. "Luke's friend is already working on that, but it will take some time to set up." "Does this Luke guy know that you're here with me?" he asked a little uncertainly. She nodded again. "We thought out everything that we could and even staged a fight where we broke up in front of a bunch of people at a restaurant." Bill gave a low whistle. "Man, he must love you a lot to trust you in a motel room with a guy that he doesn't even know." Les gave a small chuckle. "He wasn't particularly thrilled with that part, but I told him that I trusted you to keep our secret and, if need be, to tell everyone what a wild woman I was in bed." "Does that mean that you're going to put hickeys on my neck and scratches down my back?" he asked playfully. Les slapped at his shoulder as she laughed at his joke. She was glad that she had a friend like Bill that she could trust. He made things a lot easier for her just by being there. <*> Les repeated her night with Bill twice more, each time walking into her store bleary eyed with the same clothes that she had worn the night before so that she was sure to get the tongues wagging around Crammer. She hated the speculative looks on everyone's face, but she knew that it was the easiest way to have her moral values put into question and that was her main objective. The hardest part of the plan for her was knowing that she couldn't see or speak to Luke. If Pascal or the buyers that he supposedly included in his scheme thought for even one moment that there could be a "reconciliation" between Luke and Leslie, then all of their effort would be for nothing. They would have to start all over again and Les just wasn't up to playing these games anymore. But she had to, she told herself as she rocked in the porch swing at her apartment house listening to Martha Martins prattle on about another fight that she had had with her husband Curt. Luke and Rick still needed time to work through the particulars of trapping Lawrence Pascal at his own game so she had to keep up the front. At least she didn't have to cover up her concern for Luke, she thought morosely. So far, everyone had mistaken her contemplative moods for the usual misery that accompanied heartbreak. She wanted to be with him, to see for herself that he was all right, but she knew that the best place for her at the moment was anywhere that Luke wasn't. "Hello?" Martha Martins sang out as she waved a hand in front of Leslie's face. "Are you listening to me?" Les jerked her attention back to the present and gave her a sheepish grin. "I'm sorry Martha. I guess I was daydreaming again." "And I'll bet that I can figure out about who," she remarked studiously. "What I can't figure out is why you broke up with Luke in the first place if all you're going to do is sit around and think about him all day." "Thinking about him and being with him are two entirely different things," Les replied carefully. She wasn't sure who she could trust in Crammer anymore. Rick's warning about there being actual spies watching her was enough for her to suspect anyone and everyone. Les didn't actually think that everyone in Crammer was a spy, but the way the people in the small Indiana town loved to gossip, one wouldn't even need to be a very good spy to have all of the dirt they wanted on anyone. She had high hopes that the gossip mill wouldn't let her down and reported her promiscuous behavior to the people that really wanted to know. The only time that she ever wanted to go back into Country Cousins again was to celebrate with Luke. "So I guess that fight down at the diner wasn't just the rumor mill cranking out more smoke," Martha surmised. "Or that you've been looking to forget about Luke in the arms of a particularly handsome cowboy?" Les had the good graces to blush. She had hoped that there would be talk, but she didn't think that anyone would actually try to question her about it. "Martha, I'm starting to get the feeling that nothing can be kept secret in this town." "Well, if it's secrets you're trying to keep, you shouldn't have gone into Country Cousins. A friend of mine, Donna, works there and she was just tickled to death that you were dancing with some cowboy." "Why in the world should a friend of yours care who I'm dancing with?" she asked with a note of surprise. "I really can't say that she does," Martha said evasively as she looked at her from the corner of her eye. "I think that she was just glad that it wasn't Luke Jenkins. Donna has a bit of a crush on him, you see, and she was glad to see that she might have a shot at him again." Over my dead body! Les thought vehemently, but she kept a cool mask in place on her face. "She's welcome to him, but I wouldn't recommend it unless she was willing to jump every time he snaps his fingers." "Oh, Donna's been known to take a few bunny hops in her lifetime," she responded easily, still waiting for a reaction from her. "Tell her that the cowboy is good for a few laughs as well," Les offered flippantly. She didn't know if she wanted to thank Martha for caring or smack her for being so mean. In the end, she decided to keep her mouth shut for once. "I guess I must have been wrong about him," Martha shook her head as she continued to stare at her. "Luke Jenkins must really be some kind of low down, rotten scum for you to dislike him so much. And I always thought that he was a nice man too. I guess that goes to show that some people can really fool you." "Believe me, there's more to Luke Jenkins than what he shows the rest of the world," she said honestly, knowing that Martha would misinterpret her meaning. "Than you're better off without him, Les. I'll make sure that I put a bug in Donna's ear too. She can get a little wild at times, but she doesn't deserve to be hurt again by some man." Les felt a genuine smile curl up the corners of her lips. "Maybe we should put up posters or something to warn all of the women in town," she suggested. Martha laughed. "We'll make big UN-wanted signs," she joked spreading her hands out in front of her like she was envisioning the scene. "And why stop at Luke Jenkins. We'll just make up posters for every Casanova in town." Les started to giggle at the idea. "It would certainly make dating a whole lot easier. For the women, at least." |
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