AVOIDING RESPONSIBILITY (Avoiding #2)

Chapter 2-2

“He cannot expect you to show up to that.”

“He didn’t ask me to. He told me to,” she said, tilting her chin up.

“You don’t have to go.”

“No, I do. You don’t know what he’s like. If I’m not there, it will be the end of the world. Even though I’m twenty-one, he still has direct access to my trust, and he’s the owner of this apartment. He could kick me out on the streets,” she murmured helplessly. “If he wanted to.”

Lexi gasped. “He wouldn’t dare!”

“Wouldn’t he?” she screeched. “Did you see the look on his face when you got here? He was murderous. If I’d disobeyed him, I wouldn’t have put it past him to ruin my life.”

“But you’re his daughter,” Lexi cried, unable to believe what she was hearing. How could anyone be so cruel?

“The daughter who is a constant reminder of his past life, of the life he was trying to get rid of. The daughter he was so eager to get rid of.”

“Chyna, I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say you’ll come with me.”

“Oh,” Lexi stammered. “Yeah, I guess I could. Wouldn’t that be awkward?”

“My dad is a big d**k, but he insisted that I be there and come with, as he put it,” Chyna gulped, “a boyfriend.”

“He wants you to come with a boyfriend? But you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“I know,” she stated barely above a whisper. “You should have heard the way he was talking to me before you got here. He said I better not bring one of the guys I’m normally with. What is he trying to say that I run an escort service? That all the guys I date are man w****s? That they can’t conduct themselves in proper society?”

Lexi didn’t know how to respond to that. Honestly, a good number of the guys Chyna hooked up with were those kind of men. They were relatively well-off, but still they were hardly up to her standard. It hadn’t mattered up until now, because she never wanted a boyfriend. She was never interested enough in any one man to want to be around him for multiple occasions. Now her father, the judgmental asshole, wanted her to pretend to have a steady boyfriend, because the cheating bastard didn’t approve of his daughter’s way of life.

It was one of the most hypocritical statements Lexi had ever heard. If anything, the circumstances surrounding her parents’ divorce had only further pushed Chyna the direction she was already heading with regards to relationships.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Find a boyfriend I guess,” she sighed unhappily. “I have no idea.”

“Is that why your dad gave me that creepy once over? Because he wants me to go with you too?” Lexi asked, putting the pieces together.

Chyna groaned. “Oh God, I am so sorry for his ridiculous behavior. But yeah that’s why and he needs you to bring a boyfriend too.”

“That’s going to be an issue,” Lexi said, falling backward on to the plush leather sofa.

“I know,” Chyna grumbled. She took the seat next to her “I’m so sorry that I dragged you into this.” The tears were beginning to well in her eyes, and Lexi could see her breaking point was drawing near. Her bottom lip quavered in an adorable fashion if she didn’t look so utterly miserable. “I can’t believe he’s doing this.”

“Don’t cry. It’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out. Let’s go out tonight and look for guys. We’ll figure it out.”

“The last thing that I want to do is party,” Chyna huffed.

“Now that’s something I never thought I’d hear come out of your mouth.”

Soon enough, Chyna had joined in as well and both girls were laughing out their issues rather than crying. It felt good to release the tension that was so strained from her father’s entrance back into Chyna’s life. The girls knew that they had a tough night ahead of them. Neither of them could think of anyone they would want to pretend to be their boyfriend’s for the afternoon, and the last thing they wanted to do was search for that man.

Regardless, they didn’t feel as if they had much choice in the matter. Keeping Chyna’s dad happy was of the essence since he all but owned Chyna. With that in mind, the two girls dressed extra careful for the evening out hoping to find a man that they found suitable for a second date.

That’s how they ended up having martinis at a Manhattan bar scoping out the men in attendance. The atmosphere was a bit more conducive to casual conversation than the normal, pulsing, hip-hop beats that broke through the speakers at the destinations they typically frequented.

The girls had dressed the part for sure. Chyna’s black mini dress skirted her ass and gripped her body tightly in a silky, flimsy material. Her black heels shimmered in the mood lighting that emanated from every hidden light bulb in the place. Her long black hair was swept up onto the top of her head into a sexy concoction. Her long lean features were accented while keeping the focus on her well-sculpted body.

Lexi wore super low-rise, black, skinny jeans with hot red pumps. She paired that with a sheer red tank that buttoned up the front. She let her dark brown locks flow down her back with thick, chunky bangs covering her forehead. Her eyes were smoky and seductive while her bright red lips were both pouty and inviting. Together they were a dynamic duo, the Sirens of the New York City nightlife. It was unlikely that anyone who fell into their trap was going to escape their clutches.

Chyna smiled at a sleazy looking man who had been eye-f*****g the s**t out of her for the past ten minutes across the bar. He took that as an invitation and sidled up to her side. She downed the remnants of her drink and took his hand as he escorted her out on the dance floor. Lexi’s eyes followed them into the dark center of the room, and an uneasy feeling hit the pit of her stomach.

He wasn’t the type of person Chyna normally surrounded herself with, and something about him seemed off. His features were too angular, too sneaky. His height and bulk were threatening rather than enticing. Lexi wasn’t sure why, but the way he had grabbed her hand even seemed forceful. From her view, albeit a shadowed view of the couple, Lexi could even tell he was handsy. That was really saying something for a person dancing with Chyna.

Lexi sighed heavily and tried to clear her mind. There was no need to overreact. They were just out for a good time.

She took another deep breath and let her own eyes roam the crowded room once more. A number of drunken girls were singing and dancing in a corner to cluster of admiring onlookers. Lexi had a strange reminiscence of doing that with her own friends in bars during college. The alcohol was beginning to set in and the different groups of people were beginning to blend together. She wasn’t sure why her buzz was so strong already, but she kind of liked it. She would start coming here more frequently if they poured drinks this well.

After another martini, a complete haze took over her mind. A part of her wished that she had stopped at one because she didn’t want her judgment impaired without Chyna at her side. But she couldn’t take back the decision now.

Pressing the palm of her hand to her forehead, she attempted to keep the spinning from gripping her conscious. After counting to ten, Lexi seemed to feel a bit better and slowly angled her body back toward the bar. She didn’t need a drink, but she did need someone to sweat out this alcohol with. The dance floor was calling her name.

One of the guys she had been eyeing earlier seemed to notice that she was without a drink and approached her.

“Hey,” he slurred, smiling drunkenly at her. His eyes darted to her chest and then back up to her face. “I’ve never seen you here before.”

Lexi wanted to retort some snide remark about how completely original he was, but he was kind of cute so she refrained. Instead she smiled at him in an all-knowing way that would make his addled mind kick into over drive.

“You’re right. I’ve never been here,” she told him.

“What?” he cried, trying to hear her over the music.

Lexi leaned forward. “I’ve never been here. Perhaps you could show me around.”

The guy’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at her comment. He turned back to his friends and made some kind of fist pump. They all cheered him on as if she wasn’t standing there. Lexi felt a little sick to her stomach at how dumb he was already turning out to be, but she couldn’t exactly turn back now. She at least owed him one dance after her forwardness.

His hands gripped her hips forcefully as he corralled her out onto the dance floor. Even as drunk as she was, she knew that he had no rhythm. And when she said no rhythm, she really meant no rhythm. If the guy had two left feet, he would be able to dance better than he was at that moment. She knew that alcohol made you more willing to dance, but this was embarrassing. She almost felt like someone was playing a practical joke on her.

But she couldn’t figure a way out of this situation. His hands were like a vice lock on her hips as he sway backed and forth uncoordinatedly. Every time she attempted to slip away, he would grab her even harder and she was starting to wonder if she was going to be bruised in the morning.

Finally, she reached in for her last ditch effort and leaned back to speak into his ear again, “Can we get out of here?”

He managed one last horrible dance move before grabbing a hold of her wrist, and veering her toward the front door. She stood in place for a second as he attempted to yank her around.

“Hey, don’t move. I have to use the ladies room and I’ll be right back,” she said.

He let go of her wrist and leaned back against the wall to wait for her…indefinitely.

Lexi made a beeline for the ladies room to check out the damage from dancing with that i***t. She knew it had been a mistake to come out to a place like this in hopes of finding someone who would be boyfriend material. The last thing she wanted in her life was some loser pretending to be her boyfriend. She couldn’t do that for anyone. She didn’t even care if Chyna’s father assaulted her with his menacing eyes one more time. A cold chill rushed down her back at the thought and she tried to push it aside.

After elbowing her way through the line at the bathroom and reassuring about a dozen girls that she wasn’t cutting, she eventually made it in front of a mirror. She adjusted her top and peered at herself through the dim lighting. Perhaps she had been overreacting when she had been out dancing. The skin wasn’t sensitive to the touch and all in all she still looked stellar. Her hair was wild, but it worked for her. She liked how her flushed appearance only added to her sensual appeal.

Several girls began shoving Lexi out of the way to wash their hands so she quickly exited the bathroom. Surveying the surrounding area to make sure that guy hadn’t followed her, Lexi wandered back toward the bar in search of Chyna. She just needed to get out of there.

As she approached the bar, Lexi noticed the crowd clearing from the direction of the dance floor. Curious, Lexi moved forward to find out what was going on. Her heart began pounding furiously in her ears. She sobered up quick as adrenaline pumped through her system at record speeds. She darted forward into the open space her breathing accelerating with fear.