Here We Go Again ✓

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - The Strip Club - PART ONE

Emily POV

Outside the club. Can u open?

I got the message from Allie’s number. What was she doing here at this hour? The club had just closed and my colleagues and I were getting ready to go home.

Had she came to see me?

Had she missed me?

My heart skipped a few beats at that thought.

Calm down, Emily! You’re supposed to be only friends, remember?

“Sean, Allie is outside. Can you let her in?” I asked the bouncer.

“Sure thing, doll!” He smiled at me. “But what is she doing here? Not that I’m complaining,” he added quickly. “The girl’s cool. I just thought you two broke up.”

“We did.” I tried to keep my voice even and not let him realize how hurt I was. “But we’re still friends.”

“Cool!” He said, going in the direction of the back door, oblivious to my true feelings.

Next thing I heard was Sean’s loud laughter. He came in clutching his stomach, not being able to take a breath.

“They,” he panted. Who was “they”? “They… S-s-see for… yourself!”

I stared at him puzzled, but then Allie came in the changing room and my eyes widened at the sight of her: she was standing next to that guy, Tyson, who was half naked and they were both dripping wet. In one hand she was holding a brown hen. The other one was handcuffed to the boy next to her. I narrowed my eyes at their linked by the chain hands.

“Believe it or not, there is a reasonable explanation for all of this, Em!” The girl stated before I could speak.

“Really? I can think of only one reason for you to be chained to a guy.” I glared at the boy who returned the gesture.

“It’s not as kinky as it seems. This is all just a series of misfortunate events.” Allie commented calmly.

“Doubt it, but let’s hear it!”

She put the chicken in one of the empty alcohol cardboard boxes and went on telling us about a bet they made at a party with some boy named Joey, why they had to chase chickens and how they ended up here at the strip club. Throughout the whole story Tyson kept shooting daggers at me and I was more than glad to return his death glares.

He was too close to my Allie!

The others in the room seemed oblivious to the tension with Sean and the rest of the strippers rolling down with laughter as the girl narrated their story.

“Well?” I asked as she finished.

“Well what?”

“I’m still waiting for the reasonable part of the explanation.”

“I’m tipsy and Tyson’s drunk.” She shrugged. “After a few drinks everything seems reasonable.”

“So that is what had happened? Funny! There seem to be a few plot holes here. Like why you are still chained to him if you caught the hen?”

“Because the key wasn’t there. It must have fallen. Or maybe Joey was just pulling our leg and it wasn’t there in the first place. Which reminds me: you girls use props, right?” She turned her attention to my colleagues. “I don’t suppose you have handcuff keys lying around?”

“Nothing that would fit this,” one of the strippers answered as she examined the lock. She often showed up on stage dressed as a sexy female cop and employed handcuffs as her props but the ones she used were the cheap, I-just-bought-them-from-a-dollar-store type with fluffy fabric over them. The ones that my ex-girlfriend had used were nothing like them.