Mark
“So how’d it go with Nora the other night?” Ozzy asked, sitting across the desk from me.
I laughed. “You wouldn’t believe it, man.” I grabbed the bottle of whiskey and poured us a couple more shots.
I slid his glass to him and we raised our shots to each other. We knocked them back and slammed the glasses down on the desk. It burned beautifully as it went down.
“So, what wouldn’t I believe?” he asked.
“For starters, I got her to agree to everything, fully,” I said. I refrained from what I had originally intended to tell him. I was originally going to spill the beans about what had happened in her apartment, about the spanking and her willingness to participate.
“Even the part about giving you an heir?” he asked, surprised I had been able to get a yes on that part of the plan in particular.
“Even the part about the heir. Well, she says she’s on board, but I think there might still be some reservation there,” I explained.
“She’ll come around, brother. Give her a chance,” he said. “I can have Alice run by and work on her some, butter her up for you. Hell, she’s already fucking thrilled that Nora is with you.”
“Alice knows?” I asked him.
“Yes, Alice knows. I know to you and everyone else, she’s just a club girl, but she’s my club girl, man. And besides that, she’s Nora’s best friend. Can you imagine the shit I would be in if I let Nora tell her before I did?” he asked, laughing.
“Yeah, we don’t need pissed off club girls running around,” I agreed. “That is the last thing we need.”
“Oh, but you know when they realize Nora got in around the rest of them, there will be some who are severely pissed off. You’re going to have to deal with it,” he chuckled. “Oh, man, they’ve been trying damn hard to get in with you, and this bitch from outside walks in the fucking door and does what they can’t do, like, right away.” He was howling with laughter. “They are going to be pissed, brother.”
I laughed with him as I poured another shot.
“Well, that’s where Nora and Alice come in. They can shut that shit down. Nora has authority over those other girls, man, if she chooses to use it.”
“Yeah, if she knows how to exert authority over them. Then again, Mark, with that mouth of hers, I don’t see it being much of a problem.”
I smirked. “True.” I held up my glass to him. “Cheers.”
“How drunk do you want to get tonight?” he asked, heaving a hefty laugh as he lifted his glass.
“Drunk? Who’s getting drunk, Ozzy? Are you already starting to feel tipsy?” I asked. It had been a long time since we’d sat at my desk going shot for shot with a bottle of Jack or Jager. It seemed to me that Ozzy had been slacking on his drinking.
“Nah, brother, I’m good,” he said, knocking it back. He closed his eyes really tight and opened them wide after he down the shot.
“You’re out of shape, kid,” I admonished him. “That girl is making you soft.”
“Maybe so, but you wait and see. I’m calling it now. Nora is going to do the same thing to you. She was so domesticated by her ex that she’s going to end up doing the same thing to you,” he argued, defending himself.
I laughed. “I’ll believe that shit when I see it. As for you, you’re whipped, man. She’s got you wrapped around her finger.”
He poured us another shot. “Shut up and drink,” he said, knocking his back before I could even grab mine.
He poured another right behind it, holding the bottle until I put my shot glass down.
“Sure you don’t want a chaser?” I teased him.
“Drink the damn whiskey,” he said, and we took the shot together.
We took it down like a staring contest, our eyes not looking away from each other’s faces. I watched as he fought back the wince that came from the room-temperature whiskey. I had to fight back the laughter as I watched him.
A moment later, he held up the bottle. “We finished it,” he said.
“There’s beer at the bar,” I told him.
“Oh, look who’s pussing out on me over there,” Ozzy said.
“You sure about that? You want to grab another bottle of Jack, or should we get something harder? I was thinking of going easy on you. I don’t want to listen to Alice bitching tomorrow because you were up puking in her bathroom all night and she didn’t even get any dick out of it.”
He laughed. “You’re an asshole,” he said. “But I think you know that. Yeah, let’s grab a couple of beers and hang out at the bar with the rest of the MC and the club kids.” He got up with a smile on his face and reached across to shake my hand.
Instead of a shake, though, we pulled each other in and embraced across the desk, patting each other on the back with the other arm. It was good to have someone on my side, someone who wasn’t going to bust my chops or stab me in the back the first time I turned around.
We took our places at the bar, and Ed could see immediately that we’d been drinking. He pulled one of the prospects over to the bar and whispered something in his ear. The kid hurried off, and Ed came over to offer us a couple of beers.
“Thanks, Ed. Who’s the kid?” I asked.
“That’s Jerome. He’s trying to get me to vouch for him, but I don’t think he’s ready yet. I sent him off on an errand real quick. So, where are the ladies tonight?” he asked.
“Alice’s hanging around somewhere,” Ozzy said, leaning back to take a look around the bar. “She said she wants to make sure I get home alright tonight.” He winked at Ed.
“What about Nora?” he asked, turning to me.
“She’s at home,” I said. The answer sounded lame, but the truth was I wanted her to understand she only came around when I permitted it. I was putting her under my complete control. It was my way of teaching her discipline.
“Man, she’s missing the party tonight,” Ed remarked. “She was in here the last two nights wondering where everyone was, and now that people are here, you’ve got her at home? That’s fucked up, man.” He laughed and shook his head.
“It’s necessary,” I said, taking a sip of my beer. “She’s got to get acclimated.”
Ed cackled as he walked away, going to check on another person at the bar.
A moment later, the music started on the jukebox, starting with Nazareth. Sometimes the jukebox separated the members and old ladies from the prospect and club girls. As soon as the drums started the intro to the song, all the members raised their beers and cheered like we were all at a damn concert or something. Meanwhile the non-members stood around looking at us like we were crazy.
The guys I had been riding with since I was a teenager all got off on classic rock – Van Halen, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, even groups like Guns N’ Roses and Motley Crue. There was something about that crunchy guitar sound and those driving drums that fit perfectly with our lifestyle of living fast and riding hard. Some of those old songs brought back a lot of memories of the shit we’d been through as an MC and as a family.
“Baby, are you ready to go?” I heard a whiny voice ask, and I turned around to see Alice trying to convince Ozzy it was time to leave.
“What? We just started in here,” I protested. “You can’t take my right-hand man away this early.”
“You know what you need to be doing?” she said, both hands on her hips, her head bobbing side to side.
“I don’t know, Alice. What do I need to be doing?” I mocked her.
“Funny. You need to be over there at that apartment taking care of your girl. She was ignored enough by Ryan,” she said.
“Oh, come on, baby. Let’s get you out of here,” Ozzy said. “Mark, I’ll see you tomorrow, brother.” He put an arm around Alice’s shoulders and pulled her into his side.
“Take it easy, Ozzy,” I said as they walked away. I sat down at the bar and finished my drink.
That was when I realized how damn tired I was. The last few days had really taken it out of me. Ryan wasn’t the only thing I’d been dealing with. From Alan to New Hampshire to Ryan and Nora, my plate had been pretty full. Each of those issues was enough to fill a single plate by itself, and I had been balancing all of them.
Hopefully, we were getting it all sorted out. Nora was going help me with the situation with Alan. I reminded myself that at some point I needed to let him know I was working on it. Ryan was taken care of, and if he ran off with the money, never to be seen again, I didn’t fucking care. Honestly, that would have helped me sort out New Hampshire faster than sending muscle down there to strong arm the guys causing problems.
I had hoped that a few drinks would have kept me from thinking about it too much. Instead, as soon as the drinking and partying stopped with Ozzy, my mind went right back to it.
I got up from the bar and started to walk toward the stairs.
“You good, Mark?” Ed called from behind me.
“Yeah, man, going upstairs to pass out,” I told him. “See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow, boss,” he said in return.
“Here, I can help you,” a sweet young voice said next to me. I felt small, feminine hands on my back and chest as she walked beside me.
I threw my arm across her shoulders to balance myself. I looked out of the corner of my eye. It wasn’t Nora. It was some cute little redhead with a slamming body. Another club girl trying to get my attention. I wasn’t going to sleep with her, and I didn’t want to know her name, but I definitely appreciated the help as she walked me to my door.
“Hey, thanks, babe,” I said, “but I think I got it from here.”
“You don’t want me to come in and help you have some sweet dreams, baby?” she asked. Her voice was as sweet as candy, and the look in her green eyes told me she would have done anything I asked of her. And she would have done it well, probably, but I wasn’t interested.
“Not tonight,” I told her. “Maybe another time.”
“Yeah, whatever,” she snapped, turning to walk away. I listened as she stomped down the hallway, mumbling to herself under her breath.
I hoped she was mad enough to go downstairs and tell her friends I had turned her down. I didn’t need the story spreading that she had sex with me. I needed people to know I was passing up on random club girls for the girl I was with. I actually needed to keep my reputation in check.
Nora and I weren’t really together, but I had a job to do nonetheless. It didn’t feel right to fuck around on her while I was trying to get her to have my child. That seemed pretty dick, even for me. It was important to me to be as honest as possible when I was conducting business, and the sex between us was business. Once there was a boy, we could probably sit back down and renegotiate, but until then, I had to keep it straight.
Before I knew it, I was inside and on the bed, passing out. Sleep came out of nowhere, wrapping itself around me and silencing my thoughts.