The Stand Off (13 page)

“I’ll go get them; I saw a store
on the way here. It’s not far.” Kiki offered.

“I’ll make you a list.” Lux
grabbed a pen and looked around for an old scrap of paper.

“I called Lolo; she’s going to
bring a bag of clothes for you. She even got a t-shirt and gym shorts for Dean,”
Pixie said.

***

The sun was beginning to dim and
the large living room was overpowered with shadows. The candles cast an eerie
glow across the room and everyone in it. Kiki had gone to the store, and Graves
was in the basement trying to fix the power issue. Dean was still tied to the
chair, and he was openly staring at Lux. Lux sat in the metal fold out chair
next to him, trying desperately to avoid his penetrating stare. Pixie was
sprawled out on the loveseat across from them, watching the quiet exchange
between Dean and Lux.

“This really is a nice house. Too
bad someone didn’t buy it and redo it. It’s a shame to see it go to waste,”
Pixie said.

“It is beautiful,” Lux agreed as
she carefully avoided Dean’s intense stare. 

The lights began to flicker for a
moment before they came on.

“Thank you Graves,” Lux whispered
to herself as she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Let there be light,” Pixie
cheered with a huge grin as she clapped her hands

“I’ll blow out the candles,” Lux
said as she rose from her chair, avoiding eye contact with Dean as she
extinguished them. She could feel Dean’s eyes on her, and her skin was heating
up accordingly.

Graves walked back into the room
with a huge smile on her face. “It worked.”

“Gravely Gloom, you are a
genius.” Pixie stood up and bowed in a gentlemanly fashion.

“A complete genius,” Lux added.

“They had an old backup generator
in the basement; I just hooked it up.” She shrugged as she sat down next to
Pixie. “It’s old, but it’s powerful.”

“We finally have light; now it’s
time for the refreshments.” Pixie grinned as she pulled a bottle of red wine
out of her oversized purse.

“Are we going to drink out of the
bottle?” Lux raised her brow.

“You mean bottles? She brought
enough wine for the neighborhood,” Grave said as she pulled another bottle out
of a duffle bag.

“You know I always come
prepared.” Her smile deepened when she pulled the disposable plastic cups out
of her purse. “I also have a bottle of tequila.”

They watched as Pixie pulled a bottle
of liquor out of her purse. She then reached back in and grabbed a large lemon,
a salt shaker and a knife.

“What else do you have in there?”
Dean asked her.

“You don’t want to know,” Lux
shook her head.

“I can’t believe you’re actually
going to spend the night in this creepy, old house,” Pixie said as she filled
the plastic cups with wine.

“Maybe it’s not such a great
idea. What about squatters or transients?” Graves asked.

“Or wild animals,” Pixie added
with a dramatic shiver.

“What wild animals? This is New York,”
Lux scoffed.

“Let’s not forget the rats; some
of them are as big as cats and as you know, they run in pacts,” Pixie
clarified.

Graves turned to Lux with a grim
look on her face. “What if this place is like haunted or something? I mean why
else would someone abandon such a beautiful house and all of their expensive
furniture?”

“Maybe the ghosts are trapped or
something, like they were murdered here.” Pixie turned to Lux with a look of
horror. “You can’t stay here Lux.”

“It’s not haunted, and we will
not be over powered by a pact of cat-sized rats,” Lux snapped with a frown.

“What about squatters? If a
squatter is desperate enough, they might try to kill you to keep their place,”
Pixie said looking around nervously, “I mean this place is a palace to a
squatter.”

“Sounds like you Lux; you’d kill
me for your property,” Dean said with a dry chuckle.

“If I could get away with it,
you’d already be dead.” Lux glared at him for a moment before she turned to her
sister. “That’s enough… I’m staying here, you can’t talk me out of it.”

“I hope you have more protection
than that stun gun,” Dean interjected.

When they heard the door open,
Pixie gasped. Lux rolled her eyes at her sister but had the stun gun ready.

Kiki walked in holding an
oversized picnic basket and a few bags.

“What the hell happened?” Kiki
asked, seeing the look on Pixie’s face.

“She was trying to scare Lux out
of staying here tonight,” Graves explained.

“All she managed to do was scare
her own self.” Lux shook her head.

“Hey, this house is
extra
spooky,” Pixie said.

“You got tequila,” Kiki purred
with a smile.

“Let’s do shots,” Pixie said as
she began to cut up the lemon.

“Only one for me, I’m driving,”
Graves said as she pulled out more cups and began filling them.

“You don’t have to drive; Lolo is
coming to get us so we can leave the car here for Lux,” Pixie told Graves as
she handed her a slice of lemon.

“Are you doing a shot too, Lux?”
Kiki asked.

“Why not,” Lux answered.

“And one for Dean?” Pixie asked.

They all looked at him, and he
nodded.

“I’ll help him with his,” Lux
said as she took the salt and a piece of lemon.

“I don’t want all that, just the
liquor,” Dean said.

“Seriously?” Lux asked as she got
closer to him with the shot.

“Yes. It’d be easier if you just
untied me,” he said.

“You wish,” she said and held the
cup to his lips. He tilted his head back and took the shot.

Pixie attached a speaker to her
cell phone and cranked the music. Kiki and Graves began to dance and sing along
while drinking.

“Lolo will be here to drop off
your clean clothes soon, so we might as well party until she gets here,” Pixie
said.

“We might as well; we’ll all be
in prison by this time next week.” Kiki chuckled before she took another sip of
wine.

“We’re not going to jail.” Pixie
smiled.

“Wishful thinking,” Graves
retorted.

“No, I heard it from the horse’s
mouth,” Pixie pointed at Dean.

“Really?” Kiki said as she turned
to Dean.

“Yes,” Pixie smiled.

Lux turned to Dean with a look of
surprise. “You told her we’re not going to jail?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“You’re not going to turn us in?”
Lux couldn’t believe it.

“No.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“Tell me,” she whispered as her
eyes locked on his.

“I want to punish you myself,” he
informed her in a deep, hushed tone.

The front doors swung open, and
everyone turned to see Lolo.

“You’re partying without me?”
Lolo snorted.

“No, we were just having a few
drinks until you got here,” Pixie answered.

“I brought your clothes Lux. I
picked out a really comfy outfit for tonight and something super cute for
tomorrow,” Lolo said as she sat the duffel bag on the loveseat.

“Thanks,” Lux said.

“I also brought your ballet
flats, tooth brushes, toothpaste, an air mattress and your birth control,” Lolo
pulled the black slippers out of the duffel bag.

“Perfect. Keep an eye on Dean for
a minute while I go change into something more comfortable,” Lux said as she
grabbed the bag and headed out of the room.

The moment she was gone, the
girls grabbed every available chair and circled around Dean.

“So you’re seriously not going to
turn us in?” Kiki asked.

“He’s not going to turn us in?
Really?” Lolo asked him.

Every one of them was staring at
him intently, waiting with bated breath for him to answer.

“No,” he finally said.

“You like Lux don’t you?” Pixie
asked with hope in her eyes.

“Of course he likes her, why else
wouldn’t he turn her in for abduction,” Kiki stated the obvious.

“Is that why?” Pixie insisted.

Dean hesitated before he
answered, “Yes.”

“I fucking knew it,” Pixie
clapped her hands. “Okay, so here’s my advice; forget about that little
building exchange deal.”

“Trust us, that’s a problem,”
Kiki added.

“One that she will never forgive
you for and trust me, Lux can hold a grudge,” Graves informed him.

“You should ask her out on a
regular date, like a fresh start,” Lolo advised.

“That’s a really good idea,” Kiki
agreed.

She had no more then finished her
sentence when they heard the door down the hall open. The girls immediately
jumped up and went back to what they were doing as if they hadn’t been huddled
around Dean. Lux walked into the room with a frown on her face. She was wearing
a skimpy white tank top with black polka dots that was cut low enough to show
her bra. She also wore a black mini skirt that barely covered her ass.

“Since when do I sleep in tank
tops and skirts?” Lux asked Lolo.

“Oh, sorry, I guess I thought it
was a bed clothes.” She shrugged and put her head down.

“Sexy sleep wear is in,” Kiki
said with a grin.

Lux shot her a death look,
obviously realizing what she was up to.

“So, we should probably get
going, we do have to teach in the morning,” Graves informed them.

“Are you sure you don’t want us
to stay with you?” Kiki asked.

“No, we need everyone teaching
tomorrow,” Lux said and then turned to Pixie. “I need you to cover my classes
as well.”

“Okay. Are you sure you want to
stay here, though? This place is creepy; like horror movie level creepy.”

“Where else could I go with Mr.
Celebrity? Everyone knows his face. If they even suspect he’s been abducted,
they’re going to have missing signs shown on every TV and computer screen
across the world,” Lux reminded her.

“Okay, but remember if you need
us, we are but a phone call away,” Pixie said as she hugged her sister.

“I know, I’ll be fine,” Lux
hugged her back.

“I’m just worried,” Pixie whined.

“Shoot, we should be more worried
for Dean Blake. Don’t forget Lux hasn’t slept or eaten, and we all know how
crazy she gets,” Kiki joked.

“Funny,” Lux frowned.

***

Once everyone was gone, Lux
grabbed the cleaning cloth and wiped down the large coffee table. She grabbed
the black and white hounds tooth table cloth from the bag and spread it out.
She grinned when she saw the black and white bouquet of flowers in the bag.

She knew what Pixie, Kiki, and
Lolo were up to. They had picked out her sexiest outfits, supplied the wine,
great food, and even packed candles. Not to mention the small, battery operated
radio and the greatest love songs CD. What they were trying to do was more than
obvious; they were trying to turn an abduction into a date.

Dean sat tied to the chair,
watching Lux’s every move. Even though he was mad, he was still amused by her.
He smiled when she put the black and white flowers in the middle of the coffee
table.

“I bet your whole room is done in
black and white,” he predicted.

She looked at him as a smile
slowly crept across her face, “Yeah.”

“Most of your wardrobe is.”

She silently stared at him for a
moment, appreciating that fact that he’d noticed. “Do you want another drink?”
she asked, in need of changing the subject.

“Tequila,” he answered.

“Bottle or cup?” she asked as she
held up both.

“Bottle.”

When she grabbed the lemon, he
stopped her, “We don’t need that.”

“Straight from the bottle?”

“Yes.”

She opened the bottle and sat
down in the chair before him. She held it to his lips, and he took a generous
drink.

“You drink like Pixie; she
prefers liquor,” she said before she took a tiny sip.

“So do I.”

“Ugh…nastiness,” she cringed.

“Tell me about the music hall.”

“Why are you suddenly so
interested? You never cared before.” She looked at him suspiciously.

“Tell me,” he urged.

“It started out as just a lounge,
a place for adults to meet, drink, and talk music… but my dad made a mess of
it. After he died, my mom bought the whole building and made some major
changes. She wanted to do something good with that lounge. The girls and I used
to practice there all the time. When the other kids in the neighborhood took
notice, they wanted to make music, too, so we started teaching them and it
progressed from there… it became the neighborhood music hall.”