Gold Diggers (Adult, AU, CC, Mature) Complete 09/22

Finished stories that feature the characters from the show, but there are no aliens. All fics completed on the main AU without Aliens board will eventually be moved here.

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nibbles2
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Gold Diggers (Adult, AU, CC, Mature) Complete 09/22

Post by nibbles2 »

Title: Gold Diggers
Rating: Adult
Pairings: AU without aliens. M&L, M&M, A&I
Disclaimer: none of this is mine, not even the idea – it’s based on a challenge by Tequathisy. Roswell and its characters belong to WB/UPN – whatever they’re going to be called in the future.


Summary: Max, Michael and Isabel are the children of one of the wealthiest families in the US. They are spoiled and used to getting everything they want. But they are about to learn that money can’t buy you everything.
A huge thanks to Fehrbaby for creating this amazing banner for me.
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GOLD DIGGERS

Chapter one


I’ve always thought that the worst things that could ever happen to me would be Grandma Claudia’s death. And now, a part of me, very small but still a part of me thinks maybe that would be the best thing.

Liz read over what she had just written in her journal and slammed it shut. She couldn’t believe that she had just written those words. And yet they were true. She grabbed a tissue from the box beside her and wiped away the hot tears beginning to roll down her face. She placed the journal carefully on the floor and moved her chair closer to the hospital bed where her grandmother lay.

It was three nights since she had been woken at 4am by the ringing of her cell phone and summoned to the hospital. It was three days since Claudia Parkers massive heart attack had left her unconscious and fighting for her life in a hospital bed, hooked up to all kinds of machines and wires that beeped and hissed incessantly. She hadn’t regained consciousness since she had been brought in. She didn’t know that her only grandchild had barely left her bedside.

“Grandma, please wake up.” Liz begged.

A nurse came in to the room, smiled kindly at Liz and made a note in the chart before leaving again.

Liz rose to her feet and began walking around the room, exercising her tired and cramped limbs. Out in the hallway she could hear the sounds of people talking, rushing past, a janitor cleaning the floor, laughter. It was such a contrast to the room she was in now, where nothing stirred and everything felt muffled and dead. In the three days that she had spent by her grandmother’s bedside, it felt as though all time had stopped.

With a sigh, she flopped back down on the chair and studied her grandmother’s face intently. The overhead lamp bathed her in an almost serene glow and made her grandmother somehow ethereal. For the first time Liz saw that her grandmother was old and fragile. It was a shocking and frightening development.

Claudia Parker had always been one of the strongest, liveliest women she had ever met. She had become a college lecturer at a time when female college lecturers were unheard of, was one of the worlds foremost authorities on archaeology.

When Liz’s parents had been killed in a traffic accident when she was only three months old, Claudia had become her guardian. Since then she had been everything to Liz, her parent and grandparent, her best friend, her mentor, her rock in hard times, her pillar of support and her inspiration. Claudia was a giant among women so seeing her lying so helpless in a hospital bed was shocking and frightening for Liz. For the first time in her life she realised that Grandma Claudia was not invincible.

There was a gentle tap on the door and Maria Deluca came quietly in. She was dressed in her nurse’s scrubs ready for her nightshift in the paediatric unit two floors up from where Grandma Claudia lay. “Hi sweetie.”

Liz smiled, outside the hospital Maria was boisterous and loud but in the hospital she was a different person, quiet, unobtrusive.

“Is there any chance you’ll be going home tonight?” She asked Liz after hugging her warmly.

Liz shook her head. “I want to be here in case she wakes up.”

Maria sighed. “Liz, you’ve been here for three days, you need to go home and sleep in a proper bed, use a shower. I’ll be upstairs, if anything happens one of the nurses will page me and I’ll be down in thirty seconds.”

“I want to be here.” Liz repeated firmly.

“Ok, I thought you’d say that so I brought you a change of clothes and your mail from home.”

“Thanks.”

“And my mom sent you a plate of brownies.”

“Maria you are a goddess.” Liz exclaimed, hungrily accepting the box of brownies. She selected a large, crumbly piece and wolfed it down. It had been ages since she had eaten something nice. Actually, she had eaten very little in the last few days.

“I also brought you some magazines to read. When you’re finished can you give them back to me so I can pass them around on my ward?” Maria said, handing Liz a stack of magazines with a flourish.

“In Touch, US Weekly, Life & Style, Star, Celebrity Living? Maria have you ever seen me read any of these?” Liz asked sceptically.

“Gee, thanks Maria.” Her friend said sarcastically.

“I have school work to do.” Liz said, handing them back.

“How much have you done so far?”

“None.” Liz sighed. “I haven’t been able to concentrate.”

Maria grinned. “Exactly. You don’t have to concentrate on these, trust me, they’ll take your mind off things and entertain you for a while.”

“Ok thanks.” Liz smiled She put the magazines down on the ground by her journal. “How’s Alex?”

Maria shrugged and picked up Claudia’s chart. “I haven’t seen him today. I got a call from him yesterday evening and he was really pissed. I don’t know why.”

“Probably a work thing, I don’t know how he does that job.” Liz shook her absentmindedly, an article in one of the magazines had caught attention. “How does she look like that three weeks after having a baby?” She asked holding up a page showing a super skinny actress posing on a red carpet.

“They cheat, they schedule a cesarean section a month before the baby’s due because they can’t wait nine months and don’t want to have to endure labor and then they have liposuction while they’re in hospital.”

“Nobody would be that selfish.” Liz declared, shocked and appalled.

Maria snorted. “You’d think! But one of my friends from nursing school works at one of the private hospitals they use and she swears it’s true.”

“I don’t believe that anybody would be so callous and self centred that they would endanger the life of their child just to lose weight quickly.” Liz said with a shake of her head.

“Celebrities live on a different planet to the rest of us Liz.” Maria commented.

Liz flicked the page in disgust, she was never going to watch another movie with that actress in it.

“What’s she famous for? I’ve never seen her in anything.” She was looking at a picture of a beautiful, voluptuous blonde dressed in a scrap of material that very little to the imagination.

“You don’t know who Isabel Evans is?” Maria asked in mock surprise. “She’s famous for being famous. Her parents are like uber-rich so she doesn’t work. All she does is go to Hollywood parties, look fabulous and date famous men. Her brother is exactly the same, only he dates women.”

“Nice life.” Liz commented dryly. “How do I get that kind of job?”

“You’ll need to find a sugar daddy I guess.” Maria grinned. She glanced at her watch and stood up. “I should go, are you sure that you don’t want to go home?”

“I’m certain, thanks Maria.” Liz told her.

Maria kissed Grandma Claudia’s cheek then hugged Liz before leaving the room.

A couple of hours later, Liz was shocked to see the time, it was past midnight. She had been so engrossed in the magazines that Maria had brought with her that she hadn’t noticed the evening fly by. She smiled, Maria knew what she was talking about after all.

As she tidied up the room and prepared to bed down for the night, she realized that she had never opened the mail. There were a couple of get well cards from friends and distant relatives of her grandmother, some bills and one from the insurance company. There was something about the envelope that gave her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that she wasn't going to like what it said.

Dear Ms Parker,

Subject to your claim……

….denied.


Liz sank onto the uncomfortable hospital chair, buried her face in her hands and wept.

***

“You look as tired as I feel, did you get any sleep last night?” Maria asked when she met Liz in the canteen for breakfast the next morning.

“No.” Liz choked out, she shoved the letter to Maria who scanned it quickly and then thumped the table with her fist.

“Those bastards, how can they do that?” Maria growled.

Liz shrugged. “Apparently they can, I called their 24 hour helpline and basically there’s nothing I can do, if I appeal it’ll just be denied again. What am I going to do Maria? I already got the initial bill from the hospital and I can just about pay that but I won’t be able to afford long term care.” She wailed.

Maria patted her friend’s hand. “Sweetie, I don’t know. The first thing you have to do is talk to the woman in accounts. She might be able to help you out. And then, your Grandma must have money in her account that you can use.”

“I guess.” Liz sighed, brushing he tears away with a paper napkin.

“Why don’t you come home with me today and get some sleep?” Maria suggested, barely suppressing a yawn.

“I want to wait until rounds to see what the doctor says. You should go, you look exhausted.” Liz said with a shake of her head.

Maria nodded. “Ok, I’ll see you tonight. Love you.”

Liz waved her off sadly. She picked up the letter from the table and read through it again, hoping against hope that it might have changed. But it remained the same, the insurance company would only pay for Grandma Claudia’s first three days in hospital and wouldn’t pay for anything longer than that. She was so screwed.

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” An impeccably dressed middle-aged woman asked pointing to the chair Maria had vacated minutes earlier. Liz nodded without lifting her gaze from the letter.

“I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation you were having with that nurse. Insurance company ripping you off?” The woman asked knowingly.

Startled by her question, Liz looked up. “Something like that. They said my Grandma isn’t covered for a long term stay in hospital.”

The woman nodded sagely. “How old are you dear?”

“I’m twenty three.” Liz frowned.

“Can you dance?”

Liz frowned. “I took dance classes for years, what does that have to do with anything?”

“I can help you. I own a club and I’m looking for dancers. The girls who work there make very good money. Lots of them buy their own houses after two years or put themselves through college, some of them make $2,000 a week in tips.”

“I’m not interested.” Liz said, rising from the table and gathering her belongings.

“It’s not a seedy club, nothing illegal happens there. All my dancers are well protected. A girl like you could make good money.” The woman placed her hand on Liz's arm to stop her from leaving. “Can you really turn down an offer of $2,000 a week?”

Liz hesitated before staring the woman down. “I’m not interested in being a whore for the entertainment of dirty old men.”

“It’s not like that, I assure you.” The woman said, not the least bit offended by Liz's tone or words. “Take my card and if you change your mind, get back to me.”

“That won’t happen.” Liz spat out, but she snapped the woman’s card from her as she stormed off.

***

When Maria came into work that night, she brought Alex with her and they went straight to Grandma Claudia’s room where they found a very distressed Liz pacing the floor.

“What is it?” Maria asked in alarm, immediately picking up the chart from the foot of the bed to see what had happened.

“It’s not Grandma.” Liz assured her. “I spoke to that woman in finance today and she wasn’t helpful at all. When I told her about the insurance company refusing to pay out for Grandma, she got all snooty with me and told me that unless I was able to pay the hospital would have to move grandma to county hospital or to a home. She needs to stay here, they have to best facilities. What am I going to do?”

“The house is in your name isn’t it?” Alex asked. When Liz nodded, he continued. “Maybe you could sell it or take out a mortgage on it.”

Liz dried her eyes. “I never thought of that. I wouldn’t sell it, it’s my parent’s house, it’s all I have left of them but I could mortgage it.”

“See, everything’s not lost. It’ll be ok.” Maria smiled.

“Thanks Alex.” Liz said as she hugged him.

“No problem, now if you could help me with my problem this might just be a good day after all.”

“Maria mentioned you were having a problem at the center, what is it?” Liz asked in concern.

Alex sighed. “When we set up the center, the building we use was given to us by a man called Jake Black, his daughter had died of a drug overdose and he wanted to help other kids who found themselves in trouble before they got hooked on drugs. Anyway, he was supposed to give the deeds of the building over to us but he died before he got a chance to. And now his nephew is selling the land it’s on andour building to a development company. Anyway to make a long story short, they want to knock the building to make way for a new mall so we’re going to be kicked out.”

“That’s terrible.” The two girls exclaimed at once. “Will they give you a new site?” Maria asked.

“No, we asked, but it’s going to be an upmarket development so they don’t want a teenage drop in center anywhere in the locality. I’ve a meeting tomorrow with someone from Evan’s Associates to see if they’ll drop us a bone but I’m not optimistic.” Alex explained mournfully.

“Evan’s Associates?” Maria repeated. “As in Isabel Evans?”

“Who is Isabel Evan’s?”

“She’s like a society princess, she’s in all the magazines Alex.” Liz explained, as though Alex should have known.

“Listen to her, she only found out last night.” Maria laughed. “I have to go now, please go home and get some sleep Liz. I’ll be here if anything happens.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer.” Alex warned. “When I go, you’re either walking out beside me or I’m carrying you out on my shoulder.”

“Liz laughed at the image. “Fine, I’ll go home tonight. I have to look my best if I’m going to meet the bank manager tomorrow.”

***

Liz fidgeted nervously as the bank manager went through her application for a mortgage. She couldn’t figure out if the noises he was making were good or bad.

He looked up at her through his wire-rimmed glasses. “Ms Parker, it says here you’re still a student?”

“Yes, at UCLA, I’m graduating in a couple of months. I was planning to go on to do a postgraduate course but that can wait. I’ve already had a couple of offers from several pharmaceutical companies and they’re offering very good salaries.” Liz replied.

“Mmhmm.” He glanced down at the form again. “The house is currently in your grandmother’s name?”

“It’s in trust for me, I’ll own it when I turn twenty five.” Liz explained.

“I see.” He turned to his computer and pressed a few buttons. “Liz, I know that you’re in a very difficult position and I’d really like to help you but unfortunately I can’t approve a second mortgage on this property.”

“Wait. What do you mean by a second mortgage?” Liz asked in confusion.

The bank manager blinked. “I thought you knew. Your grandmother took out a mortgage on the house a few years ago to pay for your college tuition fees.”

Liz shook her head dumbly. “I had no idea.”

“Oh…I’m sorry I assumed you knew.”

“But….why? I thought my grandmother had money, she told me that there was money in my trust fund to cover my tuition.” Liz said in disbelief and confusion.

The bank manger removed his glasses and wiped them with a cloth. “Liz, your grandmother is a terrific woman and we all love her. She's fearless and smart, she's really special. But she's terrible with money. I did my best to…. Unfortunately she chose to invest some of the money in the trust fund in a small company that went bust.”

“So there’s no money. Is that why she was still working instead of retiring like she wanted to?” Liz asked in a small voice.

“I’m afraid so.” The bank manager confirmed.

“Is there nothing you can do?” Liz pleaded.

“I can give you a small student loan, it might keep the wolf from the door until you graduate but apart from that, I’m afraid not.”

“I need more than to keep the wolf from the door, my grandmother is extremely ill. She needs the best hospital care I can get her, please.” Liz cried, fat tears rolling down her cheek.

“I’m sorry Liz. There’s nothing I can do.”

***

Liz turned the small white card over in her hand several times. She picked up the phone, dialed the number and then slammed it down before it got a chance to ring. “Come on Liz, you have to do this. It’s the only option.” She told herself.

She picked up the phone pressed redial and listened to the phone ring.

“Hello, the Dangerzone. How may I help you?….Hello…..hello, is there anyone there?”

“Yes…hello. I’d like to speak to Jenny Wilson please.” Liz stammered.

“One moment please.”

“Hello, this is Jenny Wilson, how can I help you?”

Liz took a deep breath. “Hello, this is Liz Parker. We met yesterday in the hospital. I was wondering if…if you’re still looking for dancers.”

***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sat Sep 22, 2012 12:18 pm, edited 112 times in total.
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Post by nibbles2 »

I'm back. Thanks for all the feedback.


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Any similarities to real people whether living or dead is purely coincidental. But yeah, she reminds me of Paris Hilton too. LOL

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Glad you like it.

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Chapter two.



The harsh sound of the phone ringing woke Max Evans from his sleep. He swore under his breath as he fumbled around on the nightstand trying to locate the offending phone. "What?"

"Max, I need you to come with me to a party tonight." His sister, Isabel's voice responded.

"Max lifted his head form the pillow and looked at the clock, it read 10.30.”Jesus Iz, it's too early for this."

"Well then just say you'll come and I'll let you get back to sleep." Isabel said, sounding quite cheerful for such an early hour in the morning.

Max groaned. "Why can't the popstar take you?"

"We've broken up, it was in the papers yesterday. Don't you read?" Isabel huffed in exasperation. "So I can't take a guy because it wouldn't look good so soon after the break up. It has to be you."

"You have another brother." Max reminded her grumpily, he was fully awake now and he knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. He sat up in the bed, deliberately nudging his companion with his foot to wake her. She simply rolled over.

Isabel snorted derisively. "Please, like he'd go to a party. He has to work you know. Besides, nobody knows him, they know you."

Max kicked his companion harder this time and she woke up. She immediately slid her hand up his chest and began placing kisses on him. Max pushed her away and indicated that he was on the phone. She climbed out of the bed sulkily and made her way into the bathroom, banging the door loudly.

"But if I go, all the attention will be on me, if you take Michael nobody will know him, so they won't pay any attention to him." Max pointed out."

"Ha, all the attention will be on me." Isabel laughed. "I’ve just dumped one of the hottest rising talents on the scene right now, nobody’s going to be looking at you.”

“So then why do you need me? Can’t you take one of those little wannabe’s you always hang out with?”

He could practically hear Isabel pouting over the phone and smiled to himself, those little wannabe’s were developing careers of their own and he knew that Isabel wouldn’t risk taking them to a high profile party where she might be overshadowed.

“They’re all busy, you have to come Max. It’ll be a blast.”

"I don't know Iz, Mom and Dad have been getting on my case lately."

"So? What'll they do about it? I've just broken up with my boyfriend, I'm devastated and I need somebody to take me out and cheer me up.” Isabel countered, not sounding at all devastated. “Max, do I need to remind you of the videotape I acquired a few months ago?"

"Well, since you put it that way." Max drawled grumpily. "The girl came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. He picked up the dress that had been discarded haphazardly on the floor the previous night and tossed it at her. She dressed quickly. "What time will I pick you up?"

"8." Isabel instructed. "And don't bring the BMW, bring the Porsche, I'm wearing this red dress that it'll look great with."

"Fine." Max said, and hung up the phone.

"Here's my number, call me?" The girl said handing him a slip of paper.

Max nodded. "You can see yourself out. He said coldly as he walked into the bathroom. When he emerged from the shower she was gone. Without looking at it, he threw her number in the thrash.
***
Michael Evans pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked at the column of figures in front of him. "I don't like these numbers."

"Sir, we've turned around a colossal debt and actually made a profit this year. It's the first time in about eleven years that's happened. Ever since the takeover we've implemented new practices and cost cutting measures. We've outsourced -"

"I don't care about the outsourcing. It's still not enough." Michael said wearily. "The profit is too small, we expected higher figures this quarter.”

“We have drawn up a plan to reduce the workforce by a half and introduce different working hours which we feel will increase our profits, but we –”

"Then do it." Michael answered. Seeing some of the older members of the board were about to object to cutting the workforce, Michael added "I hope to see better figures next quarter or you'll be looking for new jobs yourselves."

That made them sing a different tune, there were no more protests and by the time they left the office they had promised to cut 500 jobs. Michael ticked that task of his to-do list and buzzed his secretary. "What's next?"

"An Alex Whitman is here to see you."

"Oh, him," Michael scowled. "Send him in."

Seconds later a thin, lanky man entered the office and took a seat opposite Michael. He was dressed more like a teenage skateboarder than a businessman and Michael took an instant dislike to him.

The two men didn't shake hands.

"So Mr. Whitman, what can I do for you?" Michael asked. He was leafing through a document on his page and making marks on it showing Alex that he was only meeting with him out of courtesy and wasn’t interested in what he had to say.

"It's about this development of yours on Wilson Road." Alex began, ignoring the disrespectful behavior of them man at the other side of the desk. "One of the buildings that you've earmarked for demolition is currently the home of our drop-in center. The previous owner of the building gave the space to us after his daughter died of an overdose. In the two years since its inception hundreds of kids have stayed with us and received help that I believe kept them from developing drug addictions. With our help many have gotten clean, finished their education, gotten jobs and made something of their lives. It's a very worthwhile project."

"So?" Michael prompted, deliberately failing to see the point of Alex's argument.

"If the building is demolished, we have no space for the center. It’s mainly staffed voluntarily, we only have three full time counselors and they are funded by grants. We cannot afford to but or rent a new space anywhere in the area." Alex continued.

Michael smirked. "That's actually a very good argument for knocking it."

“Leaving hundreds of young homeless people without access to our centre cannot be a good thing." Alex exclaimed in outrage.

"Mr. Whitman, the development we have planned is very up-market and, we hope, exclusive. If there are hundreds of young homeless addicts wandering the area then it'll drive our prices down." Michael smirked. "If we get rid of the centre, they'll all be forced to go across the city to wherever you locate your new establishment."

"That's just it." Alex shouted. "If we're forced to move, then we'll be forced to close down. We have nowhere else to go. We can't afford to rent or buy. That'll leave all those kids with nothing. And it’s a sure fire way to guarantee that these young people will turn to crime and drugs instead of becoming upstanding members of the community."
"That's not my problem." Michael shrugged. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.

"It's everyone's problem." Alex said forcefully. "These people weren't born with the luxuries you were, they've never been given the opportunities you have. All I'm asking you to do is to give them a chance."

"I didn’t grow up in the lap of luxury either but I've never resorted to drugs or crime.” Michael retorted, ignoring Alex’s scoff of disbelief.

“Pardon me while I roll my eyes.” Alex said sarcastically. “You are condemning these people, these children to live without support or help. How can you live with that on your conscience?”

“Quite easily, I don’t care.” Michael said harshly. “I’m not going to change my mind on this matter, so I think you’re wasting your time and mine.”

Alex shook his head in frustration and rose from his seat, almost knocking it in his anger. “Good day to you Mr. Evans.” And with that he strode from the office, banging the door loudly in his wake.

Michael watched him go, sneering at his departing figure and waited for his secretary to tell him what was next on the agenda.

***
As soon as Max pulled the car up in front of the night club, he and Isabel were besieged by photographers who surrounded the car and pressed their lenses right to the windows. When Isabel stepped out of the car, three of them were lying on the ground, their camera’s pointed upwards in the hope of getting a revealing and unflattering photograph.

Isabel however was too graceful and experienced for them and managed to climb from the car looking spectacular and maintaining her dignity. She smiled and waved prettily, demonstrating a range of poses that would put any top model to shame and refused to answer any of the hundreds of questions being shouted at her.
Max tossed his keys to the valet and stood bedside his sister. Her prediction was right, nobody was looking at him and all attention was on his sister. He faked a fond smile and laugh and pretended not to care that he was being ignored.

When she finally got bored of standing and having her picture taken Isabel instructed Max to take her inside. As soon as they entered the club, Max and Isabel were assaulted by the sound of music blaring and bright lights flashing. Isabel’s nose crinkled in distaste. "Ugh, this is awful." She turned and made her way to the curtained off VIP lounge, scowling at anyone who had the audacity to look at her. The VIP room was a little quieter, the lights less bright. She immediately took the table that had been reserved for her on the balcony. At once she was surrounded by her posse, a gaggle of squealing, posing trust-fund babies that made Max's blood run cold.

Realizing now that Isabel was inside the club and way from the photographers, he was superfluous to requirements, Max made his way to the bar and ordered a drink. He cast a roving eye around the room, which was filling quickly and heaving with sweaty bodies. A small blonde caught his eye and he raised his glass to her. She smiled seductively and nudged her gorgeous brunette friend who turned and smiled at Max too. He grinned to himself, maybe tonight wouldn’t be so bad after all.

***
The incessant sound of his doorbell was what woke Max the next morning. With a groan he climbed out over the two naked girls fast asleep in his bed and made his way to the front door of his penthouse apartment, pulling on a pair of pants on his way.

He peered through the peephole and swore to himself. On the other side was his father, who looked very pissed off.

Max opened the door and welcomed his father in. “Hi Dad.”

“Late night?” His father asked sharply.

“Isabel had to do this thing at a club last night so she asked me to accompany her. She was upset about breaking up with her boyfriend so I wanted to cheer her up.” Max replied, trudging into the kitchen where his housekeeper had made a pot of coffee. He touched it and was glad to find it was still warm. He poured himself a cup and popped it into the microwave to heat up. “Coffee?”

Philip Evans glared at him. Max’s little speech had done nothing to soothe his temper. “It’s after midday, if I hadn’t come over here what time would you have stayed in bed until?” Without waiting for an answer he continued. “This has gone on for too long Max, I supported your decision to drop out of college because I didn’t want to pressure you into doing something you didn’t want to do. But you have made a joke of me since. You promised that you would try to find a different career path but instead you have done nothing but party and sponge of your mother and me. No more Max. Do you hear me?”

“Isabel does the same,” Max said in a sulky voice. “She doesn’t work.”

“I’m not happy with Isabel’s life choices either. But at least she manages to support herself, she pays her own rent and buys her own clothes, unlike you. When was the last time you earned money?"

“I did a photo shoot for GQ magazine last week, I’ll be getting paid for that soon. And a TV company approached me about taking part in a programme they’re developing. I can make my own money too.”

“A TV show, one of those celebrity reality things? That’s how you’re going to earn your living? By humiliating yourself on national TV? Max what is wrong with you? You’re smart, rich, you received one of the best educations in the country, the world is at your feet and you can be anything you want to be and you want to be a C-list celebrity.”

“It’s just for now. I’ll get a job later.” Max shrugged unconcerned.

Philip glanced around the apartment. “Max, if you want me to keep paying for this place and your housekeeper and your car and your nice clothes then you’re going to have to earn it. I have a job for you that even you shouldn’t find too taxing.”

Max suppressed a groan. But when he turned to face his father his face was schooled to appear eager. “Of course, anything.”

“We have a group of businessmen flying in from Japan at the weekend. We hope that they will invest in our new plant and we have developed a new part that we hope they’ll agree to use exclusively in their cars. Needless to say this is hugely important and the contract could be worth billions.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“I want you to be their guide while they are here. Any problems, any questions they’ll come to you. You’ll take them around to our plants during the day and entertain them at night.”

“Is that it?” Max asked in surprise. His dad was right, that was an easy job. “No problem.”

“Good. Arrange a time with Michael so that he can brief you on what you’ll need to know. And please learn what he tells you, you’ll have to be able to answer any questions they have for you.”

Max nodded. “Will I get paid?”

Philip glared at him and waved his arm around the apartment. “Consider yourself paid.” Then he turned sharply on his heal and left.

Max finished his cup of coffee and returned to his bedroom to go back to bed.
***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 6:48 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Thanks to everyone for the awesome feedback. A special big thank you to Fehrbaby for my way cool siggie. I love it.

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glad you like it girl. more about the video tape anon!!
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they'll all meet but not in the way you'll expect. except Max and Liz. I think it's obvious how they'll meet.
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Chapter three


"He sounds like a real ass." Maria sympathized after Alex has told her about his meeting the day before. They stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the fifth floor.

"Totally." Alex agreed. "And then he tried to tell me that he had a rough childhood. Can you believe it? He was wearing a watch that cost enough to keep the centre open for six months. The Evans’ are one of the richest families in the country. He's never had a day's hardship in his life."

"The Evans?" Maria asked pulling a magazine from her purse and flipping through the pages. "Was it this guy?"

Alex peered at the picture of a young couple smiling and posing on a red carpet. "No, who's that?"

"It's Max Evans, America's most eligible bachelor." Maria informed him, the tone of her voice implied that Alex should have known that. "He's in every magazine, every week. I didn't know he had a brother. I wonder why he's never in the magazines. Is he cute too?"

Alex shrugged. "He’s too busy destroying the lives of desperate teens I guess. What does this guy do?"

Maria laughed. They had stepped out of the elevator and were walking down the corridor. "Nothing, he doesn't have a job. He just stands around looking pretty and girls literally throw themselves at him. I thought his sister was bad, but at least she earns her own money, he just seems to spend his parents."

"That's his sister?" Alex gasped, looking at the photo of the scantily clad young woman again. "Who goes out with their sister and lets her look like that?"

"Max Evans, I guess." Maria grinned.

"So what does she do?" Alex asked without taking his eyes off the photograph.

Maria caught his arm and steered him around a trolley, parked in the hallway. "Poses in her underwear."

"Oh really." Alex said, trying to act casual. "She's pretty."

Maria rolled her eyes and knocked gently on the door of a ward. She opened it quietly and entered. "Hi Liz."

"Maria, Alex." Liz exclaimed in a whisper. The three friends embraced warmly. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course we'd come. How's she doing?" Alex asked.

"No change. The doctors said that they would have to release her in a few days." Liz sobbed. "They can't do that, can they? She's not fit to be moved."

Maria picked up the chart and scanned the notes in it. "I'm afraid they can. She's in a stable condition and there's nothing more they can do for her here. Have you decided what you're going to do?"

"I told you, I'm putting her in Cedar Pines." Liz said, blowing loudly into a tissue.

Alex and Maria exchanged worried glances. Alex gestured silently at Maria to say something.

Maria took Liz's hand and gently eased her into a seat. "Sweetie, we love your grandmother, she's a wonderful woman and we know how much you love her. I know that it's a really difficult decision to place her in a home and that you want the best for her. But Liz, honey you have to be realistic, you can't afford the best. The money you have will only last a couple of months in cedar pines and then she'll be kicked out of there and you won't be able to afford to put her somewhere...less expensive and she'll end up in a dive."

"We're not saying that you have to put her somewhere awful, but there are other places where you're money will last longer and you might be able to come up with more money in a couple of months." Alex added hastily.

Liz shook her head. "She deserves the best and I'm going to give it to her. There's a place for her in cedar pines and that's where she's going."
"But Liz, how are you going to pay for it? Are you dropping out of school?" Maria asked.

"No, I've got a new job. It pays really well and I'll be able to make enough to pay for her to stay in Cedar Pines." Liz informed them.

"That's great." Maria cried. "What's the job?"

"It's just dancing at this club." Liz said in an offhand manner.

"Liz, what kind of club is it?" Maria asked in anguish.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not going to be doing anything illegal and it's only for a couple of months until I finish school and get a job. I have no choice Maria, she gave up everything to look after me I can't just dump her in some third rate home. I owe her this much." Liz said fiercely, as she finished her voice broke and tears began to stream down her face.

Maria opened her mouth to protest but no words came out, instead she enveloped Liz in a hug and rocked her gently. Alex wrapped his arms around the two girls and the three friends sat in each others arms, crying gently for Liz, her grandmother and the predicament she now found herself in.

***



"Hi there, I'm Nell and I'll be showing you the ropes and helping you get settled in."

Liz gave her a small smile. The woman who had greeted her at the door of the club was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen in her life - tall, tanned, busty, long hair and a mouthful of perfect teeth. She shook Liz's hand warmly and ushered her inside the club.

To Liz's surprise it wasn't as seedy and grotty as she imagined. But it was brightly lit and tastefully decorated.

"It's nice." She murmured.

Nell laughed. "It is, I've worked in some real dumps in my time but this place is classy. Well as classy as a strip club can be. It looks a little different when it's open for business. The lights are down and it's darker. The dressing rooms are through here."

They made their way through a door and into a corridor that could have been in any building in the world. They came to a door marked costumes.

"Jenny said that you hadn't worked before so you have no costumes of your own. We'll get you fitted up first." Nell said leading her inside.

A middle-aged woman was sitting on a stool in the room, surrounded on all sides by rails groaning under the weight of scanty, sparkly costumes.

"This is the new girl, Liz Parker. Liz this is our wardrobe lady Petal."

Petal and Liz shook hands.

"Now, let’s get you out of those clothes and have a look at you." Petal instructed.

Liz swallowed nervously and began unbuttoning her jacket. She sat on the stool and removed her shoes and placed them neatly on the ground, with shaky fingers she slowly undid the buttons of her shirt and slipped it of her shoulders. Then finally she unzipped her jeans and they slid slowly off her legs.

"Up here." Petal said patting a rostrum for Liz to stand on. When Liz was standing up, Petal walked around her, scrutinising her body. Liz wanted nothing more than to cover herself up, but she kept her chin up and held her arms out. She was doing this for her grandmother.

"Not bad, you have a nice body." Petal said finally. "Your legs are quiet short so you'll need to wear heels, we have some platform stilettos that will help. They like long legs on the girls and the heals will make your legs look longer. You'll need a bikini wax, we have a woman who comes every week to do that, she'll be here tomorrow, I'll put you down for an appointment. Which would you prefer Brazilian or bare?"

"I...I uh...I." Liz stammered.

"You can decide with Shauna tomorrow. Some like bare, some prefer Brazilian. Nobody likes bushy." Petal told her, she reached up and expertly unhooked Liz's bra. It fell before Liz could catch it. She covered her breasts in embarrassment.

"Honey, this is a strip club, if you want to earn any money you'll have to get over your shyness pretty damn quick." Petal tutted.

Liz nodded and slowly removed her hands from her breasts.

Jenny reached up and squeezed her breasts "Nice and firm, real too. A little on the small size. Would you consider enhancement?"

"A boob job? No." Liz exclaimed with a shake of her head.

"Less tips for you." Petal shrugged. "Have you any pole or podium experience?"

"I...uh...no." Liz admitted.

"Jenny said she would mostly be doing floor work and maybe booths." Nell added helpfully. She spotted Liz's confused expression. "Basically you'll be waitressing, but if somebody requests you, you'll give private shows in the booths. You won't have to dance onstage yet. I can train you and maybe in a couple of months you'll be able to do stage work."

"The real money is in the booths, the best way to get into a booth is to dance on stage, but a lot of times the guys figure that they've already seen what he dancers have to offer so they go for the waitresses."

"This is what the servers wear, I'm thinking black for Liz." Jenny announced pulling a hanger off one of the rails. Liz gasped at the outfit dangling from the hanger, it was a couple of scraps of material held together by dental floss.

She gingerly accepted it from Jenny and changed into it, blushing slightly as she stood before them naked.

Jenny nodded in satisfaction. "That's a good fit. I'll get you a couple of those, I'm responsible for their care and washing. Leave them in the hamper in the dressing room at the end of each night. DO NOT allow the punters to take them home with them, these are expensive outfits, they are not to be torn and they are not to leave the premises. Understood?"

Liz nodded, praying fervently that Petal and Nell wouldn't notice that she was near tears.

"You have good skin, a nice color, I don't think you need to use fake tan, we’ll need to do something with your hair."

Liz touched her hair, she was very proud of her hair and often received compliments about it.

"It just needs to be sexier." Petal assured her. "We'll leave the length, but maybe a blunter cut. Right now it's very little girlish - and not in a good way." She clapped her hands and apparently that was the end of the conversation. Liz changed back into her clothes, never so relieved to pull on a pair of jeans in her life.

"I'll show you around the club next and give you a demonstration." Nell announced as they left the costume room. She pushed through another door and led Liz back into the club.

"So this is how it works, the punters pay the admission price, and take a table. You take their orders and serve them, they watch us dance. Then they can pay for us to dance at their table or for extra they can take a booth for a private show. Most people think it’s the dancers they want in the booths, but the waitresses have just as good a chance. Flirt a little, get them interested and they'll be begging to take you to booth."

"What happens in the booth?" Liz asked nervously.

Nell smiled and gestured for Liz to follow, they climbed some steps and came to a corridor lined with doors. They entered one. It was a small room, round, with a white couch along the wall, there was a table in the middle with a pole reaching to the ceiling. The walls were lined with mirrors.

"The punter takes a seat and the girl does what ever he wants, dances, strips, sits and talks to him. Whatever he likes, as long as he keeps paying. It's $80 for five minutes. The only rule is he can't touch you. You can touch him, but only his legs, arms, chest, back and hands. No kissing, no massaging, no sucking or licking, no cock. He can't touch you."

"What if they try?"

Nell pointed to the ceiling. "There's a camera in all the booths. They are always monitored. You have to make the aware of the camera at the start and the rules. The regulars will already know. And the guys who watch the camera’s are all gay so you don’t have to worry about them sleazing on you.

Nell put a comforting hand on Liz's shoulder. "I know it's scary at first, but you get used to it and in a couple of weeks you'll have forgotten all about being nervous."

Liz nodded, not feeling so certain.

So, lets get changed into some dance clothes and I'll show you some of the moves." Nell suggested brightly. She led Liz out of the booth. As they made their way to the dressing area, Liz noticed a cordoned off stair case. "What's up there?"

"Oh, that's the VIP lounge." Nell answered. "It's pretty much the same as down here except more expensive. You don't get to go up there unless you're filthy rich. That's where the best money is."

"How do you get to work there?" Liz asked.

"You have to be the best of course, they keep an eye on the money you earn and the girls who earn the most graduate to the VIP lounge." Nell told her. "I work there twice a week, but like to work out here too, most of the guys who use that lounge are real jerks. They think that just because they have money they own the world.

"I hate guys like that." Liz agreed.
***

“You’re very quite tonight.” Maria commented to Liz as they ate pizza for dinner in Maria’s apartment.

“I’m just tired, it was a long day today and it’s been a while since I did so much dancing in one day. I’m more out of shape than I thought I was.” Liz said with a small smile.

Maria watched her friend closely. There were dark circles under her eyes, she looked pale and thinner than usual. Her heart went out to Liz. “Do you think you could show me some sexy moves some time?” She asked cheerfully, knowing that the last thing Liz needed was to have her decision to become a dancer questioned. Liz had made her decision and as her best friend Maria was going to support her.

Liz cocked an eyebrow. “Why do you want to learn moves?”

“I need a man. Do you know how long it’s been?” Maria cried out. “Seven months. Seven.”

“Ok, I’ll show you some moves.” Liz agreed. She put on a CD that Nell had given to her to practice to and pulled Maria to her feet. For the next forty-five minutes the girls laughed and dance wildly, each move more exaggerated and crazy than the last. It was the most fun Liz had had in ages. When they finally flopped down onto the couch panting hard for breath, Liz was grinning from ear to ear.

“Thanks Maria.” She said taking her friends hand in hers and squeezing it gently.

“No thank you, I’m so going to get laid the next time I go and use that kicking move.” Maria laughed. She checked her watch and groaned. “Ugh, I gotta go to work now.” She stood up and collected her things. “Why don’t you stay here tonight instead of going all the way back to your house?”

“That would be great.” Liz nodded. She really didn’t want to go back to her big empty house all by herself. She managed to keep up the pretence of happiness until Maria had left for work, bust as soon as her friend was gone, Liz sank onto the couch and cried her heart out.
***
Isabel threw her arms in the air and let her hips sway to the music. The eyes of every male in the room were on her and she loved it. And it wasn’t just the men either, the women were staring at her too. Life as a celebrity was great Isabel thought.

One of her friends, Mandi, leaned over and shouted in her ear. “I’m going to go powder my nose, wanna tag along?” She asked.

“Sure.” Together they pushed their way through the mass of people and into the restrooms. They found an empty cubicle and locked themselves in.

Mandy produced a small bag of white powder from her purse and expertly separated it into lines on the closed lid of the toilet. Isabel rolled up a fifty dollar bill into a tube and snorted the cocaine, before passing the tube to Mandi.

“That’s good stuff.” Isabel said leaning her head against the cubicle wall as the drug did its work. When they were finished and had cleared up any evidence of their activity they stepped out of the cubicle.

There were three women waiting when they emerged. They screamed when they recognised Isabel and immediately surrounded her. They were all talking at once, pulling on her arm and dress, thrusting their camera phones in her face.

Isabel pushed them away. “Give me some space.” She said angrily.

“Yeah, leave her alone.” Another voice agreed sarcastically. “Poor Isabitch has been working so hard today.”

Isabel groaned. She knew the girl who had made the comment. She was an actress on a teenage drama on the WB and had been friends once until Isabel had slept with her boyfriend.

“Hi Cassandra.” Isabel said.

“So can I get my picture taken with you?” One of the fans asked.

Cassandra tutted loudly. “Why do you want your picture taken with her, she’s not even a real celebrity?”

“She’s more of a celebrity than you are.” Mandi shouted in defence.

“Hey, I’m on TV, my show airs in 37 countries around the world.” Cassandra shouted back. “What’s she ever done?”

“You’re the jealous ex girlfriend that everyone hates in your show.” One of the fans spoke up.

“Kind of like real life.” Isabel said snidely as she passed her.

That was for much for Cassandra who reached out and grabbed a clump of Isabel’s hair and dragged her backwards. “Bitch," she screamed.

Isabel managed to struggle out of her hold but tore her dress as she did. “Look what you did you cow.” She yelled.

“Bitch.” Cassandra screamed again and lunged at Isabel. They fell to the floor scratching, hitting and biting. Isabel managed to land a few decent slaps before a bouncer burst into the room and hauled Cassandra off Isabel.

“I want that woman arrested.” Isabel commanded, pointing her finger at Cassandra.

“Don’t worry.” Said the bouncer. “The cops have been called and you’ll both be arrested.”

In alarm Isabel turned to Mandi and watched in fury as her ‘friend’ slipped out of the restroom and disappeared.
***
The sound of his phone ringing woke Michael from his sleep. “What?” he demanded.

“Michael, it’s me.”

He groaned. If Isabel was calling him in the middle of the night it wasn’t good news. “What do you want.”

“I’ve been arrested and I need you to come get me out of here.” Isabel said in a teary voice.

For a moment he was tempted to leave her there for the night, but he knew that he’d only face hell from his dad in the morning if he did. “Fine, I’m on my way. Don’t talk to anyone until I get there.” He told her. He jotted down the address and climbed out of bed. As he dressed he pressed speed dial on his phone and spoke to his lawyer who agreed to meet him at the police station. Michael was pleased to note that the lawyer made not a single complaint about being dragged out of his bed in the middle of the night to deal with another one of Isabel’s dramas. That’s what he liked to see in his employee’s - loyalty and obedience.

Thirty minutes later Michael had reached the station. It was full of drunken revellers whose over exuberance had landed them in the cells for the night. It was bedlam, but Michael hadn’t become CEO of his father’s company through nepotism alone and within minutes the night sergeant was ushering him into a private room to see Isabel.

“Can I get you anything Sir, coffee tea?” The sergeant asked.

“A coffee for my sister, strong. And make sure our lawyer is sent straight back here when he arrives.” Michael ordered.

As soon as the sergeant was gone Isabel turned tearfully to her brother. “Thank god you’re here, they were so mean to me. They put me in a cell with hookers. Hookers Michael, and they made me give them my cellphone and my purse.”

“What did you do?” Michael asked wearily, ignoring Isabel’s tears.

“I was attacked in the restroom at Inferno. I tried to defend myself.” She looked up at Michael with big imploring eyes. It was a look that worked on every man and brought him to his knees. Michael was impervious to it, instead he noticed her glazed expression and red eyes.

“Shit Isabel.” He yelled and grabbed her shoulders. “What have you taken?”

“Nothing.” Isabel protested weakly, pulling away.

Michael sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Fine, they’ll probably decide to ask for a blood test and then we’ll see.”

Isabel’s eyes widened with fear and she grasped his arm. “No, you can’t let them do that. Please Michael, please. I’ll do anything just don’t let them take a blood test.”

“What did you take?” Michael repeated.

“Just a couple of lines of coke, its no big deal.” Isabel shrugged with fake nonchalance that might have fooled Michael if she hadn’t been begging just seconds earlier. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad.”

“You promised them that you would give that stuff up.”

“I did, it was just a couple of lines, anyway –” Her words were cut short by a tap on the door and a sharp suited man walked in.

“Michael.” He nodded and shook the younger mans’ hands.

“Isabel this is Ray Fishbourne, one of our lawyers. He’ll handle things for you.” Michael told his sister, He turned back to the lawyer. “She’s been snorting cocaine so don’t let them administer a drug test.”

The lawyer nodded and sat down at the table. He took out a legal pad and pen. “There’s press outside, somebody told them Isabel was in here.”

Michael sighed. “I’ll call Marty.”

“No don’t call Marty, he works for dad, call my guy.” Isabel spoke up, her head was leaning on the table and her voice heavy and muffled.

“I don’t have his number.” Michael said angrily. He was annoyed at Isabel for being so stupid and dragging him out of bed to deal with this so wasn’t in the mood to humor her.

“It’s on my cell.” Isabel told him.

“And your cell is in police custody.” Michael reminded her. He left the lawyer alone to talk to Isabel and stepped out into the corridor to make a few phone calls.

His first call was to Marty Freeman who was his father’s number one PR man. He promised to be there in less than half an hour. After he hung up Michael felt a pang of guilt. He knew that Marty was already on the phone to his father to tell him that Isabel was in jail. As well as being in PR, Marty’s job was to keep Philip Evans informed of any trouble his children got into. It wouldn’t take long before his dad knew that Isabel had been using drugs. But Michael shrugged, it was Isabel’s fault that she was in this mess and he was only helping her.

***

Liz had breakfast ready on the table when Maria came in from her night shift. She had slept really badly all night and had risen at 4 in the morning, fed up with tossing and turning. So she had scrubbed Maria’s already immaculate kitchen, vacuumed and ironed, before making breakfast.

“Liz, you’re an angel.” Maria exclaimed between yawns.

“You’ve been so good to me since Grandma got ill. “Liz told her friend.

“Did you go to bed at all last night?” Maria asked eyeing the pile of freshly ironed clothes.

Liz shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“So I had an idea at work last night that might help you.” Maria said as she buttered a slice of toast. “You can’t sell your house or get a mortgage, but you could rent it out and move in here with me. The rent you make on the house could pay of your Grandma’s mortgage and then the other money you earn could all go to your Grandma’s medical bills.”

“But, you like living here on your own. You said that you didn’t want to get any tenants in here.” Liz said.

Maria shrugged. “I didn’t want to live with a stranger or even somebody I only half know, but you’re different. We’re like sisters already. I know what you’re like, you know what I’m like.”

“That would be so great.” Liz sighed. It was another worry of her mind. “Thank you so much.”

Her friend took a bite of pancake. “No, thank you Liz. Oh, guess what.”

“What?”

“Isabel Evans was arrested last night.” Maria revealed.

“No way, Why?” Liz gasped, she blinked at her reaction. Since when did she care about things like that?

“Apparently she got into a huge fight in a club last night. One girl ended up in hospital and everything.” Maria answered with a grin. “It’s all over the news.”

Liz shook her head. There was a war going on, people were dying from bird flu and the arrest of a socialite at a party was what was all over the news? What was wrong with people?

***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:20 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by nibbles2 »

Thanks for all the awesome feedback.

begonia9508
Sternbetrachter
I’m not sure he went to Isabel completely out of the good of his heart.
anonymousarfan
Janesdilemma
no and no
Earth2Mama
Emz80m
lazza
Roswell 10/2/00
The aim of the club is to make money for women so it might be counter productive to point out to the men that they are only after the cash
Tequathisy
Vampyrax
Elizasere
BehrObsession
roswell3053
Smac



Chapter 4


Diane Evans watched her beautiful daughter sleep in her king size antique four poster bed. Although Isabel was now in her twenties, her bedroom was still decorated like a fairytale princess's room and for a moment, Diane was able to fool herself that her baby daughter was still a little girl.

Until she looked down at the paper in her hand.

Right on the front page was a picture of Isabel, in a short, tight dress brawling with an actress on the floor of a ladies restroom. To make matters worse, one of her breasts had spilled out of her dress. This paper had been tasteful enough to blur that part of the photo but no doubt there were hundreds of websites, magazines and tabloids that wouldn't be as discreet.

There was a movement in the doorway behind her and Diane turned to find her husband standing there, he beckoned her out of the room. In the hallway outside, Diane and Philip embraced.

"Where did we go wrong Philip?" Diane asked wearily.

Philip sighed. "I wish I knew. We've given them everything they could have wanted."

"Maybe that's the problem." Diane said sadly. "We spoiled them."

Arm in arm, the couple made their way down their vast staircase and into the huge oak panelled library where Ray Fishbourne and Marty Freeman were waiting for them with another man.

"Diane, do you know Patrick Cornell?" Philip asked. "He's a private detective."

Diane shook hands with the men and took a seat beside her husband.

"We have good news," Ray Fishbourne, the lawyer, began. "I was able to prevent the police from taking a drugs test so they don't know about the coke. A detective will be by later to interview Isabel about the fight last night but we think we might be able to prove that she was acting in self defence."

Patrick spoke up then. "There were a couple of girls in the rest room with her who had video phones. I managed to get some of the footage and it clearly shows that the other woman attacked Isabel. The girls who were present will also make statements to that affect. They told me that the actress was insulting Isabel who tried to walk away, the actress then started the fight."

"With their statements and the phone footage I'm positive that no charges will be brought up against Isabel. She will have to decide whether or not to press charges against Ms Lurie." Patrick added. "I think that I have enough to ensure that the police won't even have to speak to Isabel."

Diane slumped down in her seat. "Thank God. Thank you Ray, Patrick."

Philip turned to Marty. "What about the press?"

"Unfortunately it's too late to stop them running the stories about the fight. I have already issued a statement that says that the ambulance was called for a girl who had been hurt in another incident and had nothing to do with Isabel. And that anybody who doesn't clarify that report will be facing legal proceedings."

"I've already sent a letter to one of the papers as a warning shot to let them know we're serious." Ray interjected.

"Good." Philip nodded.

"I've leaked reports that it was the other girl who started the fight and that Isabel was only taken to the police station for her own safety because of the paparazzi. Once they have decided not to charge Isabel, Ray and I will make sure that the police issue a statement that vindicates her of any wrong doing." Marty concluded.

"Thank you gentlemen." Philip said, dismissing them. They stood up and left the library.

"Philip, I'm delighted that Isabel won't be charged of course but…." Diane said, she looked up at her husband. "We can't let her away with this. She has to learn that we won't tolerate this type of behavior from her."

"I agree." Philip sighed. "What do you suggest?"

Diane was silent for a moment. "I really don't know."

***

When Michael returned to his office from a breakfast meeting, the sight of his brother Max sitting in his chair with his feet on the desk, reading through the day's papers greeted him.

"Ahem."

With no great hurry, Max lowered his feet but didn't budge from the chair. "Have you seen these?" He asked, flourishing a paper with Isabel on the front page. "It's disgusting."

"I read them before my meeting." Michael answered, pulling Max from his seat and pushing him towards the front of the desk. "You're up very early, It's not even 10 yet."

Max shrugged. "Dad wanted me to do a job for him, so I'm here like a good little boy."

"This is really important Max, don't think that you can just breeze through this." Michael scowled. He reached onto the window behind him and picked up two very heavy folders, stuffed full of documents and papers. "Here you go."

Max eyes the folders suspiciously. "What are those for?"

"This is what you need to know for next week." Michael said with a smirk. "The blue one tells you all about the company the men work for, Igsagi Enterprises. The red one is what you'll need to know about our company."

"No, no, no. There's been a mistake. I'm just supposed to show them around and entertain them. Nobody said anything about homework." Max protested

"You'll be the tour guide of our plants and factories, so you'll need to be able to answer any questions they have about our company, and you'll have to know all about theirs too." Michael sighed. "It's going to make us millions of dollars so it's really not a lot to ask."

"Will I get to share in these millions?" Max asked with a pout.

"Sure, come and work for us. There's a job here for you if you want it." Michael responded, knowing that the idea of working in an office was Max's idea of hell.

"Don't you start too, it's bad enough with Dad on my back all the time." Max groaned. "He has the money, why can't he just give it to me and stop annoying me. I'll get a job when I'm ready."

Michael rolled his eyes. Max had been singing that song for over a year now. "Whatever, I have work to do."

Max picked up the folders, thought they were too heavy and left them back down again. "Have somebody courier them over to my place will you."

Michael looked up from the dossier he was reading. "Sure, but take the credit card with you."

Max's ears perked up. "Credit card?"

"Yeah, the company credit card. Under no circumstances are those men to pay for anything while they're here unless they ask to go shopping. You pay for all meals, drinks, strippers everything." He pulled an envelope from one of the folders and tossed it to Max. "There's $50,00 on it, if you need more just call me or Dad and we'll transfer it over."

"$50,000 should be enough." Max laughed, opening the envelope and pulling out a platinum credit card. Another card fell out onto his lap. It was blue and simply had the words The Dangerzone printed on it in gold embossed writing. "What's this?"

"It's the company's membership card for The Dangerzone. It's the strip club over on Hadley." Michael answered. "There are other's there for different clubs in town."

Max placed the two cards into his wallet. "Interesting. I think it would be a good idea if I did a little scouting first, to see what these places are like. I wouldn't want to take our esteemed visitors to a dive, would I?"

Michael frowned. "Those clubs have already been vetted and deemed suitable for our visitors."

"You are no fun." Max said in exasperation. "Let's go out tonight and hit a few of these places. Come on, it's been ages since we've had a night out."

"I'm busy." Michael answered shortly.

"Fine. I'll go myself."

***

Maria climbed wearily out of bed and trudged into the kitchen where she found Liz and Alex having a quiet conversation over coffee and muffins.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Liz asked apologetically, jumping up to get a cup for Maria.

"No, I just couldn't sleep properly." Maria yawned. "I can't wait until this week is over, night duty sucks." She plopped down at the table. "So what's up? Is Isabel Evans in jail?"

Liz rolled her eyes. Maria was such a gossip queen. "No, she's been exonerated of all wrong doing. She was attacked last night at a club and the police took her to the station for safekeeping."

"Sounds like PR talk for the police didn't have enough evidence to charge her with anything." Maria sniffed.

Alex laughed. "One minute you're obsessed with celebrities and what they do but you see right through all the hype. Why are you so interested in them?"

"I don't know." Maria shrugged. "They lead such interesting lives, and I know that if I ask what's up with the two of you the answers are going to be really depressing. Am I right? Tell me what's going on with you guys."

"We lost funding for the center." Alex announced. "One of the companies who had promised to sponsor a counsellor has withdrawn the offer. And guess who their biggest client is?" Evans enterprises."

"See. Alex, that's awful." Maria sympathised. She rubbed his arm gently. "What are you going to do now?"

Alex shrugged. "Maybe I should just accept that the center will have to close."

"No, you can't give up on those kids," Liz cried out. "They need you Alex."

"But what can I do? I can't afford to stay where we are, I can't afford to move and I can't afford to hire staff anyway." Alex asked.

"I can do more volunteer hours." Maria offered at once.

"I would to but…well, my schedule is going to be really busy from now on." Liz sighed.

"You guys are great and I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me. But it's not going to help. I need money." Alex said.

"Can't help you with that." Maria groaned.

"Me either, sorry." Liz added. Alex squeezed her hand. He knew that if it weren't for her sick grandmother, Liz would give him every penny she had.

Liz's cell phone rang and she excused herself to answer it. "Hello."

"Liz? This is Stella Jacobs at the club, one of our waitresses has called in sick. I know that you're not supposed to start until next week but is there any chance you could come in tonight. We are really short-staffed tonight. You'll be paid overtime."

Liz bit her lip. She really wasn't prepared to start working so soon, but the bills were piling up and the chance of earning overtime already was just too tempting to turn down. "Of course, I'll see you soon."

"Great, thanks."

Stella hung up and Liz returned to the kitchen where Maria was trying to think of colleagues and friends who might be interested in volunteering at Alex's center.

"Are you going in to see your Grandma tonight?" Maria asked when Liz sat back down at the table.

"I have to work." Liz said, her voice quivering.

Alex and Maria exchanged worried glances. "Liz, are you sure-" Alex began.

"I have to Alex." Liz cut him off. "This is the only way I can afford to put Grandma into Cedar Pines. Besides, I can't let my Brazilian go to waste, can I?"

"No that would be a crime." Alex said dryly.

***

Michael cast an appraising eye around the huge complex at Wilson Road. Demolishers had moved in to one corner and begun knocking down the old warehouses. A team of surveyors and architects were ambling around making notes and discussing different features of the yard.

His eye fell on the last building on the road that his company didn't own and he scowled. The building felt like one giant finger sticking up at him. He hated it. It's presence alone would bring down the property value of the development by as much as 10%, and according to the most recent report, Evans Ltd stood to make over $500 million from this development so that was a lot of money.

"We have to get rid of it," He growled as Marty came up behind him.

"I agree, but they have to leave of their own accord. If it gets out that we forced them out of the area it'll make us look bad. This company has built its reputation on having good moral values and community spirit."

Personally, Michael didn't care about the company's reputation a whole lot. It was in the business of making money and was very, very good at it. So why did anyone care if they evicted a couple of homeless teenagers? But his father disagreed and what Philip Evans said was law.

"Here's your parents now." Marty said, as a sleek black town car entered the yard and made its way over to them. A chauffeur hopped out and opened the door to allow Diane and Philip Evans out. Diane had not been out here before and Philip wanted to show her around and explain all about the latest development of Evans Ltd.

For an hour, Philip and Michael showed her around the complex, explaining all their plans.

"What is that building over there?" Diane asked eventually, pointing over at the teenage drop-in center.

Michael glared angrily at it, as though the building itself was defying him. "It's a center for teenage druggies. We're in the process of moving them out."

"I thought they'd be out by now." Philip frowned after pulling Michael aside.

"Well, we ran into a little difficulty with that." Michael said. "They have the legal right to use the building so we can't evict them. And they don't want to go anywhere else. But I'm taking care of it."

"I hope this won't become an issue. I'd hate to see this get to court. It would hold up proceedings and generate negative publicity for us." Philip warned.

"Don't worry, they can't afford a lawyer. They'll be gone before we start building." Michael told his father confidently.

His father nodded in satisfaction. "Good." He turned back to his wife. "That's everything Darling. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes dear." Diane smiled. She kissed Michael's cheek. "Thanks for all your help with Isabel last night. Come by for dinner soon honey, we never see you at the house anymore."

"I will." Michael promised, holding opened the car door for her.

We waved them off, before turning back to his foreman.
***

She was going to be sick.

There was no way she could go out in public looking like this. No way. Liz was pretty sure that there had been more material on her uniform when she had tried it on the last day because she would never have agreed to wear this outfit in public. Never

Even her skimpiest bathing suit had more cloth in it that this. And she didn't wear that anyway because she always felt too self-conscious in it. Now here she was about to parade around in a night club full of leering men while wearing only dental floss to cover her modesty.

There was a gentle knocking on the door of the dressing room. "Liz, are you still in there?" Pearl's voice asked.

Liz took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "Yes, I'm coming." With a very shaky hand she opened the door and let Pearl in.

The older woman surveyed Liz with a critical eye. "Not bad. Maybe we should have booked a few sessions on the sunbed for you to get an all over tan but you're fine. She placed a large bag on the stool by Liz and started pulling out jars and bottles and brushes. Without warning pearl began to brush bronzer all over Liz's body, particularly the areas that she covered up while sunbathing.

Liz bit her lip, that sick feeling was coming again.

"You'll be fine, honestly." Pearl said with quiet assurance. "I've seen lots of girls in here just before they started their first shift. Most of them were as bad as you are now with nerves. Since I've been here three girls have climbed out that window and never come back." She chuckled to herself and pushed Liz into a chair so she could fix her make up.

A few minutes later Liz was ready. She gave herself one last look in the mirror and was surprised to find that she really did look like a stripper. Pearl had laid on the make up thickly and it almost felt comfortable to Liz, like a mask she could hide behind. Her hair had been teased and back combed so it looked big and well, like a strippers hair. In spite of her nerves and nausea Liz had to agree that she looked good. In a totally slutty way, but good."

"Ready?" Pearl asked, holding the door open.

Liz glanced longingly at the window then nodded and forced herself to smile. "Ready."

***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:33 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Gold Diggers - Chapter 5

Post by nibbles2 »

Wow, I'm so amazed at all the feedback. Glad you guys like this fic. I'm pretty busy at school right now so it might be a few weeks before I have the next part up.

I'd just like to say a big thank you to madroswellfan for betaing this story for me, even with a really sore wrist. Thank you girl.


Sternbetrachter
FSU/MSW-94
roswell3053
BehrObsession
begonia9508
mmm, there’s any idea!!
Earth2Mama
Vampyrax
RhondaAnn
right about A&I, wrong about M&M
FaithfulAngel24 that won’t happen for a couple of chapters yet
Erina
Emz80m
bluesands
RoswellRulz
Tequathisy
Cherie
that’s exactly what’ll happen, eventually.
Anonymousarfan
Madroswellfan
thanks again for being my beta
Elizasere
TemporaryUser
Morning Dreamgirl
what relationship? You’re way ahead of me.
Empress_luci
Erina
Cocopucks
candycane14
ShatteredDreamer
VeronicB
Alexceasar


Chapter 5


“Good evening sir, may I see your membership card please?”

Max reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and handed the electric blue membership card to the doorman, making sure that he flashed his several gold and platinum credit cards and the large wad of cash as he did so.

The doorman scanned the card. “Thank you sir. As this is a company card, I will also need to see some personal ID.”

With a scowl, Max pulled out his driver’s license and handed it over. He couldn’t believe the nerve of the man. He was never carded in this town, he should know who he was.

“What is your affiliation to Evans Ltd Sir?” The doorman asked, his fingers poised over the keyboard of his computer.

“I own it.” Max spat out, about to grab his card and leave.

His answer certainly caused a change of tone in the doorman and he quickly returned the cards and ushered him inside. A tall beautiful, fully-dressed woman met him at the door. “Good evening Mr. Evans.” She said warmly shaking his hand. “Welcome to The Dangerzone. My name is Jane Wilson, I’m the manager here. Let me show you to a table.”

The interior of the club was tastefully decorated and more crowded than he had expected. Jane brought him to a small table close to the stage. Max frowned. “I presume you have a VIP area.”

“Yes, but our policy is that nobody is allowed in to it on their first visit here.” Jane smiled smoothly. “We have to see how everyone behaves before allowing them access to the VIP lounges, we can’t let just anyone in there.” She added quickly. She crooked her finger at the bar and a gorgeous red head appeared at her side balancing a tray with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. She put one glass on the table and poured him a glass before leaving the bottle in the bucket.

“Please accept this drink on me.” Jane said, she nodded her head and departed.

“I’m Brenda. Would you like some company.” The red head asked flirtatiously

Max ran his eyes up and down her body and licked his lips. “Maybe later.” He wanted to see what else was on offer first.

She smiled at him. “I hope so.” Max watched as she sashayed away. He picked up the bottle and read the label. It was a good champagne, expensive by most people’s standards. The lights went down and music started, a brunette appeared on the stage wearing an sailor costume that looked far from seaworthy and Max sat back in his chair to enjoy the show.
***
“Hi I’m Brenda. I’ll be showing you the ropes tonight.”

Liz gasped at the red head that was talking to her. She looked like she belonged on the covers of vogue magazine not in a strip club. “Hi.” She croaked.

“You must be really nervous. I was a wreck on my first night. You look great. “Brenda said cheerfully.

“Really, really nervous.” Liz said, trying to smile but failing miserably.

“What you need is a drink.” Brenda said sagely. She beckoned to one of the bartenders. “A whiskey.”

“No, I don’t drink whiskey.” Liz protested. But when the bartender handed her the glass she gulped it down in one mouthful. “Ahh.”

“There you go.” Brenda slapped her back. “It’ll help calm your nerves. This is Stefan, he keeps in touch with the door and lets us know who’s in the house. So who have we got tonight.”

Stefan reeled off a list of names, discreetly pointing out each man. Liz had no idea how she was supposed to remember them all.

“We get a lot of regulars.” Brenda told her, seeing her confusion. “You’ll get to know them pretty quickly. The guy by the stage, he’s new.”

“Yes, he is. That’s Max Evans, son of Philip Evans. He’s loaded so milk him.” Stefan announced.

“Max Evans? I know him.” Liz blurted out. “I mean…I’ve seen him in the magazines. Shouldn’t he be in the VIP lounge?”

Brenda shook her head. “It’s his first time here, Jane keeps the new guys here to see how they behave. If they get loud or grabby they aren’t allowed into the VIP area. But I’m sure that if he behaves himself tonight he’ll be given access. I’m on his table but if you want to go over there, you can.”

“No thanks.” Liz said at once, shaking her head vehemently.

“Ok, ok.” Brenda laughed. “We’ll start you off on something easy. See the two guys over there? They are getting ready to leave. Why don’t you go over there and ask them if they’d like anything else. They’ll say no, and just ask for the bill. Can you handle that?”

“How do you know they’re leaving? What if they want a dance?” Liz asked, terror evident on her voice.

“They’re regulars, they have to go home to their wives soon so they won’t ask for anything except the bill. You’ll be fine.” Brenda gave her a little push.

On shaky legs, Liz teetered over to the table where the two middle-aged men were just finishing off their drinks. The platform heals on her shoes took a lot of getting used to. She glanced over her shoulder at Brenda and Stefan who were watching her, They gave her the thumbs up sign.

Somehow, Liz found her smile and plastered it on as she approached the table. “Good evening gentlemen, can I get you anything else?”

“The bill please.” One of them said without taking his eyes from the dancer on the stage. Liz looked up and saw that she was now down to her thong. She looked away quickly. The other man gave Liz the once over and then turned his attention back to the stage.

“I’ll bring it right over.” Liz said and hurried back to the bar. She was shaking by the time she reached Brenda.

“See that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Brenda asked. She handed her a small silver tray. “Give it to the bald guy. The other guy never tips.”

Liz nodded and carried the bill back to the table. The bald man thrust a few notes into it without counting. “Keep the change.”

As Liz was walking back to the bar, she stumbled off her heal but managed to catch herself before she fell flat on her face. Feeling embarrassed she looked around to see if anyone had seen her. The only person who was looking at her was Max Evans. He raised his champagne glass to her and nodded his head. Liz nodded her head too and hurried on.

The change amounted to $37. Liz was amazed, who gave away a $37 tip to a waitress who only brought the bill? She tried to give it to Brenda but the red head refused and insisted that Stefan put it in Liz's piggy bank.

Liz was informed that each girl had a jar behind the bar, affectionately called the piggy bank where they kept their tips. Stefan watched them, Brenda informed Liz. He was completely trustworthy so most of the girls left $10 or $20 into his jar when they finished.

The next two hours flew by in a blur. Brenda turned out to be the ideal person to show Liz the ropes. She had a keen nose for what the punters would ask for if approached and only sent Liz to tables where they wanted drinks or the bill. To her amazement, Liz soon got comfortable in her teeny weenie outfit and was able to relax. If she could just manage to stay on her shoes for three minutes in a row she’d be very pleased.

***

There were incredibly beautiful women dancing on stage naked, there were gorgeous women parading around in next to nothing offering him company and lap dances. He could have his pick of them but for some reason, the only one he couldn’t take his eyes off was the scared little brunette who kept tripping over her own feet.

There was something about her that made him want to watch her. She wasn’t the tallest, or the bustiest or the sexiest. She wasn’t even blonde but Max thought that she was by far the most beautiful.

She was also the only girl who didn’t come near him. Every other girl had offered to keep him company or to dance for him. He had already spent a couple of hundred dollars on lapdances from the red head and one of the blondes but he wasn’t satisfied.

“Hello there, would you like another drink?” A stunning Russian blonde asked; she had told him her name was Ivana.

Max shook his head. “I’m good.”

“Perhaps you’d like a dance, maybe in one of our private booths?” She offered. She was running her finger along the edge of her skimpy bra in a way that held Max’s stare to her breast instead of her face.

“Yes, I’d like a private booth, but I want that girl over there.” Max said, pointing to the brunette.

Ivana turned to look at the brunette. “Oh, she’s new. I don’t know if she does booths yet.”

“Find out.” Max ordered.

She smiled, fakely. “Yes of course.”

He watched her approach the bar and speak to the girl. A couple of minutes later he was approached by a man in a suit. “Good evening sir, let me show you to your booth.”

***

“Hey, new girl. That guy over there wants a private show with you.”

Liz stared at the Amazonian blonde in front of her. “What?”

“Are you stupid? He wants you to dance for him in a booth. I don’t know why, you are not so special.” Ivana glared.

“Ivana, if you can’t be friendly to the other girls I’ll put you on early Monday shifts.” Jane Wilson said as she approached Liz and Ivana.

Ivana snorted derisively. “I am hottest chick here, you won’t put me on early. I’m am biggest earner.”

“And biggest head.” Stefan mumbled under his breath.

“She is new. She can’t do booths yet.” Ivana pouted, looking less like a hot stripper and more like a sulky child.

“Max Evans is the son of one of the richest men in the country. Whatever he wants, we’ll give him.” Jane scolded. She turned to Liz who was looking pale and shaky. “Are you up for it.”

More than anything, Liz wanted to say no and run out the door. But she couldn’t. For one thing there was already almost $200 dollars in her piggy bank. That was too much money to run away from. And judging by the way Max Evans was splashing the cash, she could earn plenty more if she played her cards right.

Liz nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

Jane smiled at her and gestured for Stefan to set it up. “Great, make sure to remind him of the rules. If he offers to buy you a drink, say yes and whatever he orders you get 10% so don’t be afraid to order something expensive. And if he asks why you’re doing this, don’t tell him the sick grandmother story. He’ll only feel sorry for you and that’s not sexy.”

“Ok…” Liz took a breath to steady her nerves, then nodded to Jane to let her know she was ready.
***
Max sat back in the plush couch of the private booth. It felt a bit weird to be in here surrounded by his reflection. He checked himself out in the mirrors, able to view himself from all sides at once. “Looking good.” He told himself smugly.

The door opened and Max sat back down. The brunette was standing in the door, the butler was behind her.

“Good evening Mr. Evans, this is Liz. Liz, this is Max Evans.” The butler announced formally.

“Hi.” Liz greeted shyly, she moved into the booth and took the seat opposite Max.

“Can I get you a drink sir? Liz?” The butler asked.

“What would you like?” Max asked Liz.

Liz flashed him a mega watt smile. “I’ll have a glass of champagne please.”

“A bottle of Don Perignon please.” Max asked. He glanced at Liz to see if she was impressed by the name but she was looking around the booth, oblivious to what he had ordered.

Max wiped his palms in his trousers, they were damp with sweat. Since when did he sweat around girls? Liz looked at him and he smiled. She smiled back at him.

“You have a beautiful smile.” He told her.

Liz blushed. “Thank you.”

The door opened and Brenda came in with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. She winked at Liz, as she put them down on the table and left.

“So…uh…would you like a drink?” Max asked.

“Yes please.” Liz nodded there was a tremor audible in her voice.

Max poured the bottle with a satisfactory pop and poured two glasses of champagne. He handed one to Liz who took it and quickly gulped half of it down.

“Oh, I’m supposed to remind you of the rules.” She exclaimed. “You are not allowed to touch me, I may touch you but not in an intimate area. Cameras monitor all activity and if your behavior become problematic you will be forcibly removed.”

“Understood.” Max told her, glancing around for the camera.

Liz pointed her index finger to the ceiling and Max looked up and waved at the camera.

“So you’re new.” He said to break the ice.

“Yes…how did you know? Am I that obvious?” Liz asked.

Max smiled. “Little bit, yes. It’s the shoes.”

Liz glanced at her feet and the enormous platform stilettos strapped to them. “What about them?”

“You haven’t had a lot of practice on them yet, have you? Every time I’ve seen you tonight, you’ve been falling off them.”

“Oh…” Liz laughed. “I guess I’ll have to work on that. So why did you request me? Why not one of the more experienced girls?”

“I like virgins.” Max stated boldly, looking her straight in the eye.

She blushed and looked away.

“Is this your full time job? Or are you something else by day?” Max asked.

“I’m a student. I’m studying microbiology at UCLA.” Liz informed him.

“Ah…yes….that old cliché. You’re only a stripper to put yourself through school. Sounds like a porn.” Max smirked.

Liz flushed again. She remembered a story Nell had recommended to her to use. “Actually, that’s not really why I’m doing it. The money’s a bonus of course but the real reason I’m here less clichéd. I have this side to me, something inside me, a fantasy I guess. I like being watched. It’s something that I wanted to experience.”

Max regarded her silently for a moment. He took in the way she was sitting, hunched forward, her knees pressed tightly together, her arms crossed defensively across her stomach. “You’ll have to work on that too.”

“What?” Liz asked in confusion.

“Your story, you’ll have to work on how you tell it. Right now it’s not very believable.” Max informed her.

Liz blushed again and bit her bottom lip. It made her look so young and vulnerable that Max felt like a dirty old man. He didn’t have a lot of morals, but he had some. Not exploiting underage girls for sex was one of them.

He leaned back in the seat and sighed. This was not how he had imagined this evening going. He poured himself another glass of champagne and offered some to Liz. She held out her glass, but Max paused. “Are you sure that you’re legal to drink this.”

“Yes.” Liz responded with a roll of her eyes. Max poured her glass and she sipped it slowly.

“Tell you what, you can use this session as a training exercise.” Max suggested. “I’ll be your guinea pig.”

“Ok.”

Max smiled. “Tell me the story again, only this time sit back in the seat. Straighten your back. Put your shoulders out. Push your breasts forward.”

Liz hesitated shyly, biting her lip again.

Max reached for his wallet and pulled out a $50 bill and slid it across the table.

After taking a deep breath, Liz did as he had instructed, though she kept her arms crossed over her stomach to cover herself.

“That’s better. Now, move your arms. Hold your glass in one hand.” Max suggested. “Don’t press your legs together so tight. You want to let the guy think he has a chance of getting between them.”

Another blush stained Liz's cheeks and neck. Max couldn’t help but think it made her look adorable. He smiled at her. “That’s another thing you’ll have to work on. Unless you want to blush every time a guy makes a suggestive remark to you in here.”

“I guess so.” Liz giggled. She kept her legs cross but relaxed them a little. Max nodded in approval.

“That’s better. Now, when you’re talking you should, twirl a lock of your hair around your finger. Or, that other girl – the scary Russian. Whenever she was taking tome, she was running her finger along the edge of her bra and I couldn’t take my eyes of her breasts. Try that.” Max said excitedly.

Liz did as he said, running her finger along the edge of the pleather material. “I guess the real reason I’m here is for the thrill. I have this side to me, something inside me, a fantasy I guess. I like being watched. It’s something that I wanted to experience.”

When she was finished she glanced up at Max through her eyelashes. It was a completely innocent move by Liz, but suddenly Max found himself growing hard. He crossed his legs so she wouldn’t notice. “That was good.” He nodded.

“Thanks.” Liz grinned. She had almost enjoyed it. “Got any more tips?”

Max cleared his throat. “How about using an ice cube to cool your self down?”

“Ok.” Liz grabbed an ice cube from the bucket and looked at it helplessly. “Now what?”

“Just run it against your body. Like this.” Max told her. He picked put another cube. “It’s getting hot in here.” Then he mimicked dabbing his neck with the ice, then over his shirt between his pecks.


Liz imitated the move. Running the ice cube across her neck then down in the valley between her breasts. “That’s better.” She purred.

Max swallowed. “Good.” Man, it really was getting very hot in here. Liz raised the ice cube to her lips, her tongue snaked out to touch the moisture that was dripping off. Then she licked her lips. Max was entranced by her actions. As if in slow motion, Liz leaned forward and pressed her hand to his cheek. “You feel so hot.” She ran the ice cube over his brow and then pushed it into this mouth, letting her finger linger on his lips before pulling away and licking her finger suggestively.

“How was that?”

Max’s mouth dropped open. His cock was throbbing hard in his pants and he squirmed uncomfortably. He couldn’t speak. So he just nodded.

Liz threw back her head and broke into peals of laughter. “That was so cheesy. I can’t believe I just did that.”

Somehow Max managed to regain control of his senses. “It was pretty cheesy but very effective. You’re pretty good at this once you loosen up.”

“Thanks” Liz threw back the remainder of her drink. “How about some more?”

Max rang the bell and another bottle of champagne was brought in. After pouring them drinks, Max eyed the pole on the table. “Have you any moves to show me?”

“Uh, I guess.” Liz giggled nervously. She tossed back the glass of champagne and climbed onto the table. “My hands are sweaty.” She said, rubbing them against her thighs.

“That’s very sexy.” Max said dryly. He handed her the cloth from around the bottle of champagne and Liz patted her hands dry.

Whether it was the bottle of champagne she had consumed or how comfortable she felt with Max, Liz wasn’t as nervous as she thought she would be and was able to demonstrate her moves. They weren’t extraordinary or numerous but she did them with a natural grace and ease. In her hands, the moves that could look smutty and crude, instead looked classy. She might not have got the sexy element down just yet, but she was so beautiful and graceful that Max was unable to take her eyes from her.

“Am I turning you on?” Liz asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure.” Max shrugged, feigning boredom.

“Jerk.” Liz laughed, slapping him playfully on the arm. “I have one move that’ll really blow your mind.”

“Show me.”

Liz swung around on the pole, swishing her hair back. “It’ll cost you.”

Max opened his wallet and pulled out a fifty. Liz raised her eyebrow. He pulled out another fifty and slid the two across the table to join the one he had given her earlier. “Happy?”

“Ecstatic.” Liz grinned. She pranced around the pole with feline grace until she was right in front of Max and leaning against the pole. She lifted her foot and pressed it against Max’s chest, pushing him backward into the seat.

Liz raised her hands slowly over her head and grabbed the pole. Then she slid down until her butt was touching her heals, keeping her knees pressed together. When she was at the lowest point in her dip, she opened her knees wide and slowly trailed one hand through her hair, over her breast and abs and between her legs. “Mmmm.” She moaned.

At that point, Max came in his pants. He was so surprised that he blushed bright red and snapped his legs together. To his immense relief Liz had her eyes closed and didn’t notice.

“Well?” She asked expectantly.

“Uh…yeah…that’s pretty…pretty hot.” Max coughed.

Liz smiled. “I’m glad you think so.” She looked at the clock over the door. “It’s getting kind of late. I have class in the morning. Do you mind if we finish up now?”

“But I didn’t even get to see you naked.” Max said with a pretend pout.

Liz leaned close to him, until their lips were only millimetres apart. “That’s for next time.” Then she kissed his cheek and sauntered out of the room. Max watched her go, admiring her ass as she walked away.

He couldn’t wait until next time.

***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:47 am, edited 4 times in total.
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nibbles2
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Post by nibbles2 »

OMG, I can’t believe how great the response has been to this fic. Thank you all so much. I’m so delighted that you liked that chapter so much because I wasn’t sure that it was good enough to post. I hope you like this one too.

elizasere

roswell3053

VeronicB

Morning Dreamgirl

LegalAlien

Drogyn

BehrObsession
Yes, Max was very sweet but a word of warning, that’s not how he behaves normally.

Anonymousarfan

Earth2Mama

RhondaAnn

POM

candycane14

Roswell 10/2/00

Bluesands
Yeah, Max is heading for a fall.

Luzser1800

Maya

Ms. Anonymous

begonia9508

Fehrbaby
I’m just trying to live up to the awesome banner!

Tequathisy

Lvlyfem

Empress_luci

Erina

Alexceasar

Shadowlynxbehr

Behrlyliz
Thank you.

RoswellRulz

salcombe_girl

IluvMaxEvans

ShatteredDreamer

Vampyrax

Brillantsmiles

PSW2001
very soon!!

Francesca

killjoy
I think that you were the only person who didn’t fall for Max’s charms in the booth. As I already said that any similarities between Isabel and real people is purely coincidental but there is an uncanny resemblance – now that you mention it. :lol:

maxandliz4ever1357

Gabriel Knight52
Thank you, I didn’t actually know that. Very interesting.

SmileeUk

roswell3053

L-J-L 76
I love all the questions and I’ll try answering them as best I can. You’ll see in a couple of chapters. Yes, but not for a while. Yes. Alex and Maria already know about Liz’s job. Um, no. They’ll all meet each other but at separate occasions. Yes. Yes. Can’t say. Does that help?


Ultimatepickupline thanks

I love you guys so much, enjoy.



Chapter 6


When Maria came home from work the next morning she was holding a box of crispy crème’s and a stuffed pig. To her immense surprise she found Liz happily preparing breakfast, singing along, badly, to the radio and teetering on her 6-inch stilettos.

The blonde stood in the doorway, taking in the scene with an amazed smile on her face. She had been expecting tears and depression, not singing.

“Hey.” Liz exclaimed with a huge grin when she noticed her best friend. “I didn’t hear you come in. Sit down; breakfast will be ready in just a minute. How was work?”

“It was good.” Maria told her. “And you?”

“Great. I had such a great night. Can you believe it?” Liz's eyes were shining with excitement.

“Really?” Maria asked, her incredulous voice conveying how amazed she was to hear that.

Liz put Maria’s breakfast on the table and urged her to sit. “It really was good. I actually had fun. It was uncomfortable at first and I wanted to run away but I stuck it out and I ended up making over $400 in tips alone and having a good time.”

“I’m so glad.” Maria laughed, not quite able to believe what she was hearing. Her smile faded and she frowned. “You’re not just making this up so I won’t worry about you? Are you?”

“No, I promise.” Liz told Maria all about her night, including the time she had spent with Max Evans in the booth. “He’s really nice, I thought he’d be a jerk but he was so sweet to me and I think he liked me. He said that he’d come back again.”

Maria shook her head in amazement. “Wow. That’s great. I’m so glad that it went well.”

“Me too, I’m glad that I got to go in last night and had a good time because now I’m not dreading next week as much. And I know what I have to work on, like balancing on my shoes.” Liz giggled.

“I guess you don’t need this guy then.” Maria smiled handing over the stuffed animal.

“I’ll keep it as a good luck charm to remind me that no matter how bad things get I’ll always have you.” Liz hugged Maria as she spoke. “Did you see Grandma Claudia last night?”

“Yes, I sat with her before my shift started and I was there for a few minutes this morning. She’s still the same.” Maria pushed her plate away and stood up. “Thanks for breakfast. I’m going to go to bed. If you’re home by 4 and I’m still asleep can you wake me please? I have to work at the center tonight.”

“Sure.”

“Thanks.” Maria went to her room to get ready for bed. When she went back into the kitchen for a glass of water she found Liz practising her pole dancing on a broom with a huge grin on her face. Maria shook her head in disbelief, she never thought she’d see the day when her naïve, innocent, uptight, prudish, perfect best friend would enjoy stripping.


***



In a desperate bid to save his teenage drop in centre, Alex had compiled a dossier of everything he could lay his hands on that showed it off in a good light and sent it to Philip Evan’s home address.

He wasn’t the first person that had sent Philip Evans information about a cash strapped project, or a charity in need of financial aid or a good cause that just needed a generous donor. In fact, Philip Evans got so many such solicitations that he a person working full time just to deal with those letters alone.

Normally, Alex would have got a polite letter in return that informed him his information had been passed along to the Evan’s family foundation and would be kept on file, but the eagle-eyed secretary who opened the letter saw the address and assumed it was in fact a business letter relating to the new development on Wilson Road and sent it to Philip Evan’s home office.

It was there that Diane Evans chanced upon it while waiting for Philip to finish a phonecall to Sweden. She quickly became absorbed in it and was impressed by its work.

“What’s that honey?” Philip asked when he finally finished up his call.

“Just some information about a charity I found here.” Diane said without looking up from the pamphlet she was reading.

Philip picked up one of the leaflets and hoped that Diane wouldn’t see the address. If she did, she would realise that her family was currently trying to close it down and no doubt step in and try to save it. But he was lucky, Diane hadn’t thought to look at the address.

“So what brings you here?” Philip asked.

“I wanted to talk to you about what we’re going to do with Isabel but I’ve had an idea.” Diane revealed. She handed him a brochure. “This place is looking for volunteers; we should get Isabel to work there.”

“She’ll never agree to it.” Philip said at once.

“We don’t give her a choice. We tell her that she has to, we’ve saved her from being busted for drug use and going to jail for assault. She owes us.” Diane pressed. “She’s not going to mend her ways if we don’t step in and do something Philip.”

“I agree, but is sending her to work with drug addicts really the best way to do it?” Philip asked. “Isn’t that the type of people we want to keep her away from?”

Diane sighed. “If she works with them she’ll see affect that drugs have on people, the problems it causes. And she’ll maybe learn to care about people other than herself for once.”

Philip pursed his lips. “I guess it makes sense.”

“She’s a good person, she’s smart and sweet. I know that once she sees these kids and hears their stories she’ll want to help them. She’s not a bad person.” Diane shook her head and picked up a tabloid magazine that depicted Isabel in a deep kiss with a guy that Diane knew was a movie actor.

Philip took it from her and tossed it in the trash. He didn’t want his wife to read what had been written about her daughter. “How did we get it so wrong Di?”

“I think we gave them too much. Max and Isabel have been seduced by the glamorous lifestyle of the famous but I’m sure that they’ll get tired of it soon and want something more substantial in their lives.” Diane sighed.

“They’re living in a bubble. We need to burst it.” Philip exclaimed. “You're right, Isabel needs to step back into reality and see what the real world is like. She used to be so involved in everything when she was younger. Once she’s had a reminder of that she’ll give up this celebrity thing she has going on.”

“What about Max?” Diane asked fretfully.

“He’s agreed to do some work for me at the company. Michael said he was there yesterday to be briefed. I think he might come around by himself soon.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

Philip pursed his lips. “Then I’ll cut off his funding and he can find a way to pay for his lifestyle without help from me.”

Diane picked up a framed photograph from the desk. It showed Max, Isabel and Michael standing with their arms around each other. She remembered the day it had been taken. Michael and Max had built Isabel a treehouse by their summer home in Napa. It seemed like another lifetime ago now.

“At least Michael keeps out of the tabloids.” Philip smiled wearily.

He’s too busy making you millions, Diane thought to herself. But she didn’t voice her concern. That was an argument for another day.


***



“I hope you’ve had something decent to eat already and that’s just desert.”

Alex looked up guiltily from his donut to where Maria was standing at the door of his office. “Um…there’s raspberry in it, that’s fruit.”

Maria rolled her eyes and came into the office. “Alex, you’ve got to start looking after yourself. You’ve lost a lot of weight in the past few months.”

“I’m fine.” Alex assured her, getting up from his chair and moving boxes and papers around until there was a free chair for Maria to sit on. “You didn’t have to come in today. We would have covered you.”

“How exactly? I just looked at the roster on the door. You’re two people short. Where are Henry and the girl with the hair?”

“Henry got a job that can pay him a weekly wage and the girl with the hair fell off the wagon and I had to ask her not to come back.” Alex groaned. He threw down his donut, his appetite suddenly gone. “I don’t know if …I don’t know if it’s even worth trying to keep this place open. I can’t provide half the services I want to.”

“I’ve spoken to a couple of people at work; a few were interested in volunteering. They might call you soon.” Maria told him, injecting some cheer into her voice.

“Thanks Maria. Hey…can I put you down for extra hours next week? You have the week off after night duty right?” Alex asked.

Maria bit her lip. “Actually I’ve put my name down for extra shifts at the hospital.”

Alex frowned. Maria loved her job and was dedicated to it, but she usually enjoyed her time off to relax and unwind. It wasn’t like her to sign up for extra hours.

“Is everything ok?” He asked.

“Sure.”

“Maria, you’re such a bad liar.” Alex laughed.

His friend fidgeted in her seat for a minute. “The landlord has raised my rent again. It’s not excessive but I’ll need to work a few extra shifts each month to pay it.”

“You’ve a room mate now, doesn’t Liz help pay rent?” Alex asked.

Maria averted her eyes.

“Maria?”

“Alex, she’s working as a stripper to pay for her grandmother’s hospital bills I can’t ask her to pay rent.” Maria blurted out. “I asked her to move in with me to help her out, I‘m not going to turn around and start charging her rent. Besides, it’s only for a couple of months until she gets things under control.”

“She was on the phone to me this morning, totally psyched about how well it went at the club last night.” Alex pointed out. “It sounds like she might be able to afford to pay you some rent.”

But Maria shook her head vehemently. “I love Grandma Claudia too. I want to help her and Liz.”

Alex sighed. “I guess. I wish there was something I could do for her.”

“Just being here for her when she needs you is enough Alex.” Maria said gently. She picked up a folder from the desk and stood up. “I should get a start on this. Don’t tell Liz about the rent, ok.”

“Of course.” Alex nodded. He watched Maria slip out of the room and leaned back in his chair with a sigh. He thought Liz was the only one he had to worry about but now it looked like Maria was on the list too.

His thoughts were interrupted when the phone on his desk rang. “Hello, Alex Whitman.”

“Yes…hello…I’m calling about a flyer I saw. You were looking for volunteers, do you still need people?” A woman’s voice asked.

“Yes, of course. We are always happy to welcome anybody who wishes to volunteer here.” Alex said at once, doing his best to not sound desperate.

“Oh good. I would like to enlist my daughter. She’s been trying to find something like this to participate in. She’s twenty-one. She has done volunteer work in the past…there is a slight problem however.”

Of course, Alex thought. “Oh, what’s that?”

”She sometimes uses drugs. She’s not an addict, it really was only recreational use and she has promised to stop.” The woman paused. “I must sound like a mother in denial now, but Izzy will be closely monitored by her father and I and if we find out that she is using drugs then she will be admitted to a drug rehabilitation center in Arizona. She will be made aware of this and I don’t think that she’ll risk it.”

“I see.” Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. On one hand he really, really wanted to turn this Izzy away but on the other, something about the woman on the other end of the phone made him believe her about her daughter. Or at least, made him want to help her.

“No, I understand that it’s a big risk for you.” The woman sighed before Alex had even given an answer. I just don’t know how else to get through to her….What if I volunteered at the same time as her? I could supervise her so that you wouldn’t have to worry about her.”

His head was screaming no, no, no. He knew it would be bad idea to allow a drug user to become a volunteer. It would be a bad idea to allow a family drama to be played out in his centre. He knew this was a bad idea all around. Yet, he found himself saying. “That would be fine, why don’t you come and see me some time this week and we can work out a schedule.”

The woman thanked him profusely before hanging up, leaving Alex to bang his head against his desk.


***



Isabel could not believe her ears. She looked around for the hidden cameras. “Am I on punked?”

“What’s punked?” Diane asked with a frown.

“It’s a TV show that plays pranks on celebrities.” Isabel explained.

Diane rolled her eyes. “No, you are not on punked. We’re very serious about this.”

“I’m not going to work for teenage druggies. I have a career.” Isabel retorted.

“Pardon me but parading around in skimpy, barely there dresses and partying is not a career.” Philip glowered. “Besides, this isn’t about a career; this is about doing something worthwhile. You promised us that you wouldn’t use drugs again yet you were high on coke when you were arrested for fighting the other night. Did you count how many things were wrong about that sentence Isabel?”

“I wasn’t fighting, I was defending myself.”

“You were involved in a brawl in a nightclub. You were arrested and you had been using drugs.” Philip roared. “Don’t argue semantics with me young lady. I’ve had it up to here with your antics of late.”

“Philip, calm down.” Diane urged. She pulled him back into the seat beside her and turned to Isabel. “Darling, we’re very disappointed in you and I’m sorry to say this, but I’m ashamed of you.”

Isabel gasped and tears appeared in her eyes. Diane didn’t know if they were genuine or not, but she wasn't going to let Isabel’s waterworks stop her from saying what had to be said.

“Your father and I have stood back and said nothing for too long now, but we’re putting our foot down. You will go to this center and volunteer to work there. You will attend any and all sessions you are signed up for. You will not pull out of it or get somebody else to do it for you.”

“Or what?” Isabel asked defiantly.

Diane placed her hand on Philip’s thigh to placate him. “The last time that we caught you using drugs we arranged a place for you in a rehabilitation centre in Arizona. We agreed not to send you because you promised that you would stay away from drugs and the people who supply them. You broke your promise. Now you’re on your final warning. If you do not do as we ask, then we will send you to the farm.”

“I have very good lawyers Isabel. They can make it so that I can keep you there for as long as I like.” Philip added in a low voice.

Isabel was quite for a moment. When finally she spoke, her voice was icy cold. “When do I start?”


***



Max stood at the door of his brother’s office and watched him work. “What happened to you man? You used to be fun, now you’re so boring.”

“What do you want?” Michael asked in a bored voice without looking up from the report he was reading.

“I want to hang out with my brother, we never get to do that anymore.” Max smiled, crossing the room and taking a seat. “It’s after eight, aren’t you finished by now?”

“I’m waiting for a conference call from Sydney.” Michael informed his brother. “What do you want?”

Max rolled his eyes. “Why do you automatically assume that I want something whenever I come to visit you.”

“I don’t know, maybe because you always do.” Michael smirked.

“Really, I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out.”

Michael said nothing and returned his attention to the report on the table. Max watched him silently for a moment.

“Come on, let’s go out. I was at a great stripclub last night, you’d love it there. The girls were so hot. I met this one chick, man, she was beautiful.” Max said fondly.

“I’m not interested.” Michael sighed.

“You’re not interested in hot naked women? I repeat, what happened to you?” Max shook his head in disbelief. “This is why I don’t want to come work for dad.”

Michael looked up with a frown on his face. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“You used to be my hero, you just had to look at a girl and she was dropping her panties for you. Then you started working here and nothing else matters to you. When was the last time you had sex?”

Michael said nothing.

“Oh my God?” Max gasped. “That long?” He stared at his brother incredulously and shuddered. Michael had been a notorious player when he was younger but ever since he had started working for their father, Michael had given up chasing tail completely. He had even been engaged for a brief period a year before. The thought of giving up his current lifestyle to become a married man and a pen pusher in an office made Max physically sick.

“I still get some.” Michael said with a glower.

“Sure, so when was the last time, have you had any since Carla?” Max smirked.

“Look Max, I’m really busy ok? I’ve to get this done tonight and I have to take a conference call in a few minutes, so unless you’re here to talk about next week I really don’t have time for it.” Michael snapped.

Which meant, that no, Michael had not had any since Carla. Max did a mental calculation. It was April of last year when Michael and Carla had broken up which meant that Michael hadn’t had sex in eleven months. Almost a year.

“You need to get laid.” Max snorted.

“If I give you money, will you go away?” Michael asked through gritted teeth. He took out his wallet and counted out $300. “Here.”

Max scooped up the bills. “Thanks. Hey, has dad said anything to you about me?”

“He’s pretty annoyed with you.” Michael shrugged. “You’ve got to start getting your act together or he’s going to cut you off.”

“He wouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t know, he’s really pissed at both you and Isabel lately. He says that he’s not going to tolerate your behaviour any more.” Michael glanced up at his brother. “He’s serious about this, and so is Mom.”

“So he wants me to be like you?” Max sneered.

Michael looked up sharply. “What’s so wrong about that?”

“When was the last time you had fun? Or hung out with friends? Do you even have friends? All you do is sit here all day long thinking up ways to make money. You don’t care that people’s lives are being ruined just to make a few bucks.” Max’s voice was rising as he spoke. “You make all this money but you never spend it.”

“If I spent it like you do then there would be none left.” Michael retorted.

“Whatever, we’re young, rich and handsome. We should be out having fun instead of cooped up in this little office all day.” Max stood. “So I’m going to go out and have a little fun. Are you sure you won’t come with me?”

The telephone on Michael’s desk rang and he picked it up. That was all the answer Max was going to get so he stood up and waved at his brother.

Outside the building of Evans Ltd. Max climbed into his Porsche and sped away to The Dangerzone. The valet and doorman recognised him at once and he was ushered inside straight away. Jane Wilson came to meet him and led him up to the VIP area.

Like the area below, it was tastefully decorated, high oak panels and plants surrounded each table. It gave the men sitting at them a great view of the stage but also offered them privacy from the rest of the room.

A voluptuous Beyonce look-alike took his drink order. She was wearing a glittering thong and diamond nipple guards.

“Is Liz working tonight?” Max asked her when she returned with his martini. The girl frowned in confusion. “She’s new here, last night was her first time.”

“New girls don’t work up here in the VIP section but I’ll find out if she’s down stairs for you.” The girl promised with a smile.

She was back a few minutes later. “I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that Liz isn’t working tonight, she won’t be back until next week.”

“But she will be back?” Max asked, maybe he had scared her off the job last night.

“She’ll be back.”

Max smiled. “Cool, so what’s the good news?”

“The good news is that I’ll keep you company instead, if you want.” The girl smiled. “I’m Lucia.”

“Take a seat Lucia.” Max grinned.

She smiled at him and took the seat. She glanced at the stage where another girl was stripping out of an angel costume. “I love Josie, she’s got such a beautiful body. Don’t you think?”

Max ran his eyes over the angel on stage. “Yes, very beautiful.”

Lucia slid closer to him on the seat and placed her hand high on his thigh. She leaned in close to him so that her warm breath tickled his ear. “I get so turned on watching her.” She caressed her breasts and licked her lips. “Don’t you?”

“Yeah, of course.” Max agreed, his eyes darting rapidly between Lucia beside him and Josie on the stage.

“I love when I get to work with her. We have such a good time together. Sometimes we even forget that there’s a guy in the booth with us.” Lucia purred.

“You mean, that you can have two girls in a booth at the same time?” Max asked in amazement.

Lucia smiled. “You can if you’re a VIP member.” She fingered his membership card, which was lying on the table. “You have a blue card which means you can do what you like.”

“Anything?” Max asked suggestively.

“Except touch.” Lucia grinned. She ran her hand over her breasts again to tease Max.

He cleared his throat. “So…uh…how do I go about setting that up?”

“I’ll do it for you.” Lucia stood up and left him alone at the table to watch as Josie finished her act.

Jane Wilson approached him. “Good evening Mr. Evans. It’s good to see you here again. I hope everything is to your satisfaction?”

“Yes, absolutely.” Max nodded. “Can you tell me when Liz will be working again?”

“Next Monday night.”

Max remembered what Lucia had said about blue card members being allowed to do whatever they liked. “I understand that Liz doesn’t work up here but I’d like to request that she can keep me company here when I visit.”

“Of course.” Jane Wilson nodded, always happy to oblige a wealthy member.

At that moment, a butler arrived to show Max to his private booth. Jane Wilson watched him go with a smile on her face. She had struck gold when she hired Liz Parker. It was clear that Max Evans was going to be a regular client.

Jane could spot an infatuation on a punter weeks before they realised it themselves.


***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:56 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by nibbles2 »

Wow - I knew that people would get a kick out of the Liz as a stripper story but I can't believe the reaction to this story. Thank you so much for all your support and feedback. And thanks to everyone who's nominated me in the awards. Love you guys.

Earth2Mama

roswell3053

Anonymousarfan

Behrlyliz

salcombe_girl

VeronicB
don’t feel sorry for Michael, he doesn’t deserve it.

Morning Dreamgirl

L-J-L 76
I love all your questions, here goes. I think she’ll be happy. Yes, but not for a while. You’ll see. Maybe! Yes, eventually. Maria’s letting her stay rent free at her apartment, Alex is lending emotional support.

maxandliz4ever1357 I guarantee that the Evan’s brats will learn a lesson.

candycane14

RhondaAnn

Empress_luci
one little hint? Hmm, they will meet at the hospital and it’ll happen within the next 4 chapters!

Clueless

Killjoy
yes, hold onto that – Max is an ass. So’s Michael as you’ll find out.

Shadowlynxbehr

Madroswellfan
thanks again. hope things go well in your operation.

Tequathisy

begonia9508


BehrObsession

Believer
ROTFLMAO!! That icicle comment was too funny. I might borrow it sometime.

Sternbetrachter

IluvMaxEvans

Confusedfool

Ñusta
Very true and when we see a bit more of Michael at work, very possible!!

SmileeUk

PSW2001

Bluesands thanks

Elizasere

Fehrbaby

Roswell 10/2/00


RoswellRulz

Loviedovie

VeronicB

Believer

Gabriel Knight52
cool

Smac

Patroclus76 LOL, yeah the banner’s certainly something.

Reamhar it’s going to take some time.

Gaby7tvm


Chapter 7


Liz wanted to scream at the doctor. He had been reading Grandma Claudia’s charts for ages already and hadn’t said a word. Finally he put them down and removed his glasses.

He spoke without even saying hello. “Your grandmother is stable now and I’m afraid that there is nothing more we can do for her here. It would be in her best interest if she was moved to a long term nursing home where she could be given the proper care she needs.”

“I have a place arranged for her at Cedar Pines.” Liz said quietly.

“Good, then I’ll arrange for her discharge.” The doctor nodded and made a note.

Liz glanced at her grandmother’s sleeping form. It broke her heart to see her like this. Claudia Parker would never have tolerated anybody talking about her in this manner, or making decisions for her.

When Liz looked back up, the doctor was almost out of the room. “Doctor, wait.” Liz cried out. She hurried to join him at the door. “I wanted to ask you…” She glanced back at her grandmother, even though she knew that Claudia couldn’t hear them she really didn’t want to have this conversation in front of her. She motioned for the doctor to follow her out into the corridor.

“I wanted to ask you, what are her chances of waking up? Will she ever?”

The doctor hesitated. “Honestly Ms Parker, I don’t think so. It would probably take a miracle for her to wake up at this stage.”

“Is she…” Liz could barely form the words. “Is she going to die?”

“She’s an elderly lady and she has suffered a massive heart attack. There is always a chance that she’ll die soon. But sometimes people in her condition can live for years without ever waking up. I’m sorry.”

Liz nodded and blinked back the tears.

The doctor glanced up and down the corridor to make sure nobody was listening. “I wanted to ask you, since I won’t be your grandmother’s doctor anymore and there is no longer a conflict. Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?”

“Wha...NO…” Liz was shocked and appalled that the doctor would even consider asking her out. She shot him an angry look and hurried back into her grandmother’s room.

“You would not believe what that jerk just did, he asked me out. Can you believe it?” She said to her grandmother as she resumed her seat by the bedside. “But at least he said that you can leave here. I know that Cedar Pines isn’t home either but it’s better than being here. It doesn’t smell so much like a hospital and they have nice colors on the wall. And a garden outside.”

Liz's smile faded. None of that stuff mattered if Grandma wasn’t awake to see or smell them. The doctor’s words rang in her ear

“But sometimes people in her condition can live for years without ever waking up.”

What if Grandma Claudia did live for years? Already she could see the bills mounting up, stretching out for years. She could be trapped paying nursing home bills for years. Even if she did get a good job when she graduated, there was no way she could afford to go to grad school, pay nursing home bills and the mortgage on her house.

She was going to have to be a stripper for years.

***

All the necessary arrangements were made and four days later, Grandma Claudia was taken by ambulance from the hospital to her new residence at Cedar Pines Nursing home.

Maria drove Liz in her Jetta. They parked in the visitor’s car park beside a BMW on one side and a luxury SUV on the other. All the other cars were new, top of the line models. It made Maria feel very conscious of how shabby and run down her little red car was.

As Liz hurried into the building to see that Grandma Claudia had arrived safely and was being taken care of, Maria followed slowly behind. It wasn’t just the cars in the visitor’s area, the whole place reeked of expense. She knew that Grandma Claudia was assured of receiving the best care here and was glad that she was here. But she also knew how expensive it was and what a drain it would be on Liz's money. She wondered if her friend had any idea of the hardship that she was getting herself into. Although Liz had enjoyed her first night as a stripper and didn’t seem worried about going back again, there was no way that Liz would want to spend the rest of her life taking of her clothes for the amusement of sleazy rich men.

The inside of the nursing home was furnished expensively. It was a sharp contrast to the hospital surroundings that Maria was familiar with. Instead of hard plastic seats there were comfortable armchairs. The walls were hung with bright and interesting paintings. A middle aged woman was playing piano in one of the small communal rooms along the corridor. Even the nurse uniforms were nicer than the scrubs she wore at her job.

Liz was standing in the corridor outside her grandmother’s new room, waiting as the orderlies and the nurse put her into the bed.

“It looks really nice here.” Maria said, forcing herself to act cheerful.

Her friend shrugged. “It kind of gives me the creeps.” Liz shuddered and whispered in a low voice. “All these old people, just hanging around waiting to…you know.”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Maria admitted. “I guess at work I’m so used to dealing with little babies who are fighting for their lives that this just seems to be the natural way of things.”

“Grandma Claudia shouldn’t be here. She should be at home.” Liz said vehemently.

“Liz…” Before Maria could say anything comforting, the nurse came out of the room and informed Liz that she could go in.

“Would you mind if I had some time alone with her first?” Liz asked Maria.

“Of course.” Maria hugged her friend. “I want to talk to the nurses anyway.”

Liz gave her a small smile and went into the room and closed the door. Maria made her way to the nurse’s station and talked to the nurses there to figure out what Liz needed to know about the place. She found the nurses to be helpful and very sympathetic to Liz's plight. It comforted her to know that grandma Claudia would be in such good hands and she was able to get good advice from them about which doctors would be most helpful to Liz.

By the time she was finished chatting to the nurses, Liz still hadn’t emerged from the room so Maria took a seat on one of the armchairs provided and picked up a magazine to leaf through. Max and Isabel Evans were pictured on the front cover, posing at the opening of a hot new nightclub. Maria took the opportunity to examine Max Evans. He was definitely very handsome and had a great body. His reputation as a ladies man indicated that he was charming too. Certainly Liz had been raving about him when she came home from her first night at the club.

It gave Maria a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Max Evans was exactly the type of guy that Liz should avoid at all costs. He was selfish, spoiled, too used to getting his own way and had a reputation for treating woman badly. Not to mention, he frequented strip clubs.

But it was also clear from the way that Liz talked about him that he was also the kind of guy that she could quite easily fall in love with. And the very last thing that Liz needed right now was to get her heart broken.

***

No matter what way he looked at the accounts, they just wouldn’t do what he wanted them to. There just wasn’t the money to pay for what he needed. “Great.” Alex muttered. That was just the cherry on an already lousy day. When he had arrived that morning, the last remaining alcohol abuse counsellor had been waiting outside his office to hand in his notice. Apparently he had been offered a job at surprise surprise Evans ltd. The money was better, the hours were sociable and the work less stressful. Although he had promised to come back as a volunteer instead, Alex was willing to bet that it wouldn’t happen.

After his disappointment at losing such a valuable member of the staff, Alex had realised that his resignation would free up extra cash. But now that he’d had a chance to look at the books Alex knew that even without the expense of the counsellors wage there was still a very serious cash flow problem.

“Alex, there’s two women here to see you. They have an appointment.”

“Thanks Julie, show them in.” Alex said, glad of the distraction. He closed the ledgers and put them away in his drawer.

Thirty seconds later two women walked in. One was a very good looking middle aged woman. She was well dressed and it was clear to Alex that she had a lot of money. Her companion was younger woman, in her early twenties. She had long blonde hair, pulled up into a ponytail. The collar of her jacket was pulled up, a baseball cap was pulled low over her face and she was wearing a pair of sunglasses. Alex wondered why, his office was dark even with the lights turned on.

“You must be Alex. I’m Diane, we spoke on the phone.” Diane said holding out her and shaking Alex’s hand warmly. “This is my daughter Is-”

“Izzy.” The daughter said in a tight voice. “Izzy Smith.” She didn’t shake Alex’s hand or even look at him when she spoke, but slumped into the only chair and crossed her arms in the manner of a petulant teenager.

“Nice to meet you.” Alex nodded politely. He hurried to the other side of the desk to clear boxes and files that were sitting on one of the other chairs and offered it to Diane. She smiled brightly at him.

“Thank you for coming down here. We need all the volunteers we can get. Unfortunately I’ve just learned that we’re going to lose one of our counsellors and we won’t be able to replace him so your help is most appreciated.”

“We delighted to be able to help, aren’t we Izzy.” Diane assured him. The daughter’s grunted reply was unintelligible, but to Alex’s ears it sounded negative.

He ignored her. “When we spoke you mentioned that neither of you had much experience dealing with troubled teenagers. Now, as you can imagine the people we deal with here are very troubled so I like to have volunteers with experience dealing directly with them. So for the time being, I will be scheduling the two of you on kitchen and accommodation duties.”

Izzy sat forward, her mouth open to protest but Diane put a warning hand on her knee and spoke first. “We are happy to do whatever you want us to do.”

“Good.” Alex looked down at his notes. When they spoke on the phone, Diane had mentioned that Izzy had used drugs recreationally in the past so he was concerned about her. He cleared his throat, this subject had to be approached delicately.

“You will of course receive basic training from us over the next few days. But I’d like to go over a few ground rules first. Our aim here is to help these teenagers get clean. So therefore drugs and alcohol are strictly forbidden from the premises. However, if somebody is caught in possession with them while visiting the centre we will not call the police. Unless they attempt to deal drugs. Anybody who deals drugs here will be reported immediately. If a member of staff is caught in possession, they will be reported at once. I will not tolerate staff members bringing drugs and alcohol into this center. The same applies to volunteers.”

“You don’t have to worry. That won’t happen with either of us. Right Izzy?” Diane said, staring at her daughter.

“Whatever.” Izzy mumbled.

Diane smiled apologetically at Alex, her face was tinged with pink. “So what does kitchen and accommodation duties include.”

“Oh, helping to prepare and serve meals, washing up afterwards. And helping to keep the place tidy and clean. We have emergency dormitories which have to be cleaned everyday and there are two bathrooms that also must be cleaned.”

“I am NOT cleaning anybody’s toilet.” Izzy spoke up. She glared at her mother. “You never said this was part of the deal.”

“You will either accept it or go to Arizona for three months. It’s your decision.” Diane said in a calm controlled voice.

Izzy huffed and pouted but made no more objections.

“I just need you to sign these insurance forms and then I’ll give you the grand tour.” Alex told the two women, trying to dispel the growing tension between them. He slid the forms across the desk and handed Diane a pen. She signed her form quickly and handed the pen to Izzy.

The blonde removed her glasses to sign the form and Alex frowned. There was something familiar about her face. When she looked up to hand back the form, she caught him staring at her and scowled.

Alex smiled as he accepted the completed form but she simply put her glasses back on and began examining her nails. Though how she could see them with the dark glasses, Alex couldn’t figure out.

“Ok, let’s go for that tour.” Alex said cheerfully. He led the two women around the center, explaining all the various services that they provided and introducing them to everyone. Diane was enthralled by the place and very enthusiastic about working there. Even after seeing the less than spotless condition of the men’s bathroom she was eager to come and help. Izzy on the other hand grew more sullen with each step. When she stepped into the men’s bathroom she had pinched her nose and ran straight out, claiming that she was about to be sick.

Diane was clearly embarrassed by her daughter’s behavior but ignored her. Alex figured that Izzy was acting the way she was in an attempt to get her mother to change her mind about volunteering there but it was clear that Diane was not for swaying. Alex admired her for it.

After the tour, Diane excused herself to go to the restroom. It left Alex alone with Izzy. They walked out to the front steps.

“So, we all really appreciate you coming down her to help out.” Alex told her, hoping that a little gratitude would help her see volunteering in a different light.

“Whatever. This place is a dump, it should be closed down.” She sneered.

Alex cast a glance at the construction site next door. “It will be very soon if the Evans have their way.”

That got her attention. She removed her glasses and followed Alex’s gaze. “The Evans?”

“Yeah, they’re building a new luxury complex there and they don’t want our little center anywhere near it, it brings the tone of the place down.”

“Really?” Izzy suddenly smiled brightly. She turned to face Alex and he sucked in his breath, she was absolutely beautiful. “I think this could be the beginning of a wonderful relationship.”

“What? How?” Alex frowned.

Izzy just smiled enigmatically and climbed into the waiting car.

***

As Michael was walking from the elevator to his office, a loud scream stopped him in his tracks. He spun around and found a gaggle of women standing around his secretary’s desk and they seemed to be very happy about something.

“Ahem.”

“Good morning Mr. Evans.” They all chorused as they scampered away, leaving just his secretary to deal with him.

She hurried after him into his office calling out the phone messages that he had missed.

“Did Max call?”

“No.”

“Get him on the phone for me.”

“Yes sir.” The secretary stood at the desk waiting further instructions. She was wearing a broad smile, which was unusual, normally she looked terrified.

Michael scowled and gave her a list of things he wanted done at once. Despite the long list, her smile never wavered. Finally Michael couldn’t take it any longer. “What are you smiling about?”

“I just found out that I’m three months pregnant. My husband and I have been trying for months to conceive and now we have. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“Sure. Get Max on the phone.”

“Ok. By the way, I’ll have to leave early today, I have an appointment. We’re going to get to see the baby on a sonogram.” She shot another huge smile at Michael and hurried out.

Five minutes later she buzzed through to inform him that Max was on the line.

“Do you know what time it is?” Max asked as his opening to the conversation. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“It’s the middle of the morning. I’ve already attended two meetings and closed a deal with Caelexpress. What have you done with your day so far?” Michael retorted, angry at Max’s attitude.

“Fucked a hot chick that I met at a bar last night.” Max rejoined, sounding very pleased with himself.

Michael rolled his eyes. “You do remember what today is don’t you?”

There was silence on the other end of the line and then he heard a muffled curse. “Sure, the Chinese guys are getting in today.”

“They are Japanese and I can’t believe you’ve forgotten.” Michael shouted. “They are landing in LAX at 2pm and you better be there.”

“I will, I will.” Max sighed.

“Did you read the dossier?”

“Yes.” Max replied at once. He didn’t sound very convincing and it took all of Michael’s strength not to scream down the phone at him.

“Max, this deal is really, really important. We need you to do this. Please don’t screw it up.” Michael pleaded.

“I won’t.” Max assured him testily. “I’m on top of it. Though I don’t understand why you need me to do this, surely there are other people who are more qualified to do this.”

“It’s because you’re an Evans. We need to show them how important they are to us and its better if one of the shareholders in the company is with them instead of one of our paid employees.”

“Fine, I’ll be there.” Max grunted. Over the line, Michael could hear a woman whisper something to Max. “I gotta go now.” Max laughed.

“Max, if you screw this up, I’ll kill you.” Michael threatened.

He hung up the phone and buzzed his secretary. There was no answer so he stood up and marched to the door. The desk was unattended but he could see his secretary sitting on the desk of one of her colleagues and they were deep in conversation. When the other woman noticed the thunderous expression on Michael’s face she nudged her friend who quickly scurried back to her desk looking sheepish.

“Get me my dad on the phone.” Michael demanded, then returned to his office and slammed the door before she could apologise.

Just as he was sitting at his desk, the door opened and Isabel walked in.

“Your secretary’s crying.” She announced as she took a seat at the desk.

“Great.” Michael was not going to tolerate six months of this woman being hysterical, missing from her desk, leaving early, smiling all the time and calling in sick.

“What do you want?”

“That’s a nice way to talk to your sister.” Isabel chided.

Michael just glared at her. “You never come down here unless you want something from me. I’m too busy today to play nice while I wait for you to get whatever it is you want from me so just spill.”

“Rude much?” Isabel asked. “I wanted to say thank you for the way you helped me out the other night and didn’t go telling tales to Mom and Dad.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“I did what I had to do to get you out of jail. Sorry, if it inconvenienced you.” Michael opened a report and began reading it.

“Well, now thanks to you I have to clean toilets in a druggie center on Wilson Road.” Isabel sneered, watching carefully for his reaction.

Michael’s head shot up. She had his full attention. “Wilson Road?”

“Yeah, me and Mom are going to be volunteering there from now on. Well, I guess until it closes anyway.”

“How the hell did that happen?” Michael asked.

Isabel shrugged. “I don’t know. Mom doesn’t seem to realise that it’s in the way of Dad making his next billion dollars so I guess it was just serendipity. Anyway, I did a bit of research. It seems that unless you can force the center to close down and relocate, it could cost you millions. That’s too bad.”

“Why is that?” Michael asked through gritted teeth.

“They do such good work there. It would be such a shame to see it closed down. It got me thinking, I’m a celebrity Michael, I’m on magazine covers, and I’m a regular on E News. I have a lot of influence in this city. If I were to start a campaign to save the center it would generate loads of publicity. Not only would it cost the Wilson Road project millions but it would make Evans Ltd look really, really bad.”

“It’s the Evans ltd that made you a celebrity, not because you actually have any discernible talent.” Michael retorted.

“That’s true, in the beginning. But I’m a bona fide celebrity now. I can make my own money, I don’t need Evans ltd anymore. If anything it would make me more likeable if I stood up for the little guys against a huge corporation like Evans ltd, my own family. Likeable makes more money.”

“What do you want?”

“I’m not sure, yet. But I like the thought of you owing me. So I’m going to be loyal to my family.” Isabel smiled. “I’ll have that place shut down in two months and then you’ll owe me, big time. I’m not sure when I’ll need to call in a favor but when I do, you better be ready to pay up.”

Isabel stood up, blew a kiss to her brother and sauntered out of the room leaving a fuming Michael behind.

Michael rubbed his face, sometimes he hated his brother and sister. He buzzed his secretary again. “Hey, I asked you to call my dad.” There was no answer. So once again he stood up and marched to the door. The secretary was no where in sight.

Michael picked the phone of her desk and ordered the operator to put him through to the personnel department. “This is Michael Evans here, I want my secretary moved to another floor. Send me a new one. And make sure she’s not pregnant or trying to get pregnant.”

***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 4:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Gold Diggers - Chapter 8

Post by nibbles2 »

Hi everyone. I'm back with a new part. I just want to say thanks to everyone who has nominated me for an award.

VeronicB Well said.

Morning Dreamgirl Poor Diane, how does she live with the others I wonder?

Killjoy

L-J-L 76

Reamhar

candycane14

Tequathisy

Sternbetrachter

Anonymousarfan

Emz80m

Empress_luci

roswell3053

BehrObsession

Nicoletta

begonia9508

Shadowlynxbehr

Killjoy

FaithfulAngel24 Michael and Maria aren’t going to meet for another couple of chapters, but it’ll become clear how they meet in the next chapter.

Believer she might, but some people always seem to land on their feet – no matter how nasty they are.

Michelle in Yonkers Sigh, I liked Maria and thought she was a great friend to Liz so that’s how she’ll be portrayed in this fic.

SmileeUk I agree, Poor Liz. Hopefully a knight in shining armour will come to her rescue soon.

Patroclus76 I’m here.

jessnickfan1


Chapter eight


Even with another four phone calls from Michael and one from his father, Max was late arriving at the airport to greet the Japanese businessmen. He found them clustered in the arrivals hall. Somebody at Evans ltd had arranged for a fleet of luxury cars to transport the eight men from the airport to the hotel but the chauffeurs had been ordered not to take them until Max had given the go ahead. And since Max was late the chauffeurs were standing around twiddling their thumbs.

Crap, already he could hear Michael and Philip yelling at him for being late. Max rushed up the group and began apologising at once. He knew from watching TV and movies that Japanese people liked bowing so he threw in a few bows as well. There was a flurry of activity as the men’s translators began translating Max’s apology and excuse. A long convoluted tale that involved a kitten and a pregnant lady. Between the bowing at the translating and the chauffeurs gathering up the suitcases and heading out to the cars, Max was somehow able to distract the men from his tardiness and get them out to the cars.

Sparing no expense, Evans ltd was paying for a suite for each man at the IMM, a fabulous five star hotel owned by the company. Unlike Max, the staff at the hotel were fully prepared for the arrival of the important men and had laid out the VIP treatment.

Max had hoped that they would be tired after their flight and would want to rest for a while in their rooms but to his disappointment he was informed by one of the translators that all the men were eager to begin the tour.

And so Max found himself leading them around a factory that he had never set foot in since it had been acquired by his father. It quickly became apparent to him that the Japanese businessmen knew far more about Evans Ltd than Max did. He had been expecting simple questions about the company but they already knew the answers. What they wanted to know were complicated details that Max had no clue about. Instead it was the factory manager who stepped up and answered all the men’s queries.

When the tour was over they drove back to the hotel, where Philip and Michael were waiting with many others for a gala dinner in honor of the Japanese men. Max looked at his watch, hoping to get away but one stern look from his father told him that Max wasn’t going anywhere that evening.

Shit. He had really wanted to go to the club tonight. Alisha was working and she had promised to wear her cheerleader outfit for him. Max had a thing for cheerleaders. And Liz was working tonight too. He really wanted to see her again.

So he spent the evening hanging around the buffet table sulking and watching in amazement as Michael spoke Japanese.

“When did you learn Japanese?” He asked Michael, in an accusing voice when Michael joined him at the table for a quick bite.

Michael shrugged. “Last year when we started talks with them.”

Max shook his head in disgust, it was just another sign of how much Michael had changed since he had started working for their father. And yet another reason he didn’t want that to ever happen to him. “This sucks, I’m just going to go.”

“Dad’s already mad at you so why not, it’s not like it’s going to make him madder.” Michael laughed.

“Why is he mad at me?”

“Let’s see. For turning up late at the airport, for not learning any of the notes I gave you, for telling one of our potential investors that we’re also in talks with their main competitors

“What?” Max gasped.

“You told them that we were talking to Denzien about developing a new part, right?”

“Yes, we are right? I did hear you and Dad talking about that.”

“Denzien are Igsagi Enterprise’s fiercest competitors. Fortunately, Igsagi Enterprises don’t operate in the field that we’re talking to Denzien about but it certainly didn’t help us today.” Michael explained.

“Crap, how was I supposed to know that?”

“Uh, if you paid any attention to the company you’d know.” Michael snorted. “Honestly Max, when are you going to grow up?”

“Hopefully never, I like the way I am.” Max answered. He ran his eyes around the room, looking for he pretty little translator he had spotted earlier. She was sitting at a table surrounded by three older men vying for her attention and she looked bored. Well if he had to stick around, he might as well have some fun her thought before excusing himself and going to rescue the girl.

***

“Liz, you look great. How are you? You must be so nervous.” Nell squealed breathlessly when Liz emerged from her dressing room fully dressed, or undressed, for her night’s work.

Nell and Liz embraced warmly.

“I’m fine.”

“Wow, good for you. I was a total wreck on my first night.” Nell said in awe.

“Actually this isn’t my first night I did a shift last week and it was fine. Better than fine actually, I had fun.” Liz laughed.

“And she caught the eye of a total money bags.” Brenda added coming up behind Liz. “You’ll never guess who.”

“Jerkov?” Nell said at once, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Brenda shook her head. “Better. Mr. Max Evans. He was besotted.”

“Max Evans? This Max Evans?” Nell gasped raising a magazine that had Max posing on the front cover.

“Yep. And he’s requested her to keep him company in the VIP section.” Brenda added.

“Is he here tonight?” Liz asked, unable to contain her excitement at seeing Max again.

The two girls shrugged and then exchanged worried glances. They seemed to have a silent conversation between themselves. Nell linked her arm through Liz’s and walked her back into the dressing room. Brenda followed them and locked the door so that nobody else could enter.

Nell took a deep breath. “Liz, how did you get on with Max?”

“Really great, he was so sweet.” Liz gushed.

The two other girls sighed.

“Liz, sweetie, Max Evans is a customer. He pays to watch you take your clothes off. There can never be anything more than that between you.” Brenda said kindly.

“I know that.” Liz told them defiantly.

“Good. That’s great, because you have to remember that.” Nell said jumping in. “He’s a good looking guy and he acts kind. Don’t be taken in by that, don’t let yourself fall for him, because you’ll only get hurt.”

“We’re not saying this to be mean.” Brenda added hastily. “But we’ve seen it. Girls fall for customers all the time. But you’re not Julia Roberts and he’s not going to show up at your apartment in a white Limo and rescue you from your life. Flirt with him, enjoy his company, milk him for every cent you can but please don’t fall for him.”

“And whatever you do, don’t sleep with him.” Nell concluded.

“I won’t. I promise.” Liz said solemnly.

They visibly relaxed and smiled at Liz.

“Good, then let’s get out there and make some money.” Brenda suggested, taking Liz's hand and leading her out onto the floor.

As on her first night, Brenda watched over Liz and made sure that she didn’t find herself in an uncomfortable situation. Her second night passed much as her first had, she did little more than act as a waitress. There was one man who asked her to sit with him for a while as he watched the dancers on stage. Brenda suggested that Liz should just watch the girls on stage and occasionally stroke her legs or her thigh. So for an hour she sat by the stage drinking expensive champagne soaking up the other girl’s moves so that she could try to emulate them at another date. And watching the door to see if Max Evans had arrived.

“That was weird.” Liz commented when the customer had gone, after leaving her a generous tip. He didn’t even seem all that interested in what the girls were doing or he didn’t talk to me. It’s such a waste of money.”

Brenda smiled. “Don’t worry, for the next month or so when he’s screwing his wife he’ll be thinking of you.”

“Ew.” Liz shuddered. And suddenly what had been a not altogether unpleasant hour became something cheap and dirty.

“Sorry.” Brenda laughed, Liz was just so naïve that it was almost not funny.

Liz looked towards the door for the seven hundredth time on her shift hoping to see Max Evans walk through. She knew that Brenda and Nell were right to warn her not to fall for him and she was doing her best not to. But she couldn’t help wanting to see him, to perform for him. Thinking about it thrilled her like nothing else ever had.

It was almost midnight when one of the Butlers came to her and told her that she was wanted in the VIP lounge.

“Is it Max Evans?” Liz asked with a huge smile.

The butler nodded. Brenda hurried up and placed her hand on Liz's arm. “Just be careful, ok?”

“I will.” Liz assured her, trying not to show how nervous and excited she was to see Max. She followed the butler up the stairs into the plush VIP lounge.

Max was sipping champagne when Liz walked up to his table. He stood up and greeted her in a friendly manner and offered her a drink.

“Thanks.” Liz smiled, taking the glass and sitting close to him.

“So how have you been?” Max asked.

“Good.”

“That’s great. Have you been practising your moves?” He asked with a grin, his eyes roaming over her body.

Liz flushed and nodded.

“Have you been thinking of me when you do?” He asked in a silky tone.

If possible, Liz turned even redder and she nodded again. He laughed in delight to see her so embarrassed. Wanting to turn the tables, and probably emboldened by the large quantity of champagne she’d already imbibed that night Liz leaned close to him until her lips were brushing his ear.

“I think of you when I do other things to.” She whispered. As she spoke she let her hand slip between her thighs and she stroked her soft skin. Max’s eyes were riveted to her hand.

“Uh…” He groaned, and cleared his throat. He suddenly felt very hot and so he grabbed a glass of champagne and downed it.

Liz flashed him a triumphant grin and sat back in her chair. “Have you been here long?” She asked as sweetly and innocently as she could. As if she hadn’t just done the most flirtatious thing in her life.

“Uh…I…no, I just got here. I was at this totally stupid banquet earlier and I couldn’t get away.” Max grimaced at the memory of the evening. “But I’m here now so we can get the party started.”

“Wanna go somewhere more private?” Liz asked, giving him a look from under her lashes. It was a move she had seen Brenda use last week to great effect and on she had spent ages imitating in front of the mirror to perfect.

Max grinned. “Sure, in a minute. Alisha’s due out any second now.”

“Ok.” Liz nodded, feeling absurdly jealous for a moment. Which was silly she told herself, It was a stripclub, they were surrounded by sexy women. Of course Max was going to stare at other girls and have them dance for him. She sighed, here was a gorgeous, wealthy young man who could have any girl he wanted with the snap of his fingers. And when he had picked Liz it had made her feel special but now she was beginning to see that maybe that wasn’t the case.

At that moment the lights dimmed and music blared. Alisha emerged on stage in the tiniest, sluttiest cheerleader outfit ever and began her routine. It was pretty obvious right from the start that she was dancing for solely Max’s enjoyment. Although the VIP section was pretty full she all but ignored the other patrons. Her eyes were locked on Max and she made sure that he had the best view every tine she removed another piece of her outfit.

She finished up on her hands and knees facing Max, a look of wanton lust on her face. It made Liz want to bitch smack her. Especially when Max cheered loudly and thrust a couple of bills into Alisha’s hand. From where she was sitting they looked like $100 bills.

When Alisha had moved off the stage Max refocused his attention on Liz. “So when will we see you up there shaking your booty?”

“I’ve a long way to go before I’m that good.” Liz smiled.

Max nodded sagely. “You need another tutoring session I think.” He raised his hand and signalled one of the butlers. It was done in a manner that told Liz he was familiar with the practice. Another pang of jealousy struck her but she ignored it. He might have had a good time with other girls in there before but he wanted her now.

***

“Where did Max go?” Philip asked Michael. It was clear by this clipped tone that he wasn’t in a good mood. The banquet had been a resounding success but the reports of Max’s faux pas during the day had rankled him.

Michael shrugged. “He took off about an hour ago.”

“I wanted to talk to him.”

“Maybe you should check that translators room, they looked very friendly earlier.”

Philip shook his head. “I guess it can wait until morning. Are you going home now or do you have time for one more drink?”

“Sure.” Michael nodded. They made their way out to the bar and Philip ordered two scotch’s.

“I thought that went well.” Michael began.

“Absolutely, Mr. Komanoto seemed happy so far, but he was a little annoyed to find out that we do business with Denzien.” Philip sighed.

“Maybe it’s a good thing, let him think that Igsagi aren’t the only ones we’re in talks with. It might be to our benefit when we start negotiating with them tomorrow.” Michael suggested.

“Perhaps.” Philip mused, he swirled his drink around in his glass for a moment, deep in thought.

“Is there something else bothering you?”

“It’s Max. I’m at my wits end with him. I’ve tried reasoning with him, giving his time and space. I’ve tried threatening him. I’ve tried talking sense into him. I’ve paid for the best education anyone could hope for. I’ve offered him jobs that people would kill for. But nothing’s worked. He’s still a lazy playboy. I never thought that he’d be content to live off his mother and I for the rest of his life.” Philip sighed. “You were the same once and you changed, why can’t he?”

Michael shrugged. “I guess he’s just not interested in the business.”

“I would never force him to work for the company if it would make him unhappy. But I won’t stand by and watch him throw his life away either. I don’t care what kind of career he picks. I just want him to pick something.” Philip crooked his finger at the barman and ordered two more drinks. “Would you talk to him?”

“I’ve tried, he won’t listen to me. He’s actually afraid that he’ll turn out like me.” Michael snorted.

Philip rubbed his face in frustration. “This is his last chance, if he messes this up or doesn’t get his act together then I’m going to take serious action.”

“Like what?”

“I’m going to cut him off. No allowance, no rent-free apartment, no store credit. He’ll either have to get a job or live on the streets, because he won’t be allowed to move home either.”

Michael raised an eyebrow and whistled. “Dad, you’ve threatened that before. You didn’t do it to me and you won’t do it to him.”

“The difference is that it’s not just me. It’s your mother too. She’s determined to get him and Isabel on the straight path again. By the way, do you know where Isabel and your mother are volunteering?”

“I heard.”

“Well, hopefully your mother won’t decide to take it on as one of her of projects.” Philip sighed again. “Talk to your brother, let him know we’re serious this time.” He drained the remainder of his drink and stood up. “I’ll call it a night.”

Michael stood up too and pulled on his jacket. “I’ll talk to him. Are you driving?” He asked as they made their way into the foyer.

“Jonah’s driving me.”

The valet had been informed that Philip and Michael were on their way out and he had Michael’s car waiting. Philip’s chauffeur hopped out of the car and had the door open for him.

“I’ve had too much to drink, can you get me a cab?” Michael asked the concierge.

Before climbing into the car, Philip hugged his oldest son and kissed his cheek. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m proud of you Michael, the way you’ve turned yourself around. You’ve done a great job at the company and Max should consider it goal to turn out like you. Goodnight son.”

“Goodnight Dad.”

***

“You’re getting better.” Max commented. He and Liz had been ensconced in the booth for almost half an hour and Liz had been demonstrating her moves, including a small routine she had put together. She had been trying to work out one for when, or if, she ever got to work on stage. And although it was far from ready, she was pleased with it as a work in progress.

Liz gave a mock bow and collapsed onto the seat. Wow, I’m exhausted. That’s hard work.”

Max grinned and handed her a glass of $700 champagne. Liz polished it off in one mouthful. “By the way, the sweat is really sexy.”

Liz stuck out her tongue. “You try do it for thirty minutes and see if you don’t sweat.”

“But I’m not wearing the right shoes.” Max laughed glancing down at his Italian leather loafers.

“My, what big feet you’ve got.” Liz purred in her sexy voice.

“The whole sexy stripper act is a lot more convincing too.” Max told her. He regarded the pole for a moment before he gulped down his glass of champagne and climbed onto the table.

“Max, what are you doing?” Liz giggled.

“Let’s see how hard this really is.” Max declared. He took a firm grip of the pole and tried to swing around it but somehow ended up in an undignified heap on the tabletop.

Liz took one look at the surprised look on his face and broke into peals of laughter. Unfortunately she had a mouthful of champagne at the time and spewed from her mouth. “Oh my God.” She gasped, laughing and choking at the same time.

That was all it took for Max to start laughing too. “Maybe I’ll leave it up to the professionals.”

“I don’t know, you looked pretty sexy. If you were wearing a thong, I’d pay good money to see it.” Liz grinned.

“You’d like to see my body?” Max wriggled his eyebrows and undid the top button of his shirt. He leaned forward a little to flash Liz a glimpse of his muscled chest.

“I’m not the only one who waxes I see.” Liz smiled.

“Want to see more?” Max asked. “You know, so that you can have the details right when you’re thinking of me.”

A bright red blush stained Liz's cheeks and she looked away. Max smiled to himself, glad to have got one back at her. “Tell you what, I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.”

Liz bit her lip. A part of her wanted to run away at the thought of removing her top. But she knew that it was something that would have to be done sooner or later. And now that she was working full time in a strip club it seemed that it would be happening sooner. She was comfortable around Max, he was charming and funny and sweet. She would much rather take of her top in front of him than any of the other guys who came here. “Ok, but I need another glass of champagne first.”

Max lifted the bottle from the ice bucket and shook it, it was empty. “I’ll order another one.” He lifted the phone and asked the butler to bring another bottle of champagne, the same as the one they had emptied. Liz couldn’t help doing the sum in her heads, two bottles of $700 champagne meant $140 for her. Not bad for half an hour’s work she thought.

The butler brought in the bottle and Max popped the cork and poured two glasses. “Cheers.” They clinked glasses and Liz took a sip.

“Oh, watch this.” Liz exclaimed. She had seen one of the other girls do it earlier and wanted to try it. She took a sip from the glass and deliberately let some spill out onto her chest. “Oops I’m such a klutz.” She giggled in her best baby doll voice and dabbed at her breasts to mop it up. Max’s eyes were glued to where she had spilt it. “It’s all wet now, I should take it off before I catch a cold.”

“Good idea.” Max nodded without lifting his eyes.

With a slightly shaking hand, Liz reached behind her back and undid the clasp of her bra. She quickly covered her breasts before it fell off. She glanced up at Max to make sure that she had his full attention before letting one shoulder strap slip gently down. Then she shrugged the other one off. Still keeping the bra held to her chest she slipped first one arm out and then the other.

Then she stopped. “I thought you were going to show me your goodies.”

Max growled at the interruption. “Fine.” He undid the buttons of his shirt quickly and removed it in a hurry.

“Very nice.” Liz proclaimed running her eyes over his body. He looked very, very good with no shirt on.

“Thanks.” Max smiled and ran his hand over his chest. “Now, tit for tat.”

Liz took a deep breath and let her bra fall away. She ducked her head shyly and let her long silky hair cover her naked breasts.

“Look at me.” Max coaxed gently.

Still embarrassed, Liz raised her head and met Max’s gaze. He was looking at her, not her breasts. She smiled shyly at him.

“Let me see.” He instructed. When Liz hesitated he added. “You’ve nothing to be embarrassed about, you’re beautiful.”

Strangely, the compliment made her more embarrassed and she reddened again feeling the flush spread all over her body. But she tossed her head and bared her chest.

“I’m so hot.” Remembering a move that she had used the previous week, Liz took an ice cube from the bucket and ran it along the groove between her breasts.

“Yes, you are.” Max agreed , licking his lips.

Liz smiled, not that she had taken the step and actually stripped she was feeling more comfortable. She took another sip from her glass. “You are too.”

Max smiled. “Man, I’d love to touch you right now.”

“Sorry, but it’s against the rules.” Liz reminded him, with a hint of regret in her voice. She would have allowed him to touch her if it wasn’t against the rules.

“Damn rules.” Max muttered. “Maybe we could get together somewhere outside the club. My family owns a hotel near here. I’d pay.”

“That’s against the rules too.” Liz said, there was no trace of regret this time only anger. Her eyes were flashing dangerously and she stood up. “My shift is over, I’m going now.”

“Wait, we were having fun.” Max called after her. “Come on, I didn’t mean it like that.” But it was too late, Liz had vanished through one of the doors that customers weren’t allowed through. Max sighed and turned to the butler who was leaving one of the other booths.

“Can you ask Alisha and Lucia to join me in here if they’re free.” He instructed the butler.

“Certainly sir.”

“And bring more champagne.”

***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 5:07 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Gold Diggers - Chapter 9

Post by nibbles2 »

Wow. Thanks to everyone who left feedback and bumped me. And a big thanks to everyone who has nominated me for a fanfic award. That's so great.

For all you candies out there, Michael and Maria don't meet in this chapter or the next one but it will become obvious how the meet in this one. Sorry for making you wait so long. But I think it'll be worth it.

There's also no dreamer or stargazer action in this part, but don't worry there's plenty more coming up.

One final note, at some stage Michael refers to the IMM. It was mentioned in a previous chapter but as it gets mentioned a lot more I thought that I'd just explain a little about it. It's a hotel owned by the Evans Ltd. It's very classy and upmarket and very trendy. (it get's its name from the initials of the Evans kids - Isabel, Max Michael. IMM.)

Thanks to Mel for betaing this. Good luck in your exams girl.

Reamhar
roswell3053
FSU/MSW-94
candycane14
Behrlyliz Put it this way, Max was saying he’d pay for sex, but if Liz had wanted it then he would have paid.
BehrObsession
Jason's Lover
Drogyn They will change, but not overnight.
Patroclus76
Earth2Mama
RhondaAnn Your questions about Michael will be answered, but not for a while.
Morning Dreamgirl something will happen to divert her attention.
Behrsgurl*87
Michelle in Yonkers Ok, Ok. I’m back stop the haiku’s. Please. Thanks for the offer of the book, but I would be afraid to read, I would prefer to write this all by myself so there’s no chance of being accused of plagiarism.
Anonymousarfan
IluvMaxEvans
pandas2001 I agree, Liz needed to see that this isn’t pretty woman.
VeronicB
Francesca
begonia9508
Emz80m
Michelle in Yonkers
Clueless
Sprayadhesive You have the best username ever!! I know, the banner makes it look raunchy but it’s quiet innocent really.
Missbojangles
Roswell 10/2/00
Loviedovie
Attractiveroswellian
Sternbetrachter
RoswellRulz


chapter nine


“Mr. Evans, it’s so nice to meet you. My name is Tess and I just wanted to say that I’m delighted to be working for you and I promise that I’ll be the best personal assistant that you’ve ever had.”

Michael ran a sceptical eye over his new assistant and snorted. When he had asked for somebody who wasn’t going to get pregnant he had expected a middle-aged woman, or a gay man - not a nineteen-year-old cheerleader.

“That’s great. Get my Dad on the phone, send a copy of this report to all the heads of department, call my brother and make sure he’s up and on his way to his meeting with the Igsagi group and get me a cup of coffee.”

“Sure.” The smile on the cheerleader’s face never wavered and she had Philip on the line by the time Michael was sitting at his desk.

“Where’s Margaret?”

“Who?” Michael frowned.

“Your secretary, she’s new. I was wondering where Margaret is.” Philip sighed.

Margaret was probably the old secretary Michael realised. “I don’t know.”

“You didn’t fire her, did you?” Philip asked, his disapproval loud and clear over the phone.

“No, I didn’t fire her. I moved her. She’s pregnant and I didn’t want…”Michael paused, he knew that Philip would hit the roof if he told him the truth. “I didn’t want her running around and getting stressed while she’s pregnant so I asked for her to be moved to an easier job. I’m not the easiest guy in the world to work for.”

Philip laughed, “No kidding.”

The two men discussed business matters for a few minutes and worked out the things that they needed to get done that day. “I’ll take the meeting with O’Dwyer. I have to collect my car from the IMM so I can stop by on my way.” Michael offered.

“Great, I always seem to find myself drinking gin with him whenever I meet with him. Be sure to be back here at three. I want us to have an hour to go over things before we start negotiating with Igsagai.”

“Sure.”

“Any word from Max this morning?”

Michael covered the phone as Tess came in with his cup of coffee. “Did you get through to Max?”

“He’s awake and in his car on the way to the Hotel.”

“He’s on his way.” Michael informed his father.

“Good. Maybe he’s starting to develop some responsibility. I’ll talk to you later Michael.”

***

Alex pushed open the door of the crowded diner and made his way inside. The place was packed with nurses and doctors from the hospital next door. It took him a few seconds to adjust to the dim interior but he soon spotted Maria sitting at a booth in conversation with another nurse. She looked up and waved him over.

“Hi Alex. This is my friend Lucy. Lucy this is Alex, the guy I was telling you about.”

“Hi Lucy, it’s great to meet you.”

“Alex, it’s so nice to meet you. Maria has been telling me about the wonderful work you do at the center. I’d love to volunteer sometime. And I have a friend who might be able to help too, but I don’t want to promise anything until I talk to him.” Lucy answered.

“That’s great, we sure could use all the volunteers we can get. Why don’t you come with Maria some time and we can talk.” Alex asked, trying not to appear too desperate.

“That would be great. I’ve got to get back to work now but I’ll definitely come by sometime, bye Maria.”

Alex waited until she had left before hugging Maria. “Thank you, you have no idea how much we need her.”

“Why do I get the feeling that something else bad happened?” Maria asked Alex.

“The builders next door ‘accidentally’ shut off our water this morning and I had to pay the water company a couple of hundred dollars to switch it back on, because they claim it was an emergency call out.”

“That sucks.” Maria protested in sympathy.

“Yeah,” Alex sighed. Everything sucks. I’m going to have to start turning kids away soon because I can’t afford to feed them or provide the service we offer. I’m really low on staff and I think I made a huge mistake with my newest volunteers.”

“What? Why?”

“Oh, the mother’s great but her daughter is a stuck up princess who’s never cleaned anything in her life. Diane told me that she’s used drugs in the past and I think she’s being forced to volunteer at the center as punishment. I should have said no but I was so desperate that I took them on and now I’m afraid what’ll happen.” Alex buried his head in his hands.

Maria reached across the table and rubbed his arm. “You want to help young people give up a life of drugs, maybe this will help her so that’s good right? And her mother’s there to supervise her so let her do the worrying and you concentrate on the other issues.”

“Maybe I should just admit defeat and give up, get a job at a center that isn’t run by a moron.” Alex groaned.

“Alex Whitman, that’s one of my best friends you’re talking about and I will not allow you to say things like that about him. You’re doing a great job in really difficult circumstances. If it wasn’t for that jerk next door the center would be thriving.”

“I guess, it’s just my luck to shack up next to the spawn of Satan.”

Maria laughed. “Things will work out Alex.”

“Thanks Maria. Hey, where’s Liz?”

“She’ll be here soon, she had to talk to her professor or something.” Maria told him. She took a sip of her coffee. “I’m worried about her. She sounded upset when we talked on the phone earlier, I hope that nothing happened last night. You know that Satan’s other son was one of her clients last week don’t you and that he told her he would be back. I think she might be in danger of falling for him.”

“If he’s anything like his brother it won’t happen, Liz will see that he’s evil in seconds.” Alex protested. He picked up a menu and began to read it,. “What’s good here?”

“Nothing.”

Alex looked up. “Then why are we eating here?”

“Because it’s the closest place to work. Here’s Liz now.”

Liz rushed up the table. “I’m so sorry, I had to talk to Professor Jenkins and that man uses like nineteen words when three would do.”

“That’s ok.” Maria assured her. She called over the waitress and they ordered hamburgers, the most edible item on the menu Maria assured them.

“So how was work last night?” Maria asked. She had been asleep when Liz came home the night before and gone to work before Liz had been up that morning.

“Ok.”

Alex and Maria exchanged worried glances. Liz's response was worlds away from how excited she had been after her first shift at the club.

“Liz, sweetie, what happened?” Maria asked.

“Max Evans.” It wasn’t much of an explanation but Maria and Alex nodded in understanding, they had been expecting it after all.

“What did he do?” Alex asked darkly.

It took Liz a moment to begin. “Actually it started really well, I had fun.” She leaned over and spoke in a whisper. “I even took off my top for him. Then he asked me to go back to his hotel with him, he told me that he’d pay.”

“Oh Lizzie.” Maria wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged her.

“I’m such an idiot.” Liz cried out, slamming her hand on the tabletop. “I knew that he was bad news, you warned me, the girls at work warned me, but I thought I was special. I thought he liked me. But I’m just another stripper to him, he thinks I’m a slut or a hooker.

Tears began to roll down her cheeks and Alex hastily pulled a handful of napkins from the dispenser and handed them to her. “I hate this. It’s not fair. Max Evans can swan around all day buying expensive watches and bottles of champagne and hang out at clubs all night. He doesn’t even have to work and I have to take my top off in front of strangers and assholes just to keep my grandmother in hospital. It’s not fair.”

Liz rocked back and forth in Maria’s arms. “Why does he get to be rich and handsome and charming and have everything handed to him on a plate? I can’t catch a break and he gets everything. It’s not fair.”

“I know it sucks Liz.” Alex agreed not really sure what to say except to let her cry, he slid into the seat beside her and wrapped his arm around her. He glanced up and saw that Maria’s eyes were filled with tears. To be honest, he felt like crying at the injustice of it himself.

After a few minutes Liz's tears tapered off and she excused herself to go splash cold water on her face.

“Alex, what are we going to do? We can’t let her continue working there.” Maria pleaded as soon as Liz was out of earshot.

Alex shrugged. “There’s not a lot we can do unless either of us win the lottery soon. I hate to admit it, but she needs that job, there’s no other way to pay for Grandma Claudia’s care.”

“I hate seeing her like that.” Maria moaned.

“Me too.” Alex sighed.

Liz returned to the table at the same time that the waitress dropped off their burgers. Liz insisted that they change the subject from her woes so instead the girls listened sympathetically as Alex listed all his latest problems at the center.

As the sipped their coffee when they had finished their meal Alex turned to Maria. “So what’s happening in your job?”

“Not much, we got twins in the ward today. One of them has a malfunctioning kidney and she’s dying and that baby with the tumour died last night so it’s kind of been a hard day.”

“Oh my God Maria.” Liz scolded. “You’ve been sitting here for an hour listening to us whine, why didn’t you say something. I’m so sorry.”

Maria shook her head. “It’s ok, it’s my job. I look after critically ill newborn babies. If they have to come into our ward then there’s a pretty good chance that things won’t work out for them. I’m used to it now.”

“I think you’re so great. I couldn’t do a job like that.” Liz told her friend as she hugged her.

“Thanks Liz. Really, it’s ok.” Maria smiled. She checked her watch. “I better dash or I’ll be late for my shift. See you guys.”

“Bye.” Alex called after her. He turned to Liz and grinned. “Boy, did the three of us pick the worst jobs possible.”

***

Michael glanced at his watch as he climbed into his silver Lexus. Although he hadn’t accepted any of O’Dwyer’s gin he had still been unable to leave the office any quicker than his father would have been. O’Dwyer had taken no notice of Michael’s impatience or rudeness and had kept him talking about the greens at the golf club they were both members of. It was only when Michael got a phone call from his mother and pretended it was an important business call that he was able to leave. Then road works had delayed his taxi for twenty minutes so it was much later than he had anticipated by the time that he was collecting his car from the IMM.

As he was driving back to the office, Michael realised that he had not eaten lunch and was hungry so he pulled into the parking lot of the first diner he passed. As he was entering he collided with a young woman.

“Watch it.” He scowled.

“Sorry.” The slim brunette apologised before adding under her breath. “Jerk.”

Michael ignored her and made his way inside. The diner was packed with people wearing scrubs of all different colors and it took him a moment to remember that there was a hospital across the road. He ordered a lasagne and fries but the food was so awful that he only ate half of it before pushing the plate away and going back out to his car.

He didn’t pay any attention to the sound when he heard it first as he climbed into his car, but as he was backing out of his space and noticed the small bundle moving it suddenly dawned on him that something wasn’t right. He stopped the car and frowned, watching the bundle of rags carefully. They moved again.

With a sigh, Michael climbed out of the car. He checked his watch and saw that it was already after three, he was going to be so late getting back to the meeting with his father.

As he approached the small bundle he heard the sound again, the soft whimper of a baby. For a moment he was frozen in position as he looked down at the tiny baby wrapped in an old sweatshirt inside a dirty sportsbag and lying on the ground. It was so out of place and unexpected that he couldn’t quiet believe that it was really there. The baby let out a piercing wail and then made a gasping sound as if it was struggling to breathe. It snapped Michael out of his stupor and before he had even thought about it, he had scooped the baby up and was running across the street.

He narrowly avoided being hit by two cars and an ambulance as he darted across the street and ran around the block searching for the entrance. It was only later that night when he realised that he should have taken the infant into the diner, which was packed with hospital workers on their lunch break.

Finally he found the entrance to the ER and rushed inside. “Help me.” He panted, thrusting the baby at the first person he saw in a pair of scrubs.

“What’s wrong?” The nurse asked, taking the child in her arms. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the baby. “Sir, what happened?”

“I don’t know, It was making funny breathing sounds. I…” Michael broke off helplessly.

“Ok, you did the right thing. We’ll look after things now.” The nurse turned to one of her colleagues and issued some instructions before disappearing down a corridor with the baby.

“Excuse me sir, can you come with me please?” Another nurse asked. She led him over to some chairs and gestured for him to sit down. “What’s your name?”

“Michael Guerin.”

“Michael, I need to ask you a few questions about your child. How old is…I’m sorry is it a boy or a girl?”

“I don’t know.”

The nurse raised an eyebrow on shock. “You don’t know.”

“I found it outside, on the ground, it was making funny sounds so I just brought it straight here, I didn’t stop to ask whether it preferred blue or pink, ok.”

“You found the baby outside?” The nurse repeated.

“Yeah, somebody left it by my car. Outside the diner across the street.” Michael nodded. He ran his hands through his hair and realised that his heart was thumping in his chest. He took a deep breath to calm down.

“Ok, did you see anybody else when you found the baby?”

Michael hesitated, trying to think back. “I don’t think so, I sort of just panicked. Is it ok?”

“I’ll go find out what’s happening.” The nurse smiled. She stood up and walked away.

She was gone for a minute when Michael’s phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket. “What?”

“Michael, its Tess, Your personal assistant. Your father is looking for you, you were supposed to be back here at 3. He’s getting impatient.”

“Tell him I got held up at O’Dwyer’s and I’m on my way.” Michael hung up and walked up to the desk.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, can I help you?” The man behind the desk asked.

“Yeah, I brought a baby in that I found outside. The nurse went to check on it, but I have to go now. I’m late for an important meeting.” Michael explained.

“I’m sure that she’ll be back in a moment.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Well, at least let me take your name and phone number. I’m sure the police will want to ask you a few questions.” The man said, handing him a note pad.

Michael scribbled down his name and phone number before hurrying out of the hospital and into his car.

***

“His temperature is still a little high but he’s responding well to the medication.” Maria told a worried mother.

“The doctor says that he should be able to go home in another week.” The mother smiled.

“That’s great.” Maria grinned. She touched the baby’s face gently. “We’re going to miss you Jude.”

“No offence, but we’re not going to miss it here.” The mother laughed.

Maria laughed along with her. “None taken. I just hope that we never see either of you around here again.” She jotted the baby’s temperature down on his chart and left the room almost colliding with the ward manger.

“There you are. We just got a call from the ER, there was a premie found abandoned outside the diner across the street. They need somebody to go down.” Sally said breathlessly, “Can you go?”

“Sure.”

She made her way down to the ER and was directed to the room where the baby was being attended to. “Hi guys. What do we have here?”

“An infant girl, my guess only a couple of hours old. Some guy found her outside. She’s in respiratory distress and suffering from mild hypothermia.” One of the ER nurses told her.

The baby was lying on a gurney screaming and gasping for breath. The doctors and nurses worked quickly and expertly and soon they had managed to hook the baby up to ventilator. When she was stabilised enough Maria brought her up to the Paediatric ICU where she was placed in an incubator. Her sobs had subsided and she was beginning to fall asleep.

“That’s it sweetie, you go to sleep. You’re safe now, we’re going to look after you.” Maria said soothingly as she attached the various drips and wires that the child would need to stay alive.

“I’ve ordered blood cultures so we should know more soon.” The doctor told her.

Maria nodded. “Poor little thing.” She extracted a small pink band from her pocket and wrote the date and the baby’s weight. For mother she wrote unknown and left the baby’s name blank. The she carefully slipped it around the little girl’s tiny wrist. She caressed her arm gently and blew a kiss through the glass of the incubator.

Out in the corridor a man in street clothes was waiting for the doctor and Maria. “Hi, I’m Detective Kyle Valenti. I’m here about the baby.”

At that moment the doctor’s pager burst into life and he excused himself to deal with another urgent matter.

“I guess it’s just you and me.” Kyle smiled. “What can you tell me?”

“Not a lot really, the baby was born in the last few hours. Whoever cut the umbilical cord made a mess of it so a professional didn’t deliver her. It’s too early to tell for certain but my educated guess is that the mother is a drug addict. The baby shows signs of being born to someone who used while pregnant.”

“Shit. I hate cases like this.” Kyle sighed. “Any idea what kind of drugs?”

“Unfortunately not, and it means we can’t treat her right until we know for certain.” Maria grimaced.

Kyle swore under his breath. “I’ll need the clothes she was wrapped in when she was brought in and to talk to the guy who found her.”

“The ER nurses kept the clothes and I don’t know who found her, one of the nurses said he disappeared. You’ll have to ask them if they got a name or number.”

“That’s a little suspicious isn’t it? Surely, if you found a baby in the street you’d stick around to talk to the police or at least see if she’s ok?” Kyle asked.

Maria shrugged. “We don’t get a lot of cases like this here, usually they end up in county or Mercy.”

“Right of course, this is the hospital for the rich people.” Kyle said sarcastically.

“Hey, we’re open to everyone.” Maria said, annoyed at his tone. She wasn’t rich or snobby and resented the implied accusation that Kyle had made. Though there was a lot of truth in his statement. It’s location and high charges meant that it did cater towards a more affluent area than other hospitals in the city.

“Sure. We’ll release some information to the press and put out a call for the mother. If you find out anything else, give me a call. Here’s my card.” Kyle handed her a small card with his name and phone number on it. “I need to take a picture of her too.”

“OK.” Maria grabbed the Polaroid Camera that the nurses kept at the desk and took a few snaps of the new baby, which she handed to Kyle.

Kyle looked at the picture for a moment and shook his head, partly in anger and partly in sadness. “Does she have a name?”

“Not yet.”

***

“Sorry Dad.”

Philip shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, I know what O’Dwyer’s like when he gets started. It’s impossible to get away from him.”

Michael checked his watch. They had less than fifteen minutes before the negations with the Igsagai group started.

“I think we’re both in agreement about what we want from this today” Philip said as he gathered his papers together. “I just hope that Max did his job better today that yesterday.”

“Don’t worry, I was the model of excellence.” Max announced cockily from the door of his father’s office. “I was on time. I knew my stuff. They were very impressed by the Boylen factory.”

“That’s great. Thank you Max.” Philip smiled, slapping his son on the back. “I’ll go say hello and I’ll meet you in the conference room in ten minutes Michael.”

“Sure.”

When Philip had gone Max walked over to his father’s bar and helped himself to a large scotch and soda. Then sat down in his father’s chair and put his feet up on the desk. “Looks like I’m back in the good books again.”

He waited for Michael to make a snarky comment, he usually did at times like this but Michael remained uncharacteristically quiet.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Max looked at his brother closely. Michael looked distracted, he was gazing out the window with a frown on his face.

“Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m fine.” Michael snapped.

“Alright, don’t bite my head off.” Max said. He sighed. “Is it these negotiations? Don’t be worried about them. Kata told me that Igsagai are dying to get on board this project. It’s in the bag.”

“Who’s Kata?”

“The interpreter.”

Michael sighed and looked back out the window.

“Man, you really have to get out of here.” Max exclaimed. “Look, I’m taking a couple of the guys to the club tonight. You should come and have some fun.”

“It’s really not my cup of tea. I have to go.” Michael picked up his documents and left the office. He realised that in his distraction he had brought the wrong file, so he gave it to one of the pretty receptionists to return to the office. He walked up to her and handed her a file. “Hey, I brought this out of my Dad’s office by mistake, could you leave it back on his desk for me?”

“Of course Mr. Evans.” She smiled.

Philip was standing at the door of the conference room talking to one of the lawyers when entered. Michael joined them and told them what Max had said about the interpreter. They discussed it for a few minutes before Michael asked “Ready to start?”

“Sure, oh…I left my papers in my office. I’ll be back in a minute.” Philip told them. Michael watched him hurry back to his office. There was a yell of surprise and the pretty receptionist hurried out, red faced and trying desperately to fix her rumpled clothing. Max followed her a moment later doing up his fly and looking sheepish.

Michael smothered a grin as a furious Philip Evans came back into the conference room.

It didn’t take long for Max to fall out of grace again, Michael thought to himself.

***

When Michael entered his office after a five hour meeting with the Igsagai group he wasn’t surprised to find Max lying on the couch.

“Is dad with you?” Max asked.

“No, he’s gone home.” Michael laughed.

“How did the negotiations go?” Max asked, lounging on the couch now that he wasn’t afraid of Philip coming in and yelling at him.

“Pretty good for the first day. You were right, they’re eager to get in to bed with us but they’re trying to play hardball first.” Michael yawned.

“Thanks Max.” Max smirked. “Hey, why does the police want to talk to you?”

“What?”

Max gestured to the messages that Tess had left for him on his desk. Michael picked up the top one and read it.

A Detective Kyle Valenti called. He said it was urgent so I’ve scheduled an appointment with him for nine am. He says that you should know what it’s about.

“I don’t know. Is there something you wanted?”

“Yeah, I thought we were going out tonight.” Max reminded his younger brother.

“I’m too busy.” Michael sighed, sitting down and opening a file.

“Michael, seriously, it’s after nine o’clock. You’ve been working since seven this morning. You’ll be back in here at seven tomorrow morning. Even Dad’s gone home. You are entitled to some time off once in a while. For fun. Do you remember fun?”

Michael glared at Max. “I’m really busy. I have to get this done tonight.”

“Why do you let him do this to you?” Max asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“You let Dad take advantage of you. He’s turned you into a machine.”

“This is my job. It’s a difficult one and I am paid a lot of money to do it. This might come as news to you, but money doesn’t actually grow on trees. We have to earn it and this is how we do it. And since you’re not going to help, I’ll do it myself.”

Max shook his head. “You are so boring. I’m going out to have fun and get laid.”

***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Sun Apr 17, 2011 5:43 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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nibbles2
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Hi everyone. I'm back with a new update. Let me know what you think.

touched by an alien Max is an ass, but he’s the nicest guy she’s met in the club so it makes him look a lot better than he is.
Earth2Mama Michael’s older than Max.
Sternbetrachter LOL – I am laying it on really thick. You must like Liz, Maria & Alex and you must hate Max, Michael and Isabel. For now at least.
Michelle in Yonkers Um, hopefully you’ll think better of Max after this chapter. (But it probably won’t last long!)
Behrlyliz
Reamhar
FSU/MSW-94
Michelle in Yonkers you seem to have taken up permanent residence on this thread. Glad you like it.
RhondaAnn
candycane14
RoswellRulz
begonia9508
Michelle in Yonkers
Tequathisy all the questions about Michael will be answered in time. As will the question about why he wanted Max to get in trouble.
Jason's Lover
Xmag You’re pretty close to the mark.
D2Tymes you know, I just can’t figure out what was funny about Tess identifying herself on the phone to Michael – but if you liked it then I’m glad.
Paper The gold diggers are Liz, Alex and Maria.
Luzser1800
BehrObsession
Anonymousarfan Yeah, but Michael has good reason for behaving like that. It’ll all come out soon.
VeronicB You’re so right. Everyone else saw Michael as being sweet to rescue the baby, but I think you’d have to be completely heartless to leave a baby on the street. The fact that Michael was able to walk away from the baby was more important to me than showing that he was capable of rescuing the baby.
L-J-L 76
Heavenli24
SweetnSpicy
PSW2001
RoswellScripter

A huge big thank you to my beta Mel, hope the wrist is better soon and we see you back here with your own great fic.

TEN


“Hey sweet cheeks, how ‘bout you and I go somewhere a little more private?”

Liz grimaced inwardly but hid her distaste with a bright smile. “Who me? But I’m new here, wouldn’t you prefer one of the more experienced girls. You might find me a little disappointing.”

The man ran his eyes over her body and it took every ounce of willpower that she had not to cover up. She had been trying desperately to avoid this particular man all evening but he had taken a fancy to her and specifically requested her company. There was nothing she could do to get away.

“No, I want you.” Then he actually licked his lips and Liz could do nothing but smile and follow him to the private booth.

“Let’s get a bottle of champagne.” She suggested, if she was going to have to be in here with him she might as well make a few bucks.

“Ok.” He grabbed the menu and scanned it.

“I love the Mesani.” Liz smiled, playing with the edge of her bra as Max had suggested.

He snorted. “I’m not paying $400 for something I can get for $70. Bring a bottle of the Ezperanzo Champagne.”

“See it tastes the exact same.” He said after the Butler had returned with the cheap champagne and they had poured two glasses.

“So what’s your name?”

“Liz.”

“Liz, I’m Paul but I want you to call me Daddy.”

“Ok... Daddy.”

He leered at her again. “How old are you?”

“I’m 22.”

“You look younger than 22. You look like a teenager.”

“I can assure you that I am 22, the club has a strict age policy. We don’t hire teenagers.”

Paul sipped his glass of champagne. “Pity.”

He gave her a look that made Liz's skin crawl. She wanted nothing more than to run out of the room, get far away from this club and never, ever come back.

“Take of your top.” He commanded bluntly.

Liz hesitated.

“Oh, I get it. You need money first.” He laughed in a cruel mocking way and pulled out his wallet. He removed a $10 bill and handed it to her.

With burning cheeks Liz reached out to take it but he held it tightly in his hand. “What do you say?”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you…?”

“Thank you Daddy.” Liz said through gritted teeth.

He smirked and released his grip on the money. “Now take of your top.”

Slowly, and with great reluctance Liz removed her top and tossed it to the side. She let her long hair fall over her chest to cover her breasts. Unable to bring herself to look at him, she focused on a smear on the mirror behind him. Paul grinned and rubbed his groin area.

“Now dance.”

Liz climbed up onto the table and gripped the pole. It was actually a relief to be asked to dance. Liz focused so hard on the moves and getting them right that while danced she was able to lose herself and forget that she was topless and being watch by the sleaziest man she had ever met. She was dimly aware that he was touching himself as she danced but blocked it out of her mind.

After a while he told her to stop. “Kneel down.”

Liz lowered herself onto her knees so that their faces were level.

“Face the other way. And get on all fours.” Paul instructed, his breathing was uneven.

Forcing herself not to cry Liz did as she was told. She could hear him moving in his seat, sitting forward so that he was closer to her and shut her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see his, or her own reflection in the mirror. She could feel his hot breath on her bare ass cheeks. Her eyes stung with tears but she blinked them back furiously and thought of Grandma Claudia. She was doing this for her.

“Now hump, like I’m taking you from behind. Imagine that I’m sticking it in you.” Paul said.

She didn’t move, couldn’t bring herself to do what he wanted.

Paul sighed and muttered something under his breath. She could hear him pulling out his wallet again. The she felt him brush another $10 against her skin before he dropped it in front of her. “Now do it.”

This time she was unable to stop the tear that rolled down her cheek as she began to move her pelvis up and down.

“Faster. Make it seem real. Beg me for it.”

Liz closed her eyes tightly and gave a quick, soft moan. “Mmm.”

“Yeah, that’s it. You like that? You like Daddy’s present?”

“Yes…Daddy.”

“Oh yeah, you like your Daddy don’t you?”

At that moment there was a sharp knock on the door. Paul huffed loudly. “What?”

The door opened and Jane Wilson walked in. She glanced at Liz for a moment before smiling at Paul. “I’m so sorry to interrupt but I need Liz to do something for me elsewhere.”

Never so relieved in her life, Liz quickly climbed off the table and put her top back on.

“I’m not finished with her yet. I’ve paid good money, and I’m not done.”

“I think you are Mr. James.” Jane said coolly. She ushered Liz out and beckoned for her to follow her down the corridor to the VIP booths. Liz surreptitiously wiped away her tears as she followed Jane.

“Normally I wouldn’t take a girl from one guest and give her to another but Max Evans has requested you and he is an important client. Mr. James on the other hand is not.” Jane explained.

Liz almost laughed. She had vowed before she started her shift that if Max Evans requested her that evening she would refuse to go with him but after her encounter with Paul James she was delighted to hear that Max was her knight in shining armour.

Max was already in the booth, his leg tapping impatiently or nervously. There was a bottle of champagne on ice, Liz just noted that it was Cristal, the most expensive brand on the menu before she burst into tears.

“Liz, what’s wrong?” Max asked, standing up and reaching out for her.

She dodged his embrace. “No touching, remember.”

“Sorry.” Max’s arms flapped helplessly and he sat back down. Liz sat opposite him and tried to regain her composure.

“I’m sorry,” She hiccuped at last.

“No, I’m sorry. I owe you an apology for what I said yesterday. I wanted to make it up to you, please don’t cry.”

“It’s not you. I just had the most horrible, humiliating hour of my life.” Liz assured him. She took a napkin, dipped it in the ice bucket and dabbed her eyes.

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Liz replied quickly. “Can we talk about something else. Tell me about your day.”

Max blinked in surprise. After the way Liz had ran away from him the night before he expected her to be cold and hostile. He really hadn’t thought that it would go like this.

“Ok. Well, my dad’s company is in negotiations with this Japanese company. I’m not sure what it’s about actually but it’s a big deal. My brother says that we could make a lot of money from it. Anyway, it was my job to escort the men that came over from Japan around town and show them our factories and stuff. I screwed up yesterday and my dad was so mad. Anyway, today I did a great job and he was proud of me. And then I went and screwed it up again.”

“What did you do?” Liz couldn’t help but smile at how pathetic he sounded.

“I thought he was in a meeting, but he came back into his office and I was screwing one of his secretaries on his desk.” Max grimaced as Liz looked away in disgust. Good going, he thought to himself.

Liz said nothing.

“About yesterday, I didn’t mean to imply that you’re a hooker or anything. When I said that I’d pay I wasn’t really thinking. I just meant that we could go somewhere that the rules of this place didn’t apply.” Max sighed. “I just…I think you’re beautiful and really attractive and I hate that I can’t touch you…I suck at apologies.”

“This must be very hard for you.” Liz said bitterly. “Is this the first time in your life that you can’t have what you want.”

“Actually, it probably is.” Max smiled, but it faded quickly when he saw that Liz wasn’t amused. “I’ve never apologised to a girl before. When you’re rich and famous like me girls just throw themselves at me all the time. I never have to chase after them or try and chat them up. And I’ve never cared enough to apologise to a girl before.”

“Is this supposed to make me like you more or something? Because it’s really not helping.” Liz scowled.

Max sighed. “I just wanted to apologise. You can go if you want.”

Liz glanced at the door reluctantly. She shook her head and said in a small voice. “I don’t want to go back out there.”

“Ok. Then we’ll stay here for as long as you want. We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to talk.”

“Thank you.” Liz told him in a soft voice. She lay her head down on the back of the couch and closed her eyes. Max could see tears glistening on her cheeks.

“I just have to check on the
guys I came with. They’re important clients of my Dad’s so I want to make sure that they’re being looked after.” Max told Liz. He hurried out to the main area and did a quick check to make sure that the businessmen were being looked after. Several scantily clad girls surrounded them and their tables were over flowing with glasses and bottles. Max instructed one of the girls to make sure that the men got everything they wanted before hurrying back to the booth where Liz was waiting.

She hadn’t moved from the spot where he had left her. Max took his seat and they spent the rest of the night in silence. When her shift was over, she stood up to leave.

Max stopped her before she left. “I’ll be back tomorrow night and every other night that you’re working. I won’t ask you to do anything and you don’t have to talk to me, but there will always be a place for you to come so that you don’t have to go with other men.”

Liz looked up at him for a moment before nodding her head and slipping out of the booth.

***

The following morning Detective Kyle Valenti stepped out of the elevator on the top floor of the Evans building and let out a low whistle. The placed reeked of money.

“Nice.” His companion commented.

They walked up to the desk outside Michael Evans' office and Kyle pulled his badge out of his pocket to show to the pretty blonde at the desk. The other man took a seat in the waiting area. “Excuse me, I’m here to see Michael Evans. He should be expecting me.”

“Of course, one moment please,” the blonde smiled at him. She picked up her phone and informed her boss that he had visitors before asking Kyle to follow her.

Michael’s office was a huge room on the corner of the building. The large windows gave panoramic views of the city outside. It was beautifully and expensively decorated, but there was only one item that gave it a personal touch. That was a framed photograph of three children and their parents grinning happily, sitting on the desk.

“Hello, Mr. Evans.”

“Detective,” Michael shook his hand. “Would you like a drink?”

“No, thank you.”

“Thanks Tess. Hold my calls until we’re done.” Michael asked, dismissing his secretary.

“This is a nice office.” Kyle commented.

“I guess.” Michael shrugged. He looked at Valenti pointedly. “I’m pretty busy today.”

Kyle bit back a sarcastic comment and opened his notebook. “Of course. Can you tell me how you found the baby?”

“I was having lunch in the diner. When I went back out to my car I heard a baby crying but I didn’t think too much of it until I was backing my car out. There was a bundle on the ground, right in front of where my car was parked. It was moving and I realised that there was something in it. So I got out, picked it up and ran to the hospital.”

“Did you see anyone in the parking lot?”

Michael shook his head. “No, to be honest I didn’t even look I just ran. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Are you sure you didn’t see anybody before you got into the car, because often in cases like this, the mother will stick around and watch from a safe distance until the baby has been found.”

“I didn’t see anybody.”

“Why do you think that they picked your car?”

“I’ve no idea. Probably because it was the most expensive one there.”

Kyle made a note of that comment. “Do you eat at that diner often?”

“That was the first time.”

“Can I ask what made you eat there that day?” Kyle asked.

Again, Michael shrugged. “I was just passing and I was hungry. I was in a hurry to get back because I had to attend an important meeting.”

“It must have been very important. If I had found a baby abandoned under my car I would have at least stuck around to make sure that it was ok and make a statement to the police.”

“I took it to the hospital and gave it to a nurse. I left my name and number with them so you could call. What more could I have done?”

“For starters, you could have left your real name.”

Michael frowned. “What?”

“You told the hospital staff that your name was Michael Guerin. Why is that? When I called here for you I was told in no uncertain terms that your name was Michael Evans.”

“It’s both. Legally I’m Michael Evans now but it used to be Guerin. I changed it by deeds poll when I was eighteen. I sometimes use Guerin by mistake.”

“So you’re not really an Evans?”

A dark scowl graced Michael’s face. “I am,” he said in a dangerous tone.

Kyle decided not to push the subject further but made a note to run a check on his background later. “Ok. Would you mind giving me a DNA sample?”

“Why?”

“Just to rule out any connection between you and the child.”

“Do you think that I’d just abandon that baby in the hospital if it was mine?” Michael glowered.

The detective shrugged. “I don’t know you, Mr. Evans, so I couldn’t possible answer any questions about your character.” Although his tone clearly said that he thought Michael was pretty capable of such a thing. “I can always get a court order for that DNA sample.”

“There’s no need.”

“Great.” Kyle went to the door and instructed the other man to come in. “This is Charlie, he’s from the CSI department. He’s going to take a sample.”

As Charlie opened his case and got his things in order, Kyle took the opportunity to study Michael. The man looked annoyed that his day was being interrupted like this but he didn’t seem concerned or guilty about anything. After watching the tapes from the security camera outside the diner, Kyle knew that Michael’s story checked out and he didn’t really think that Michael was connected to the baby but there was something strange about his behaviour that unsettled him.

“The baby’s in the post natal ICU.” Kyle informed Michael.

Michael looked at him blankly as if to say So?

“In case you wanted to visit. They have your name at the desk so you’ll be permitted access.”

“Great.” Michael said flippantly.

Charlie and Kyle exchanged looks.

“I’m done here now.” Charlie told Kyle. He packed up his case and they said goodbye to Michael. He barely looked up from the file he was reading to return the sentiment.

As they waited for the elevator to come Charlie turned to Kyle. “That guy’s a jerk. He doesn’t care about the baby at all.”

Kyle nodded in agreement. “You know, when you get a case like this you expect to deal with druggies, pushers, pimps, all kinds of low life. I never expected that the person I’d despise most is the guy who actually found the baby.”

***

“No, Izzie. You fold them like this.”

Isabel glared at the teenage girl who had corrected her. They were dressing the beds in the girls’ dormitory at the center. Diane had let Isabel take that job while she cleaned the bathroom thinking that Isabel would find it easy. But Isabel had never made a bed in her life and found it to be the most annoying task ever.

There was a teenage girl sitting on the window ledge who had spent five minutes laughing hysterically at Isabel’s attempt to make a bed before getting out to show her how it was done.

“I’m Cynthia by the way. Now, watch me carefully and then try to do the same at your corner.” She instructed Isabel before folding the corner of the sheet neat and tight in a perfect hospital corner.

With a roll of her eyes, Isabel stuffed the sheet messily under the mattress. “There.”

Cynthia tutted in disappointment and pulled it out to redo it the right way.

“Who cares anyway? It’s not like any of the people who stay here will notice if their sheet is done the right way.” Isabel scoffed as she tossed a blanket haphazardly on top of the bunk.

“Just because the people who come here are more familiar with sleeping on cardboard boxes than nice clean beds does not mean that we shouldn’t make them the right way.” Cynthia lectured.

“Whatever.” Isabel scoffed and sat down on the bottom bunk to examine her nails. “What are they going to do if I don’t do it right? Fire me.”

“Why are you even volunteering here if that’s your attitude?” Cynthia asked as she stripped the next bed.

“I have no choice in the matter. Why are you?”

“Oh, I’m not a volunteer. I’m staying here.”

Isabel frowned. “So you used to live on the streets?”

“Yeah, I still would if it wasn’t for Alex. He saw me begging outside a Starbucks one day and brought me here.”

“So where did you learn to do corners like that?” Isabel asked gesturing to the perfectly made bed that Cynthia was making.

“Alex got me a job at the Hilton hotel. I work in the housekeeping department.”

“So why are you still living here if you have a job?”

“It doesn’t pay a whole lot and I wouldn’t be able to pay rent so I can stay here until I have some money saved up. I’m studying for my GED here too and my manager at the Hilton says that if I get it and continue to impress her the way I have so far that I’ll be eligible for further training and promotion.”

“How nice for you.” Isabel said, insincerely. The thought of a career as a maid turned her stomach. “Well since you have everything under control here, I’m going to see if there’s anything else I can do, somewhere else.”

“Oh, ok but will you take that load of sheets to the laundry room?” Cynthia asked.

Gingerly, Isabel scooped up an armful of sheets, trying not to think what could be on them and left the room, trailing half the sheets on the floor behind her. The laundry room was empty so Isabel threw the sheets on to the ground and took a seat on one of the plastic chairs by the wall. As long as she was here alone and there was nobody to tell her what to do, she might as well take a break Isabel thought to herself. She glanced at her watch, there were still another two hours to go before she and Diane were finished.

There was a tattered copy of US Weekly on the ground and Isabel picked it up to look through. Somebody had taken the liberty of scribbling their personal thoughts about each celebrity in pen across the pictures. Most were scathing.

She came across an article about herself with a series of pictures that had been taken by arrangement with a paparazzo. In exchange for a sum of money she had given him the location of her ‘secret’ getaway location with her then boyfriend. Then Isabel had sat around the pool in a variety of skimpy bikinis while the photographer had taken pictures from his vantage-point in a tree. She looked great in the photographs but the scribbler didn’t think so. Apparently she thought Isabel was a ‘slut’ ‘whore’ ‘wannabe’ and most insulting of all she had written across a picture of Isabel bending over ‘fat ass’.

“Bitch.” Isabel muttered and turned the page crossly. Only to be met with her brother’s handsome face smiling at a movie première. ‘Hot hot hot’ was the verdict of the scribbler. ‘The most gorgeous man on the planet’.

Angrily Isabel hurled the magazine across the room. She knew that she was only famous for being famous. She had earned her reputation by dating rising actors and rock stars and by having her picture taken while wearing next to nothing. But what was Max famous for? He was only famous for being her brother. Nobody would know who he was if she hadn’t dragged him to a couple of events with her. So why did people hate her and brand her a slut while Max was worshipped?

They wouldn’t like him so much if they saw that video she thought smugly to herself.

“Yes, this is Alex Whitman. Thank you for calling me back.”

Isabel jumped at the sound of the voice so close to her. Alex was in the corridor outside the laundry room. The door opened and Isabel hurried to duck down behind a dryer.

Alex came in and shut the door, obviously seeking privacy as he held a conversation on his cellphone. “I have some money in a trust fund. Can you tell me how much I have?”

He waited for a moment. “$13,000?” Is that all? No, no, I understand, sometimes things don’t go as planned. Ok, I need to transfer that money into the account for the Lucinda foundation center. As soon as possible. Yes, I know that. Yes, I know that too. Look, it’s my money I can do what I like with it so just transfer it will you?”

He hung up the phone then slammed the door of one of the washing machines closed. “Dammit.”

Isabel peered around the dryer and saw him rub his face wearily before he left the room. She felt a twinge of sympathy for him but it was soon replaced with delight. By the sounds of it, Alex was desperate for money for the center. So desperate that he was using his own money. And when that $13,000 ran out what would he have?

The center was on it’s last legs, she wouldn’t have to do anything and it would still close Isabel realised gleefully. But that didn’t mean she was going to tell Michael about this development. Oh no, far better to have him think that he owed her a massive favor.

***
Last edited by nibbles2 on Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:12 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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