Platonic Benevolence

Chapter Six ~ Let it go

 

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The atmosphere was refreshing as we walked inside the gymnasium. Teens packed the gym floor, dancing and socializing to the infectious beat that thumped through the massive speakers of the DJ booth. Just the vibe in the air brought back memories of the school dances that I went to as a teenager. It made me long for the simplicity of those days again. Michael pointed out where Ms. Willis was, she was pouring punch into plastic cups. She saw us and waved at us. We waved back.  My eyes scanned the gym and landed on Nadine, who was dancing with her boyfriend that she introduced me to a couple of days before. My heart ached as I watched them, just the way they moved reminded me of how Jason and I used to dance. I shook my head of the thought. Jason wasn’t here, nor was I going to let thoughts of what we used to be, ruin my night of fun. My thoughts were interrupted by Michael who, from the corner of my eye, was leaning over to whisper in my ear.

“How about we get something to drink, then we hit the floor…” I nodded in agreement, my throat feeling like someone had stuffed cotton balls down it and sucked all of the moisture out of my throat. I followed Michael to the punch table where Nadine’s mother was gladly serving cups of punch. After downing my punch, Michael and I walk out to the edge of the dance floor and waited until the next song came on. The infamous words of, “It’s Britney Bitch…” told me what song was on now.  Michael and I took our place on the dance floor and began to dance. As we danced I could hear some of the teen girls whisper “That looks like Michael Jackson…I mean look at the way he dances.” The guys would says “That isn’t him, what would Michael Jackson be doing here.” It made me chuckle on the inside. Suddenly I heard a scream and both Michael and I turned toward it. By the punchbowl stood Nadine with red punch staining the front of her dress. The girls who did it looked to be a popular bunch, they obviously had it out for Nadine. I left Michael and raced over to where Nadine was standing. Nadine’s mother was gone, my guess was to the bathroom.

“What’s going on here?” I asked looking at Nadine and the blonde girl that seemed to be the leader in her posse.

“Oh nothing…she just spilled some punch on herself, she’s always clumsy like that…”

“That’s not true you little bitch…” Nadine said lunging toward the girl, when she did her posse stepped forward. I stepped in between them.

“You’re calling me a bitch? You’ve got some nerve there you gothic piece of shit!” The blonde girl sneered.

“Whoa! That’s enough…you, apologize to her.” I told the blonde. The blonde rolled her eyes.

“I don’t have to…now if you’ll excuse me…” I put my hand on her shoulder and held her in place. Some of the girls in her posse looked like they were about to jump me. I didn’t care.

“No, you’re not going anywhere until you apologize…”

“Make me bitch…” The blonde said looking me over like I was a disgusting bug. Nadine shook her head.

“It’s not worth it…”

“No, you are going to apologize…” Suddenly the girl lunged toward me. I grabbed her by the hair and dragged her outside. She looked to be about 18. Her little posse of girls tried to stop me but I pushed them out of my way. I was in no mood to put up with a snot nosed bully. Once outside I threw the girl in a mud puddle. Her French maid costume getting soaked into the dirty water.  Half of the students at the dance were outside watching and chanting ‘Fight, Fight, Fight,’. The girl got up, just as the other girls jumped me. Michael ran outside and grabbed one of the girls off of me.  She clawed at him and tried to kick him. Nadine jumped in, grabbing one of the girls as well. It was just me and two of the girls, that seemed fair enough to me.  I grabbed the dark haired one and threw her into the group of students and they grabbed her and detained her. Just then I felt my right cheek radiate in pain and my glasses went flying, then I felt my hair being pulled and I was being dragged. I spun my body around and kicked the girl away. She landed a few feet away on her back. I put my heel on her chest being sure not to hurt her, but to hold her down. She had fear in her eyes.

“Now, you leave Nadine alone, if I hear about you bullying her again, I’ll make sure to break one of your limbs and put you in the hospital…understand?” The girl nodded quickly as I let my foot off her chest. I turned toward the crowd of students.

“There’s nothing more to see.” I said looking at Nadine. The girls took off in one of the girls’ sports cars. I rolled my eyes and gave Nadine a smile. She smiled back.

“Thank you,” Nadine said, walking back inside. Michael came up to me, and hugged me.

“You’re a brave woman, I should hang out with you more, you keep my life interesting…” Michael said looking at me. His hand came up to cup my cheek. I felt a sting of pain and pulled away. “She got ya.”

“Yeah, well, my glasses are around here somewhere.” I said averting my eyes to the ground to find my glasses. Michael helped me look for my glasses.

“Well, I found your glasses…but they’ll need to be fixed, they’re really bent.”  Michael said, handing my glasses to me. I bent them so that I could see out of them without too much problem. Michael then kissed me, I closed my eyes and let my feelings, emotions and worries go. He slipped his tongue inside my mouth and I returned the passion. My mouth was hungry for his kisses, my body was starting to crave his touch. Michael dislodged.

“Stay here,” Michael said and he walked inside the gym again. I waited from him, playing with my glasses, to try and get them to fit like they did before I got bitch-slapped. Michael came back outside, his eyes meeting mine.

“I told Nadine’s mom about what happened and I offered to take you home with me…” He said, studying my face for a reaction of some kind.  I allowed a moment to let the words sink in.

“You mean, go with you…where you’re staying?”  I asked, my eyes meeting Michael’s.

“Well, what else would I mean Crystal?”

“Um…” My mind was buzzing with thoughts of what could possibly happen, I started to blush. Should I throw all caution to the wind? I wasn’t really tied down anymore, but I still cared about Jason. Should I really hurt Jason like he had hurt me? Was that really even me? I vowed I would never lower myself to Jason’s level…Nadine’s words echoed in my head. "No, but what Jason is doing to you is a crime. You should get him back for all the hurt that he caused you. Besides, he doesn't need to know. Does he...I'm telling you, get it while he's interested."  Michael snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Well are you coming?” Offering his hand. I looked at it, nervously biting my lip.

“I…” I wanted to tell him no and apologize for leading him on, but when my eyes met his, I lost control. My words came out before my mind could check them. “Let’s go.” I said, allowing him to lead me to the car. I mentally kicked myself, calling myself a coward. Another thought entered my mind. ‘Just let it go Crystal. You’ve been wanting this since you were 15. Jason is over 3,000 miles away. The only way he’d know is if you told him.’ Suddenly I felt some what relaxed as I got into the passenger side. I let myself relax into the seat as Michael got into driver’s side. He looked over at me and brushed his hand along the left side of my face and gave a heart-warming smile. Then turned the car on and we started on toward his place. We had been traveling for about a half an hour before Michael said anything.

“So are you hungry or anything?” Michael asked, as we were leaving the town that Nadine lived in. I was studying the rain rivulets on the window as we drove. I didn’t even notice that I was starving. I only had one piece of pizza at Nadine’s. That was just like me though, putting others before myself.

“Yeah, I’m starving! Why you have any place that’s good?” I asked looking at him. He looked at me and smiled a sexy smirk.

“You like Chinese?” He asked looking at me.  I smiled back, somehow I knew he was going to say Chinese.

“I love it.” I said, still keeping my eyes on him as he looked at the highway.

“Good, what do you like?” He asked, looking at me again.

“Beef Lo Mien and sweet and sour chicken, or beef and broccoli with egg rolls…” I said, checking my watch. It was a little past ten but it seemed a lot later than that. “I’m not a picky eater, I like anything.” I let out a little yawn. I remembered that my phone was in my purse, if Nadine needed to get a hold of me she wouldn’t be able to. I grabbed my cell phone out of my purse and turned it on. The infamous start-up chime played and soon at was at my home screen. The screen lit up blue, stating I had 14 missed calls and 8 voicemails. I rolled my eyes as I went to my voicemail.

“Crystal please, I’m sorry baby, I never meant to hurt you. I broke it off with Tasha. I only want you baby. Please don’t break up with me…” Delete…

“Crystal its me Jason, please don’t be mad at me. I love you. I still love you, if that means anything to you…call me back.” Delete…

“Crystal I know you’re really mad, but this is like the third voicemail I’ve left with you now. Please call me back…” Delete…

“Crystal, please take me back, please? I love you so much, I know I was wrong, I’m sorry, you got to forgive me. Please? Call me back.” Delete…

“Cryssstall, thiisss iss youuurrr moothhurrr, call me back…bye” Save…

“Crystal, I’m sorry. Please call me back.” Delete…

“Crystal, you’re starting to worry me. Please call me back and let me know you’re okay.” Delete…sorry motherfucker…

“Crystal, its me Nadine, Jason just tried calling me asking me for my address and stuff, he’s not seriously thinking about coming over here is he? Well let me know how things go, I want to hear about it, ya hear? Love ya girl, bye!”



I shut my phone off again. Jason was feeding me a bunch of bullshit lines. The bridge was burned between me and him. If he had the audacity to cheat on me behind my back then he should have the audacity to face the consequences. That was my philosophy.

“Anything good?” Michael asked, noticing my frustration.

“No, just the whole ‘Baby take me back routine…’”

“Are you going to?” Michael asked, slowing the  car down as we arrived at the Chinese restaurant. It was a drive-thru place as well. We went through the drive-thru.  I hadn’t thought about if I was going to get back with Jason, in my mind, it was over.

“To me, its over Michael. He had the balls to cheat behind my back with a co-worker of his, he should be man enough to face the consequences.” I said, Michael looked shocked.

“He cheated on you!?! How could he do that to such a beautiful young woman who has the whole world going for her? If I were you, I wouldn’t have anything to do with him. He obviously doesn’t have his priorities straight or is messed up to do something like that to--”

“Welcome to the Peking Duck, order when you’re ready.” Proclaimed a very oriental voice in the speaker box.”

“We’ll continue this…” Michael said turning to the speaker box. He seemed to order everything on the menu. That was okay though, I liked variety, it would be like eating at a Chinese buffet or something. After our order was completed we waited for our food to be done.

“Now, what was I saying…” Michael said, trying to remember where he was in our conversation. His face lit up as he remembered.

“Oh yeah, I remember, either his priorities are really messed up or he’s whacked in the head to cheat on you, because you’ve captured my heart in such a small amount of time.   How can he do that to such a genuine, loving person? That just blows my mind.” Michael said, sounding frustrated. I stared at the floorboard of the car absorbing everything he was saying. He traced his forefinger along the sore side of my face and traced my jawbone turning my face to him.

“He really hurt you didn’t he?” Michael asked looking deeply into my eyes.

“Yeah…not that you really need to know this but, he’s been the only man I’ve ever been with.” I said, looking at Michael, hoping to see some kind of reaction.

“Well my plan is to take the pain away, no matter what it takes…” Michael said, inching toward me. Our lips met in a fiery kiss that made butterflies swarm in my stomach. We sat there, making out for a time before we were interrupted by our food being done.   Michael smiled apologetically, grabbed the food and asked for chopsticks. We then went toward our destination. A few minutes later we arrived at Michael’s place. It was a nice three bedroom house, but the inside was a different. The living room had warm beige walls. Black velvet furniture was placed around the vast room. There was a big screen television on the wall furthest from us. Michael placed the food down on a coffee table in the living room then proceeded to show me the rest of his house.

“Well this is the living room, in here is the kitchen, down this hallway are the bedrooms…and this bedroom is where you’ll retire for the night.” Michael said turning the light on to a nice-sized master bedroom.

“Isn’t this your…”

“Yes, it is, you’ll be staying in there tonight.” Michael said, turning off the light and closing the door. “Now follow me, there’s more to show you.” Michael said leading out of the hallway and through the kitchen where there was another door. Michael opened the door and led me downstairs to a basement. But it was like no basement I had ever seen. There was a recording studio in it along with a dance studio and an office.

“Wow. I like this.” I said looking at Michael.

“I’m glad you do, how about we go upstairs and eat something, I’m sure you’re getting hungry. We can play with this stuff tomorrow.” Michael said looking at me as he began walking upstairs, I followed him. He stopped in the kitchen and began digging in the cupboards while I went out into the living room and began taking out all the cartons of Chinese food which were still pretty hot. Michael came back in with plates, two wine glasses, a bottle of wine and a couple of candles. I laughed at him as I took the wine glasses and wine out of his arms. He set the candles down and grabbed some matches out of his pocket and lit them while I poured wine in the wine glasses.

“You know, if we were in the States right now, you’d get cited for giving alcohol to a minor right?” I said looking at Michael, who was lighting the last candle.

“Yeah, well we’re not, so don’t worry about it.” Michael said flashing a smile. We started going through the cartons of Chinese food, and took out portions of what we wanted and started eating. Our conversations consisting of how good the food was and how the wine complimented the food. Sometime after we got done eating, we got bored with the menial chatter. Michael looked at his watch.

“Hey you want to hit up a club or something?” I looked at him like he was crazy.

“Are you crazy?”

“No, we’re right outside Dublin, the party capital of Ireland…”

“We’re still in Dublin? Really, well hell, why not. I’m always up for a party.” I said grabbing my purse. Michael and I headed out to the SUV again. I grabbed my cigarettes out of my purse, needing my nicotine fix.

“You don’t mind do you?” I asked holding my pack of cigs up. He shook his head.

“Give me one too, make sure you roll down the window though.” 

“Okay,” I said climbing into the SUV. I gave Michael a cigarette and lit it for him. I lit mine and rolled the window down, exhaling the smoke out of my lungs. It was certainly a different site to see him smoking a cigarette. It made me grin. He looked at me.

“What?” He asked, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow, taking another drag of his cigarette.

“Nothing.” I said as I turned toward the window and continued smoking my cigarette. A few traffic lights later, we arrived at what looked to be an underground club. I threw my cigarette to the ground and stepped on it to put it out on the sidewalk. Michael got out and came to my side. He flicked his out into the street. Hand in hand, we walked into the club.  When we got inside, we stood by the bar. Everyone dancing was in full Halloween costumes. It was like a masquerade. The music was really loud and we had to nearly shout in each other ears to say something.

“What do you want to drink, Crystal!”

“Give me a Paralyzer!!!!”

“A WHAT?”

“A PARALYZER!” Heaven knows I’m going to need it.

“IS THAT ANY GOOD!?!!” Michael asked said, trying to shield his ears.

“YEAH!!!! BUT TOO MUCH DRINK FOR YOU!  JUST STICK TO THE SOFT STUFF!!!! YOU HAVE TO DRIVE!” I yelled, hoping he heard me. He nodded. The song that was playing faded, and the DJ announced that the next song was going to be a slower one. It was Brandy’s Full Moon. I immediately recognized the song and took Michael’s hand pulled him onto the dance floor. Michael pulled me close to him, as we started to bump and grind together. Take our turns to explore each other’s body as much as the clothes would allow. It was very provocative, and very arousing.  We danced through the next song as well, which I had never heard before. Once we were both out of breath we went back to the bar and grabbed our drinks and took them to a quieter section of the club. As my eyes scanned the room I saw a few couples making out, including what I thought, looked like two guys. It made me laugh, I started to guzzle down my paralyzer.



“Man this is so much fun,” Michael said draping his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.

“Yeah, I’ve never been to a club before, its awesome.” I said, sucking half my drink down my throat. It was fruity but not without the strong, bitter presence of the liquor warming my throat as it went down. The club was pretty dark, the only light there was were the neon lights that laced the ceiling. The bartender brought over more drinks for the each of us. I looked at her, then at Michael. Michael seemed clueless as to where the drinks came from.

“I didn’t order these…”

“Oh, those girls over there bought them. They say you two are a cute couple, and deserve them.” The bartender said, pointing to a group of ladies sitting in the corner. To my surprise, Nadine was in the group of girls. Michael and I looked at each other in surprise. We got up and walked over to where they were. Remembering our drinks, I back tracked and grabbed them.

“Nadine! What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at home!” I exclaimed, shocked that she would be in a club.

“Crystal, it’s officially the weekend, I spend that with my aunt, who lives here in Dublin. She doesn’t care what I do.”

“What’s the age to drink here?”

“Well, legally its 18, but they didn’t card me, oi! I’m only drinking wine coolers…Claudia, and Rainey here aren’t drinking and are watching out for the rest of us girls…”

“Okay, I worry about you Nadine…”

“Don’t! Enjoy your drinks…oh Crystal…” Nadine said, gesturing me to come closer with her finger. I handed the drinks to Michael.

“What?” I asked bending over to where she could whisper in my ear.

“Do me a favor, forget about Jason, just for tonight, have fun, and GET LAID!” She said laughing as she ended her sentence. I nodded in understanding. “Here I got these in the woman’s bathroom…” Nadine said holding a couple of condoms in her hand. I grabbed them and slipped them into my purse discreetly. “We don’t want any babies yet do we?” Nadine said grinning sinisterly. I chuckled in amusement.

“I’ll take your advice, but only for tonight!” I said, smiling as I turned around, waving to Nadine one last time before joining Michael in our booth.

“That girl is wild…” Michael said chuckling.

“She’s crazy, that’s what she is.” I said looking at Nadine again then turning back to Michael. We looked at the drinks in front of us

“How are we going to drink these…”

“Well I know how, just start drinking I guess.” I said finishing off my first drink in one long chug. I could feel the effects of the alcohol already. I was feeling giddy, and  horny. They must have been tequila in my drink because I felt like I wanted to pounce on Michael and have my way with him. By the time Michael got done with his first drink, he was very buzzed. We both started on our second drink, I downed three quarters of mine and Michael watched and egged me on. Nadine walked by and watched me. She joined Michael.

“Go, go, go!” I finished the rest of the drink in a swallow. Michael then flagged the bartender down and asked for three shots of Jack. I looked at him.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” I asked looking at him. He shook his head. He looked at Nadine. Michael raised his glass of scotch and wink at me.

“Here’s looking at you, babe.” Michael said as he downed the rest of his glass. Nadine felt left out, so she quickly downed her wine cooler. Just as she finished her wine cooler the bartender came with the shots of Jack. Michael gave the bartender a €20. Michael then gave us each a shot glass.

“Okay, this is for great friends, and for you guys showing me such a great time! Cheers!” Michael said holding his shot glass up.

“Cheers!” Nadine said touching his glass with hers. I did the same.

“Cheers!” I said, and all at once we all downed the shot glasses of Jack. The whiskey burned down my throat causing me to howl out. I coughed as I forced myself to swallow the rest of the bitter whiskey. We all slammed out shot glasses down onto the table and Nadine’s friends came by.

“Nadine were gonna go dance, did you want to come?” Nadine looked up at them, and nodded.

“Yeah, come on you guys, lets go dance!” Nadine said patting my leg and inviting the both of us out to the dance floor. I got up and nearly fell back into my seat. The alcohol was messing with my coordination. I wasn’t drunk, I was really buzzed however. Michael put a hand behind my back to steady me, but he was in the same if not worse shape than I was. Michael followed Nadine to the dance floor. He wasn’t walking straight, and he made me laugh. He looked at me with a funny look on his face.

“Come here girl, why are you laughin’?” He asked, pulling we to him.

“You’re getting wasted aren’t you…”

“No, I’m not wasted per say, I’m…really buzzed.” Michael said looking at me. He nuzzled his face in my neck, and laid soft kisses on it. “Besides, I’m done drinking for the night.” Michael added, grasping my hand and pulling me out to the dance floor. We danced for a couple of songs before Zero 7’s “Destiny” came on, which was a break from all the trance music they had been playing for the past half an hour. Michael pulled me close to him, and I took in his sweet smell. He smelled of old spice and peach. ‘God he smells so good.’ I thought burying my face in to his chest. His hands moved along the my sides, brushing up the side of my breast then back down again. We swayed back and forth to the music, I softly sang the lyrics of the song to myself as I weaseled my hands inside his jacket and ran them up and down the length of his back.  Michael’s left hand came and cupped my chin, gently lifting my face to look at him and his lips met mine sweetly. I drank in all of his passion, as our tongues danced in each other’s mouths. The kiss was very intoxicating, I felt the familiar throbbing in my nether region as we continued to kiss and dance closely to each other. Electricity ran through the both of us. Too soon the song ended and we both were brought back into the real world. Michael’s eyes met mine, lust and passion clouded them. He obviously must have seen it in my eyes as well because before I knew it we were in the SUV heading back to his place.