Road Trip

Waking up in a strange room, was by no means any fun. I woke staring up at a red velvet ceiling, not being able to move my limbs. Looking around, handcuffs bonded my hands and feet to an iron framed bed. I saw I had only my jeans on, my shirt and tie strewn across a random dining chair that sat in the corner of the almost empty room next to a cupboard, that had a black and red feather boa hung from the top of it. I began to feel a little uneasy.

Freaking out, I called out.

“Hello?”

My voice echoed throughout the almost-empty velvet padded room, and it seemed, by the length of the echo, that the corridors outside the room were empty too.

I cast my mind back to the night before, searching through the mush and the blur to a point in the night where I remembered clearly what went on.

The last piece of information I remembered that remotely made any sense was being lured up those wooden ‘floating’ stairs up to that dark corridor with the moans coming from the ‘private rooms’, as Max and I deemed them, by some hot red head who’d previously given me a lap dance while Max piled on the Jäger mercilessly.

So I figured this must be a private room, and I’d either been drugged, got really bored of the red haired chick and fell asleep, or passed out, drunk as a skunk. Any of the 3 were possible, but I hoped it was the latter.

“Shit,” I whispered to myself.

I wiggled around and struggled, in vain, knowing I was stuck here unless the red haired chick came back.

To my relief and utter embarrassment, the door right in front of my eyes began to unlock itself, and it swung open, revealing a fairly young blonde girl in an apron, a mop and bucket on wheels trailing behind her as she walked in. Her jaw dropped on seeing me, as she dropped the handle on the bucked and turned away, blushing.

“Oh fuck, I’m really sorry,” I didn’t know what I was apologising for, the sight I guess. But I felt the need since I’d probably scarred the girl for life.

“Well that’s a first,” The girl muttered awkwardly, retrieving her bucket handle and pulling it properly into the room. She couldn’t have been older than 20, and she was short and slender. Seemed to have a permanent uncomfortable expression on her face. Even though the situation she had just walked into was pretty damn awkward.

“What did you mean when you said this was a first?” I asked, tentatively as she plunged her mop into the bucket full of soapy water. Surely this couldn’t have been a first, she was a cleaner in a strip club for god sakes…

“I’ve been working here as a cleaner for a week for a week, and I’ve already seen things that have scarred me for life. And now this,” She sighed, smiling at the floor and leaning on her mop. “I don’t even wanna know what you got up to last night,”

I laughed “Neither do I,” I said, eyeing the silver handcuffs around my ankles.

Silence.

She began to mop again, as I lay in front of her a tad frustrated that she didn’t seem to be doing anything about my state.

“Hey, err, you might have guessed this question was coming…” I started, blushing madly.

“No I don’t,” She cut in. “But I know where the keys are,”

“Could you?” I pleaded, wiggling my bonded hands.

“Sure, I’ll be right back,” She smiled.

--------

“Thanks so much,” I smiled at the cleaner with true gratitude, buttoning my shirt back up.

“No sweat, couldn’t leave you like that could I?” She said, replacing the handcuff keys back onto their little hook. “So I take it I won’t be seeing you again after that horrific experience of yours?”

“Well, I would come back but my best friend and I are on a Road trip around the country, and we’ll probably be movin’ onto another city now,” I secured my tie, making a mental note to call Max.

“I see,” The girl nodded. “Where did you start?”

“New York City,”

“Cool, I’m from New York city,” She grinned, flicking her blonde fringe from her eyes. “You don’t sound like you’re from there,”

“No, I was born in Phoenix, Arizona. My best friend, Max, is from Vegas. We moved to New York for the band. To be near the studio and all. Now all I wanna do is be away from it,” I laughed.

“You in a band I might have heard of?” She enquired

“Probably not. Escape the fate?” I really wanted her to say no, I didn’t much like being recognised on the rare occasion that I did.

She shook her head, to my relief. “Nope, sorry,”

“It’s a good thing, trust me,” I breathed

Suddenly, a guy with grey hair, around the age of 50, appeared from behind the bar across the room, in a red silk robe.

“Hey, Lucy! Get back to work!” he shouted, taking some empty bottles from the racks above the countertop behind the bar.

She turned back to me, her face falling.

“I’m sorry, I’ll go now, I need to find Max,” I stated, feeling a bit guilty.

“Oh, yeah, work,” She grimaced, sounding disappointed. “Call me if you’re ever in Philadelphia again,” she handed me a card out the pocket of her jeans. “Lucy Brown is my name. Don’t wanna be remembered as ‘That cleaner in that strip club’”

I laughed. I kind of liked Lucy. She seemed sweet. “Cool I will,” I opened the big metal door that was the frontage of the club, letting light flood into the dark main room. “I’ll see you around,”

She waved, and I left the club into broad daylight, finding myself on the familiar, eerily empty street. Not a soul in sight, just like yesterday. I retrieved my cell from my pocket and speed dialed Max, noticing he must have the car since it was no longer parked outside the door.

“He finally emerges from the sleaze,” Max answered, making me laugh.

“Hey, Max. Where are you?”

“Hotel in the centre of the city. Honestly, all the ones near were full of scary killer men. Stay at the club and I’ll come pick you up,” I heard Max move from the other end of the line.

“Thanks dude,” I smiled

“Later,” and with that, he hung up. Strange. He seemed kind of off.

---------

In a matter of a few minutes, Max pulled up in the red shiny car, Slash shades on and all, wearing yesterday’s clothes.

“Get in,” Max said bluntly, so I quickly obeyed.

“Max is everything okay?” I asked, jumping into the drivers’ seat, looking at Max’s blank face behind his sunglasses as he began to drive again.

“No, Craig it’s not,” Max snapped. I was taken aback. “I’m such a dick.”

“Max, I don't care that you left me at the club, you probably didn't know where I was...” I started, apologetically.

"No it's not that. But I'm sorry about that too."

Max sighed, running his fingers through his fingers through his hair.

“I’m such a fuck up, Craig. I’m a fucking idiot.” He started. “Why do I have to walk away from girls just as I start to fall in love? First Juliet, then Saskia, now Holly?”

I should’ve known he was talking about Holly. Of course he was. He missed her like hell, he just didn’t like to talk about it much. This must be bad then, he must be at breaking point. I should never have left him to stew…I should never have pulled him away from here. This is all Jasmine’s fucking fault.

“Max, you’re not an idiot. I am. I should never have pulled you away from her. I knew you really liked her I could see that. I just wanted to get away from Jasmine and I…was selfish.”

Max pulled up outside a busy looking hotel, and didn’t move from his seat. I sat watching him, waiting for him to flip out. I knew I was right, this was my fault.

“No, we did need to get away from psycho bitch,” Max agreed, to my slight relief. “But why didn’t I beg Holly to come with us? Why?!” He exclaimed, and to my surprise, he whacked the steering wheel in a flip of annoyance. “I’m so fucking stupid Craig. So fucking stupid.” he growled.

“Your not. It’s not like this is irreversible,” I soothed, aware of the many pedestrians walking past on the sidewalk behind me.

“What do you mean?” Max took his sunglasses off, little half moons of red underneath his eyes. He’d been crying or he’d just had a sleepless night.

“Call her and tell her we’re coming to visit,” I smiled. I figured that I really, really needed to do this for Max. If I didn’t he’d be really unhappy. And I didn’t want that at all.

“But…” Max faltered, looking at me like I was crazy. “I thought we were hitting Ohio first?”

“Fuck Ohio, Max, Somebody loves you!”