Apollo was downstairs when Iris flew by, tying down her jacket. "Going somewhere, Miss?" He let his hand slide down to his side respectfully.
"Yes, get me the keys to the Benz; I have to be somewhere."
"Somewhere, by yourself?" Apollo was surprised. Iris did not go out late at night, yet here she was- answering as if it was unimportant.
"Club 45. It seems my donor is out there letting loose. We can't have that, can we?" Her gaze was piercing.
"I'll take you," Apollo said.
"I didn't ask. Stay and watch Charlotte."
"Your sister is not going anywhere. Forgive me, Miss Iris, but I insist on coming."
Iris stared at his father's loyal guard, crinkling up a mocking grin. "You have twenty minutes to get me there." Getting a reaction out of him was uncommon. It was best to enjoy it while it lasted.
At Club 45
'Drink! Drink! Drink!'
The group chanted wildly. One of the guys held Jake's nose as his mouth suffered the abuse. For nearly thirty minutes, Jake guzzled down any liquid shoved at him- all for a bet orchestrated by his workmates.
The day started with Larry hinting at an outing planned for the night. "You can't miss this one, Name. The whole department will be there. Well- the interns, I mean."
Jake had gotten away with such gatherings before, but not this time. Larry went on and on about bonding with their workmates. He also hit Jake with the 'you only live once' adage. When the night turned blue-black, Larry begged Jake to be his wingman in case he got drunk and couldn't drive.
"I haven't seen you party, go out for air or get laid. What are you? A priest?" Larry was persistent.
Eventually, peer pressure won. Jake wore a simple outfit and went to Club 45 with his latest roommate. It was little he could do; to show that their friendship ran both ways.
This was a new environment altogether. Jake felt like a square peg in a round hole. He did not fit in with the boisterous crowd and their idea of having a good time. It was like stepping into sin city without the bloodshed.
Club 45 doubled as a strip club and lounge. Jake did not have the time to learn about such places since he was used to working day and night. It was an awkward period of forced conversations and naked women swinging their goods in his face.
Larry tried to end the drinking game when Jake wobbled after five shots of strong vodka. The deal was that whoever lost the bet would accept a private lap dance- a condition Jake wanted to avoid for reasons best known to him. Larry knew there was no way Jake could win this because the opponent was a hardened alcoholic with a high tolerance. Larry tactically stood between Jake and the others. "Guys, that's enough. He's wasted.""What are you, his mum? Jake is a man; he can take it. If not, then he must accept the lap dance." Oliver, another intern, pulled Jake from behind. "What?" A tipsy Jake muttered. With a lack of physical orientation, he forgot where to put his foot. The others were so invested in his experience they paid a bouncer to take a secret video."Don't worry, man, we paid extra bucks to make this a special occasion," Oliver spoke with a broad grin, patting Jake hard on the back as he was coerced into a private cubicle.
Poor Jake was left to his fate without a clue of what was happening around him. His senses were drowned by loud music, his body experienced vibrations from the bass. He was in a different dimension when the exotic danger came in, almost naked.
"Hold on..." His words were barely audible when what the others called 'fun' began. His blood was hot, his gut churning from the excess alcohol in his system. Jake hissed when his crotch was pressed down by a striper's powder-smooth behinds. As she spun around and mounted him, he was tempted to watch her flexible body bend and shake.
There were some noises in the background, which he did not take note of. He tried to keep his eyes open when another lady walked in, fully covered. Her face was blurry, but Jake recognized a Breton cap on her head, which he thought looked sexy with that modest jacket.
"There's two of you? No one said anything...about two dancers." Jake's speech was slurred.
Iris stood in front of Jake, perplexed. One look from her sends the stripper doubling out of the room."How foolish can you be?" Iris held Jake's jaw, examining him nonchalantly. The young man was too far gone to give a better response.
The Amery heiress turned to her guard. "You know what to do," she said. Apollo was as blank as he could be, but his mind was riled as he picked Jake up. Following closely, Iris secures her identity by blending in with the crowd.
"What are you doing?" Iris raised a brow when Apollo dragged Jake to the back of the car.
"Putting him in the booth, Ma'am. He reeks of alcohol.""He sits with me," Iris answered. They were in a VVIP parking lot, but that did not exempt them from being surveyed by the CCTV cameras."..." With a clenched jaw and a nod, Apolo obeyed. **It was the world outside that woke Jake up the following morning. Balcony doors were wide open, allowing the bustle and noise of cars to disturb the enclosure. Jake sat up. One side of his head throbbed mysteriously while the other stung like he had sustained needle wounds. Overall his throat was dry, and his eyes refused to work for a few seconds.
At last, when his senses began functioning as they should, he discovered that he had been kidnapped- or reappeared in a strange environment—a classy one.
"You're awake."
Jake jolted, startled by the strong voice echoing from one corner of the room. He immediately looks left, and the outcome stuns him out of bed. It was his boss!
"I suppose the alcohol wiped your memory clean."
"Miss Amery."
"Why drink when you cannot hold your liquor?" Iris tilted her head as she stirred a tiny teacup with a spoon. "You made my bodyguard angry last night. He had to take his favourite suite to the dry cleaners, thanks to you."
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Wait, how did I get..."
"I brought you here." Iris relaxed in her seat, taking a good sip to start her day. "I knew where you were and went there on time to rescue you. Does that scare you?"
"Rescue...me?" Jake's memory was foggy.
"Was I not clear about not being permitted to drink or smoke? Must I add a curfew to it?"
"Is this a dream?" Jake took a step back, puzzled by the situation. Soon a laugh brewed in his cheeks. "It's a dream, right? Haha! Of course, there is no way my scary boss would seek me out." Jake turned around. "I'm going to lie down, close my eyes and wake up in the right room."
"You think that I'm scary?" Iris stuck out her neck. Jake, on the other hand, was more interested in getting back to the real world. Glancing at the table, Iris picks one of the cups and hurls it hard at him. She did not miss.
"Auch! What was that for?" Jake crouched, checking the back of his head for blood. Only then did he notice the macho man standing at the other end of the room; so stiff, Jake mistook him for a statue.
"This is not a dream, Jake Name. You are one step away from getting back on my bad side. Now, sit. We have a lot to discuss." Iris was stern.
As Jake slowly pinned his glutes to the chair across the round table, a memory flicked through his mind. The blue Breton cap hiding Iris' hair looked familiar. Again his attention shifted to the blue-black folder resting beside the breakfast tray.
"I have a proposal for you, Jake." Iris put down the beverage and looked Jake straight in the eye. "In that folder is a contract. A fully furnished mansion and five million dollars await if you sign it."
"A contract? What is this about?" Jake chuckled nervously. What could Iris possibly want in exchange for all that? Did she need a hitman, a spy, his left kidney? What was the catch?
"It's nothing sketchy or dangerous. You only have to lend me your body."
"What?" Jake's eyes bulged widely at what that statement could mean.
"Oh gracious, get your head out of the gutters." Iris swung her neck in another direction, but in the next breath, she got back on track. "I will give you all that is written in the contract in exchange for your seeds.""My seeds?" Jake pointed at himself to be sure Iris was not speaking about another Jake.
"Must I spell it out for you? I need a donor for procreation purposes.""Wait, let me get this straight...you want me to assist you in making a baby?" Jake slowly took the folder to check its contents.
"That is correct." Iris nodded. "There are some clauses you must take note of. If I do conceive and bear a child, you will have no association with it; neither can you lay any claim whatsoever. A breach of this will have dire consequences on you."
"Hah!" Jake suddenly felt short of air. The hangover must have been waiting in the corner for this overwhelming news to smash him in the head again. Jake massaged his temple, finding it hard to digest everything. It was a well-planned offer indeed.
Iris was impatient for a response. In the past, her donors did not skim through the contract twice as long as there were six figures involved. "So what's it going to be, Mister Name? Do you agree to be the paternal donor of my baby?"
Apollo drank from a tiny metal flask just before the door opened. Earlier on, Iris made him leave the room; something about Jake feeling cornered by his presence.Being alone gave him time to sort out his thoughts. And right now, he was more troubled to see the pest leave the building. Apollo went in with a billion reasons why Jake was not fit for the job."He said no." Iris broke the news after listening to his complaints. Apollo instantly shut up, too shocked to admit that it was unbelievable. "It's probably for the best," he said."No." Iris pushed herself out of her seat. She approached the balcony, calming her mind with the view. "My mother always said that if one was patient enough, one could dissect an ant and harvest its organs without damaging them.""This man is a nobody." Apollo pointed out. "Everybody is nobody, Apollo." Iris checked her wrist for the time. "I asked your men to dig up information about him. Is there something I can use?""...""Apollo." Iris did not appr
Jake's endurance was tested. Never in all his years did he imagine falling into his present state. He looked back. Sure enough, there was no one coming. "Ma'am, what are you doing?" Jake lowered his voice. "What does it look like?" Iris blinked. "Isn't this your term and condition to what I proposed? You will only make babies the natural way. So, I'm going with it," she said. Jake's shoulders slumped. He cursed under his breath, slapping a hand across his face in exasperation. "This is not what I mean," he wanted to explain himself. "There's no point going back and forth. It is a simple sacrifice compared to getting needled now and then for procedures that have failed me in the past." "Needled?... Christ," Jake gasped. After beating himself down about it, he straightened up and took a much-needed breath. Iris' expression was robotic when the young man walked up to her. She did not flinch or show signs of repugnance. 'He's going to do it?' Her words were sealed in her head. J
"Larry, the fax is here!" "I'm on it!" Larry doubled up to retrieve the document from the fax machine. The department was on the hunt for the next big talents out there; for advertisement purposes. After Jake's overnight transfer, Larry became a much-preferred candidate for errands. It wasn't done to punish him; Larry was just that good at handling pressure.That, however, did not stop everyone from asking about his friend and fellow housemate. His answers, of course, were puzzling. Larry knew how to read a situation; telling his colleagues that the CEO and President of Amery came to his house to have a mano-a-mano with Jake was totally uncalled for. He imagined the rumours that could spark.When the chance opened up, Larry hid in the kitchen to enjoy a cup of coffee. "Haa, this sucks. Jake's coffee tastes way better." He sipped slowly.That privilege did not last when the supervisor walked in. "Shouldn't you be filing the report for the add company?" "Come on, Drizella, I'm gonna d
"I can explain." Jake tucked his prick in his pants. "I'm not interested in the details." Iris walked away from the crime scene, shutting her ears. "But I am!" Gale waved excitedly at Jake. "I'm deeply sorry, Miss Gale.""What for? It is a natural phenomenon. I'd be worried if you weren't getting it up like this when no one is around. Don't be shy; I liked what I saw," Gale said. Jake was forced to smile, finding the accident amusingly embarrassing. Gale made him less nervous, but Iris must think he is a wayward man with odd fetishes."Relax and enjoy yourself. I'll handle my friend." Gale winked and twirled towards Iris' door. Iris flung her hat on the mattress as she undressed in front of the mirror. Gale fell on the bed, swinging her arms like a snow angel. "Did you see that? He is huge!" How could she keep quiet about Jake's private areas? "Come on, let me have him just once. I promise I won't hurt him." "Not now, Gale. And I don't appreciate my resting place looking like
She gave him a smooch on the mouth, but he frowned. "What is it?" Iris had fulfilled her part of the bargain and did not appreciate that childish reaction. You'd think that Jake would come to his senses, but he remained a fool to this newfound fixations. "That's not how you kissed me yesterday," he said. "A kiss is a kiss," Iris replied. Yesterday didn't happen to begin with. How does she compete with a mirage of herself that only existed in his fantasy? But Jake would disagree and reference that it didn't count if the kiss wasn't as intense as he imagined. A part of Iris had stopped moving, following how weird it felt to be in this position. "How did I do it then?" Iris said out of impatience. Jake sat up, maintaining his grip on her. "Like this." Their nose touched as his tongue broke through her mouth. It was a slow siege. For a minute, Iris could hear the illicit sounds of their unholy contact. "Huff! That's enough!" She pulled out of the liplock. Jake took one look at her f
"No." Iris did not want to waste good muscles on a frown. But she was furious. "The job will grant me the means to contribute, so I can stay relevant as a parent. I want to be in the life of the child." Jake pleaded his case. "If I wanted any of that drama, a contract would not exist," Iris said. "Don't get me wrong. If I'm going to help anyone bring a child into this wild, I must be responsible for them. I know what it feels like to grow up without a father- without parents. I can give them love and support." "Are you saying I'm incapable of loving what I create?" "That's not what I meant..." "They will need nothing!" Iris was this close to stabbing Jake with a table knife. But she kept her hands to herself, staying civilized. "The fact that you were cast aside like a vermin does not give you the right to insert yourself in the lives of any child I make with your sperm. That's not how the real world works." "..." Jake felt the irritation in her words. "I will hear nothing
'Act normal, Jake. Do not make a fool of yourself by staring too much.' He was ushered into a compound that exuded another level of extravagance. Jake's neck almost went stiff at the army of guards and servants flocking in when they came down from the car. "Sit at the gazebo where the servants can keep an eye on you." Iris handed her bad to one of the maids. "But I don't want to be outside. Can Jake be permitted to come to my room?" Abigail blocked her sister's path. "Abi that's not..." "My head hurts, Iris. I'm just so depressed right now and want to talk upstairs. Please." Abigail pushed harder. "..." Iris dug her nails into her palms. She could not stand being next to someone who outsmarted her once. Moreover, having a man in her sister's room was not a behaviour she wanted to condone, but how could she turn down that long face? Her baby sister had just witnessed something no girl her age should go through. "Fine, but leave the door open." Iris strutted ahead of them, refusing
When the door shut, Iris stopped. Her ears were attentive, listening for footsteps. 'He's not moving,' she figured. Soon she became convinced that Apollo had left. Maybe with this, he would take her more seriously. Enjoying the victory of knowing her hardened crush still felt something for her, Iris forgot herself. The little movements affected the man beneath her, and she turned when his thing poked high enough."Why are you hard?" She said with her brows furrowed. "..." Jake gaped like a fish out of water, stammering. "You came on to me," his mind finally found befitting words to defend himself. "I am not in the mood for your silly complaints," Iris said. "Ugh!" Jake grunted from the weight rubbing against him and the view in the front. Iris caught him ogling when she looked down. "Oh please," she put her robes back on, rolling her eyes as she got off him. Jake felt like a moron, lying in a woman's bed with his prick desperately pointing to the heavens. He couldn't leave in t