Page 10 of Handcuffed Hussy
5
Present - Bailey
It was the weird month of October in southern California. For a fashionista, this was a trying time. Some days shined with the light of a thousand suns, requiring short skirts, tanks and hair done up off the neck to prevent unseemly sweating. Other days had me pulling on my Uggs over leggings and layering my tops so I could strip down a layer at a time as the fog may or may not lift and the sun may or may not shine brightly later in the afternoon.
It was on one of the cooler evenings when Esa called me to fill me in on the issues our girl Hessa was having. Yep, that's right, she had to call me as I'd moved out into my own apartment last month. Ivan had proposed to Esa, and they were planning a spring wedding. I figured it was time to give them their privacy and find space for myself before I became a permanent third wheel.
It was all a bit depressing, really. I felt like we were growing up and instead of playing house, we actually were adults keeping households together and pairing off to build families. Well, Esa, Brinley, and Hessa were, it seemed. I was still solidly single and pretending I was happy with it.
I don't know when the switch happened but sometime over the summer, I'd gone from happily single, flitting around from man to man, to feeling utterly deflated that I hadn't found 'the one'. Maybe it was Esa getting engaged. Maybe it was watching Brinley and Dean fall in love over the summer. Maybe it was currently watching Kai fall all over himself in front of Hessa and seeing her try to ignore it. All I knew was that I was feeling lonely, and no amount of surface level flirting would cure me.
Which brings me around to Jack. We'd been steadfast in our pact of ignoring each other, much to my disappointment. I'd lost my flirting buddy. I saw him here or there around town as we ran in similar circles, but never got more than a head nod from him. My heart would race, my palms would get sweaty, and my insides would clench in anticipation ofsomething. And all I got was a goddamn head nod.
Any who, I've gotten off track here. Esa called me and told me Hessa was having problems with someone online publicly daring her to sing in public, which I knew was a no-go for her. Hell, she wouldn't even sing in front of the Beach Squad girls who were all just chomping at the bit to cheer her on and support her.
I decided that I'd use my online hacking skills for good, yet again. I threw on a scarf type thing, jammed my feet in my boots and off I went to Hessa's. I was just pulling onto her street when a squad car started coming down from the other end. The driver looked suspiciously like Jack.
My first thought was terror at being caught since my intentions at Hessa's were nefarious. I ducked down right as the car passed me, seeing it was in fact Jack, and not at all thinking a headless car driving down the road wouldn't be even more suspicious. Thankfully, when I lifted my head back up to check my rearview mirror, the squad car was turning like nothing had happened.
I gasped in horrified laughter, adrenaline making it seem far funnier than it was. That had been a close one. I parked outside Hessa's house and gave myself a moment. When I had my breathing back to normal, I headed to her front door.
A loud thump came from the other side of the door as I stepped up to it. I wrinkled my nose, confused as to what was happening. Then I heard a giggle and my jaw dropped. It sounded suspiciously like someone was getting busy up against the door. Seriously? I was surrounded by sex addicts!
Hey, I was all for the sexy times. And I didn't have a problem with voyeurism per se, but enough was enough. Here I was trying to do something nice for her, and I was made to feel like a third wheel again. I was done with that shit.
I rang the doorbell and then banged on the door with my fist. That ought to break up the lovefest. I bit my lip to keep the evil smile from my face.
Long moments passed, which was weird because they were right there. How hard is it to reach out and open the damn door? "You know I can hear you in there, right? Open up, bitches!" I called through the door.
It finally swung open, showing a red-faced Hessa and a smirking Kai. Yeah, I knew exactly what they were doing in there.
I swept into her place, telling Kai not to take offense to me calling him a bitch. Everyone was called a bitch in my world. In my defense, it was actually a term of endearment at this point. I pulled Hessa onto the couch with me and proceeded to lay out my offer.
"I have certain skills. Skills that can help you in your quest to find this person who dared you. I assume Jack hasn't found anything concrete yet?" I was smug, I admit. I knew Jack's computer geeks had to follow certain rules. They couldn't tunnel into anything illegally and then use that evidence in court. Their hands were tied.
And as much as I wanted my hands cuffed by Jack, my hands were most definitely not tied.
"Um no, he was just here and gave me everything they had, which wasn't much." Hessa slid some paperwork off the coffee table and handed it to me.
I flipped through the flimsy pages, confirming what I thought: Jack had diddly squat. I smirked harder, knowing she needed me and I needed her in order to one-up Jack. It was a beautiful relationship of mutual need.
But really, I was doing this to help Hessa. Period. Not to show up Jack. At all.
"So. The only question that remains is will you unleash my skills?" I smiled at both her and Kai, excited at the prospect.
"Okay, cut the cloak and dagger routine, Bailey. How exactly do you plan to help Hessa?" Kai jumped into the conversation, killing my impersonation of Liam Neeson in Taken.
I went for it and deepened my voice. "I will find you. And I will kill you."
They looked at me with wide eyes and dumbfounded expressions.
"Seriously? No one's seen that movie?" I sighed heavily, seeing my jokes were wasted on this crowd. I jumped up and explained clearly (and super boringly I might add) what I could do to help. "I am a damn good computer hacker. I can tunnel in and find out who this guy is. Give me the go-ahead and I'll send you what I find."
They finally got me, giving me consent to move forward, and letting me take pictures of the pages Jack had left. I cleared out, going home to start my hacking. It was exciting to be hacking for someone else for once. Maybe I could make a side business out of it. I'd need a kickass name though. Like Hacker Extraordinaire or Mistress of Hacking or Hacking for Good or...well, those all sucked. Hmm...I'd have to think on it.
I arrived back home and got in my pajamas to settle in for the night. Now that I had my own place, I could get back to wearing minimal clothing without fear of Ivan seeing me half naked. I had on a sheer, baby pink camisole with matching boy cut shorts that mostly hid my goods. Keyword: mostly.
I sat on the couch and started breaking through various firewalls on my laptop, knowing this search would take time, but no time like the present to get started. It was like a secret little thrill every time I got through another firewall. Like hitting the next level in Mario Kart when I was a kid. Addicting.
