Affirmation Part 4a
The second half of Part Four is ready to be read, so here it is: In which Poker is played, rescue options are discussed, and Melissa receives good news and bad news.
Title: Affirmation
Author: Shinigami518
Rating: PG-13, but with some bits of R in it.
Main Character(s) and/or pairings: Ryan/Colin (which'll happen near the end), Ryan/Pat, Colin/Deb, Tony/Paul (later chapters), Jeff/Greg (one-sided)
Summary: A crazy woman abducts Ryan, Colin, their wives, Greg, Drew, Wayne, Brad, and Chip. Pat and Deb are released with only minor injuries, but the guys are still missing. Three college students end up stumbling into this crazed plan by accident and have to help the guys find a way to escape, but there are several big problems they have to overcome.
View the last parts here on my journal (and don't forget to comment on them if you haven't):
Prologue
Part 1a
Part 1b
Part 2a
Part 2b
Part 2c
Part 2d
Part 2e
Part 2f
Part 3a
Part 3b
Part 4a
A little later…
Chip tossed in a few play poker chips into the center of the table. “Twenty.”
Brad laid down his card facedown and stated “I’m out.”
“I’ll call.” Melissa said, putting in her chips.
“I’ll see your 20, raise you another 20.” Greg added to the pile in the middle of the table.
“I’m out.” Will frowned, tossing down his card.
“I’ll call.” Chip added to his small pile.
“Same here.” Melissa put in her chips. Sam, wearing a poker visor from the bags, looked around the table.
“Alright, gentlemen and Melissa, show your cards. Ladies first.” Sam commanded. Melissa laid her cards out with a smile.
“Two pair - Aces over Queen.” Melissa announced.
“Lucky me, I’ve got three fours.” Greg stated smugly, flashing his cards across the table. Melissa’s smile drooped.
“Crap.” She said, frowning. Chip, however, continued to grin.
“And what’re you looking so happy for?” Greg asked, leaning back with his arm draped over the back of his chair. Chip flipped down his cards one at a time.
“Two small pair, of eights and eights!” Chip announced, proudly. Brad let out a whistle.
“Shit.” Brad stated.
“How the-?” Greg asked in disbelief. Sam raised a hand towards Chip.
“And Mr. Esten wins the hand.” Sam announced as Chip gather the small pile of poker chips, adding them to his small pile of chips. Robert, Wayne, and Drew, watching from the cots, laughed and cheered.
“Alright, ante up, gentlemen and Melissa.” Sam said, gathering the cards. Brad held up a hand to stop Sam as he stood up.
“One sec, Wayne, take my place.” Brad called to Wayne.
“For the game?” Wayne asked, standing up.
“Few round, gotta piss.” Brad gestured to the curtained off area. Everyone at the table groaned. Melissa covered her face in embarrassment.
“Ok, TMI - Too much info, Brad.” Sam stated, disgusted. Brad just shrugged and walked over to the small area that was still curtained off. Robert leaned over to Drew as Wayne left them to join the poker players.
“What’s exactly in there anyways?” Robert asked, referring to the ‘Bathroom area’.
“A port-a-potty with a bucket under the toilet, and air-freshener.” Drew told Robert. Robert wisely said nothing else as Brad entered the small area. Wayne now sat in Brad’s spot and the poker game resumed
Away from the group, Janet was handing Ryan a fresh bottle of ice tea while Julie was fishing out something for Colin from one of the bags they had brought.
“Here. I’m not entirely sure what you’re into, so I grabbed something that might be interesting.” Julie said, handing a paperback novel to Colin. Colin scanned its cover and the title.
“McNally’s Secret?” Colin read the title out loud.
“It’s from one of my favorite mystery series’. Mom got me into this series.” Julie explained, tapping the book in Colin’s hands.
“I thought girls your age were only interested in chick novels.” Ryan assumed, opening his bottle of ice tea.
“Nope, not my cup of tea. Mysteries are my genre, specifically Nancy Drew, the McNally series, and the Stephanie Plum series.” Julie shook her head as she sat back down on Colin’s cot with a small thump. Once sitting, her cheerful smile drooped as she sighed. Colin, Ryan and Janet noticed Julie’s change of emotion instantly.
“Honey, are you ok?” Janet asked.
“Not really. It’s just that… Well…” Julie sighed.
“You don’t think you, your friends and family will be able to get us out of here, right?” Colin guessed. Julie nodded.
“Look,” Julie turned to face the two men and Janet. “I’m not as optimistic as Melissa. Sam isn’t either. We’re not fighters. Hell, I’ve got asthma, bad shoulders, and never stood a great chance in a real fight.” Julie explained. She faced forward, clasping her hands and leaned forward. “Besides, we’ve got so many options right now, and all of them have good points and bad points.” Julie added. Drew and Robert joined the small group, growing a bit bored of the poker game.
“What exactly are our options?” Drew asked, sitting on the cot next to Colin’s.
“Well, first we do nothing and wait and see what happens.” Julie began.
“Who knows what Lolita’s gonna do to all of us?” Ryan affirmed.
“Plus we can’t really leave you guys after know you’re here.” Robert added.
“Second option: Call the cops, tell them what’s going on, and let them take care of everything,” Julie went on, unclasping her hands. “Now this is the option Melissa keeps pushing on us.”
“And what’s wrong with that one?” Janet asked.
“Well, the police might not believe you when you tell them.” Colin told the blonde.
“Even with photographic evidence, it’d be hard to believe that Col and I are… you know…” Ryan gestured at his bulging stomach.
“It’s not everyday you see a pregnant man.” Drew declared.
“Not to mention the media and the tabloids would go ape shit once they find out about it.” Julie stated frankly with a sour expression.
Their discussion was interrupted when Will’s shout of “DAMN IT!” broke their train of thought.
Over at the table, Melissa gathered the chips from the center of the table and proclaimed “Boo-ya! Finally!”
“Man, when am I gonna win?” Greg pouted childishly.
“When you get a good hand.” Chip replied nonchalantly.
“Oh, right.” Greg subtly gave Chip the middle finger while rubbing his head. Wayne smacked Greg in the arm, stopping his subtle expression of annoyance.
“Come on, ante up, you guys.” Sam said, gathering the cards and began to shuffle them.
“And those other options?” Drew asked, once they knew that the game was back to normal.
“Third option is my family, Lissy, Sam and I break you all out with or without help. Now this is dangerous.” Julie went on.
“Not to mention illegal.” Robert added with a frown.
“Dad, like you said ‘what Lolita’s doing to them is illegal’.” Julie reminded him of what he told Will.
“Speaking of Lolita, she and her goons might come after us if you do try to get us out.” Ryan put in.
“Plus we’re on a college campus. We’d risk having students, faculty, and staff spotting us…” Colin added.
“And they’d probably alert the campus police.” Julie frowned.
“Thus bring back our problem with the second option: the Media exploiting this whole situation.” Drew groaned, leaning back against the wall.
“Final option: wait a few days, let Ryan and Colin have their babies… No matter how many times I say that, it still sounds weird… and we proceed with option 2.” Julie went on, pausing to shrug in the middle of her explanation.
“Now that is actually a pretty good idea. That way, we don’t have to worry so much about the media.” Robert smiled.
“But try explaining two newborn babies, Bob.” Janet told her husband. Robert’s face fell in realization.
“Not to mention we’ve no idea what Lolita’s gonna do next… plus…” Julie didn’t continue as she looked down, trembling slightly.
“What?” Janet asked, reaching out to place a hand on her daughter’s hand.
“Who knows if Col and I can survive the delivery?” Ryan told the older blonde. Janet nodded in acknowledgement, knowing what he meant.
“You’re in your late 40’s, you’ve got bad backs, plus you’re guys… it’s too dangerous and risky, she should’ve known that when she operated on you two.” Julie said softly, shaking her lowering head. Everyone was silent, knowing that Julie was right.
Brad exited the smaller area, having overheard the whole conversation while relieving himself.
“Well, we’re fucked, aren’t we?” Brad asked, startling the group of six. Ryan glared at Brad, as did Robert.
“Don’t do that!” Janet shouted at him.
Melissa glanced back at the small group while Sam dealt out the cards to replace the ones they asked for. She, too, had heard some of their conversation, and was now wearing a grim look on her face.
“Melissa? You still in the game?” Sam asked. Melissa turned back to Sam and the guys, startled.
“Oh, oh yeah, I’m in. So, ah, what’s the bet?” Melissa asked.
“40.” Greg told her.
“Ok, I’ll call.” Melissa said, putting in her chips.
“I’m out.” Chip said, laying his card face down.
“Same here.” Wayne dittoed sadly.
“I’ll call.” Will said, putting his chips in. Greg grinned and laid out his cards proudly.
“Full house, ladies and gents!” Greg proclaimed.
“SHIT!” Will snapped, slamming his card down.
“Damn it! I had three kings!” Melissa pouted. Greg just laughed, gathering the chips to add to his small pile in front of him.
A little later…
“Remember to keep those things hidden from Lolita.” Robert reminded everyone as Brad packed up the poker kit into its box.
“Don’t worry, we will.” Brad told him.
“I still don’t know how you got that royal flush, kid.” Greg said to Will, who was pulling on his leather jacket. Will just shrugged.
“Magic.” Will said.
“You mean you cheated.” Chip retorted, crossing his arms.
“More like luck.” Wayne told Chip.
“It was, like, right out of Maverick!” Melissa said enthusiastic. Sam just rolled her eyes, putting on her jacket. Brad walked up to Melissa, still holding the poker kit box.
“Be back tomorrow?” Brad asked.
“You bet.” Melissa grinned, getting close to him.
“Ugh, get a room, and a life!” Greg groaned, rolling his eyes, ruining the moment.
“Screw you, Greg!” Brad snapped. Greg just smirked, strutted up to Brad and leaned towards him.
“That’s exactly what you did last night, Bradley.” Greg stated, sultry. Brad blanched while Wayne, Chip, Drew, and Will cracked up. Melissa sighed while Robert, Janet and Sam just shook their heads and Greg looked smug.
Julie, meanwhile, was saying her goodbyes to Ryan and Colin, who were now covered with their new blankets and the old ones Lolita had given them.
“I’ll see you guys around then.” Julie said, turning to leave.
“Julie.” Ryan called to the young woman. She stopped, several feet away. “Don’t worry too much about us, ok? We’ll be fine.” Ryan said, trying to cheer her up.
“I can’t help it, Ryan… I’ve already lost someone I care about already in the past several weeks; I don’t want to deal with that again.” Julie replied. Ryan and Colin stared at each other in surprise.
“What?” Colin asked, confused and wondering who it was that Julie had lost. Julie shook her head.
“Never mind, I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Julie said quickly, running to the door. She stopped to grab her jacket and her purse, and then ran past her family, Sam and Melissa.
“Julie!” Robert called out, but Julie didn’t stop. “Damn it.” Robert whispered.
“What was that about?” Drew asked.
“Long story.” Janet told him.
“We’ll explain tomorrow, see you guys then!” Sam added, running out the door with Will and Melissa to catch up with Julie. Robert and Janet waved at the men in the room and closed the door.
“What was Julie’s deal?” Wayne asked once the small group had left.
“Got me.” Brad shrugged.
“Must have been someone really close she lost if she acted like that…” Ryan pondered.
“Gotta be.” Colin agreed, opening the paperback book the young woman had given him
Later…
6:30PM
Melissa entered her dorm room, dabbing her still wet hair with a towel. She paused to tighten the strap around her bathrobe before sitting down at her computer to check emails.
One e-mail caught her eye and she clicked on it.
Subject: re: BIG Problem on campus - URGENT!!!!
From: "Alicia"
Date: Sun, Dec.17, 2006 1:58 pm
To: ma219582@albany.edu
Melissa,
I got your message. I can’t believe someone is doing this to our favorite men. Don’t worry, though. I’ve found some help for you, Julie and Sammie. We’ll be arriving tomorrow by at least 1PM your time. I’ll call you once we’re on the ground in Albany.
Catch you later, babe.
Alicia.
Melissa read the message out loud, a giant smile on her face.
“YES!!!! Reply, reply, reply! Way to go, ‘Licia! I KNEW I could count on you!” Melissa exclaimed in joy and began to type up a reply to Alicia’s message as fast as she could.
“ANDERSON, KEEP IT DOWN, WILL YA?!?!” a voice from the room next door exclaimed loudly. Melissa rolled her eyes, as the voice now screamed out pleasurable moans and yelps of joy. Repeating thuds then joined the screams, causing Melissa to grab her headphones and put them on.
“Now I know why Julie and Sam don’t live on campus.” Melissa muttered, searching for a song to play on her mp3 player to drown out the noise from the other room. Before she could, the sound of her cell phone rang. She removed her headphones, reached over to the side of her desk and answered it.
“Hello?” Melissa asked, covering her other ear to block out the sounds from the next room.
“Melissa, it’s me.” A gentle male voice asked unhappily over the other side of the phone. Melissa sat up in surprise; she recognized the voice right away.
“Dad? Dad what is it, what’s going on?” Melissa asked, panic in her heart over how her father sounded over the phone.
“Lissy, you remember those women I’m protecting? The ones who were abducted from Lark Tavern with those guys you like?” Her father asked. Melissa paled, almost dropping her cell phone.
“Yes, yes I do. Dad what happened?!” Melissa exclaimed, trying to keep a firm hold on her cell phone. Half a minute passed as her father explained the situation to her. She turned a deathly shade of white once her father was done speaking.
“Oh no…” She whispered to herself, tears welling up in her eyes.
I know I'm evil, but I promised there would be drama in this. This also brings the end of part four.
Part five will be released in a little bit - 1-2 days at most.