JAGGER (Editing)

A/N: Finally revising and editing this story.

- You may find some chapters will repeat while I revise. - All chapters are being edited using Grammarly.

- 18+ scenes will have ** in the chapter title.

- All chapters are in correct order despite the number gaps in the chapter titles. You are not missing anything.

POV - Katie

Rachel sat at the dresser, applying her lipstick to her already red lips.

“How’s this?” Rachel asked, turning towards me, flashing a toothy smile.

“Looking good,” I smiled.

“Your turn,” Rachel called, throwing a lipstick across the bed. I picked it up and tried to find the name of the colour lipstick. It was red, too red for my liking. I was more of a natural-coloured girl. I didn’t need to make a statement, and red lipstick was too out there for me.

“Tonight is going to be so exciting!” Rachel squealed as she stood up in her cherry red body-con dress and went to her wardrobe.

“I can’t wait for you to meet all my workmates, Glen, Wally, Adam… oh! And Hudson! What a hunk!”

I smiled as I watched my friend put her red strappy heels on her feet. Red lips, red dress, red shoes. With her blonde hair and ample bosom, Rachel looked sexy, I had to admit. But that was Rachel. Always after the boys but not one to really hold a relationship down. On the other hand, I struggled with the confidence to even speak to a guy at a club, while Rachel had no qualms about putting her arms around the neck of some random boy and kissing him.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” Rachel asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked down at my clothes. What’s wrong with this? I asked myself. I looked down at my bootleg blue jeans and a black tank top with rips cut diagonally from my ribs down.

“Yup,” I replied, smoothing down my jeans and looking up at Rachel. I’m happy with my look.

“Well, I guess you still look hot, like I told them you’d be.” Rachel shrugged.

“I’ll call an uber. Do you want to put your things in my bag?”

I watched Rachel walk into the living room and rechecked my own bag, black cardigan, just in case, cell phone with my card and drivers’ licence, and keys. Nah, I’m good. I’d leave my overnight bag here and hang my small bag across her body so I wouldn’t lose it. If I have my essentials, I thought, I’ll be fine.

Besides, I didn’t trust Rachel fully after what Rachel had done to me six months ago. It took a long time before I could even talk to Rachel again, let alone spend time with her. Rachel apologised and promised that she would never leave me for a guy again- even so, I was still weary. Rachel and I were friends because our parents were, but sometimes Rachel was not a very good friend. Or a nice one. We only really spent time together because of our parents’ friendship, if I had met Rach outside of this, we might have been friends, but the friendship wouldn’t have lasted as long. And Rachel could be fun, so I had agreed to come out with her tonight. She was excited about me meeting her new workmates.

I joined Rachel, who was sitting in the living room.

“Selfie!” Rachel cried as I sat next to her.

“Okay, smile. Now duckface.” Rachel clicked on her phone. She laughed at the last one- I had attempted to purse her lips together while Rachel had beamed a bright, beautiful smile.

“Instagramming that!” Rachel laughed, selecting it quickly.

“I hate you,” I replied. I felt the embarrassment rise to my cheeks.

“No, you don’t,” Rachel said as her phone beeped.

“Uber’s here!”

The Uber drove us to the main street of the CBD. I sat quietly, taking it all in while I smiled and listened to Rachel flirt with our uber driver, a skinny older man from Lebanon called Ahmed. Through Rachel’s flirts, I learnt that Ahmed had been in the country for two years and was living with his extended family.

When the uber stopped at our destination- Rachel flirted some more and managed to get Ahmed’s phone number.

“He tipped me!” Rachel cackled in delight as we walked towards the door of the nightclub. We waited outside in the cold line before one of the bouncers pointed to us and let us skip ahead. Rachel glowed knowingly, stating it must have been because of what she was wearing. I smiled. Rachel was beautiful when she dressed herself up, but I didn’t think it was solely because of her.

Typically, the club was busy but warm with people.

“They said they’d meet us by the bar in a booth,” Rachel explained as she led us across the floor and towards the bar. I nodded and tried to keep up as she sidled past drinking dancers bouncing up and down and waving their arms about. Rachel, who walked in front, didn’t notice as the music was loud, and it was pointless to yell back across the din.

“Hi, boys!” Rachel exclaimed as she steered towards a dark booth in the corner of the room. She hugged the four men, then turned and introduced me to her workmates. The four men stood up from the booth; they had obviously been there a while as the table was full of empty bottles and glasses, and the men were visibly drunk. Glen was a tall man in his thirties, by the looks. He had dark hair, which he wore in a mullet, blue eyes, and a straight nose. Glen smiled and shook my hand, his fingers limp within my grasp. Wally, or Warwick, as he introduced himself, was older looking than Glen, with full dark hair, a moustache, and a beer belly hiding the belt that held up his pants. Adam was skinny and tall with curly hair and brown eyes. One of his eyebrows was pierced, and Rachel whispered to me that that was not the only thing Adam had pierced. Hudson was also tall, blonde, and blue-eyed. He stood up and smiled, giving me a look that made me uncomfortable.

“You don’t look like a hairdresser,” Hudson sneered. Huh? I asked myself, looking at Rachel.

“Honey, you can cut meh hair anytime yah want”, Wally leered.

“Whereabouts?” Hudson asked. All the men, including Rachel, laughed.

“Oh,” Rachel smiled, winking at me, “be nice boys,”

“It’s okay, love,” Wally drooled, “she can cut meh hair anytime she likes,” he said, putting his arm around me and dragging me next to him into the booth. I looked at Rachel, screaming for help with my eyes.

“Wally, be nice, let her breathe,” Rachel stated as she sat next to Hudson. I looked at Rachel. What game are you playing now? I asked Rachel in my head. I’m not a hairdresser!

“SHOTS!” Glen yelled as he brought a tray of tequila shots to the table.

“So, the rules are-” he began.

“I don’t play by the rules,” Rachel said coyly, turning to Hudson.

“The rules are,” Glen repeated, “First, you lick the back of your hand,”

“Oooh, you can lick my hand”, Wally stated, looking at me. I felt my cheeks burn.

“Glen, sit here,” I stated, sliding out of the booth so Glen could sit between us.

“And then you put the salt where you licked,” Glen continued after he sat down. The group did as they were told.

“Next, you lick the salt off and down the tequila.” Everyone licked the salt and drank their shot. I started coughing at the taste. I am not used to that, I said to myself.

“Then you bite and suck the lemon!” Rachel yelled as she bit into a lemon wedge from the tray. The men all laughed and bit into their wedges. I did too and then excused myself to the toilet.

“I think Wally likes you!” Rachel exclaimed as she fell into me when the toilet door opened.

“Oh, no thanks, Rachel,”

“C’mon!” Don’t be a party pooper!” Rachel exclaimed as she applied more lipstick. I finished washing my hands and walked over to the hand dryer.

“See you out there!” Rachel giggled, stumbling out the bathroom door.

I looked down at her phone; eleven pm and sighed. It was going to be a long night, and knowing Rachel, she would want to stay as long as possible.

I walked out of the bathrooms and scanned the room. It was dark, with people in the centre of the room dancing haphazardly to the loud throbbing beat of the music. Skirting around the large group, I took a left outside to the balcony to see if Rachel had gone there. I stood there for a while, looking out at the street below but couldn’t see Rachel from where I was. Sighing, I headed back to the booth where her workmates sat.

“Have you seen Rachel?” I asked the men at the table.

“Come sit, come sit!” Wally roared. He put his arm out, indicating I sit next to him. Instead, I quickly sat next to the friendlier of the bunch, Adam.

“Whoa-Ho! Look at that!” Glen snorted.

“Burn!” He laughed, looking at Warwick.

Hudson was not at the table, and neither was Rachel.

“Have you seen Rachel?” I asked again, slightly louder this time.

“I think she left with Hudson,” Adam said, taking a drink. I pulled my phone out and looked at my text messages, hoping Rachel had at least texted me. Nothing. I wasn’t given a key to Rachel’s apartment, so it looked like I’d have to go home to my little apartment. I sniffed and shook my head. Bloody typical. At least I was prepared now. I’d learnt to have a plan B when out with Rachel and made sure to now always have my house keys on me. Some people you can’t just rely on.

I stood up and went to leave when I felt someone grab onto the back of my jeans and pull me down. Now I ended up close sitting to Warwick, who was holding me around my waist.

“Wait up, pretty! You’re not going yet!” Wally leered, his warm breath leaving wetness on my ear.

“Leave me alone!” I cried, trying to wiggle out of his grasp.

“Come on! Rachel said you’re into it!” Wally grunted, becoming more forceful. I struggled, and he pulled me harder towards him, using both his arms to hold onto me. I could feel his sweaty body against my back, and I began to panic as I tried to move, but he wouldn’t let go. My heart felt like it was in my mouth, and my breath became more laboured.

“Please, let me go!” I cried, only to hear Wally laugh more. I turned to look for support from Adam, but he wasn’t there. Glen, on the other hand, just sat and watched with a smile. I moved my head slightly to the left, and with as much force as possible, I brought it back as hard as possible towards Wally’s face. He cried out in pain and let me go.

“You Bitch! You broke my nose!” Wally yelled as Glen laughed.