Combinations and Marvelous Things (Nefarious x Cherry Shithead)

[Cherry Shithead]

Dahlia's Den. A rather shady place, located on the east side of Los Angeles, near Long Beach. Owned and managed by Dahlia Parker, an older firecracker from Texas. She could come off as cold at times, but she took good care of her girls.

Most notorious of which was Alison Lovelace. Alison, who simply went be Alice, had quite a reputation at Dahlia's. Many men feared and desired her, some were surprised at how she still had a job after breaking a respected politician's nose in seven different places, because he tried to finger her in the middle of a reluctant, half-assed lap dance.

But the show must go on...

~~~

"Now presenting, straight from Denver, Alison Lovelace!" a man announced, stepping off the stage, as Alison entered. She glared at the crowd.

"Give me a piece of that!" some man yelled.

"Hey FUCK YOU," Alison said, as she began her routine, disgusted at all the faces in the audience.

 

[Nefarious]

Alexander Adams sat in a dimly lit, sectioned off portion of the shady strip-club known to the locals that frequented Long Beach as simply 'Dahlia's Den'. He looked oddly out of place, his crisp thousand dollar suit providing a stark contrast to his tacky surroundings. It was clear that he did not belong here. His neat hair and exceptional looks along with his posture and attire made it obvious that did not reside in the same rung of the food chain that the drunk, unhygienic men wearing grimy wife-beaters and waving crumpled dollar bills at the girls performing on the stage did.

Despite the loud hypnotic music and the gaudy disco lights painting the inside of the club in different shades of pink and purple, Alex seemed to be in a world of his own. His thoughts were focused on a woman. A woman that he was married to. Or at least 'had' been married to until yesterday. He had finally given in and signed those damn divorce documents.

'You should have seen it coming a mile off. You're a fucking moron.' He scolded himself, subconsciously running a hand through his silky brown hair. His now ex-wife had turned out to be yet another gold-digger- Only, he had fooled himself into thinking that this one actually cared about him rather than his wealthy background and had married her despite only knowing her for a few weeks. A month after the marriage, the woman had hired an expensive lawyer with his money and filed a divorce claim that left her with an enormous amount of wealth.

Alex was an impulsive man that followed his instincts almost too readily and while that had served him well in the corporate world- His personal life suffered because of it.
He sighed to himself, finally looking up at his surroundings, scowling in distaste. He really shouldn't have let Dominic drag him all the way out here.

"It'll be fun, trust me! You need a boys night out, it'll help get your mind off that bitch. Come on, when have I ever let you down?" Those were the exact words that his best friend, Dominic Porter had said to him before shoving him into his Bentley and driving him to the nearest strip joint.

The loud sound of a man speaking into a microphone, announcing the new dancer that walked out onto the stage jarred Alex out of his dreary thoughts. He looked to his left, not surprised to see Dominic getting a personal lap dance from one of the strippers.

'Let it go, have some fun for once' he chided himself, turning his gaze away from the sight of the stripper grinding against Dominic's lap. He ran his hand through his hair again, leaning back against the black leather sofa. He was just about to pull out his phone to check the time when he saw her.

A petite blonde stripper, standing at the edge of the stage being leered at by the plethora of unkempt drunk men that seemed to surge forward toward the stage at the sight of her.
Alex couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about the girl captivated him. Maybe it was her poise or her brashness or even just her appearance that he found remarkably compelling.

His lips slipped into a sly grin as he reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket, pulling out his heavy leather wallet, casually plucking out a massive handful of bills before sliding his wallet safely back into his jacket. He help up his arm, holding out the thick wad of cash in the air for everyone to see while his eyes stared directly at the girl, using his free hand to beckon her towards him.
Maybe he could have some fun after all.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

Alison spotted a man in a suit, holding a was of money in the air and smirked, pleased. This man was clearly unaware of who she was, none of Dahlia's regulars in their right minds would try to get a personal lap dance from Alison Lovelace. That, however, just made things easier.

She finished her dance then hopped off the stage, approaching the man in the suit. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a private room, smiling wickedly, a .357 Magnum in her boot.

 

[Nefarious]

Alex grinned as he watched the girl hop off the stage and make her way towards the secluded corner where he sat. To his surprise and admiration, the sea of drunken and disheveled men actually parted, giving her a wide berth and allowing her to stalk up to him unscathed.

He watched her saunter over to him like she owned the place, impressed by her self-assurance and haughty air of authority. The way the other patrons of the club reacted to her presence told him that she must hold quite the reputation around these parts.
As she neared, he lowered his arm, cocking his head slightly to one side and giving her his most charming smile. However, his smile quickly faded as she took a firm hold of his arm and tugged at it, motioning for him to get up and follow her.

Alex hesitated for a millisecond, unnerved by the looks the two of them were receiving from the onlookers before he turned his attention back towards the girl, pushing himself off the couch and standing up to his full height, towering head and shoulders above most people in his vicinity.
He wordlessly allowed the girl to steer him through the club and into what looked like a room made for private sessions. It was small and dimly lit, the only pieces of furniture being a metal pole attached to the floor and ceiling in the middle of the room and a small white leather couch.

He gracefully lowered his muscular figure down onto the couch, leaning back and crossing his arms across his chest as he gave the girl an expectant look.

"Am I allowed to ask for your name or is that a 'no-no'?" He raised an eyebrow, his eyes giving the girl a quick full-body glance.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

Alison locked the door. "I'd prefer if you didn't," she said, pulling the revolver out of her boot and pointing it at him. "Give me all your money. Now."

 

[Nefarious]

The smile on Alex's face vanished instantly, his eyes flicking towards the gun pointed at his chest.
'So much for having fun..' he thought, slowly raising both his hands up with his palms facing outwards in a sign of surrender.

"Whoa now.. let's not do anything rash, shall we?" He spoke in a slow and clear manner so as to buy some time for his brain to work out the best method to deal with the situation. He didn't want get hurt and neither did he want to hurt the girl. Even with a gun pointed at him, she looked incredibly alluring.

"You said you would prefer me not asking for your name and I respect that. Can I tell you what I prefer?" He didn't wait for her to respond, a sly sparkle in his eyes.
"Not having a deadly firearm pointed in my general direction." His tone made him sound almost playful.

"Do you treat all your clients this charmingly or am I just that special?"
Alex wasn't sure why he didn't just hand over his wallet to her, he had more than enough money stored in an extra wallet in the glove compartment of his Bentley and handing over few thousand dollars wouldn't make even the tiniest of dents in his bank account.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

"Do I fucking stutter?" Alison demanded, when there was loud knocking on the door. "Piss off!" she yelled at the door. The knocking continued.

"Alison! Open this door right fucking now!!!" She recognized the voice, and her entire demeanor changed, from bad bitch, to scared little girl.

 

[Nefarious]

Alex sighed in mock defeat, his eyes looking directly into the girls'.
"Okay, look- I can tell that you need money. Let me help you with that." He moved his hand very slowly and carefully, showing her that all he was reaching for was his wallet. He slips it out of his jacket and meticulously pulls out all of the cash, holding the wad of bills out towards her like a peace offering.

He paid no attention to the insistent knocking at the door, all his focus was devoted to the intoxicating girl pointing a gun at him.
"I'm going to go ahead and assume that the person who is banging on the door, rudely interrupting our lovely little hold-up is your boss?" Alex spoke in a low voice, not wanting the person outside the room to hear him. Even though he was essentially being mugged by this girl, he could help but have the bizarre desire to help her.

"Put that gun away, I don't particularly feel like being shot today." He slowly backed away from the girl, his eyes still locked with hers' as he sat back down onto the white couch, crossing his arms.
"So are you going to open the door now or should we just wait until your boss breaks it down?" Alex gives her a cheeky smile, almost like a mischievous schoolboy would.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

Alison hit him on the with the gun, hard.

"If you ever wanna see that little bastard of yours again you'll open this door!"

Alison slowly opened the door, and was greeted with a hard slap in the face, knocking her down.

 

[Nefarious]

Alison hit him on the with the gun, hard.

"If you ever wanna see that little bastard of yours again you'll open this door!"

Alison slowly opened the door, and was greeted with a hard slap in the face, knocking her down.

((Your post didn't specify where Alison hit him so I'm going to assume you meant 'hit him on the head'.))

Alex was caught completely off-guard by the sharp blow to the head.
"Ow! What the fuck was that for?!" His hand automatically moved to clutch his forehead, checking to see if he was bleeding. Thankfully the gun only managed to cause a bruise and didn't break the skin.

He was feeling slightly dazed, he hadn't expected her to hit him. At least not that hard. His long, slender fingers ran across his bruised temple which caused his head head to throb painfully. He was so disoriented that he didn't notice the door opening and only looked up at the sound of a resounding slap. He watched the girl fall to the floor and pushed himself off the couch, kneeling next to her.
"Are you okay?" He cursed himself inwardly, not really understanding why he cared if the girl who had just taken a swing at him was hurt or not.

He tilted his head upwards to look at the person who had knocked the girl down to the floor. "That was totally uncalled for."

Alex groaned out loud as his head throbbed painfully again. He could feel a migraine coming on. "Er.. okay, maybe it was slightly called for."

 

[Cherry Shithead]

The man pushed Alex out of the way, grabbing Alison by her blonde hair. "If you know what's best for you, you'll come back to me," he grimaced. Alison didn't say anything, so he punched her in the face, giving her a bloody nose. Now she was dazed. "So what's it gonna be, bitch?"

Alison laughed, bloody gushing from her nose. "Fuck you," she whispered, and spit in his face.

He wiped the spit off calmly, but then he got livid. He kicked her in the crotch, then punched her in the stomach, sending her stumbling backwards onto the sofa. She got on the floor and searched for the gun.

 

[Nefarious]

Alex tripped and tumbled onto his hands and knees as he was shoved, banging the side of his head against the thin wall of the dingy room. He was just getting back up onto his feet, trying to regain his equilibrium when the man started punching and kicking the girl.

Watching him brutally thrust his fist against her nose made something snap inside Alex. He had never felt so disgusted and infuriated by someone. He couldn't even form words, all his charm and wit were gone, only to be replaced by frothing rage. He charged at the man, intending to tackle him to the ground and pin his arms against his side.
If Alex managed to knock the man to the floor, he would start throwing punches with wild abandon, aiming to cause as much pain as possible.

Alex was a large man, standing at a height of 6'2. He took a great deal of pride in his toned physique. Multiple punches from him could cause serious harm if they made contact with the man.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

The man struggled to get Alex off of him, but couldn't. Alison found the gun, and pointed it at him. "Tell me where Charlie is," she demanded. "NOW."

"He's in the car..." the man said, obviously afraid.

"Pitiful," Alison scoffed, stepping over the two and outside.

Out in what appeared to be a pimpmobile, there was a blonde boy, around four, in the backseat. "Mommy!" he cried.

Alison hit the car window with her gun, shattering it, then reaching inside to unlock it. She pulled her baby boy out and held him close as he cried.

 

[Nefarious]

Alex wordlessly held the man still as girl questioned him. His head was really starting to pulse, sending fiery tendrils of pain shooting through his skull. He was utterly bewildered by the short exchange between the two, adrenaline still pumping through his body.
He watched Alison purposefully step over him and make her way outside with a bemused expression on his face before turning his attention back to the man he was pinning to the ground.
"Don't you fucking move." He growled, disentangling himself from the man and standing upright in one nimble movement. He made a show of brushing the dirt off the lapel of his suit jacket before giving the man on the floor a vicious kick to the chest for good measure.

Following the sound of shattering glass, he made his way outside, taking in a deep gulp of fresh air. His green eyes seeking out Alison.

"Oh." Alex put together the pieces of the puzzle, striding out towards the girl clutching the young boy to her chest, wincing slightly as his gaze fell over the girls' bloody nose.
"You're hurt and this-" He gestured to the dark, grimy alley the were standing in. "-is not an appropriate place for a child to be." His expression softened. He didn't couldn't fathom why, but he wanted to help her and every second he spent in her proximity just seemed to deepen that feeling.

"Let me help you. I have an apartment not far from here, I can drive us there and get you cleaned up. It's a safe place for you and your kid to stay low at, no one is going to come looking for you there."

 

[Cherry Shithead]

"Man, fuck you," Alison said, holding her son tight, rubbing his back. "How do I know I can trust you? You're at a strip club for christ's sake. You sleazy piece of shit. Do you really think I would bring him to a place like this?"

Alison glared at the man before her, as her son tugged on her shirt. "Mommy," he said. "I think you should trust him."

Alison sighed. "You really think so?" she asked, looking at Charlie. "'Cause I think he looks like a sleazebag."

Charlie nodded. "I trust him, Mommy."

Alison sighed again. "If you so much as put your hands on Charlie I will castrate you," she threatened, glaring at Alex.

 

[Nefarious]

Alex closed his eyes, bringing his hand up to his forehead to gently massage the slight bruise that was starting to form from the sharp smack the girl had delivered to his head with the stock of her Magnum.
He let her finish speaking, turning his gaze to the young boy in her arms. "Thanks kid. I'm glad someone appreciates the fact that I'm only trying to help."
He gives the child a quick wink, turning back to Alison, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You work at a strip club and yet I'm the sleazy one here?"

He takes a brief look behind him, wondering how long it would take the owner of the strip club to pick himself off the floor and come looking for them. "Look, despite what you think- I'm not creep, strip clubs are not something I'm overly enthusiastic about, especially after this harrowing experience."

Alex was baffled. Here he was, offering help and a place to stay to a girl who had tried to rob him and all he got in return was contempt. Why was this girl so confusing and stubborn? And why could he not bring himself to just forget the past 10 minutes and walk away, leaving her to deal with her own problems?

"Do you honestly want to waste time arguing and calling me names while your boss grabs some friends and comes looking for round two or do you want to get the fuck out of here?" He doesn't give her time to think or respond, pulling his car keys out of his trouser pocket and turning away, striding off towards his Bentley, expecting her to follow.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

Alison sighed, looking at Charlie. He nodded, so she ran to catch up. "I'm not sleazy. You're sleazy," she said, her tone slightly gentler. "There's nothing sleazy about working at a strip club. It pays the bills. Besides, it's not like I care what you think. The only man who's opinion I give two shits about is my Charlie, got it? And I'm only going with you so he will be safe, in case Harold tries to follow me home. I'd rather him go to your house, and beat you up, giving me and Charlie time to escape."

 

[Nefarious]

Hearing the quick footsteps of Alison behind him, Alex slowed down his pace so as to allow her to catch up, trying to hide his relief at the fact that she had decided to follow him. He didn't really have a 'Plan B' if she hadn't. He sure as hell wasn't going to let her stay here and have to deal with her fuckwit of a boss again. Thinking of her boss reminded him that she was hurt and he turned his head down in her direction, his green eyes taking in her bloody nose. He had half a mind to turn back around and return the favor to her boss but he decided that now wasn't the best time for payback. He'd save that for later.

He didn't really have the heart to quibble with her. It was obvious to him that she'd been living a difficult life and was extremely protective of her young boy. "Okay fine, you got me. I can be a tiny bit sleazy at times." He decided it was best to let her vent her frustrations on him. At least it was an improvement from when she was pointing a gun to his head.

He chuckled, "Thanks. I'll try to hold him off while you two climb down the fire-escape of my twenty-second floor apartment. Just don't look down."

Alex led them to the side-street where his Bentley was parked, unlocking the doors with a click of a button on his key ring and opening the passenger door for Alison.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

Alison got in, with Charlie on her lap. "Charlie has an excellent sense of character," she said. "So if he trusts you... Then I do too."

Charlie giggled. "What's your name, Mister? I'm Charlie, in case you haven't figured that out~" He extended his hand to shake, he was very smart for his age.

 

[Nefarious]

Alex revved his car, pulling out onto the street. He looked down at the young boy, taking his small hand in his own large one and giving it a firm shake. "Hey there kid, I'm Alexander, but because I like you, you can call me Alex." He gave the child an amicable grin, turning his eyes back onto the road.

Alex lived in the more affluent, luxurious sector of Los Angeles which was quite a ways away from the seedy part of Eastern LA that Dahlia's Den was located in so it would take a while until they reached his apartment.

"So is your mom always this grumpy?" He teased, looking down at the boy in Alison's lap, trying to lighten the mood. The adrenaline rush from the scuffle was slowly fading and he was starting to fall back into his normal playful, cocky self.
"She gave me quite a whack on my head for being a bad boy." Smirking, he pointed to the bruise on his forehead.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

Charlie shrugged. "She's probably on her period," he said.

"Charlie!" Alison gasped. "Don't say things like that!" She looked at Alex. "I'm not on my period," she said. "Even if I was it wouldn't matter because I'm not gonna have sex with you, if that's what you're thinking."

 

[Nefarious]

Alex had to bring his hand up to his mouth to stop himself from laughing, fixing his eyes onto the mostly empty highway as he smoothly navigated his car, picking up speed. He was surprised at how bright Charlie was despite his young age, he was much more mature than Alex had expected.

"That's not what I was thinking." He lied, determined to not look her in the eye, not wanting her to call him out on his bluff.
Sex wasn't really on the forefront of his thoughts at the moment, he had been more preoccupied with trying to convince her to let him help. However, now that she had brought it up, he couldn't stop his thoughts from wandering, picturing her pressed up tightly against his body, her hands running through his hair..
He took a sly peek at her, realizing just how attractive she looked to him.

The thought of Charlie brought him back to reality, making him feel oddly guilty.
"Will I get another smack to the head if I asked for your name again?" He taunted, trying to change the subject.

They were soon entering into the more upscale part of the city where tall, artistic skyscrapers dominated the skyline. Alex took a side-lane, pulling up beside a massive modern building, stopping in front of a robotic gate that led into the buildings' underground parking. Pressing a button on his car key ring made the gate swing open, allowing Alex to drive down into the lot.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

"You can call her Mommy," Charlie giggled.

"That's creepy, honey," Alison said, patting her son's head. "Before I answer that, you have to answer a question for me..." She turned her attention back to Alex. "Why do you want to help us? What's in it for you?"

 

[Nefarious]

"I..Uh-" The question blind-sided Alex. He remained silent for a moment, concentrating on parking the Bentley neatly in a large secluded area of the parking lot which had a metal signpost on the wall that read 'Alexander Adams - Suite 1, Floor No. 27'.

He sat in silence, trying to think of an appropriate answer to the question. Why did he want to help them? He honestly didn't know. There was just.. something about this rude, abusive, arrogant girl that had pointed a gun at him that just made him want her. She was alive. Refreshingly confident and cocky. She appealed to him more than he was comfortable admitting.
Alex sighed, subconsciously running his fingers through his hair again. He was so conflicted, he wasn't really sure that he wanted her to know how he felt. Not until he had figured out that he knew how he felt.
"Can we just say that I'm a decent human being that saw another human being in trouble and felt enough compassion to want to help them out?"

He didn't wait for her response, getting out of the car and gracefully striding over to passenger door, holding it open for her.

 

[Cherry Shithead]

Alison slowly got out of the car. "There were 11 other girls working tonight," she said. "Did you not see Cindy, with the tracts on her arms? Or Lucinda, she's missing an arm. If you were only interested in helping another human being, you would have helped one of the girls with real problems." She eyed him suspiciously.