This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “LA Confidential". No insult or invasion of privacy or infringement of copyright is intended. The story is for readers over the age of 18 only, and contains adult language. The writer is not responsible for any "discomfort" caused to the reader by this language and these situations.
Not A Regular Friday Night
©09/2009 by: Alice
Chapter Two
Next day, Bud awakened to find himself alone in bed. The sun was shining outside, already pretty high up. What the fuck? He reached for his gun and noticed the clock on the bedside table. 12:37. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept in. He stretched his muscles. For the first time in forever, he actually felt totally rested.
Well, she’s good for my health.
He listened carefully for any noise, water running, the sound of footsteps… He couldn’t hear anything; there was no sign of another person in his apartment.
Bud felt a shiver go through his whole body, like a cold wind had blown over him. Lynn was gone.
He cursed under his breath.
~*~
After a few unsuccessful attempts to get up and drag his feet to the bathroom to wash up, Bud was finally in front of the sink, and mirror, in which he couldn’t look just now and instead scrutinized the floor.
He hit his fist hard against the wall and swore some more. He needed to gather all his strength simply to get into the shower without hitting something else.
He let the hot water run all over his body, hoping it would wash off some of his disappointment. He took his time under the rush of water, trying to calm himself down.
Bud heard a door slam and, once again went after the gun, getting out of the shower. Then he reconsidered. Fuck it, even mobsters take Sundays off.
He wrapped a towel around himself and opened the bathroom door, just to make sure.
Lynn was in the kitchen, her back to him, setting grocery bags on the table. His heart skipped a beat and a triumphant grin spread over his face. She hadn’t seen him yet. He took a minute and stood there, watching her.
She was wearing her heels and a black shirt he didn’t even remember owning. Her sleeves were rolled up and one of his belts hung loosely around her, just below the waist, making the shirt tighten around her hips, conveying how incredible her body was. God, she’s so fucking beautiful. A real show-stopper.
She was now spreading her acquisitions on the table. She had bought food for breakfast. Eggs, milk, bread, bacon, orange juice, butter, vodka?!
“Interesting breakfast selection.”
She spun on her heels to face him. He was standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall, still naked but for the towel. He was all wet and dripping. Lynn had trouble remembering how to breathe.
“Bacon and eggs, toast, orange juice…vodka… I think this just might be a meal I’ll enjoy.”
She laughed. “The vodka is for the orange juice and no, I’m not going to drink that now. Contrary to the impression you might’ve already formed, I don’t have a drinking problem.”
“That’s what all alcoholics say.” He smiled his crooked smile.
Lynn knew he was joking, but still threw him an insulted and spiteful glance.
“You gonna dry yourself off, or just wait for global warming to make the water evaporate?”
Bud helped himself to a cup of coffee and lit a cigarette.
“Can’t a man dress comfortably in his own house?”
“Sure he can, but you’re not dressed, honey.”
“I figured one of us had to go first and the other will follow.”
“Okay, that’s it; you can make your own breakfast!” She tried to keep a straight face and failed miserably. Why’d he have to be gorgeous and funny???
Bud put on an ‘all-business’, bargaining face. “Tell you what,” he cocked his head and looked her up and down “you take that shirt off and I’ll fix us both something to eat.”
Lynn held back a smile and gave him a rough push in the gut, directing him to the door.
He went to the bedroom and put some clothes on. He’d rather he starved and she’d be naked.
~*~
It’s not that Bud didn’t absolutely adore the way his shirts fit Lynn, but her going to the store dressed like that was just wrong. He told her so after they had finished eating.
“You think? God, I need something to wear!”
“If you need any help getting your clothes back…”
“I don’t want them.”
He shot her an unbelieving look.
“No, really.” She smiled warmly in his direction. “I was actually thinking of spending some interminable hours shopping today. Maybe I’ll even call my sister. You know, start over completely. I’d like that.”
“I don’t have much to offer, but if you need any cash…”
She cringed as if she had just been dealt a hard blow. She closed her eyes. “I don’t need money.” she said coldly.
What the fuck’s that all about?
Bud decided to drop it. At least for now.
~*~
When she returned, countless hours later, Lynn had on a simple pale yellow dress that went down to her knees. New shoes too, with slightly smaller heels. She was ravishing, as always. But there was something different about her. How she carried herself, the way she almost seemed to float rather than walk. There was a spark in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. Bud saw her and could only think one thing. She’s happy. And he didn’t mean happy like most women are when they go shopping. She was glowing. She really wanted to turn a new leaf and do things right this time around. It was like she was a totally different person and Lynn was thankful she had this second chance.
Bud was glad for her. He thought maybe they could be happy together. Then he caught himself. Bud White had never really had a serious relationship (except for Lynn Bracken, he said to himself, and look how good that turned out!). That’s how he always wanted it; he didn’t let anything ever get close to serious.
He contemplated all this, lost in thought, and didn’t even notice when she brought all her bags in and started laying her purchases all over his couch and living room floor.
When he finally saw what she was doing he was perplexed. He started counting. Six dresses, four skirts, a pair of pants, two shirts, a jacket, three blouses… His head started to spin before he got to the numerous pairs of shoes. And none of them looked cheap.
“I promise not to report it, but did you fuckin’ rob a bank last night?”
She missed a beat, didn’t answer right away. Bud knew something was terribly, terribly wrong with this picture.
“Yes. Did it while you were asleep.” She laughed it off, hoping he’d let it go. He did no such thing.
“Seriously, how did you get this much cash? I mean now I get why you didn’t accept my money.”
Lynn relaxed a little.
“What I don’t understand was why you were so fucking hurt when I offered it.”
She moved over to him and placed a finger to his lips. “Shhhh…”
She kissed him on the cheek and moved lower to his neck, nibbling, biting, kissing. A chill ran down his spine and his heartbeat accelerated. “Are you trying to shut me up?”
She almost purred into his ear, “Yes. Is it working?”
When she slid a hand on his back, under his shirt, Bud almost groaned. “Like a charm.”
He had wanted Lynn ever since he had first laid eyes on her. But not like this. He shook himself mentally and told her to stop, even though his voice faltered.
“Is that an order, officer?” She was now unbuttoning his shirt with one hand. The other slipped just half an inch under his trousers. She was stroking his skin lightly with the tips of her fingers. She could see, judging by the growing bulge in his pants he, at least physically, wanted her to go on.
“Lynn…” Bud tried to regain his ability to speak. He took a step back and removed her hands although he was cursing himself inside for stopping what she was doing.
“Now…” He tried to slow his breathing down. “Mind telling me why you’d throw yourself at me rather than say where the money came from?”
She turned her back on him and lingered for a minute, then swiftly took a seat and faced him, an annoyed expression on her face.
“I don’t know where the money came from.”
“You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me…”
“I know where I got it from, but that’s not gonna help you much.”
After a short silence, when it seemed that was all she was going to tell him, Bud cleared his throat and sat down in a chair in front of her. “Care to detail?”
“The night we met, I was giving Jimmy…” she almost shuddered at saying his name; “I was giving him some of his money back. It was only a few thousand…”
Bud quickly reviewed the figures on his monthly paycheck. “Only a few thousand?”
“Yes.” She didn’t seem to catch the emphasis on ‘only’. She took a deep breath and tried to find her words. “Every time Jimmy did something wrong… whenever he got drunk with his idiotic friends or I caught him sleeping around - and believe me, there were a lot of times - Jimmy invariably threw money at me. I don’t know what he did, but judging from the amounts, it wasn’t legal.”
She had expected him to look at her differently, now that he knew. He didn’t. Bud still had that caring look in his eyes, maybe just a bit more worried. He could never hide the good inside of him.
“So why were you returning money…”
“Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to end it. Several times. But he wouldn’t let me go. When I wanted to get out, I got some bruises.”
Bud spoke through clenched teeth. “I should’ve killed that piece of shit…”
He was already on the phone. “Capt. Exley’s office.”
Lynn heard a woman on the other line. “Bud, it’s Sunday.”
“Sorry to be interrupting your sittin’ on your ass. What, were you doin’ your nails, doll?”
She knew better than to reply. Bud heard a beep, waited for a few seconds that went by as fast as centuries and heard Ed’s voice. “I need a tail, Ed.”
“Sure, Bud, why not?”
“Don’t fuck with me on this one, Exley!”
“Has he actually killed anyone, detective?” There was no answer. “What’s his name?”
Bud turned to Lynn. “I’ll be needing his full name and address.”
She gave them to Bud and he repeated into the receiver. She had stopped listening to the conversation and tried to think through the last quarter of an hour. When she came round he was yelling at the unlucky man on the other line. It wasn’t Ed Exley anymore. “Jimmy More. I want him followed at all times. I want to know where he goes, what he does, who he sees, what he says, what he wanted to say and forgot, who he fucks and how they feel afterwards. Got it?”
Bud slammed the receiver down and looked in Lynn’s direction, all soft smiles and tenderness. “Go on.”
She took a second to gather her thoughts and continued talking, her eyes on the floor.
“After a while, I stopped asking questions when he didn’t come home at night. The money kept flowing, and he stopped hitting me. But I couldn’t stand it anymore. I took all the money I had left, I didn’t care about that, and tried one last time to leave. You witnessed the beginning of that scene… I thought he wouldn’t hit me in the middle of the street… Guess I was wrong. And it would’ve gotten a lot worse if you hadn’t showed up…”
Lynn’s eyes got a little watery. Bud couldn’t bear to see her like that; he went over and put his arms around her.
“Why didn’t the fucker just let you go?”
“Oh, fuck knows! Maybe I was like a trophy to him, maybe he thought I knew too much… about him, about what he did…”
“Do you?”
“No. I don’t know anything. I can’t help you, so you might as well let me go to my sister’s.” She lifted her eyes to his. He saw fear in them, regret, but what he detested the most was the pain in her beautiful dark eyes. “In Chicago. I’ll disappear.”
“You don’t have to go. Everything’s gonna be all right, trust me.”
“No, it’s not.” She started sobbing against his chest and he held her tighter.
“Shhh… I’ll bring him in; I just need a statement from you…”
“Yeah, right… He’ll be out in a month. Then what?”
“I’ll kill him if he ever comes near you again.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
Lynn’s sobs got louder. He felt her relax a little, giving in. She let him sustain her body, which, for the first time, seemed very fragile to Bud. Then she stiffened and pulled back.
“I can’t do this. He’ll find me. You don’t know what he can do…”
“You saw something, didn’t you?”
“I really, really need to go somewhere he can’t find me…”
“What did you see?”
“Don’t do this. I can’t tell you anything… I have to go.”
As she sat up and started to walk away Bud grabbed her wrist and held her in place. His grasp didn’t hurt her but it was enough to stop her in her tracks. As she stared at him over her shoulder she saw nothing but kindness and worry in his eyes.
“You can stay here, it’s safe.”
“It isn’t fuckin’ safe and you fuckin’ know it!”
The force of her reply startled Bud and he felt himself retreating, letting go of her hand. Big mistake. Lynn immediately went about the business of gathering her things and was almost ready to walk out the door when Bud put a hand on her shoulder. Her back to him, she cringed and stopped everything she was doing. This wasn’t going to work; he cared too much. She gritted her teeth and decided that the only way Bud would ever let her leave would be if she hurt him so much he wouldn’t care anymore. She hated herself for it but when she turned to him, she had her mask in place. Lynn was calm, dejected and fixed him icily.
“You’re no better than Jimmy or any of them, you know?”
He was definitely surprised by this remark and the coldness with which she’d said it, but he kept his cool.
“Why don’t you just fuckin’ get off my case? I don’t want to stay. Can your policemen’s mentality grasp that?”
Bud started to see what she was trying to do and promised himself not to fall for it. He didn’t answer.
“Oh, no more words of advice, no more telling me what to do? Fine.”
“Lynn, if you walk out that door now, no one will ever put that cunt Jimmy in his place. You’re the only one that can do that right now.”
“Why this fuckin’ obsession for helping women, Bud?”
He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, hoping, praying she wouldn’t go any further.
“I was just doing my job.”
“Is that right, officer?” She said it in mock contempt. “’Cos somehow I got the feeling it was more personal with you… What, did you get beat up as a kid, this your way of gettin’ back? Helping the helpless? I don’t need or want your fuckin’ help!”
“It didn’t seem like it a few nights back.”
She had never seen him so vulnerable, the façade long gone. It broke her heart. Saying these things to him made her ache to her very core.
“Yeah, and? I sure as hell wasn’t expecting this. Do you take all the ‘victims’ home with you lieutenant? First I thought you just wanted to get laid… But now… I just can’t fuckin’ get you.”
The way Bud looked just then, Lynn wondered if he might hit her. And that she would’ve never dreamt of… until the second he looked up at her. All composure was gone from his expression, but when he talked he did so calmly. Too calmly. Cold. She had never heard his voice so low before, but he kept it steady.
“I guess watchin’ your father beat your mother to death as a kid can really screw you up, can’t it?”
It hurt more than any blown he could’ve dealt her. She stopped cold, her voice gone, tears welling up… “Oh my God, Bud… I had no idea…”
She walked quickly to him, crying, wanting to unsay everything she was saying, to take back every word and just hold him. He pushed her aside, grabbed his jacket and left the apartment, leaving her there, tears streaming down her perfect face. He didn’t even hear her call after him.
~*~
As he walked to his car, Bud tried to stop himself from shaking with anger. There was no use. He cursed and slammed his fist on the hood. A few times. When he got in he used the same choice language on the door, the seat, the steering wheel and the engine when it wouldn’t start instantly. He needed a drink. Several actually; and he knew just the place. There was a broken-down bar just around the corner. The kind of place where he could get drunk fast and efficiently on cheap booze.
Sitting at the bar already well into his second drink, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was so angry. He wasn’t mad at her, he was mad at himself for getting carried away. Lynn, he just didn’t understand. What the fuck does she want? Bud was under the impression he understood women, but then again, he thought, he didn’t need to understand the ones he was seeing these days. He couldn’t call what he had relationships; it was more like fucking on a regular basis. And maybe that was exactly what he needed. To relieve the tension.
Pauline was the first thing that came to mind, although he had a long drive ahead of him to her place.
He downed his scotch and asked for his third. There was no rush.
~*~
Bud knocked on Pauline’s door just after 2am. He waited for her to unlock the door, heard her drop the keys a few times and swear. When she finally opened it and saw him in the doorway she couldn’t hide her surprise.
Bud had woken her up and she was currently wearing a somewhat see-through black lace negligee and her light brown hair was a mess. She tried to brush it back from her face, with little success. Her big dark blue eyes shone with delight as she looked him over and she completely forgot the ‘warm’ welcome she planned on giving him for waking her in the middle of the night.
“Bud…”
“Hi babe.”
As he looked her up and down he could barely constrain himself from throwing her down right then and ripping her clothes off. If a woman’s body is a temple, hers was the Taj Mahal. She was petite, slender but still torturously curvaceous. Bud thought that night gown should be illegal; and he’d love to be the one to bring her in. He got hard just looking at her.
She smiled at him, all drowsiness gone from her face. “Come in.”
He did, and as she closed the door behind him he grabbed her and pushed her against it. He kissed her roughly, passionately. She put an arm around his neck and moaned softly against his lips. She was already working her way through the buttons on his shirt and quickly had it off of him.
“Long time no see…” she said when she finally came up for air.
“Yeah, it’s been hectic at work…”
She cut the conversation short by unbuckling his belt and pulling the zipper down. “You should tell me about that sometime…”
They both knew he hadn’t come here for her conversational skills.
When Bud felt her hand on his cock he let out a low groan. Her mouth quickly joined her hand and that was nearly too much to bear. He forced his eyes open so he could watch. Pauline took almost all of him in her mouth a few times, than started licking the length of his cock, toying with him. When her tongue circled his head and then she tightened her lips around him again, Bud felt his body shuddering.
He held on as much as he could before pulling her up. He pushed her against the door one more time. With one hand, he easily took both of hers and placed them above her head.
Bud kissed her again and she pushed her lips so hard to his that it hurt. Using his spare hand he caressed her cheek lightly, then moved lower to her neck.
He turned her around to face the wall, her back to him. She felt his breath, hot and fast, on her neck, his lips barely touching her skin.
He put one hand around her waist, pressing her body to his. The other was on her leg, slowly traveling higher and higher until it reached her thighs, her ass. His touch made her shiver, sent chills through her whole body. Her heart was beating furiously, her breathing frantic.
He lifted her up and carried her to the couch. They knew they’d never make it to the bedroom.
Bud laid her on her back and settled between her legs. He entered her with one hard push; she groaned loudly and pulled him down, raising her hips to meet his with each fast, powerful thrust. She nibbled at his neck, tasting his skin, running her fingers through his hair.
He had slowed down, almost ready to give in. He heard her moaning louder and he held on, making it last a little longer. Letting her finish. She arched her back and screamed his name and he grinned contentedly. He didn’t miss a beat, kept pushing, guaranteeing her a gradual decline from ecstasy. That completely took him over and he came, right after she had.
They both tried to slow their frenzied panting and Bud waited for his pulse to go back to normal before lighting a cigarette.
He felt good, relaxed. It didn’t last long. He hadn’t been off Pauline for a minute before starting to think about Lynn.
Trying to block out the thought of her, he got up and dressed quickly. Pauline watched him from the couch. She knew the drill. He got out, got up, and went out. It was the same every time.
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