Advances By Patricia Thomas Disclaimer: I do not know any of the people involved in this story. Annette is a character that I made up out of my own imagination. She is not based on any real person that I know. “Listen, I know I said I would be home by Thursday, but Drew never told us about this show until two hours ago. I’m sorry.” The man on the hotel phone in Las Vegas stretched his long legs out on the bed and ran his free hand through his curls, an idiosyncrasy his wife was trying to rid him of. He bit his bottom lip, hoping she wouldn’t be too mad. He hadn’t been home in over two months. After a long pause, she sighed into the telephone in their home in Seattle. “Hon, I know that you have a commitment to your job. I understand. You’ve been gone longer before. I’m just worried about Mac.” He perked up at the mention of his daughter, but was soon feeling guilty at his wife’s next comment. “She hasn’t been doing too well in school. Her grades have dropped ever since you’ve been gone. Sam misses you too.” He had a memory of his two kids, his little girl and his little boy, running around the yard in their bathing suits. He saw Mackenzie slide on the grass and land on her bottom. Before he could get to her, Sam had already tried helping. “Come on, Mac! Get up! It’s okay.” Although his little girl was crying, she was smiling at her brother. This is how he liked to remember his kids, helping each other out. He didn’t like to think of them being sad over his absence. “I know. But there’s really nothing I can do.” He was going to say more, but couldn’t find the strength. He knew he should tell her about what had happened two nights before, but something was holding him back. Better just to end this conversation with a quick “love you” and get to sleep. Being asleep would mean he wouldn’t have to think about it. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay? I love you.” “I love you too, Ryan. Come home safe…” Ryan walked into the hotel with Colin, Greg, Drew, and Brad in tow. Greg was the one who decided to lead them all to the bar. “One drink won’t kill ya.” “I don’t know, I’m really tired and I said I would call Deb.” Colin nervously twisted his wedding band around the finger it had been settled on for more than a few years now. Nevertheless, he followed the gang into the smoke-filled bar. It didn’t help much when Greg lit one up. “This man is whipped,” Greg commented, blowing out the smoke from his nose. “Do you have to do that here? Can’t you just inhale the air and be satisfied?” Brad coughed. “Don’t be such a baby, Sherwood,” Greg said, leading the group to a table. “What a show tonight,” Drew commented. “I thought that woman was going to start molesting you pretty soon there, Ryan.” “Moving People is never an innocent game, no matter who it involves.” Ryan beckoned over a waitress. As he looked up to give her his drink order, he froze. It was the same woman who had moved him during that specific game at the show today. Bad memories of her hands, caressing his legs and arms, flooded back. He involuntarily shuddered. “Hey! Nice to see you again, boys.” The woman, about a foot shorter than Ryan, had curly brown hair she pulled back in a high ponytail. Her blue eyes looked like ice and were anything but inviting. She patted Ryan on the back and he felt a chill run down his spine. Something about her rubbed him the wrong way. “What can I get for ya today? It’s on the house.” “I’ll have a Bloody Mary,” he said, without even realizing it. It was his drink of choice, and he ordered it everywhere he went. For some reason, as she walked away to get his drink and Drew’s beer, he felt like grabbing her by the elbow and canceling his order. He didn’t feel quite right about letting her prepare his drink. He didn’t know why he felt this way. Normally he was on friendly terms with audience members. “I think she likes you,” Colin said, chuckling. Ryan didn’t look at him. He just kept staring at the middle of the table, hoping this feeling of dread would pass. “Hey, buddy, are you okay?” Colin patted Ryan on the back, which caused him to look at his older friend. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just spaced out.” When the woman, whose name he vaguely remembered as starting with an A, came back with his drink, he forced a polite smile on his face. She winked at him and walked away. Ryan downed his drink and a guttural noise escaped his throat. “Geez, man, take it easy,” Greg said. For the third time in the night, someone patted him on the back. “Nah, it’s okay. I’m okay.” For the next twenty minutes or so, the group talked and chattered away about the newest movies, sports, music, or whatever came to their mind. Ryan started to feel a little sick to his stomach. “I think I need to use the restroom,” he said, but it came out sounding like, “I thi I ee to use the resroo.” He shook his head to clear it, but he still felt like he had consumed enough alcohol to last him the rest of his life. “I think you need to go back to your room.” The girl whose name started with an A was over him, her face blurry, and he smiled graciously. He couldn’t really move his legs, so she picked him up and slung one of his arms over her shoulders. Someone from his group said, “I’ll help you.” He passed out before he even got to the room. When he woke up, he was completely naked on his hotel bed. The covers were wrinkled, and his clothes were scattered across the room. He sat up slowly because his head hurt and hunted out his boxers and his white undershirt. After putting on his clothes, a knock came on his door. The noise hurt his head even more. “Coming,” he said. As he looked around his room, he wondered what the hell went on last night. He didn’t remember much, just the gang coming into the hotel, sitting down for drinks…what the hell happened to him? “Ryan! Hurry! We’ve got about fifteen minutes to get to the show! What the hell is wrong with you?” He opened his door to a furious Drew. “Thank God you’re awake, I’ve been pounding on this door for ten minutes! I would have come in, but it was locked. We’ve got to hurry!” “Drew, I don’t…I don’t feel so good. What happened last night?” “What do you mean? You had a drink and nearly passed out. That girl…what was her name…Ann or Annie or something, her and Colin brought you back here.” “Who’s Annie?” He asked. “The waitress. What does it matter? We’ve got a show to do! Now hurry up!” He almost walked away before Ryan grabbed his elbow. “Drew, I don’t remember anything about last night. I feel sick. I woke up naked in this messy bed with my clothes thrown everywhere. What the hell happened to me?” Drew looked around the hotel room and spotted a piece of paper with writing on it on the little desk. He slowly walked towards the desk. “What’s this?” He grabbed it and read out loud, “Ryan, thanks for last night. You won’t remember anything, that’s the beauty of Roofies. Sorry I had to leave you naked, but I like you like that. Take care and don’t even try calling the cops, they won’t be able to track me down. Love, Annette.” There was a long silence in which both men took in what the note meant. “She…she raped me?” Ryan sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. “Oh my God…she raped me.” He saw the puzzled look on Drew’s face and answered his question. “Roofies is a date rape drug. She must have put it in my drink. God, Drew…” He broke off, his throat choked up and his eyes watered with tears. Drew sat on the bed next to his friend and put Ryan’s head on his shoulder as the strongest man he knew sobbed. “Drew, how could she…” “It’ll be okay. We’ll work through this…” Ryan woke up to another knock on his hotel room door. He looked at the clock and winced. It was two in the morning. “This better be good.” A police officer and a woman in handcuffs stood at the threshold. The woman’s eyes were focused on the floor, her hair disheveled and her clothes looking like she had slept in them. Her eyes snapped up and saw him. He gasped in horror. It was her. She smiled, an evil, conniving smile. “Hello, Ryan. Have a nice couple of days without me?” She lunged at him, and he backed away, but the police officer, a portly black man, held her back. “Sir, we found this woman in Arizona, just south of the Nevada border. She fits the description you gave us. Is this Annette?” “Yes. Yes, sir, it is. Please, get her away from me.” The police officer nodded and shut the door, but not before Annette had the chance to say, “I love you Ryan. You’ll be mine forever.” A few months later he had endured a few torturous days in court having to look at her conniving face, but it was worth it to hear the judge sentence her to jail time. His friends never talked about it, and that was just fine with him.