Third Time's A Charm

Chapter: Six

~~~~~~~~~~

Val was an idiot. Obi-Wan couldn't believe he'd taken a good plan and twisted it about like that. They could just buy the pictures, add a few more and be done with it, but no, they had to create exact replicas. Dormé had to be loving this. More people were going to be seeing the pictures thanks to Val. If she'd thrown such an emotional tantrum over Palamon seeing them, then what was the next explosion going to be like?

Obi-Wan jerked a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the now closed door. "How did you meet that guy in the first place?"

"Resa," she asked, ignoring his question as she stood and rewrapped the pictures.

He moved towards her a few steps. Hmm, he didn't like that look in Dormé's eyes...and conversely, he did like it. Curiosity mixed with a heaping dose of jealousy. That was jealousy, wasn't it? "She's a friend."

"A friend." She straightened and crossed her arms. "Uh-huh."

"Her speeder broke down and I gave her a ride." Why was he telling her this?

"A...ride?" One brow raised.

"Yes." He tilted his head, watched the cynicism slip across her gaze. "We have drinks sometimes when I come here and we spend an evening talking."

'Talking," she repeated.

"Yes. Is there an echo in here?"

"No, no, no echo."

"Why Dormé, you're not...jealous?" He crossed his own arms.

She turned half away so that he was facing her profile. "Of course not. I've no reason to be jealous of anyone. It's not like we're together. After all, we just re-met yesterday." Her frown was sudden and she turned her back on him completely. "I'm not jealous. It's a ridiculous idea. I simply wanted to know how you knew her. That's all."

Slowly, and with a warmth sparking in his chest, Obi-Wan let a grin tug his lips. If Dormé had looked back, he supposed she might have tagged it as 'delighted'. He dragged on his robe and straightened it. Yes, that looked quite a lot like jealousy. Strangely, that pleased him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Resa? Dormé's ears perked a bit at the feminine name. Who was she and how did Obi-Wan know her? What, for that matter, was Madame Leelee's? It sounded like the name of a brothel. Had Obi-Wan been going to brothels?

She didn't pay any amount of attention to Val's plan, too busy wondering on that question. Obi-Wan in a brothel. Well, he was a man and men did have needs.... Blast it, she thought. Women have needs too. So how did he know that woman? Was there something between them? Two questions she needed an answer to.

Minutes later, she stood at the window wondering if she was jealous like he'd asked. Maybe. She certainly didn't want to think of him having drinks with another woman or giving her rides. Those thoughts occupied her mind, turning over and over until she decided it simply wasn't fair. Fate put him in her life. It wasn't fair that he was having drinks and rides with another woman.

Dormé put a hand on her stomach. Man, she was really feeling light headed. She never should have had those drinks on an empty stomach. It occurred to her that the liquor was having quite the effect. She could almost call herself snockered. Turning back with the idea of suggesting to Obi-Wan that they have some food delivered, she found him watching her with an expression that puzzled her. It held warmth and a bit of humor and...pleasure. Was he actually enjoying their day? Surely it wasn't possible. "Not what you were planning for our day, is it?"

She imagined he'd had things very different in his mind. Pick her up, take her home, show her around. Relaxed, not this horrible day of misunderstandings and heart-to-hearts. If only their day had gone right instead of being messed up like this.

"It never is what I planned," he replied, stepping to her. His hand raised, touched her tangled hair and tipped her chin up. "I am enjoying myself, Dormé. Do you know how long it has been since I've had excitement like this?"

His fingers swept along her jaw in a soft caress. She shook her head. His eyes were so beautiful....

"Too long. I've started to feel--"

Val burst through the door, carrying a box. He dropped it on the bed with exaggerated moans and groans and Dormé smelled the most delicious scents. Take-out. How sweet. Val brought food. "Not interrupting anything, right," he asked as he straightened, giving an impudent grin that indicated he hoped he had interrupted something.

"Blast it," Obi-Wan murmured. When she looked back up at him, he shook his head. "I thought you were going to LeeLee's," he demanded, stepping back and looking as though he wanted to bash Val's head in.

"Yeah, I was. I stopped to buy another bottle and thought it might be best if we all went together. So, I slipped in to my favorite place and while they were boxing up the food, I bought babe something."

Sure enough, Val had a separate box in the larger box. Cautiously, Dormé opened it. Sometimes Val's ideas of gifts were as strange as his family's. But no. Inside was a change of clothes. "Oh Val, thank you!" Dormé hugged him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I need to change. Out, both of you." When she was alone, she put on the clothes. The top was as tight as her dress top had been, but at least the pants fit okay. She'd have to stop and buy some boots and then, they could go.

~~~~~~~~~~

Giving Val the evil eye did nothing except make him grin wider. Obi-Wan knew this, because he'd tried. Clothes and food. He should have thought of that. Well, he consoled himself, at least I'm not drunk. And, I have a lightsaber.

Briefly, he considered the fact that such thoughts were childish and immature and he was a mature man. But then, Val made a show of mumbling something about Dormé's kisses that wasn't quite loud enough to hear and he began to feel stirrings of.... What was that? It wasn't anger, or sadness or anything like it. No, it was jealousy. He was jealous of Val.

Absurd, Obi-Wan thought. I can't be jealous of him. I have no reason to be jealous of him. He's an idiot. "How exactly do you know Dormé, Val?"

"Took her aboard my ship a little over a year ago and we.... You mean she didn't tell you?" Indicating that he was surprised by that. Val made a noncommittal noise that grated on Obi-Wan's nerves. "Ahh, well I'd better not say anything, being a gentleman and all."

He gritted his teeth. "Of course. Gentleman. Do you always buy her clothes?"

"Sometimes." Val laughed. "Course, I'd rather dispense with the clothes, if you know what I mean."

Obi-Wan wondered how Dormé could have gotten herself mixed up with this idiot. It was going to be a long evening, he already knew it.

~~~~~~~~~~

Val couldn't resist needling the man. He just looked like the uptight sort who couldn't take a joke. So he joked with him, insinuating that he and Dormé had a thing going and that he was interested in keeping it going. Ben didn't crack anything more than that polite smile once. A challenge and one Val was rising to. Ben was going to react if he had anything to say about it.

He didn't mention how he'd spent weeks looking through files of women named Dormé until he'd found the right one. Nor did he tell Ben that he'd been impressed with her drive to survive. Val also didn't mention that he and Dormé had never had a relationship aside from professional. Why mention any of that when it was fun to see how long Ben could grit his teeth at a time? And that pleasant expression....Could it last a full hour?

The door opened. "Are you two getting along okay," Dormé asked, setting out the food containers. She sounded as though she doubted that they were being civil to each other.

"Wonderfully," he remarked.

"Not a problem," Ben said with a smile.

He saw Dormé slant a suspicious stare their direction and clapped Ben hard on the back. Somehow, Val lost his balance and keeled over onto the floor.

"Careful, there, Val. The floor is a bit slick. I should have warned you. I'm sorry, I noticed that slick spot earlier." Obi-Wan strolled to the bed and began to pick through the containers.

Val tried to figure out if the man had tripped him or shoved him, finally deciding that was impossible. Ben hadn't been that close to him. "Yeah, guess so."

He managed to eat a little bit, but as the food interfered with the alcohol in his system, taking away a hard-earned buzz -- he only took a few bites, taking the chance to study Ben and Dormé. Yup, those two were involved. Not just any sort of involved either, but the sort of involved that had kept his parents hot and heavy and absolutely sickening for all of their married lives together. There was a reason he had so many siblings.

Ben would look at Dormé, gaze dipping to her cleavage. Val had bought the shirt a size too small just to keep her cleavage on view. Ben would half-smile, then look away and take a bite of food. Dormé would do a similar ritual. Val suspected that if he wasn't there, those two would be on each other like.... He frowned. What sort of comparison could be made? Like fat on a Hutt? Did that work?

Ben wiped his mouth. "Do you see something that interests you, Val?"

Shoving aside his food, he inclined his head towards Dormé to irk Ben. "Sure do. Mighty interesting, if you catch my drift."

Dormé looked up. "Fight later. We have a problem to take care of."

Val nodded. "Sure thing, babe. Whatever your little heart desires."

~~~~~~~~~~

Whatever your little heart desires?

Was Val that drunk? He'd never said that to her, not even when he'd been trying to get into her pants.

He was up to something. No, they were both up to something and Dormé suspected she wasn't going to like either thing. Val was being agreeable and Obi-Wan was being icily polite. Each word from their mouths felt weighted with hidden meaning. Dormé busied herself cleaning up the food. They were bound to fight, weren't they?

Men. She was never going to understand them.

Thankfully, they were civil on the way to LeeLee's. The establishment was large and looked the same as all the other buildings on Tatooine. It was made from the same materials, the only thing distinguishing it from other buildings was the discreet sign above the door. 'Madame Leelee's' Simple.

Obi-Wan and Val both sighed.

Inside, they walked into what Dormé thought must be the main room. Was this where the men picked the woman of choice? It was crowded. Dormé was glad she'd changed. Her dress would have blended right in with those of the scantily clad women slinking about, mingling with patrons. She might have been mistaken for one of them. How embarrassing that would have been! She imagined Val and Obi-Wan's amusement at that and concentrated on searching the crowd, though she hadn't the faintest idea of what this Resa person looked like.

Wow, she thought, snagging a drink from a tray as a droid passed by. I didn't know a place like this was so popular with both sexes. Men, yeah, but women? Dormé was surprised to see that Madame LeeLee's seemed respectable after all. It didn't even look like a brothel. Although, she thought with a wry twisting of her lips, she'd hardly know what the inside of a brothel looked like.

"There she is," Obi-Wan murmured to Val, who nodded and raised a hand.

"Hey Resa!"

"Val!" A tall, pretty young woman detached herself from a group and came to them, enfolding Val in a warm hug.

"And Ben!" A hug to him as well. "Wow, do you know each other?" Without waiting for a reply, she turned to Dormé, her smile friendly. "Hi, I'm Resa. Welcome to LeeLee's."

"I'm Dormé." She set her drink down on the nearest flat surface. Val snatched it up and drained the glass.

"That's a pretty name," Resa gushed, linking her arm through Dormé's and drawing her towards the center of the room. "Did you bring a résumé?"

Huh? They needed a résumé in this line of work? Must be an upscale place. "Um...no. I didn't realize I'd need one." She wasn't planning on applying, though it did look like the women made quite a bit of money if they could afford the sort of dresses Dormé kept noticing. Something to think about.

"Oh. Well what about a portfolio or even just a head and body shot?"

"No." Portfolio? Head and body shots? What was going on here? Was this place that exclusive? And on Tatooine even. Something wasn't adding up and Dormé couldn't quite get it to.

"Oh." Resa seemed puzzled, tilting her head and pausing in her steps. "Aren't you here for the open call?"

"Open call?"

"Well, yes, the open call. You know, a chance at good representation. LeeLee is the absolute best on three planets."

Dormé glanced at Val and Obi-Wan. They were strangely amused by her confusion, both struggling to keep straight faces. Obi-Wan's eyes twinkled his amusement.

"Between you and me," Resa said, "I think you're a shoo in. You've got the sort of regal bearing and confidence that Leelee is looking for."

"I...see." Though she really didn't. "Actually--"

"May we speak with you privately, Resa," Obi-Wan interjected.

"Of course. I always have time for you and Val. But we can't be too long. I'm supposed to be mingling. I am being paid to be out here, you know. I do have contacts to make."

Contacts? Was that how they referred to their clients here?

They went into a private room down one corridor to the left, Dormé giving the room they left a glance and wondering if anyone thought they were all leaving together for the obvious reasons one would in a brothel. She hoped not, but she couldn't very well stop people from thinking what they would, now could she? The room they went into was an office. Or was just made to look like an office? Did they do really heavy fantasy role-play sort of things here, like the 'Senator and her aide'? Or, she cast a glance at Obi-Wan, the 'Jedi and the handmaiden'?

Now that could actually be fun. She pictured them alone, shoving the items off the desk before --

"You're getting' all red in the face, babe," Val said, shutting the office door behind them and sipping innocently at the drink he'd managed to snatch before they'd left the main room. "You okay?"

"Perfectly," Dormé replied, pressing one hand to her cheeks. "It's sunburn."

"Wasn't there a minute ago." Val peered at her. "You're breathin' kind of heavy too."

Obi-Wan's eyes still twinkled, only more so now, as though he knew what she was thinking about. He cleared his throat, glance falling to the desk.

"Would you like a cool cloth, Dormé? It'd be no trouble at all." Resa went to a door on the wall opposite the corridor. "The refresher is right through here." The door opened, revealing a nicely appointed room nearly as big as the refreshers Padmé's apartment had boasted.

It would be right there, wouldn't it? Close. Nice and handy for clean-up. Dormé smothered a snort of laughter that she suspected would come out as mildly hysterical if she did indeed loose it.

"I know what it's like having sunburn," Resa confided. "I can't go out much here during the day, or if I do, I have to be completely swathed in fabric. I end up looking like a sand person, completely hidden under layers of cloth, but I have to. For my job, you know." She laughed. "Of course you know! Why am I telling you this? Do you just sometimes hate all the beauty rituals we have to go through? It's like never ending."

"Resa." Obi-Wan said, capturing her attention. "Are you still interested in jobs on the side?"

The young woman nodded. "Yeah, though I need to run them by LeeLee these days. She's okay with them, but insists I use her when negotiating fees and such. It's so much easier that way, believe me. She can usually get me a better deal than I could on my own."

Dormé couldn't help the giggle that left her. Thankfully, it wasn't at all hysterical. "A better deal."

"Oh, she's great! She goes in and the offers like double. You will absolutely not believe how good she is with contractual obligations. Why, I'm doing so well here, that I only really work a day or two a week now."

"That is good." This place really must be upscale. Either that or Resa was really good at what she did. Dragging her gaze down her and back up, Dormé decided it was probably a bit of both. "A day or two a week."

"You'll love it. And the apartments are totally awesome, too. I've worked on bigger planets and planets really close to Coruscant and LeeLee's is the best. Hands down."

"You know," Dormé perched on the edge of the desk, " it's rare to find a woman who enjoys her work."

"Hey Ben." Val sidled over to Obi-Wan and nudged him hard in the ribs with an elbow. "Reckon we oughtta tell her before much more gets said?"

"Tell who what?" Resa sat beside Dormé, stretching out a hand and fingering the hem of her shirt. "I looked at this exact same shirt the other day. Talk about coincidence!"

Obi-Wan stroked his beard, his hand momentarily covering up his smile. "Yes Val, I suppose we should. Shall I do the introductions or would you care for the honor?"

"Let me. Babe, allow me to introduce the finest filly in Leelee's stable, winner of the Miss Tatooine beauty contest two years ago and current cover girl for such companies as Royal Cosmetics and --"

"Val!" Resa stood, waving her arms. "Stop! I don't have any big contracts right now. I'm done with Royal Cosmetics. They have a new cover girl this year."

Dormé stared at her, then at Val and Obi-Wan. She blinked, going back over the conversation so far. "You're a model?" She now understood the amusement of the two men. They knew she'd assumed LeeLee's was a brothel and let her believe it.

Just wait until later, she thought. You two....

"Of course, silly. What did you think I was, a prostitute?" Resa giggled. "You are so funny Dormé. I like you."

"Thanks," she said, shooting a glance Obi-Wan and Val's way that fully expressed her displeasure with them both. Neither looked too repentant.

Resa scooted things on the desk and sat, crossing her legs and swinging one foot in circles. "What is it you need?"

"Duplicates of pictures," Val explained. He was beginning to slur his words again. "We got some pictures we need to have exact duplicates made of and we'd like you to be our model."

"Exact duplicates?" Her brows raised. "Why?"

"It's a long, long story," he told her, with a overly long pointed stare in Dormé's direction. "Tragic. So tragic. And long. Let me tell it. Love...lost and those pictures are the only memories she has, so of course we had to lift them. We couldn't leave them on the walls for all to see, now could we? Passionate love, Resa, you should see those pictures. They are hot. I mean smokin' hot, as in whoo! giving me ideas..." Val blinked, seemed to remember Dormé was still there and nodded. "We had to lift them, see?"

"Of course." Resa actually looked like she was following Val's thought processes. "If they were her only memories, it was just right."

"Yup. And they don't belong to us now. Her. Belong to her. Stolen from her home and we're getting them back, but we need to leave duplicates so the old bantha's ass doesn't object to them being stolen, because he won't know they're still stolen once we sneak in and replace the pictures we took with the exact duplicates we're planning on taking and sneaking in to replace the...you know. Follow me?"

"Perfectly. I'm sure we can arrange that. LeeLee won't have a problem with pictures in the name of justice. I mean, she's all for righteous anger and I'm sure she'll help out some too. Let me go talk to her." Resa slipped away.

Val dropped into a chair, gave Dormé and Obi-Wan a big grin, and passed out.

"Well, at least someone followed him perfectly," Obi-Wan remarked, folding his arms.

"Val rambles a little when he's had a few drinks."

"A little?" He came to her, hands grasping her arms, sliding up and down them. "Are you okay with this? There will be more people seeing those pictures, Dormé."

She sighed. "I know. But they're professionals, right? They'll be discreet and...professional."

"Of course they will." He enfolded her in a hug and Dormé went willingly, pressed against him. They were still hugging when Resa returned.