100words | [AMNESTY: Multiple Challenges] Original Fiction: 'Sordid' (Reply)

Title: 'Sordid'
Fandom: Original Fiction
Rating: PG (Warning for attempted blackmail)
Notes: Crossposted to

anythingdrabble. 479: Frozen; 477: Elegant; 476: Regret; 475: Resolve; 434: Cook; 385: Colorful; 382: History; 376: Leverage; 312: Blackmail; 143: In the Loop; 141: Stalwart; 133: Achievement; 127: Nonchalant; 115: Bashful; 86: Serendipity; 61: Heat; 59: Comfort; 34: Flashback; 356. Double/Triple Drabbles

"Hey, Shirl, do me a favor," Jim suggested, out of the blue.

I briefly glanced up from my book. "What kind of a favor?"

He grinned, a sly look in his eyes. "Bare your soul to me."

"Huh?" Setting the book down, I stared. "Jim, what're you talking about? Bare my...?"

"Tell me some colorful little anecdote from somewhere in your personal history," he added, leaning in close. "Put me in the loop."

"Uh, what're you cooking up," I asked him, feeling suddenly distrustful.

Now, his eyes glinted almost wickedly. "I plan on being bored sometime soon, so I want a bit of leverage on you that I can put to use sometime in the near future."

"You what?! You want to design your own Blackmail Shirley kit," I asked, gawking at Jim in disbelief. "You think you could derive entertainment value from putting the heat on me? You're twisted, Jim!"

Jim smiled charmingly, almost elegantly, which only made the devilish gleam in his eyes all the worse. "Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not," he nonchalantly replied. "Spill it, Shirl," he added in a low murmur, his hands reaching out for a notepad that was already lying conveniently open, and a pen that was already uncapped. "Tell me every last sordid detail."

I leaned back, taking up my book again. "It comforts me enormously to inform you that I have no such details to tell," I announced.

"What?" He blinked, pen faltering before he'd even pressed it to the paper. "You're lying. Pretending to be a stalwart soul, just to confuse me; anything else is too serendipitous an achievement. There must be something. Some little flashback that freezes your heart to remember. Some regret that makes you bashful."

"Nothing," I smirked. "And I resolve to keep it that way."