Poker Face

Chapter 11 - The Wives

"Any idea how long you'll be gone?" Aven asked.

"Why? Gonna miss me?" Negan winked at her.

"Yup," she said dismissively, mocking him with the answer his ego would want by making clear it was a lie. As she had calmed down after coming out of the cell, Negan finally met her for real, the person she was when she wasn't under attack. He found that she was still a pain in the ass, but he didn't necessarily mind it. She revealed herself as someone who could actually hold her own quipping back and forth with him, and it was refreshing. He needed someone around like that. "So any idea?" she repeated.

"Could be five minutes, could be two hours," Negan answered unhelpfully with a shrug. "And I can't guarantee I'll be in the jolliest of moods when I get back so don't pull any bullshit unless you wanna get thrown back in that fucking cell, because I promise that can still be arranged." The amount of threats he was tossing at her that day were a bit excessive, as he'd been trying to be his usual assertive self with her, but he was obviously only speaking the words; they didn't ring true and Aven knew it.

Outside, Sherry had made her way back to the wive's lounge and lingered in the hallway, trying to collect her thoughts. Her heart was beating more quickly than was comfortable and she quickly realized how out of her depth she was. She had thought she could manipulate Negan but she didn't even have a plan on how to go about doing it. She finally trudged into the lounge with a frustrated sigh, eyes glued to the floor in contemplation.

"He tell ya to fuck off?" Tanya asked smugly as Sherry began to pace in a flustered maner, arms crossed over her chest.

"Now, why would I do a thing like that?" Sherry jumped and the women's heads snapped towards the door to see Negan sauntering in. Sherry hadn't heard his bedroom door open again down the hall and wondered if he'd silently observed her trying to compose herself outside.

"Oh, Negan!" Tanya blurted almost apologetically. She hadn't said anything wrong, but sometimes with Negan you didn't have to. "I thought you might have been too stressed to see us."

"Nonsense!" Negan explained, stepping grandly into the room with his arms outstretched. "Quite the fuckin' opposite now that my newest girl finally came a-calling." He winked at Sherry and his grin grew as he dragged his eyes down her body and back up again. He strode over to Sherry and took her hands in his.

"What is it you needed, baby?" he said in a low, gruff voice that might have been sexier if the man hadn't burned off half the face of the love of her life. Still, whether Negan meant it or not, his brand of physical contact and sweet words made it easier to kiss his ass without cringing.

"Negan," Sherry groaned sadly as she wrapped her arms around his leather-clad torso. She had no idea how to regain his trust, but hoped the emotional damsel-in-distress act might work. Negan froze for a second, taken aback, before he wrapped his arms around her and held her firmly to him. "I'm so sorry," she squeaked, vividly picturing Dwight's punishment in the hopes of making herself cry. "I'm so, so sorry." She clutched onto him tightly and nestled her face into his chest when she couldn't draw enough tears. Negan softly shushed her, rocking her back and forth slightly as he stroked her hair. Neither of them let go when they heard a glass shatter, but Negan looked up to see Amber near the bar staring indifferently at the shards of her glass on the floor.

"Oops," Amber mumbled, before sweeping the glass into a pile with her shoe and plopping down on a couch. Sherry let out a deliberate sob to draw Negan's attention back, but was once again interrupted. "Who's that?" Amber barked, pointing towards the door where Aven was peeking into the room. Negan immediately flew into a rage.

"I fuckin' told you to stay god damn put!" He practically threw Sherry asside as he stormed towards the door, pushing Aven out into the hallway as Amber followed to watch. "Go back to my-" he caught himself, still wanting to keep Aven a secret and certainly not wanting anyone to know where she was staying. "Go back to your fuckin' room and I'll be there in a god damn minute to find out why the fuck you decided to ignore my explicit fuckin' instructions. And you better have a damn good answer." He turned furiously, grabbing Amber by the arm and tugging her back into the lounge before slamming the door shut.