by Rhea Wilde
“So… you’re saying that you’re not friends with him.”
“I’m not saying that. That’s what it is. Miss Angel, I’m only telling you this to remind you that I don’t have the answers that you seem to be seeking. I’m nothing more than a driver. Nothing else.”
I looked at William and realized that I was asking too much of him. I figured that he knew Thomas more than anybody because of how much time he must have spent driving him around the city. But despite their acquaintanceship, it was built around William simply just doing his job.
“If I could make a recommendation, Miss Angel, why not just ask Mr. Livingston himself?”
“...You’re right. I suppose Thomas and I have a lot to discuss and we’ll have plenty of time to do it.”
“What exactly is you’re seeking, Miss Angel? Mr. Livingston informed me that you were to buy a dress for tonight’s occasion. Is there something else that I’m not aware of.”
“No… No, there isn’t. I guess I’m just reading too much into it.”
I didn’t know why I was thinking so much about it now. Thomas had enough money to buy every single person he ever met. For some reason, I was just intrigued as to why he would take the time out for someone like me, especially when the previous woman apparently didn’t do the same job I did.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror and finally realized that the only person who knew what Thomas wanted was Thomas. For now, he would have to settle for the woman standing before him with the overpriced dress on her.
“This will do,” I said as I started to nod my head. “I’m sure Thomas will be more than pleased with this dress.”
“I have no doubt of that, Miss Angel.”
“You’re only saying that because you want to get out of here.”
I turned to him and smirked at him. William smiled politely at me then nodded his head.
“I assure you, Miss Angel, any time spent in your company is a pleasure in my day.”
“I feel the same way, William.”
I delicately took the dress off and paid for it with the card Thomas had given me to the delight of the saleswomen. When I stepped out of the boutique, the sun was still up.
I had woken up late that morning in Thomas’s suite. He was nowhere to be found and the only thing he left me was a note instructing me of our meeting tonight. With that, he offered me access to William and all of the hotel’s amenities. I was still full of brunch and just went on a shopping spree that cost several thousand dollars. This was the life I had been seeking. This is what I had been searching for.
William opened the door to the limo for me. Before stepping in, I stopped for a moment to look around. With my dress having been ripped off of me the previous night, I was in nothing but a spare pair of sweatpants and a loose fitting t-shirt that hung off of my body. They were clothes I scraped together from Thomas's closet. Beneath the skyscrapers that stretched past the clouds, underneath the blazing sun that managed to reach its rays all the way down to me and in between the sound of a city full of life, I felt something. I could feel everybody looking at me.
Nobody was staring blatantly but when I looked around, there were so many common people. People just trying to go about their days and make their way through a life that would probably never be as luxurious as the one I was now living.
All my days in the city, I had spent so many years trying to get everybody’s attention. And now I had it. Even in ragged clothes that didn’t fit me, a man was opening a door for me to chauffeur me to a place so I could prepare for an evening with a billionaire. Finally, I had everything I wanted. Realizing that, I stepped into the limo with a beaming smile on my face. This was my life now.
Chapter 9
I didn’t know what Thomas had prepared for me. After getting dressed, I was having trouble remaining comfortable. It wasn’t that the dress didn’t fit right. The issue was making sure that I looked like I belonged in this dress. Not wearing a wig and instead putting my own hair up did little to help my own critiques of my appearance
I sat on a couch in the living room of the penthouse suite. Night had come and the sky was dark. Looking through the large glass window, you could see the lights of all of the buildings beginning to turn on. It was a weekend and all of these hotels and casinos were going to be put to use. Instead, I waited for a man with enough money to buy everything I was looking at.
There was a knock at the door. I jerked my head and gingerly made my way toward it. In a pair of long red heels that felt like stilts, I did my best to remain as elegant as I could when I greeted him. When I opened the door, instead of the billionaire I was expecting, there was a short hotel concierge that I almost towered over.
“A note from Mr. Livingston.”
He handed me the envelope and I ripped it open. Inside, the note said that I was to meet him downstairs in the grand ballroom.
“Um, sir,” I asked the concierge. “Do you know where the grand ballroom is?”
“Of course. That’s why I’m here.”
He bowed his head to me and I followed him to the specified destination. When I was riding in the elevator, I could feel all of the nerves building up inside of me. I had never done anything like this before. Just the name itself filled me with an anxious curiosity. Grand ballroom. What exactly happens in a room like that? And what kind of people spent their time in there?
As I followed the hotel staff worker through the halls of the hotel, again, I could feel the eyes of so many different people on me. The Exquisite was the fanciest hotel in the city. Every person who stepped foot into this place had enough money to last several generations. But even then, for some reason, I seemed to stick out to them. I suppose that even in an expensive dress, I couldn’t get rid of the stigma that I had.
“The grand ballroom, my lady.”
The concierge opened the door and when I looked inside, I saw now why it was called that. I was expecting to find Thomas alone. Instead there were several men and women who looked like they had become accustomed to the luxuriousness. They all walked around rigidly in their high-priced suits, each of them accompanied by a woman wearing an even more expensive dress. With a billionaire waiting for me, it was only appropriate that I become familiar with this kind of decadence.
I turned to the concierge and thanked him for his service.
“Miss, Mr. Livingston has instructed me to—”
“Thank you,” I interrupted him. “I’m sure I will be fine.”
“Very well, my lady.”
He bowed his head to me and walked out of the room. Even though Thomas was my priority, I found myself becoming more enraptured by what I was seeing. While some of the men and women engaged in haughty conversations, on the dance floor, I watched as couples danced to the mellow tunes of the jazz band. There was something about the way they moved. They waltzed with an elegance I had only seen in movies. The kind of dancing I was familiar with was a lot more exotic, to put it nicely. It was like their feet weren’t even touching the floor. They were moving around on clouds. I found myself lost in thought, completely mesmerized by the movements.
“You look amazing.”
I turned my head to the man standing next to me. Expecting to find Thomas, I was instead greeted by an equally charming young gentleman. He had short blonde hair that was parted on the side of his head. Up close, I could see the smooth and unblemished skin of his face. His lips were half-smiling and underneath, I could barely see the white of his teeth. He was wearing a black tuxedo that suited his frame perfectly. He stared at me with a sort of politeness in his brown eyes but I still found myself somewhat embarrassed. He caught me off-guard as I watched the dancing couples.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked me.
“What? No,” I said as I started to laugh. “No… I… I can’t dance.”
“You can’t dance.”
“Not like this.”
“Well, would you like me to teach you?”
“Um… No, I… I don’t think
I could.”
“Are you sure? The basic steps of a waltz are very simple.”
“No. I.. I would just embarrass myself.”
The man’s charming demeanor disarmed me to the point that I was flustered. I looked around and saw that I was completely out of my element. All of these men and women were people who wouldn’t even look in my direction but now I was standing in a room full of them like I was supposed to belong.
“You know, I haven’t seen you here before. What’s your name?”
“Angel.”
“Angel? Angel is that a first name or a last name?”
“Both.”
“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Angel. My name is Anthony Westgate. It’s a pleasure.”
He took my hand into his and kissed me softly upon the knuckles of my glove. I blushed slightly as he returned my hand to me. His name sounded familiar but I couldn’t place where I had heard it before.
“Are you here with someone?” he asked me.
“I’m meeting someone.”
“Really? Who? I know everyone in the room.”
Before I could answer, I felt a hand gently caress my shoulder. I turned to the side and saw the man who had hired me standing there in a black and white tuxedo.
“There you are,” Thomas said as he kissed me upon the cheek. “I was wondering when you would show up. You look radiant tonight.”
“Thomas,” Anthony said to him. “Why am I not surprised? I talk to a beautiful woman and suddenly you come out of nowhere to interrupt the conversation.”
“Anthony, you know that I wasn’t interrupting anything important. Besides, I know you better than anybody else. You were no doubt asking her if she was with anybody. Well, here I am. Angel, I’d like you to meet my good friend, Anthony Westgate.”
“Yes, we’ve already met, Thomas,” Anthony said to him. “But another introduction wouldn’t hurt.”
Anthony again took my hand into his and kissed it again. I looked down at the ground and tried to hide the smile on my face. Thomas didn’t seem to mind that his friend’s interest in me but it didn’t stop him from asking his own inquiry.
“Your lady,” Thomas said to him. “You have one of your own. Where is she?”
“Ah, yes. My most prized possession. Let me introduce you, Miss Angel.”
Anthony scanned the room before raising his hand up to get the attention of a woman several yards away. She was a young woman with long red hair and a green dress that looked just as elegant as everybody else’s. As she made her way toward us, I could see an inexplicable enthusiasm on her face.
“Miss Angel, I’d like you to meet the lovely Miss Alina,” Anthony said as I shook her hand. “Alina, Angel is Thomas’s new friend.”
“Hello,” she said in a warm and cheerful tone. “It’s pleasure to meet you, Angel.”
“Likewise.”
“Okay,” Thomas interrupted us. “Now that we’ve gotten all of our introductions out of the way, perhaps we should sit down and enjoy a little food. Please, come this way, Angel.”
I nodded my head to him and followed him toward a small table at the end of the ballroom. The music continued and the couples danced without a care in the world. The conversations were loud but full of a positive energy. The smiles on their faces signaled that any worries they might have were only frivolous and passing.
I took a seat at one side of the table, with Thomas and Anthony sitting on the other sides. The blue-eyed Alina took a seat just across from me.
“I suppose Thomas has told you the wonderful news,” Anthony suddenly said to me.
“News?”
I turned to Thomas, who himself turned his attention to a glass of wine. He poured everybody a glass and looked at me with a smile on his face.
“I don’t think Angel is particularly interested in this type of news,” Thomas said.
“Really?” Anthony claimed, somewhat astonished. “It would be mighty impressive for a woman not to care about you buying out another significant chunk of the tech sector. Angel... How much do you think Thomas’s latest venture cost him?”
“I-I don’t know,” I said as I shrugged my shoulders, taking a nervous sip of my wine.
“Half a billion dollars.”
I nearly choked on the alcohol when I heard the numbers. I put the napkin up to my face and started to cough.
“That’s right,” Anthony continued. “Thomas over here just shelled out 500 million for one of the biggest computer companies in the world.”
“Anthony, please,” Thomas interrupted him. “Let’s not talk about money at the table.”
“Why not? That’s what this celebration is for, isn’t it?”
“I simply wanted to have a get-together for some of my friends.”
“Ah, yes, friends. Haughty old businessmen in suits with sticks up their asses. This is quite the party. Angel, you have no idea what a breath of fresh air you are. I get tired of looking at all of the same old faces at your friend Thomas’s little shindigs.”
He smiled at me and Alina started to cough to get his attention. Anthony turned to her and he started to chuckle as he tried to get back in her good graces.
“Uh, except for you, Alina. I could never get tired of your face.”
“Charming as ever,” she sighed. “But Angel, my dear, Anthony is right in his assessment. Thomas rents out this room out of sheer boredom. Anthony attends these things out of habit and not because there’s something to look forward to. Angel, you might give us some reason to celebrate.”
“Yes,” Thomas said to them. “Angel is a lovely woman, isn’t she? Let’s all enjoy the night and toast to the presence of an angel.”
He raised his glass up in the air and we all followed him. Thomas winked at me and we all toasted one another.
Thomas and Anthony continued their friendly discussion over dinner about numbers. Anthony pushed him while Thomas insisted that there were other more important things to discuss. All the while, I would listen without a clue what they were talking about, taking the time to look out onto the dance floor at the only thing that seemed interesting.
“So, Angel, what is it you do?” Alina said to me from across the table.
I shoved a mouthful of food and started to chew very slowly. At the same time, I shifted my gaze to Thomas, searching for the right response.
“I—”
“She’s my new assistant,” Thomas interrupted me.
“Really?” Alina said. “I had no idea you were in the market.”
“Well, I’m a busy man, Alina. I decided that there are more things for me to do during the day than there is time to do it. Angel here will give me the opportunity to do some things that I can’t quite get around to.”
“Yes,” Anthony said. “An assistant should help with your busy schedule. I wonder if Angel here is as efficient as she is beautiful. And hiring her just when you became single. How convenient.”
Anthony winked at me and I turned my eyes away from him. I looked down at my food and continued to eat, hoping that Thomas would explain our relationship to them. I wasn’t sure whether Thomas wanted them or anybody else to know that I was just a hooker. But Thomas seemed to manage the inquiry with a deftness that mimicked the dancers on the floor in front of me.
“Yes, beauty,” Thomas said. “Angel certainly possesses that. But our business relationship is more important than anything else and I expect nothing less than the best from her.”
“Indeed,” Anthony said. “Looks and talent. Thomas, you really know how to pick them. I guess that’s why you’ve made so much more money as well. Some guys just have all the luck.”
Dinner continued without any further incidents in regard to my profession. Their interrogation was friendly and Alina and Anthony seemed to genuinely enjoyed my company. For the most part, I sat there and silently ate my food, while I soaked in the atmosphere. I had never been around people like this before. It was a fascinating experience even though it wasn’t one I particularly enjoyed
.
I had eaten more than I expected to because I was so nervous. By the time dinner ended, the dress constricted my body more than it had before.
“It has been a lovely evening,” Thomas said as he stood up from the table. “Angel, if you would join me.”
He offered his hand to me and I took it. Just as he was about to lead me away, Anthony interrupted him.
“What? Are you leaving so soon?”
“Anthony, Angel and I have some business to discuss. My schedule is full for the weekend and I’ll need her help to manage it all.”
“But the night is still young, friend. I do believe Angel expressed an interest in dancing.”
“Have you?” Thomas asked me as he looked at me.
“No,” I said, turning my head to the ground out of embarrassment. “I-I was just watching them dance. I was curious, that’s all.”
“Oh, come on, Thomas,” Anthony urged his friend. “You just spent half a billion dollars. If you can afford that then you can afford to waste a little time on the floor.”
“Yeah, go on,” Alina encouraged me. “Just give it a try.”
When I raised my head back up, Thomas was staring back at me with his bright green eyes. I didn’t know what to do or say. I was curious about dancing but I didn’t think it was part of our agreement.
“Would you like to dance, Angel?” he whispered to me.
“My body is yours to do with, Mr. Livingston,” I whispered back.
He stared at me for a few seconds before sharply nodding his head. He then turned and led me onto the edge of the dance floor. Even though it was just a few feet away, I suddenly felt completely different. The slick wood underneath my heels felt slippery and I had to do my best not to fall over. It felt like the entire room was watching me.
“Do you know how to waltz, Angel?”
“No.”
“It’s simple. Just follow my lead. Start with your right foot and alternate between the two. That’s it.”
