Louise

by Diana Nixon

  “Everything.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I can feel it.”

  Fine answers… God, I hated people paying with fine answers…

  “Tell me something about you, anything. Please.”

  “What would you like to know?”

  “Your name? It’s not a hard question, is it?”

  He hesitated for a moment. “It’s Will, William.”

  “William?” The memory of my dream last night started forming in my head. I couldn’t believe it… First, he said he wanted to give me something to remember him by, which was exactly what I asked for in my dream, and now this…

  “Why does that surprise you?” He asked, removing a few locks of my hair away from my face.

  “Because everything happening right here and now feels a little surreal. My eyes are blindfolded, but I still trust you, even though I know I shouldn’t. You are a stranger, and I’m just a stupid girl attracted to the beautiful illusion that you create in my mind. If I had a mother, she would probably tell me to stay away from you. But I don’t have anyone to stop me from doing what I want to do.” I reached one hand and touched his face, sliding my palm slowly up his cheek. “They say that blind people can feel the beauty around them. And right now, I feel like I’m one of them too, trying to see you in my mind, imagining your eyes, your lips, your smile… Don’t you think it’s unfair?”

  He caught my hand, and kissed the back of my palm, pulling me closer to his chest. “I couldn’t agree with you more. But life is always unfair. We don’t have control over things that someone decides for us.”

  “Are we not allowed to make at least one of our dreams come true?”

  “This is exactly what we are doing now — making our dream come true.”

  He was right. I didn’t know where that sudden feeling of need to be with him came, but I hardly cared. He was there with me now, and it was the only thing that really mattered.

  “There’s one more thing I wanted to tell you,” I said. “I’m sorry for running away the other day. I didn’t mean to leave so soon.”

  “Can I ask why you suddenly wanted to leave?”

  “I don’t think I want to talk about it now.”

  “So it’s your turn to leave me at sea now?” He asked with a smile in his voice.

  “I will tell you everything when the right time comes.”

  “Ugh, I always knew that payback is a bitch.”

  I laughed under my breath. “Sometimes tables turn, right? At least now you know how I feel when you are not playing fair.”

  “My time with you is almost over.”

  “Can’t you stay longer?”

  “Not tonight. But I will come back on Wednesday, I promise.” He let go of me and I suddenly felt so cold and lost without him.

  “What has a man like you found in someone like me? You can have any woman you want…”

  “That’s the thing… I can’t… Because the only woman I want is you. You are different, Louise. You’ve always been and you will always be.”

  Then the door opened and closed, and I felt like breaking into tears. Again, he made me feel something that I had never felt before. I didn’t know what missing someone meant. I could have never imagined I would miss someone one day. I did miss Tess after she left Paradise, but what I felt whenever I said good-bye to Mr. Secret was so much different. It scared the hell out of me, because for the first time ever, I felt like I was addicted to someone. The worst of my fears returned… I don’t think I could live through another betrayal. I already knew that the day he didn’t come back, would be the worst day ever.

  I took off the blindfold, left it on the couch and headed back to my room. At least tonight, we managed to take one step forward — now I knew what Mr. Secret’s name was.

  William…

  “Louise, can I have a word with you?” Drew asked, running after me.

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  He laughed, embracing me by the shoulders.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Well… Maybe because when your boss wants to have a word with you, it usually doesn’t promise anything good.”

  “This time, you are wrong. I was actually going to make you an offer.” He looked around the hall, and nodded to his waiting room. “Why don’t we go to my office? I don’t want anyone to hear what I’ve got to tell you.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. Drew was the boss here. He could go and talk to anyone, anywhere. Then why would he care if anyone could hear our conversation?

  Only after he closed the door to his office behind him, he spoke, “The night of your first show, I had a few special guests here. Please, sit.” He nodded to one of the chairs opposite his. “One of them was my old friend, Pierre. He’s the owner of one of the cabaret clubs in Paris. He was fascinated by your dance and he wanted to know if maybe you would agree to participate in one of his shows.”

  “In Paris?”

  “Yes. What do you think?”

  “Wow… I don’t really know what to say. I’m sure it would be an honor…”

  “But?”

  “I didn’t say anything about ‘but’.”

  “Which means you agree to go to Paris with him?”

  There was one thing I wanted to know first. “Is his club like Le Papillon? I mean it’s not a strip club, is it?”

  “They do all kinds of dancing there. But no, Pierre doesn’t want you to dance striptease; it will be a traditional cabaret show, with a solo from you.”

  “When does he want me to be there?”

  “By Tuesday night.”

  “Which means I’m gonna miss my Wednesday show.” Oh no… William was supposed to be here on Wednesday. Was there a way to let him know I wouldn’t be here?

  “I don’t think it’s a problem. We can reschedule your next show for Friday night. So what do you say?”

  Did I have a choice? I don’t think so…

  “I will go.”

  Drew smiled happily. “That’s the right answer. Not everyone gets such a generous offer from Pierre.”

  “Has any other girl from here ever participated in his shows?”

  “Yes, but it was a long time ago. Pierre is always looking for new talents. And of course, he will pay you for the show.”

  Money was the last thing I cared about. I was still thinking about a way to contact Will. Or maybe I shouldn’t be worried about that… What if everything he said and promised was nothing but a game, carefully thought-out plan on how to force me into his bed?

  Damn it… What the hell is wrong with you, Louise? Less than twenty minutes ago you were ready to sleep with him right in the red room, and now you doubt every breath you take? This is ridiculous… Of course, he can be just another liar. But… God, you know he is not.

  “How am I supposed to get to Paris?”

  “You will fly, of course. Pierre will accompany you, so you don’t have anything to worry about. Be ready by tomorrow noon. I’ll call him right away and tell him about your decision.”

  Drew picked up the phone and started dialing the number. It looked like our conversation was over, so I rose to my feet and left.

  ***

  Kate was waiting for me in my room. “What did he want from you?” She asked, a little nervous.

  “How did you get in here?” I was sure I had locked the room before leaving.

  “I have keys to all the rooms in this building. So let’s get back to my question. What’d Drew want from you?”

  “Relax, he didn’t ask me to sleep with him.”

  A nervous laugh escaped her lips. “I’m sure he did not.”

  “Then why do you look like you are about to go break his neck or something?”

  “I know Drew well enough to be sure that if he drags you into his office, he must be up to something that is not always legal or decent. So what was it all about?”

  “He asked if I wanted to go to Paris to participate in his friend’s show.”
>
  “You’ve got to be kidding me… Does he want you to go to Pierre’s club?”

  “Do you know him?”

  “Of course, I do! The son of a bitch fucks everything with a vagina and trust me, Louise, if he has laid his eyes on you, he wants nothing but to sleep with you.”

  “Oh, my goodness… I have already said yes. What am I supposed to do now?”

  “Stay here. I’ll talk to Drew.”

  “No! Please don’t. I don’t want him to think that I complain about my work, or worse — that I don’t respect his orders.”

  “Forget about his shitty orders! Not even he can make you sleep with anyone he wants.”

  “Kate, please…” But it was already too late. She rushed out of my room, leaving the door half-open. I went out into the hall, and saw Tess, returning to her room. Apparently, her show had just ended. She was wearing another sexy outfit that left so little to the man’s imagination, and she looked like she was upset about something.

  “Is everything alright?”

  She stopped and smirked, humorless. “Never has been better. Why?”

  “No reason.”

  She looked at me from head to toe, and then her eyes stopped at my face again. “Are you working tonight?”

  “No, but I had a private dance to show.”

  She frowned. “For whom?”

  “I don’t know. He didn’t introduce himself.”

  “Did you see his face?”

  “No.”

  She looked at me thoughtfully, but said nothing and walked away.

  “Hey, Tess!” I called after her. “Do you know if clients are allowed here before the main show begins?”

  “What?” She stopped, turning around slowly, and stared at me, puzzled.

  “I thought I heard you talking to one of the clients a few days ago, but I guess it was not you…”

  In the blink of an eye, she was back to where she was standing before, drilling me with her angry gaze.

  “What did you hear?” She asked in a barely audible voice.

  “Nothing. Just the voices. I didn’t get anything, there were other people in the hall. I wouldn’t have been able to get a word even if I had wanted to.”

  A little lie won’t hurt anyone, I thought to myself. I could see how nervous Tess was. Obviously, no one else was supposed to hear her conversation.

  “He was not a client. Just one of my designers,” she said, taking a step back. “We needed to discuss the dress for the next show.”

  “Oh… Can’t wait to see it, then.” I smiled and went back to my room.

  She was not buying it. I knew Tess well enough to see that she got suspicious. Maybe I shouldn’t have rushed things with my ‘investigation’? Well, too late to think about taking my words back. At least now, I knew for sure that she was hiding something. And I couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

  Kate didn’t come back for at least an hour. I took a shower and got changed, hoping she wouldn’t do anything to make Drew throw me out into the street. No matter how much I hated the idea of working for him for the rest of my life, I was still not ready to leave.

  Kate returned around midnight, all thoughtful and secretive. “It’s all good. No need to worry,” was all she said.

  “And?”

  “And you are leaving tomorrow, noon, with Pierre.”

  “What about sleeping with him?”

  “You don’t need to sleep with him or anyone else. Drew promised he wouldn’t touch you. So relax and go get some sleep. We will need to work on your new solo dance before you leave. I’ll be waiting for you in the show room, at six thirty.”

  There was something weird about Kate’s words and behavior. She avoided looking into my eyes, and I didn’t know if I had the right to ask any more questions. After all, she was like my second boss there.

  “Okay,” I finally said, nodding. “I’ll be there at six thirty.”

  She looked at me one last time and left.

  I didn’t know what to think. What did Drew tell Kate to make her change her mind about my trip to Paris? She was not an easy person to persuade. He must have told her something really believable if she supported his decision wordlessly.

  ***

  The next day started with a knock at my door. It was not even six thirty yet, so I doubted it was Kate trying to wake me up. Yawning, I went to open the door, but to my surprise, there was no one behind it.

  “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” I muttered angrily. Was it some kind of a stupid joke from one of my new ‘friends’? When I was just about to shut the door, I saw a note lying on the floor. I picked it up and went back into the room.

  There was my name written on the note, I opened it and read, “The car will be waiting for you at the club’s entrance at 11.30 AM. Don’t be late.”

  Well, thanks for being all nice and sweet, Mr. Pierre, I thought, smirking. The note was not signed, but there was no doubt it was from my soon-to-be boss. I tossed it into the trash can and went to take a shower. I still needed to pack a few things that I might need in Paris, the rest of my baggage was packed the night before.

  Despite Kate’s words, I was still a little scared about the trip. It was not just my first trip abroad, it was the first time that I was going to be all alone, with the people and in the place that I didn’t know anything about. Le Papillon didn’t count, at least it was situated in New York and people here spoke English. I hoped Pierre could speak English too, otherwise it was going to be another trial for me. Thank God, dancing didn’t include talking, and I truly hoped it would be all about dancing trip and nothing else.

  As always, Kate was waiting for me in the show room.

  “Have you ever been late for a training?” I asked, coming closer to the stage.

  “Good morning to you too,” she replied, smiling. “No, not that I remember.”

  “Lucky you, I can hardly force myself out of bed if I don’t get enough sleep at night.”

  “Forget about good sleep, Doll. Here we are not allowed to think about rest, if we have work to do.”

  “I am sick and tired of the damn rules. They follow me everywhere!”

  “Tell me about it. Now, enough complaining. It’s time to dance! What would you like your next solo to look like?”

  “Whatever you have in mind, is okay. I seem to be unable to think straight today. The damn messenger woke me up at five in the morning. If only I could kill whoever it was.”

  “Who was the message from?”

  “Pierre. He wanted to remind me about the trip. Not that I was going to forget about it, you know?”

  “You don’t sound excited. Are you still scared of traveling with him?”

  “I don’t know. I just have this weird feeling telling me that things won’t go smoothly.”

  “Stop worrying about Pierre. He can hardly speak English, and Drew said that he was not going to sleep with you, so all you need to do is to concentrate on your dance. It’s just a two-day trip. It will be over sooner than you know.”

  “I hope so. I don’t want to miss my show Friday as well.”

  “Who would have thought you would be so eager to work after less than two weeks here?” Kate looked at me squinting. “Is there anything you would like to tell me about?”

  “Like what?” I turned away from her studying eyes, pretending I was looking for a song in the collection of her CDs. It was a bad idea to mention my next show. I didn’t want Kate to get suspicious, and I wanted her to find out about Will and our meeting outside the club even less.

  “I don’t know. It’s just that not everyone likes working here, and you seem to be totally fine about everything that we want you to do here.”

  “It’s just a temporary job. No need to be pissed about every small thing that I might not like. Shall we start the training now?”

  Chapter 11

  “You are not afraid of flying, are you?” After we finished my training, Kate and I went to my room. She wanted to make sure I had everyt
hing ready for the trip.

  “I will be able to answer that question after the flight. I’ve never been on a plane before, remember?”

  “Right.”

  “Do you know who the other girl was, that Drew mentioned had also worked for Pierre?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Kate? Are you listening to me?”

  She looked a little lost, staring at nothing in particular.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, worried.

  “It was me,” she said after a short pause.

  “Why didn’t you tell me it was you?”

  “Why would I? There’s nothing interesting to tell actually.” She rose to her feet and headed for the door, but I couldn’t let her go just like that.”

  “Wait,” I said, catching her by the hand. “What happened in Paris?”

  “I don’t think you need to know that. Besides, your trip will be different.”

  “How can you be so sure about that?”

  “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about.” And then, she just left, leaving me with even more worries than I had before.

  Great, now I can start doubting my safety. Maybe I should go and tell Drew I changed my mind. Or should I just keep my mouth shut and just do what he told me to do? Ugh… If only it was that easy.

  A few moments later, one of the club’s security guards came to let me know a car was already outside, waiting for me. I thanked him for the information, took my purse and suitcase and went into the hall, praying for my self-assurance to not let me down.

  “Miss,” the driver nodded politely, opening the door for me.

  I got into the car and fastened the seat belt. It was going to be a long adventure, even though it was supposed to last for no more than two days. I looked at the club one last time and mentally wished myself good luck. Maybe I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but I had spent too much of my lifetime following the orders given to me by others. And now, it was time to see if I could do something for myself as well. After all, seeing Paris was one of the most incredible dreams of mine, and it was about to come true.