Louise

by Diana Nixon

  “Mmm… I can already imagine that. How about dancing in my bedroom instead of one of the club’s rooms?”

  The waves of excitement ran through me. “I’d love that.”

  “Consider it done then.”

  I didn’t really care about what he would have to tell Drew to get his permission to take me away for another day or two, I just wanted to feel his arms around me again, and nothing else mattered.

  “I think we need to end this conversation before it’s too late…”

  “And what do you mean by too late?” He asked, with a smile in his voice.

  “I mean when I’m no longer able to think about falling asleep, rather about doing things with you that don’t involve sleep, at all.”

  He sighed. “All right. That makes sense. After all, I need to find strength to live without you for a couple more days. And if I keep thinking about taking a shower with you, I doubt I will be able to concentrate on anything but making love to you again.”

  My breath caught. Love… Making love to you again… Did he even realize how much it meant to me to hear those words from his mouth? I bet he didn’t even know that I wanted to tell him I loved him.

  Why does this have to be so damn complicated?

  “What are you thinking about?” Will asked.

  “I think it’s time to say good-bye,” I lied, trying to make my voice sound as normal as possible; in reality, there was nothing I wanted more than to scream in pain. What if we were never supposed to be together in the first place? What if it was just a dream, a game that was going to end very soon?

  “I hate saying good-bye to you, Louise. How about ‘I’ll see you soon’ instead?”

  “Yes, that sounds much better than good-bye. See you soon, Will.” I hung up the phone before my eyes could betray me and break into tears; I didn’t want him to hear me cry. He knew I was a fighter, and I preferred it to stay that way. Kate’s words rang in my head and I felt even worse than before my conversation with Will had started. I already let him in; I am already in too deep to turn back now… And I doubted it was possible even if I wanted to.

  I went to the wardrobe and opened a drawer where I kept my ‘secret’ things, including a pair of gloves that a stranger gave me many years ago. I refused to get rid of them. They always made me think about one of my favorite memories. I still remembered meeting the stranger. I haven’t thought about him much recently, but whenever I did, it warmed my heart pleasantly, filling it with an invisible light that once made me look at my life from a different point of view. I was not a child anymore, and I still had no idea who the stranger was, but I was thankful to him for the few special moments we shared together. It was special because of the time he took to talk to me, and the fact that he cared enough to give the poor orphan girl a pair of gloves, even though he didn’t know me, he showed me that good people did exist, and he helped me turn myself into a new and better person: stronger, and self-assured. For some weird reason, I could easily imagine Will being the stranger from my past. Whenever he was around, I felt so good, just like I did the day I got the gloves…

  I put the phone into the drawer, and went to take a shower. I felt like I was about to pass out at any second, and my sad thoughts only made the desire to hide under the blanket grow.

  ***

  I slept for almost the entire day, until I heard someone knock on my door. Yawning, I looked at the clock on the wall and it said it was seven in the evening.

  “Louise, are you there?” I recognized Natasha’s voice.

  “Just a minute!” I shouted back, getting dressed in a hurry. “What is it, Nat?” I asked, opening the door.

  “Oh, I’m sorry for waking you, Lu. But I have an emergency and I don’t think I can ask anyone else for help.”

  “What happened?”

  She looked around the hall cautiously, and then entered my room and closed the door behind her. “It’s Valery…”

  “Is she all right?”

  “That’s the thing that I don’t know… She left a couple of hours ago, and I haven’t heard from her since.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine. Is today her day off?”

  “No.”

  I frowned. “Okay… So why do you think she might be in trouble?”

  Natasha rubbed her hands together nervously. She was obviously thinking something that I was missing.

  “I know you and Valery used to be close,” she said, sitting in one of my chairs. “And I don’t feel like covering her ass anymore.”

  “You mean when she leaves the club without permission, right?”

  She looked at me, terrified. “How did you know that?”

  I sighed, taking a seat facing her. “I’ve seen her come back late a couple of times, and I heard her talking with a man who was obviously threatening her. I just figured she had some problems only he could help her with.”

  Natasha nodded, lowering her eyes to her hands that were trembling slightly. “His name is Rodger. And he’s the owner of one of the strip clubs.”

  “Does he want Val to work for him?”

  “Not exactly… She’s seeing him because of his connections with the police. Has anyone ever told you about a girl named Isabel, who was killed about a year ago?”

  “I know about her. What does Val have to do with the murder?” I didn’t want Natasha to know that I knew more about Isabel’s unfortunate death than maybe even she did.

  “The police said she was killed by one of our clients, but Val doesn’t believe it. She wants to find the real murderer. And I guess she knows who he is. And now, she’s trying to find evidence to prove it was he who killed her. That’s why she keeps seeing Rodger. He told her that the guy was a policeman.”

  “So Val is sleeping with him to get more information about the guy she thinks might have killed Isabel?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, that makes sense. But what do you want from me?”

  “I want you to talk to her. Tell her that playing with people like Rodger is not safe. Personally, I doubt he actually knows anything about the murderer. He keeps using Val for his personal interests, and something is telling me that it won’t end well.”

  I made a helpless gesture. “I don’t think she will listen to me. We are not as close as we used to be anymore. Besides, she hates me for some reason.”

  “That is no big secret around here.” Natasha smiled. “You are a great dancer, and we all know that Val had been the local star here; well, until the day you showed up anyway.”

  “I’m still not sure if I can help her somehow. Why don’t you go talk to Drew or Kate?”

  She shook her head quickly. “That is not an option. They both know Val is up to something, and they are just waiting until they can throw her out, regardless of the reason. I don’t want to risk her losing her job.”

  “Well, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Thank you, Louise. I knew I could rely on you.”

  “Don’t thank me, I haven’t done anything yet.”

  “Please, don’t tell anyone about this conversation. Not even Val should know about it.”

  “I won’t tell anyone, don’t worry, Nat.”

  She smiled, relieved and left, checking the hall before going out there.

  I inhaled deeply, trying to figure out my next move in this ongoing Tess puzzle. Of course, I could break my promise and go talk to Kate. I was sure she wouldn’t report Val to Drew, but something was telling me that there were other people involved, I didn’t know how or why, but there had to be other people, and I couldn’t let it turn into even a bigger mess than it already was.

  I spent the next day hoping I would find something about Tess’s secret investigation, but it was all for nothing. She came back to the club around midnight, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to her, and today was her official day off, so she left before I even woke up. The guards said there was a car waiting for her outside, and I wondered if it belonged to the mysterious Rodger.

  Will didn’t call m
e, so I sent him a message saying I needed to get ready for the show and that I wouldn’t be able to talk to him, any time soon. No response followed, so I figured he was in another meeting. I took a few costumes from my wardrobe, hid the cellphone and went to the show room where Kate and other girls had already been waiting for me.

  Natasha was one of them. She looked a little worried and lost. I bet she knew that Tess had left the club again.

  “Did you talk to her?” I asked, coming closer.

  She shook her head, looking at Kate carefully.

  “No. She didn’t open the door when I came to ask if she was all right.”

  “Do you know where she is now?”

  “I guess with Rodger. I saw his car outside; he must have been waiting to pick her up.”

  “So my guess was correct,” I muttered. “Okay, let’s talk about it later.” I saw Kate coming to us, and I didn’t want her to hear our conversation.

  “Are you ready to shake your butts, ladies?”

  I smiled at her. “Always!”

  “That’s the right answer, Doll. You will have two dances tonight, one solo and one with Georgia, our new girl, and Linda. You’ve met her, right?”

  “I think I have. I saw her dance on the same night as my first show here.”

  “You will love working with her, she’s a great dancer.”

  Kate was right, preparing a new show with Linda was as easy as a pie. She was funny, she kept me in stitches the entire time we were working by joking around, or making silly comments about the work the others were doing.”

  By the time we finished training for the day, I felt as exhausted as ever. Apparently, one night was not enough to get over my jet-lag.

  “Why don’t you go rest for a while?” Kate asked, watching me closely. “You don’t look very good. Are you sure you can handle doing the show tonight? You can always dance tomorrow night instead, if you want.”

  “No, I’m fine. Really. I just need another shower and food, lots of food.”

  She smiled. “Don’t eat too much before the show. We don’t want you to get sick on stage, do we?”

  “Don’t worry, I remember the rules.”

  “It’s hard not to when everyone thinks it’s their job to remind everyone about the damn rules,” Linda said, sitting down next to me.

  “You’d better not say that aloud in Drew’s presence,” I said, making Kate giggle.

  “Okay, girls, thank you for the training. It was freaking amazing! See you all in a couple of hours.” Kate took her CD player and left.

  I rubbed the back of my neck tiredly. I surely needed more sleep and maybe some Red Bull to keep me going. I grabbed my bag and headed for the café. Natasha followed me.

  “I got a call from Val,” she whispered, adjusting to my step.

  “What did she say?”

  “She wants me to meet her in the club.”

  “What for?”

  “She said she can’t get out of there, and she needs someone to help her.”

  “Does she really think a girl like you can take her away from a bunch of guys dying to get into her pants?”

  “I don’t know what to do. I’m scared.”

  I stopped, looking around the hall. “Okay, this is what we’re gonna do. Wait for my show to end and then, I will go with you.”

  “But how are we supposed to leave without being seen?”

  “Kate trusts me. I’m sure she won’t mind us leaving to have some fun.”

  “You’d better be right. I have a very bad feeling about tonight.”

  “Tell me about it. Valery has never been good at following the rules, regardless of who was giving them. And after she started working here, she turned into a real walking disaster.”

  “Where should I wait for you?”

  “The show room will be just fine. I’ll find you there after I get changed.”

  “Okay.”

  ***

  The smell of cigarettes burned my eyes and nostrils. I looked around the overcrowded club with a name that I couldn’t even read, because it was written in Japanese. According to Natasha’s words, it meant The Dragon’s Kiss. Drunk and sweaty guys were everywhere. They laughed and cheered the girls dancing on the stage, with their hands up in the air, holding the dollar bills.

  “Take this off, Doll! YEAH! Like this!” One of them screamed excitedly, watching a girl in a black mini skirt throwing her bra right in his face.

  “We need to find Val and get out of here, as soon as possible!” Natasha said, trying to out-scream the crowd.

  “Where do you think we will find her? Do you know where Rodger’s office is?”

  “It’s upstairs. Over there,” she replied, pointing to a staircase leading up to the second floor.

  “Okay, let’s go then.”

  Pushing our way through the crowd, we somehow managed to get to the staircase, alive, even though the visitors of the club were ready to eat us alive. Apparently, they were used to the girls being high and obliging here.

  “I’m scared to go up there,” Natasha said, catching me by the hand.

  “Me too. But if we don’t go there, we will never know if Valery is here. Come on, we can do this.” I smiled at her, and pulled her up the stairs.

  Two broad shouldered security guards were standing at the top of the staircase. They looked down at us, asking, “What do you want?”

  “Rodger is waiting for us,” I said, trying to seem as fearless as possible. I could feel Natasha’s grip around my wrist tighten.

  The guards nodded and stepped aside, letting us through to the second floor that turned out to be the office as well. There were not as many people as there were downstairs, so it wasn’t hard to find Tess.

  She was sitting on a man’s lap, with a group of other girls around them. The man looked Arabian, so I was not sure if he was Rodger, the name just didn’t fit his appearance. He leaned closer to Tess and whispered something into her ear, making her laugh. They were sharing a cigarette, showing each other different tricks.

  She said, “That’s nothing. Here…” She took a puff off of the cigarette and tilted her head up, making her hair fall down her back. She formed her mouth in the shape of a perfect ‘O’ and puffed out three smoke rings. They grew as they floated up toward the ceiling. The Arabian man and the girls around him laughed.

  I felt a little dizzy from the amount of smoke flying around me. I shook my head, making my hair look as if I had just drained a couple of shots and headed for the leather sofa where Tess was sitting.

  “Valery? No way! Is that really you?” I blurted, pretending to be surprised she was here.

  At first, she looked a little puzzled, as if she couldn’t understand what I was doing there. Then her eyes traveled to Natasha, she turned to the man holding her in his arms and whispered something into his ear. He nodded and let her go, gesturing for his guards to let us out.

  “I can’t believe it was so easy!” Natasha said, excitedly, following us.

  “The show hasn’t even started yet,” I muttered, already knowing that the man Tess was with would never let us go that easily.

  “Pretend we are going to have a drink,” Tess said, pushing me toward the bar.

  Oh, if only she knew how much I regretted coming here. I took a seat at one of the high, round chairs and waved for the bartender to come and take our order.

  “Three tequilas,” Tess ordered before I could even think about what I might actually want. The bartender nodded and filled the shots.

  “Do we really need to drink this?” Natasha asked, horrified.

  “Just do what she says,” I said, taking my shot. “To this unexpected meeting!” I said as loud as I could. I needed to make sure the guards watching us could hear me.

  “Cheers!” Tess raised her shot in mock cheers, then tilted her head back and poured it down her throat, draining the tiny glass dry.

  “Oh dear,” I heard Natasha saying. I hoped she wouldn’t puke. Her hand was shaking a little, but she sti
ll managed to swallow without coughing.

  “Should we come up with the plan on how to get out of here now?” I asked, smiling at Tess. She looked a little tense, and I bet we both knew we were in a whole mess of a trouble.

  She returned the smile and said something, but I didn’t hear her. I gestured for her to lean closer, and so she did.

  “I said you shouldn’t have come here, Louise. If Drew finds out…”

  “I couldn’t let you die in this hell hole, so you can at least thank me for taking you away from that… Who is he anyway? And why did you call Natasha to come and get you out of here?”

  “It’s Rodger and he said he wouldn’t let me out until I agreed to dance for him. On the stage,” Tess said, nodding meaningfully to where the girls were stripping. “I told him I wanted a friend of mine to help me with the dance, and he agreed, saying it would be even better that way.”

  “Great.” I smirked humorlessly. “Why don’t we go to the stage then?”

  Chapter 20

  I wanted to kick Tess’s ass right now, more than I ever had in the entire time I had known her. Swearing, I kept walking to the stage, followed by Rodger’s guards watching our every step. There was no way we could just run away from the damn club. I don’t know what I was thinking coming here, but right now, it felt like the worst decision I had ever made.

  “Louise?” I heard a familiar voice calling my name. I stopped, afraid to move. My blood froze in my veins.

  Slowly, I turned around and met Mike’s questioning eyes. Mike was one of Drew’s security members; I immediately knew I was screwed.

  “Hey,” I said, trying to come up with a more or less believable explanation for being at The Dragon’s Kiss.

  “What are you doing here? Are you here with someone?” He asked, looking around. Apparently, Natasha and Tess had lost sight of me and I was all alone now, mentally preparing myself to kiss my job goodbye. Ugh, there was no way in hell I was going to give up so quickly, I just needed to come up with an excuse as to why I was there.