The bar girl, noticing my obvious crush on him, walked towards us and leaned over the bar herself. He looked up and smiled, enjoying the ‘breast’ attention from all sides.
“Do you want another one, sexy?” the bar girl asked.
“Drink or woman?” He laughed at his question. “Yeah, I’ll take another drink, and one for…?”
Awww this was so cute, we were now onto first name introductions, even though I had secretly named him months back.
He turned and looked into my eyes, waiting for an answer as the bargirl poured out our drinks and abruptly shoved them in front of us. She seemed annoyed he wasn’t interested in her or her silicone valley.
“It’s Estelle.”
“Ah. Estelle, meaning ‘star’, how perfectly apt… you do sparkle, even more so when you’re naked.”
I smiled as I glanced down at my body. “I think it’s all the body glitter—it’s kinda part of the job. Some people wear suits; I wear sparkles.”
He gave me a wry smile as he finished his drink in one gulp. “Are you finished for the night? Let me walk you to the station; it would be rude of me not to.”
“I don’t even know your name.” I smacked his arm playfully, just for an excuse to touch him again. “You’re just a stranger, remember?”
He laughed, “It’s David. Happy now, Estelle? We’re no longer strangers.”
I giggled, playfully swinging my legs off the edge of the barstool. “Very happy, David.”
He held out his hand, helping me down from the stool, and took another sideways glance as the suit jacket fell open, exposing my naked body. Embarrassed, I rushed to pull it shut. “Oh God, sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
He chuckled at my reaction as he stood watching me in the oversized jacket that fell just below my tush. “I did just see you take off all your clothes, while fondling another woman, remember?”
I looked at him sheepishly. “Yeah, but that was different; that was work.”
He grinned. “You better go and get your real coat; it’s very cold tonight—I wouldn’t want you getting sick.”
I nodded in agreement. “Give me a second, will you? I’ll meet you out front.”
He smirked, looking me up and down as he cocked his head to one side. “I’ll be waiting.”
I pushed back through the crowd of sleazy men and around to the back of the stage. By the time I got to the hallway, I was just about skipping in exuberance. I hadn’t felt this excited since I got onto a plane two years ago and flew the fuck out of my old life.
When I got to the dressing room, Candice was changing into a red fishnet bodysuit, carefully piling her hair on top of her head. She turned to me, smiling, as I ran into the dressing room.
“So… what’s he like?”
I just about gushed to tell her my news. “That’s the guy!”
“What guy?”
“My train fantasy—Mr. Unknown!”
She stood side on in the mirror as she stepped into some chunky black platforms. “Not the prick who told you to cover up?”
“Yes!” I giggled, now unable to contain my excitement as I stuffed my silk blouse into my bag.
“But... he’s a prick, remember?”
I shrugged, shimmying into a tight pencil skirt. “He’s not that bad, you know—he bought me a drink.”
She looked at me, clearly concerned she would be picking up the pieces the next day. “Estelle—it’s not like he bought you a house. A drink costs less than a lap dance—big deal, honey.”
Not wanting to listen, I started searching through the fantasy outfits, feather boas, and sky-high heels that filled the wardrobe, looking for something perfect for the evening ahead. “Have you seen my coat?” I called over my shoulder.
Perfect. I smiled to myself and pulled out an understated dark grey corset finished with spaghetti straps, quickly wrapping it around me and doing up the steel clips as fast as my fingers would go.
“Lace-me up, please?”
“That’s a little raunchy, isn’t it? What are you planning on doing with him?”
I giggled, turning to see the worried look on her face as I kicked off my clear stripper heels and replaced them with strappy black ones. “You’re kidding, right? He’s already seen me stark naked and fondling you! This isn’t exactly raunchy.”
She sighed, biting her nail.
“Well… have you seen my coat?” I nagged.
“The black one?”
Instead of answering, I leaned forward into the mirror, adjusting my breasts to the top of the cups.
Candice walked up behind me and placed the tailored coat over my shoulders. I shoved my arms through the sleeves, barely able to cope with the time it was taking to find the armholes. I turned to smile at her, almost giddy with rawness as a flush of excitement whizzed around my body.
Wrapping the ties firmly around my waist she looked at me with concern. “Please be careful. You know what these places are like, not to mention the men that fill them. He could be a psycho—you just don’t know.”
I nodded, un-flustered by her mother duck behavior.
“Remember, you said you would never sleep with a client.” She wiggled her finger at me as a loud knock on the door interrupted her.
“He’s not a client, though.” I winked at Candice and turned to see Mick opening the door. Not caring what he had to say, I reapplied my lipstick and spritzed some perfume on my cleavage.
“You were fucking brill out there, girls!” Mick rubbed his hands together in delight.
I pushed past him to get out the door. “Where do you think you’re going, Miss Price?”
“Home! My shift is over; it’s been a long day.”
“There are over fifty men out there though who would like to see you for some special attention—I could pay you double, Estelle.”
I shook my head. “Nah—not worth it to me, Micky; see ya tomorrow.”
He glared, placing his hands on his hips. “But principessa … Candice is staying on for me tonight. What about just one dance for Ralph? He’s obsessed with you, bella.”
I laughed, “I don’t care, Mick! My shift is over.”
I blew Candice a kiss and waved as I ran towards the front entrance and my waiting fantasy.
14
Stepping outside into the cold night air, I scanned across the veiled, empty streets, and my heart instantly sunk. He was gone. Shit. Who the hell is this guy? A professional illusionist?
Deeply frustrated by his sudden disappearance, and more so at myself for getting so excited again about a man I hardly knew, I shook my head at my own stupidity.
Pulling my short trench coat tighter around my body to ward off the freezing air, I decided it was time to leave. He wasn’t around, and I wasn’t going to wait. I had already lost months craving his bones, and I didn’t feel like I had any extra minutes to waste.
Whatever the time was, I knew it was too late to be walking around by myself, no matter how classy Mayfair was. But now I had no other choice. I wasn’t about to go back inside and give lap dances for the next three hours until Candice finished her shift.
So even though it was stupidly expensive and really only for the tourist’s budget, I decided to hail a black cab. I hoped that in the time it took to get back to the station, his sexy, angular, stupid face would be well and truly erased from my mind.
After paying the cabbie more cash than my tight-ass budget wanted to, I entered the station, rushing forward and stepping onto the escalator. Slowly it carried me down onto the familiar platform—the one where this entire insane obsession had started in the first place.
As I looked up to read how much longer it would be until my train arrived, I felt a warm breath trickle over the nape of my neck, and a tall shadow suddenly loomed over me. Startled, I turned around to face my fear, preparing to knee whoever it was in the groin.
Luckily, it was just him and his stupid, angelic face.
Not able to deal with seeing him again so soon after the last disap
pointment he had caused me, I started to walk away.
Following me, he grabbed my shoulder only a few meters up the platform and spun me around to face him. “Estelle, what’s wrong?”
I crossed my arms, frowning. “Why didn’t you wait?”
He exhaled, shaking his head. “I did. I waited for forty minutes, outside in the blistering cold. That is the longest I’ve ever waited for any woman or person. I thought you had changed your mind.”
I chewed my lip, feeling like an utter twit. “Oh God, I’m sorry. Was it really that long?”
He smiled, pointing up at the clock that hung above our heads. It was now close to midnight.
I made a face. “Sorry, the time must have just slipped away.”
He shrugged. “That’s okay; we’re here now. So, are you going my way? Or yours?”
I giggled. “That depends…”
“On what?”
“Whether you decide to be a prick like last time we took a trip together.”
“I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“Promise?”
He sniggered, “I don’t believe in promises, they always get broken. So I never make them—not anymore.”
He took my hand, and together we walked down the long platform. “Let me take you home, Estelle, because I think you’re better than that horrible place. I think you’re a beautiful creature who just needs to be loved.”
I looked up into his dark, broken eyes and almost felt inebriated on his words. “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He snorted, “Apart from tonight, this is only the second time we’ve spoken. It probably wouldn’t be hard to top my behavior from the first time. I know I was being a prick; I have that tendency.”
I smirked to myself. He was cute.
“Promise me one thing, Estelle.”
I wrinkled my nose in thought. “If you don’t make promises, then why should I?”
He laughed. “Please? Just this once.”
I looked into his eyes, knowing I couldn’t deny him or that accent. “Okay then, what?”
“Whatever you do, Estelle, please don’t ever put me on a pedestal; I fucking hate that.”
I laughed. “Shouldn’t be a problem. After my father, and the patrons at the club, my feelings towards men and their apparent greatness are pretty much zilch.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Ouch.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m a little damaged.”
He smiled warmly, rubbing his hand over my back “Who isn’t?”
When we arrived at his train, he paused, watching me. “Well here we are.”
I nodded. “Yup, this is it.”
He stepped onto the train and turned to see me still standing there. “Well?” He smiled. “Aren’t you going to get on?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. This isn’t even my train.”
“What do you mean? You’ve travelled on this train before.”
I screwed up my face hopelessly, wanting to dissipate into the platform beneath my feet. “I got on the train because you were on it. Trust me, this is not my train.”
A small smile broke across his face. “Really?”
I looked down at my feet. “Yeah. It’s really dumb. I shouldn’t have told you—it’s embarrassing. Normally, I’m not crazy; I can’t really explain it, but you had a bit of an affect on me.”
He smiled, gently offering his hand. “Coming?”
I shrugged. “But it’s not my train.”
He chuckled, his hand still hanging in the air. “It doesn’t need to be. Just let me take you home.” I paused on the platform, watching his eyes. “Come on, you’ve come this far, why pause now?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t bite, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I grinned, suddenly giggling. “You’re not a vampire then?”
He laughed, “No, unfortunately, I just don’t tan very well.”
I ruffled my hand through my locks, not able to resist just a little flirting. “Darn it, David. I thought you were going to save me from aging.”
He smirked, shaking his head in silence as he waited for my decision.
And so, I took a chance on the possibility of love and stepped onto his train.
Both warm and slightly numb from the alcohol, together we travelled into the darkness of the night and back to his unknown reality. Side by side, no longer strangers, not yet lovers, just two people—with known identity labels.
David and Estelle #acquaintances
15
As we left Knightsbridge Station, I turned to look up at my new acquaintance. If I was perfectly honest, I was still in a little shock that we were now side by side, rather than staring at each other from a distance. The shards of moonlight dripped over his angular face so perfectly, he almost looked like he was carved out of stone.
“Tell me something more about you,” I whispered, breaking the airy footfalls of our journey. “You’re so familiar to me, and yet so unknown.”
The corner of his lip lifted in the subtlest way. “Honestly, I don’t even know where to start; there has been so much bullshit in my life.”
I reached out, touching the tips of his warm hands as I wove my cold fingers through his in solace, slowly leaning my head into his sculptured shoulder. “I think all of us in one way or another are just trying to deal with getting through another day unscathed. It’s not easy, is it?”
I turned to look up at him for a response, but now the clouds had crossed over the moon, and I was unable to decipher his feelings, which I knew, in one way or another, would be engraved into his brow.
He sniffed, continuing to walk in silence. I wanted to ask him a million and one questions, but I could sense an invisible barrier protecting him from my curiosity. He either didn’t want to talk, or at least wasn’t ready to, so I wasn’t going to push him. I knew from past experience that nagging a man was a hopeless and pointless endeavor, often not even required. So much can be learnt in silence. Silence in bed, silence in war, and silence in the beginning of whatever this moment was.
As we crossed an unusually wide road, the bliss of thoughtful silence was broken by two pimped-out Mercedes, complete with purposefully loud exhausts. The cars were stuffed full of invincibility—the raging hormones of rich teenage boys out on a mission to cause trouble just ‘cause they could. As the cars screeched past us, the bass of their stereos jarring my ears, they yelled some familiar obscenities—ones I had heard all too often whilst I pranced around for the drunken bastards at the club.
David looked down at my face in sudden concern, his beautiful accent delighting my senses. “I was off in another world, sorry. What did they yell at you?”
I smirked, “It’s okay, don’t worry. It’s far too rude to repeat.”
He raised his eyebrows, clearly not amused by their behavior. In obvious frustration, he pursed his lips, gripping my hand tighter as we walked on through the darkness. “Well there shouldn’t be any of that behavior on this next street. It’s very quiet for the most part.”
And boy, was he right. Rounding the last corner, we were met with a mass of overgrown, ancient trees. The entire street was lined with them. Their giant branches were all covered in dark green foliage, each of their statuesque forms leaning inwards towards each other as if to whisper in unknown, haunting tongues.
The hush of beauty from the boulevard washed over me like a giant wave, sweeping me out and away from the ruckus on shore, away from reality, and into instant peace. Seeing that vision left me almost breathless.
“This is so beautiful.” I whispered hardly daring to break the serenity.
His eyes turned to confusion. “Pardon?”
“All the trees, and how they bend towards each other. I can’t remember the last time I saw such beauty.”
He chuckled “Beauty? I’ve always thought the trees made the street especially dark and creepy.”
I giggled, squeezing his hand in a playful manner. “
Trust me, there’s a big difference. The men I strip for are creepy—this is… magical.”
He laughed, rubbing his thumb over my hand in muted affection. “I’ll take your word for it.”
His quick pace began to slow, and together, we meandered hand in hand under the watchful eye of the old, overgrown trees. Then without any warning, he stopped. And there we stood, completely alone, in front of an immense set of curled iron gates.
Departed (Unbearably Gifted Book 1) Page 6
