Louise Read online

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “What did the client say about your dance?”

  Unintentionally, my eyes traveled to my hand, holding the note. I shrugged, as if nothing had happened. “He liked it.”

  Kate smiled slightly and nodded, taking me by the hand. “Good. Now let’s get out of here. You need a shower and some rest. Tomorrow’s your first day off. How are you planning to spend it?”

  “I… Haven’t thought about it yet.”

  “Not surprising. You had too much to deal with tonight. Tess shouldn’t have sent you to that room. Everyone knows it’s your first show night here. I’m sure Drew would have understood if you had refused to do a private dance tonight.”

  “Kate,” I stopped, taking a deep breath before proceeding, “It was all good. Really. Stop worrying and rambling, okay?”

  “Okay.” She looked a little relieved and I wondered if the memories of her own first private dance were the reason for her weird behavior. “Can I ask you something?” I didn’t think Kate was my best friend or anything, but somehow, I knew I could trust her, and I could feel she trusted me too.

  “Sure, go ahead,” she said.

  “Can you tell me about your first private dance?”

  I knew I was trying my luck. Kate hated talking about her past, but I was hoping she would finally open up and explain a few things to me.

  She smiled, shaking her head. “Sometimes it feels like nothing can be hidden from you. Come on, let’s get a drink.”

  “I’m not allowed to drink here.”

  “No, you are not, but I am.”

  We went to the bar, took a bottle of tequila, lime and salt for Kate, a coke for me. After leaving the bar we went to her room. I didn’t ask any more questions until we were safely hidden behind the closed door.

  “Make yourself at home,” she said, kicking off her shoes. “Ugh, these heels are killing me. I’m not supposed to wear them anymore, you know?”

  “Why?” I took a seat on a small sofa and poured myself a glass of coke.

  “A few years ago, I had an injury. I fell off the pole I used for one of my dances. I hurt my back, pretty badly. The doctors said I should forget about dancing or wearing heels, but you know me — there was no way I was going to allow a little pain to ruin my life.” She took a shot-glass and poured some tequila into it. “To us!”

  “Cheers!” We raised our glasses and the so-called ‘drinking party’ started.

  “So you wanted to know about my first private dance, right?”

  I nodded wordlessly.

  “I danced for Drew.”

  I almost choked on my drink. “You danced for Drew, himself? On your first night here?”

  “Actually, my first private dance happened before my show did. And unlike yours, it was far from being innocent. In fact, Drew didn’t want me to dance, he wanted to sleep with me. And I didn’t mind, at all.”

  Kate looked a little guilty, as if she was waiting for my judgment or something.

  “Before Drew hired me, he said that no matter what kind of a dance he would ask of me, I needed to do it without even one word of protest. I agreed immediately. And you know why? Because I fell for that arrogant bastard the moment he laid his greedy eyes on me. I couldn’t help myself.” Kate poured another shot and drained it dry. “I’m a fool, I know. Regardless of how old I get, or how many women I see Drew screwing, I still hope that I will be the one… The one he would want to spend the rest of his life with. I sound pathetic, I know.”

  I smirked to myself. “No, you don’t. You love him. And love isn’t pathetic.” I watched Kate for a minute before I dared to ask another question. “Have you ever told Drew about your feelings for him?”

  “No. It won’t change anything, so what’s the point?”

  “What if he loves you too?”

  “Well, then he has a very special way of showing it.”

  “I saw you two, you know? It’s like you can carry on your conversations with each other without saying a word. In my opinion, you are a perfect match.”

  Kate smiled sadly. “Thanks for saying so. I’ve never told anyone about Drew and me. But with you, there is no need for words, you can see right through me. I knew it was going to be that way from the moment we first met. How do you do it?”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. Really. I guess it’s because of the time I spent at the train stations. I had an eternity to observe people, guessing the reasons behind their smiles, frowns, and sadness. Sometimes body language and facial expression can tell you more about a person than his words can. Especially if they are a lie.”

  “If I didn’t know better, I would have never believed you are only eighteen, Louise. You are wise beyond your years. You don’t belong here. You deserve so much more than this.” She gestured around the place.

  “Not true, I do belong here. And now I know it for sure.”

  “You could become a professional dancer, go to college, get a degree…”

  “Maybe one day I will. When I’m allowed to leave Le Papillon.”

  “Don’t get attached to this place. Don’t fall for the men you meet here. It’s all a lie, one huge lie. Nothing you see or hear in the club is real, it’s just an illusion… A trick…. You are a smart girl, so don’t let anyone or anything fool you. This place is like a drug, once you taste it, it’s hard to resist it.”

  “Are we still talking about dancing?”

  “That too.”

  Later I realized Kate’s words didn’t have anything to do with the club itself, but rather with the people who came to the club. I could already feel she was right. I wasn’t ‘addicted’ to the stranger I talked to in the private room, I didn’t know anything about him, but somehow, I wanted to know more…

  “I think it’s time to call it a night,” I said, looking at the sun-shaped clock on the wall.

  “Yeah, it’s been a long day. Go get some sleep.”

  “Should I be worried about leaving you alone with this bottle?” I asked, nodding to the tequila.

  She laughed. “We’ll be fine. No need to worry. She and I have been best friends for a very long time.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

  “Sleep well, Beautiful. You rocked the show room tonight.”

  “Thanks. That’s the best compliment I could wish for.”

  “Get the hell out. You make me feel too old and too damn experienced.”

  I smiled, opening the door. “Good night, Kate!”

  “You too, Babe, you too.”

  I came back to my room, thinking about Kate’s words and the folded note in my hand. I opened it and read two words and a number, “15 Rockfold Road.”

  My palms trembled. I was dying to go there and find out why the mysterious man wanted to see me again, especially considering the fact he didn’t even watch me dance, at least not in the private room. In any other situation, I would throw the note away and would never ever agree to go to the meeting with the stranger, whose intentions were obviously far from innocent. But there was a part of me that wanted to take the chance…

  What is the saying? Oh, right… Forbidden fruit is sweet.

  I closed my eyes and imagined my stranger still being there with me. A tremor ran through my body. I didn’t know if it was out of fear or excitement. Maybe both? Because, of course, I was afraid of breaking the rules on my first day off, but there was something about the man’s voice that wouldn’t allow me to stop thinking about him and his explicit invitation. What if it was just a trap set up to test me? No, it couldn’t be a trap… Could it?

  I sighed, still not sure what to do with the note.

  I’ll think about it tomorrow, I said to myself, recalling Scarlett O’Hara’s words. After all, new days always brought something new… In my case, I hoped it would be a decision that I wouldn’t regret.

  ***

  As expected, I didn’t get a wink of sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I could hear my mysterious stranger’s words, whispered
into my ear, over and over again, like a broken record.

  You are all mine now…

  What made him think I was his property now? I felt a little irritated. I hated people thinking they could control me against my will. I liked control too. Then why would I suddenly want to lose it? Especially with someone who was more like another fantasy than a real person.

  There was one more thing that wouldn’t let me go. I had that weird feeling telling me that regardless of my decision about the invitation, the stranger wouldn’t give up so easily. He didn’t seem like a man who would just leave me alone if I decided to say no. Rather on the contrary — the intonation of his voice said it all — if he wanted something, he would get it, no matter what.

  Finally, after almost two hours of self-torturing and pacing the room impatiently, I had decided to try my luck. After all, I had never been an easy-to-scary girl. Again, I thanked Paradise for teaching me a lesson. There was no place for fear in the heart of a person whose life had been a living hell.

  “Well, well, Louise…” I muttered to my reflection in the mirror, “who would have thought you were so easy to seduce?” It’s not like I was preparing to lose my virginity today, but something was telling me the meeting with the man would surprise me.

  I put on jeans and a sweater that looked anything but hot and sexy, and left, hoping no one would get suspicious about me leaving the club.

  It was almost noon when I stopped at one of the cafés, dying to have a cup of coffee. I didn’t have time to eat breakfast before I left. Well, not exactly. I did have time to eat, but I didn’t want to see anyone, including Kate, who would no doubt ask me about the plans for the day.

  “One cappuccino, please,” I said to the waitress. “And a croissant with apple jam.”

  I paid for my food, and took a seat at a table near the window, which looked right out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I glanced at my watch, I still had a lot of time before I had to go back to Le Papillon, so I thought visiting a museum would be a nice way to spend it. As for the invitation…

  “Miss Woods?” A man in a dark suit asked. He was rather tall, around fifty years old, with the most ridiculous stash I had ever seen, at least not in real life. He reminded me of Sherlock Holmes.

  I looked around carefully. “Yes. That’s me.”

  “There’s a car waiting for you, across the street. There,” the man pointed to a black limo parked not far away from the café.

  “Whose car is that?”

  “I guess we both know the answer.” He even spoke like Sherlock, with new mysteries filling his every word.

  My heart started beating rapidly in my chest. The man was right, I didn’t need to ask the question. I immediately knew the answer.

  I looked at my untouched croissant, but all of a sudden, I didn’t feel like eating it.

  “You will have breakfast. But not here,” the man said, watching me closely. I could almost feel the intensity of his gaze. He looked like a bodyguard, or maybe a driver, but there was something else about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It was as if he knew everything about me. And here I was without a clue of who I was talking to.

  I hesitated for a moment.

  “Time is ticking, Miss.”

  I looked at the dark limo again, and rose to my feet. It’s better to risk and regret it later, than to keep torturing myself with the nonstop questions running through my mind, right? Decisions, decisions…

  “You are right,” I finally said.

  The man nodded approvingly. “Follow me, please.”

  He opened the door and held it for me.

  I didn’t know if I was being tracked. Drew said he always knew where his girls were, so I was still a little scared I would be out of the club the moment I returned, but I went anyway.

  The man in the suit opened the limo door for me and I got in, hoping I would see my stranger from last night inside. But to my disappointment, there was no one in the car.

  I panicked. Were the doors already locked? Did I still have a chance to change my mind and run away? The car started to move and I realized there was no turning back…

  We had been driving around the city for about a half hour, when the car suddenly stopped. I looked out of the window and read the address written on the gates to what looked like a park.

  The gates opened slowly and I found myself surrounded by huge oaks, growing on both sides of the road leading to a house I could swear looked like a hundred-year-old castle.

  “Welcome to Jasmine Garden, Miss,” the driver, also known as the man in the suit said. At least there was one person I already knew.

  “Excuse me, what’s your name, Sir?”

  “It’s Christopher.”

  “Can I ask you something, Christopher?”

  “I’m not sure if I’m allowed to answer any more of your questions, Miss.”

  “But I’ll still try… Am I safe here?” I didn’t know if I could trust the driver, but he didn’t look like a serial killer, or anything. In fact, he made me feel secure.

  “Always,” he said without hesitation.

  Okay, that was a relief.

  Christopher got out of the car, went around it and opened the door for me. For the first time ever I felt like a princess arriving at the ball. I would probably need a dress for a real ball, but for now, I felt much better in my jeans and a sweater.

  “My boss is waiting for you, inside.”

  “Aren’t you going to come in with me?” I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be left alone.

  “Trust me, Miss, you will be just fine without me.”

  Christopher smiled and went back to the car, leaving me on the porch of the most beautiful house ever.

  Inhaling deeply, I took a step closer to the main doors. Even from the distance, I could see they were open. I came closer and gave the doors a push. They opened with a soft rustle and I found myself standing in the middle of a round hall, with a transparent ceiling and an endless staircase leading to the second floor.

  “I’m glad you could make it,” the familiar voice said.

  I tried to turn around, but my stranger wouldn’t let me. “Don’t,” he said, holding me by the shoulders. “You are not allowed to see me, remember?”

  “No one knows I’m here.” The scent of his cologne reached my nostrils, I could feel him standing right behind me. What if I take a step back? Will he embrace me or push me away? I didn’t know where those thoughts came from. It just felt so good to be with him again…

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Not really,” I said, still dying to turn around. Maybe coffee was not enough to keep me alive for the rest of the day, but right then and there, I doubted I would be able to make myself eat.

  “You need to eat... I don’t want you to faint in the middle of your dance next Sunday.”

  “I don’t work next Sunday.”

  “I know. But you will dance for me.”

  “Why waste your time on a trip to the club if we can talk here and now?”

  “I didn’t say anything about talking. I said I would come to watch you dance.”

  “Then what am I doing here?”

  “I wanted to ask you the same question… I didn’t expect you to come, even though I hoped you would… But you are here, and I can’t stop wondering what made you decide to accept my invitation?”

  “Did I have a choice?”

  “You always have a choice.”

  “Your invitation didn’t sound like a choice, it was more like an order.”

  The stranger leaned closer to my ear, saying, “If I had wanted to order your presence here, you would have been here a long time ago.”

  I smirked, humored. “Don’t you think you give yourself too much credit, Mr.?”

  He replied with a smirk in his voice. “No, I don’t think so.” There was a short pause, after which he asked, “Would you like to see the house?”

  “Yes. Is it yours?”

  “It belongs to my mother, but she lives
in Europe, so for now, I’m the only dweller of this place.”

  “Isn’t it a little scary to live here alone?”

  Unintentionally, I took a step forward and came to the glass door opening to what I guessed was a sun room.

  “I’m never alone. I read books, I listen to music, and you are never alone when you have an imaginary world to dive into.”

  “But it’s still just an allusion. Don’t you want something more… Real?” I turned around, but the stranger was no longer there. “Where are you?” I asked, hoping he was not just another psycho hunting young girls and locking them away in his castle. I know it was a little too late to think about running away, but as it turned out, it was not needed.

  “I’m here,” his voice from behind the flowers replied. “I knew you would turn around, sooner or later, and I don’t want to break the confidentiality rule.”

  “And here I thought you didn’t give a damn about following some stupid rules.”

  “I will follow only this one. At least until you are ready to know more about me. I can assure you Louise, there are way too many things you are not ready to understand now. First, I want you to spend more time with me, to get used to being with me. And I want to know more about you. I won’t hurt you, ever. I just want the moment of looking into eyes to be special.”

  “Can I still ask you a few questions?”

  “Yes. But don’t get angry if my answers are not what you expect to hear.”

  “So is this going to be like an interview with a ghost or something?”

  I could hear his quiet laughter. “You hate secrets, I remember that. But for now, it’s better to keep it this way.”

  “Have you ever cared about anyone, except for your family of course?” I walked over to a blossoming bush of pink roses and bent to smell the sweet aroma.

  “I don’t think I have. But… I do care about you.”

  Chapter 7

  My breath caught for a moment.

  I care about you…

  For the first time in eight years, my heart fluttered. I smiled to myself. I was obviously out of my mind. It was like walking on the edge, one step forward, and I would be lost forever…