*Lucia*
I felt a pang in my chest. Why did it feel so bad to see Bruno with another girl? And she was throwing herself at him while he made no effort to throw her off. And when she referred to me as a not-so-important person, he could stand up for me and defend me. He couldn’t shut her up and tell her how important I was to him. Well, maybe I thought too much. Maybe I wasn’t really important to him.
If I were, he would have walked after me.
After closing the door behind me, I rested my back on it. Come to think of it. This wasn’t the first time I was visiting this club. I tried to distract myself by walking around. My chest still feels tightened. I stood a few feet away from the closed door. I could hear the music resounding from the speakers.
Thinking about it made me feel like a fool. Bruno never said he liked me, and I, of course, felt nothing for him, so who hugs him doesn’t matter. He could go about hugging whoever he wanted. I walked out of the little hallway. There were two men positioned in front of Bruno’s door. They didn’t move or turn when I passed, and it made me wonder if they were humans or if they couldn’t see.
When I stepped out of the hallway, I was first greeted by the strong smell of alcohol and cologne. The air was hot. I winced my nose. This was just midday, for crying out loud. Why was it as filled as it should be at night? There were hooting and waves of laughter. The music seemed louder as I was closer to it. There were different boots. I wonder exactly what this place is called. I had noticed that the club was divided into various sections, each with its unique name.
I took in everything I saw. Waitresses were dressed skimpily with glowing trays of drinks. There was a little hall in front of me. It was lightened with strobe lights. The hall was crowded by many people who pressed themselves together, all in the name of dancing. I walked past the hallway and saw one of the waiters in a simple walk-throughout, disgusted by her choice of dress.
Sure, I won’t claim to be perfect or say I wore the least seductive clothes. But this was way too much. It revealed way too much skin. The last thing I could do was imagine myself in clothes that looked like that. There were various longues in this part of the club. Just as big was this club. I looked around as I took each step.
This was just one of the floors; how about the others? I wondered. As I walked further, I saw more and more unpleasant things. One of the longue was filled with men who were smoking and playing cards. I caught sight of a girl humping on a man. She had her head thrown to the back, and her eyes rolled around as if in pleasure, as if in pain. When I finally realized what was happening, my eyes widened.
Holy shit!
They were having sex. In a crowded room, anyone could see them. Yes, sure, I was used to mafia life and their shamelessness. But I have never come across such a thing. Or was it because I was already shifted by Jason? I couldn’t help but wonder.
I turned away and walked past the longue quickly. But they suddenly seemed to be everywhere. Maybe it was time to go back to Bruno. He should be done with whoever the hoe was that came inside to interrupt us rudely. I couldn’t help but feel anger towards the girl, and I justified it with the fact that we had been rudely interrupted. I walked out quickly. I was close to the exit, and my shoulder hit someone hard. I looked up immediately to see a middleman. He reeked of alcohol and something metallic.
I furrowed my brows.
I tried hard not to cover my nose due to the type of smell that came from him. “Watch where you are going bitch,” he yelled. He tried to steady himself but kept moving left and right. He was already drunk. I scoffed. He was the one who hit me. Or no, maybe I was the one who hit him. Well, who cares? He wasn’t someone I wanted to spend the next minute with. I walked past him without bothering to apologize. I wasn’t wrong. He kept calling after me and raining curses on me, but I couldn’t care less. I didn’t even turn to look at him. This place was a very different place.
It’s so different from any other place I’ve been to.
I wanted to leave as soon as possible. It was already noon; Bruno should be hungry. I’ll tell him I’ll make something very delicious for him so he will take me home. I was about to leave the hallway when I felt someone’s hands on my shoulder. I turned sharply, moving to step away from the person’s touch. When my eyes met the face of the person who was at my back, I froze. Rave was the last person I expected to meet.
I had done a good job avoiding him and any conversation he would want to have with me. And he seemed to be avoiding me, too. I wondered if he was angry. I wouldn’t blame him if he was; it is understandable. “Rave,” I called his name, my voice a bit low.
“What are you doing here?” He asked me. He raised his voice so I could be able to hear him properly. “I came with Bruno,” I answered with the same voice he had questioned me with. He was about to continue when someone tapped him. He turned to the person, and the person whispered something in his ear. He apologized before he left, promising to come see me before I left.
I walked back to Bruno, and just as expected, he was done with the girl. Whatever he did with her wasn’t my business. I focused on not showing the fact that I was a bit angry at him for allowing someone like her to interrupt us. Not this thought again, Lucia. I scolded myself internally. I tried to listen to what Bruno had to say. He sat giving orders like the boss he was. I knew I couldn’t object to anything he said. So I agreed right away. He has made it known so often that he was the boss, not me.
I still couldn’t wrap up the fact that I would be staying in this place. I wanted to go to his house and also my new home. I didn’t want to work in this place. But then, Maybe this was for the best. I’d get to know a lot about Bruno. Maybe this was one way to prepare for my revenge. One way to remind me not to feel anything towards this man but hate.
“I have a problem,” I said when he asked if I had any questions. I did have a question. My eyes moved from side to side. It wasn’t a hard question. I took in a deep breath, “Let’s hear it,” he said, and I took a step forward.
“I can’t wear the dress,” I said. He raised a brow as if he didn’t understand what I said.
“What dress might you be talking about?” He asked. He did sound confused right now. I had seen those girls, all who worked for him. Maybe those girls who gave their bodies to men were also his workers. The more I thought of it, the more I felt we had a lot more to talk about. We have to agree. We have to agree on many things. “I’d like to speak to you privately,” I said as he tilted his head before raising two fingers to the man who was beside me. “What do you want to say to me that you need privacy? Don’t tell me you are about to confess your love to me,” I scoffed as soon as those words flew out of his mouth.
“I walked around the club and saw many unpleasant things,” I said, going straight to the point. I wasn’t going to beat around the bush.
“What did you see?” He asked. One may then think he doesn’t honestly know what was happening in his club. But I was very sure he knew what I was about to talk about. “As you know, there are many things that go on in your club,” I said.
He leaned into the chair, “give me details, sweet girl,” he said.
He still has the nerve to call me sweet girl. “Are you perhaps talking about the drink? This is a club you should_”
“I know what happens in a club,” I said, cutting him short. “I don’t have a problem with them drinking and smoking; that was, after all, what they came here for. “I don’t like their clothes. I may have agreed to walk here for you, but I wasn’t going to change my dressing style,” I said, waiting for him to disagree, but he didn’t.
“Is that all?” He asks.
“And also, I know you bought me,” his expression changed when I mentioned buying. He didn’t seem to like the word, but that was the truth. He had bought me. “But I won’t be selling myself to nobody for you,” I said, emphasizing the importance of my words.
“What do you mean?” He asked. Now, he looked genuinely concerned. His brows raised. “Speak in clearer words, sweet girl,” he said, and I decided to come clean. He already knows while trying to bend it. He listened carefully to me. After I finished recounting what I had said to him, he was laughing so hard.
I squinted my eyes, trying to figure out what was funny from what I just said.
He gave me the promise that nothing of such could happen and that I could go around without wearing such skimpy clothes.
***
Working in the club was not as complicated as I thought, or maybe it was because I just started, and most of the time, I was in Bruno’s office. I wondered why he didn’t make me his secretary if he planned to always keep me in his office.
“Bring two bottles of whiskey and send it to the table over there,” I raised my head to see a man who should be in his late fifties in front of me. I squinted my brows. It was clear that I was not a waiter but a receptionist. “I’ll ask someone to bring it over there,” I calmly told him.
“No, I want you to bring it,” he said. I winced my nose. The man’s breath reeked of alcohol mixed with cigarettes. “You are surely a pretty girl; maybe we could go a round or two afterward,” he said.
I took a deep breath, trying to control the anger breeding within me at the nonsense he sprouted. “The drinks will be sent to your table in a minute,” I said, choosing to ignore what he just said.
I placed my hands on the telephone in front of me, ready to call one of the waiters, when I felt his rough palm on top of mine. “I’ve been watching you from afar. It’s decided; it’s you I want.” He said.
“Let’s go off me,” I said through gritted teeth.
His hands moved upward, “and if I refuse? You don’t seem to know your place. You are here to entertain us. If you are not ready to lose your job, shut the fuck up and walk behind me,” he said, and that was it.
I was done holding back.