NERTHUS
We stay quietly watching Harvey and Jensen, as the creep is called, bicker about nonsense. Emily is laughing cutely while I try not to collapse under the burning gaze of Arawn.
It feels like hours have passed as the elevator finally arrives. Emily takes advantage of the new established proximity and leans onto me.
“Amber, right?” She says with a big smile, and I nod.
“It’s so nice to have an actual girl with me here.” Leaning in, she shields her mouth with her hand, “You know, rather than just the hostess.”
Oh, babes, if you knew.
Her eyes sparkle amazed as she looks at me cutely. “Yeah! I’m looking forward to seeing this round.”
“Oh, you won’t be disappointed.” She says in a boasting tone, and giggles. “I hope you like cocktails.”
“Actually, I love them.” I smile at her, clenching my clutch and she squeals lightly. “Perfect, then.”
Clearing my throat, I try not to blend out her listing her favorite ones as I do my best to withstand Arawn’s angry gaze.
What did I ever do to you?!
As we exit the elevator, there are already another bunch of elegantly dressed women waiting for us. Emily and I keep making funny small talk as we walk down a hallway with dark red carpets and shiny tiled walls.
I stare in awe as we get into a big living room of what seems to be a presidential suite and nearly get a hostess having a break-down as I’m ignoring her while admiring the room. The poker table, the bars and the uniformed staff make this room look like an entire other dimension.
Her clearing of her throat suddenly gets me to focus on her, mortified. “Oh, I’m so sorry. What?”
“Can I put this on your wrist, Ma’am?”
I jump lightly, holding my arm out of me, and she proceeds to fasten a thin diamond bracelet around my wrist.
“Oh, wow!” I whisper, getting Emily’s attention.
“They are pretty, right?!”
I nod absentmindedly, still playing with the gleaming white stones.
The men are already standing around the table as they are setting in to play. I feel my chest squeeze as I hear Harvey making another joke at my expense, so I try to concentrate on Emily, who is blabbering happily next to me.
“Stop making fun of my woman, or I’ll shoot you for real.”
Arawn’s growling isn’t loud and still his voice reaches my ears anyway. My heart skips a beat as I keep myself from looking at the men, to not show how this might impact me.
Also, do not interpret anything into it.
“Emily, darling.” Before I can turn around, Bernard has already kissed Emily on the cheek and is now looking at me as if he was waiting his whole life for this moment.
“Amber, what a nice surprise.”
I must admit that he seems a lot less sleazy in his tailored suit outside the catacombs. Also, Emily seems to be thrilled to see him.
“Hi, Bernie.” I greet him, distorting my face slightly as he squeezes my arm.
“I’ll abstain from giving you a little kiss, because I’m particularly attached to my head, you know.” He pushes out a rumbling laugh as he reaches the men and a frowning Arawn.
“What?!” I finally mouth at him, but he just continues to glare at me.
“Where is Mattia?” Bernhard chimes as he reaches the table as well, but I get distracted by Emily before I can hear the answers.
“Come on. Let’s get something to drink.”
She steers me through the waitresses in short and tight uniforms into an adjoining room with yet another bar. The couches and chairs that are set in here seem amazingly cozy. We let ourselves slump onto a large beige couch with a relieved groan and laugh without reason as a waitress comes to take our orders.
“So, we are not staying with them as lucky charms?”
Emily takes a swift sip and nods. “Trust me, you don’t want to be there. Sometimes there is a cutie pie. But he isn’t there tonight, so I guess they will go wild.”
“Oh, I can imagine.” I say chucking, plopping a seasoned nut in my mouth.
My heart squeezes as I find the courage to ask the silly question buzzing in my head. “So, you are the only woman they always take with them, and you get to enjoy your time here?”
“It sounds worse than it is. I often have them bring me a book and enjoy a bit of quality time with my book boyfriends.” She giggles cutely, taking a wasabi nut from the bowl sitting on the couch table in front of us.
“It sounds heavenly, Emily.” I say, laughing with her.
“Sometimes there are other girls, but they are often just treats for the night and I don’t know why, but the taste of the men never liked me.” She winks at me, having sensed where my question wanted to aim at. “I have never seen Arawn taking a girl though.”
I chuckle awkwardly, moving my hand dismissively. “Oh, you don’t have to lie to me.”
“No! I’m serious.” She shakes her head, taking another sip of her drink.
“You are cute.” I say, sighing. “But you know that I’m just bought company, right?”
She nods, humming. “Yeah, I figured that because of Harvey’s jokes. But the way he interacted with you had me confused.”
Holding her hand to her chest, she gasps. “Oh, I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
“Don’t worry. He feels comfortable around me, I guess that means I’m doing my job right.” I grin at her, and she nods again.
Lowering my gaze onto my bracelet, I drive my fingers over the shiny stones.
“That’s like an entry stamp here.” She explains, making me squint my eyes at her. “I have an entire drawer full of such bracelets at home.”
My eyes widen as she tells me about this nonchalantly. “They are fake, then?”
“Oh, no. They pay a really high price to get us in here, they are certainly real.”
Gasping, I look back at my bracelet and gulp. “Can you people get any crazy?”
“And they are always different.” She says excitedly, starting to describe her favorite ones.
OMG! How much money did he spend on me… Again?
Looks like someone wants a few extra rounds tonight.
I chuckle to myself as I turn the bracelet between my fingers. “Those things are not really making me very comfortable.”
I sigh, looking around. “But I could get used to this.”