Chapter 4

• Chlöe stood, staring at the notes which the man had dropped on the small table, perplexed. She wondered if she had done anything to cause him to leave.
• Was he angry that I did not allow him to grab me as much as he wanted to?
• Did he think that I gave him too terrible a show, or was it something else? She wondered.
• She went to the table and picked up the cash, dropping it instantly in fearful surprise.
• “What sort of sorcery is this?” She asked herself quietly.
• Chlöe had not counted the money yet, but she knew that it would amount to a large sum. One that was too big for a private strip dancing session. She felt that she could get that kind of money in two nights, or maybe on a very good night shift, but this?
• She had heard some of the other strippers talk about the cash they received as gratitude from some of their customers, so she had enough sense to not give it to Miss Lucy. The actual issue would only arise if Lorenzo had not been satisfied with her performance and had gone to report her unsatisfactory actions to Miss Lucy.
• Chlöe took the wads of cash, stuffing them in the tight space between her flimsy clothing and her skin, and rushed into her chambers as quickly as she could, ignoring her guard’s greeting in the process. Collapsing on the chair in front of her vanity mirror, she felt a bit of pressure behind her eyes. Quickly, she shut her eyes tight. She could not afford anything else at that point.
• She opened her eyes and looked into the mirror, with the tiny lightbulbs lighting her face and making her large blue eyes seem like they were glowing.
• “What would you do if you left this place now, huh?” She asked her image in the mirror and a tear dropped from her left eye.
• Her day job only helped her in the littlest way possible, and she would have to go back to Sofia to ask for money. Again.
• Taking a wipe, she mopped at her face, removing her makeup with the tear streaks and placed her chin up.
• “I would find somewhere else to work if that man manages to let me off this job.” She whispered and opened started to take off her false lashes. “Or maybe if I lived better and was adopted by richer people, then I would not have been in this situation that I’m in.”
• “Are you okay, Ana?” A feminine voice asked, making Chlöe jump out of her seat to turn back.
• There was no one there.
• She shook her head, already understanding what was going on. Her emotions had triggered whatever form that was in her head to make sounds from people that were not even there.
• “I have to stop feeling envious of others and too sorry for myself.” Chlöe shook her head.
• “We are only going for a short ride, and we’d be back soon, okay?” The woman’s voice came again. Only this time, Chlöe refused to turn around, she only stood up calmly and started to pick her things off the floor and to change into her jeans and large hoodie.
• Unflustered by the commotion going on inside her head, she put the money away in her back pack and decided to go without seeing Miss Lucy first. Just in case the moody man that she had performed for had
• gone to tell her things already. She had seen Miss Lucy get mad at one of the girls for a performance gone wrong and it was not a pretty sight. Nothing she’d want to face herself.
• Chlöe had only just shut her door when she heard someone clear their throat behind her and the sweet smell of perfume followed. She squealed and turned around, frightened a bit.
• “Oh, Miss Lucy it’s just you.” She said, holding a hand to her chest and shaking her head. “I feared that it would be someone else.”
• No, it was exactly who she feared that it was that stood in front of her.
• Miss Lucy peered into her eyes, her face disbelieving. “Did you break any of my things, Princess Lilac?”
• Chlöe ran her fingers through her hair and blew air out of her mouth. “No, Miss Lucy.”
• “Then what happened? You look uneasy.” Miss Lucy had a hint of concern in her blank look.
• “Nothing at all, I’m just really tired.”
• “I must think so. I came here to check if you were done with Mr Salvatore. You know I cannot go into an occupied room, so as to not spoil the magic.” Miss Lucy winked and Chlöe’s face held an embarrassed look.
• “I guess?” Chlöe shrugged, laughing uneasily. “I was just about to go home anyway.”
• Miss Lucy eyed Chlöe steadily, making her to squirm and then suddenly, she leaned in and sniffed at Chlöe’s hair and face.
• Chlöe blinked and tried to take two steps back. The door limited her movements and so she was eye to eye with Miss Lucy.
• Why is Miss Lucy behaving like a dog that is going mad? Chlöe wondered as she turned her head, hoping that Miss Lucy would see it as a form of submission.
• “I— uh, I submit?” Chlöe said, her tone wavering. She became at ease when Miss Lucy let out a long loud laugh.
• “Oh Princess, you are so cute and hilarious. Why did you say that?” Miss Lucy asked between breaths.
• Chlöe did not find the entire situation to be funny in anyway.
• “Um, you were sniffing at me and you suddenly came towards me like you wanted to attack?” Chlöe knew that she sounded unsure.
• Miss Lucy hummed. “You sound unsure. I was actually checking to see if you had started doing drugs too.”
• “Drugs?” Chlöe shook her head.
• “Yes unfortunately, some of the girls here used to do that. I let the ones that did not stop go. It’s a tough world, and I would not let them do that under me.” Miss Lucy said. “They’re not my problem anymore, as it is.”
• “Um okay, but why did you sniff me?”
• “It smells very sweet, almost like Meth, but a bit better. The ones who did it tried to fool me, making me think that it was perfume. But I know it too well to know that it is not in fact, perfume.” Miss Lucy held a stern expression. Then she turned to look at Chlöe.
• “Goodbye Princess Lilac! Have a lovely morning!” Then she turned and left, making Chlöe wonder what the hell it was that had got into Miss Lucy at that time in the morning.
• Chlöe breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped out into the cold air through the back gates of Piccolo Mono Disco. The conversation— the almost one sided conversation she had with Miss Lucy had told her one thing.
• That the man she had danced for earlier had not told Miss Lucy about whatever it was that she had done wrong.
• Yet.
• Chlöe remembered how the man’s gaze ran through her person and how her insides squirmed when their eyes locked. And the heat of his palm through her skin. She wanted more of that.
• At first, she had seen stripping as a most undignified job, but slowly, she was getting used to playing Lilac. The youngest, shy princess who’s ferocity could only be unleashed by the most interesting— or in Miss Lucy’s story, the richest of the lot.
• But now, this princess’s story had ended for the day, and now, she was Chlöe, not a princess, but a poor girl with a job at a small restaurant.
• She pulled her hoodie up to her head and walked on.
• -
• Lorenzo stared at his reflection and shook his head.
• Who did that girl think she was to look at him like that?
• He grunted and splashed some cold water from the faucet all over his face, hoping that it would drown the memory of her dancing— no, spelling coconut with those hips. Those curvy hips.
• And the way she had looked at him and laughed. It had almost felt like she was sucking his soul out of his eyes.
• But this one was oh so lovely, and she looked like the squeakiest toy in the market. Lorenzo hated his attraction to her, but he wanted her so much.
• He went into his man cave and brought out a beer bottle. And then his phone to call Antonio.
• “Antonio Rossi!” He barked into the phone as soon as his best friend picked up the call.
• “God, I’m with someone. Scram!” Antonio yelled.
• “You said the girls there were better now! They are all bland! I went there today.” Lorenzo sounded angry.
• “God, you are a PMSing woman when you are like this.” Antonio said through the phone. “Hold that pose, Daniella, I want to talk to my best friend.”