Man of Veracity- Finished

6 Juliette

I grab a bagel and pop it in the toaster before heading to the bathroom. I glance at the clock, 6:20. I have 30 minutes to get ready before I have to leave to head into the club. I usually work 7pm-3am. The plan was to only take this job for a couple of months, save enough money and then hopefully move onto doing something else but the most I've been able to make was $5600 and more than half of that went towards my insulin. I sigh. Thanks mom, for passing that illness along. It's honestly the only thing I have of hers, except for my height. All of my characteristics come from my dad. My eyes, my high cheek bones, my round face, even my lips. I quickly wash up and change, grab my bagel to eat on the way in and head out. It's raining again today. I love the rain. It reminds me of the first time dad allowed me outside onto the estate.

Past

It's raining...again. The pitter patter against the windows come more often now than they did a minute ago. I'm sitting on the living room couch staring out of the window at the vast amount of land we have and sigh. Dad's mad again because I brought up the conversation of going outside. I just thought that he'd allow it. Just this once since it was my 12th birthday today. 

"Juliette, mia bella..." dad says walking into the living room.

I turn back to face the window showing my annoyance with him.

"Come on, mia bella. Don't do this, not today of all days. We should be celebrating."

I agree, we should be celebrating. Outside. 

"Juliette, your mother has worked very hard on your cake for this day and we both know she couldn't bake even if her life depended on it." he says more sternly.

I narrow my eyes at him.

" Dad, all I wanted was to go outside. I didn't ask for a camera to just take pictures of the house inside."

"There are plenty of things you can take pictures of inside. What about of us three?" he says smiling.

"We have so many of those. I want to take pictures outside."

"It's raining."

" Yes, I want to take a picture of the rain."

He looks at me blankly.

"It'll break the camera."

"Dad, pleeeeeaaaaaase. Just this once. It can be a birthday gift. " I plead.

He stares at me quietly for a moment. 

"You know I love you, mia bella. You and your mother are my whole world."

Even though I'm annoyed with him, I nod.

"And the only thing I've ever wanted to do was protect my whole world. But, you make it very challenging sometimes."

We both turn to look out of the large window in front of us. Our estate goes on for miles and miles. The rain starts to pick up even more.

"Want to know something?"

I roll my eyes and nod.

"The first night of our honeymoon in Los Cabos, it rained and your mother was so sad because she wanted to go dancing...."

I remain quiet.

" We were out for dinner and her favorite song came on so, I took her hand and we headed out from under the gazebo. She was so anxious because she could tell where we were headed and she didn't want her dress to get ruined but she followed me anyway."

I turn and face him.

"And we danced in the rain for hours. Long after her favorite song finished. We laughed and we danced. It was one of the most precious moments. " he says. His eyes look like they were back on that specific night, like he's reliving that precious moment.

"So, let's add another precious moment. Let's go dancing in the rain."

Present

That was the best day ever. We danced in the rain for hours and I dug my bare feet into the mud. 12 years of being cooped up in the house; Besides the little garden dad allowed me to spend time in, it was the first time I was able to run outside. I miss that day so much. That was the first and last time the Grasso family danced in the rain.

I enter the club and head to the changing room to put my make up on and curl my hair. Diamond and Candy are sitting in their usual spots gossiping.

"Yeah, I heard Mr. Van Doren was stopping by tonight. He never comes to these places. Rumor has it that he paid Jensen big the other night. Must have been my performance that brought him back. That was a new routine." I overhear Candy say.

Van Doren? Sounds rich and asshole-like. Well, he can have Candy. Maybe he can even take her away. She keeps moving my stuff around and borrowing my props as if she runs this show. Plus, she's always giving me jabs about my performance. I can't help it if I've only been doing this for a couple of months. Like, sorry some of us aren't as good as you, Ms. 5 years experience. Thankfully, Brandi fixed our stupid schedule and I go on at my usual time tonight so I don't have to see Candy's face when the curtains close. There are all 8 of us here tonight, so we practically just take turns performing. 

"Heaven, you need a new routine. You've been doing the same ones for the past couple of months." Brandi says.

A new routine? What's wrong with doing the same ones? It's not like the crowd here has memorized all of the ones I perform. 

"What's wrong with the ones I have?"

"You need to introduce a new one. By next week or you'll hear it from Jensen. Understand?"

I nod reluctantly. I don't want to put forth too much effort into this charade; it makes it feel definite. And I hope to god this isn't something I'll be doing in 20 years.