Caged Birds ✔️

Chapter Fifteen

Sam's P.O.V

I was living in Manhattan for six months when I realized that I had no job experience in any field. I was sleeping in the range rover until I was able to rent an apartment. With Matt's cash running low, I was desperate for a job.

"What job did you get?" Jenna asks,  sipping her champagne with her right hand.

"I became an exotic dancer" I smile.

Jenna spits out her challenge."You were a stripper?" She cries.

I nod "yes"

"You were a stripper!" she repeated while scanning my body quickly. "What was your name?"

I look down at my fingertips and chuckle before facing her.

"Tittie Kitti" I announce.

I became a stripper at a popular club called Bare Essentials. It wasn't a job that I enjoyed but it paid the rent. All I had to do to get a job there was ask for one at the front desk.

We had a change room where the girls would gossip and do each other's makeup and pick each other's outfits.
Due to the name that I was given, all my outfits had to have minimal fabric on my chest. Usually, I would just wear pink nipple covers.

The girls would call me Pretty Kitti or witty Kitti as a nickname. I was originally called Annika but my name got changed by a girl there, after seeing me rob one of the guys. That was my thing, I would rob clients and no one would say anything. I had a thieft problem. I liked the rush it gave me and I loved that it was punishable by the gods.

It was months later when I was cleaning out my Range Rover Evoque when I found a handgun under the driver seat that had duck tape on the top. Matt must have taped it under the seat but why would he need a gun?

That night I kept the gun in my purse when I went to work. I decided that I would figure it out what I would do with it after work that night - which I did.

"Good night Kitti Cat" my friend Andrea waved as I walked out of the Bare Essentials.

When I was walking home that night a man grabbed me from behind. I recognized him as a client that I gave a lap dance to that same night.

His arm around my waist, pulling me off the sidewalk, dragging me into a dark ally way. His hand slapped over my both, preventing me from screaming. The man punched the left side of my face as throwing me under him. I knew what was going to happen next.

So I quickly grabbed the handgun from my purse and pointed it at him.

"Stay back!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, my finger quivering on the trigger.

"Hey, take it easy" he cried, his dark hair combed back.

I could barely see his face in the dark.

"Stay back!" I repeated with tears running down my cheeks.

I instantly pointed the gun up at the sky and took two shots then pointed it at him, this made him run.

It happened so fast, I didn't even think about what I was doing, I just did it. I was a stripper, in Manhattan, it was obviously not safe for me walking down the street at night by myself. I knew that the gun had to stay.

It was in that moment when I realized that life is short and I had to have fun. Sure giving guys lap dances was thrilling, but I wanted to live dangerously. It was around that time when I bought myself a Yamaha motorbike for fun.

If only my parents could see me now, they would both have heart attacks. I hadn't seen any missing person ads or news reports on TV about my absence, which told me that no one cared about where I was.

My Boss at Bare Essentials name was Mr Heath Johnson. Heath made me an instant favourite of his as I brought in many customers.

Despite his job, Heath was a good man, although there were rumours of him being a pimp and former stripper himself. Heath was always nice to us all, he never treated us like whores.

Some girls found his fascination with me worrying or creepy but I never did. Heath was known for being flirtatious and sometimes got a bit friendly with some of the stripers but he never did with me, he was always respectful.

I was working at the Bare Essentials for almost eight months when Health wanted to see me before I went home.

"How's my favourite Kitti?" He asked as sipping his scotch.

His short dark brown hair was combed up with his blond tips spiked up. He always wore a tight suit.

"I'm alright," I told him, "you wanted to see me?" I asked as standing across from him.

He stood in front of a long mirror that was hung on the walls. I could see my reflection in the mirror but I couldn't even recognize that girl anymore.

"Yes I did" Heath fixed his posture, "I've got this function coming up...it's a black suit and tie sorta thing and I was wondering if you could be my escort?" he asked. "I will pay you obviously...for your troubles"

"Escort? As in a hooker?" Jenna interrupts in shock.

"No not really" I shake my head, "...I wasn't obligated to sleep with him..I was there to accompany him"

"So you were a hooker that didn't put out?" Jenna nods.

"No, I was someone that he paid to accompany him to functions" I explain.

I look in the distance to see Anna and her new husband dancing. My mind goes back to that night with Heath.

"How much do I get paid?" I asked him.

"How does three grand sound?" He cocked a brow.

My eyes lit up.

"Sound good" I smiled.

"Its tomorrow night at seven" he continued.

"Where?"

"You'll see," he said as walking out of the room.

After that night, I became Heath's go-to girl. Whenever he needed a date for something, he would call me. It wasn't always business function either, he would take me to personal events like his sister's wedding.

During this time, me and Heath would grow close. I was his escort for three months when we first slept together. It was around 2 am when he walked me to my apartment door after a function.

"I had fun," I told him.

"Don't you always?" Heath grinned.

"Yeah, I guess I do" I smiled.

Suddenly, he leaned in towards me and kissed my lips. I hadn't had someone kiss me since Matt. After a few seconds, he pulled away.

"I'm sorry I just-" he started.

Before he could finish, I kissed him back. We spend the night together in my apartment. We weren't dating or anything like that. However, he did become more protective of me when we started sleeping together.

Heath wasn't like Matt. Heath was fast and rough. Heath was older and more experienced. After he left the next morning, I cried and showered - the ritual I performed every time I had sex. The fear and shame I felt after every experience was something installed in me by my parents.

During our time together, Heath only ever asked me about my family once. I told him simply. "My family are all dead...they just haven't been buried yet" he understood and never asked again.