The Underground

Chapter 23: Return to the Underground

The dungeon was no longer holding. All of those forbidden emotions had filled it to capacity. And the feelings I'd been shoving inside recently were much too strong. They were about to burst out of me. 

I knew I had to admit my feelings for Louis but so far, he hadn't been willing to talk to me. I thought that maybe he would talk to me if I approached him on his turf, after work hours, so he couldn't pull that "I'm only your servant" crap. I decided to go back to The Underground, but this time I wasn't going to go alone.

I called for Danielle.

When she came to my room, I gave her a sad look. "I'm sorry for the way I've been treating you. I'm just so damn confused. I can't even live with myself anymore."

"You're sorry? Like, seriously?"

"I know, it's unbelievable, right?"

"No, I believe you. And I'm starting to like hanging out with you. But I don't want to walk in and never know how you're going to treat me."

"Well, I'm really sorry. I'm trying to work through things, and I trust you. So I guess I need to act like it, huh?"

She nodded, then gave me a squeeze. "Yeah, but you're still learning."

I loved her sense of humor. "Okay," I said with my best disarming smile. "So, this is kind of weird, but when you go to The Underground again, can I come with you?"

Danielle gave me a very perplexed look, like she was maybe waiting for me to start laughing or tell her I was joking. I just waited for her answer and she finally said, "Ss...sure. It's kind of rough, though. I'm sure it's nothing like the places you usually go."

"I've been there," I nodded.

"For real?"

"Yeah, I followed Louis one night," I admitted. "Wasn't my best idea. This jerk named Harry stole my bracelet and tried to feel me up. Louis kind of...rescued me."

"Aww," she cooed. "That's so sweet. And I know who Harry is. He's a real piece of work. I can't believe they keep letting him back in."

"So, I guess I just want to go and hang out with you and maybe some of your friends."

"Like Louis?" She asked carefully.

"Maybe," I said, swallowing hard.

"Okay," she agreed. "But please let me pick out your clothes. You need to dress down so you don't stand out too much. And no $5000 bracelets!"

"Oh, you heard about that part, huh?"

Danielle nodded. "I knew that Louis and Preston went to the police, but they didn't tell me how you lost it."

I realized that Louis hadn't told everyone about my embarrassing blunder, following him into a situation that I clearly couldn't handle. I was honored to think he cared enough about me to not spread it around to everyone that I was a stupid and naive little rich girl.

"Well, let's get ready!" She squealed excitedly.

"What? Now?!" I asked.

"Yeah, we're all going tonight. I'll look for an outfit. Do you need to get in the shower or anything?"

Oh, yeah, of course, a shower. I rushed into the bathroom,  eager to see Louis and hoping he'd talk to me in a more relaxed environment.

When I stepped back into my room, I found one of my summer blouses lying on my bed, along with a pair of black skinny jeans with rips all over them. They clearly didn't belong to me.

"I thought I'd lend you something of mine," Danielle said proudly.

I'd never worn ripped jeans in my life. I bit my tongue and didn't say anything. I just slipped on the jeans and the blouse. I had loved this shirt in the store, but I hadn't had occasion to wear it much. It had a halter-style neck and a t-back. It was a lightweight, flowing material and had some light beading along the neck line, but it certainly wasn't too flashy. I stood in front of my mirror and examined myself. It wasn't the kind of outfit I'd normally wear, but it had some appeal.