Sorry I've been kinda MIA. I just got some books in from the mail and wanted to spend my spring break not having to worry about writing and just enjoy reading.
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N I N A
"Are you alright dear? You seem a bit distracted?" Ms. Camille asks from the counter.
It's currently almost eleven at night and I've been at the diner since seven. Even though it's only been four hours, it's been a busy night and I'm very much exhausted. But that's not the thing that's distracting me. No, it's the words that Vincent had said after he'd kissed me.
I changed my mind.
Does that mean he's willing to break the rules of the contract for me? Or was it just a simple mistake and decided to follow through with it on accord to my feelings of potentially being hurt?
I shake my head of those thoughts and turn to the old lady staring at me. "Just been busy with school. I have a test coming up that I'm nervous about."
I hate lying to her because she's been nothing but kind to me but what am I suppose to say? Oh my history teacher kissed me on the lips after finger fucking me on his desk even though our contract states that we can't kiss.
Absolutely not.
Ms. Camille just eyes me for a moment before looking around the diner.
"Well," She sighs and starts grabbing a damp towel and handing it to me. "Now that it's no longer busy hour you can either clock out early and help clean the tables or you can stay for the next five hours."
I should stay for the remainder of my shift because I need to start saving up big time for the program in Manhattan. There's no way I can trust my mother in taking money out to let me use. Hell, she doesn't even know that I applied.
But, I haven't seen my mother a lot these past few weeks and the house feels so empty without her being there. She would either come home after I've fallen asleep or already be home but in her room with the door locked.
"I think I'll leave early. I want to watch a movie with my mother before going to bed." I try to grab the towel from her hand but she moves it out of my reach and gives me a sympathetic look.
"How is your mother?" The kind lady asks.
Ms. Camille knows about the situation with my mother. How she's rarely home and whenever she is, she's drinking a whole bottle of whine. I can see that she wants to tell me something every time I talk to her about it but she knows better than to get into other peoples family issues.
She's just a good person to tell all these things to. She never judges, never counters or ignores me. She just sits there and listens to everything I have to say.
"She's fine." I give her a tight lipped smile and grab the towel from her hand and start wiping off the tables and counters. Knowing that I won't say anything more, she sighs and walks to the back of the diner.
Forty minutes later, I'm now walking up the front porch of my house and walking inside.
"Mom?" I call out. I know she's home because her car is in the driveway.
"Mom!" I say a bit louder.
I know it's past midnight but she usually stays up until I'm home. Even if she doesn't talk to me she always stays up to make sure that I make it home safely.
I'm about to give up and head upstairs but then I hear clatter in the kitchen and then her voice.
"In the kitchen!"
I drop my bag on the couch in the living room and make my way over to the kitchen where I see her pouring whine in a whine glass. Judging by the access liquid in the cup, I can tell that this isn't her first glass. I also notice that her antidepressants is next to her on the counter but the closer I look, I notice that the bottle is empty.
"Would you like for me to stop by the pharmacy tomorrow for a refill?" I gesture to the empty pill bottle. My mother eyes the bottle for a moment before shrugging and taking a small sip of her whine.
"I don't need that nonsense anymore. It does nothing for me." She declares and I lightly scoff because that's complete bullshit.
Last time she got off her meds, she almost...
Stop. Let's not go there again.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes tightly with a sigh before looking at her again.
"Mom, you know that you need to take your meds. If not, then the same thing that happened last time will happen again." My voice gets smaller and more shaky at the end of my sentence.
I don't think I'll be able to handle that again if it were to happen a second time.
My mother rolls her eyes before downing the rest of her whine and dropping the glass on the floor, causing it to shatter into pieces.
I flinch back and stare at my mother who looks completely unbothered by the fact that there's broken glass near her bare feet.
"You're being dramatic, Gianina. What happened last time was a complete misunderstanding." There's venom in her voice and my chin wobbles when I watch her walk down the hall and upstairs to her room.
I flinch once again when I hear her bedroom door slam shut and I bite my bottom lip to keep it from trembling.
"All I wanted was to just watch a movie with you, mom." I whisper to myself as I walk over to the pantry and grab the broom and sweeper and start cleaning up her mess.
After cleaning everything in the kitchen, I head upstairs to my room to get ready for bed.
I'll just eat something in the morning.
Right when I'm about to turn the knob of my bedroom door, I wince. I look at my hand but can't see anything due to the lack of light in the hallway. I walk into my room and turn on the light to see a piece of glass stuck right below my thumb.
How the hell did I not see this?
I curse under my breath and head to the bathroom to clean it up. After all of that, I turn on the shower and wrap my hair so it wouldn't get wet. My shower was quick and was out in less than ten minutes.
With my face makeup less, my bonnet on, and my pajamas on my body—which consists of an oversized t-shirt and underwear—I get into bed and go straight to sleep. Tomorrow is Saturday and I have nothing going on in the morning so I plan on sleeping in til I have to leave for my performance with Vixens&Devils.
~~~
I wake up to my mom already gone for work, but that's no surprise considering I hardly see her nowadays. I spend the next few hours getting ahead of my classes and starting my new project for my interior design class.
I haven't heard back from the program but Mrs. Blackwood said that it takes at least 3-6 months to hear back from them so I'm not freaking out just yet.
Hours later, I check the time seeing that it's almost time for me to go. After eating an early dinner and packing my bag, I'm out the door and in the car heading to the club that has requested Vixens&Devils to perform at.
I make it to the club just before 8pm and practically run to the side door where the performers usually enter. I tell the bouncer my name and show him proof that I'm a performer before he lets me in.
Right when I get inside, I am hit with the aroma of citrus and expensive booze. It's a somewhat pleasant smell compared to the other clubs I performed at previously. This club bleeds fancy richness. Men wearing suits or business casual outfits while the women are in even fancier dresses.
Margret mentioned how this club is owned by a very well known businessman from New York and has his clubs scattered around the U.S. She said that the owner will be present during our performance and that we are to show out the best way we can because he promised a bonus depending on how he enjoyed it.
I head to the back of the club where I see the rest of the dancers either stretching or getting dressed in their outfits while I'm here heaving to try to catch my breath from speed walking through the club.
For a dancer, my cardio is shit.
"Where the hell have you been?!" I jump at the sound of Margrets voice. I turn to see her storming up to me with an angry expression and I give her shy smile.
"I'm so sorry! Traffic was terrible on the way here." I say as I'm also walking over to the one of the dressing rooms down the hall so I can quickly get ready.
"You're on stage in thirty minutes, Nina! You need to be more prepared next time."
Jesus I fucking know.
"Again, I'm sorry." I close the door to the dressing room and quickly take off my clothes and open my bag where my outfit is laying.
Looking over myself in the mirror after doing my makeup and putting on my outfit, I admire just how good I look.
It's an all tan look, with a t-shirt style bikini top and a knitted skirt to go over the thong I'm wearing. The light tan colors of the outfit bring out my dark completion perfectly.
I'm not the best at describing outfits so here is the picture.
My admiration gets cut short when banging is heard on the other side of the door.
"Nina!" Margrets voice is loud with another bang.
I quickly apply another coat of lipgloss before scurrying out of the room and nearly bump into a nervous and angry looking Margret.
I know that she's shitting her pants right now because this is an important performance so I don't say anything as she scolds me as we're walking over to where the other dancers are.
The lights dim on the other side of the stage and I can see people sitting in front of the stage, waiting for us.
"Alright everyone!" Margret moves some of her dreads from her face before facing everyone.
"This is a very important performance for a very important man. If we do well enough, then Mr. Clarke will add an additional bonus!"
I'm sorry what?
"Wait...Mr. Clarke?" I ask with a confused frown.
Margret looks at me with a nod and smile. "Yes. Mr. Clarke is co-CEO of Clarke industries in New York and owns several clubs through out America."
I just nod back at her and turn to slightly look beyond the stage in hopes that I'm wrong about my assumption.
Clearly it's not who I'm thinking it is. But would is be so bad that he's here?
But CEO???
"Ready for this?" Chase whispers in my ear from my side.
A shiver runs down my spine by his close proximity but I just simply smile up at him with a nod.
"Absolutely."
*****