Chapter Five
Lorelei
“L eaving so soon?” Mom asks when I grab my bag.
“Momma, it’s late,” I laugh. “I need to get some sleep.”
“Are you okay?” she asks.
“I am,” I say. “I’ll explain, I just need time to process.”
“Okay, baby. Well, call me tomorrow,” she says.
“I will. Bye, Dad,” I say as he comes into the living room.
“Bye, sweetheart,” he says as he hugs me.
“Boo,” Tris says.
“Leaving?” Remy asks.
“Mhmm,” I smile.
“I’ll walk you out,” he says.
“See you in the morning, sis,” Cam says.
“Bye.”
We walk outside, and Remy opens my driver’s side door for me. I lean down and toss my bag in before turning back to look at him. “What’s up?” I ask.
“What can I do?” he asks. “It feels wrong to just let you go home and be alone with all of that.”
“You are so sweet, Remy,” I say with a smile. “Really though, I’m okay. I’ll just boil myself in the shower again, drink some tea, read, and then go to sleep like I do every night.”
“Text me, okay?” he asks. “I worry about you.”
“I’ll text you, no need to worry about me, Remy. You worry about getting a girlfriend so you can spoil her as much as you spoil me,” I say. He chuckles and wraps me in a hug. “I appreciate you so much, Remy. You are the calm I need.”
“I’m always here,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “Have a good night, Lori. Remember, you are not a lobster. Don’t boil yourself.”
“Damn. Wish I was. That would be a hell of a suicide,” I laugh as I turn to get in the car. I gasp when he suddenly yanks me back and slams me against my car. “It was a joke! Dark joke. I’m kidding. I’m sorry.”
“Damn,” I hear Tris laugh.
“Don’t ever let me hear you say something like that again, Lorelei,” Remy says with a grave tone.
“Or what?” I challenge him with a sweet smile. “Are you going to punish me, Remy?”
“Someone ought to,” he frowns.
“You’d think after last night I’d learn better than to tempt a man,” I say, laughing at my own fucked-up joke. The growl that comes out of this man makes my knees weak as he gets in my face.
“I have been so fucking patient with you, Lori. Keep pushing me,” he warns with a gritty tone. I surprise him when I lean forward and whisper in his ear.
“Be careful, Remington. I have more experience than you,” I say softly before kissing his cheek.
“Goodnight, Lorelei,” he grunts before stepping back.
“Good to know that threatening you with a whore is the trick to outsmarting you,” I say.
I squeal and jump into my car before he can grab me, making Cam and Tris laugh as they watch.
I wave and smile sweetly at Remy when he tries to open my door, but finds that it’s locked.
He glares as he watches me back out and eventually throws his hand up to wave goodbye as I pull off.
I know what I need to do, but it requires me to go up to the club. I am not having this conversation over the phone, so it’s easier if I just go up there. When I pull into the lot, it’s relatively slow. When I walk inside, Dazzle, one of the dancers, smiles at me.
“Hey, girl!” she says as she hugs me.
“Hey,” I say. “Rob around?”
“Yeah. He’s on the floor somewhere.”
“Thanks,” I say before walking past her and onto the main floor. The familiar music thumps through the room and the usual stench of alcohol and cigarette smoke permeates the room.
“You better be fucking joking,” I hear Omar say. I turn around and smile at him, and he hugs me. “What the fuck are you doing here, Lorelei?”
“I need to talk to Rob. Wanna sit in?” I ask.
“Yeah. Come on,” he replies loud enough that we can hear over the music. He throws his hand up and motions to Rob, who has just stepped out of the back dressing room.
When we get into Rob’s office, the door shuts, and we can finally hear. “What are you doing here?” Rob asks me.
“Who killed them?” I ask. He just stares at me because he knows what I am talking about.
“What?” Omar asks.
“George and his two friends that raped me. Who killed them?” I ask again.
“Oh fuck. I wish it was me. How’d they die?” he asks.
“Article just said a home invasion, and they have ties to the mafia,” I say. “Rob?”
“I did not,” he says.
“But you know who did?” I ask.
“Uh…”
“Rob,” I snap. “Am I responsible for this?”
“No,” he says firmly. “This is not on you. They died because they are low-life pieces of shit, Lorelei.”
“Why won’t you tell me?”
“Because I will be next,” he says. “They are dead. No one is going to jail for it. End of story.”
“I quit,” I say.
“Thank God,” Omar says, hugging me tightly. When he pulls back, Rob smiles.
“I can’t keep doing this to myself. I opened up to someone today, and I’m realizing that I am doing this to myself as a result of something that happened when I was a teen.
I am going to rent a space so I can still dance when I want, just alone where no one can grope me,” I explain.
“I’m going to focus on my job and my family and stop torturing myself. ”
“Good,” Rob smiles.
“I don’t know how I feel about you two being so happy,” I say.
“Baby, you are so much better than this place. You have a fucking master’s,” Omar says. “There is nothing wrong with what happens here, but you have bigger shit to be doing than taking your clothes off for drunk men.”
“Was I at least missed Saturday?” I ask.
“You were,” Rob says. “Another regular. I think his name was Thomas. He came in for you, but I let him know that you were no longer working here. He was sad but then went and fucked Jazzy.”
“Oh, well okay,” I laugh. “He tips well.”
“Ha,” Omar laughs.
“I’m going to go home now,” I say.
“Well, be safe. Call if you need anything, okay?” Omar says. “We will have to meet up for lunch one day.”
“Okay,” I smile. “Bye, guys.”
“Bye, Lorelei,” Rob says, hugging me. Omar hugs me next before I leave. I hurry to my car before I start crying.
I don’t know why I am upset. I only liked being here for the dancing, and I have a plan.
I’ll go up there tomorrow and handle it, so it won’t be that big of a deal.
It doesn’t stop me from crying all the way home.
When I park, I am sniffling as I go inside and step into the elevator.
At the last second, a man steps in. When I look up, I can only see his back.
He says nothing and has his hood up, so I assume it’s my late-night friend who never speaks.
I am usually too exhausted to pay attention to how tall he is.
He is kind of hunched over, though, so I can’t really tell exactly how tall he is.
When we get to my floor and the doors open, I step past without a word.
A familiar scent hits me, and I spin around to see the doors shut.
Weird.
When I step into my apartment, I pull my phone out and text Remy as I get ready to take a bath. My body is sore, so I think relaxing will do me some good. Once the kettle is on, I go into the bathroom to fill up the old clawfoot tub.
I’m home :)
Remy
Just now?
I went by the club…
Remy
Oh? What for?
I quit and then sobbed the whole way home. I think I’m broken.
Not broken, just traumatized. Closing chapters of your life can be taxing. What are you doing?
Wishing I was a lobster.
Brat :(
I’m getting ready for bed lol. Going to drink tea and read. Think tea and a muscle relaxer is a bad combo?
If you have to question it, maybe don’t lol.
That’s fair. Tea acquired. In the bath now. What are you doing?
Just texting you. Can I ask you something?
Go for it.
Remy
You always call me innocent. Is that a bad thing? I can’t tell if it’s a stab at me or if you are just playing.
It’s not bad at all, Remy. You are the sweetest man I have literally ever known. Innocent does not mean bad. It just means you have not been ruined by the world like I have been.
It also means inexperienced, Lori. Also, you are not ruined.
Inexperienced just means you need a good teacher ;) I feel ruined. My lady bits are swollen, dude. Too much info, I know.
You are not ruined, and you will heal, Lori. Do you need anything?
Just getting really sleepy right now. I need to get out of the bath and get into bed. This tea kicks my ass. Probably should have waited until after bath time.
Get out before you drown yourself.
I am so fucking sleepy that I can’t get myself up out of the bath. My sleepy mind is panicked because the bath is full, and I am slowly slipping down. I fight with my body to pull the plug out of the drain. Just as I slip under the water, I feel the plug come out of the drain.