SCARRED - Part 2 (The SCARRED Series - Book 2) (5 page)

“Let me guess...by Roxi?”

“You got it,” he said. “She invited me in for an interview which consisted of her asking me about my relationships to women. I guess I answered them all appropriately because she offered me the job on the spot. Honestly, I only showed up for the interview in the first place because she was so hot and I was hoping...”

“You are a man after all,” Chloe said with a smile.

“That I am,” he said. “But her intentions were all honorable and she was offering me an outrageous amount of money compared to what I could make anywhere else, and here I am.”

“How long have you worked here?”

“About four years now.”

“And you don’t have any desire to leave? Or do you suddenly get to a point where you realize that you’ll never make it out alive?”

He laughed. “Sure, I have lots of desire to get out of here. The motivation is lacking though since I love being able to make my car payment.”

“So even the bouncers and D.J.’s do this shit for the money.”

“Yep, I’m afraid so. But I have faith in you, Chloe. All the girls I’ve seen come and go through this place, I haven’t ever seen one as determined as you to get out of here alive. Keep your chin up and your eye on the prize, you’ll make it out.”

“Thanks Mike. I guess I just needed to hear that tonight. I better get in there and finish getting ready.”

She went back inside with a smile on her face. Talking to Mike, one of the decent guys, had made her feel a little better. Sometimes she needs a gentle reminder that every man is not her “father,” Jesse, or one of this clubs perverted, philandering clients.

She dropped her lighter back off with Lexi. She could tell her friend wanted to ask her what had happened with the dog in a suit earlier, but she was busy and Chloe needed to get ready to go on. She went back to the dressing room and was relieved to see that it had emptied out. She took out her bottle of Palmer’s and slathered it over the exposed parts of her body. Tonight she was wearing a green, one-piece leotard, cut high on the thighs and low in front. She had matching six-inch heels. When she finished putting on the cocoa butter lotion, she lightly dusted her body with a silvery powder. She re-applied her lipstick and put on a little bit more blush. Taking a deep breath and suddenly realizing she’d gone a full twenty-minute period without thinking of Jesse, she went out. She looked over and saw that there were three men seated at the table in front of her little stage. They actually hardly qualified as men. They looked like college boys. Chloe wondered whose rich daddy was paying for their night out. She started over when she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She spun around, ready for another fight and came face to face with Roxi.

“Jesus Chloe, you looked like you were gonna take my head off.”

“Sorry, I’ve just had it with being touched already tonight. What’s up?”

“Did you tell one of my clients that you were going to cut off his dick?”

Chloe smiled and said, “Does that even sound like me?”

Roxi’s lips quirked but she had a stern expression as she said, “It sounds exactly like you. If someone is giving you a hard time, call Jake. If you’re just in a pissy mood, get over it.”

Chloe nodded. She was in a pissy mood. She also wasn’t going to let any of these creeps touch her. She wasn’t going to argue that point with Roxi right now. Roxi gave her a narrowed eyed look to show her she meant business. Chloe gave her another innocent smile. Roxi rolled her eyes so that Chloe knew, she knew, Chloe was full of shit. It was how they did things. Roxi went back towards her office and Chloe went over to “entertain” the college boys.

She winked at Mike as she walked by and held up two fingers. He flashed her a peace sign in return. Chloe laughed and said, “Peace out, Mike. I need track two.”

“Oh, yeah. I knew that,” he said with an embarrassed grin.

As soon as Chloe stepped onto her little stage, the college boys were whooping and hollering. One of them whistled and said, “Damn! I’d like to tap that!” Chloe tried to block them out as she waited for Mike to put on the music. She heard one of the juvenile delinquents say, “Hey, what’s your name beautiful?” Just as the loud music started thumping through the speakers.
Perfect timing, Mike.

Chloe closed her eyes for a second and let the music pulse through her. She imagined it edging out all the negativity she’d been storing up and replacing it with positive vibes. She grabbed hold of the pole and tossed her long hair back over her shoulders. Her body started moving to the beat as she danced around the pole. As the beat got faster, so did her movements. She picked up her knee and slid it along the outside of the pole and then she arched her back and let her leg slide up slowly. She could hear the “boys” whistling and yelling vulgar things, but she tried to block them out and only concentrate on the music. With her legs in the split position she used her arms to twirl and lift at the same time, lifting her foot off the floor so now she was split all the way against the pole. When she was about three feet off the floor, she let her bottom leg wrap the pole and then she let go with her arms and let the top half of her body fall back and go into a spin.

When Chloe spun, she usually kept her eyes closed in order to keep from getting dizzy. Her ears are tuned to footsteps and her internal radar is better than most at detecting motion...usually. For some reason, she didn’t hear him coming and she didn’t feel him until he touched her. One of the “boys,” a tall, gangly thing with shaggy blonde hair and soft, girly skin had gotten close enough so that as she spun around, he could reach out and put a hand on her breast.

––––––––

C
hloe was shocked and then terrified and then very, very pissed off. All that rage came out faster than the little creep could blink. Chloe let her body spin again and just about the time pussy-boy thought he was going to get another handful, she was in round-kick position. The six inch spike of her heel spun around on the end of her leg and landed in the soft flesh of his side. With a grunt and a look of utter disbelief, he doubled over. A burning rage hissed through her body like a deadly poison, demanding the release in the form of violence. It was like a volcano had erupted. The fury swept off of her in ferocious waves. The wrath consumed her and engulfed her sensibilities. It destroyed any boundaries she had left.

She still stood ready to strike again as he recovered and spat out, “You fucking bitch!” He reached for her hair but she moved too fast and he only caught the tips of it before Chloe spun away. Her hands twitched and she could feel a vein pulsing in her forehead and throat.  In her mind’s eye she could see this little bastard with his face bashed in and writhing in pain on the floor. He wasn’t expecting the quick upper-cut to his jaw and while he was still stunned from that, she followed with a cross that caught him on the side of the face and sent blood spewing from his nose and across the clean, shiny floor. It was like she was in a vacuum. No sound penetrated her ears.

She was in a zone and on the outside, she appeared calm. Inside the storm was rage and when he stepped towards her one last time she got her knee into position and drove it up hard into his groin. She heard a crunch and felt a squish as the hard pad of her knee ground into the soft sac between his legs. He fell over, nearly taking her down with him. She was nimble on her feet though. All that training had paid off.  

She stepped back, still in fight stance and watched as he gasped and writhed on the floor. Blood was seeping from his nose and his hands were clutching his crushed package. He didn’t even seem to remember that Chloe was still in the room.

“Chloe! What the hell is going on?”

It was Jake. The other “boys” had left their buddy to his own devices so they wouldn’t get kicked out.

Chloe didn’t flinch. Jake’s voice barely penetrated. It was like a distant echo. He had to say her name again...twice; before she finally let her eyes dart up at him and then right back down at the boy on the floor. Her breaths were audible, ragged gasps and her mouth had gone completely dry. Sweat was rolling in a slow, steady trickle from her forehead down the side of her face. She had to let her tongue come out slightly and wet her lips before she could tell Jake, “he touched me.”

The kid on the floor was recovering, slowly. He grunted out, “Lying-She’s-Lying-Stupid-Bitch-Went-Psycho!”

Chloe drew her leg back to kick him again but the sound of Jake’s voice was louder this time. “Chloe! Don’t!” She stopped, but she still hadn’t let go of her stance.

“She’s-Crazy! The-Bitch-Is-Nuts!”

“Shut up,” Jake told the guy on the floor. He still had his eyes on Chloe. He was watching her like someone might watch an animal that was about to pounce. She could feel every muscle in her body, still tense and ready to fight. All of her senses were suddenly heightened and she could once again hear the loud music and the rumble of the crowd outside the room. She had copious amounts of adrenaline surging through her and she wasn’t ready to concede that the danger had passed and was gone.

“Shouldn’t we get him a doctor or something?” One of the other kids asked in a nervous voice. Jake finally looked down at the one at his feet and back at his friends and said, “Take him out to one of the couches in the lounge. I’ll be out there in a few. If you leave this club before I get there, you and your Daddy’s will be banned for the duration. So wait for me.” The tone of Jake’s voice didn’t leave any room for argument. One of the kids nodded and kneeling down on the far side of his friend away from Chloe he asked him, “can you walk, man?”

The kid on the floor grunted.

“Get on the other side of him,” the guy next to him told their other friend who was just standing there like he was in shock. They each took a side and helped the injured man to his feet, all the while keeping a wary eye on Chloe. They gave her a wide birth as they turned him towards the door. Chloe’s eyes were still wide and every muscle in her arms and shoulders were defined by the tension she still held there. She didn’t take her eyes off of the three until they had gone through the outer door and were out of sight. Mike was suddenly in the door way looking confused and Jake was still standing about three feet away, looking at her.

“Chloe? Honey are you okay?” Jake was keeping his voice low and even. Chloe could hear him but her mouth was bone dry and she didn’t feel like she had enough air in her lungs to speak. She finally nodded. Jake started to open his mouth, probably to ask her what happened and that was when Roxi’s voice floated through the room.

“What the fuck happened in here?”

Chloe just stared at her, not really seeing her, still trying to process it all herself. Jake looked over at Roxi and said, “Um...I think that one of those guys tried to...”

“He touched me,” Chloe said again. She finally made eye contact with Roxi. Roxi looked pissed, but as the two women stood there looking at each other, something seemed to soften in her slightly and she said, “Okay, Chloe, come with me. Jake, take care of this.” Chloe started towards her and Roxi reached out for her arm. Chloe jerked it away. She didn’t want to be touched, by anyone.

Roxi led her to the office around the back way so that they didn’t have to walk through the crowds of people. When they got up there, Roxi told her, “Sit.” She poured them both a drink and handed the glass of amber colored liquor to Chloe. Chloe glanced at it and back up at her boss.

“I don’t drink here,” she said.

“Drink it,” Roxi said. “You’re off the clock.” Chloe downed the whiskey, actually enjoying the way it burned her throat on the way down. It hit her stomach hard and she almost wretched. The left over adrenaline was pooling there and threatening to erupt. “Now tell me what happened,” Roxi said.

“He touched me,” Chloe repeated.

“Touched you how, where?”

“He touched my breast,” Chloe said in a flat, monotonous voice. Roxi looked like she was waiting for more but when it wasn’t forthcoming she said, “That’s it?   You kicked the shit out of that guy for copping a feel of your tit?”

Chloe looked up at her. She felt her pulse beginning to quicken again. She abhorred the casual attitude that so many people had about men putting their hands on women’s bodies without permission. Was she the only one that thought a man should ask for permission first and respect a woman’s right to say no? She was a fucking pole dancer, not a prostitute. The rules of Roxi’s club made that clear and as far as she was concerned she was well within her rights to kick some ass. She continued to stare at her boss, not speaking. Roxi looked frustrated. She got up and went behind her desk and sat down in the chair. She poured herself another drink, drank it like a shot and then looked back at Chloe.

“I have a feeling this is about more than someone groping you. You’ve been groped before. We all have. Tonight, there’s something different in your eyes Chloe. I can see it. You looked like you wanted to kill that guy...and I’m not even mentioning the one you threatened to castrate already tonight. What the hell is going on with you?”

Chloe’s thoughts were racing. She hadn’t told anyone about Jesse. Chantelle and the legal team that represented Jesse and the judge and the prosecutor...they were the only ones who knew. She hadn’t had to tell the story since the last time she was interviewed by the prosecution. Jesse’s father was the district attorney, so that was a joke. They went through the motions for the record, but at no time was Jesse ever in real danger of doing hard time. His father had them offer him a deal and Jesse took it. His father wasn’t going to be able to let him walk, but instead of a Class B felony attempted murder, Jesse pled guilty to a Class A misdemeanor assault. That meant county jail not hard time in prison.  Jesse was a sociopath, but he wasn’t stupid. If he lost at trial, he could be facing a minimum sentence of five years or a maximum of twenty-five. In New York attempted murder is a Class B felony which meant no chance of parole.

He would have to serve the time that was imposed. He wasn’t willing to take that chance. With a misdemeanor on his record it would still screw up his law career, but not completely take away his life. Two years in jail gave him back his life...to take hers away.