White Diamonds (11 page)

“I’m Nash,” Nash said and offered his hand.

“I’m Michael, one of the owners of this humble eatery.  You’re the new big star I’ve heard so much about.  The city has few secrets, it seems.”

Nash blushed at the comment, and ordered burgers for him and Analeigh.  Michael asked Analeigh if she wanted to show Nash her room upstairs while their food was being prepared.

“Okay,” she said and escorted Nash up the stairs.  She opened the door to a bright and sunny room, tastefully decorated, with a bed and television.

“This is nice, Analeigh,” Nash said, wondering why the woman would choose to hang around a move set instead of staying here.

“Yeah,” Analeigh answered.

Michael brought their food when they returned to the restaurant.  “That was my sister’s room before she got married and moved to Toronto,” he explained.  “I like having Analeigh here.  I just wish I had more time to spend with her, but she keeps my wife and me company while we work.”  He winked at Analeigh.  He knew she had wandered into the city one night, but he had no idea she had become friends with THE movie star.  He knew women just like her, or he thought he did.  Young wayward women were a common sight in the area, seeming to crawl out of the woodwork at nightfall.  What a movie star like Nash was doing with her was puzzling.  Some of the businesses in the Village had begun taking in the young women and giving them a place to stay, but Michael was suspicious of Analeigh’s movie star connections.

“Analeigh, I wonder if you would like to have some fun tonight.”

Before she could answer, Nash spoke for her.  “She’ll be returning with me tonight, but perhaps another time, Michael.”

“Is that okay, Michael?” Analeigh asked.

“Sure, honey.”  He glared at Nash and walked away.

Analeigh had eaten half of her sandwich when her eyes filled with tears.

“Let’s go,” Nash stated.  He took a couple more bites, left a very generous tip on the table, and escorted a weeping Analeigh out the door.  Putting his arm around her, he led her to the nearest bench.  “What’s wrong?”

“I need to go.  I just need to go.  Can I stay with you tonight?”

Nash called the limo driver while he assured the young woman that she was welcome to stay with him for as long as she liked.  Holding her closely to him, he kissed the top of her head and whispered to her, “What happened back there?”

“I should have done what he said.  If he makes me leave his house, where will I go?”

“We’ll work something out, but never do something just because someone wants you to.”  Analeigh kept her head down as the driver opened the door.  Embarrassed and frightened, she didn’t say a word on the way back to the movie set.  “Here we are…home sweet home,” Nash announced as he opened the door.

Analeigh scurried inside like a frightened rabbit and ran to the bedroom.  Nash locked the door behind him, checked his messages, and then slowly went to Analeigh.  She was crying uncontrollably and he lifted her up and onto the bed and lay down beside her.  Pulling her to him, he wrapped himself around her as if to shield her from all that she feared.  Her long blonde hair curled loosely at the ends and he ran his fingers through its thickness as she cried away the pain inside of her.  “It will get easier, I promise.”  Analeigh was very quiet once she had cried herself out, and Nash thought she had gone to sleep.  “Analeigh?”  The young woman looked up to meet his eyes.  “Michael is good to you, isn’t he?”

“I think so.”

Of course she would give an answer such as that.  No one had treated her well, so how would she know the difference?  Her lips were so close to his that he wanted to kiss her and love her like a woman deserved to be loved.

“You think so, eh?”

Analeigh giggled at Nash’s attempt to imitate the local dialect.  Then she became serious.  “Sometimes at night I hear them argue.”

“Who?”

“Michael and his wife, Carly.”

“What about?”

“I don’t know, but he’s always upset at her, it seems.  He wanted her to do something that she didn’t want to do, but I don’t know what it was.”

“That’s the same reason you left, isn’t it?”

She looked down and nodded, “Yes.”

“What did he want you to do?”

“I don’t know.  Sometimes he seemed restless when I was around.  It was the way he looked at me, as if I wasn’t…”

Nash held her closer, kissed the top of her head, and spoke into the emptiness of the room.  “As if you weren’t what, Analeigh?”

“Worthy of taking up space in his house.”

Nash closed his eyes as he slowly rubbed Analeigh’s back.  He stared out the small window at the beautiful landscape of the region, wondering what he had gotten himself into.  He sighed and looked into the beautiful blue eyes of Analeigh.  “You are more than worthy of taking up space here with me.”

The sincerity of Nash’s words touched something deep inside of Analeigh and she slowly reached up and touched his cheek.  “Thank you,” she said.

Nash looked for some sign that she wanted him to kiss her, but that sign only existed in his mind.  It had become dark outside, and he felt the steady breathing of Analeigh as she fell asleep in his arms.

The alarm sounded like a freight train the following morning, and Nash forced himself from the warmth of the young woman in his arms.  She didn’t hear a thing and he wrapped a blanket around her and turned on the water in the shower.  Leaving a note for her, he left the trailer for what he knew would be an emotionally charged day on the set.  It was mid morning when he noticed Analeigh standing at the edge of the set.  He called for a break and sprinted toward her.

“I should go,” she said.

“No, Analeigh, you should stay.  Didn’t you get my note?”

“Yes, but what about Michael?”

“You don’t owe him anything.”

“But I do owe him.  He saved me from the streets.”

The director was calling him to return to the set and Nash was torn.  If Analeigh was determined to leave, he couldn’t stop her.

“Let my driver take you into the city, but Analeigh, if you need me, call me.”  He wrote down his number on a piece of paper and made her promise.

She had tears in her eyes as she left, but she didn’t look back.  She couldn’t bear to see the look in Nash’s eyes.

The day seemed endless, and at the end of filming Nash returned to his empty trailer.  He missed the young woman he barely knew and as night fell, he worried about her and the hold Michael seemed to have over her.

The following day, after little sleep during the night, he was a walking zombie.  He was determined to know more about Analeigh’s life with Michael and his wife, and at the end of the day he made a trip into the city.  The restaurant was busy as he looked around for some sign of Analeigh, but he didn’t see her anywhere.

“Nash, we’re so honored to have your movie-highness with us again.”

“Um, thanks.  Is Analeigh around?”

“She’s busy tonight.  Stop by tomorrow.  She’ll be here.”  Then Michael had another plan for Nash, a devious plan, and his voice softened.  “You look like you could use a drink.  We don’t serve the stuff here, but this place serves up the best of the best.”  He handed Nash a card and watched as the movie star walked out the door.  Laughing openly, Michael returned to the dirty dishes waiting for him in the kitchen.

Nash walked into the bar, which was extraordinarily quiet for a club, and ordered the drink he had needed for days.  Then he ordered another.  When he was halfway through his second drink, the bartender asked if he had been to one of the new steam rooms yet.

“No, I haven’t.  This is my first visit,” Nash answered, a little confused.

“For you, it’s on the house tonight,” he offered.

Nash finished his drink and headed up the stairs to the steam room.  Putting the key card into the lock, he opened the door to the room, where a very inviting whirlpool was shooting its jets and causing the water to bubble.  The room was not seedy in the slightest.  It was very ornately decorated and clean, with a sign that read, “No clothing allowed.”  He thought it odd, but in his slightly inebriated state, he didn’t have a problem with it, either, but he began to think he was getting much more than a steam.

The water was warm as he lowered himself until he was seated in front of one of the jets.  His stiff muscles responded to the heat of the pulsating jets as if they were being massaged by human hands.  The roar of the jets and the bubbling water blocked out any intrusive sounds and were lulling him into a very relaxed state.  He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the side of the pool.

A voice came over the intercom offering Nash a woman to fulfill his fantasies.  “Would you care to partake?  Lana is fresh and new, like a shiny penny.  You will be her first client.”

The voice made Nash horny and he didn’t hesitate to respond with a resounding, “yes.”

“You won’t see her through the dense steam, until her lips meet yours.  Enjoy!”

Nash tried to see through the steam, hoping to get a glimpse of Lana, but the steam became thicker as he heard the door open.  He heard the water splash as the woman lowered herself into the pool.  “Lana?  Come a little closer.  Follow my voice.  I’m over here.”  He could hear the sloshing of the water and he reached out his arms.  The steam was so thick it nearly choked him and it mumbled the sound of his voice.  “Come on, baby.  Give me what I need.  Fulfill my fantasies.”  He didn’t hear anything after that and he wondered where she had gone.  Then he felt soft lips on his and he pulled the naked wet body to him.  “Mmm, come on, baby.  You’ve got more than that for me tonight.”  He slid his hands down her back and onto her butt, but she pulled away.

“No, I can’t.  Please don’t make me do it.”

Nash immediately withdrew his hands and Lana ran through the water until she stumbled and fell face down.  “Are you okay?”  He picked her up and laid her head back against his chest.

She was sobbing and Nash asked if she was hurt.  “I’m okay.”

The words were all too familiar.  He turned her around and wiped the tears from her face.  The steam had lifted somewhat, as it was timed to do so, and Nash pulled her to him.  “Analeigh, what are you doing?  What the hell are you doing here?”

“Please don’t tell Michael that I failed.  Please don’t tell him.”

“Michael put you up to this?”

“I owe him.”

“Do you want to do this…give yourself to different men night after night?”

“I have to do this.”

He let her go and floated back to the side.  “Okay, Lana, then I expect the full treatment.”

Analeigh stood still in the water.  Her head was down, as she felt the shame wash over her.  She turned and hurried as fast as she could to get out of the water.

Nash was right behind her and helped her out, draped a towel around her, and kissed her lips.  “There is nothing I would like better than to make love to you, but not like this.  This isn’t what I want, and it isn’t what you want.  I’m sorry, Analeigh, for the way I acted.”

“You didn’t do anything.”  She was so fragile, sweet Analeigh, and Nash felt protective of her.  “But this is what a lot of girls do here.  Michael and his friends give them a place to stay, and in return…”

“Oh, Analeigh, let’s go home.”

“I can’t.  Michael has promised the owner of the club.”

“Screw Michael!  He doesn’t own you!”

Analeigh pulled away at the harsh tone of Nash’s voice.

“Come on, honey.  I’ll sneak you out somehow.”

Opening the door to one of the steam rooms, Nash knew he was playing with fire.  He paid a man an outrageous sum of money for his jeans and t-shirt, not knowing how the guy was going home without them, and snuck Analeigh into the men’s room to put them on.  With her hair pulled up and shoved into Nash’s ball cap, Analeigh walked behind him down the stairs, through the lobby, and out the door.  Grabbing her hand, he hurried her along until they had reached the safety of the limo.

“I can barely breathe.  Why did we run?”

“I didn’t want to be there when the guy whose clothes I bought sobers up.”

Analeigh looked down at the oversized jeans she was wearing and giggled.  “I look awful.”

“No, honey, you look beautiful.”

As he looked at her, Analeigh thought back to the whirlpool.  They had been so close, and yet Nash didn’t force himself upon her.  “Why didn’t you make me do it?”

He put his hand over his heart and said, “I’m a gentleman.”  He took her hands and looked into her eyes.  “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you.”

It was after midnight when they arrived back at the trailer.  So much had happened in the last day that neither of them knew where to begin.

“I think I’ll take a shower,” Analeigh said after they had stared at each other for an uncomfortably long time.

Nash closed his eyes and in his mind he could see Analeigh coming toward him in the steam bath, willing to offer herself to him because she thought she had to do it, and he wondered how many more like her there were.  Michael was only one of many responsible for supplying the city’s club owners with prostitutes.  He wondered who had started it and how much money they were making from one woman in one night.  It was a cozy setup for club owners and owners of local establishments.