Page 28 of Scarred King
“I’ll explain,” I grumble, “My irritating boss could continue getting his merchandise and he could distribute it through someone else. You, on the other hand, can distribute but you have no one else to get the merchandise from. And if you can’t get the merchandise, what would you distribute?” I raise an eyebrow questioningly and see that Ralph has scrunched his forehead and is thinking. “To summarize it all, if I were in his place right now,” I point at Scarface, “I would change our contract and take seventy percent of the profits and leave you with only thirty percent.” I cross my arms again and see Ralph’s stare harden. His handsome masculine face is drawn as he grinds his teeth, but suddenly he slams his pistol down on the table and bursts out laughing.
“Believe me Liam, this beautiful creature should not be working as a waitress in this stinking place. I would give her a job right now.”
“This creature will pass the chance,” I respond quickly, before I find myself in a discussion about my professional career. “And if I’m done here, I’d like to ask a small favor,” I turn to Scarface, who is looking amused and particularly angelic.
“Anything you want,” he runs his hand through his ruffled hair and smiles that captivating smile at me.
“I have to leave early tonight, there’s something personal I need to take care of.”
“You got it,” he answers shortly and looks back at his partner. “So should I take your part down to thirty percent?” He asks seriously and laughs when Ralph lets out a curse in German. “You know that I always meet our agreements. Why don’t we agree that you should do the same?” He raises his bottle, and Ralph follows him.
"Let's raise a toast to the 'game theory'," Ralph calls out, and they clink their bottles and drink from them.
The bar is starting to fill up. The working girls are polite to me, none of them let out a sarcastic remark in my direction and they don’t even whisper or giggle when I walk past them. The evening passes quickly and I need to leave. I go to the round table again. Ralph and Scarface are talking quietly.
“I need to go,” I say to Angelface, and he glances at his watch and nods. I go back to the counter, take my backpack and go into the restroom.
I go into one of the stalls and take off my loose jeans and T-shirt. Instead, I put on the clothes I borrowed from Johanna. Light blue skinny jeans and a black tank-top with a low back. I feel my bare back and play with my bra strap. I don’t want it to show so I unhook it and take it off.
I come out of the stall and stand in front of the large rectangular mirror. I replace my sneakers with flats and now I look like a normal student on her way to a night out in the big city. I twist my long braid into a thick circle above my nape and push the edges in. This simple change gives me a much more feminine reflection than I planned on, but this time it feels strangely right. I use a black eyeliner around my large almond eyes and finally smear some transparent lip gloss. I like what I see and I’m in an unusually good mood.
I go back out to the bar and see that I’ve been replaced by someone who looks like a supermodel, wearing a very short miniskirt and a tight crop top. She serves a drink to one of the customers and stands chatting to Scarface. She’s batting her eyelashes and wiggling her ass, he is nodding and Ralph doesn’t even look up from his cellphone.
“I’m out of here,” I say as I walk past them.
I stop by the counter to take a sip of water from my bottle. “Where exactly do you think you’re going?” Scarface is standing really close to me as he puts his arm on the back of the chair. I almost spit the water out over his black polo shirt.
“You scared me,” I put the bottle down on the counter and arrange the stack of napkins beside it. “I told you that I had a private thing tonight and you said I could leave early.”
“What private thing are you going to dressed like that? So revealing.” He won’t move away and I’m trapped.
“Revealing?” I laugh. “I’m wearing jeans and a tank-top. Look around and you’ll see what revealing is.” I lift my hand and gesture him to move away from me. He doesn’t.
“They’re whores. You aren’t.” he states. “And I’ve changed my mind. You can’t leave early tonight.”
“Oh come on, seriously…” this conversation isn’t amusing anymore. “I’m going. And if you don’t like it, fire me.” I duck under his muscular arm and walk out of the bar.
The front door that I just closed opens again. “Stop following me,” I say angrily.
“I’m not following you,” he says and picks up the black helmet that was sitting on a chair by the bouncer. “I’m driving you.”
“I don’t want you to.” I walk away toward the curb.
“You don’t have a choice.” He grabs hold of my hand and forces me to get on the motorcycle, puts the helmet on my head, and the only thing that stops me from screaming at him now is knowing that in five minutes he’ll drop me off at the new bar and I’ll enjoy a normal evening with my normal roommate and other normal people like us. I give him the address and the motorcycle roars forward.
I put my hand around his hips and lean forward. Feeling through my thin tank-top the muscles in his back flexing, as the overpowering and illogical attraction floods through me once again. I try to ignore it and touch him as little as possible – just enough so that I won’t fall off. He stops at the entrance to the bar and I sigh in relief. I immediately recognize Johanna’s golden hair among the dozens of people there. She hasn’t noticed me, and I prefer it this way.
“Thanks for the ride,” I say quickly and give him the helmet. He takes it from me, and I tidy my hair.
“Why aren’t you wearing a bra?” he asks suddenly, and I lower my arms down in a panic and pull my backpack from him.
“Listen, I don’t owe you any explanations about anything I do or do not wear.” I say aggressively. “I’m going to have fun tonight, like a regular student, with my roommate and other students.” I glance behind me, worried that Johanna has noticed me by now, but she’s busy flirting with the guy she’s standing with. “And I’ll have some drinks and I might even have an intellectual conversation with one of them.”
“Yeah, because your brain is really what all these horny bastards are interested in. Especially when you’re not wearing a bra.”
“There's so much more to me than just a pair of boobs. But if I do meet someone interesting, maybe I’ll let him enjoy them tonight.” I raise my chin defiantly and march off towards the crowd at the entrance. Johanna sees me and hugs me affectionately. She introduces me to two guys she just met and the four of us go inside together.
We order a bottle of wine and talk. They’re both studying Business Administration at Harvard. The conversation is going well and flowing. Johanna whispers to the guy sitting next to her and I’m talking to his friend, who is asking me about the new research. I can talk freely to him and use professional terms and he understands me immediately. I’m enjoying his company. I move onto my second glass of wine and as the evening goes on, the guy I’m talking to seems like the right partner to end the night with. It looks like Johanna feels the same way, because right after we toast her new project, she tells me goodbye and leaves the bar with her cute new friend.