Page 32 of Scarred King
“Good,” Tommy nods in satisfaction. “Now what will we do with her?” he laughs.
“Mike,” Scarface says, “take her to Carly and tell her to put her to work in the kitchen.”
Mike wrinkles his forehead. “If we keep buying these girls we won’t have any room left in the kitchen.”
“Then we’ll make it bigger,” Scarface replies irritably. “And you,” he says to me in the same tone of voice, “you can close your mouth.”
I shake my head and close my mouth, which has been hanging open. Scarface has definitely surprised me, big time - in a good way.
Mike signals the girl to join him. She looks toward the door as if she fears the punishment she’ll get when the man returns.
“He’s gone,” the blonde stands up and holds her hand out. “That shit won’t be coming back here, you understand?” The girl is still looking at the door and then she turns her head towards the blonde with tears in her eyes.
“Is he really gone, for good?” her voice trembles.
“Really gone for good,” the blonde hugs her. “No one will hurt you here. You’re safe here.”
The girl nods and runs to Mike. He doesn’t touch her, just signals with his head that she should come with him. They leave through the connecting door and as soon as it closes behind them Charlie shouts out, the front door opens and new customers start flowing in. I glance at the round table but there’s no sign of any scars. Right now he seems like an angel who came down from heaven. I shake my head again, lean on the bar and make a conscious decision to forget what just happened.
I run around between the tables for the next two hours, until the last girl leaves. Then I go over to the round table. Angel face is sitting there alone, tapping on a beer bottle and looking restless.
“I'm done,” I smile at him and arrange the strap of my backpack on my shoulder. “I’ll see you in three days.”
“I’m not comfortable with you going away,” he says and takes a sip from his bottle. “It will be strange not having you around here for so long.”
I’m surprised by his sudden show of emotion. “It’s only three days,” I say casually. “And I’m not going on vacation to Hawaii, just a professional conference.” I don’t understand why I’m trying to soothe him, after all, I don’t owe him any explanations and his behavior these past few days has been annoying me. “Anyway,” I say angrily, “you treat me as if I'm not even here, as if I'm nothing. So what do you care if that nothing will be gone for a few days?”
“I care!” he slams the bottle down on the table and I freeze on the spot. “Something about you drives me crazy. You came into this place…” he falls silent and corrects himself. “My place, and now I can’t imagine it without you.” He stands up and takes my hand, pulls me towards the door and signals me to sit on the motorcycle. After a short drive he stops in front of my building and when I get off, he pulls me back to him and sits me down in front of him. Face to face, close together.
“I know that we live in parallel worlds,” he says and strokes my cheek. The attraction I feel towards him is irrationally intense. “And I know that one day, you’ll disappear the same way you appeared in my bar.” His finger slides over my lower lip and my stomach clenches. “But for now, while you’re still with me, I want you as close as possible.” His lips meet mine softly and the warm air he breathes makes me shiver pleasantly. His gentle words, his surprising honesty and his electrifying touch are playing havoc with my body and I want more.
“Then why have you ignored me for the past two days?” I ask, still enjoying his kisses.
“Because this situation is driving me crazy,” his hand moves to my back and I move my braid so he won’t touch it. “I’m not ignoring you, you’re always in my sight. You just confuse me, and I hate that feeling.”
His fingers are sliding down my back and I put my arms around his neck. “It won’t happen between us, you know that,” this time I kiss his lips. “You said yourself that we’re like two parallel lines. It doesn’t matter how far they go; they’ll never meet.”
“My line has never been straight,” he is still stroking my back gently. “If it ever does meet yours, it could end badly.”
“Yes,” I say and sit up straight. His angel face looks disturbed now, and I feel the need to cheer him up. “I’m only going away for three days.” I smile at him. “And I’ll be spending my time in lectures with other freaks like me.”
“I’m so sure of myself in my world. So sure I have no competition.” He still looks troubled. “But in your world, those freaks are a competition that I can’t deal with.”
I know that he’s right, and I know I’m not going to lie to him. “Spend the night with me,” I say quickly, before my brain takes control again. I get off the motorcycle and stretch my hand out to him. “Let’s at least enjoy the physical passion.”
“No.” He revs up the motorcycle. “Only when you want me here, too.” He points at his head and drives away quickly. I could swear that he’s laughing to himself.
I groan in disappointment and sit down on the sidewalk. It’s just physical passion, I tell myself. It doesn’t last, it’s destructive. It’s not a passion that will take me anywhere that’s good. As soon as I get some intellectual passion, positive and constructive passion, my body will stop driving me crazy and I’ll be myself again. I have three days to get it.
15
I am so excited as I say goodbye to Johanna. She tucks some more clothes into my suitcase. “I am so jealous of you,” she says with a smile and hugs me tight. “You'll do there everything that I can only dream of.” She giggles and let's go of me. Her enthusiasm is contagious and I’m restless all the way to the airport.
I check my luggage at the counter, go through all the checks and finally sit down on a padded seat and wait to board the plane. Within minutes I see a tall man, dressed in a white button-down shirt and black pants, approaching me with that self-conscious smile on his lips. His delicate masculinity is hypnotizing.
“Professor Sawyer,” I say formally and stand up.
“Elena,” his smile spreads as he sits down next to me. I’m sitting down, but my body is tense and nervous. “I’m happy to see you.” He fidgets with his plane ticket and seems just as nervous as I am. “I think that this will be a very significant conference for you.”