Inside the Storm Read online

  Randy is too cheerful. This should be interesting. I set my bag down on a table and sit next to Renee.

  “Alright, girls,” he says, clapping his hands together, “we are going through some changes. As of today, there is no more sex in the rooms. We are only doing private strip shows, lap dances, and well, that’s about it.”

  What the fuck? I’m never going to make rent now. Renee speaks up as she always does. “Does that mean no more being tied up and being a submissive? We could still do that as long as no sex is involved, right?”

  Randy claps his hands together again as if he’s a school teacher. All the girls continue to talk over top of each other. Me, I sit here fuming, keeping my mouth shut.

  “Girls, hush.” He slams a hand on the table when nobody pays attention to him. “These are the changes. My hands are tied. Either you suck it up or you find new employment.”

  His hands are tied. I bet they are! Randy heads toward his office. I get up and follow him. He doesn’t know I’m there and I stop the door from closing in my face with my foot. “Roxy, what are you doing?”

  “Who tied your hands?”

  He gives me his cheesy grin. “What are you talking about?”

  “You got a partner, did you?”

  “No, c’mon, get real. This place is falling apart and I need to make changes. I need to protect my place just like you need to make money.”

  I call bullshit! Randy is a pig. He doesn’t give a shit if these guys have sex with us. In fact, he encourages it. He makes money off us being bought. “I need my pay for the week.”

  “You know you get paid tomorrow.”

  I raise my voice. “I need it today. I won’t be around tomorrow!”

  “Are you quitting?”

  “Yes! Now please pay me what I am owed,” He sits his fat ass in his chair and opens his safe under his desk. I watch him count out one-fifty. “You owe me another hundred.”

  “It’s cell phone week.”

  I suck in a breath while I reach into the pocket of my sweatpants. I set the phone on his desk. “Another hundred.”

  “Roxy, you can’t leave. I’ve taken care of you since you were fifteen. You’re my best girl.”

  “It’s time for me to go.”

  He acts concerned when he asks, “Where are you going to go?” His eyes are pinned on me. His look gives me chills as they always have.

  I think about telling him, but I don’t. I feed him a lie. “I have a new job offer. You know with the guy you were with yesterday? He made me an offer I can’t refuse.”

  He nods his head then rubs his chubby double chin. C’mon, Randy tell me what I already figured out. He doesn’t budge, though. His lips are sealed. Blake must really have his hands tied tight. Eventually, Randy gives me the rest of my money. I tell him goodbye and leave his stuffy office. Good God, I can smell his smelly office on me as I take the hallway back out front. I tap Renee on the shoulder when I reach the bar. She gives me a concerned look when she sees my face. I spill my guts and tell her I’m leaving. She hugs me and asks where I am going. “Home,” I whisper in her ear. “Please don’t tell Randy. And if a really good-looking man who screams money comes in here looking for me, don’t tell him either. Especially not him!”

  “Are you running?”

  “I have no choice. I have no money and I got evicted today. I haven’t seen my dad in fifteen years. I think it’s time.”

  “You can stay with me. Don’t leave me here alone with these people.”

  “I have to go.” A teardrop falls from the corner of my eye. “I didn't run from the storm like you always told me to do. I ran right inside it.”

  “Oh, Rochelle.” The sympathy from her voice makes me cry harder. It’s my own fault for getting mixed up with Blake Hargreaves. “I promise I won’t tell anyone where you are going.”

  I give her one more hug, then I get my bag and leave. I step outside Leather Shots to find that it is pouring down rain. I burst out laughing, even though there's nothing funny here. I stop laughing and look up to the sky. I let the rain wash over me, letting it hit my face and fall into my mouth as I scream, “Cleanse me from this place.”

  “Roxy, what are you doing?”

  I glance at the man beside me. Sammy is staring back at me as if I have two heads. “Nothing. My name is not Roxy. It's Rochelle.” I almost slipped and gave him my last name. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’ll be teaching these yahoos how to make a decent drink.”

  I want to say welcome back, but I don’t bother. “I have to go.” I take off running toward the corner where I know I can flag down a cab to take me to the bus station. I’m getting far away from here as fast as I can.

  “What the fuck did you tell her?” I scream into my phone, not even an hour after leaving that jackass’s club.

  “Nothing!” Randy shouts back. “She told me she was going to work for you and demanded that I cut her check. I don’t know anything else.”

  I hung up without saying another word. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I wanted to believe that she’d told Randy the truth, that she’d quit to be with me somehow, but deep down, I knew that wasn’t true. I could tell she’d been lying last night when she’d said she had her eviction under control. She did not have another job lined up and she was not the type to come looking for a savior. Rochelle wouldn’t do that.

  She’d figured me out and was worried I’d left her without the means to get by. After the amazing night we’d shared, how could something so unintentional ruin things? I checked my phone again, but still no response from her. Normally, I wouldn’t be worried about that, but knowing what I did now - I was terrified.

  I couldn’t let her run again. If she did, she would take a piece of my heart with her, and I don’t know how I would recover. After last night, I was already thinking about a future with one girl for the first time, and I liked it. I needed to fix this.

  Jumping back into my car, I peeled out into the street and cut off at least two cars as I swung around in a fishtailing U-turn. Blowing a red light and hitting ninety-five on the side streets, I made it back to the club in minutes and barged through the front door. There were other girls there now, prepping the place for the evening. A few men had already come in, but it was basically dead. Why Randy would even be open for lunch was beyond me.

  “Who is she friends with?” I asked as Randy came stumbling out of his office.

  “Renee,” he said, gesturing to a pretty girl across the room. She’d been watching me with big eyes, but immediately looked away when Randy pointed to her. She clearly knew something.

  “Renee,” I said softly as I approached her. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I need to get in touch with Rochelle before she leaves town or does whatever she is thinking about doing.”

  “I can’t help you,” the fiery, but clearly not natural redhead replied. “I promised her that I wouldn’t say a word. Not to Randy, and specifically not to your rich ass. What did you do to her?” she asked.

  “Fell in love,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

  “Oh shit!” both Renee and Randy blurted out at once.

  “Is that why you told me no more sex?” Randy snapped.

  Without thinking, I spun around and punched him right in his doughy face to the gasps of Renee and everyone else in the club who had tuned into the drama I’d brought in with me.

  Looking back at Renee, who stood frozen with a hand over her mouth, I asked, “Can you please break that promise? I need to find her. She’s scared of what we have and she thinks she needs to do this on her own, but I just want to be with her. She’s running away from something we both want because she thinks it’s not real, but it is. Please, Renee. She’ll forgive you for telling me, but I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t find her.”

  Renee wrestled with my pleas for a moment before shouting, “Dammit!” and slamming her first into the bar. “Why’d you have to make this so hard? She’s going home. That’s all I know.�
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  I turned back to Randy, who had sat himself down and was clutching his nose. “Where are your records?”

  He nodded back toward his office. I doubted he was going to be any more helpful after getting his face smashed in front of his girls. The weasel’s ego was bruised. Making my way back to the grimy little room, I rifled through some drawers until I found what I was after. He kept terrible records, but he had ID for all his working girls to prove they were over eighteen. Rochelle Carver.

  I was on my phone and out the door holding a copy of her real ID seconds later. My IT guy had done the odd skiptrace for me and this one was easy. He found out where she was from and had a list of bus schedules on my phone before I was off the block. I had to get to her before the bus left, and if she’d made it there fast enough, that was in five minutes. My GPS said the station was ten away, but it hadn’t accounted for the driver yet.

  Feeling my entire body pressed in against my leather seat and the rollers moving around my back to hug me through the tight left turn off the block, I punched the throttle again and was doing over one twenty in a thirty-five. People were likely shouting in my wake, but in the time it took them to react, I was long out of range to hear any of it, not that I could have over the scream of the engine anyhow.

  ‘Please not cops! Please not cops! Please not cops!’ I thought to myself over and over as I lucked out and got a green light to cross the strip. I used the left hand turn lane to pass a truck and prayed for no flashing lights. There were none. I’d already made half the trip in ninety seconds.

  Sliding the car onto the next street, I punched it again and nearly vomited from the force of acceleration. I’d driven this car hard before, but I’d never opened it up like this. It was unreal power, and it was doing exactly what I needed right now. One block to go!

  I ripped it over the curb and pulled into the lot hard, likely putting myself back some hefty work on the car when this was over, but not caring at all. I didn’t care if the car was wrecked. I could buy another car. I couldn’t let her get away.

  Who had she turned me in to? No longer the mysterious man in the dark booth luring women with my disregard or indifference - I was now the lovestruck, hopeless romantic, racing across town to save his newfound relationship. I was thinking about love after one date and trying to imagine what I believed to be unimaginable pain at her loss. I’d gone mad, but I didn’t care.

  Barely getting the car into park before I darted out the door, I was scanning the bus that was nearly done loading, but I couldn’t see her. There were too many bodies on board. Some were standing, their faces blocked by the luggage they were stowing, others were hidden behind those with window seats. I couldn’t be sure whether she was there. I pressed pass the attendant checking tickets and ran up the stairs at the front of the bus. The shouts of the disgruntled woman I’d circumvented drew all eyes to me, but I knew after a quick glance that she wasn’t onboard.

  “Blake?” I heard her voice from off the bus.

  I stepped down and found her with a ticket in hand, walking up to get in line. There was shock all over her face and a single bag over her shoulder.

  “Sorry,” I said to the woman at the entrance to the bus as I climbed off. “I was looking for her.”

  She grumbled something, but I was already walking away.

  “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” she asked, flustered and trying not to cry.

  “It doesn’t matter. I had to see you. You can’t just run off.”

  “There’s no way I can stay here, Blake,” she said, tears coming faster now. “You took away my only hope at the club.”

  “You seemed so unhappy there, and you clearly didn’t want to do that anymore. I thought you’d be happy.”

  She shook her head, trying to contain her emotions.

  “I can take care of you,” I said. “We can figure something out. You’re worth so much more than that job!”

  “I don’t want your charity,” she said in almost a monotone as she forced the words through her tears.

  “Then I won’t offer any, but I can offer you a livable wage at the club. You and all the girls. I’m moving you to the strip, and the pay there is higher anyhow. You don’t have to take your clothes off to get by. I can also help you if you’re a little behind. If you don’t want my help, call it a no-interest loan. Hell - I can dock your pay until we’re even if that makes you happy. I just can’t let you go. Last night was real, and it was amazing, and I don’t care what you’ve done before, but I already care too damn much about you to let you live a life you don’t like or deserve while we are together.”

  Her tears had stopped and she was just staring back at me now. My inner voice told me that I had her. It was the perfect movie moment. The rain that had started earlier was still falling and we were out past the canopy getting soaked as we talked. She looked beautiful with the rain pouring off her hair and her top clinging to her incredible body. She was going to wrap her arms around me. This was about to be the greatest moment of my life. And then it wasn’t.

  She burst back into tears and ran right past me. I was so caught off guard that by the time I thought to stop her, she was already gone. The attendant at the bus was eyeing me and was clearly not going to let me chase her any further. What had gone wrong?

  I just stood there in the rain, my suit drenched and my heart shattered as the bus pulled away. I’d followed her all the way to her seat and could see her crying, but she never looked back. All the other passengers’ eyes were on me… well going back and forth between her and me. I could even see one older woman who’d moved back to sit by her and was trying to calm her down. The bus hissed as it released its brakes, and it pulled away. She was gone. I’d failed.

  It must have been another half hour that I just stood there, hoping that she’d come back, even though I knew she couldn’t. If this were a movie, she’d change her mind and the whole bus would demand that the driver turn around, but this was real life. She was gone. I knew where she was going, but I’d just poured my heart out and it hadn’t helped. She wasn’t playing hard to get. She WAS hard to get - at least for me. I had to let her go. I had to face the pain I’d avoided with my years of non-committed relationships and meaningless sex.

  My legs ached by the time I dragged myself back to my car. I was drenched and I felt the water pooling in my seat, but I didn’t care. I drove straight back to my apartment and poured myself a drink, and then another, and then another; eventually losing count and ending up passed out in my bed. Waking up offered me no comfort as I felt the effects of my idiotic drinking and recalled the loss that had filled that glass so many times.

  Whatever it was I felt, it was unlike anything I’d experienced before. I just wanted to sleep until the pain was gone. Nothing would make me feel better than getting back to the point where I could sit in my club and wait for the next woman to catch my eye, but that had no appeal to it whatsoever at the moment, and I knew it wouldn’t for the foreseeable future. How could a man be this hung up after something as simple and brief as we’d had? We hadn’t even slept together yet!

  Rolling onto my stomach, I closed my eyes and sleep mercifully found me again to take me away from my reality for a short while.

  I said his name and I could feel the tears already building in my eyes. I couldn’t control them once I heard his voice. All I wanted to do was run right into his arms. I wanted him to hold me tight to his muscular frame and never let me go, but I found myself unable to move. It was as if my body was frozen in place. He kept talking, and for a brief second my tears stopped. He poured his heart out, practically offering me the world, and I probably shouldn’t pass it up. All I could do was stare at him. I knew I owed him an answer. I opened my mouth, not sure what I was going to say, but it did not matter. A roll of thunder came out of nowhere. I felt the blood drain from my face, and tears instantly clouded my eyes once again. The warning was present and I was not going to ignore it. I don’t know how my body could suddenly move
and I got the courage to run. I rushed past him, and he didn’t even flinch. I was on the bus faster than he could stop me. I took my seat, and I felt everyone’s eyes on me. I caught Blake’s stare. His gaze was blank. Blake has always had this glow to him that I envied. It’s like he is full of color where I am nothing but a gray shadow. The guy standing out in the rain, I sucked the color right out of him. It just proves we are not meant to be together. He doesn’t need my dark shadow lingering over him. My heart hurts for him, though, looking all defeated. I hurt him as he hurt me. I don’t like that feeling at all.

  I felt the bus slowly beginning to move. I never in my life wanted my voice to work more than I did at that second. I opened my mouth to yell stop, but the word wouldn’t come. The older lady who moved to comfort me put her arm around me and my head fell to her shoulder.

  I’m not sure how long I rested my head on a stranger’s shoulder. All I knew was the bus kept rolling down the highway, taking me to a place I don’t really want to go. The tears haven’t let up. My clothes are soaked and my heart hurts. It’s never hurt like this before. “Why does it hurt this way? I didn’t even know him,” I whisper softly to myself, or so I thought.

  “Sounds like you had something special. You might have possibly met the love of your life.”

  I pick my head up. “Huh?” I say through my tears. This very caring lady digs into her purse and gets out a small pack of tissues. “We aren’t in love. We’ve only known each other for a couple of days.”

  “When it’s love, it's love. There is no time stamp on true love, you know?”

  Her words just bring the tears on heavier. She hugs me. I cry on this stranger's shoulder while she pats my back lightly. “I don't know what love is,” I confess.

  “I think you might know. I met my lovely Frank when I was just seventeen. He came into my life when I needed him the most.” She giggles just a little. “I was at the diner working as a waitress when Frank came waltzing in with his Navy suit on with some of his friends. He saw me and he stopped laughing. His lip curled up and boy did my heart skip a few beats. It was the beginning to no end.”