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Like her brother, she continues to stare at me. This time, her expression is a little softer. After a minute or so, she takes the papers and glances down at them.
“You forgot to put your address,” she says.
“Oh, um…,” I quickly come up with a cover story. “I just moved in with someone, and I don’t remember the address. When I get home, I’ll make sure to write it down and bring it tomorrow.” I just hope she forgets to ask me for it tomorrow.
She shrugs and places the papers on the counter. “Follow me, and I’ll show you around.”
She leads me toward the hallway. The first door on the right, directly behind the bar, is the kitchen, which holds the usual industrial-size appliances you see in restaurants. The next door is the utility closet. A little farther down the hallway on the left is the break room, which also has several lockers the staff uses.
“We don’t really use the break room. We’re either too busy to take breaks, spend them out on the floor with the staff and customers, or hang out in the kitchen with Hoot, our cook.”
The next door on the left leads to the basement, which is also the stockroom. After a brief tour of the stockroom, Mia leads me back upstairs. The last door on the left is the employee exit that leads to the back of the building. It’s the door that I saw from the outside when I first arrived. The only door remaining is the one at the end of the hall.
“That’s Jax’s office. It stays locked when he’s not here. If he is here and the door is closed, knock first. If it’s open, you can go in. Understand?”
“Yes,” I mumble.
She leads me back to the front and starts explaining what needs to be done before the crowd begins arriving. It’s all pretty basic stuff. Make sure all the drinks are stocked, including the taps, which she shows me how to do, take down the chairs and wipe down the tables, ensure everything is in its proper place, cash drawer has the right amount of cash, etc.
By the time we’re done, I’m exhausted. The nightmare I endured, sleeping in my car, becoming acquainted with my new town, my breakdown from earlier, and learning the ins and outs of working here, have finally caught up with me. It’s closing in on six o’clock. Mia says the evening crowd will start showing soon.
Just then, Jaxon walks out of the hallway, takes one glance at me, and barks, “Go home.”
My lungs freeze, and I feel my body tense up. Is he firing me? Is it because of my meltdown from earlier? I can’t lose this job. It’s my only hope to save money so I can stay one step ahead of Steven. I’m just opening my mouth to beg him, when he says, “Be here tomorrow at five and you can get your first real feel of how it is during busy hours.”
I sag as relief floods through me. Not fired, okay, good. Although I’m still nervous about working here, it’ll be refreshing to have something to do. I haven’t worked in a couple of years.
“I’ll be here,” I tell him.
“With your hair up.”
“Yes,” I reply tartly.
He arches his pierced eyebrow and smirks at me. Whatever. I’ve already revealed my scar, so wearing my hair back tomorrow won’t really matter now.
It’s getting dark when I walk out of the employee door at the back. A sudden chill takes over my body. While I unlock my car, I take a much-needed deep breath, and I swear I can smell the sweet tang of Steven’s Cuban cigars. I freeze and take another deep breath, but the smell is no longer there. It must have been my imagination, I tell myself. I’m still a little on edge from my episode earlier. There’s no way he’s found me again so soon.
Yet, a voice whispers in my head. I shake my head to clear the voice away and take a steadying breath.
I start my car and head back to my temporary resting spot in the library parking lot. Once I park, I shut off the ignition, grab my small blanket and pillow, and recline back in my seat. I shoot Chris a quick message, letting her know that my first day of work went okay. Before I’m fully nestled into my seat, I’m already drifting off into an unsettled sleep.
5
THE PAIN IS UNBEARABLE. Excruciating. He’s being unusually cruel tonight. I have no idea why, just like many of the other times he’s hurt me.
“You’ve been a bad, bad girl, my pet. How many times do I have to tell you that I won’t tolerate naughty girls?” Steven says while I feel a piercing hot pain on my back from the homemade flogger he’s using. The flogger that Steven customized to have tiny needles at the ends of the tails. He’s used it before on me, but he’s never put so much force into his swings.
“Steven, please, I don’t know what I’ve done. Just tell me what I did, and I promise to never do it again. I promise to be a good girl,” I beg him while I cry hysterically. I can’t stop begging him tonight. The pain is just too intense.
I feel the warm trails of blood that are trickling down my butt and legs. My arms are hoisted above my head and tied to the beam that runs across the ceiling. They’re pulled up so high and tight that I’m standing on the tips of my toes. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. It seems as though Steven’s been at me for hours. My arms feel as though they’ll slip out of their sockets any minute. Please God, let it be over soon. I whisper the prayer in my head, but I know God doesn’t hear me. He never hears me.
“Oh, you know exactly what you did, Bailey. You know what you did, and you enjoyed doing it. Didn’t you, BITCH?” he screams the last at me and strikes me again, even harder.
Suddenly, he’s in front of me and he has his hand wrapped around my throat, squeezing tight. I feel him kick my legs apart, which puts more strain on my arms. I’m practically hanging there. He takes the handle of the flogger and jams it so far and hard inside me that it lifts me up a little bit. The pain is all-consuming. It feels as though he’s broken through some vital organ in my body. He continues his assault by pulling it out and ramming it back inside. He does this over and over again.
Just then, I hear a shuffle behind me, and I’m reminded that we’re not alone. One of his associates is here as well. I feel him at my back and know what’s coming. Steven still has his hands wrapped around my throat and my vision begins to blur. I welcome the knowledge that soon I’ll black out due to lack of oxygen.
As if he’s read my mind, he withdraws the flogger and loosens his hold on my throat. I gasp for air.
