Before applying to Skyline, I looked it up to make sure it wasn’t a cheap place where there would be no security. My research showed that Skyline is far from that. It's the most talked about club in town, hell people from out of town come here. There are six floors, what kind of club has six floors?
I walk up to the bouncer. “Hello, I’m here to see Mr. Cain, my name is Olivia Banks.” I look at the people in the queue waiting to get in. “Question, how long do they wait to get in?”
“Some can wait about two hours, and Mr. Cain is in his office. Lincoln will take you up.” I stand there waiting for someone called Lincoln to tell me to follow him. “Walk in, he'll come to you.” The bouncer opens the door for me, and I step into the club, and the loud music hits my ears instantly.
Wow, this place is amazing; the lights, the booths, and the strip poles. I look at the cages with dancers in them. This is the best night club I’ve ever been in, and I really hope to get the job.
“Olivia.” I turn around and look up at the man who must be Lincoln. “Follow me.” Okay, no hello or anything. I follow him up the stairs and I continue to look around as I reach each floor. I can see strippers on some of the tables, with a group of men around them. “Here.” I turn back to Lincoln and walk into the office as he opens the door for me.
“Olivia, thank you for coming in today.” The door closes behind me, and Lincoln is no longer standing behind me. I turn back to the man I am assuming is Mr. Cain.
“Thank you for calling me.” I put my hand out as he does the same.
“Here are your shifts for the next month.” He hands me a piece of paper, and I smile.
“Seriously?” I have to question.
“You have a lot of experience, and you look like someone who won’t mess me around. The only thing I ask is, if you can’t make it in for your shift, for whatever reason, tell me at least four hours before your shift starts.” He walks back around to his desk and sits down. “You have any trouble with a customer, you tell security, there are plenty around. Any questions?” Mr. Cain asks, and I look down at my shifts. On my application there were a few things I had asked for, and I smile seeing he noted them.
I only wanted Saturday evening off, so I can see my mom and at least one or two days off so I can study.
“Thank you for giving me my requests, but if you ever need me to work on any of those days as an emergency I’m more than happy to. Which floor will I be working on?” I look at him and find him staring at me. I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that something isn't right, but I’m not sure why.
Maybe, it’s the way his eyes burn into me, but then there's a smile on his lips. Fuck, if only I could read his mind, it would be amazing. Does he already hate me? Or is he reading me to see what type of employee I'll be?
“I'll take note of that. You'll be on the first floor. The fifth and sixth floor are off limits for you, and before you say anything, your name is on the no entry list.” He leans back in his chair, and smiles. “Here’s the cocktail list we serve.” He slides another piece of paper across his desk; and I take a look at it. I’ve made a lot of cocktails so I don’t think there will be anything on here which I haven’t made. “If you need any help with anything, just ask the staff, if not, I'll see you tomorrow.”
“I'll see you tomorrow.” I take a step closer to the desk. “Thank you so much for this opportunity.” I put my hand out for him to shake, and he takes it. That’s when I get a glimpse of his tattoos.
Since reading dark romance books I’ve been a sucker for tattoos. It’s amazing how your likes change over the years. I never thought I would enjoy romance books with some messed up topics, but they have slowly become my favorite genre to read.
“I don’t think you'll let me down.” He walks around the desk and opens the door for me. After saying bye to him, I take another look around, smiling. I can’t believe I got the job; I can help my dad so much with this extra money. Now I need to get a taxi or Uber to the party.
“What time do you call this?” Abigail shouts at me, as she pulls me through the crowd to join everyone else. I don’t know all their names just yet, but I’m slowly learning them. They're all in my classes. I have a few classes tomorrow which I think have different students in there from today. Abigail said everyone is really friendly but told me to stay away from one or two of them because they only care about finishing the top of the class. So, they won’t help me even if I asked them.
“Sorry, I told you I had to be somewhere.” She tries to hand me a glass of something, but I say no because I don’t want to drink. “I’m not in the mood to be drinking tonight.”
I look around to see who’s here, Abigail told me they have a few parties when they come back from winter break. It looks like most of the college is here tonight. That scares me, I’m on full alert just in case.
“Have you found a guy you like yet?” I hear Abigail behind me. She told me about one of the guys she likes. They've had an on—off thing going on for the last year, but she wants it to be something more serious. She’s too scared to say anything in case it ruins what they have.
“No,” I reply.
I’m not here to find a guy, I’m here to study and get the hell out of this town. Plus, there has never been anyone sincehim. But how can I tell her that? She might know who he is, and I’m not sure I want her to know what happened between us.
“There are a few good looking guys here tonight, come on, it's the last year of school, relax and have some fun.” She stands next to me, and points to a group of guys standing on the other side of the room. “They're the fun ones, I’ve not been luckyenough to get on their radar, but the rumors have definitely been interesting.”
I look over at where she is pointing, and my whole body tenses up, Fuck my life. My mouth goes dry, I should be running out of here, but my feet aren’t moving.
“And then you have that group, the two don’t talk, and no one knows why.” Abigail points to the other side of the room. “We talk to both groups, but never together, that's a fight waiting to happen. We have no idea why they hate each other. It’s a closely guarded secret.”
Glancing over to the other group, I feel sick. They are both here. I know why they don’t talk, and I’m the reason.
I take in a deep breath before I start hyperventilating, but my chest tightens seeing them all here. They’re all at this college. I thought they might be, but I was hoping they weren’t. My body begins to tremble at the thought of either group seeing me.
I can’t be here. They can’t see me. I'm not ready for them, or what they will do when they realize I’m back..
“You know, I’m not feeling too good, my head is banging, and I feel sick,” I tell Abigail. Before she can say anything, I say, “I’m going to get a taxi back, but I'll meet you tomorrow, same place.” My fingers play with my necklace, trying to calm myself down, but it’s not working. I look over to see if they're still there, they are, so I quickly leave before I have a panic attack.
