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“Saw you out there. With that older man at your table. And then you met another one, that businessman. You are, aren’t you? What do you cost? I’ll have you now.”
“I…” I step back, trying to remain within the relative safety of the cubicle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Tell me what it costs,” he mumbles, drawing out a fat wallet and waving it at me. “I’ll pay.”
“No,” I tell him, about to deny again that I am what he somehow thinks I am.
“You’ve got to do what I say,” he slurs, tossing the wallet onto the counter near the sink. “If I pay you afterward, you’ve got to do whatever I want.”
And he lunges at me, making me scream as I dart back into the stall – too late to slam the door before his body is inside the space with me.
Chapter Seven
Nico
The sound of her scream sends a chill like ice down my spine.
Within moments of hearing it, I rush out of the men’s bathroom and head next door, without even thinking. I don’t care if I’m not supposed to be in there. It sounds like Liliana is hurt, or scared, or in some other kind of trouble, and I don’t care about the rules.
I know from experience that these rooms are very isolated. You can’t even hear the music from the main restaurant in here. Which means that no one out there will have heard her scream, either. I have to be the one to see what’s happening. And it’s just as well because I wouldn’t trust this to anyone else.
From the moment that I dash inside, I see a man's back facing me. I know he's not supposed to be in here either, so I know that he must be the source of her scream. I don't hesitate for even a moment. I grab hold of his shirt and pull, using all of my strength to haul him bodily back. As soon as he is out of the way, I can see her - Liliana. Cowering inside the cubicle, watching him with wide eyes and a terrified look on her face.
It's not as though I need any further information. I wheel on the guy, taking him in furiously.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I demand, my voice an angry growl.
“She’s… gotta do what I pay for,” he mumbles, half-incoherent with alcohol. Lovely. And from the state of him, I don’t think he’s actually one of the customers of this restaurant. No, it looks more like he somehow wandered in from outside. I’ll have to have a word with the servers about paying closer attention to who’s coming in.
I grab him again, by the shirt at the back of his neck, and swing him around towards the door. It’s not hard. He’s so drunk, he comes easily, stumbling and doing his hardest just to stay upright. I force him out of the bathroom, then march him down the side of the room, trying to take a route that will attract as little attention as possible.
It's only when I reach the doors that I realize it was a shame I didn't hit him already. Now I've missed my chance. For scaring Liliana, the least he should get in return is one of my fists. But instead, I hand him over to the maître-d' with a stern look.
“I found this in the toilets, trying to assault one of your female customers,” I tell him through gritted teeth. “Deal with it.”
“Oh – oh, my gosh,” he stammers, signaling discretely to a couple of other members of staff. “I’m so sorry about that, sir. I’ll take care of this, right away. Should we call the police?”
“Yes,” I tell him. “But you give them my details. I don’t want her bothered, alright? Oh – and I believe his ID is still in the women’s bathroom. You might want to send a female member of staff to get it.”
“Yes, sir,” the man tells me, trying to partly restrain and partly hold up the drunk man as he aims a wayward fist in my direction, falling awkwardly short and nearly tipping himself over. I straighten my tie, giving him a severe look that seems to wither him in place, and then turn back.
I rush back to the bathroom, checking as I go that no one else seems to have been disturbed by what happened. A couple of people at tables close to the door are looking at the maître-d’, but none of them are watching me go or putting two and two together about where I came from. That’s good. The last thing that I want is for Liliana to be at the center of some scandal right now. She must have been terrified.
Instead of barging right in this time, I knock on the door quietly. “Liliana?” I call, hoping that no one else has gone in since I left.
