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I sit on the edge of my huge tub, waiting for it to fill, and pull the sash on my plushy robe tighter. What a head-snapping contradiction the last couple days of my life have been.
I was basically felt up by someone who probably wasn’t even a doctor, my asscheeks have been pinched, caressed, and smacked more times than I can count, and yet here I am living in this gorgeous suite, for lack of a better term, with the sort of bathroom that is only found in high-end décor magazines.
Then there are the guys. Aside from their initial threats when they took me from Pops’s shop, they’ve treated me… like a princess. Well, a princess who works as a cocktail waitress. The hot lunchtime working-over Vadik gave me, which I have been thinking about every night before I go to bed, still blows my mind. It’s like one of those ear-worm songs that you can’t get out of your head.
Speaking of Pops’s shop, Vadik returned my phone to me earlier in the day, and while I have missed a few calls, there is not a single one from my father.
Not a one.
Can’t say I’m surprised.
There is a message from Evie, though, but I’ll deal with that later. I need some time to think. Unless my father already filled her in, which I doubt, I have to be careful with what I tell her. He’s probably too much of a chicken-shit to say anything, though. He knows how hard she’ll come down on him. She might be young, but she’s perceptive. When she doesn’t see me around, she’ll start asking questions.
There are five texts from my bookkeeping study-buddy, Luci. Ugh. I know exactly what she wants, and I have exactly no answers to give her. But I call her anyway.
“What the hell, dude?” she asks without saying hello.
I sigh. “I know. I’m sorry I’ve been so incommunicado.”
“The exam is tomorrow!”
Like I could forget that. Like I haven’t thought of my bookkeeping course every five minutes since I was spirited away from Dad’s clusterfuck of a mess. Like I haven’t wondered if all my hard work was for nothing, and whether the life I dreamt of for so long is now, forever, out of reach, all because of my father.
My voice cracks. “Luci, you go take it. Take the test. You get an A for us both. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
If ever.
I want to double over, the pain of giving up is so shattering. I was going to accomplish so much. I tried so hard.
“That’s bullshit, Charleigh. Tell me where you are. I’ll come get you right now.”
And end up dead.
Not an option.
“Look, Lu, I love that you are on my side. I love that we’re twins in this journey to better ourselves. But I… am taking a break for now.”
“Please, Charleigh, please tell me what’s going on.”
I am tempted to. I really am. But I know that will only put her in danger. So, for now, I am keeping my mouth shut.
“I can’t say anything, Lu. Except I love you. And that I’ll be in touch. Goodbye.”
“Wait, Char—” she screams.
But I’ve hung up the call before I hear any more. I can’t take the idea I’m letting her down, leaving her to finish on her own. We’ve held each other up, cheered each other on, and now I’m throwing her out there to do it on her own.
It’s not like I have any choice, though.
I step into the steaming tub, which immediately works my sore legs. I swish the water around, having used shampoo as bubble bath, and pretend for a moment I’m a lady of leisure, entitled to such luxury on demand.
I try to force my thoughts back to my brief time with Vadik, his comforting, sensual touch, and block out the disgusting touch of that perv doctor, who probably jerked himself to relief the minute he got into his car. And just when I’ve closed my eyes to focus on the sweet-smelling water I’m soaking in, my phone vibrates on the edge of the tub.
I grab it before it tumbles into the water, having forgotten I’d left it there. I’m about to place it on the bathmat, turned over so I don’t have to see Luci calling me again, when I find it’s Evie’s school.
Yes, the number for Evie’s school is in my phone contacts, that’s how often I talk to them.
I swipe the call open. “Hello? Hello?”
