Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“But I’m not like the others.” I winked at him, then turned to get my duffel bag.
I needed to go find Gypsi. It was time to go home to our camper. Then decide on where we were headed next. I was thinking we could go up the East Coast.
“There is nothing I can say to make you stay, is there?” he asked me.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Fuck, I’m gonna miss you.”
I smiled, but I didn’t reply. I couldn’t say the same to him. Not honestly. Sure, I’d think about him and remember the good times, but my heart wasn’t damaged. I wasn’t attached. I never got attached.
I hadn’t been lying when I said I was broken. The torment in my past hadn’t destroyed me. How could it when I’d been given Gypsi in the end? She was where I found my happiness. The darkness had severed whatever emotion it was that made a woman love a man. My heart was guarded from everyone but my daughter. There was an impenetrable wall that kept me safe. No man would ever be able to get through. And that was a good thing.
Two
Fawn
Two Weeks Later
Morii—the desire to capture a fleeting moment. I decided that this was my favorite new word. I’d never heard of it until today. It was the name of the elite club that I’d just been hired at in Ocala, Florida. Gypsi and I hadn’t made it that far when we left Miami. Mostly because I had been low on cash from not working enough while I was dating Micah. I meant to rectify that by working somewhere the paycheck was good and the tips were high.
Silas Tatum, the manager over the servers within the club, had seemed overly relieved by my interview. They had just fired two of their servers for breaking the rules. He didn’t say what rules they’d broken, but I’d been asked to sign a contract stating that the members of the club, as well as their guests, were private. I would never divulge names, repeat anything I overheard, along with about fifty other things.
My age was something Silas had seemed pleased about. He mentioned that the other servers were younger, but due to the appearance requirements of the servers at Morii, it was difficult to find females over twenty-eight, which, until me, was the oldest server they’d hired. My being more mature was much-needed, apparently, among the servers. There was, as he’d put it, unnecessary drama. I was raising a teenage girl. I wasn’t scared of female drama.
I followed Silas down a long hallway lit by elaborate chandeliers. He finally stopped at a wide, ornate white door with a fancy gold doorknob.
“This is the dressing room. All servers will enter through the back entrance you came in today, come directly to this room, and follow all the steps necessary before entering the Hughes Floor. The Winchester Parlor is where you will train by shadowing Eliana. She’s not who I typically have train the new servers, but she’s the only one capable of it tonight. However, she’s been here the longest among our current servers.”
He turned the door handle and pushed the heavy door open, then waved a hand for me to enter the room. I stepped inside, not surprised by the opulence at this point. It seemed every inch of this place was extravagant. White velvet lounge chairs were set in the middle of the room under yet another chandelier. The walls were made of mirrors, and a line of dressing tables were against the back wall. Black cocktail-style dresses hung on a long silver rack with glass embellishments to the right of the room.
Silas pointed at the rack of dresses. “You will find sizes zero through six in dresses, and there are three different styles that you may choose from. We prefer that our girls aren’t all identical. It gives visual variety to our patrons. However, we only allow black in color so that you blend in enough and don’t stand out so much that you make any female visitors feel uncomfortable. Classy is our goal. Make sure the size you choose isn’t too tight.” Silas paused and looked me over. “I think you’ll require a six because of your breast size, although if it is too loose in the waist, go down to a four.”
He pointed then to a wall I hadn’t noticed near the door we’d entered that held shoes. All were black heels. Like the dresses, there were different styles to choose from. “Shoes are sizes six through nine. You are a seven, and we have all styles in abundance in that size. You should be able to find one that you prefer among the selections. Now, the showers are through that door beside the dressing tables.”
I didn’t see a door. I started to ask him, but he must have already guessed my question because he continued, “Just push the mirrored panel by the left of the last table, and it will swing open. You are to shower here, using only the body wash we supply, then apply the lotion from the selection of three different scents you will find on the counter before dressing for your shift. No other perfume is permitted. If you wear any, it must be cleansed from your body before working. Once you’re washed and moisturized, take one of the robes hanging back there and go to your table. Apply your makeup with the products supplied in the drawers at your table. Yours is the fourth one. There is a cabinet beneath it with a keypad. Your code to unlock it is the last four of your Social. Keep your personal things in there. Your hair must be pulled up or back. The options you have with your long length are a side braid that lies over your shoulder, a bun on your head, or curled and pulled up in a twist. Dressing will be last. Please give yourself one hour or more if needed to do all the steps required before you are expected on the floor.