Chapter Two

Kelly Darcy, only child of Raymond Darcy, had spent all her life running from the one thing she knew she couldn't escape.... Taking over her father's company, Darcy Enterprises. 

As her father's only child, and with her mother dead since she was a baby, Kelly always knew that one day the company would be hers.

'That day isn't here yet', 'The time hadn't come yet', Kelly had told herself so many times, but now it was time, and she wasn't anywhere near ready for such a huge responsibility. A few months ago, her father had forced her return to San Francisco, insisting that it was time for her to come home so she could get acquainted with the company before he stepped down. 

And so she'd come. She had left her life... Not that she had much of of a life over there. It was mostly just work. She didn't have a boyfriend or a best friend. Just a few people she hung out with once in a while, so it wasn't so hard leaving. 

Kelly had been in San Francisco for a while now. Insisting that she didn't want to move back home with her father, she'd gotten herself a house and was already settling in. Making a few friends and so on. And now, four months after her return, everything was ready, her father would be introducing her to the company staff the following week. She would finally be learning the ropes. Preparing to succeed her father. 

It was such a big responsibility, and Kelly was very anxious and nervous. Her father's shoes would be a big one to fill and she had no idea where to begin. She didn't tell him that though, out of fear that he would be disappointed in her, and she didn't want to risk that. She already knew that she hadn't done much to impress him. 

Kelly put on her knee high boots, trying to block out the thought of her father's company and the responsibilities that came with it. She shouldn't be worrying tonight, she reminded herself. This was the reason why she was here tonight... To do something that could help her relax a little. Something she loved doing.... Maybe for the last time. 

Dancing. 

Kelly Darcy loved to dance. Actually she loved to perform.... Pole dancing included. It was one of the things she had never mentioned to her father because she knew it wasn't something that was expected of her as Raymond Darcy's daughter... Or maybe because a part of her knew that her father would disapprove of it. 

The bottom line was that it was something she did for fun. Something that made her happy. And so when her friend Elizabeth, who she called Lizzie, told her that the main dancer for her fashion show had suddenly fallen ill and that she needed a replacement asap, Kelly had volunteered to replace the dancer. 

She had done a lot of dancing and performing in college, without her father's knowledge of course, so she knew she would be able to handle it with ease. 

For Kelly, the feeling of being on stage was like some kind of adrenaline rush, a high if you will.... on endorphins. It felt like being at home, it felt safe, it felt like a space to be who she really was. When she performed on stage she experienced a flow. She got lost in herself. She let the flow take over her body and mind. She got lost, both physically and mentally on the stage, in the music, with the show, and with the audience. She felt like she developed a "spiritual link to the audience" and when she performed she don't have to think about her worries. She didn't have to think about anything. 

She loved the tease too. When she danced she felt sexy and powerful, like she was in control. Like she could get the audience to do whatever she wanted.

Maybe this was a way to escape reality even for a short time. To do something she liked once again. Tonight was going to be about having a little fun, she thought as she sat down to have her make up retouched. She would go out there and give this her best. 

--------------

Dimitri Collins sat in the Theatre, the palm of his left hand cradling his head, a bored expression on his face. He looked at his friends. They looked like they were having a great time and they should be, because the performances so far were all good. The problem was with him, for some reason he just wasn't feeling it. He was contemplating telling David and Spencer that he would be taking his leave soon, when suddenly the lights on the stage went off. 

"Wow, what a dramatic entrance. I wonder what's about to happen now" he said sarcastically in the darkness and then he felt David nudge him in the arm with his elbow. 

"Damn. What the hell man" he grumbled, rubbing the spot David hit. 

"Shut up" David replied simply. 

Dimitri was about to reply with a snarky comment of his own, but the spot light on the stage came back on, revealing a black door. The door opened just as the song began and a lady stepped out, followed by a group of both male and female dancers.

The other choreographers on the stage didn't matter, not to Dimitri, because this lady, whoever she was stood out. Like a red rose in the midst of a hundred black roses. 

Dimitri of course expected to see models since this was a fashion show, but, even so, her entrance, made even more dramatic by the use of the spotlights and pumping music, took him by surprise. 

The others wore black. She wore a red swimming costume and sexy, black, knee high boots. The costume was bare at the back, designed to seduce and tease, and it worked, judging from the cheers and collective murmur of appreciation coming from the crowd. 

Her auburn hair flowed long and loose over her shoulders and was the only thing that kept the dramatic swimming costume even vaguely decent. The swimsuit was cleverly cut to expose her long, long legs, her narrow waist and the tempting thrust of her breasts. A diaphanous wrap floated around her body, giving the illusion that she was walking through mist.