First Meeting

“Let go of me.” She said with clenched teeth as she tried to free herself, but it was hard when he was holding her so tightly. It would be a lie to say that she was not afraid. He disgusted her with the way he was trying to sniff. She could feel his nose nuzzling against her neck making her want to puke.

“Hell nah! I have been waiting for this for so long.” He let out a devilish laugh before grabbing her more tightly and started biting her neck slightly, making her hiss. She scrunched her nose as his breath particularly stunk. He must have been drinking before deciding to misbehave with her.

He used to treat her politely when she first got into the club, but she eventually started seeing the change in his behavior—not the good change.

“I am not a slut. Let go of me!” She said with a bit of force she tried to kick him again, but she failed.

He let out a chuckle.

“It is a universal fact that strippers are all sluts. Otherwise, why would you choose this field, huh? Your job is to please men. Now, do your job quietly. Otherwise, I know how to make sluts as you work.” He spat as he sped up the movement of his dirty lips on her neck.

She had never been this offended before in her life. She had never felt as ashamed of her choices as she did at that moment. She had surely come across men who wanted to have their way with her, but she always resisted. He was some different kind of breed though.

She was torn as he was the owner, so she always tried to bear whatever shit behavior he put forward. She had tried her best to make him understand she was not someone who wanted anything more than earn some money. But he had crossed the line that day.

He turned her around suddenly. She quickly got her senses back, and before he could grab her, she pushed him with all her might and slapped him across his left cheek. Her hands were trembling as he had particularly sucked all the blood by gripping them tightly all the while. Despite everything, the anger she felt was strong which was depicted in that slap.

Everything quietened except the harsh beating of her heart. She was scared to no end. Her hand stung from the slap. It must have hurt him too. As much as she was satisfied with standing up for herself, she was also terrified.

She quickly darted for the door struggling with the stilettoes. Her feet felt like jelly from standing for so long and struggling to get away from him. She wanted to run before he could process what had happened. But he was fast.

“You bitchhh!” He roared as he grabbed her hand and yanked her hand throwing her on the ground. She felt the breath knock out of her and her right elbow hitting the ground hard that she had used to brace herself. She felt an intense pain that made her squeeze her eyes for a moment.

“You dare to-to slap me, bi-itch! I will-will show you who I a-am.” He yelled as he came closer to do--God knows what he wanted to do to her. He was slurring his words. She felt so weak that she could not do anything despite wanting to smack him. Her eyes widened as he lowered himself to lift her by gripping her hair.

She started kicking her hands and feet as his hand gripped her hair harshly. He raised his hand to beat her or something when it all happened.

The door was kicked open by someone who she could not see as Joe was blocking her view. Besides, she was scared she could not think straight. Joe turned his head to see who had interrupted the high and mighty. Everybody in the club knew not to mess with him. He was so weird. He went to the club every night and did not behave like the owner but rather as a customer. But when it came to getting what he wanted, nobody could stop him. It was the same fear that had kept her from smacking him before. She needed the job despite everything.

All of a sudden, Joe was harshly pulled by the collar. She only saw a man’s hand that had yanked him. He was so forcefully pulled that she almost lost balance herself. As soon as she leaned against the wall for support, she looked at her savior.

He was the same man who was at the club the other night. She remembered him because he looked so different from her usual audience. His eyes were so red that night that she could not help but notice him again and again. He was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt that hugged his buff body perfectly. It was weird that her eyes were going on him every now and then. He was also looking at her with an expressionless face and was sitting still when all others cheered and enjoyed her performance.

But what was he doing there now?

He looked furious for some reason. All of his not-so-kind attention was on Joe who he was holding by the collar. Joe was struggling to free himself. She noticed that they both were almost the same height with the other man looking a bit taller.

“Thomas.” Hiccup, “Long time no see.” She could detect the smirk in Joe’s voice as he greeted him. The other man’s expression, whose name was Thomas apparently, hardened visibly. She was so confused. Joe seemed like a psycho. Thomas was grabbing his collar and there he was smirking.

“Bastard!” Thomas cursed before punching his face and sending him face-down on the ground. She flinched as the sound that was produced was quite harsh. She looked at Joe who was writhing in pain on the ground. In her head, she was predicting an ugly fight between the two, but Joe seemed in no position to get up and fight back anytime soon.

“Let’s go!” He heard a deep but rude voice. She frowned looking at the man who she did not know but the man was giving him orders already!?

“Why would I?” She clapped back in the same rude voice he had talked to her, making him furrow his eyebrows in return.

One thing she hated the most was rudeness. She could withstand anything but not rude people. It challenged her in some way to deal with rude people the same way they did with others. Otherwise, she was calm, composed, and polite.

“You don’t look that wise for you to understand the situation, but you also don’t look that stupid to stay here while he recovers.” He pointed at Joe who was still holding his bloody nose and cursing at him. It occurred to her that he was right. Giving him one last glare, she exited the room quickly without getting too close to Joe as she was afraid that he would attack her again.

Just as they were out of the room Joe tried to stand up and wanted to hit her. Thomas closed the door and looked for something to lock it. He found a wire making Olivia wonder how he would make use of it. He locked it expertly and looked at a bewildered Olivia.

“Let’s go.” He took her hand making her look up at him with surprise. He gave a nod and took her out of the club without saying anything. His hand felt so firm. She was feeling weird. It was not like she had not held a man’s hand before, but it felt weird. She could not explain it.

There were only a few staff left who were wrapping up. They gave her weird glances. They must have been confused why she was holding that man’s hand who looked so handsome and powerful. It was funny. She would have told them that she did not know why she was holding his hand.

As soon as they were outside, he left her hand. She did not know why she was disappointed. It was not like her at all.

“You should go.” She glared at him as he was giving orders. First, he is rude to her. Second, he is giving orders. He was getting on her nerves and doing everything she disliked.

“I know what I should and should not do.” She rolled her eyes before going her way. It was so late. She was afraid she would not be able to find a cab. She fished her phone out to see if Uber was available to find ten missed calls from her mother. She must have been worried about her. Damn, you Joe! She cursed in her head.

“If you knew, you would not have worked in this club.” She heard his rude voice from behind. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to find him getting into his car and speeding away. She huffed folding her arms.

It stung just as it made her angry. How easy it was for people to judge her without knowing anything! It was so easy for them to give hurtful remarks, but it was so hard to be kind to others. Why was it so? It was beyond her understanding.

She thankfully found an empty cab after waiting for a few minutes and went home. To her apartment, her mind was occupied with the thoughts of what would happen the next day. Joe would not let her go easily. She was sure of it. What she was not sure was to what extent he would go to avenge her. After all, she had seen a glimpse of it earlier.

It left a shiver down her spine to think what would have happened if the not-so-kind man did not interfere. She did not know the reason why he did that but she was thankful in her heart though he did not give her the chance to thank him.

He was so confusing—one moment, he was helping her and another moment, he was hurting her.

There was no point in thinking about a stranger though. She should focus more on how to deal with upcoming trouble. It was all because of Joe. How she wished she had not faced him. But she also knew that it was bound to happen one day.