Chapter Two

Isabella sighed as she touched up her lipstick so it took her lips from red to scarlet. What she wouldn’t give to be somewhere with her college friends having fun and gossiping about boys, then fashion, then boys some more. But, she had more important things to do. She removed her coat from the rack and put it then surveyed herself from head to toe in the full length mirror by the door “You look gorgeous as always Isabella” She said to her reflection with a wink then kissed a picture of her late mother that had a permanent space on the shoe rack. The woman in the picture was beautiful. Blonde hair, golden brown eyes and the prettiest smile. Isabelle was glad she had inherited that smile. All her other features however, were inherited from her father. The man who had shaped her life to what it was.

****

“Belle, thank god you’re here” Her coworker Lisa sighed, taking off the faux fur coat and fanning herself with her hands “I have no idea why but tonight is so crowded and Sally called in sick. So it’s just me, you and Loretta tonight.”

“Well I’d better get to work then” Belle smiled strolling into the changing room.

She didn’t hate working at the club. She loved to dance and she loved it when people loved her dance. What was most uncomfortable was all the touching that was involved. Men and occasionally, women stuck their hands in every corner of her revealing costume stuffing money or checks or business cards. Some just touched. The stingy dick heads. It amazed her she bore all that.

She wasn’t poor. She didn't need  the money  from the club to survive, She only came here for a mission she must accomplish. She wished there was another way to get it done, but she had Little or no option but to work there as a stripper.  All the hotshots in Manhattan came to this club. It was big, loud, and exclusive. It also had many private rooms. She was sure she would find some information there.  Something good enough to back up their investigation. 

“Ladies and gentlemen” The Mc called and the crowd cheered “I present to you, Belle” She loved the way the crowd erupted in a loud chorus of cheers and cat calls as she walked on stage. She didn’t mind good attention. If her dream came true, she would buy this place and have her face in front of every magazine to be published. She laughed inwardly at her own jokes.

“Wanna  know what I’ll be doing here tonight?” She asked in a soft, airy seductive tone and the crowd cheered “I can’t hear you Manhattan, do you really wanna know?”

“Yes!!!” The crowd yelled as one cheered.

“Well then, as you wish” She dropped the mic in a bang  and then her overcoat slipped off from her shoulders.

*

The shrill ring of her alarm made her bolt upright on her bed. Why the hell was the blasted thing ringing at that time? She had come home at around one- thirty so she was sure the time would be past 3. There was no way she had slept up to… “ six- thirty!?” She screamed and rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing correctly “Shit” She dragged herself out of bed, played her morning rock playlist and started preparing for the day.

“Psst, Izzy” Kate called to Isabella over the desk 

“What’s up?” Izzy answered still typing

“You know that budget plan for the employees? The one Mr. Richard made? The new boss scraped it”

“What?!” It came out louder than she meant for it to

“Keep it down will you? It’s not official yet”

“Why would he do that? It’s basic employee welfare bonus”

“Apparently Mr. Richard has been using that method to siphon money from the company for years”

“No way. Seriously? Mr. Richard is not that type of person ”  she said wide eyed In disbelief. 

“Yea…Mr. Lincoln is coming, act cool” Kate said facing her computer

“Miss Campbell” He stopped right in front of her desk 

“Yes sir?” She stood up so she could face him squarely. There was no way he was coming to give her good news

“I believe you are in charge of the financial reports involving Josh Templeman’s water plant project”

“Yes sir. I am” 

“You crazy woman” He sighed under his breath so only she could hear him

“Excuse me?” Her eyes were wide as saucers

“Miss Campbell, yesterday you showed up with a lipstick stain and today, you submitted ink stained files to me. Does such behavior seem like a good one to you?”

 “Sir I don’t know what you’re talking about and I would appreciate it if you didn’t accuse me unnecessarily”

“Unnecessary? Miss Campbell, would you like to explain this to me?” He opened a page in the file she had submitted before getting off work the day before. There was a small dark ink blotch on the paper

“The printer was malfunctioning sir that is hardly my fault”

“Oh really? Then whose fault is it?” She didn’t reply “Why are you not answering me?”

“Well I thought it was a rhetorical question”

“When I ask you a rhetorical question Miss Campbell, trust me, you’ll know. Now tell me whose fault it was”

It was Tony’s fault. Tony was a maintenance guy in his fifties, whose job was to make sure everything was working just right. But he slept half the day and smoked the other half. But she couldn’t rat Tony out. The man needed the job to pay his granddaughter's school fees. Plus Tony was nice, he still hadn’t told anyone about finding her smoking in the stairwell

“I’ll redo it’ She collected the file from him and held it to her chest

“One more strike Miss Campbell and you are out,” He informed her “You can take that as a threat” He added under his breath so again, only her would hear him before he walked away.

She sunk into her chair and looked around. Everybody quickly pretended to be doing something else but she knew they had been watching. The only thing every employee of L and C had in common, was their love for gossip and this, would definitely make the chart for the gossip of the year slide they had on the company group chat.

“I would watch out if I were you, Izzy. I think he hates you” Kate offered helpful as always

“No shit Sherlock” Izzy rolled her eyes and stared hard at the glass partition that divided CEO Lincoln and the rest of the world

*

“Good bye Izzy” A group of people greeted and she replied and got back to work. Claude had given her a shitload of numbers to run and now she would probably be late for her shift at the club. The man was getting on her nerves and she was sure she would strangle him if she ever got the chance. Or maybe poison him slowly and watch him die, the thought brought a smile to her face

“If you’re done daydreaming Miss Campbell, you can leave now”

“Really?” Her eyes brightened “But I’ve not finished running the numbers”

“Do it tomorrow” He started towards the elevator “I have a feeling you’re the annoying type who could sue the company for working overtime without pay” He explained and waved as the elevator closed.

Just when I thought I misjudged him, Izzy rolled her eyes as she packed her bag and shut down her computer. She was about to leave when she noticed a paper had fallen from one of his files to the floor. It was titled “Actual fund management in 2021” and it said it was compiled by Isabella Campbell. No way. This was a clear sign Mr. Robert had actually embezzled company funds. But she didn’t know anything about it so why was her name on the report? Was this why Claude was so mean to her? Because he thought she was involved in the embezzlement? She ran to the elevator and tapped the down arrow several times. She waited 10 seconds but it didn’t open up so she chose the stairs. She needed to rid him of his misconception immediately.

After running down 6 flights of stairs, she felt parched but still made it to the garage. Just in time to see Claude get into his car and start the ignition “Mr. Lincoln!” She yelled calling to him and he turned to her for millisecond then smirked and gave her a salute “No, sir, wait” She asked running towards him, he waited till she was very close to him then put the car in gear 

“Office hours are officially over Isabella. I know you’re boring and you should know I have a life to live” He told her then drove off leaving her shell shocked in the garage. The man was a lunatic, Izzy declared in her head as she watched his car leave the basement. A rich, gorgeous lunatic but a lunatic nonetheless.

As she danced that night, her mind kept going back to the paper. Why had her name been on the paper she knew nothing about. It couldn’t be Richard. Richard had always been nice to her. He even took shots and flirted with her at times. Plus, Richard was not the kind of guy to embezzle, or maybe there’s something she’s missing. But who could it be? Who could want her ruin so badly?

“Give us something more” Someone shouted in the crowd and she realized she had just been going in circles around the pole so she emptied her mind and started her routine.

“Belle, table 3 is requesting for you” Sally informed her and she groaned. Table 3 was usually a bunch of factory managers, one of whom had been Walter Lincoln‘s friend. She had gone there first to entertain them in hopes of finding information but had gotten nothing. The men were brainless jerks. They embezzled in the most stupid way and treated the factory workers like trash. One day, she heard one of them say “…and that Jupiter guy saw his daughter, she was damn sexy. How about I ease up on him and stop giving him so much unpaid overtime. Think he’d let me do it?” and his friends had laughed. The man in question was married with 2 kids. The last one was Izzy’s age which made him wonder just what kind of father would do that. She knew she shouldn’t be paying attention to petty talk that doesn’t help her job in any way but something doesn’t just make any sense.

“Okay,” Belle replied and went to change. She took a pill to keep herself from puking and went to face the music.