THREE

“WHAT DID YOU SAY??” Amber asked as loudly as she could.

She was standing at the bar with Lola as the bartender prepared the vodka, but could make absolutely nothing of what Lola was trying to tell her. The music was too loud.

Lola moved to the music, and jiggled her hips, “GET ON FABIAN’S GOOD SIDE! DON’T CROSS HIM!”

All Amber could hear was the incessantly loud rhythmic music, “WHAT?!”

Lola spotted a customer in the crowd, winked at Amber and headed to the dance floor, moving to the beat under the strobe lights, all hyped up and ready for a good time before finally disappearing into the throng of dancers.

The bartender tapped on Amber’s shoulder, causing her to jump a little.

“OH, THANK YOU!” she said, not exactly sure whether he heard her. Gingerly, she balanced the highball glass on a silver platter, trying hard not to spill a drop and carefully made her way back to the VIP room. It was located a distance away and tucked out of sight from the dance floor, but still visible from a certain angle on the balcony.

Amber would have reached the room in one piece had she not suddenly tripped on her heels and spilt the vodka on a big burly man. The man was slightly drunk and had stumbled to the corridor by accident and was trying to find his way back to the dance floor.

His flashy silken shirt which was unbuttoned revealed a tattoo of a serpent under his hairy chest – it was slightly soaked by the Vodka but he reacted as if she had set his whole body on fire.

Oh no! Was the first thought that crossed Amber’s mind.

“I’m so sorry sir. It was an accident…”

“Bitch!” the man shrieked, hands flailing and nostrils flaring. Amber could see a thick gold chain hanging around the man’s thick neck as he looked down at his chest in horror.

“Do you know much this costs?” he yelled hysterically.

Amber’s heart started to beat faster, she could smell trouble brewing but could see no one in the darkened corridor who could come to her aid. She gulped and apologized again, bowing her head, “I’m so sorry. I…I’ll compensate for your shirt.”

She had meant to pay him back in monetary terms but the man had something else in mind. His demeanour changed slightly and he stepped closer towards Amber, his stiff shiny shoe crushing the glass underneath him, splintering it into pieces.

With a pudgy hand, he grabbed a handful of her hair, bringing it to his nose and inhaling her scent. His sudden movement elicited a jerk reaction in her. His touch was repulsive.

Amber’s breathing became laboured as her mind scrambled to find a way out of the mess.

“Yes, you can compensate me. Come,” he said and grabbed her roughly by the waist, pulling her close towards him.

“No! Let me go!” she shouted but her voice was drowned out by the music. Instinctively she slapped him, hard across the face causing him to let go of her. Under the dimmed lights, she could see a red mark starting to appear on his cheek.

If he had been angry before, he was furious now.

Uh-oh.

He had taken a few steps back when she slapped him but now he stormed towards her, eyes crazed with rage. What happened next felt like a blur, one moment he was marching towards her and the next, he had grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall, giving her no chance to reach for her panic button.

She couldn’t breathe, the air got caught in her throat as she tried to pry his hand away but her attempts were futile. With one hand pinning her by the throat, the other trailed down her waistline and under the hem of her skirt.

“I’ll let you go after you compensate me bitch,” he sneered, a wild glint appeared in his eyes.

No, please no. A silent tear formed in the corner of her eye even as she choked and gasped for air.

“Let her go.”

Three words, each of one syllable. So simple, and yet so powerful. Amber would remember the voice that carried those words for the rest of her life. It was the voice of a man who commanded both respect and fear.

“Fabian Williams!” her preparator, though tipsy was sober enough to recognize the CEO of Virtuex standing in the corridor. He immediately let her go and Amber fell onto the carpeted floor like a ragged doll, gasping for air and cradling her neck. A burst of air entered her lungs and sent her into a coughing fit, each inhalation hurt but the air had never felt sweeter in her life.

“I was just teaching her a lesson. She was..”

“She’s mine,” Fabian ended the man’s feeble explanation. Fear swept over the man’s face and he immediately flew into an apologetic mode, bending down to help Amber up.

She recoiled from his touch, still repulsed by his actions earlier.

“My apologies, I didn’t know..” the man let out a forced laugh and rubbed his balding head, suddenly unsure of what to do.

Fabian’s cold and steely gaze never left the man, “Apologize to her.”

The man seemed to hesitate. Apologizing to THE Fabian Williams was one thing, but he wasn’t so keen on apologizing to a nobody. After all, it was she who had spilt on him.

“Apologize!” Fabian’s deep and authoritative voice boomed across the corridor causing the man to wince a little. It would do him no good to get in Fabian William’s bad books.

He looked at Amber who was still plastered to the wall in fear, “Sorry.”

“You,” Fabian directed his attention to Amber. Her head snapped to attention at his command.

He held out his hand and signalled for her to join him. Amber was just too grateful to get out of the burly man’s presence. Immediately she went over to Fabian and followed him into his private room, leaving the man fuming in the corridor.

From the balcony, Liam Smith noted the exchange in interest before turning his attention to two of the hostesses who were with him.