Chapter 6: Discreet

Evelyn POV

I woke up the next morning to my alarm with a killer headache and my stomach in shambles. I groaned sitting up and realized that I was still in the clothes from the day before. Great. What the hell happened last night? One of the last things I remember was going to the strip club with Scott. As I tried to get ready for the day, bits and pieces of last night began to float back into place. I got a ton of shots, trying to calm down after that mess of a meeting. For whatever reason, Scott knew the bartender on a first name basis. That’s when the memory of her popped back into my mind. Pearl. I doubt my drunken memories were doing her beauty any justice. I knew I had to see her again. 

I finished getting ready for the day and drove to work, passing Pearl’s strip club as I did. I wonder if she’ll be there tonight. When I walked into my office, Scott was already there, leaning up against my desk, scrolling on his tablet. As soon as he noticed that I was there, he turned around before presenting me with a bagel, water glass, and a pain killer pill. Every time I came into the office with a hangover, which was more often than I would like to admit, Scott was always prepared with those three things. 

“Thanks,” I said as I set down my bag and took the food and water. 

“After last night, I knew you’d need it,” Scott responded, picking his tablet up again. “I mean last night was wild. Do you remember any of it?” I shrugged in response. 

“Not really,” I replied before taking the painkillers with a drink of water. 

“So, you don’t remember spending ten thousand dollars on a tip for Pearl.” I nearly choked before going into a coughing fit. 

“What?” I managed to get out in between coughs. 

“I’ll take that as a no.” I made a scramble for my phone. All the colour drained from my face as I pulled up my banking app and noticed there was a ten-thousand-dollar charge made to my card to ‘Hollywood Strip’. Did I really spend that much on a stripper? Sure, she was hot, but was I that intoxicated by her and the alcohol that I spent ten thousand dollars on her?

“And I suppose you don’t remember going up to her afterwards and asking her for a private event?” What? Heat rose in my cheeks and ears. What else did I do to embarrass myself last night? I shook off the thoughts of last night. I had to get focused, not thinking about Pearl, about the millions of drunken mistakes I must have made. I couldn’t think about that right now. Right now, I had to worry about patching things up with Mr. Armstrong’s company. 

About midday, I got a call from my father. I stared at my buzzing phone’s lit up screen for a second, wondering if I should even answer it. I hated taking calls with my father. With him, there was always something to complain about. It didn’t matter that under me, the company was more successful than ever, there was always something I was doing wrong. But I knew that if I didn’t pick up, he would just call again. So, I hit the answer button and put him on speaker. 

“Hello?” I said, waiting for the berating to start. Instead, something much worse began. 

“Hello Evelyn,” he responded in his gruff and harsh voice, “I have a quick question for you.”

“What is it?” I asked. 

“There’s a suspicious charge on your account and I was wondering if you knew anything about it.” Oh no. “There appears to be a ten-thousand-dollar charge made to your card at a place called ‘Hollywood Strip’. Did you make that purchase?” I froze in my seat. How was I supposed to explain this one? I mean how does someone explain to their strict father that they went to a strip club? And then have to explain that yes, I spent a thousand dollars there to tip the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life? He still disapproved of the fact that I was a lesbian!

“Uh,” I stammered, attempting to come up with some type of excuse on the fly. “Yeah, I made that purchase.” 

“Why?”

“I was rewarding a few employees,” I replied instantly, now with the perfect excuse. “We went there because they have a bar that one of them suggested. I bought them drinks, telling them it was my treat. They took advantage of that fact and bought the most expensive drinks the place had.” It wasn’t the perfect excuse and I knew that even then, my father would still get on to me, but it was better than the truth. There was a moment of silence. All I could hope now was that he would believe me.

“You shouldn’t be spending money on your employees like that,” he retorted, a hint of anger in his voice. I sighed out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. “They’re your employees, not your friends.” 

“Yes sir,” I responded as I got back to my work. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?”

“No,” he replied and just like that he hung up like he always did, without a goodbye. That’s when Scott, who had been in my office for the whole thing, looked up from the work on his tablet. 

“I guess next time you go see Pearl, you’ll have to be more careful on where and how you spend your money,” he said. Next time? I never told him about my plans to see her again. 

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to play oblivious. Cocking his head to the side and raising an eyebrow he gave me an, ‘Oh really?’  look. 

“Like you wouldn’t go back to see her after last night,” he responded. He was right though. This time I had to be more discreet.