Exit Stage Six: A Contemporary New Adult Romance Novella (7 page)

I walked into work two afternoons later and never had I been
so grateful for the hard-to-see-out-of and often times itchy masks we had to
wear. I slipped past a few unsuspecting photographers along with a couple of
the other girls I worked with, grateful that they had my back.

Our bouncers kept the media on the public sidewalks and away
from our front door and I shot a wobbly and grateful smile to Isaac, our head
of security. He winked at me as media hounds shouted at us…

“Girls! Girls, do you know London Greene!? Records state she
works here!” we squeezed into the front entryway and scuttled to the bar where
our pre-opening ramp up meeting was to take place.

“London, there you are.” Our manager Jay came up to me.

“You doing okay kid?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I lied.

Truth was, my world had been turned upside down. My
professors had been pretty understanding after a member of the media, if you
could call him that, had burst into my class room with a camera man videotaping
screaming questions at me. Asking what it was like to have a rock star in my
bed among other things. Of course, that’s the super dumbed down and edited
polite version… what he’d actually said had made the color drain from my face
and my breakfast rise in an acid wash in the back of my throat. 

Campus security had dragged him and the camera man out of my
class room and my mother had to be called to come drive me home. My apartment
had blessedly gone undiscovered but by the time I’d finished packing a bag the
first news van had shown up.

Social media had blown up, my Facebook page had to be taken
down and I had become a virtual prisoner in my childhood home. It was through
sheer iron will and determination that I had come to the decision to let this
circus derail my life as little as possible. I was amazed at how many people,
family, educators, friends and coworkers had rallied around me to help me
through this ordeal.

I knew in my heart of hearts that Evan never meant for this
to happen but it didn’t stop me from being angry at him.

“Listen, London, Isaac and I were talking and we feel it
best to take you off the bar tonight.” My face fell as I thought about my loss
in tips.

“No! No! No! Don’t look like that!” Jay gave me a one armed
hug.

“Sorry Jay, the tips are what keeps me between having an
apartment and… not…” I blushed, I didn’t like admitting that I was poor as
Hell.

“That’s why I want you on bottle service tonight. Got a
corset and leggings for you in the back. Lauren is willing to trade with you
and get you up to speed.” He nodded in Lauren’s direction, she was our best
bottle server which meant, in the club world, that she was our top VIP hostess.
Bottle service meant that the patron bought liquor by the bottle rather than
the glass and that bottle came with mixers and basically a personal bartender
in a VIP section.

It was expensive too. The markup on the bottles sold often upwards
of two thousand percent, partially to accommodate an exorbitant tip for the
hostess which was included in the price. You had to be good and I mean
really
good
at customer service, bartending, and you had to have the look too.
Pretty, beautiful to the degree of being a model. I worried my lower lip
between my teeth.

“Are you sure?” I asked Lauren.

“Absolutely, it’s not forever, just until the crazy blows
over, come on let’s get you ready.” She hugged my arm and led me to the back.

“Thanks for being game London.” Jay smiled encouragingly at
me and I gave a watered down version back.

Okay, so maybe two good things had come of this mess. One,
I’d gotten an A+ on my final thanks to Evan’s… Dorian’s picture and now I stood
to make a little bit of extra money tonight.

I absorbed everything Lauren was telling me like a sponge
while she redid my makeup and laced me into the crazy steel boned corset all
the bottle servers wore. She even managed to make me look like I had cleavage
while she was at it, an impressive feat all on its own.

I stood in front of the mirror in the skin tight black
leggings and royal purple and black corset and blinked. A black lace half-mask
had been carefully glued around my right eye and my hair hung loose and flowing
down my back and around my face.

I looked like some sexy and alluring siren. The make up
around my eyes turned them to orbs of cold steel and I swallowed. I looked
nothing like myself and that made me smile. No one would believe the woman in
the silvered glass was mild mannered art student London Greene who had been
taken in by a rock star playboy.

I immediately felt guilty about that last thought. Hadn’t
Evan already proven to me that he
wasn’t
a playboy? Confusion swirled
behind my eyes but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Bass began to filter
through the walls of the back room as the DJ brought up the house music. It was
show time. I followed Lauren out. Blessedly she and I were the same size and
she’d lent me her thigh high flat leather boots. They clung to my legs but were
comfortable as all get out to walk in for which I was extremely grateful.

“London! Table Six!” Jay shouted at me and I nodded. The
doors had opened while Lauren had been working her magic on me and the club was
quickly filling. I glanced at table six, which was empty and so I did what I
could to pitch in until I glanced over and saw three men sitting at it. I took
a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth and putting a sexy
roll into my walk, stalked over.

I plastered a smile on my face and stepped up into the VIP
section and the alcove for table six. I froze the smile onto my face when Hal
turned to greet me.

“Hey sweetheart. You better sit down before you fall down.”
He patted the sofa beside him.

“What can I get you?” I purred, pointedly ignoring Ev-Dorian
whose green gaze crackled in the dim light.

“Ketel.” He said and I pursed my lips, repainted the smile
on my face and inclined my head. I retreated to the bar and glared at Jay.

“Switch me out Jay!” I snarled.

“Can’t do that darlin’. I hate seeing you the way you’ve
been, you gotta work this out.” He crossed his arms and I tried not to cry.

“Paid you a lot didn’t he?” I asked and he gave me an
indelicate one shouldered shrug.

“I thought you were on my side!” I cried.

“I am on your side.” He stated calmly.

“Really!?” I demanded.

“Yep. Now go to work, you got clients waiting.” He gave me
an impassive look and I really, really thought about quitting. I picked up the
small silver tray with the bottle of Vodka on it and glared at Jay.

“I hate you so god damned much right now.” I said petulantly
and he smiled out of one side of his mouth.

“Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be the first one.” He said and
turned his back on me. I wanted to scream or throw something at him, which
wasn’t entirely childish but enough so to keep me from doing it.

I went back to my table.

“What are we having gents?” I asked, plastic smile back in
place.

“Moscow Mules all the way ‘round sweetheart.” Hal answered.

I set to work making the drinks.

“L.B. look at me.” Evan said.

I kept my eyes resolutely on the task at hand.

“L.B. please look at me.” His tone was a bit annoyed. I
didn’t care.

I forced my smile bigger and handed Hal his drink, then the
man beside Evan his and finally, Evan. He took the drink with one hand the
other clasped loosely around my wrist.

“London, please…” the desperation in his voice caused me to
look up sharply.

“What Evan? What could you possibly want?” I demanded.

“I want to fix this.” He said harshly.

“Haven’t you done enough already?” I snapped and he
flinched.

“Dorian.” He said.

“What?” I asked.

“My name is Dorian.” He said. I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah I know, my
classmate
who sold me out to the
reporters told me.” My tone was icy bordering on hateful. He grimaced.

“Let me explain…” he licked his lips and I arched my brow.

“Just sit down and listen.” He said pulling me forward. I
switched seats, following the insistent pull on my wrist, shoulders dropping in
defeat.

“Eva… Dorian,” I corrected, “Just how many chances do you
expect me to give you?” I asked.

“Just one more babe,
please
…” and it must have been
the please because I swallowed hard but made no commitment one way or the other.

“I’ll tell you everything.” He breathed.

“Start talking.” I pinned him with an angry stare.

“Drake and I, we grew up together. His grandparents raised
him… and me too for the most part.  I mean I was with my parents but they were
a mess.” He grimaced.

“Drake was like a brother from another mother in the truest
sense of the words. His grandparents even took me in for a while, let me live
with them from my sophomore through senior years in High School when shit fell
apart at home with my folks.” He palmed the back of his neck and I waited for
him to go on.

“It was me and Drake since the time we were three…” he took
a fortifying drink and downed half of the glass in one go.

“We put Elysium together in High School, played out of Hal’s
garage.” Hal smiled.

“Those were the days.” Hal said, raising his glass and
fondness flickered across his face before something haunted drowned it out in
the depths of his clear blue eyes. My eyes flicked to the third man in the
booth. He sat with his arms crossed and was staring at me like he didn’t like
me much. I blinked.

What the Hell had
I
done?

“Then we went big and it all just happened so fast… Touring
and photographers in our faces and no privacy… more money than we knew what to
do with. At first it was great but Drake, he was never happy and the more
attention we got the worse he got and I didn’t know what to do.” He drained his
glass and I poured him a glass of water. He looked at me dubiously.

“I’m still listening, but damn it you’re going to tell me
sober.” He took the glass and put his straw into it and sucked a good deal of
that down.

“Yeah well he may have to tell it sober but I don’t have to
listen to it sober.” The man whose name I didn’t know clunked his glass onto
the table. I made him another Moscow Mule and took up Evan’s hand without
thinking. He restarted his story:

“I went over to his place because he’d missed some days at
the studio with us. He’d done it before but something just wasn’t right this
time. Something in my gut was telling me it was all wrong. I found him hanging
from his second floor banister.” He choked and his face scrunched in agony and
I could feel my anger slipping. I put my other hand over his where it rested in
mine.

He looked down at our joined hands and this look crossed his
face that was half incredulous and half wonder. He recovered quickly.

“I snapped. I just wanted to be
normal
again. I felt
like if we’d never gone big that Drake wouldn’t have… That he would still be
alive.” He grimaced. I pursed my lips and struggled to remain silent, to let
him tell his story. Hal shifted in his seat and the other man looked grim. I
think they all had similar thoughts on it at one time or another. I squeezed
Evan’s hand and waited patiently for him to pick up his story.

“I packed all my shit I had left from before the madness
into a box truck, rented that shitty studio and pulled out. I wanted to
disappear and so I did.” He palmed the back of his neck with his free hand.

“The night I moved in there was this girl.” He pinned me
with his gaze and gave me a crooked smile.

“The box holding, of all things,
my porn collection
,
gave way and without even thinking about it here she is on her knees shoveling
my spank material into her freaking grocery bags.”

I laughed a little.

“Then later she took my picture…” he scowled and looked at
me. “I thought you were the Pap’s that you’d caught up with me but then I saw
you standing there blushing looking all embarrassed and I couldn’t yell at
you.” He swallowed some water and closed his eyes.

“I gotta piss.” He said and I wrinkled my nose.

“Attractive.” I stated.

“Stay here? Let me finish?” he pleaded. I nodded. I could
hear him out.

He got up and went the direction of the VIP toilets.

“You know you’ve caused a Hell of a mess don’t yah?” the
unknown man said.

“Carl, I’d shut the fuck up if I were you.” Hal said, he
gave me a sideways little smile that I think was meant to be reassuring.

“I’ve caused a mess?
I’ve
caused a mess!? Just who
the Hell do you think you are?” I demanded. I’d had just about enough bullshit
for the time being. I stood up.

“L.B. come on sit down…” Hal said.

“My name is
London
!” I snapped.

“London…” he said calmly, “This is Carl, he’s the band’s
manager but if he doesn’t shut the fuck up in the next ten seconds he’s going
to be the band’s
ex
-manager.” Hal glared at the man.

“I miss something?” Dorian was returning looking from me to Hal.

“Just Carl being Carl.” Hal grunted. Dorian glared at the
seated man.

“He say something to upset you?” he asked me.

“Just that I’ve apparently caused a mess.” I crossed my
arms.

“No babe, you cleaned one up.” Dorian gestured and I sat
down. He sat down beside me, his thigh along the length of mine and I closed my
eyes for a second.

He smiled at me a little and it reminded me of a little boy
who thought he was getting one over on his parents. I scowled. He rushed on,
picking up his story where he left off.

“So I was headed out to buy a metric fuck ton of drugs so I
could follow my brother into the great beyond when I open the door and there’s
the girl standing there with a plate of cookies in one hand and a glass thing
of milk in the other.” He pinned me with a stare and I blinked, his words
sinking in. Hal and Carl looked equally stunned by the admission.