Chapter 9
Crash
The light spilled into the room, burning through my eyelids and waking me up in a flash.
“What the hell Mel, I told you not to open the f*cking curtains so early.”
“Sorry babe, but it helps wake me up.”
Mel was a 'comfort girl' as I called her. Not a prostitute. No, I would never pay for it. She was just a girl I knew. A girl who helped satisfy my needs when I needed them taken care of.
I rolled over and covered my eyes up with the pillow. How this girl survived on only a couple of hours of sleep was beyond me.
My memory swilled with images from the previous night. I looked over to see my tux hanging loose on a chair. Zack and Cade's party, what a f*cking drag.
I had no mind for such formal events right now. No time for them. No interest in them. The thought of spending hour upon hour chit chatting about nothing of importance was beneath me. Now I was swimming with the sharks.
I'd seen Elle there, sitting alone across the room. Poor girl looked like a tree in the middle of an open field, totally secluded and out of place.
I went over to her and asked if she wanted to leave. Kill two birds with one stone: save the poor girl and save myself.
I took her upstairs into the hotel bar. It was quiet there, only a couple of late night guests lingering around, nursing whiskey and their troubles. We fitted in perfectly.
She began to come out of her shell as we spoke. I guess she wasn't overly comfortable in large group situations. She was young, only about 20, so that sort of thing might be intimidating.
She was sweet though, innocent and untouched. She might have been a virgin for all I knew. It wasn't just the way she looked: cute blonde hair, big blue eyes, button nose. It was the way she looked at me, her eyes glancing at me when she thought I couldn't see, this coy expression on her face when I said she looked pretty.
It appealed to me in a way I didn't expect. I'd lived my entire life fast and loose and liked my women just the same. But I was 27 now and had never had a proper relationship, never felt anything more than lust towards a girl. Kyle had been the same as me and now look at him. He was thinking of giving up everything for a girl. It was a feeling I couldn't compute in my head.
When I asked her about her previous relationships, her eyes flashed in a way that told me she had a serious history with someone. I don't know why, but a tinge of jealousy struck at my core.
She avoided the question, though, and turned the spotlight straight back onto me.
I gave the sort of answer that I always would when a girl asked me that sort of question. “Never found the right girl. Been really busy with work recently.”
It wasn't much of an explanation to explain over 10 years without a girlfriend. But then again, maybe it was the truth. I didn't care to give it much thought. It was easier that way.
I didn't stay too long with her. If I did, she'd probably see the real me behind my facade. I saw her off in a cab back to her dorm at about 2 AM. Weird to think that was only 4 hours ago now.
She'd given me this look of thanks when we said goodbye and kissed my cheek. I enjoyed the touch of her lips. They were soft and warm, her touch as light as she was.
I told the cab driver to get her home safe. There was a menace to my words. I didn't trust anyone, that was my problem. His eyes told me that he knew who I was.
She'd be safe then.
One she'd left I hailed my own cab and made a call, reverting to type. I arrived at Mel's place 20 minutes later and she saw to my needs. Now she was my normal type of girl. Easy, experienced, hot as f*cking hell.
She had this jetblack hair set against her tanned skin, a set of fake tips making her slightly top heavy. The surgeon had done a f*cking good job - they didn't look fake at all.
She curve of her ass as she bent down in front of me was enough to make a man weep. The feel of it when I slapped it with my hand gave me that feeling of power I'd always craved. Power over women. Power in business. Now I had power over my family.
For some reason though. For some f*cked up, deranged reason, this shy little girl from California held a power over me.
A modicum of power, this tiny strand of power, but power nonetheless.