Songs of Us ~ A Mafia Romance

four

Trigger warning: Rape/Sexual Abuse

Seia

"Private booth", Petra told me as I finished my first duo routine for the night with Karolina.
I scrunched my brows. "Petra, you know I can't-"
"I know but it's not for dancing just deliver the drinks and you're done", she said nodding and placing her warm, ringed hand on my arm.
Sighing, I fixed my sweat-frizzed hair and changed into a more comfortable suit that hugged every curve of my body.
"Hey Oscar", I said, heading over to the bar, "do you have the drinks for the private booth?"
He gave me a sweet smile. "Right over here. Thanks"
I nodded and took a deep breath as I made my way up the spiraling steps.

The flashes of memories came back when I entered the darkness of the velvet curtains.
His hands suffocating me, his hot breath against my skin, the fear that ripped through my useless, incapable body that tried to push to move to attack. The feeling of him inside me, the pain that reigned with each torturous thrust.  

The streaming light came again and I breathed, my heart was racing and tears threatened to fall. But I swallowed. I shook my head and my way to the door.

The circular table was lit with calming under-lights and as I was about to place the drinks, my eyes flicked upwards and I saw his eyes again.
They were like crushed sea-glass. And I remembered my childhood home in that small seaside town.
"Two gin and limes and one red wine", I said politely as I focused again on placing the drinks on the table.
"Oh thank god!", a girl sighed as she edged forward to take the red wine. She was beautiful with her hair chopped short and her eyes lined with black liner. "Thank you so much-"
I gave her a kind smile and turned around avoiding the man's eyes and any more conversation.

"I love your heels! Where'd you get them from?", the girl asked the second I turned my back. I grimaced but shoved it down as I faced her and answered, "A store down on Linden Street. It's called Juniper and Clove"
She gave me a warm smile. "Do they make custom designs? I'd love to have an idea of mine actually made" 
I nodded. "They do actually" 
She got up and outstretched her hand, her fingernails painted a dark shade of red. "I'm Talia" 

Somehow, I trusted her. Damn me, if I was wrong because I know the power of giving someone your name but something in her made me want to trust her. Or maybe it was just another non-stripper not judging a stripper. Despite how modern the world may be, prejudices and judgement are still placed on pole-dancers or anyone in the sex business. 

So damn me, for being trusting or for being ridiculously naïve, but I took her hand and gave her a small smile. "I'm Seia" 

"I would love to go with you to this shoe place! I'm not familiar with the area-"

Okay, now she was overstepping. 

"I'm actually really busy most days but I can give you the address. I'm sorry" 
Her face dropped slightly but her smile still stood. "Oh, no problem" 
A whoosh from the curtain behind me flicked and I turned to see Lola standing. "You're on in a few minutes"

I nodded and turned back to Talia, as I avoided the eyes of the man who was partially staring at me in-between sips of his drink and looking at his phone. 

"I'll leave the address for you with the bartender for you to pick up" 
"It was nice meeting you, Seia", she said kindly. 

I gave her another smile, I never liked to smile too much; my foster mother had told of all the things people would do to me if I smiled at them. And I walked away.

William

"I was going to-", I gritted through clenched teeth when she left. 

"No you were not!", Talia said, plopping onto the velvet couch and gulping her wine down like a sailor. "You would've just been your silent, stoic, brooding self while on the inside you're leaping like a schoolgirl!" 
I raised a brow. "Were you a leaping schoolgirl?" 
She gave me a smirk. "Of course. But not for boys, of course. God! The boys in my school were a tragically bland lot. I convinced my mother to transfer me to an all-girls school! She was ecstatic at the fact, only to find out that the dean caught me kissing Mabel Ingram near the janitor's closet" 
"And then what happened?"

"Mabel is now happily married to some banker man or whatever. And my mother is still not happy about the fact that I am a lesbian. But all is well with the world. Except for the disgusting bastards that are hooting at Seia as we speak", she hissed in disgust, her eyes down at the crowd of men eyeing her with filthy wanting and not respect. 

I gripped the glass tighter as my phone beeped. I looked down to see the data that Emille had collected for me. 

Name: Seia Cosemar

Age: 23

Parents:

 -Biological: Missing/Dead (Unidentified) (Only known information was them being separated with their only daughter by immigration control when she was five) 

-Foster parents: Collin Cosemar (Recently deceased) and Martha Cosemar (Said to have a history of alcoholism) 

Occupation:  Medical Student at Imperial College and part-time stripper and waitress at The Silver Serpent 

Criminal records: None

I looked up to see her, Seia, dancing smoothly to the music; the long of her legs turning in tandem to the sway of her hair. 

She was beautiful. She was incredibly beautiful. And she was clearly smart and hardworking. 

Seia's eyes flicked upwards to mine and it made a part of my gut burst with butterflies. I sounded like a schoolgirl. Just like Talia had said. 

I held her gaze from across the room as she danced. She refused to break my gaze as well. 

And as the music ended and her body stood perfectly, she looked away. I noted how she pinched her thighs again. 

Seia. Seia Cosemar. 

Her name sounded like an answer. 

And what was worse was the fact that I hardly knew her and I had these destructive feelings in me. 

-

hello, hello, hello everyoneeeee!!!!!!!!

i hope you are all doing amazing and well. these week has been really slow and tiresome for me but i hope your week has been better. if you ever feel like talking, my door is always open for a chat. 

so what do you think about seia and will? idk if i'm going to fast(esp. with will's emotions) but i hope that you are enjoying the story so far. 

with that, please do like, comment, and vote for this story. 

love you all so much! :) xo