Until I Found You

four

~ ABBY ~

I've never worked at a private event before. In all honesty, it doesn't feel that different from a regular night, other than the fact that there's slightly fewer people around.

Morris still greets me politely at the door. He tells me his daughter, Emily, just lost her first tooth and is expecting a five dollar value to be paid by the tooth fairy that evening in solely pennies. No other cash or coins will be accepted.

I descend the same steps into the familiar basement. Seth finds me again immediately. I hold up my watch to him so he can read the time and see I'm not late.

"I'll alert the media." He says with an eye roll, shoving a black dress in my hands. I've never worn anything other than varying versions of the red dress from the night before, so I shake it out, holding it up curiously.

"This is a joke right?" I ask him, motioning to the dress. I wasn't even sure if you could call it that. The lacey fabric he's tossed into my hands is so tiny, I'm sure it must just be a t-shirt.

"It's a private event." Seth mutters in annoyance. "I'm not taking any fucking chances with these guys."

I'm too scared to ask what he means by that. I don't get the chance to anyway because he points out my table and then disappears to do god knows what.

I make my way to the dressing room, shove my bag inside a locker and begin to change. I spend as much time as Seth will allow fiddling with the hem, trying to get it to cover more of my body but it feels hopeless. If I pull it up to cover my breasts, it won't cover my ass and if I pull it down my boobs fall out. I dig around in my bag, sighing a breath of relief when I see I packed a small black cardigan. I shrug it over my shoulders making a mental note to burn this dress after this shift because never again will I ever let Seth dress another human in it.

He gives me a dirty look as I make my way across the floor. I'll be in for an earful from him later for sure, but for the moment I think I'm safe. He won't want to make a scene in front of the men here tonight. 

When I reach my table I see a few familiar faces from the night before, including the man who had asked for my name.

"Hey look." He says as I approach the table. "It's my dearest friend, Not Hannah."

I'm not normally that nervous around the people here, but something about this guy just gives me the creeps. I don't like the fact that he's here again or that it took me this long to put together that it was probably him who had requested me being here. Part of me wonders if I should just leave now, but I know Seth would never let me come back. I also know that Morris is here, and all I'd have to do is call his name and he'd be here in a matter of seconds, ready to kick some ass.

"Who are you tonight?" He asks, resting back into his chair and stretching his arms up to place them behind his head. His biceps flex as he does, the muscles bulging so definitely that I'm sure he's going to tear the seams of his polo in two.

"Rose." I answer him shortly, looking away.

I pick up the deck, reading the small slip of paper on the bottom. It tells me they are playing PLO tonight. It's one of the hardest variations of Texas Hold'em, incredibly easy to lose, extremely difficult to bluff in. I hate dealing for it because the game just seems to breed sore losers in the form of childish, frustrated and soon-to-be broke men.