DARK SECRETS

16. A Total Stranger

Erick was busy attending to some files at the office when his phone suddenly rang. He had temporarily forgot that he was waiting for Yasmine to call him.

Seeing a strange unknown number on his phone, he wasn't alarmed. He was a business man, somehow anyone who needed his number could get it. And so he answered the call.

"Erick Dùnn speaking," He said into the phone as he checked the files in front of him. "Who is this?"

"It's me," A feminine voice said on the phone. "I need your help."

Though the response was so short for someone who called with an unknown number, Erick immediately realized who was speaking.

It was her.

She called.

Erick smiled. He knew she would call, sooner or later. And now when she called, she immediately asked for his help.

He gave himself some accolade. After all, he was Erick Dùnn.

"Where are you?" Erick asked her, immediately dropping the files as he hurriedly stood up from his chair.

"Là Calantrò," She replied. Erick realized her voice was very low, unlike the last time she spoke confidently in front of him. Looks like something happened to her.

"I'll be there shortly," He said and immediately hunged up. He got out of his office and immediately called his personal assistant to cancel his schedules for the rest of the day. He had to go somewhere important.

As Erick got into his Bentley, he was suddenly worried about the reason why she called and why she was in Là Calantrò all of a sudden. He had asked Jerry to be checking Là Calantrò from time to time, because for some reason she wasn't there, and when he went himself to Là Calantrò and asked Madame Glenna why she wasn't coming, Madame Glenna told him that she had given Yasmine some days off, which was something he knew she was lying about. With his behavior the last time, he doubt that the woman would want to involve him in Yasmine's life at all.

And she sounded down. Was she hurt? Was she harassed? Erick had to know. So he drive as fast as he could to Là Calantrò.

Yasmine suddenly chuckled to herself. For the man whom she didn't even want to have anything to do with, she called him up and requested for his help. And for the first time, someone she called was ready to meet her immediately she told him she needed help.

A total stranger.

Wasn't life just interesting?

Yasmine sighed. She had done the deed, now she had to face it. She called him up, so she might as well get ready to meet him and just ask for his help with her head low. It concerns her mother's life anyway. Nothing was bigger than that.

She stood up, cleaned her eyes and tried to adjust her makeup. She had a dance to perform.

Just as she came out of the room, Madame Glenna entered.

"Oh there you are, " she said. "Come, it's time. Are you ready? You're sure you can do this?"

Yasmine nodded and tried to smile.

"Okay dear, now try to calm down. If you're not feeling well, round up the dance and come back to the room immediately, okay?"

Yasmine nodded again.

"Okay," Madame Glenna said, but she was reluctant to let Yasmine go. The girl wasn't looking good at all. Glenna pitied her. Her mother was ill in the hospital and here she had to dance to raise money and she will struggle with men ogling at her body again. It wasn't something one person should endure.

Yasmine gave her one last smile before she went up to the stage to dance.

Erick got to Là Calantrò and hurriedly got in. He got into the VIP room and found Yasmine dancing again, impressing the old and young men alike who paid to watch her dance. And Erick noticed something about her. Though she was smiling and behaving like she did when she always performed, he was somehow able to see through her. She wasn't in a good mood at all. Erick had to sit and wait for her to finish her dance. His eyes were just transfixed in her face, and he studied her expressions. He knew something was amiss.

After the dance and Yasmine left, Erick stood up to immediately go to her. But suddenly the roads were crowded with drunk men, and Erick couldn't go through.

Meanwhile, Yasmine had gotten into the room and was about to change when a young man suddenly walked into the room.

"Hello, Hidden Beauty," He said as he staggered towards her with a bottle of whiskey in hand. "I've always been amazed by your beauty, and I want to know who you truly are. If you are this beautiful with all this makeover, and veil, why don't you allow me see the real you? I bet you'll even be more prettier. "

"I'm sorry sir, I'm not in the mood to do anything right now, please leave," Yasmine implored calmly.

The man suddenly stopped and looked at her, frowning.

"I should leave?" He repeated. "Who the hell do you think you are to tell me that?"

"I'm seriously not in the mood for this, please I'm begging you, just leave. "

The man suddenly got infuriated.

"You bitch!" As he raised his hands up to hit her, Yasmine tried to protect her face, but the hand never came down to her face.

"Don't you dare," A familiar masculine voice suddenly said, and Yasmine looked up.

Erick. He was holding the man's hands viciously as he looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Don't you dare lay your hands on her, if you don't want to regret it all your life," Erick said and dropped the man's hands so roughly that the man fell down easily. He was drunk anyway.

"Now leave this room," Erick said menacingly, as he towered over the man. "Get out."

Slowly but surely, the man crawled away from the room, under the watchful eyes of Erick.

As Erick was about to turn to the door to close it, he suddenly felt a slight tug at the sleeves of his suit. He turned and looked at her small hands, holding him as if her life depended on it. Her eyes were swollen,as if she had cried a lot, and they were slowly closing.

"I need your help," She mustered all her strength to say those words. "My mom. . . needs help. . ."

And before she could finish her statement, she slumped into the waiting hands of Erick.