Clandestine | 18+

000~Club

Swim- Chase Atlantic

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"Acting like a pawn in a game of chess isn't weakness, it's power, because you aren't showing your true colors in order for someone to take them from you. You win."

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the words in italic are flashbacks-

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Hearing a sound I woke up. I looked around trying to gather information on where I was. Unknown walls. Unknown photographs on the walls. Unknown furniture. Dropping my gaze I looked at myself. Naked. I stared. Unknown bed. Inside the bed. An unknown man.

I couldn't remember much from last night. Maybe I drank too much. Or maybe someone drugged me. It didn't matter now. I had to leave.

A notification sound echoed in the unknown minimalist bedroom. I turned my head at the nightstand. My phone. Taking it, I read the message.
'Loved that night... You loved it too, didn't you? Call me.'
No. No, I didn't. That's precisely why I left before I could silence you permanently. How could I have entertained the company of a man who was nothing more than a pawn in my ex's twisted game? And I knew nothing about it?

I blocked his number and the unwanted memories. Maybe I wasn't sober enough or I simply just wanted to distract myself but somehow I got reminded of my time in high school.

Almost every weekend we visited a club. The sound of loud music blasting through the speakers, the smell of alcohol mixed with sweat was almost everything I wanted. We indeed weren't allowed to enter, but with the help of fake IDs and a ton of makeup we were always allowed inside without any suspicion.

Quickly, I got dressed and tried to leave the room. But before I could, a woman barged in, looking angry.

"Who the hell are you?!" she spat, her face contorted with rage.

Ah, he has a girl.

"Uh, Estelle nice to meet you." I said smiling holding my hand for her to shake.

She stared down at it in pure disgust, and started rambling.

"Why are you here?! I'm his wife you know?! He has a fucking wife so please get your ass out of my home!" She screamed at me. Her voice breaking. Her face defeated, like she knew something was off. Rage was all I could name about her emotions.

Emotion was a beautiful thing. But a curse. A curse that all of us had to carry. A curse that felt like a blessing but shattered you into pieces to remind you of the curse you withheld. I knew better than anyone what it was.

All these emotions for a boy who couldn't be loyal to one woman, to the one they promised and vowed to.

"Ma'am, respectfully I got drunk, maybe even drugged and your so called husband didn't. I don't know what and how the fuck I ended up in here, but I was naked and, hell, you should know that. Don't scream at me, scream at your husband that can't handle his attraction towards younger girls even when he has a wife whom he's supposed to love." And I smiled bitterly leaving her there, not before rubbing on her shirt the spit she threw on my hand which I offered her to shake.

Acting is a beautiful thing. Never leaves you vulnerable, never shows your true colors. Never leaves you down.

***

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill out. The wife caught you two?!" Arine's eyes snapped open.

Arine had been my best friend for so long that the memory of how we met had faded into the background.